《The Princess With Violet Eyes》


 Turning 16

    My 16th birthday is tomorrow and I am terrified. I have a very good reason to be terrified however. Not a reason like, ¡°I just want to stay young forever.¡± or something ridiculous like that. You see, there was a lot riding on my 16th birthday. In every kingdom every year on people¡¯s 16th birthdays something special could happen to them. At the exact time that they turn 16, for me that is at 2:30 a.m, their eyes could change from their original color to violet. This was a pretty rare occurrence because violet eyes means that person now has something we call a ¡®presence¡¯. Basically a presence is when a person can do something that nobody else can do like flying. The darker violet their eyes are, the more powerful of a presence they have.


    If I do not get a presence then my kingdom, Kuli,  would be pronounced easy to invade because I was not just a normal citizen of the kingdom. No, I am the youngest royal in my kingdom. Princess Ariana Esma. However I go by Ari. I have two older brothers whose sixteenth birthdays'' had already passed away and neither of them got a presence. My eldest brother is Crown Prince Tristian at age 19. My other brother''s name is Prince Carter, and he is 18 years old. When there is a generation in a kingdom where no royal children receive a presence, that family is not believed to be royal. They would be pronounced fakes. This means that other royal families can wage war on them without any consequences. I would not let that happen to my family. Not that I could do anything to make sure that I get a presence. That does not stop my family from trying however.


    My strict mother, Queen Catherine, forced me to take lavender soap filled baths every day for six months. Each was nearly twenty minutes because she believed it would make me get a presence.  Apparently this was how her mother tried to force her to get a presence. Even though it had not worked, my mother still believed that it could work on me. After all my grandmother had done it to my mother¡¯s younger sister and she had received a presence.The rest of my family had a little bit of a different approach for helping me. My regal father, King Daniel, ordered me to get a presence. Like literally. He made me kneel in front of his throne and then ordered me in a loud voice to get a presence. He just did that because he did not know how else to deal with this problem. Especially since he never got a presence. His older brother got one though. Meanwhile my ridiculous brothers scared me wherever I went. They thought that scaring me would somehow force me to get violet eyes.


    I really hope that it works. I know that deep down, if I do get a presence, it will not be because of what they did, but a girl can dream. As I lay in bed that night, I started wishing on all the stars I could see outside of my window that I would get a presence. I could not bear the pain of knowing I let both my family and kingdom down. It would be too much. That night I tried to sleep, but I could not. The stress was too much. After about 11:30 p.m I decided that I could not lay in bed anymore. I got up, dressed in a dark violet gown for luck, and went outside into the gardens. I knew that my parents would think that it was strange to see me up so late, and even more so because I was all dressed up, but I couldn''t care less at that moment. If they did see me then I just hoped they would remember how stressed they were the night before their 16th birthdays¡¯.


    As I walked alone in the moonlit garden, at least as alone as a princess is with her guards, I finally felt some peace in the matter. There was nothing I could do to change what was going to happen. Smiling now, I looked around at all the fully bloomed flowers all around me. There were roses, lilies, lavenders, carnations, and so much more. All different colors, shapes, and smells. Turning around I gazed at my beautiful home with all of its turrets, spirals, and balconies. The silver color of my home almost seemed to glow in the moonlight. After walking around a bit more, I decided to head back to my room to maybe get a little bit of sleep that night. I was thinking that it was possible now that I had finally calmed down some.


    Walking slowly back to my room, I tried to not think about what would happen tomorrow, or more technically today, and just tried to relax. Once back in my room, I bid my guards good-night, changed back into my pajamas, and crawled into bed. Almost immediately, I fell sound asleep. At 2:30 the next morning, about 2 hours after I had fallen asleep, I was woken up by a knock on my door. I blinked and rubbed my eyes trying to wake up. The knock sounded again. Louder.


    Sighing, I got up, and went to the door. The two guards stationed in my room stood on either side of me at the ready even though if there was danger my two guards outside of my room would have warned us. I opened it once they were in position. My family, who stood right outside of the door, all had different reactions when they saw me. My mother started crying and hugging me to her, my dad looked extremely relieved, and my brothers both started cheering. I was shocked for a moment, but then I shook off my sleepiness and remembered. Today was my 16th birthday and it was now past 2:30 a.m. Based on their reactions, I had gotten my wish of a presence.


    Gently stepping out of my mother¡¯s tight hold, I went in front of my mirror to see my eyes. Originally hazel, my eyes were now violet. My mouth dropped open in shock. Not only were they violet, they were a darker shade of violet. That meant that I had gotten more than I had planned for. My dad walked up and put his hands on my shoulders. ¡°You will now be even more of a target then you were before. Especially since your eyes are so dark. From now on you will be trained to use your presence and have six guards instead of four. The extra two will come from my personal guards.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± I said breathlessly. ¡°Does that mean I am an even bigger target than you if you are giving me two of your guards?¡± Smiling, my dad nodded.


    ¡°Yes. That is why I am not even giving you two of my guards; they are going to be Alex, and Tyler.¡± My mouth dropped open again.


    ¡°Those are your two best guards though!¡± He nodded and then left the room to get them before I could try to talk him out of it. My brain could not even comprehend the possibility that I was now even more of a target than my dad. While I was still thinking about this, my brothers each came up to one of my shoulders and shook me.


    ¡°Wow sis, you might even be able to beat us in a fight for once with your presence!¡± Tristan smirked at me.


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°I can already beat you guys in a fight.¡±


    Forgetting that we were not alone, shock went through me when my mother spoke. ¡°You have fought with them before? You are a princess! Princesses do not fight!¡± My brothers had both jumped when she had spoken too. It seemed like all of us had forgotten she was there. Their guilty faces looked at me with apologies before they turned and ran from our mother¡¯s wrath.


    ¡°It was just a little bit of fun, Mom. They went easy on me, and we worked with practice swords. Nothing went wrong, and it gave me a bit of experience should I need to defend myself.¡±


    That was the wrong thing to say. ¡°You will never have to protect yourself. That is why you have guards.¡± Her voice was like a whip. Sharp, and hard.


    My voice got sharper too. ¡°What if my guards are busy fighting and then they are overwhelmed? You would rather that I either get killed or captured then fight?¡±


    She was shaking her head before I even finished. ¡°If there is even a chance of something like that happening then we need to give you either more guards or better ones.¡±


    I threw my hands up in frustration and decided to just ignore her. She continued talking for a while before she realized that I was not listening to a thing she said. Shaking her head again, my mother left the room. So much for everyone being happy now that our kingdom was saved from being attacked at least for the moment. When my dad walked in about a minute later, I could tell he had run into my mother on the way here. I held up my hand before he could speak. ¡°I do not want to talk about it right now. Did you actually bring them? Or did you decide to be sensible and keep your two best guards for yourself as head of the kingdom?¡±


    My father chuckled. ¡°Nope, I made them stay outside just in case you wanted to talk first in private.¡± He called back over his shoulder at the door. ¡°You can come in now.¡± The door immediately opened, and Alex walked in first followed closely by Tyler. They looked almost like twins. Both were tall and lean; however, Alex has blonde hair and Tyler has black hair. Once inside they bowed first to my dad and then to me. Rolling his eyes at them my dad said, ¡°Really? The only time you bow to me is when we are around other guards.¡± Turning to my personal guards my father asked, ¡°Can you keep a secret?¡± Looking quite offended, the guards nodded. A smile appeared on his face. When he had asked that question he had already known the answer, and had known that they would be offended. It gave him joy to ask those sorts of questions. ¡°Alex and Tyler only act formally around us when other guards that they have not met before, or at least do not know well, are around. Also when visiting royals are around.¡±


    Turning to Alex and Tyler who were now leaning against my wall, my guards looked appalled. Seeing that, Tyler said, ¡°What? We have known these guys for our entire lives and they told us that we can treat them as equals to ourselves. However, when others are around to see, we treat them as royals even though they don¡¯t want us to.¡± Though they did not look convinced, my guards nodded.


    ¡°Anyways,¡± Alex started, looking at me. ¡°That is not why we are here. Your dad was not exaggerating, those eyes are really dark. I get why you want us to be added to her guards. That being said, what about you?¡± Once he said that last part, he turned and looked directly into my dad¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I already told you. Ari is now in more danger than I would ever be. She is now going to be seen as a powerful presence warrior or shield. Either way, she will be more of a target than me.¡±


    ¡°We do not know that though. Maybe you should think about splitting us up. You get one, and the other will guard Ari.¡±


    My dad had started shaking his head before Alex had even finished. ¡°No, but if it will make you feel better I will take two of her guards away and they can then guard me. She will have 4 guards and I will still have my 8.¡± After a second of looking at each other, Alex and Tyler nodded. They accepted this deal. ¡°Great. You and you come with me.¡± The two guards who had watched this whole exchange bowed and followed him out of the room.


    I glanced at my two new guards out of the corner of my eyes. ¡°Now that you two are my new guards, will you let me practice fighting with either you or my brothers?¡± They laughed.


    ¡°No way. I bet that is how you got in so much trouble with your mother.¡± After seeing me wince, Tyler nodded. ¡°That is what I thought.¡±


    I shook my head. "She just doesn''t understand. Even though I have grown she still treats me like I am a fragile young princess."


    "Well, that is what parents do. They want their kids to be great and proper so they get a bit over protective."


    Sighing, I nodded. I knew what he was saying, but that did not make it any easier. "Anyways, back to fighting. It''s my birthday! You could tell my mom that I insisted upon it if she finds us."


