Aeden chuckled at the little pout the princess gave him and knelt down to give her a quick farewell kiss on the hand. "Good night, My Lady." He stood and walked out the door, turning before closing it to give her another grin. As he went on his way to the kitchens, he allowed the memories of that evening to replay through his head. It was a lovely memory, to be sure. The minute he entered the kitchen, his happy thoughts had to escape to the further corners of his head as he saw the look that the cook gave him. Apparently, the fruit trick had gone off without a hitch, but since he left his post early, he now had to wash the pots that were left over from making dinner. 

While his hands were elbow deep in the soapy pots late that night, he couldn't help but smile to himself. No matter what punishment he got for it, seeing that happy face while dancing that evening was still worth it. 

The next morning started off as it usually did: Early rise as soon as there was sunlight, make oneself presentable, and go see what the cook wanted from him. Help with breakfast, bring it to the maids to deliver, help clean up from breakfast, and go see what the head maid wants. Clean some random stuff, deliver things to the maids, go back to the kitchen to help prepare for lunch. The lunch was finished pretty early, so he was now cleaning dishes. He didn't normally do the dishes after lunch, but he noticed that a certain fruit thief had gotten out of the kitchen after breakfast, so he suspected that he might actually be paying for what he did yesterday. 

The day was already set up to be pretty boring, until Genevieve suddenly appeared in the kitchen with the news. At the descriptions of the men, he looked up in alarm and stared at her with the color draining from his face. "What? What are they doing here now?" Quickly, he dried his hands off on a nearby towel and took the princess to the store room. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he sat her down on one of the crates in the back and looked at her seriously. "Stay here and don't move no matter what. I'll be right back." He left the store room and exited the kitchen to see what was going on in the main entry. Standing behind a corner, he could just make out the angry words being exchanged. 

[i]Prince...daughter...Blackshine...dead?[/i] 

He moved silently from his position to the shadows of another wall to see where the queen was. This couldn't be good, wherever it was headed.