"Oh, come back here, you little...grrrrrrr..." Because he was around the children, Cedric resisted the urge to swear as he chased the angry crowd of swans. Finally, he just gave up. "Whose idea was it to have swans do an aerial show next to a pack of raccoons?!"

Sofia and James, both covered in white feathers, silently pointed at Amber.

Cedric sighed. "Princess Amber, I know you want this to be a special night for Ivy, but there is nothing wise about having birds perform next to their natural predator. I'm surprised you chose raccoons, anyway."

"Well, they weren't supposed to be next to each other!" Amber retorted. "I told James to herd the raccoons to the other side of the gardens. Plus, they aren't the cleanest animals, but Sofia convinced me because they're pretty cute. Now, we need to figure out what we're going to do about the party."

"There's not going to be a party, Princess Amber," a voice behind the group said. "At the very least, not a large one."

Cedric turned and raised an eyebrow. "Baileywick? What are you doing here? Weren't you supervising the kitchens?"

"Yes, but we finished and hid all the baked goods so Ivy wouldn't see them if she wandered in. I went to go bring her some tea and it...went very badly."

"What happened?"

"Well, someone...in the middle of our conversation..." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "...someone threw rocks and and two dead owls through the window to Sofia's room, all with notes about Ivy."

Cedric just stared at the steward in complete and total horror. "They di T?! Who did it?! Is she alright?!"

"We don't know who did it, but the King is sending everyone he can spare to search for whomever did it. The rest of the guards will be surrounding the castle grounds. Ivy is alright, but she's very shaken up. She went with the King and Queen to explain what happened to the guards."

"What happened?" the three royal children asked.

Cedric hesitated. Finally, he said, "Er...just something that's somewhat unsettling. You three need not worry about it at the moment. All you need to know is that our little party will have to be very different than expected."

"What was it?" James asked. "Did something happen to Ivy?"

"I...I...Baileywick, do you want to-"

"No."

"Alright. I'm sorry, children, but it's not something I'm going to disclose."

"But James and I are fourteen and Sofia is almost twelve!" Amber said. "We're old enough to know."

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to get in trouble with your parents. I can assure you, Ivy is fi...since when has it been raining?"

"About two minutes," everyone else said in unison.

Cedric sighed. "Come on. Let's get inside before we all fall ill."

As the soggy group went inside, they were all silent. When they got to parlor to warm up by the fire, however, they started to talk again.

"Princess Amber, your father wants you to share your room with Princess Sofia and Ivy for a few days, if possible," Baileywick said. "Unfortunately, the incident left the window in your sister's room shattered and it needs to be cleaned and repaired."

"Well, rocks will do that," Cedric muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, Prince James. Just...thinking about how this will change the plans you've made. With the rain, it'll be too hard to do it outside. We also can't forget about the risk of thunder and lightning."

"...very very frightening me?" Sofia asked with a smile.

Cedric smiled and rolled his eyes. "Yes, but there are also more pressing matters."

"Like how to make sure the newspapers don't make this into a huge deal?"

"It's going to be a huge deal no matter what, James. Its the grandchild of Moana being adopted into the royal family after being orphaned. Forget stories about her just lurking around the castle, they'll be having fun with this. Add whatever incident happened and it'll be known throughout all the nearby kingdoms!"

"Yes, Princess Amber," Baileywick said, "but it'll be easy to keep it under wraps for at least a couple days. Your father will have some time to prepare a formal announcement to quell any rumors. Believe me, he knows how to handle this kind of thing. Even the most beloved kings have had scandalous accusations thrown against them. I remember a rumor that your grandfather used to force Cedric to clean the trinkets in the Jewel Room."

"Oh, that's not a rumor," Cedric chuckled, not thinking much of it. "Whenever I acted out as a child, the former king would drag me off the the Jewel Room and have me polish the jewelry without magic. I would be there for hours at a time some days. Sometimes he would whack me across the head if I tried to refuse." He looked at the shocked expressions of everyone else in the room. "What?"

"Cedric," Amber said slowly, "that's called child abuse. Why didn't your parents stop it? How long did it go on? Why did it happen?"

Cedric thought for a moment. "Oh, I suppose it could be classified as abusive, especially since he wasn't even my father. But, he was the king, so he had the-"

"Cedric, if you dare say he had the right to do that, I'm going to scream."

"Er...yes, Princess Amber. To answer your question, it was for kid stuff like being clumsy or overreacting to trivial things. It stopped when I was thirteen and my mother found out." He chuckled. "Besides the occasional slap, it wasn't that bad."

Again, everyone stared at him.

"Well, we always knew granddad was a jerk," James said.

Cedric shrugged. "Alright, I suppose he was. Now, back to the question at hand: what will we do about tonight?"

"We could do it in here," Sofia suggested. "We could take decorations and put them up."

"Cedric, do you have a spell to conjure vines and flowers?" Baileywick asked.

Cedric thought foe a moment. "I believe so, but I'm not entirely sure which one would work best. Growhei Flora might-gah!"

Everyone, including the startled sorcerer himself, laughed as he brushed away the rose petals he had accidentally conjured.

"What's everyone laughing at?"

Cedric glanced over, then conjured a jar and started to collect the petals. Hey, he didn't mean to conjure them, but they could be used in potions.

" Nothing, Miranda," he chuckled. "I accidentally conjured these while we discussed flower-summoning spells. Where's Ivy?"

"Oh, Roland is taking her on a walk around the grounds. He thought it might help her feel safer if she got to walk around outside with a sword."

"I..." Cedric shook his head. "Just...why? I mean, I know the thought process, but...giving Ivy a sword? A dagger, I can see, but not a sword."

"Cedric?"

"Yes, Baileywick?"

"Please never have children. I'm worried they won't survive to adulthood."

"Oh, I'm never having kids. However, I would like to point out that Roland, who apparently handed a ten year old a sword, has three perfectly fine children."

"I don't think I count," Sofia giggled.

"Oh, you've been here for a few years," Amber said. "You count. Now, what are we going to do? We said we could do it in here, but there's also the ballroom."

Miranda shook her head. "I don't think we're going to do either."

"Oh?" Cedric raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind? I suppose there's the option of postponing it, but I doubt anyone wants that."

"I was thinking," Miranda explained, "the incident earlier today clearly scared her. Making such a huge decision in front of all of us would be too much to deal with today, but I don't want to postpone it and make her feel as though she needs to handle this on her own. I'll have to ask Roland, but how do you feel about just the two of us speaking to her?"

Cedric nodded. "Of course. If she agrees, which I can almost guarantee she will, you'll be her legal guardians. Her parents. If anyone should be asking her, it's you."

"I agree," Amber said, though she gave a slight sigh. "I was hoping to give her one of my necklaces."

"You could always give it to her after," James suggested.

"Oh, right."

"No matter what you do," Baileywick said, "It's what you feel is best for Ivy and we will stand by you and Roland."

Everyone nodded in agreement.