    Shaking their heads, Alex and Tyler looked at each other again. The look that passed between the two of them clearly said, what have we gotten ourselves into. Knowing that they would not go for it, I sighed. Tyler gave a little smile and said, ¡°Now get dressed. You know that your family will want to have a party and spend the day with you.¡± I nodded. Once they had turned around I got out a simple, but elegant, white satin dress with gold and silver filigree. Ringing a bell that hung near my bed, I summoned my maids to have them help me put the dress on. As soon as they arrived I got ready as quickly as possible. After telling them they could turn around, Alex and Tyler had to take a double take. I looked down at myself, confused. Was my dress crumpled or something?


    Finally I had to ask, ¡°What is it? Is something wrong with my dress?¡± They both shook their heads, but for some reason remained silent. After looking at them in confusion for a couple more seconds, I shook my head and started walking towards the door. They immediately fell in step behind me. Meeting my other two guards outside my door, I introduced everyone to each other. ¡°Alex and Tyler, this is Liam and Casey.¡± They nodded hello to each other and while  Alex and Tyler walked behind me, Liam and Casy walked in front of me. This is how we walked all the way to the dining hall. Once I stepped inside the dining hall, even though it was only around 3 in the morning, I noticed that it was packed with people. Servants were racing around preparing what looked like a huge celebration to celebrate both my birthday and the arrival of my presence. I didn¡¯t really want a party at all, but I knew that my people and family needed it. They had all been fearful for so long, and a party was the best way to get rid of that fear once and for all.


    As I walked by them, each servant that noticed me would stop what they were doing and bow to me until I had passed them. Confusion must have shown on my face because Alex leaned closer and whispered, ¡°They are bowing like that to you because you saved our kingdom from being thrown into war, and that is their way of thanking you.¡± I nodded. It made sense. I might not like it, but if it made them happy, then I would suffer through it. After passing through the dining hall and weaving our way through several more passageways, we finally reached the throne room where my family was waiting for me. There were several different royal families coming from all over the world to see if I had received my presence. It was a tradition for all the royal families to come see someone after they have received a presence. Since I was the last person in my family who had a chance of getting a presence, they would all come to see me. The reason they stated for coming was just to celebrate my birthday. Everyone in Kuli knew their real reason though. If I had not received a presence, they would have returned home right after seeing me and waged war on us.


    My parents sat on their thrones while my brothers stood in between them. Since I was the one everyone was coming to see, I stood off to the side ready to walk forward and have the visitors examine me. Seeing that we were all ready, our bellman announced the first family. They had arrived at 2:35 this morning which meant that they had been waiting for around 40 minutes. However, if they were the first to see that I did not receive a presence, that means that they can be the first ones to declare war on us and possibly take over our kingdom. It was the royals from Nicuria. Their kingdom was in the south, same as ours. The King walked in front with his wife, while their four kids walked behind them. Their middle boy and girl, they were twins, walked slightly ahead of the other kids since they had both gotten presences. My father stood. ¡°Welcome to Kuli. I know that you are here to wish my beloved daughter Princess Ariana Esma Happy Birthday, so here she is.¡± I walked forward, looking at my feet, until I got closer to the King of Nicuria, and then I looked up straight into his eyes. His gasp came immediately and was soon followed by the rest of his family. I knew without looking that my family, or at least my brothers, were hiding smiles.


    ¡°Well, I see that your daughter has received a presence. That is wonderful! I would have hated to see your kingdom being called weak.¡± The King¡¯s tone was annoyed and mad, but he tried to conceal it. We all knew that he was lying. Nicuria would love nothing more than to invade us and take over our kingdom. They walked out of the room and headed towards the guest rooms where they would be staying until my birthday and presence getting celebrations were over. Normal birthday celebrations only had a huge party that night, but if that person had received a presence that day then there were mini parties throughout the entire day. The mini parties were always optional though, especially if the person who got their presence got it really early like I had. The celebration would last the rest of the day, but the big party was tonight. The next visitors walked in soon after. We did the same performance and got about the same reactions. This went on for hours until we had seen all 49 of the royal families that were coming for the celebrations and to see if I got a presence. Exhausted after all of that, I bid my family farewell and went back to my room with Alex and Tyler on my heels. My other two guards followed as well, but they were farther away and they were not as conspicuous as Alex and Tyler were. If anyone was looking for my guards they would see Alex and Tyler. They might not see Casey and Liam.


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    Going straight back to my room I shut the door, changed into my sleeping clothes, and crawled into bed. I went instantly to sleep. A couple of hours later, I was awakened by someone shaking my shoulder. Groggily I opened my eyes to look at the person shaking me. Tyler. Sighing, I sat up and got out of bed. ¡°Is it time to get ready for the party already?¡± The only answer I got was a smirk. I took that as a yes. Turning I noticed that my maids, Hazel and Sophia, were already in my room, and they were holding a long black halter dress. ¡°Is that a birthday present from my mom?¡±


    Hazel nodded. ¡°Yes. She bought you several new dresses, shoes, and pieces of jewelry to celebrate both your birthday and you getting a presence.¡± Nodding in understanding, I allowed Hazel and Sophia to help me into the dress. As soon as it was on me though, I realized that I had forgotten to ask a very important question before they had put the dress on me. Moving out of my maid¡¯s arms, I crossed my arms and glared at them. When they tried to move closer I took a step back. ¡°Why did you let my mom buy me a dress with a built-in corset? You know that I hate them.¡±


    They sighed. ¡°You did not say that the dress could not have a corset and your parents chose this dress specifically for this party. Especially now that it is already on you, it is not coming off. Even if you had realized it before it was on you, you still would have had to wear it. There was no point in arguing or making this more difficult than it has to be.¡± Even though I did not like it, Sophia made a good point. Also I knew that if I did not wear the dress then my mother would get mad at Sophia and Hazel and that is not something that friends do to one another. Even though I was still mad, I let them tighten the corset and finish my party preparations. I would get mad at my parents later tonight. My makeup was light and was just there to enhance my facial features and to highlight my eyes. The hairstyle they chose was to style half of my hair into a crown on top of my head and then to have the rest cascade down in auburn waves.


    I groaned when I saw the shoes they had chosen for me. Black heeled shoes. ¡°Do you want me to be able to dance?¡± My maids just smiled and finished putting them on. Now ready for the party, I reluctantly walked over to the door and opened it. Resigning myself to what would be an uncomfortable night with the corset and heels, I started my walk to the ballroom. At least there should be good food tonight. Outside of the huge double doors to the ballroom, I waited to be announced so that I could officially join the party. Hearing my name, I straightened my shoulders and prepped my smile. Walking through the now open doors, I went as gracefully down the stairs as I could in these atrocious heels. Reaching the end of the stairs, I gratefully stood at the bottom and grabbed my dad¡¯s arm. He escorted me to the rest of the family. Not surprisingly, they were at the food. I swear my brothers never stopped eating. Even my mom was eating, but that was just because we had not eaten basically anything today. This was because the servants were busy making the food for all the celebrations throughout the day while we were too busy talking to royals, and getting ready for this party. The day had just flown by. Later, in our own rooms, we would eat a real meal, but we needed something to hold us over until then.


    My dad and I had just arrived when the first prince showed up. Now that everyone knew our kingdom would not be destroyed, everyone wanted to be the first to become real allies with us. Plus, all of the kingdoms wanted to marry their sons to me. As the only one in my family to have a presence, I was extremely valuable. Whoever married me would immediately become more powerful, especially with my eyes so dark. Even though not even I knew what I could do. Smiling at him, I tried to stay focused on our conversation, but all I could think about was how hungry I was. My brothers did not know how lucky they were. They got to eat all the food they wanted even though Tristan was the Crown Prince. Carter was older than me too. You would think that some princess would want to try to secure a spot as one of their wives.


    Just as I thought that, two pretty young ladies came over and started talking to them. Looking sad, they put down their food and tried to act cheerful and pay attention to the two girls. I could tell that it was as hard for them as it was for me. Focusing on the prince¡¯s face, I still did not know his name even though I am sure he had said it at least three times in the time he had been talking to me, I tried to zone back into the conversation. He was on the same topic he had been on when I had started ignoring him. Why his kingdom was so great and why I should consider a union with his family by either marrying him or becoming their ally. I was starting to wonder if that was all he could say. Five minutes later, I finally managed to get away from him and grab some food. After only about two bites though, another prince came over and started talking to me.


    To make it even worse, I noticed that my brothers were back to eating without a care in the world. Groaning on the inside I resigned myself to a hungry, borning night. About thirty minutes later, the music started. Grateful, I excused myself from the newest prince, I still could not even remember any of their names, and headed away to the food table again. Hoping that I could finally eat more than the two bites I had eaten earlier now that everyone was dancing, I walked there swiftly, but gracefully. Finally there, I filled up a plate full of food and sat down next to my brothers who were trying to look busy so that they would not have to dance. Slipping a bite in my mouth, I closed my eyes to savor the taste. Moments later, I had taken three more bites of food, a hand dropped onto my shoulder. Startled, my eyes shot open and I looked to see whose hand was on my shoulder.


    I almost started crying when I saw a foreign prince standing there. His skin was tan, his hair was brown, and kindness was apparent in his bright blue eyes. He was undoubtedly here to ask me to dance with him. Looking longingly at the plate full of food in front of me, I reluctantly stood and waited for him to ask me. To my surprise, he started laughing. Tilting my head in confusion, I waited for him to explain what was so funny. Several seconds passed before he regained control of his emotions. ¡°Sorry, but when I saw the look on your face I could not help it. I did not come here to ask you to dance with me. In fact, I came to see if I could sit by you and your brothers to eat. This could help to make sure that no other princes come by to talk to you or to ask you to dance with them.¡± Relief lit up my face.


