The princess nodded to each of the men in turn as they bowed to her. It was completely natural to her, falling back into the pleasantries of court life. Despite not being bowed down to by anyone since she was a child, it felt right. Still, she had to force herself to keep her expression neutral at the sound of Lord Cromley's voice. While he appeared to be a perfectly respectable man, his voice gave her an uneasy feeling.

"I can skip breakfast," Cecilia said. She placed a hand over her stomach and gave the men a wry smile. "I think I'm still full from the feast last night." Truly, the previous night's meal was more than she was used to eating in the run of a week. She suspected that she might not be hungry again for several hours. At the very least, she could wait until lunch.

"I would much rather hear your plans," she continued. "You say that this has been in the works for several months now. I suspect that my rescue was step one of an elaborate plot... I'm anxious to hear all about step two." She ushered them towards the table at the foot of her bed to sit, suspecting that they would commence their meeting in the cellar rather than risk being spotted above ground. She had only been missing for a few hours... surely Malva's entire army was on the prowl for her at this time.