Rhiane was reluctant to let Luke go but she reminded herself not to be greedy. She was thankful for his compassion and companionship, even if it felt the meeting of their hearts and minds was brief and fleeting at best, because it was bolstering. The princess elect found him surprisingly safe and dependable. Though they might not have chosen each other, and neither of them wanted a romantic relationship, to know that he could occasionally be a refuge was reassuring. One of her father's parting shots was that she would be in a pit of snakes in the palace and that the crown prince was the most venomous viper. It was a belief that was shared by Gerald. Rhiane had hoped that their shared circumstances would make the engaged couple allies rather than adversaries. A day or two ago she had to face the possibility that her surviving family members had been correct. Now she couldn't help but wonder if they had misjudged.

"Ms. Black," Elena said delicately as she sat down. There was a slight tug downwards at the corners of the future royal's mouth though she did not frown. Dr. Villani knew how much her profession was distrusted by the former farmer and was not insulted; if anything she it progress that Rhiane was not detaching or ignoring her. She reached forward and gently took the other woman's hand in her own.

"I was not lying when I said that another person wouldn't have survived what you did- not just tonight, but eight years ago. I'm not in the pharmaceutical field, obviously, but if you ever wanted to I could connect you with someone in research and development. Specialists could study your immune system to see if there is anything we could glean from your physiology to help others," she suggested. She expected that Rhiane would immediately object but instead the buxom brunette was suspiciously quiet as she seriously considered the offer. With a playful smile the doctor leaned closer to her patient and whispered, "I can also promise a recommendation that's not at Evolab," she joked.

At this Rhiane laughed and shrugged her shoulders. As much as she had grown to loathe the medical profession she had to admit that Elena Villani had saved her life and perhaps redeemed doctors everywhere a touch in her mind. Had there not been a paycheck from doing so she might have thought the woman was a saint, but she knew there was a lucrative reward for the intervention, and so her perception remained skewed. The princess elect wondered if she might have earned the same attention were she still a peasant, or a secretary firmly entrenched in the middle class, or the maid of a lesser noble household. In her ideal world a woman like Elena would work a case regardless of the financial background of the victim.


"I'm sure you don't have much time," Sebastian began, "but I've heard that someone tried to kill Rhi and that they might not be alive by the time you find them." Though Luke and Rhiane were on a first name basis she had failed to disclose that the people closest to her actually called her by an even shorter nickname. It was uttered so quickly and chased with so much more pressing information that it might be missed by the heir to the throne but was still rather important. This singular syllable made it clear that Rhiane was still guarded, still aware that the people who loved and cherished her were not nearby, and not even Tobias had pierced through her self-defenses with his consideration and stoicism.

"I'm telling you this because I want her to be safe," he further explained perhaps unnecessarily, "and I don't know that if I told her directly she'd... react well." Sebastian, called 'Seb' by his friends, paused because he was not prepared to broach the topic of the various ways in which his partner's sibling could inappropriately process the information. Unlike Gerald he was not blind to Rhiane's unhealthy views on her own morbidity, nor oblivious how to sometimes she dismissed other's concerns about her, or how powerless she might be to advocate on her own behalf effectively. Hopefully Luke would read between the lines and surmise that the farmer wasn't speaking to him because he relished an opportunity to speak with their future king.

"The rebellion is divided on Rhi," he continued, "and some of them think that Rhi would best serve the revolution as a martyr. They know if she dies that no matter what the truth is everyone will blame the crown, especially you and Queen Camilla. If she's alive she's more of a wild card- she could encourage people to be loyal to you or she could tarnish her own image. If she was dead, though, her perfect reputation would remain intact, including being a the champion of the poor, and an innocent life lost that would enrage some of the citizens who are right now apathetic. I think the person today worked alone but... this isn't the end of it," Seb added more softly. The rebellion saw Rhiane as a precious pawn, perhaps even more than the royalty, and knew that she could turn the tide one way or another. "There aren't many who want Rhiane dead, and most of the rebellion is adamantly opposed and actively trying to stop them, but she's still in danger."