    ¡°Of course, please sit.¡± After we had both sat down I said, ¡°Thank you so much for this. This is the first food I have eaten all day.¡± he nodded.


    ¡°It is my pleasure.¡± Going back to eating, I managed to finish off my plate of food. Feeling satisfied enough to last me until later tonight in my room, I stood and thanked the prince. He smiled. ¡°Again Princess Ariana, it was my pleasure.¡± Blushing a little from the obvious sincerity in his voice, I excused myself and went to find my parents. There were still a couple hours left in the dance, but I wanted to know if there was anyone that I absolutely had to meet. Then I could get it over with and maybe even enjoy the rest of the evening instead of waiting until the end to meet them. Spying them in the distance, I started walking in their general direction. Along the way however a prince with immaculately styled blonde hair grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop.


    ¡°Just the person I wanted to meet! Hello Princess Ariana, my name is Crown Prince Malick.¡± I nodded hello to him, hoping that he would only talk to me for a moment. I should have known that I would not be that lucky. As he started blathering on and on about his country and how amazing he was, I looked desperately to my parents. My hope was that they would come and free me. Even if it was to talk to others, at least they would be there to intervene if the person talked for too long. Malick seemed like the kind of person who could keep talking for an eternity. I was afraid that even if he realized that I was not listening to him, that he would keep talking. In fact, he might even talk louder to try to get my attention to return to him. Who knew, maybe he would get the hint and leave me alone. No dice. Once he realized that I was not paying any attention to him whatsoever, he started talking louder and moved closer to me.


    After giving an internal sigh, I decided to just listen to him. I might even make a comment here or there if it meant he would stop talking to me faster. Nodding in all the right places and making comments when appropriate was hard when I could not have cared less about what he was talking about. When would boys realize that the last thing girls want to listen to is how awesome you and your country is? They would not like it if I started talking about my country and myself like they did. My eyes widened in realization. If I talked to them like they talked to me, then maybe I could get them to go away! I was just about to try when I remembered my parents. If they heard that I was doing that then they would never let me hear the end of it. Their lecture would go on for days.


    Giving another internal sigh, I went back to listening to him. Ten minutes later, he was still talking. Honestly, how can one person talk this much to someone else without running out of things to say? Especially when the other person does not contribute to the conversation at all. Finally, I saw my parents coming towards me. Reaching us, they cut off Crown Prince Malick and grabbed me. ¡°I am so sorry Crown Prince Malick, but I am afraid that we have to steal our daughter back. We have some people that we need her to meet.¡± My mother spoke smoothly, but commandingly. While he floundered for something to say, seriously he could talk for a super long time to me, but could not say a word to my parents, we made our escape.


    ¡°Thank you guys so much. I was afraid that I was going to spend the rest of my life listening to him prattle on about how amazing he and his country are. It was quite dull.¡± My parents laughed.


    ¡°It gets worse as you grow older.¡±


    I shook my head in horror. ¡°I am not really sure how that is possible!¡± My parents laughed again. Moving quickly through the crowd, we found the first guest that my parents wanted me to meet. The King of Narva. Dipping down into a quick curtsey I introduced myself to him. As he inclined his head to me, he came up with a slight smile on his face.


    ¡°It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance Princess Ariana Esma. I hope that we can chat for a bit before you go on to meet the next King.¡± After a quick glance to my parents, I agreed to chat with him for a bit.


    We walked a bit away from them for a little bit of privacy, and then he started off the same as everyone else. Only about five minutes in though, when my attention was wandering a bit, he switched gears on me. It was so abrupt that I could not figure out what had happened for a couple of seconds. By the time my mind had caught up to the change, he had already said quite a bit about his son. Repulsion set in when I realized the reason for the change. He wanted me to marry his son. Normally I would be fine with someone talking about their sons this way, after all it is sometimes better than listening to them talk about themselves, but the King of Narva¡¯s son was in his late thirties. He was like twenty years older than me. As if he could read my mind, the King of Narva stated, ¡°It doesn''t really matter that he is way older than you. It would be a great match that would be highly beneficial for both countries. You could use the ore, and we could use the soldiers. Plus, if it is love, then age does not really matter now does it?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, you are very kind to offer your son to me in marriage, but I heard that he was already courting another woman. It would not be very proper of us to marry after that, now would it?¡±


    The King sighed. ¡°While it is true that he is courting another woman right now, that does not matter as much as you think. When their courtship ends and they are both still single then it would be fine for you two to begin your courtship!¡±


    ¡°You have put a lot of thought and effort into this, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, I do not have the final say, Your Majesty and if you asked my parents now they would say no because your son is still courting another woman and they want me to be a bit older before I get married.¡±


    The King of Narva seemed to deflate some at my statement. ¡°Right you are, right you are.¡± He muttered this under his breath and seemed deep in thought. As I turned to walk away though, he grabbed my arm and exclaimed, ¡°I got it!¡±


    ¡°What have you got Your Majesty?¡± Now my heart was sinking at his words. I had a feeling that I did not want to hear what he would say next.


    ¡°We shall just have to say that he needs more time to get over his last courtship and then he could wait for you! That way no one will suspect a thing. We could even come over, you two could become friends, and then it will be no surprise when you two start courting!¡±


    ¡°What a great plan Your Majesty!¡± I tried to sound excited, but it sounded forced even to me. ¡°Now you just have to discuss this with my parents. Their vote is the only vote that matters after all.¡± The King of Narva nodded his head several times.


    ¡°That is correct, and since I don''t want to waste time, I will talk to them right now!¡± He hurried through the crowd towards my parents and I gave a little smile when I saw their shared weary look. They had probably gotten several offers for my hand tonight. I knew that they would talk to me about all of them either tonight or tomorrow morning. Then they would give all of my suitors their answers. The answers would all be no. They would take my suggestions and for all of the princes the answers would be the same. Maybe it would be better if they married someone who actually liked them, and would enjoy talking to the princes about themselves all day. My parents would make sure to state it in a nicer way than that however. Following after the King of Narva I made sure to give him plenty of time to state his claim and then to leave. I did not want to join in the middle of the conversation. Then the King of Narva would ask for my opinion and I did not want to be the one to tell him that I am not at all interested in marrying his son.


    Reaching them just as the King of Narva was leaving them, I rolled my eyes at my parents. ¡°What are the numbers at now?¡±


    My dad smiled. ¡°You are at 23, Tristan is at 11, and Carter has 5.¡±


    Shaking my head I asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t more people go after Tristan? He is the Crown Prince after all and his wife will be the future queen of the kingdom!¡±


    Mother now spoke up. ¡°He is not the one with a presence and besides, girls know that he has more of a say in who he marries than you do. Or at least that would be the case in their kingdoms. We will give you the same amount of consideration as we will give your brothers.¡± I nodded in gratitude. Several hours passed and I met tons of Kings and Queens. The party now over, we said goodbye to our guests, they were now going back to their own kingdoms, and we went up to our rooms to eat a proper meal. The second I was in my room and the door was closed, I had the maids help me change and get out of the corset. In sleeping clothes now, I took my shoes off and chucked them in the closet. My maids sighed, but wisely did not say anything. Sitting down on my couch in my sitting room, I have four different rooms, I started eagerly eating.


    My dinner for tonight was a roast consisting of beef, potatoes, carrots, and gravy over the top. It may not be the kind of meal most royals eat because it is very rich and fattening, but I liked it, and I work out at least once daily so that I didn''t even have to worry about what I ate. Looking at Alex, Tyler, and the rest of my guards after I finished eating, I asked, ¡°Have you guys eaten today yet?¡± They shook their heads. ¡°You all have to eat. All the rest of my staff has eaten but you. I will be fine for a couple of minutes. Go down to the kitchen and eat.¡± All my guards folded their arms and stared me down. Sighing, I said, ¡°Relax guys, I am safe in my room. Plus, the kitchen is like a minute walk away. If someone attacks me while you are eating, then I will just scream and you will most definitely hear me.¡± They shook their heads. Giving up for the moment, I stood up and, right as I did, I got an idea. ¡°Well then I guess that I will just have to go down to the kitchen. As my guards you have to follow me.¡±


    Even though they rolled their eyes, a smile lit up all of their faces. ¡°When do you guys normally eat at night? I can not believe I have never asked this before! I am a terrible person.¡± Casey and Liam rushed to reassure me that I was a great person and to not worry about it.


    Alex was the one who actually answered my question though. ¡°We eat in shifts when you go to bed. However, when we get hungry during the day, we eat the snacks that we bring with us when we are guarding you. Breakfast is the same as dinner. We take shifts eating while you are sleeping.¡± Stopping abruptly, I turned and looked at my guards.


    ¡°When do you guys sleep then?¡±


    Alex smiled. ¡°We sleep while you are at parties, or when we switch with other guards because we need to sleep. Do not worry about us Ari, we sleep and eat plenty.¡±


    ¡°I never see any other guards, do you do it while I am sleeping or something too?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Yes. We do it then and we do it sometimes when you are at social calls. Then you never see us anyways.¡± I nodded. It was true. When people come over for social calls or when we go somewhere for a social call, it is rude to have your guards in view. Smiling at the servants who were bowing to me by the kitchen, I opened up the doors and walked in.

