"Una, I am so sorry for your loss" I knelt by her side as we had received the news that Quintus had been murdered in his sleep, an axe to the head. It was so brutal.

I felt her loss too, he had always been so kind to me. He never was the sharpest tool in the box which made me wonder if whoever murdered thought he would make easy pickings. Una had told me the night before that she would not be listening to gossip on who did it because she didn't want to think ill of any of her brothers.

I understood her sentiment, if anything I felt the same as I knew Septimus would be one of the main players of this game and it scared me.

We decided to not leave Una's chambers, I'm not sure she would be up to the staring courtiers. Apparently, the King was getting better too, a bit of a false alarm but part of me couldn't help but think it was part of a ruse to get the Prince's started on the race to the throne.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Una?" I asked, I wanted to comfort her but not sure how.

"Actually, there is. Would you ask Primus to dine with me this evening? I need his wisdom" she ordered, and in turn I was happy to leave her chamber for a bit, I needed space.

"Yes of course" I nodded as I rose and left her rooms to make my way to find the eldest Prince. She didn't often have Primus dine with her, but I wondered if she needed the comfort her elder brother.

The Court was covered in whispers that followed me down the corridor, all following Una's lady in waiting - wondering what the Princess thought of this all. I found Primus exactly where I thought he would be, accepting condolences on the news of his deceased brother. I approached him as I lowered my bow and said "Prince Primus, I am so sorry for your sad loss."

"Thank you, Bella. How is my sister?" He asked thoughtfully.

"As you can imagine, she is upset. She asks if you would dine with her this evening?" I relayed Una's invitation.

"Yes, of course" he accepted as I bowed and swiftly took my leave.

The atmosphere in the Palace was horrendous and I wanted to get back to Una's chambers as soon as possible. It was such an odd mix of people taking sickening bets on who would be next and who murdered Quintus. Others who probably felt the same as me, how could this be tradition? How in this age could we still be accepting these types of customs?

And then I saw him. Septimus making his way down the corridor, his eyes flickered over to me for a moment as he carried on walking pass me as though I didn't exist. I had to check to see if he hadn't stabbed a dagger through my heart because that's what the blow felt like.

I'm not sure how I was going to live like this.

That evening, I made my excuses for dinner - figuring that Una wanted to be alone to mourn with her eldest brother which suited me.

I laid on my bed, feeling broken but trying to come up with some type of plan. I would not let him give up on us so easily - we could make this work if we were careful like we had been anyway.

Perhaps I could wait for him in the secret garden, and we could talk through our options together? But would he listen?

Should I go knock on his chamber, pretending to have a message from Una? Or even get him to come back to Una's chamber, I know she would want to see him soon enough, but he would be avoiding her because it would mean seeing me too.

Should I risk everything and publicly confront him? If everyone knew, then it would both be equally our risk and he wouldn't get a choice. But he would be so cross and that would be reckless.

I didn't know what the right answer was, I knew I needed him, and I know in return he needed me, he just needed to accept it. I wasn't going to let him go. But perhaps I could drive him mad first? I seemed to excel at that.