Ooookay, I know I've said I'd never do this...but I feel like I'm at a point in my consistency habits where I can. This story is not yet complete. XD So this is a big jump for me, because I'm depending on myself to finish, but I'm going to try because I feel like it will be really good for me to do. Please keep in mind that this is not edited hardly at all. Lol.

Still, I hope you enjoy!

Breelia strode quickly down the hall, her long skirt swirling comfortingly around her ankles as she stopped abruptly and rapped smartly on her sister's door. "Lorena?"

"Just a minute!" Lorena's frustrated voice came from inside the room.

Breelia sighed under her breath, tapping her foot as she waited. "Lorena Wilder, I'm coming in," she announced after a minute of no sound from the room.

There was a muffled exclamation and after another moment, Breelia pushed the door open, glancing quickly around the interior. Her eyes widened. "Lorena!" she exclaimed. "What do you think you're doing?"

Her sister had succeeded in putting together a stack of cups, each full of its own color of paint, and was trying to arrange them all around the room, centered around an enormous canvas, which looked to have just fallen over.

Lorena peered sheepishly from behind the canvas. "Sorry, Bree."

Breelia restrained a sigh. "We've talked about this, Lor."

"I know," her sister shot back. "But I had an idea and I wanted to try…"

"I don't think anyone will be too pleased if you mess up your room again," Breelia reminded her as she motioned to her sister to follow her outside the door. "I would rather not cause another stir like last time."

The last time Lorena had tried to try "something new" with her art had been in the common with a large mural. It had not ended at all well…they were lucky they had been allowed to remain in the citadel at all.

Lorena smiled slightly at her sister. "I'll be careful, Bree. Promise."

Breelia hummed in response. "Be sure you do."

Lorena walked quietly next to Breelia for a moment before she pointed ahead of them at a rabbit in the hallway. "There's your favorite person in the entire world," she said, a touch of sarcasm entering her voice as they walked closer to Truff.

Breelia didn't scold her for pointing, as she sometimes wanted to be just as rude around the irritating young soldier. Truff raised an eyebrow at them as they passed, and she didn't even glance at him, lifting her chin slightly as she passed. She sensed his frown on her back, but didn't relinquish her stiff posture until they had turned down another hallway, and even then some of the stiffness lingered.

"He doesn't like you at all," Lorena remarked as they continued to the Mess Hall.

"I know," Breelia replied. "I don't want him to."

They entered the mess Hall and Breelia swept her eyes over the crowded room. She recognized most of the rabbits, or at least their faces, but close to the door were two she had never seen before.

One was a doe, probably around twenty-four, just a couple years older than Breelia herself, and was a dull black coloring with flecks of white on one arm. The buck sitting next to her looked like he could be her brother, as they had the same type of face. He was a dark brown color, and one ear bent at an odd, crooked angle.

She moved past them after a few seconds, and did not glance back at them. She felt their gazes on her.

She retrieved a tray for herself, Lorena following, and then sat down in a chair at a small table on the far side of the room, from which she could see everything going on. Lorena sat down next to her, casting Breelia a curious look.

"Why did you examine those rabbits like that?"

"I've never seen them before," Breelia replied, taking a small bite of the vegetables on her plate. "I didn't see any citadel emblem on their clothes."

Lorena shrugged. "They probably are just visiting from a home in the woods or something."

"Perhaps," Breelia replied after a moment, taking a sip of water.

She liked to know everything about everyone. It made her feel safe, and helped her to remain aware of everything and everyone at all times. Information was power, and if she ever needed to get out of a tight spot, she had plenty of that type of power. She had no use for it yet, though. It was more of a…hobby, than anything else.

She still took it seriously, even if she had no use for it, however. Hidden in a small alcove in the floor beneath a chair in her bedroom, she kept a notebook filled with the secrets she learned daily. She even had some secrets on Lord Lokken and his family, as well as other high-ranking officers and nobility of the area.

No one except Lorena knew about it, and she was going to keep it that way. She didn't intend to hurt anyone, especially the citadel lord, with what she had collected, but others certainly could and would.

Several of Lorena's friends approached the table, greeting her as they sat down with their own trays of food. None of them spoke to Breelia, though they cast cautioned glances at her, and Breelia let herself fade into the background, like she often did. It was the easiest way to remain present, but disconnected.

Keeping one ear on the young does' chatter, she looked back at the rabbits she'd noticed when she first came in. They were speaking together in hushed tones. Perhaps she should speak to them later. She took another bite of food as the buck met her gaze. She held it for a moment, then glanced away, moving on to another group of rabbits who were discussing something concerning the visiting Harbone soldiers. Mainly idle gossip.

A group of soldiers were at the far end and although she couldn't hear their conversation, she caught the skeptical, worried faces of most the group. A buck by the name of Berfent was speaking, using wide, exaggerated gestures, as he often did. Probably telling another tall tale or two, or ten.

In her peripheral vision, she noticed the buck and doe staring at her, talking quietly together.

Soon, they would surely meet.