 Training

    The Head Chef Luca immediately rushed over and bowed to me. Straightening up with a little difficulty because of the chubbiness of his belly, he concernedly said, ¡°Was there something wrong with your dinner, do you want something else?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no! I loved the dinner. It was delicious! I just came to visit and this way my guards do not have to wait until I am asleep to eat their dinner.¡± Luca, though still looking a bit confused, stepped aside and bowed me into his kitchen. Walking in through the doors and past Head Chef Luca, I sat down and motioned for them to sit down next to me. After all of them rolled their eyes at me in unison, they sat down and we waited while the cooks prepared plates for them. Moments later I stood up and walked back over to where Head Chef Luca was. ¡°Head Chef Luca, I was wondering if you could help me with something. Only if you have the time though.¡± I rushed to add that last part so he did not feel obligated to help me.


    Eyes wide with shock, he bowed and said, ¡°Of course I have time to help you Princess Ariana. The meals for everyone have already been made and everyone has been served other than the bodyguards of the other royal family members.¡±


    I beamed. ¡°That is great! I was hoping that you could teach me how to cook.¡±


    Even though I had not believed that it was possible, his eyes got even wider and his bow went even lower. ¡°Of course I will teach you how to cook. What would you like to learn first?¡±


    ¡°Before I answer that question, I want you to stop bowing to me. Since my guards don¡¯t even bow to me anymore, you do not have to. Especially since you are going to be teaching me. That would make you my master, so maybe I should curtsey to you.¡± As Head Chef Luca straightened, I started to go down in a curtsey. Before I could get very far though, Luca grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back up to a standing position.


    ¡°Please do not curtsey to me Princess Ariana. It would not be proper even if you are going to be my student. Also please just call me Luca.¡± I nodded.


    ¡°I will accept those conditions as long as you accept my condition of calling me Ari. None of that ¡®Princess Ariana¡¯ stuff.¡± A small smile tugged at the corner of Luca¡¯s lips.


    ¡°We are in agreement than Ari.¡± He turned and walked over to the pantry and gestured for me to follow him. Opening the big doors, we stepped into a huge pantry that was about the size of a normal sized room. Smiling at the stunned expression on my face, he asked ¡°Why are you surprised? If we are supposed to feed everyone in this castle, then we need enough ingredients for it. Plus you guys always want different things so we have tons of different spices, breads, sauces, and more.¡± I nodded in acknowledgement and gestured for him to continue. ¡°Now, you still have not answered my question about what you want to learn to cook first.¡±


    ¡°Right. Well I was thinking about it and I realized that there was only one correct answer to your question. What would you suggest for someone who has never cooked before Luca?¡±


    Noting the glint in his eye, I knew that I had said the right thing. ¡°That is a great answer. I think that we should start with a simple soup to see what you know. It might be nothing, but this will start you learning about multiple aspects of cooking.¡± Following him out of the pantry after grabbing quite a few spices, vegetables, a couple of different meats, and some starches, we headed back to an empty part of the kitchen that was still in sight of my guards. They all seemed excited and amused to see me cooking for the first time.


    ¡°Your mother might not be very happy with you if she finds out about this you know.¡± Glancing over at Alex, I stuck my tongue out at him.


    Attempting to sound commanding I replied, ¡°Well then I guess that she better not find out.¡± Luca looked nervous for about two seconds before my guards hurriedly reassured him that none of them would tell the Queen about what we were about to do. All the other chefs and helpers in the kitchen also swore never to tell the Queen what was going on. They would not tell the rest of the royal family either. My dad and brothers would probably be okay with it, but I did not know for sure. Also the more people who knew about it, the harder it would be to keep from my mother. More people who might slip up at the wrong time. Starting to make the soup now, Luca started by showing me how to properly cut the vegetables, the meats, and the starches. It fascinated me to learn that you had to cut everything differently. There was not one technique that worked for all of them. While cutting the onions, I was stunned to find out that they made you cry. However I determinedly pushed forward. I wanted to experience everything that my palace¡¯s staff experienced. The good and the bad. That way I could fully appreciate everything they did for me, and I could help them with something whenever they needed the help.


    Now that I had a presence I knew that tons more royal families would come to visit, and that meant lots more feasts, and parties. I wanted to be there to help the staff so they did not get overwhelmed. After cutting the onions though, I had to wait a bit before continuing with the soup.Thankfully, no one laughed at me, reproached me, or tried to help me. They seemed to realize that I was doing my best, and knew that I wanted to learn to do things on my own. Two hours later the soup was ready to eat. Serving myself a bowl, I sat down to eat it. Even though I had probably had better soups made by experts, this soup tasted like the best soup I had ever had. That was probably just because I had made it with my own hands. Inviting my guards and all of the kitchen staff to try it, I beamed so hard when they all praised me because of it. I figured they were all exaggerating, but it felt good all the same. Looking out the window at the sky, I realized that it was way past my bedtime and I needed to leave before someone found me out. Waving goodbye cheerfully to everyone, after making sure that I was okay to come back tomorrow to have another lesson, I skipped all the way up to my room.


    Walking into my room I quickly washed up, changed, and got into bed. Waking up the next morning bright and early, I got into comfortable clothes and sneakily ran out of the castle with my guards hot on my heels. All the servants turned the other way as I passed them. This way they could say that they had not seen where I had gone if my family asked about me. As this routine had been going on for several years now, we were all well versed on what to do. Outside now, I stretched and then started my run. Every morning at around 4 in the morning, I would wake up and go running. My normal running route is 4 miles, but today I wanted more of a challenge so I went off my course and took the uphill path that was a 6 mile round trip. I heard one of my guards sigh. Probably either Alex or Tyler. In all the time I have known them, I have never seen them do more of a workout than they had to. It puzzled me how they were in such good shape.


    I was not quite sure what their story was even though I had grown up with them guarding my father and being his friends. One day I would get the story of how they had become guards for my father and how they had first met each other. By the end of my run I was panting and had to rest for a couple of seconds before I began my second round of workouts. Dropping to the ground I started pumping out my push-ups. My guards had surrounded me and were doing all my exercises with me. This was around the only time that they got to workout unless there was an emergency and then either they would fight or run with me out of the palace. Or maybe both. Something like that had not happened since I was three years old. Mercenaries had broken into the castle and had tried to kidnap my brothers and me. Thankfully, our guards were smart and had taken us and left the castle grounds immediately. Tristan, Carter, and I had already been outside playing when we had been attacked so we hid in the woods until it was safe to come out. My parents had been taken to the cellars because that was the closest safe place for them to go too.


    The kingdom that had hired the mercenaries, one of the ones in the north, had been found out and all the rest of the kingdoms attacked them until they surrendered and gave up their right to their thrones. We then banished them across the waters to the kingdoms in the east. We did this because the kingdoms in the east were barbaric. They did old rituals and were very separated from every other kingdom with barely any power. My kingdom was part of many in the south, and there were many powerful kingdoms in the north, and the west. Some of the royals that had come to see me today had been from across the waters from those other lands. Huge oceans separated each four lands, but we still crossed them to visit our allies, and sometimes to negotiate with our enemies. Finishing up my exercises, I started back up to my room so that I could shower and change into my day clothes. Even my guards were sweaty and needed to shower. Running quickly we managed to get back into my room before any of my family showed up. Staggering to my closet and then to the bathroom, I showered as fast as possible and then dressed. I got out of the bathroom around 5-7 minutes after I got in.


    After my guards all showered and dressed, we walked down to go get breakfast around 6 a.m. Getting there before the rest of my family, I walked into the kitchen to see the staff. ¡°Hi Luca, hello the rest of the staff.¡± They all waved and smiled at me in unison.


    ¡°Are you here to help us make breakfast?¡± Luca asked. My face lit up.


    ¡°Can I?¡± My tone was so excited and eager that all of the staff and my guards laughed at me. Luca¡¯s only response was to gesture me to his spot, give me an apron, and hand me a knife. Grinning wildly, I started to work on the sausages. I cut them into the appropriate shapes and then put them onto a pan and waited for them to cook. A couple minutes later, I pulled them out and arranged them on a plate. One of the servants from outside came in and warned me that my mother was coming. Scrambling to clean myself up, I rushed out of the kitchen. My mother came in only moments later with the rest of my family in her wake. From the way that my brothers looked, I guessed that my mother had just gone up and woke them. They were yawning, had tousled hair, and wrinkled clothes. Smothering a grin, I waited until my father sat in his chair before taking my assigned seat at the round table next to my father, and Carter.


    The food followed seconds later. I was very proud to see that the sausages I had made were one of the first dishes to come out. The waiter that put it down winked at me before going back into the kitchen. As all of my guards had seen the waiter wink at me, they each had a small smile on their faces. They knew how much it meant to me to know that I had some freedom and helped out around the castle. I had wanted to help with the chores around here since I could walk, however, my mother had always stopped me. Now that I was 16, I knew how to hide things from my mother enough that I could now get away with things that I couldn¡¯t before. The only thing that I had hidden from her before now was my morning workouts, and the sword fighting. She now knows about the sword fighting, though I did intend to start doing that again soon, but she had never found out about the workouts. That is probably because she doesn¡¯t wake up until 5:30 each morning. I give the credit to my sneaking skills though.


