The morning sunlight streamed into the bedchamber and found Princess Aliea's naked body. Beside her was the boy that she invited to her bedchamber last night.

She was already up and was gazing at the young man's face resting on her perky breasts. It made her feel lighthearted to think that a man who was a head taller than she was could fit so snugly under her arms. She liked the feeling of having one of her pretty pillow boys in her arms, it made her feel in charge and powerful—not that she needs to prove anything, she simply truly enjoyed the feeling. The boy's face was the color of copper, and he had lips so full that seemed to be constantly inviting a kiss, and what a good kisser he was!

He was one of the stable boys working for old Wilcock. She couldn't remember his name. Was it Rodrick, or Rently? Doesn't matter. He got the sex drive and sweet talks and those were all that mattered to her.

The memory of last night made Aliea yearning for more. With a smirk on her face, she ran her fingers down from the boy's well-defined pecks, feeling his firm and hard muscles as she glided her fingers down to the six-packs. Each time her finger felt the dip between the burgeoning muscles, a pleasant sensation tickled between her legs. She then reached down further to find out if Mother Zaya had bestowed her gift upon the boy this morning. She was disappointed.

The boy was spent, at least for now, and like everything in Aliea's life, she doesn't waste her time on *things* that were worthless and spent. As the princess regent of Ubin Fall, she couldn't afford to be sentimental.

So thinking, she pushed the boy's head to a side and got off the bed. The morning air felt chilly on her naked skin but the stone tiles warmed her feet as they were heated by steaming hot spring coursing underneath.

Ubin Fall was ancient, legend said that it was the dwarfs who had laid the first stone during the Mythical Age eons ago. Dwarfs were master builders then: they build magnificent palaces, eighteen-span stone bridges that could fit a hundred carts at once and even giant moving iron golems. Unlike the dwarfs nowadays, such as that old stubborn fool Benmar who wasted his life hammering the anvil, the ancient dwarfs were proud masters of the land. They spread throughout the entire continent including the Tundra. With their profound knowledge of everything sub-terrain, they laid Ubin Fall Keep's foundation on a natural hot spring. Under the thick stones floors and walls, ran hot veins that constantly supplied its occupants with heat to ward off the unforgiving tundra winds.

From the bed, Aliea picked up a purple housecoat and skinned into it, then she walked over to a vanity to do her hair and makeup in front the gleaming mirror. A bottle of blue sand was still on the counter, Aliea glanced at it furtively and then quickly put it away in a drawer. Then she looked into the mirror to see if the boy had noticed the action.

The boy had already waking up, gazing at her back with a pair of sleepy eyes. His blank stare suggested he didn't notice anything suspicious: the secret was still safe.

She pretended that she didn't notice him through the mirror and tilted her head to one side to let her wavy curls tumble down so she could brush them, then, she let one of her shoulders seemingly inadvertently slip out of the silky coat. Suddenly, a third of her back was bare-naked in front of the boy's eyes.

Aliea registered a glint in the boy's eyes through the mirror. She knew mother Zaya was calling upon the boy now.

She turned her head over the shoulder and locked her eyes with the copper-skinned boy. Being caught ogling at the half-naked princess, the boy's face flushed red and looked down to avoid her gaze. Already, Aliea could trace out his burning desire rising under the sheets.

She plastered on an accusatory frown and chided: "How insolent! Why are you staring at me?"

The boy hurried to sit up and stammered: "Because you are...beautiful. My lady."

Aliea's mouth curled into a cold smile.

"Are you joining the council meeting today?" The boy hazarded.

"Yes, and why does a stable boy care about his lord's business? "

"My lady, I might be a stable boy now..." The boy blushed and tried to muster as much courage as possible to continue "but I wanted to be a knight one day. A real knight that can protect you, my lady."

His acting was pathetic, she thought to herself.

"Do I look like that I need any protection with Sir Francis already by my side? Perhaps I discuss your doubts about his competence with him personally." Aliea gave the stable boy a challenging look.

