The party of four riders arrived at the rock formation and everyone dismounted. The horses were led by Boris a bit further ahead to an old well. Svetlana ordered Rickard to scout the area to make sure no one had followed them and there were no uninvited eavesdroppers. When both of them had returned they all sat in a circle. Svetlana reached into a pouch that was concealed behind her chest plate and pulled out a ratchet. She put it in front of her where all four could clearly see it.

“A week ago our prince called me into his chambers at the hour of the tiger,” Svetlana eventually said, “He had experienced a particularly bad nightmare, at the time the worst to date, and he entrusted this amulet to me. He wouldn’t give me a reason but just said that I would need it before long, and it wasn’t safe in his own possession.”

Hildegard reached for the bag, hesitant at first. He looked over to Svetlana who nodded and motioned her to grab it and see for herself.

She looked inside and was left speechless. The amulet did look more like a pendant, but it was beautiful. She took it out to have a closer look. The pendant was a golden teardrop with at its core a dark red gem, uncut but glowing brighter than the moon in bloom, hung from a silver chain. She tried to touch the gem with her fingers but couldn’t seem to make contact with it.

She had another good look at it before returning it to the bag it came in. She put the bag back in the middle of them and stared at Svetlana in full concentration waiting for her to continue.

“In all likelihood,” She continued, “You have in your possession a similar item. The prince is convinced we will need these. We don’t know what for, I don’t know if the prince knew but he must have sensed something going on, too.”

Hildegard explained that she did, in fact, have a similar item; her’s was a ring. It had been given to her by her mother some time ago. It was a silver ring with a knitted pattern. At its centrepiece was a golden teardrop with imbedded it in a dark green uncut gem. She explained that at the time she never managed to get her finger through the hole due to some unseen force, but thought no more about it before tucking it away in a jewellery box in her room.

“My mother always told me it would be the ring I’d wear on my wedding day with prince Fried, I never gave it a second thought after that.” Hildegard admitted.

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They all agreed that they needed more to go on, they needed to gather intel and at this moment the only way to do that would be to split up. Going back to Solace to investigate prince Fried’s disappearance was not negotiable, someone had to go see what happened. Svetlana then suggested that Rickard and Boris return to Solace as Hildegard may want to avoid that castle if Fried somehow got abducted from the castle, and they would have to get their hands on the ring too at some point. Svetlana was also very interested in exploring the woods more, in the hope of finding the shrine that Hildegard had seen a month prior.

The plan was agreed upon that Rickard and Boris would go to see the king and investigate the prince’s disappearance, and if time allowed for it, she asked them to search the ancient library for any clues at all.

Svetlana talked to Rickard and Boris alone before the two rode off to the castle of Solace.

As soon as Svetlana rejoined her, Hildegard inquired as to what she had spoken to Rickard and Boris about before she let them off. Svetlana knew she had to tell Hildegard something, but she couldn’t get herself to tell the whole truth, not yet.

She explained that she asked the guards to look into an old wing of the library, that they might find clues there about what could be going on. What she omitted, however, was that one of the specifics she ordered Rickard and Boris to look into was the arranged marriage that tied Fried and Hildegard.

While the marriage and the arrangements for peace were common knowledge in both kingdoms, while the marriage served as some beacon of hope for a war’s end, Svetlana had noticed that everyone, including the royal family members, had seemingly forgotten how, when and even why this arrangement had been made. No one knew, no one remembered, and most of all, no one ever questioned it either; everyone was positively enchanted by the idea.

She always felt like she was the only one who was ever bothered by the question. In fact, she had been curious about the question for a very long time. She even joined the royal guards in an attempt to find out more, yet she was denied access to the wing of the library that may contain information on the matter. Even after becoming captain of the prince’s personal protection squad the continued to be denied access. She then found out that no one had ever been granted access to the oldest wing, tightly locked away behind magic.

With the prince now missing Svetlana hoped Rickard and Boris may be allowed access if it held a means to rescue him. She would have absolutely preferred to have gone back to the castle herself, but this would have to do, she needed to stay close to the princess for now and search for clues. If they came after the prince, they may come for her too.

With Hildegard’s suspicions quelled for now, they quickly rode back the way they had come, returning to the forest.