[b]After Marken left to visit his mother, Ella picked up her letter from King George and read it over again. His words hurt less now, and she found herself not as sad that he was abandoning her here in Rhal. After all, she had Marken now. Her gaze flickered to the fireplace at the corner of her room, burning invitingly and then down at the note again. None of this felt real yet. It was like she was watching someone else's life unfold before her, like in her dreams.

"I am... not alone," Ella told herself aloud. Saying it made things feel more real, like she wasn't on the cusp of despair anymore. Smiling, Ella went over to her fireplace and proceeded to rip the note into tiny pieces and toss those pieces into the fire. She didn't care to keep this letter with her, especially if it could hurt her and her fiancé in the future.

With a small sigh, Ella watched the paper shrivel up and burn away before she pulled her long hair back up and walked through Marken's room, then the royal apartment, and then out into the hall, in search of a library. While Marken visited his mother, she would brush up on Rhal herbs and decide which indigenous species were synonymous with the herbs back home.

..._..._...

Once in the library, Ella was able to quickly locate several books that pointed towards herbal medication. There were household guides, journals from the orient, and even several books that border-lined on witchcraft, with medicines that supposedly made someone fall in love. Ella quickly sifted through the stupid sources and found herself journals filled with helpful information. She was so busy looking through the books that she barely registered the same maid from earlier entering the library, but only barely.

"Milady, may I help you with something?" the maid requested as she drew near. Ella looked up at her, wondering what her game was, and why she was here. If the maid was sent to kill her, she wasn't going down without a fight. Keeping her back away from the maid, Ella put down the current journal she was leafing through and watched her more seriously.

"You may be able to return home," the maid announced, almost entirely unprovoked, "But Milady will have to prove her worth to the king first, of course." Ella eyed the woman uncertainly, but kept her ground. What the hell was she going on about?[/b]