    Breakfast now over, we all stood up and left the table heading to either our rooms, or to various things we needed to do around the castle. My brothers were both grumbling so I guessed that it was time for their strategic lessons. They hate classes where they have to think a lot. These lessons taught them how to assemble an army, command that army, and learn how to successfully run a kingdom. Carter was only in that class because there was always a chance that he could marry to a throne or that Tristan would die before having any heirs. Sighing, I decided to go see if there was any staff that needed helping around the palace. When my dad joined me as I left the kitchen I knew that he needed to talk to me and, seeing as my mom was walking the other way, I knew that he did not want to talk about it in front of anyone else in our family. Slowing my walk so that we could talk comfortably as we walked, I decided to start it off. ¡°You wanted to discuss something with me?¡±


    Laughing he said, ¡°You were always really good at reading me.¡±


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°It is not hard to guess at what you want or what you are thinking. Your face is like an open book. If mom was paying any attention then she would have gotten suspicious and probably be with us right now.¡±


    Looking resigned about that fact, he replied, ¡°Probably.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Anyways, that is not what I wanted to talk about with you. Now that you have a presence, I want you to start training. Both with your presence and just getting stronger overall. The stronger you are, the more you will be able to control your presence.¡± My eyes lit up in excitement. I had been waiting for this moment my whole life. My dad laughed. ¡°However, there are some conditions. You can only do it when the trainer, Cayden, comes and gets you from your room or when I come and get you. Also, you can not tell anyone else about this, and you have to subject yourself to whatever your mother thinks will help you master your presence. For your sake, I hope that it is a fighting presence. That way she will have to let you train with the palace trainer.¡± A smile lit up his face. ¡°Well at least train with him out in the open.¡±


    After hugging my dad, and promising to obey all of his conditions, I ran up to my room to wait for the trainer to come and get me. Normally, at least according to my dad, he would come get me at night, but today was the first day and the trainer was open all day today. My dad wanted me to get stronger as fast as possible so that I could start figuring out what my presence was and how to use it, so we would train longer until that happened. I changed into my exercising clothes in record time. The waiting afterwards was agony. By the end I was pacing the room with impatience. When the knock came, I was over at the door in a flash. Opening it, I almost knocked Cayden over with my hug. As he laughed at my eagerness, the scar on his left cheek rippled. ¡°I can tell that you are happy to train with me. We will see how long that lasts.¡±


    Pulling away I replied, ¡°Well I have wanted to train with you for ages. No matter what you throw at me, I will try my best and always be excited to train with you.¡±


    His smile turned very threatening. ¡°We shall see about that. For the first part of your training you will run down to the training room. To make it more of a challenge though, you will be carrying these.¡± From behind his back, he pulled out two 20 pound weights. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the weights from him, and put them up on my shoulders. I then started running. At first I started out fast, but I quickly started slowing down. Soon I was jogging, but I was determined to keep this pace the whole way there, even though it was on the other side of the palace. Arms burning I staggered into the training room 15 minutes later, and 10 staircases later. What I saw inside made me gape. Cayden had somehow beat me there!


    Gasping for breath, it took a moment for me to say ¡°How did you beat me here?! You started way after me, and you did not pass me on the way here!¡± I tried to sound outraged, but my breathlessness just made me sound tired.


    Cayden laughed. ¡°When you beat me, then I will tell you the answer to that question.¡± I glared at him, but he just laughed again. All of a sudden his face got all serious. ¡°Okay, training starts now. I want you to take this seriously and work as hard as you can.¡± I nodded, already composing my face and preparing myself for what was about to happen. ¡°You can put those weights down over there.¡± I quickly put them down and looked back at him. ¡°Now you are going to drop and give me 20 push-ups.¡± Exhaling, I dropped down to the ground and tried to get my arms to cooperate with me. After 10 push-ups my arms gave out and dropped me face down on the ground. Shaking my arms out and stretching a bit, I got back into position. No matter how long it took or how tired I was, I was going to finish. Two minutes later, I was done and rose on shaky legs to face Cayden again. ¡°Good job. In a week¡¯s time, I want you to be able to do that in one go.¡±


    Even though I thought that was impossible, I nodded again. My workout continued for the next 2 hours. By the end I literally could not even stand up anymore. Cayden crouched down in front of me. ¡°That went a lot better than I thought it would. Honesty, you are in much better shape than I thought you would be.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± My breath came out in gasps.


    He turned now to my guards. ¡°You might have to carry her back to her room. You will want to take care that none of the royal family sees her. It would be best if no one sees her, but that is probably not possible.¡± Looking at each other, my guards smiled.


    ¡°We can get her into her room without anyone seeing us.¡±


    Cayden, even though he looked suspicious, nodded. ¡°Good, then I guess I will see you all tomorrow.¡± Waving goodbye to him, Tyler picked me up into his arms and we started off towards my room.


    ¡°You know, this is unnecessary. I can totally walk back to my room. It is not that far.¡± Other than laughing at me, my guards all ignored me. I would have continued my argument, but I had to breathe for a little bit to get my breath back first. At that point, my argument would have been moot anyways. Outside now, we got to the grounds right below my room, but I had no idea how we were going to get in from here. Even with the castle guards around us pretending not to see us, these walls were made specifically so that no one could climb them. Looking around though, I realized that Liam was missing. A moment later I figured out where he was. A rope fell down from my window, and we were gestured up. They tied my waist to it and made sure that I was secure. They then tugged on the rope signaling him to pull me up. For one guy, he certainly pulled me up fast. In less than a minute, I was being untied and pulled inside. My guards followed soon after.


    Liam grabbed me in his arms and lifted me onto my bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light. A couple of hours later, I woke up in pain and super sore. I barely resisted groaning when I woke up around 2 p.m. Seeing the time, I sighed. My mom and brothers were probably extremely curious about why I was not at lunch. That meant that I had to show up to dinner. Then they would not be suspicious and would just assume that I had decided to eat in my room or that something had come up and I had not been able to make it down. Casey and Alex were still standing around me. Swinging my legs off the bed, I tried to stand up, but my legs did not want to hold me and they gave out on me. Collapsing to the floor with a thud, Casey and Alex turned towards me in unison with their hands on their various weapons. Tyler and Liam burst through the door with their hands on their weapons as well. Seeing me on the ground smiling sheepishly at them, Casey and Alex turned back to keep scanning the room, and Tyler and Liam went back outside of my room. Meanwhile, I gathered my arms underneath of me and tried to lift myself off the ground.


    It was a struggle, but eventually I managed to get back onto my feet and stagger clumsily to the bathroom. On the way I grabbed a random dress from my closet. Right as I was reaching the door though, my two maids came into the room. I waved at them and continued walking into the bathroom, but they followed me in. Seeing my confusion they both put their hands on their hips. ¡°There is no way that you will be able to bathe and then put that dress on in your weakened state.¡± Hazel''s green eyes turned to look closer at the dress in my hands. ¡°Also that is barely even fancy enough for a jaunt in the woods. There is no way that you will get away with wearing that to dinner. Especially with the foreign prince from the west coming to dinner tonight.¡±


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    My jaw dropped. ¡°What is a foreign prince from the west still doing here?¡±


    Sophia answered this time with a smile on her full pink lips. ¡°He never left. Apparently he has been staying in a cabin near the castle since the party yesterday because he is friends with your brothers and he is an ally. Our kingdoms have some sort of treaty and his kingdom wants to further solidify that treaty and their alliance by having you marry this prince.¡±


    My jaw dropped down even farther. ¡°Please tell me that my parents are not even considering his offer.¡±


    They both avoided my gaze. As I started to protest though, Sophia broke in. ¡°They consider every offer that comes to them. However, I do not think that they are considering this one more than they considered those. Plus, if you do not like the prince then you will not marry him. Your opinion matters here unlike in other kingdoms.¡± That was true. Quickly bathing and getting changed into a dress that they picked, I left the bathroom and went into my main room to get my hair done, get my make-up on, pick out jewelry, and get my shoes on. Three hours later I was ready. Hazel and Sophia had taken up even more time getting me ready for this dinner than they had for the party. When asked about it they just replied that they liked this prince and at the party they knew that I would probably just sweat off all my make-up, and my hair would have drooped in the humid ballroom.


    Walking towards the dining hall, I noticed that I was half an hour early for dinner. Hoping that no one else would bet there yet, I strode in. Smiling when I realized that I was the first one there, I quickly walked into the kitchen and started helping the kitchen staff make dinner. 15 minutes later, the kitchen door opened and someone walked in. I didn''t even look up because I was too busy making the salad for dinner. When someone came and stood right in front of me though, I finally glanced up. I was stunned by what I saw. The foreign prince that sat and ate with me during my birthday and presence getting party was standing right in front of me. Thinking quickly, I realized that this must be the foreign prince from the western kingdom. The man that was trying to court me. Looking around me, I realized how bad this looked for me. If this got out my parents would kill me and other kingdoms would become either mad, or disappointed with me.


    As if he could read my thoughts, the prince hurriedly said, ¡°Do not worry. I will not tell anyone that I found you here. I am assuming that your family does not know about this?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Well in order for you to trust me, I will tell you a secret. I do the same thing. In fact I am one of the best chefs in my kingdom. It is hard for me to see my servants and staff working and not do anything to help them.¡±


    Starting to relax now, I laughed. ¡°I am nowhere as good as you then. You see, I just started cooking yesterday after my party. I wanted to start cooking and helping out around the palace before then, but I was too nervous. After my party though, I figured that I was old enough to keep a secret and besides, my servants and staff know me pretty well now and are okay with me helping.¡± All of the kitchen staff, my guards, and the waiters nodded. I turned to the prince¡¯s guards. ¡°Is all of what he said true though?¡± They nodded.


