"Don't move, don't speak," Luke's whisper was barely louder than a heartbeat. The rust coloured snake slithered out of sight but the sound of its movement within the long grass was audible. Luke shifted from his bench to hers before Jade could blink.

"I thought you wanted me to say something," Jade uttered gently in Luke's ear. Her lips lightly touched he man's shaved cheek.

"The snake cannot see you if you do not move," Luke replied back. His eyes were on where he estimated the snake was but his lips curved with the briefest hint of a smile. He had understood her teasing perfectly.

"My dress moves even when I breath," Jade mumbled. Luke's hand rested on her shoulder as if he could camouflage her behind him.

"Hold your breath," The man's lips barely moved. In the corner of their eye they could see the venomous creature unravel and sniff through the air as if searching for something.

"Dimitri must know we're here, right?" Jade's voice pitch was higher as the snake found the steps to the pavilion. Luke's grip around her nearly drowned her in its strength.

The snake slithered forward it's tongue tasting the warm air of the conservatory and Jade could not control herself. She pulled her feet up making a tink tink sound with her glass shoes. The reptile shifted left, towards the waiting pair..

"I asked him to give us privacy, tonight" Luke explained with a harried expression.

"Blast it, I suppose you have a weapon. I have nothing on my person. I shouldn't have left my staff back in the room," The brown haired girl had given up trying to be silent. She manoeuvred herself on top of the marble bench and pulled the Prince up with her.

"I didn't expect this sort of an engagement tonight. The only thing on my person is my ceremonial sword and it's blunt like a butter knife," Luke exhaled. His sharp grey were still watching the snake's every move. Jade instead was casting a look around the clearing in search of a weapon

.

"Not even a ring?" Jade laughed making Luke stare at her. He couldn't fathom how she always had her wits about to crack the most rubbish jokes at the worst moments.

"I wasn't proposing," The Prince bit out, impatiently, "I was merely hoping you would disclose your feelings for me. I'm not so boorish to turn up with a ring and a marriage proposal. I'm not like my brother."

"Don't tell me..." Jade yelped as the snake lunged forward. The animal's behaviour was too unnatural for it to be non-magical Jade surmised.

"Lets just say I averted a great disaster," Luke declared, brandishing his useless sword. He rammed it in the snake but it couldn't even penetrate the scaly skin.

"Was he dropped on his head as a child. I sometimes wonder..." The girl announce as the reptile bit into her dress. She pulled it back and managed to tear a chunk off the silvery organza. Her aspirations of getting back to the party, held in her honour, unscathed were now all but lost.

"Stop thinking about him. Think about me," Luke laughed. Jade gave him a cross eyed look and hurled her weighty hair pin on the snake. It barely grazed the animal and clattered to one size worthlessly.

"I'm always thinking about you. But we have a large slithering animal to contend with," Jade brushed her hair out of her face. There was rain of delicate flower all over them as the decorations on her hair could not withstand the rapid movements.

"Its tail is the closest from behind," The Prince panted as he used his sword to spar off the attacks again and again.

"An unwise move. I may not have hunted before but Ambrose has narrated many a tale on how to fell a snake. We must go for the head," Jade exclaimed, shrilly.

Luke had barely a chance to reply when the tail he had hoped to attack raised itself from behind them and grabbed onto his navy trousers. He toppled over onto the smooth marble floor as Jade wailed in surprise.

The snake used its deadly grip to raise the man many feet in the air and threw him from atop the marble pavilion. The force of the throw was so great that the man was a blur of navy clothes and dark hair as he went flying. Jade jumped off the bench roaring obscenities.

"Luke!" The girl screamed as she realised the snake had coiled up around the man in an attempt to crush him to death. The coils wound tighter and tighter until Luke was gasping for breath.

"Leave him, viper!" Jade hollered, "I am the one you want."

The rust coloured snake paused in its attempts to devour its prey and abruptly released the limp man. Luke fell to the grass with a thump.

Jade had no time to inspect the Prince for injuries. She took off her cumbersome shoes and made a run for it barefoot. She had no such high hopes of outrunning the deadly beast but at least she could lead it away from the prone man. She refused to let him die.

Breathing heavily she did not allow sharp rock and thorns to thwart her attempt but the snake lunged from her between the shrubbery on the left and slid her along the grass. Jade could sense the delicate fabric around her neck rip as it was dragged on the uneven ground.

Jade could feel the venom of the snake drip along her neck. The sizzle of the acidic poison lightly burnt her flesh. Before it could pierce her skin she slammed the glass shoe in her hand onto the animal's face.

