At the break of dawn, the village of Willowshire was awakened by the chorus of crowing roosters and barking dogs. Within the hour after first light, the village was already lively and at work. Farmers were checking and watering their fields, the village blacksmith could be heard hard at work with hammer and tongs at his forge, the wives of the farmers were at work as well, be it tending to the house or children, or milking the cows or tending to the chickens. Hunters had already departed their homes, their bows in hand and dogs in tow as they descended into the wilderness south of town to hunt for game, be it for food or to sell at the market in Dalhorst. The inn was more or less empty for now, the only ones inside being Hans, the owner and barkeep, and Isabell, the maid, server, and flutist for the inn, and of course Baron Monticourt, who awaited for his two colleagues to arrive so they all might meet with the Princess and plan their first course of action. While Hans and Isabell weren’t members of the Loyalists cause, they still shared their ideals, and both had no love at all for Malva and her illegitimate rule. They both agreed to house and care for the Princess, as well as keep her identity a secret. While there was little-to-no support for Malva in Willowshire, it was still prudent to keep Cecilia’s identity and location a secret. While Willowshire was of no major importance, patrols passed through town every couple of weeks, as well as many who would gladly turn over Cecilia to the Queen. After all, it was obvious that Malva would spend the next many weeks turning all of Alvion inside-out searching for Cecilia so’s to arrest her and have her executed, eliminating any chance of losing the throne. It only made sense that Malva would have bounties and wanted missives sent across the kingdom, and Baron Monticourt did not wish to risk some greedy merchant or some farmer down on his luck to turn in Cecilia for a hefty payment in coin. If Cecilia was captured, all would be lost. There would be no chance for a second rescue. Malva would have her under the highest security and executed immediately to avoid her escaping again. And without Cecilia as their figurehead, their icon of revolution against tyranny, the Loyalists would never gain the needed support to topple Malva from the throne. Princess Cecilia was important in so many ways it was practically inconceivable. [b][center]___________________________________________________________________________[/center][/b] It was later that morning, just two hours short of noon when a knocking came at the door to the cellar. It was Baron Monticourt and his two associates, whom had finally arrived after a long journey across the countryside. They now stood huddled together outside the door, awaiting Cecilia’s permission to enter the cellar.