Catriona passed in the throne room, her mouth covered with her hand. She was trying not to cry again while she waited for reports from the Black Forest evacuation. She wanted to protect as many people as she could, even if she wasn't able to protect her husband.

Two days prior, they had found the King dead in the hallway with his throat ripped open, and Catriona knew that it was the doing of something lurking the Black Forest. There were always tales and stories about monsters and witches, and Catriona wanted a full search of that forest. 

They had decided to stay in a secret vacation home in Stuttgart, which Catriona wanted to go to in the first place. That was where the king had been attacked, and she knew that going to that vacation home was the biggest regret of her life. The soldiers searched for the culprit for hours with no sign of anyone guilty. She ordered a search and evacuation of the surrounding homes and towns in order to narrow the search.

Now, Catriona was waiting to hear back to see what had happened during the evacuation and to issue the search of the forest. She had hired a guide for the soldiers, a man who had often hunted in those woods that went by the name Wilhelm Homburg. In secret, she gave him a secret mission to assassinate the king killer if he was ever found. There was one other thing that set Wilhelm apart from the other hunters in that area, however. He was well versed and a heavy believer in the myths and legends of the Black Forest.

"My Queen," a man exclaimed as he bowed after entering the room. Catriona looked up to find Wilhelm walking towards her. He was a large, bulky man with short brown hair and deep brown eyes.

"Herr Homburg," she greeted as she stood still again. Then a second man came in, her general who was in charge of the evacuation, and he bowed as well. Wilhelm dwarfed the poor man, as the general was thinner and shorter than the hunter. "General, come in, come in. Did you have any trouble?"

"Everyone was mostly very willing to relocate with the new houses available. There wasn't any trouble that we weren't able to take care of," the general answered after he faced her again. The queen nodded, relieved to hear that the process was going smoothly. 

"Very good," she murmured, continuing to nod. "Any sign of anything unusual in the forest?"

"Not yet, but we're looking. A few people have mentioned where a dark witch may live within the Black Forest, so we're looking into that now," the general informed. He was skeptical of any witches or anything of the sort living in the woods. He believed that the culprit was human, however he would never mention a thing to his queen. It was apparent she believed in the the magic of the Black Forest, and he wasn't one to go around dismantling beliefs.

"Excellent. Continue the search and update me on any information that you can," Catriona instructed before the general bowed and left the room. Wilhelm stayed, looking at her. "How does the hunt go?"

"The general was correct that we have pinpointed a location where the witch, or whatever it is, is hiding. However, one of my own men found a hidden fortress in the forest that we are going to check out very soon. We'll investigate the witch home first, and move south towards the castle," Wilhelm answered, pleasing the queen.

"Perfect. I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of this," Catriona smiled. "I'm also going to send my son with you. He's been anxious since the... incident, and I think that this would be helpful for him."

"Of course, I would welcome any help we can get," Wilhelm replied, concerned to have a prince on his team. However, to deny the queen was to question her trust. The queen waved toward a doorway in the corner and a young man walked in.

"I had him sent over the moment you came in. I hope we prepared him well," the queen informed as Prince Sieghard walked in. Wilhelm greeted the prince politely. "Please look after him."

"Mother," Sieghard hissed, glancing at his mother. Wilhelm sized up the prince, who was strikingly similar to his mother. Both had blonde hair, although hers was considerably longer, and they shared the same bone structure. However, while Catriona had bright blue eyes, Sieghard's eyes were an intense green. Wilhelm guessed it was passed down from the father, but he would never know for sure.

"We will watch each other's backs, I'm sure," Wilhelm offered, hoping to bridge a peace between the mother and son. Catriona smiled in response. With another bow, Wilhelm said his farewells to the queen and the prince kissed his mother's cheek before leaving for the Black Forest.