Welcome back! This chapter will probably be short so I'm sorry in advance! Also, as you can see, I'm a very slow writer and the updates aren't frequent or regular. I also (stupidly) opened a new apply fic recently so I'm trying to balance that into this as well! Anyway, I hope you enjoy Chapter 7!

And yes, the picture is of Cedric because he gets a lot of POV in this chapter.

It had been three weeks since Amelia's trial and yet the emptiness refused to fade from Tiv's heart. He saw his own grief every day, reflected back to him in the shining eyes of his remaining friends, especially Evelyn and Callahan. He knew that they felt guilty for organising the whole damn thing and in his seething misery he couldn't help but resent them too. After all, without those two and their meaningless feast idea his best friend would still be alive.

Even now, after so long, he couldn't bring himself to accept that she was truly gone. As he went about his daily life as Amber's servant, he expected her to be around every corner, or in every shadow lining the corridors, for her to tease him and laugh with him and for heaven's sake, for her to be alive. But every night he was rewarded for his false hope with only bitter disappointment and a hole in his heart that would never fully heal.

He knew the others felt the same. Red-rimmed eyes were common in the kitchens and servants' quarters, even in some of the lords and ladies of Camelot. Tiv envied them; he wanted to cry, to let his emotions come flooding out and to accept that Amelia was never returning. But in the back if his mind a little voice kept telling him that tomorrow, maybe, he would wake up from this nightmarish reality and his life would revert to how it was before.

Maybe.

But it never did.

———

No matter how hard Cedric tried to block it out, he could still hear River's muffled sobs from the next room. His ward spent hours every night crying himself to sleep and, although Cedric recognised the child's need for personal space, this had gone on long enough. Standing with a sigh from his desk, he entered the small bedroom.

Inside, the sight that met his eyes nearly broke his heart. There, on the bed, was River, his small shape hunched over and his figure wracked with heart-wrenching sobs. Quietly, the jester approached his apprentice and lowered himself gently onto the bed beside him.

"River. Hey, River. It's me."

Sniffling, the boy looked up, large eyes shining beneath his dark lashes. "Uncle Cedric?"

"Come here now, River, it's ok child, it's going to be alright. Come here." He opened his arms and the boy practically fell into him, fingers clasping Cedric's jacket  and tears soaking it. The older man rubbed his ward's back soothingly until his tears subsided and then pushed him away a little until he could look into his eyes.

"I know this isn't what you want to hear, but... Amelia isn't coming back. I know that it's hard to accept it, especially when we both know that magic doesn't have to be evil, but, well, fear corrupts and Amelia tried to kill the king." A ghost of a smile brushed over his lips as he stared into River's eyes, River who was precious beyond imagining, beyond anything. "He might not be the best king, but he's doing what he thinks is right. True, it's wrong to punish her for having magic. Can you try to think of it as her being punished for murder? I know this is all Uther's fault, but he's king so River, I beg you, don't challenge him. You'll only get us both killed."

"I won't." whispered River, his voice hoarse from crying.

"Promise me?"

With a small nod, River allowed himself to fall back into Cedric's arms and, within minutes, was fast asleep.

Smiling gently, the jester lowered his ward into bed and pulled the covers up around him before stealthily exiting the room and shutting the door with a soft click.

———

Only a few minutes later, he found himself outside Lady Teodora's room. He knew how upset she was by the death of Amelia, as he had seen the two talking often. Hesitantly, he knocked on the door. He probably wasn't who Teo wanted to see right now, but maybe, just maybe, he could help her.

He had no more time to contemplate his actions, however, when the door swung open to reveal Lady Teodora, red-rimmed eyes glistening softly in the half-light. It was painstakingly obvious that she had been crying recently, and something in his heart twisted with pity as he glanced sorrowfully at the tear tracks shining dimly in the gloom.

"Um... Cedric?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "What are you doing here?" She hissed, glancing up and down the corridor before ushering him inside and shutting the door. "Can I get you anything?"

He watched in amusement as she rushed about, hands fluttering nervously, trying to do so much at once that she ended up doing nothing at all. Gently, he cleared his throat. "Ahem. Teo?"

"Mmm?"

"Just stop rushing around like a startled bird for two seconds and let me talk." He paused. "I don't need anything."

"Wha- then, why?"

"Why am I here? I just wanted to check you were ok." He allowed a soft smile to play across his lips. He knew that most people just say him as the Jester, but he could be serious sometimes too.

"Oh. What about?"

"Amelia."

"Oh." She repeated, then seemed to collect herself, straightening the folds of her dress and running a hand quickly through her hair, as if that could hide her true emotions. "She's dead, Cedric. I don't want to-"

"Yes you do." He guided her until she was sitting on the edge of the bed before lowering himself down beside her. "You know you do."