    The tallest one of his three guards spoke up. ¡°Yes. He helps around our castle every chance he can. Plus, he loves learning new things.¡± My body finally fully relaxed. Turning back to the prince I decided to go back to the basics. ¡°I know that we met at my party yesterday, but I still do not know your name or what kingdom you are from. Obviously I am Princess Ariana Esma from the southern kingdom of Kuli.¡±


    The foreign prince spoke up quickly. ¡°Oh goodness. Please do not tell my parents that I waited until now to introduce myself. They will be so mad at me for forgetting my manners.¡± He bowed to me. ¡°I am Crown Prince Darius Hashim of the eastern kingdom of Thacaea.¡± My eyes widened when I heard his name. Even as far from his kingdom as I was, I had still heard of him. Darius sighed when he saw my expression. ¡°I am assuming from your expression that you have heard of me before.¡±


    Nodding excitedly I responded, ¡°Of course I have heard of you! My dad talks about you all the time. You are the Crown Prince that defeated 126 soldiers of an enemy army when they attacked Thacaea!¡± Darius blinked in surprise. My shoulders slumped. ¡°You thought that I was going to talk about the other things you are known for weren¡¯t you? Like the devilishly good looks, the smile that sends girls into comas, the sense of humor that could get an agelast to laugh, or the man who had broken over 24 hearts in the past month.¡± His lips quirked in a small smile. Sighing, I said, ¡°Everyone thinks that I am just like every other girl who only cares about their looks, who they will marry, and gossiping. I do not care at all for those things. However, I will not tell you what I like to do or talk about because I have a feeling that you would not approve like so many others.¡±


    Tilting his head to the side he asked, ¡°And what makes you think I am like so many others?¡± A smile appeared on his face. ¡°Nonetheless, I have a feeling that I already know what you like.¡±


    ¡°Really? What do you think that I like?¡± The challenge was obvious in my words.


    Prince Darius gladly accepted that challenge. ¡°I think that you like helping others, fighting, and learning how to be independent and not having to rely on anyone else but yourself. However, you are not averse to having friends or advisors. Furthermore, I think that you love learning new things and taking on new challenges.¡± The more he talked, the more my jaw dropped. Prince Darius smirked. ¡°I am just going to assume that I am right on all accounts.¡±


    I closed my mouth and glared at him. ¡°Well, aren''t you just a cocky person. Yes you may be right, but I implied some of those things already and the others weren¡¯t that hard to guess. They went along with the rest of my personality.¡±


    ¡°That is true, but I bet that no one has said any of those things to you before now.¡±


    Right as I was about to reply, I heard my mother¡¯s voice. ¡°Where is that girl! First she missed lunch and now she dares to be late to dinner? I am so glad that the prince has not shown up yet. That would be so humiliating.¡± Wincing, I wondered what I would say to my mother to explain both why I missed lunch and why I would be coming out of the kitchen with Prince Darius. Although, coming out with Prince Darius might save me from all the questioning at least until I had an answer for her. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself to go out to see my parents. The sooner I got out there, the faster I could deal with the repercussions and leave. Starting to walk out of the kitchen, I was amazed when Prince Darius grabbed my hand and began to walk out with me. In response to the confused look I sent his way, he just smiled and gripped my hand a little tighter. I decided to go with it and inquire with him about it later.


    My mom almost started hyperventilating when she saw us walk out of the kitchen together. ¡°Crown Prince Darius! May I ask what you two were doing in there?¡±


    Tensing my muscles, I waited for him to respond to my mom. What came out of his mouth was not what I was expecting though. Instead Prince Darius said, ¡°I had arrived early and wanted to help out in the kitchen. You see, I love cooking. While I was busy doing that, after a servant told Princess Ariana that I was in there, she came in looking for me. We started talking, and before we knew it we were late for dinner and we could hear you in here looking for us.¡±


    Acting as if she knew that would be the answer the whole time, my mother nodded regally, and gestured for everyone to sit down after my father had sat down. Kings are always the first to sit down in any event. If there is more than one King present, then they sit down at the same time. I sat next to Prince Darius, and my father. Carter sat on the other side of Prince Darius, and by my mother. Tristan was in between my parents. Sharing a secret wink with another waiter when they brought out the salad I made, I made a mental note to learn the names of all the staff and servants in my palace. If I wanted to help out and become friends with them, then I would need to know their names. Hearing a small laugh coming from Prince Darius, I looked over curiously. Tristan was talking with him and had apparently just told a joke because my parents had a smile on their faces and Carter was laughing as well. Not wanting to stand out, I smiled as well.


    The rest of the night I made sure to pay attention to all of the conversations going on around me and participate in at least a couple of them. Enough that my parents were satisfied, but not too many that I could not listen to everyone else. During dinner I figured out a couple of things about Darius. He had an older sister who had received a presence, he was 17 years old, and he was quite charming. Darius won over my parents almost instantly. After dinner had concluded and dessert had been brought out, the topic of the conversation turned to more serious matters. The treaty and alliance between our two kingdoms of Kuli and Thacaea. As expected, my mother was the first to bring it up. ¡°You stayed after Princess Ariana¡¯s birthday and presence getting party to discuss our alliance with your kingdom, correct?¡± Prince Darius nodded.


    ¡°Yes. My parents needed to get back to Thacaea, but they left me here to discuss a more permanent alliance between our two kingdoms. Marriage between Princess Ariana Esma and myself.¡±


    My dad now spoke up. ¡°Why were you the one they sent? Normally they send an ambassador or someone less important to their kingdom than their Crown Prince.¡±


    ¡°My parents wanted to show you that they trust you completely and feel safe leaving me here alone.¡±


    Tristan smiled. ¡°You mean as alone as a royal ever is with their guards.¡±


    Prince Darius laughed. ¡°Yes, that is what I mean exactly.¡±


    Not surprisingly, my mother put the conversation back on track quickly. ¡°We have had multiple offers for our daughter¡¯s hand. Most from allies of ours looking for a more permanent alliance. What makes your offer any different? If you are offering money, land, or prestige, then know that they have already been offered by many other would be suitors. As of yet, Princess Ariana is available for marriage, but that could change in a heartbeat.¡±


    ¡°That is why I am offering now. And no, I had no intention of offering you any of those things. You see, my parents wanted me to offer you something else. Protection. Many kingdoms may be coming here to try to take your daughter away from you as you know.¡± He changed his statement when he saw the shock on our faces. ¡°Or maybe you did not know. Princess Ariana¡¯s eyes are incredibly dark. Darker than anyone has seen in a long time. Because of that, many kingdoms may forsake pleasantries of trying to marry her and just try to kidnap her. Even if that meant risking your kingdom¡¯s wrath.¡± We now all understood what he was saying. This was the reason why my dad was training me and why I had been given the two best guards in the kingdom as my personal guards.


    ¡°You think that you can offer more protection in your kingdom than we can in ours?¡± It was a fair question, but my mother still elbowed my dad. He restated his question. ¡°I meant to say what protections does your kingdom have that are so great?¡± My mom directed a sigh in his direction. She still felt like he was being too impertinent. This time though my dad decided to leave his question as it was.


    Prince Darius¡¯s voice changed to a more professional tone. ¡°We have over 3,200 guards, two walls, vigilant archers all over the walls and in the turrets, a moat with stakes in it, a drawbridge that we can raise and lower at any time, and many other defenses that we can use in times of an attack.¡± As the strategist of the castle, we all looked to the King.


    ¡°That is more than we have. You already know that we only have one wall, not as many guards, and no moat. However, I am still not so sure that anyone would dare attack us. They might attack my daughter¡¯s new castle that she moves to once she is married, but I am sure that they will improve their defenses before they get married.¡±


    ¡°They might, but who knows for sure? With us you could be positive that she is as safe as she could be. Our kingdom is the most secure kingdom in all of the four lands. At least for right now. If need be, we can also improve upon it and make even more layers of defenses.¡±


    My dad waved that suggestion away. ¡°No, I do not think that there is really any way to improve your defenses if they are really as good as you say. I am just not sure if we are ready to give our daughter away in marriage to anyone just yet. She is still so young. Most girls do not get married until they turn 17 or 18 years old. Your offer is the most tempting one we have gotten though. We will certainly consider it. In the meantime we hope that you will stay another day or two before heading back to Thacaea.¡±


    Prince Darius shook his head. ¡°I would love to stay, but I was told to return home as soon as I got your answer. I will be leaving in the morning, nevertheless, I will come to every dance and social event that your kingdom has so that I can continue to get to know you all better.¡±


    The discussion now over, we all stood up and went to our respective rooms. When the morning came, we all went to the entrance hall to say goodbye to Prince Darius. My guards and I had just finished showering after our workout that morning since it was only 5:30 in the morning when Prince Darius decided to leave. Once he was gone, my parents grabbed my arms and pulled me into my mom¡¯s office. It was a pretty tight fit with us and all of our guards in there, so we made them stay outside the office except for one guard per person. The guard that stayed in the office for me was Tyler. Looking directly into my eyes, making sure I knew that this was a serious question, my mom asked, ¡°What did you think of Crown Prince Darius? We knew the answer to every would be suitor as they asked us for your hand, but we are not so sure on this one. Especially since you went out of your way to talk to him before dinner yesterday night.¡±