The snake hissed and attacked furiously. She rammed her other glass shoe where ever she could reach and deflected the attack. To her surprise a splatter of blood dripped on her skin. Elated that her makeshift weapon was working Jade continued to hit the snake until she felt the shatter of the glass.

Jade heard a loud racket from behind her and the second of pause allowed the bloody snake its opportunity to disappear into the shrubbery.

The girl swiftly rose from the ground and swirled around to find a glowering Crown Prince barging into the green clearing.

"I have had my guards search the entire palace for the both of you," Edward's words did not lack the bite. Any other harsh words he had intended to hurl at her died on his lips. His eyes roved over her ruined state and ceased any efforts to berate her.

"We were attacked by a snake," Jade panted. She dropped the broken shoes on the ground with a crunch and bent over with her hands on her knees to catch a breath.

"Is that what you young people are calling it these days," Edward muttered but his expression of disdain changed to worry at the sight of his younger brother lying prone on the ground. He jogged along with Jade to where the man lay.

"I think my shoulder was dislocated," Luke's breath was slow and rattling. He clutched onto his right shoulder with a grimace.

"Do you want to go to the healers or should I do the honours," Edward asked with a grim expression. His careful fingers run over his brother's shoulders and it seems he had come to the same conclusion.

"Maybe he should be seen by a professional first," Jade declared, feeling horrified by the blooming patch of blood blossoming on the Prince's face.

"Close your eyes If you must. It'll be over soon," Luke grunted as he allowed his brother to extend his arm forward.

Jade crouched down with her organza dress sweeping the ground. The edges were now rough and dirt strewn. Her hair was mused and sticking out from one side.

"I'll stay here, right with you," She asserted and took his uninjured hand into hers. Luke screamed as his arm was pulled forward by his brother and Jade clutched on with all her might. Tears pricked her eyes at the sight of the man in pain. She neither heard nor felt anything as the Prince was laid on the stretcher by a group of soldiers and carried away from her.

...

"I couldn't kill the snake. It escaped before I could severe it's head," Jade shook her head with self loathing. Her loose hair fell all over her face.

She was sat in Sir Elliot's office swirling a drink. She could barely tell which one she had been offered for it tasted like ash on her tongue.

"We must end this situation. It cannot go on. It must not. Luke wasn't even the target and he still managed to get injured," Edward's face looked gaunt in the fireplace light. Sir Elliot sat on his own desk with a sombre expression. For once he had no paperwork to sign.

"It's all my fault. I should have stayed away from him the moment my dreams changed flavour," The girl declared. She wore a voluminous men's robe over her tattered dress and fluffy shoes procured from Sir Elliot's office. She had faintly wondered what the older secretary slept in at night. His nightclothes broke the illusion that he never slept at all.

"My first instinct is to agree but I know that is not the case. You couldn't have known," The Crown Prince sighed. He looked as if the weight on his shoulders was breaking his resolve. The gravity of he situation had hit him profoundly.

"We must contain the situation. You know what to do," Sir Elliot ordered gravely. Despite not being under his command Jade knew she had to obey.

"Yes, I know. Keep Luke away from me, please. At least until we capture the witch," The girl pleaded. She watched the men's wane faces as the clock stuck twelve. Jade placed her drink down realising she could never finish it.

"You overestimate my merits. I cannot keep him away from you. He will follow you to the ends of the earth. Where will you go?" The Prince asked. He bit his lip as if deep in thought.

"My plan is to go back my country estate. The witch will find me there easily. This time our plan to use a bait shall work," Jade elaborated with a faint sense of positivity.

"You are undertaking a great risk. Perhaps you should remain at the palace. It might be safer," Edward was less reluctant to order such fool hardy plans.

"I was in the middle of the palace when I was attacked by a ferocious beast. I daresay no place is safe for me until we close this chapter," The former secretary answered. Her lips thinned out as she attempted to conjure up a plan while her hands still trembled from the shock of the events that had occured.

...

Jade looked down at the discarded staff rolling on the heated floor. She picked it up with a grunt and turned it over in her hands and was alarmed to find a burn mark on handle. Jade was at a loss as to when she had damaged her staff.

Jade placed the staff on top of her large travelling bag. The palace room had been cleared of all her belongings and shifted into various carriages. The traveling bag would be stored in the carriage she was supposed to be seated in.

The journey back to her country estate would take her two days. She hoped the witch would give her respite from her travels before attacking her again.

Tying her hair in the mirror Jade walked out of the room to give the servants further orders. She missed the way her staff glowed as it waited to be re-joined with its real mistress.