The intense drop in temperatures signified the beginning of the coldest winter Denise was going to face. The trees were frozen by the Northern winds making them as hard as stone, the ground was dry and the air was the same state. There was no one outside and the weather was dampening the servants' spirits. The Northern winter was considered the worst winter in the continent. There were songs about the winter and how ignorant people died from it. Denise didn't know any of the songs.

"My lady, the winter clothing suits you" one of the maids said and she stared at the mirror, her reflection, a winter wonder. She was dressed in pristine white. The color of snow, purity and peace. It accentuated her dark blue eyes even further giving her a gem-like look. Colette never liked the color white on her, she wanted to be pink and peachy like the blondes in the capital. But she wouldn't have a choice here.

Until the first snow fell, the Lady of the Northern Gates would wear white, she would usher in the winter and pray for the safety of the Northern People at the Spirit Gates.

"Seems like a lot of work" she mumbled.

"Pardon my lady?"

"Is it done?" she asked instead.

"Yes my lady" the maid stood up and admired her work with a smile, "Where would you like your breakfast served this morning my lady?"

She had a choice? Absurd.

"What about the lord?"

"He has set out for the mines, my lady"

She was alone in the castle? Could she make a break for it? Live wild and free as a fugitive? A runaway wife? Become the lady of the wilderness because that would be the only way she could actually survive as an escaped Lady Viler, live away from society and bereft from all human contact as they would die at the hands of her chasing madman husband. How could she be so stupid? Escape?

She laughed and said,"I'll have it in my room"

The maid nodded and left her alone. She hadn't been alone except for the night, in a while. She enjoyed her peaceful privacy. She grabbed Colette's secret box and began to read the letters. She had a problem here, one she had to sole immediately. The issue of Colette's lover.

Lord Viler, in all his handsome glory was a man, with a body built for the gods, a face sculpted by a vanity loving mad genius and a terrible personality to add salt to injury. She had to save this so-called lover. She had to break his heart in some fashion and make sure he never sets foot in the continent, or something like that.

"My lady" the maid walked back in with the breakfast. Once she was served she ushered the maid to leave. She had so much to think about. She took out a piece of paper after she had her fill of the tea and pastries. She wanted to write down a plan. A means to her survival in her unprecedented situation as well as highlight her current problems.

1. Find out the identity of the supposed lover

2. Communicate with the merchants...

Ah. She was finding the matter regarding the lover, trivial. The minute she switched to the business side of her mind, she was distracting herself from the true problem at hand. But where would she start? The letters were written in verse!

She threw the paper away and took a deep breath.

How do you decipher:

My beloved stallion,

Secret to my soul,

Singer to my heart,

Rider of my...

She couldn't read any more, it made her head ache. It made bile rise up her throat reading the secret letters of a lover's rendezvous. Couldn't they find an easier method of subjecting each other to their heart's lust? Denise had an idea.

She got up from her chair, grabbed the paper, cancelled away the nonsense and began to draw. She called for her maid and requested a cloak. They were going to the mines, she needed to see Harry.

"Madam" the maid said when she was heading to the door.

"Yes" she asked.

"There is an easier way to get to the mines. " the maid said with a smile.

"An easier way?" she asked.

The maid led her down a flight of well lit stairs, two guards stood in front of a pair of large doors. The castle had an underground system?

"Where are we going?" Denise asked, she was going to be cautious. She didn't want to die again. It was tragic, just like how she was dressed in white in an underground door to somewhere.

"The Underground Town, my lady"

"Underground Town?"

"Yes, the roads become unusable during winter,so the lord created an Underground Town, each part of the Northern Gate has an entry point to the Town. All the stores have versions of their stores here. It also serves as a quick way to the mine, my lady."

"The lord created this?" Denise was honestly astonished. This was incredible.

The guards nodded and they opened one of the big doors for her to pass.

"It was originally a mining shaft that connected the castle to the mines but the lord wanted a way to get past the deep snow with his men to fight the monsters past the Northern Gates, my lady."

"Incredible" Denise said.

People strolled around normally, horses drew carts with items, shops run as normal and children ran around without abandon while their parents chased after them with worry.

A carriage stopped in front of them with the Viler household emblem. She got on and to the mines they went.