    ¡°That is a very good question, mother. I am not quite sure of the answer myself.¡± Gasps came from everyone in the room including the guards. Well, all except Tyler. My guards had assumed that I would like him at least as a friend after our talk yesterday. ¡°He understands me better than anyone has even tried to before. When he talks to me, he does not just talk to Princess me, he also talks to normal, Ari, me. Plus, we have a lot in common. I can definitely see us at least becoming friends.¡±


    After sputtering a bit, my dad finally managed to speak to me. However when he spoke to me, he used his King voice. ¡°You are way too young to marry anyone! I am so glad we sent him back to Thacaea! When I see him at social events or dances, I am going to make sure that he stays far away from you. If I do not allow you two to get to know each other then you will not want to marry him!¡±


    ¡°Seriously dad. You would rather I marry someone who I do not know, and do not like? The only reason that he offered to marry me is because you two announced that I am old enough to be married, and yet you are now saying that I am too young to be married?¡±


    ¡°We had said that you were technically of marriageable age, but that we wanted you to wait a little while longer before you actually married anyone! I can not believe that you actually found someone that you like! We never should have had that party and let you go around without supervision!¡±


    ¡°Would you count my brothers and the kitchen staff as supervisors?¡±


    Speaking up again, my mother said, ¡°We would count them as supervisors. Are you suggesting that either your brothers or the kitchen staff go with you when you talk to him?¡±


    ¡°They can, but that was not what I was getting to. When I first met him at the party, my brothers were with me. When I talked to him yesterday night, the kitchen staff were all there listening and watching us. If that is not enough for you, then I will remind you that both of our guards were with us when we talked in the kitchen as well. It was pretty crowded in there. At parties, my guards and brothers can be near us at all times when we talk. However my brothers might get pretty mad at you for making them stay near us the entire time, and my guards might get bored.¡±


    My dad looked ready to explode. ¡°We are done talking about this. If you want to talk to that boy then either your mother or I have to be there with you both at all times when you are together.¡±


    After turning to my mom for support, she looked at my father and said, ¡°Leave her alone. If your parents had said all of this to you, or my parents had supervised us at every moment then we would probably not be married right now. Even if we had still gotten married, we would not have had the connection or special moments that we shared during that time.¡± Before my dad could figure out an answer to that, my mom spoke to me. ¡°When he comes over you two can hang out as much as you like and you do not have to have a supervisor with you. If you go away from the castle or away from all the people, however, then you have to take both of Darius¡¯s and your sets of guards with you.¡±


    ¡°That is fair. I accept those terms.¡± I then walked out before my father could start arguing or yelling again. Returning to the rest of my guards, we walked back to my room. Along the way, Tyler filled in everyone with every word that had been said. I should have made someone else stay. I had known before this that Tyler had a photographic memory, but I had not thought about it in time. Reaching my room, I changed into my exercise clothes. Even though I had already worked out today, I now had tons of emotions that I needed to get out. Opening the door to leave, I crashed into someone outside of it. Alex and Casey drew their weapons when they saw me fall. They soon put them away when they saw who it was though.


    Cayden reached a hand down to help me up. ¡°Where were you going so quickly?¡±


    Grabbing his hand, I replied, ¡°I just had a meeting with my parents and had some emotions that I needed to work out. If I had known that you were coming right now, then I would have waited for you. I had forgotten though.¡±


    Pulling me to my feet, Cayden nodded. ¡°I heard your parents yelling when I was coming over here. Was that because of you?¡± I nodded. ¡°Well then maybe we should start our workout now.¡± Handing me the 20 pound weights, I started down to the training room slower than I had yesterday. Today I was smarter. I knew that I could not run very fast with these weights and I wanted to get stronger, so I went at a medium jog and made sure to stay at that pace the entire time. 10 minutes later I reached the training room out of breath. Cayden had beaten me again. I didn''t even ask him how he had beaten me this time. It would just be a waste of precious breath that I would need later in this training session. Placing the weights in their correct places, I dropped to the floor to start my push-ups. 12 push-ups in I had to take a break and catch my breath for a couple of moments. The last 8 push-ups were torture, but I did them faster than yesterday. Cayden¡¯s eyes showed his approval and I felt all my negative emotions start to leave me.


    Today¡¯s workout was the same exercises as yesterday, but I managed to do them a bit faster and easier. Near the end, he added more exercises so that I still worked out for 2 hours straight. Wanting to push myself even farther than yesterday, I stayed standing at the end instead of collapsing to the ground. I was determined to walk back to my room today. Wobbling on shaky legs, I managed to get about halfway back to my room before I collapsed from sheer exhaustion. The guard behind me, Casey, grabbed me before I could hit the tiles. Lifting me into his arms, we continued on our way. Taking the same route we did yesterday, we got back into my room unseen by my family and most of the servants and staff. All the ones that saw us quickly turned the other way so that they could say that they did not see where we went. This time Alex went into my room first to throw the rope down and pull me up. On my bed now, I slept in a tired, dreamless sleep. Three hours later a knock on the door woke me up.


    Yawing, I went over to the door and opened it with guards on both sides of me. The servant outside bowed to me. ¡°I am sorry to bother you Princess Ariana, but your mother requested you in the library.¡±


    Shaking myself awake I thanked the servant and closed the door. Summoning my maids, they helped me shower and change into a day dress. Since we did not know exactly why my mother was requesting my presence, we did a middle dress. It was fancy enough for a party, but simple enough for a stroll around the gardens. 5 minutes later I arrived at the library and knocked. Waiting patiently for my mother to grant me permission to enter, I gazed around the hall and talked to a couple of servants that went by. I now knew the names of six more of my staff and servants. Finally getting the permission I needed to enter, I strode in through the doors to our library. This was a place that I was rarely allowed to visit. When I wanted a book I had to send a servant to get one for me. I never got to choose what book I wanted, I just got to pick a genre. It was pretty annoying sometimes, but my mother hated people rereading books and that is why she put this system into place. Whenever I was summoned to the library it was always to discuss matters that were important to my mom.

 Confessions

    I was assuming that today¡¯s topic would be Prince Darius since that was the discussion earlier today. Seeing as my father was not here, my mother probably did not want distractions right now. Sitting down next to my mom on the couch by one of the bookshelves, I waited for her to speak first. Knowing my mother, she was most likely thinking about what to say right now and I knew that rushing her would just put her in a bad mood and that would not help me in this case. When my mom finally started talking her voice was soft and gentle. ¡°Do you really think that you could love Crown Prince Darius Hashim of the eastern kingdom of Thacaea?¡±


    I didn''t even have to think about what I would say back. ¡°Yes. I think that given some time I could come to love Crown Prince Darius Hashim of the eastern kingdom of Thacaea.¡±


    My mother¡¯s smile was the most beautiful smile that I had ever seen. She had the cutest dimples and her smile lit up her whole face. I rarely got to see a real smile from her, but I got it today. Finding my hands on my lap, she gripped them in her own hands. ¡°Can you tell me what exactly about him you like?¡±


    That question made me think a little bit. ¡°I can, but you have to promise me two things first.¡±


    ¡°What do you want me to promise?¡± Her brow wrinkled a little in confusion.


    I took a deep breath. ¡°First, I want you to promise me that you will not get mad at me or anyone else for anything that I say and second I want you to promise me that you will not make me stop doing anything that I reveal to you.¡±


    These promises made her think, but not for very long. ¡°I promise you both of those things.¡±


    ¡°Okay. He lied to you yesterday about why we were in the kitchen.¡± My mom¡¯s grip grew a little bit tighter on my hands. ¡°I was there first. After my party two days ago, I asked Head Chef Luca to teach me to cook.¡± The gasp that my mom made was barely audible, but it still made me wince a little. ¡°Remember your promises to me mom.¡± She moved her head in what I interpreted as a nod. ¡°Before the dinner yesterday I was in the kitchen helping make a part of the dinner. Fifteen minutes before you all arrived, Crown Prince Darius walked into the kitchen wanting to help with dinner as well. He saw me there. We started talking and cooking together. He really understood me and promised that he would never tell anyone about me cooking or helping out around the castle. I trust him mama to keep his word.¡± Purposefully using the word mama to show my mother how deeply I felt about this, I waited for her response with bated breath.


    Instead of being mad like I thought that she would be, she just looked happy for me. Laughing at the shock on my face, she explained. ¡°I met your dad when I was about your age. The first place we saw each other was the training room.¡± It was now my turn to look surprised. Her eyes clouded over in memory. ¡°I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sparring with the trainer of my kingdom at the time and had just rolled to escape a blow, when he stepped in. After pushing my trainer to the side, he started fighting me instead. Lets just say I was pretty surprised to see him standing there, but I continued fighting all the same. The fight lasted for several minutes, neither of us able to defeat the other. Finally I was able to twist his practice sword from his hand and win the battle. You may not believe me daughter, but I used to be just like you. I used to be wild, free, and a fighter. My parents would get so mad at me for helping around my own castle and training like a boy. Your dad respected that part of me though. To tell you the truth, I am still like that. Every day I will train with either your dad or Cayden.¡±


    ¡°Why did you stop me from doing the same thing then?¡±


    Shoulders slumping my mother confessed. ¡°I wanted you to be the girl that I could never be. The one who was proper and had perfect manners. To marry someone because you were similar and would not need to change. I also didn¡¯t want you to be bullied like I was. My family would ridicule me for doing all of these things. When other royal families found out they hated me and tried to change me. That all stopped when your dad started courting and hanging out with me, but I never wanted you to experience what I had.¡±


    Hugging my mother I felt a tear slip down her cheek. ¡°I love you mom. Now I know that you were just trying to protect me.¡± I pulled back enough to look into her eyes. ¡°However, I am old enough to take care of myself now.¡±


