Adara had resided in the castle during the wedding preparation and stayed in contact with Akilah through letters. As for Akilah she had managed to get a job in the castle working as the blacksmith's errand boy, through Cal’s recommendation.

Akilah had been forced to cut all her hair off, put on men’s clothing and pretend to be a boy, none of which had bothered her the slightest. The guilt she had over hiding away that day still haunted her. Thus, she would do anything just to be in the vicinity of Adara again, and if that meant dressing up as a boy then so be it.

Adara and Akilah still communicated with each other through letters they would hide under a marked brick in the garden. Everything was going well until he arrived. He was a luxury armor merchant named Dogn, he had a large scar running across his left eye and a snake tattoo across his forearm, that's all the useful information Akilah knew about him from Adara.

Dogn was a cunning and charming man who had managed to convince the kings men that he was a useful merchant, and therefore he was allowed to reside in the castle in-between his journeys. Akilah had grown suspicious of Dogn when he had also managed to slither his way into Adara's good graces.

Akilah knew that there was something off about him, so did Ernest; the blacksmith that she was working for. She had grown close to him during her time there, he had become somewhat of a father figure to her. She had gained his trust and vice versa, in fact he already knew her identity and relations to Adara. He had promised to protect her by keeping it a secret but told her to be careful, as he could not protect her if others found out. She had obliged to his conditions.

Ernest had told Akilah to warn her sister from becoming to close with Dogn. Ernest had noticed that there were some flaws in Dogn's knowledge about swords and weaponry, which were red flags for Ernest. “How can a arms dealer not have full knowledge of these things?” Ernest questioned, “There's something off about him.” he had told Akilah.

However Adara being the naive kindhearted girl that she was didn't heed Akilah's warning, she downplayed them “You shouldn't jump to conclusions and think the worst of people” Adara told her. Slowly but surely Dogn befriend Adara and became really good friends with her.

Rumors of their friendship had reached the kings ear and he became aware but did not intervene, because he didn't think that Dogn would be so foolish as to try anything with his soon-to-be wife. But just to be on the safe side he sent one of his trusted soldiers named Era to become Adara’s personal guard and to keep an eye on her.

Adara and Dogn's friendship grew and he invited her out to a special place in the garden for them to have a picnic, it was a small, isolated area in the edge of the garden. Adara accepted the invite. However, this decision would mark the beginning of the end for Adara.