“A...bunny?” Even such a seasoned diplomat as Alice had a limit for the amount of silly things she could take seriously, and Melissa had found that limit. The woman had just requested a stuffed bunny named Miranda to be brought to her, and talked about her as if she’d been human. How very… Before the princess had even time to react to the bubbling of laughter she felt inside, the eyes and the snarl and the threats sent her mind astray from it. Her eyes shot wide open in surprise and fear and she was petrified for a moment or two. Heart racing, she closed her eyes and consciously slowed her breathing to calm herself. After a while of staying that way, she stood up, placing the chair by the door where she’d found it, not uttering a word and not daring to look at Melissa. After that was done, the blonde meandered over to the chest with various weapons and other instruments of torture on the other side of the room, unlocking it with the key attached the necklace she wore, though she had previously kept it tucked under the neckline of her gown. The majority of the locks in the castle could be opened by that master key, though only people of high authority knew that. “You see, Melissa, I am a very reasonable person. If you are also reasonable with me, I guarantee that you will learn just how much I have and will bend over backwards for you. I won’t bore you with the extensive history of how I managed to have you spared of harsher treatment, which was not easy, but I did it because I really do care about your side of this. But if you continue to be difficult,” Alice picked out a small, relatively dull, and serrated dagger, “I just don’t see how I could possibly manage to justify my actions on your behalf.” She put it back after some examination, seeming almost disinterested in what she was saying. “In short, it is in your best interest to cooperate with me. It seems these torture devices aren’t very pleasant, so I’ll assume you didn’t enjoy that roughhousing. If you want to keep having the luxury of being able to move your body about in different positions, I’d suggest that you change your attitude.” Alice refused to meet Melissa’s gaze for fear of another bout of heart racing and heavy sweating. “Well,” she continued after a pause to keep her breath in check, “I’ll be off to fetch your Miranda. In the meantime, think about the choices I’ve offered you.” Staring at her own feet as she exited, Alice didn’t permit Melissa time to formally respond, though she remained just outside the dungeon door, leaning on it with all her weight after it was closed as tears slipped down her cheeks. The strain of keeping her voice steady and her face straight was too much under that influence, and her breathing returned to erraticism and her heart to rapid beating. Though sobs failed to escape her, her courage was appropriately shaken by the event, and she doubted her decision to use the woman was her window of opportunity into the grander scheme of things. After some time, though, she began upstairs again and called for her adviser. “She requests her bunny.” “Pardon me?” “Her stuffed bunny. She requests it.” “And why, Highness, do you request it for the captive?” “I am extending the proverbial olive branch.” “Yes, Princess.” He scurried off to find anyone who could locate the thing, but it would take some time. --- It took several hours to locate Miranda, but eventually the royal adviser rapped at Alice’s chamber door, and the blonde took the stuffed thing and made her way back down to the dungeon. Miranda looked a bit dirty and worse-for-wear, but the castle seamstresses did their best to repair any damage to it, lest that be a deciding factor in any negotiations to be made. The princess gently swung open the door to the room where Melissa was kept and stepped in, though she faltered a bit coming through the threshold. Steeling herself, she presented the stuffed bunny to Melissa and spoke quietly. “Is this your Miranda?”