Celine pushed past quite a few guards to get to the carriage. It was undignified for a princess, and she could already hear her mother's cross words with her for it. [i]A lady must be dignified[/i] she said. [i]She mustn't rush, and she mustn't be rough. The world must come to her when she is good and ready...[/i]

"Well the world has been ready for awhile," she muttered. "The time for pleasantries is over..."

So lost in her thoughts was she that she only just missed stepping on her sparing partner. She gasped and moved back, putting a had to her breast when she saw that the mouse was unharmed. "Reepicheep," she said. "Forgive me, I didn't see you..."

"Twas not the first time, My Lady," he said, sounding ruffled. She had a funny feeling that this was one of many things the little mouse wasn't satsified with when it came to his station in life. "Not important; my dear, I have an important missive from his majesty-"

Celine's heart leapt, but her head took control. Not now, it told her, later.

"Later," she repeated to the mouse. "Lysander has returned, I need to speak with him."

"But My lady-"

Celine bent down, and picked the mouse up, much to his displeasure. She put him on her shoulder, and continued walking. "I may need your counsil as it is, brave warrior," she said. "This way you can tell me later, without any prying ears."

That seemed to settle him for now. Celine was the first to approach the tired looking prince, finding him stumbling into the entrance hall. Celine greeted him with a relieved smile, drawing closer.

"I'm glad you're well," she said. "I feared that...that [i]witch[/i] wouldn't let you go."

She bent down, and put the mouse on the floor. She was scared to ask the question hanging by her tongue, for what the answers may have been. But she knew that no one else would, and that she would have to get the news in one fashion or another. So, she drew in a breath, and spoke.

"Did you hear anything of my parents?" she asked. "I know it's foolish, in the midst of a war, but I must know; do they live?"