The Imperial Prince was no fool; he was in a defensive posture, had his knife ready against another attack, and spotted the blood-bathed Mirror. In any other instance, Emberlee knew Damien would have called for the Knights but that bloodied Mirror was hard to explain. Instead, he looked at her and quietly asked, "All clear?" his body language did not relax until she nodded in confirmation. And then he rushed over, helping her sit up and removing the painful straps from wrist and mouth. "Are you alright?" he fussed, hands doing a careful sweep of her body for bleeding wounds but finding only a goose egg on her head and various contusions elsewhere. 
"I have a concussion, "at least she wasn't slurring. "And I'm going to have the most interesting bruises for tomorrow." 
He surprised her by hugging her to him as if he could wrap her in his arms and keep her safe. "I'm sorry your life is constantly at risk because of me."
The concussion was still affecting her, Emberlee surprised herself by offering comforting truths, "Don't apologize, Damien, the moment I decided to marry you I accepted this. Besides, even if I'd simply gone back to Ortega this would still be happening; I exist and Clara cannot tolerate that. At least here with you, I don't have to face it alone." It was the pragmatic truth, but for some reason, Prince Damien went from hugging her lightly to pressing a kiss to her bruised lips. 
It wasn't salacious, but endearingly sweet, "Tell me what happened, I'll have the Knight sweep the grounds to track how he got in," he insisted, as practical as she was. 
So she told him everything, but when they looked at the once bloodied Mirror they saw it was again clear. And Emberlee's reflection gave her a wink. "Tell them I saw someone near my balcony, let the employee think the attempt failed before it could start. They wanted me gone without a trace but now it's their assassin that has vanished." 
"Is there anyone besides the Empress who'd benefit from you suddenly disappearing?" He brought her to the couch in her room but she didn't have to answer because they both knew it.
Her political enemies wanted her diminished, not dead. She was still too useful alive and taking action, the only one this would have suited was Clara. "I'm more useful as a pain in the ass they can deal with than risking an even more antagonistic replacement," her head hurt but she was starting to feel less dazed. 
Damien pressed a kiss to her forehead and then went to fetch Sir Ludwig and the Guards. To their evident surprise, Sir Ludwig went straight to Emberlee and knelt in front of her as customary, though he left the eye patch on this time. "Mistress, command me," Ludwig abased and Emberlee couldn't suppress her grim smile. 
"Someone tried to abduct me from the balcony, they're gone now but I want to know how they reached me," Nothing said was a lie, though she knew the implications drawn would be that the assailant got away. 
More importantly, both the Prince and the other Knights saw how she controlled Sir Ludwig. He had been a well-trained taught before disgracing himself, and now those skills were hers as he began inspecting the small traces from the attack. No body, no blood, only the two leather straps left behind that had bound her. Not even the fabric gag had remained as the assassin had cleared the evidence before she'd killed him, and yet Ludwig followed minuscule traces out onto the balcony, and then over the railing to follow. On the grounds below she could hear the cacophonous stir of the night's activities burying any trace of Ludwig's trail. It would have been impossible to follow them had the assassin gotten her properly subdued.
Prince Damien was still looking agitated, though he tried to hide the shaking in his hands, so Emberlee told the other Knights to stand guard outside, giving them a modicum of privacy. He'd apologized to her for putting her life at risk, and he seemed more bothered by it than she was. But that made sense; his mother had died to an assassin's blade. All the logical arguments in the world wouldn't undo the trauma, even if he wasn't in love with her. They were partners, and losing her would be its own devastation to someone already damaged; the way losing Aubin after Mother's death had been for her.