The letter read:

Dear Lady Ebony Valix of Lyscos,

It has been far too long since I last saw your lovely face. My dear sister has been so busy preparing for her upcoming event that she has enlisted me to help take on some of the burden. I have been so preoccupied that time seemed to slip by so quickly and before I knew it nearly two months have passed. It was my younger siblings who brought to my attention how busy I had been. I had previously spoken to them about you, it seems that since I couldn't get away to see you my mouth could speak of nothing else. So when the pair returned from their outing saying they had met you my heart longed for your company. My sister has agreed to give me a very special task that I would like you to accompany me on. I will not tell you what this task is only that I think you will enjoy it very much. Joslynn has informed me that she has told your two sisters that this final week they should spend enjoying the city before the celebration begins. She feels she has been taking too much of their time away and has told them to not return to the castleuntil the first ball which will take place on the first day of next week, the first day of celebration. Even though she has told them to enjoy the sights our city has to offer, I hope that you still feel willing to join me at the castle tomorrow. I even have a carriage arranged to bring you here so that Giselle and Victoria may still use yours to travel the city. I hope that you will come and see me at the castle tomorrow; I am so looking forward to showing you my surprise. If you are as eager to see me as I am you, then I look forward to your arrival. The carriage will arrive at the Gilded Leopard at ten o'clock in the morning to escort you to the castle where I will be waiting.

Awaiting your arrival,

Prince Christian Alexander Delancy

I was so shocked by the contents of the letter that I read it three times over before I got to the room. The prince seemed to be very fond of me, even after such a short time. I felt similarly and did not know how I would sleep tonight because of my excitement. The prince had missed me. The prince had missed me! I opened to door to the room with one hand while the other clutched the letter to my chest. I sighed happily and sat in one of the three back-to-back seats. I reread the letter a fourth time.

Giselle and Victoria returned a few minutes later. Giselle yawned and went straight into her room and closed the door. Victoria was more observant and noticed that I had a letter. Normally she probably wouldn't have cared about a letter for me except that I was grinning like a fool. Her quick mind probably guessed at the letter's writer as I had. "What is that?" She asked, stepping closer and trying to read the paper.

I quickly folded the paper and tried to dismiss it as something of little importance. My casualness did not fool her though and my quick reaction of hiding it from her made her even more suspicious. "It's not from the prince, is it? You know how cruel that is to hurt poor Elle's feeling in this way. You promised that you would leave the poor prince alone for her sake."

I gnashed my teeth together in annoyance. Victoria would do anything to keep me and Christian apart, but I wouldn't let her. "I never said it was from the prince. Even if it was, you have no right to tell me who I can or can't see."

"You wretched girl," Victoria said. Her brow furrowed and she snatched the paper away from me. I tried to get it back but she turned and elbowed me away. She had become skilled at fighting people back from all her years of violent shopping. "You horrible minx, what have you done to the poor man? My dear sister will be devastated and mother will be so hurt by your selfish actions. I'm afraid I must forbid you to go to the castle tomorrow. In fact you are not allowed to even leave this room. You can forget about seeing the prince tomorrow. Elle and I might be away from the castle for a short time but that does not mean you can replace us there."

I crossed my arms defiantly. Now that I knew that Christian had at least some feelings for me I would not be deterred from seeing him. "I wouldn't be replacing you. I'm going to see the prince; you only spent time with the princess."

Victoria's face was getting red. I was not supposed to talk back to her, no one ever did. She was so accustomed to getting her own way that she seemed to not understand someone who was so openly disagreeing with her. "Listen here, you little wretch, we have been joined by Prince Christian for the past several weeks at the castle. He has spent time with us nearly every day we were visiting at the castle. You are imagining that he wants to see you and not Elle."

I barked out a laugh. "I'm not the one who is disillusioned here. You read the letter, he wants to see me; he only ever saw you at the castle because his sister asked him to. Why can't you just accept that maybe he prefers my company to yours?"

She looked absolutely murderous now. Her beautiful face was twisted with anger. Upon seeing her like this, I debated on whether or not I should back down and let her have her way; I had seen what she could do to some nameless girl at a shop. I decided that I would not let her win this time. I had spent too much of my life trying to stay out of their way, but now they were in my way. I truly felt the prince and I could become close friends or even more, and I would never let them take that away from me. I did not know what I would have to face if I stood up to them, but I felt that the prince was worth it.

Victoria dropped the paper and envelope on the ground. "Because it's not true," She snapped and stomped off to her room, slamming the door behind her.

I felt I had won the argument; after all it was not me that stormed off. I bent to pick up the letter and smoothed the wrinkles out of it. I read it one more time before I changed for bed, then I tucked it away deep in one of my bags so neither Giselle nor Victoria could find it. Since it was almost certain that Victoria would not allow me into her room to use the bath, I hoped that I could bathe tomorrow after they left. I was counting on the fact that they would leave at the same time they did yesterday which was around seven o'clock. If they did I would have more than enough time to get ready in peace.

When morning came it was obvious that the argument was not over. Since Victoria knew about my plans with the prince she wanted to do everything she could to make sure it didn't happen. That started with telling Giselle. Victoria went to Giselle's room and closed the door so they could have a private conversation. However, I knew that Victoria was informing Giselle of the letter and trying to enlist her help to stop me from going. While they were in there with the door closed, I took my chance in the washroom. As quickly as I could, I bathed in the marble tub and combed my wet hair with the elegant gold combs the Gilded Leopard provided for their guests. I was not fast enough and Victoria and Giselle stormed in on me when I was carefully brushing my hair. Victoria snatched the brush from my hand and together they herded me into the sitting room. I could see that Giselle had been crying; she seemed to cry at everything prince related. Both of them were talking to me at once; Victoria was forceful and harsh while her sister was nearly begging me not to go. Then Victoria demanded for the letter so her sister could read it. I crossed my arms and adamantly stuck out my chin. There was no way either of them was getting their greedy hands on my letter from the prince. I glanced at the clock that hung on the wall. I still had an hour before the prince's carriage was scheduled to arrive. I pondered what I could do in an hour, and then I came up with a risky plan.

So yup, there was that chapter. Will Victoria stop Ebony from seeing the prince? You'll just have to wait and find out!