She broke. Her breath came hard and fast, hitching with sobs as she finally allowed herself to confide in someone how she was really feeling. It was as if Cedric had pulled the stopper from a bottle inside her and everything just came pouring out into the open. They talked long into the night and to her utmost surprise, she felt better.

Slowly her chest rose and fell more regularly, and her tears dried until they felt like nothing more than a distant memory. She turned to the man sitting beside her, just listening. Teo couldn't remember when somebody else had listened to her like that.

"Thank you."

He smiled gently and rose. "If you need me, you know where to find me. Just try not to wake up River, he's having a hard time sleeping as it is." A mischievous grin crept onto his face. "And besides, you know what he's like."

She couldn't help but laugh along with that contagious smile of his.

"Goodbye then, Cedric."

"Bye." The door shut behind him.

———

He was heading back to his chambers when he heard noise. It wasn't a loud noise, nor a particularly alarming noise, but he was still on edge from recent events so, curiosity getting the better of him, he paused and looked around. Nothing. Then...

Footsteps. More than one person's. And whispered voices, too.

Thinking quickly, he ducked into a shadowy alcove and watched tensely as the two silhouettes passed him side by side, heads close together and whispering frantically.

"Well, what do we do?"

"You have to leave, and quickly. If anyone finds out..." It was the voice of Lord Callahan Blackbourne. Cedric didn't recognise the other, although he was sure he had heard it before.

"I know, but Teo will need a new servant. She'll me to go, but I'll have to wait until she finds a replacement whilst I'm gone." That must be Evelyn, then. Yes, it was her voice, now he thought about it.

"How long will you be gone?"

"At least six weeks, maybe more. It depends on... how it goes."

"You are coming back, though? Perhaps I should come with you..."

"No! If we both disappear it looks suspicious, nobody will believe that this is just a visit to my parents' house."

"Well how are you going to explain a six week absence?"

"I'll say my mother was ill. Teo'll understand."

"You mean she'll think she understands?"

"Exactly."

And then they were gone, out of earshot. Usually, Cedric kept things like this to himself, but this sounded... well, suspicious. He didn't want to raise the alarm until he understood more about what was going on, but why would Teo's servant, Evelyn, be talking to Callahan, the Lord Amelia had used to serve? A servant and a lord? It didn't make sense.

Shaking his head in confusion, Cedric turned on his heel and headed quickly back to his room. Him and Lady Teodora needed to talk.

———

The following day, Evelyn was making Teo's bed when she heard feet behind her. She turned to see River, looking up at her through his large, deep brown eyes. "Hey River." She was used to his standing around, talking to her whilst she did her chores, keeping her company when Teo was out. All the servants adored him and she was sure that he sucked up to all of them like this. Regardless, she enjoyed his energy and youthfulness. "Shouldn't you be wearing shoes?"

"Mmm, probably." He cracked a grin. "But I'm not and there all the way back in Uncle Cedric's room so..."

"Alright, I get it. Try not to jump on the bed, ok, I just made it."

"Sure, I'll try." He gave a non-committal nod.

"Well, I think I'm pretty much done here anyway. Want to do something?"

"Yeah, Uncle Cedric's out so I'm free all day."

She gave the neat room one last glance. "Me too, let's go."

The pair made their way outside to the grounds, and River bounced ahead, leading the way to a stretch of greenery that no-one ever really visited. Evelyn had to admit, it was nice to be away from the busy corridors of the castle for a bit. She lowered herself onto the soft green grass and River plopped down beside her, frowning. "Are you getting fat?" He asked bluntly.

Her eyes widened and he cheeks flushed. "River! That's rude!"

"Well, sorry, but you may as well answer, seeing as I asked. Are you stealing food from the kitchens? Can we steal food together? I've got a great plan, you distract the cook and I'll grab the food and we can have a midnight feast!"

"It's a well-thought out plan, River," he beamed, "but I'm not sure Cedric would approve."

"Why not, we've done it before."

Evelyn couldn't help but widen her eyes at that as she snorted. What was Cedric teaching this boy? "Well in that case I suppose we could..." She suddenly remembered what she'd seen last night, on her way bak to her quarters, and an idea popped into her head.

"... But I have a favour to ask you first."

So that's it, sorry for the wait and the incredibly short chapter! I hope you enjoyed anyway, I tried to focus on some characters I haven't really explored yet. I'm planning to write more about Azric, Emile, Lucan and Thoryne next time as well, sorry they haven't had as much description so far!

Also I find it hilarious how shady Callahan and Evelyn are right now because only me, dobblewolf and Cynarr know what's going on with that storyline.

I've PM-ed quite a lot of people about this story now, if I haven't PM-ed you before I probably will soon!

Please vote and comment, I LIVE off comments!

Bye!