"That's not what I meant, my lady. Don't let Sir Francis know I said that, I don't want him to carve me up like some animals. But Mr. Willlock had promised me to teach me some basic skills, like with swords and shields and what have you. Maybe one day I will be good enough to be a squire. Maybe I will squire for Sir Francis himself."

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*Sir Francis would rather kill himself than letting a stable boy squire for him*. She thought to herself.

"The streets are dangerous, my lady. Haven't you heard that those bastard dwarfs and elves are living in the sewer now? They came out at night to prey on the innocent." The stable boy paused a second as a light flashed in his eyes. He then continued, more cautiously, "I just can't figure out where they have gotten the weapons."

The boy's question caught Aliea's attention, she put down her ivory hairbrush and turned around to listen to the boy attentively.

If the boy was startled by Aliea's sudden attention, he didn't show it on his face. He continued:

"My lady, you might not be familiar with what's outside the keep, but I grow up out there. I know the city has only three blacksmith shops. Out of the three shops, only the old Benmar could have made any decent . The other two human blacksmiths were only good for fixing pots and cattle." The boy smirked.

Aliea narrowed her eyes and said: "So, you are saying..."

"Yes, I am saying that Benmar is behind these scumbags. He must have supplied them with weapons."

*Benmar wouldn't give those black hand lads a needle*, Aliea thought to herself, *he is supplying them armors, you fool... *

"That's some useful information you have got there. I will think about it and I might even bring it up to the council meeting. Speaking of which, I think it's about your time to leave, Rodric...or Rently...whoever you are. You may come back tonight again. But now I need some time alone. Leave me now."

"Yes, my lady." The boy clambered out of the bed, quickly slipped on a pair of trousers and headed toward the door. Aliea shot a hot glare at the boy and pointed at the window. The boy nodded and moved to the window and got out before he could even put his tunic on.

Aliea marveled at the movement of his gleaming muscles as orange morning sunlight ran down from the copper skin. Then she saw the scratch marks she had left on his back last night. The blue sand which she had transferred from her fingernail to his skin was still visible, but soon it will disappear under the sunlight, leaving only a spell on the unwitting boy for a few more summers to come.

When Aliea arrived at the council meeting, the sun had already reached the top of the eastern gate. Members of the city council had been waiting for her for a few hours. Aliea's father, the old lord had been bed-bound ever since last winter, so Aliea, the old lord's most trusted child sat in his seat, as per her father's instruction.

There were six chairs at the table, each for one of the key positions of the hold: The Grand Alchemist, the Marshall, the Spymaster, the Steward,the Housecarl Captain and the Lord himself. However today, there were two more chairs set at the furthest end of the table directly across from Aliea's high back throne.

A man with a fiery beard sat in one of the extra chairs. He was dressed in a priestly robe with red and white stripes. At the back of the robe was a large bloody hand against a field of white: The sigil for the order of Bok. Aliea had seen this man before. He preached his awful religion in the streets, and sometimes, she even saw him hurried in and out of the keep. His principles and ideologies were the sources of the poison now run deep in the veins of the city.

The Order had been operating in Ubin Fall for over a decade now, yet this was the first time a member of the Order made an appearance before the council. Already, Aliea knew that she was not going to like whatever came out of that man's mouth.

Sitting right next to the priest was a much more familiar face: Aliea's older brother Milon. Milon was nearly ten years older than her and they had never liked each other. Not only their ages were too far apart, but also their personalities were polar opposite. Stood six feet tall, Milon was handsome, well built and wore a constant warm smile on his face, but beneath that good look, he was overly idealistic, careless, and downright stupid at times.

The old lord himself knew he couldn't trust the matter of the city with Milon, so he had handed over the regency to his younger daughter while he was sick. However, being ten years older than Aliea had given Milon more allies in the council than a pretty little girl could ever have.

"You are late, my lady." Grand Alchemist Meriel adjusted her baggy robe and said.

"No, it was the council that has arrived too early." Aliea flung back at her with a smirk.