    She stroked my smooth brown hair. ¡°I know you are. It is a parent¡¯s job to worry though. Can you forgive me?¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Yes I can forgive you. In time. There is something that you can do to speed up the process though.¡±


    My mom looked at me warily. ¡°What would that be?¡±


    ¡°You could let me train with Cayden and maybe fight with you, dad, my guards, or my brothers occasionally.¡±


    Her laugh shook her whole body. ¡°I am sure that I can arrange that.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ You only have to arrange part of that.¡±


    Suspicion was clear in her tone. ¡°Why? Who arranged the rest of it?¡±


    ¡°I started training with Cayden yesterday. It was all dad¡¯s idea though. He wants me to be able to control my presence and become stronger.¡±


    ¡°How has it been? Has he been killing you?¡±


    ¡°Of course. That is kind of his job. I have been running with weights, doing tons of arm, leg, and ab workouts, and trying not to die. They are so hard that I can not even walk all the way back to my room afterwards. My guards have been taking turns carrying me.¡±


    ¡°How have I not seen or heard about you being carried by your guards in the halls?¡±


    ¡°Who says we were walking in the halls? We go on the outside of the castle and one of them will run up to my room and then lower a rope. I am then tied to it and then pulled up by the same guard that lowered the rope.¡±


    My mother¡¯s mouth was wide open. ¡°That is kind of dangerous.¡±


    Hands going wide, I said, ¡°Well what did you want us to do? We had to make sure that you never saw us!¡±


    Rolling her eyes at me, she changed the conversation. For the next hour and a half we talked about random things that came into our heads. Looking at the time, I stood up. ¡°Sorry mom, but dinner is in an hour and I need to go help make it.¡±


    Sighing, she gave me permission to leave, and pulled a book from a bookshelf to begin reading it. Skipping down the hall I went into the kitchen. ¡°Hello everyone! I am ready to start working!¡± Luca and the kitchen staff smiled amused at me and gave me a skillet to start cooking the salmon on. Tonight for dinner is a brown sugar salmon, a huge salad, fruit, and parmesan breadsticks. Dessert would be a chocolate bundt cake with cream cheese frosting. Mouthwatering scents were soon wafting throughout the kitchen. About an hour later a servant rushed into the kitchen and told me that my family was coming. Not wanting to push my mom anymore than I already had, I cleaned up and left the kitchen. Standing behind my seat I waited for my family to arrive. I did not have to wait long. My brothers shot into the kitchen like arrows shot from a bow talking about how hungry they were.


    ¡°Did you guys not eat lunch or something?¡±


    Talking over each other they said, ¡°I was in a fighting class¡­¡±, ¡°I was in a strategic class¡­¡± ¡°Of course I did not get lunch¡­¡± ¡°Those classes last forever¡­¡± I wondered when I would learn that it was just better not to ask.


    Raising her voice so that she could be heard over all of the chaos my mom said, ¡°Stop talking now. It is time to eat and we can not start eating until there is silence.¡± The boys immediately stopped talking. Apparently they really were hungry. That is about the only thing that could get them to stop talking that fast and completely. Staring at our dad, they had practically burned holes in him by the time he finished slowly sitting down. As soon as they could, they dropped down in their seats. The food came out right after. Our mouths were watering with the scents coming from all the food. Again the waiter that brought out the food I made winked at me. It was becoming quite the tradition. This time though, my mom noticed.


    ¡°What does the wink mean? You were obviously expecting it.¡± My whole family looked at me curiously. I blushed a subtle pink. That made my dad and brothers¡¯ eyes widen.


    I quickly stopped that suspicion. ¡°It does not mean that. The wink means that the food they just put down was the one I made.¡± Other than my mom, everyone gasped in shock. Mom just smiled in understanding.


    ¡°That means you made the salmon today?¡±


    ¡°Not all of it, just a couple of them.¡±


    ¡°Well thank you for making as much as you did. I am sure it took quite a load off the kitchen staff.¡± I practically glowed from my pride. Tristan, Carter, and my dad looked even more shocked than before. We just ignored them and started eating the delicious dinner. I made sure to grab one of the salmon that I had made. My mom followed my example. The boys split one of mine so that my dad could have a whole one. While I just took a normal bite of mine, they took small hesitant bites. Soon they were taking big bites and savoring each bite with their eyes closed. My smile could have lit up a dark room at that point. Looking at my guards, I offered them each a bite from my salmon. They each hastily took me up on my offer. Slipping a small piece in between their lips, their eyes closed in delight.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    When dessert came out, my family asked if I had helped make this as well. Shaking my head, I watched their faces turn sad. After taking a bite of the dessert though, they seemed fine with me not having helped make it. I took no offense when they said that his cooking was better than mine. Head Chef Luca was the master of cooking after all while I was just a lowly student of his. As the servants came out to take our dishes and clean up the table, I stood up to help them. Mom just shook her head and left the table with the rest of my family. My brothers and dad looked a little bit bad about not helping us clean up the meal, but I did not care, and I am sure that the servants were stunned that I was even helping. With all of us working together, it only took around 20 minutes for everything to be done. I helped clean the dishes, wipe down surfaces, and sweep the floor. The only people that did not help that were in the kitchen were my guards. I knew that they wanted to, but they had to be ready at all times to protect me. They could not do that while they were cleaning.


    My hands were not the same color when I finished as when I started. They were the color of red roses instead of the color of white lilies. It made me happy to see it though. Having them change color on me made me feel a sense of accomplishment. Now I had physical proof that I had worked hard and done something for myself. Clenching my hands shut, I promised myself that I would see that sight more and more often as I worked out, started to train with weapons, and when I cleaned the castle. My dad found me when I was halfway back to my room. ¡°Hello daughter!¡±


    ¡°Hello father!¡± He looked a bit startled by how happy I was. After all, he knew that I had just finished cleaning with the servants, but then he smiled.


    ¡°I am glad that you are so happy. Maybe you will take my news better.¡± Narrowing my eyes at his tone, I waited for him to go on. ¡°Your mother and I decided that we were going to have another party soon. We know that you do not really like them because of all the boys talking to you and proposing to you, but maybe it will be better now that you actually like one of them.¡±


    Confusion in my voice I asked, ¡°I thought we were going to wait at least a month or two between parties. Why are we having one so soon after the last one?¡±


    ¡°We knew that you were going to ask that and I have an answer prepared. Royals from all three corners have been begging us to have another party. Apparently they want us to keep having them until at least one of our kids gets married. They said that once one of you were married, we could wait awhile, but then we would have to start again to marry off the other kids pretty soon after.¡±


    ¡°I will be glad to see Crown Prince Darius again, but this is ridiculous. They want us to have parties every week just to marry us off. Why do they not bug other kingdoms to do this as well? Other kingdoms have Crown Princes, and royals with presences.¡±


    ¡°While that is true, none of them have eyes as dark as yours. Once you marry someone, we will probably not be bothered anymore to keep having all of these parties.¡± Sighing in frustration, I turned to continue back to my room. My dad called after me, ¡°If it makes you feel any better, we will be switching off with other kingdoms after this party. Instead of it being here, other kingdoms will host it at their castles. This way you can see them and maybe decide to live there forever.¡± Knowing that would be exactly what the other royals would be hoping for, I didn¡¯t respond to him. The rest of the week went by pretty quickly, with nothing really changing with my schedule. I still worked out on my own every morning, and then trained with Cayden doing the same exercises. I hoped to soon start actually working on learning about my presence and practicing with it, but did not want to rush him. He had a plan and I just had to trust that he knew what he was doing. For all I knew, it would be too dangerous to start early or it would be too confusing and overwhelming to start with it right now.


    Once every week my parents had agreed to train with me and let me see them fight. This was the first time we had done it and it was incredible to watch them. When I actually fought against them, I was quickly and easily crushed. Because of that, my mom let me restart my weapons training with my guards and brothers every day. The one who taught it was, of course, Cayden. That meant that I had two lessons a day with him and it was brutal. It was so brutal in fact that I quit working out each morning. Three workouts a day was way too much and it made my body work way harder than it should. By the time the party came around, I was way more lean and muscular than I was at the last party and I was very proud of it. Finding a dress to fit my new frame was complicated because none of them fit the way they needed too anymore. Hazel and Sophia had to take me to the tailor to get them all remade. The tailor was happy for something to do, but a bit overloaded with all of my clothes. I pulled them aside in private and told them that they did not need to do them all right away. As long as I had one dress per day, I would be fine.


    Looking relieved, the tailor thanked me for explaining that to them. Otherwise, they would have been up for several nights working on them. My maids chose another corseted dress for this party. When I complained, they told me that their instructions were clear. They had to put me in a corseted dress and heels. The King and Queen had told them so. Anger clear on my face, I resolved to talk to my parents about these instructions as soon as possible. Wobbly walking and trying to get used to the super high heels they had put me in, I headed towards the door when a knock sounded on it. Guards by my side, I opened it to see my mother on the other side. Grabbing her arm, I pulled her in. ¡°Why would you tell Hazel and Sophia that they had to make sure that I wore corsets and high heels to every party? What about the ones in other kingdoms? That would be pure torture!¡±


    Donning her Queen face my mother said, ¡°You have to get used to them. Most likely the person you marry will only have corseted dresses and high heels for you to wear.¡±


    Gesturing to her dress and shoes I retorted, ¡°Dad does not make you wear such awful things.¡±


    Laughing, my mother had to take a couple of seconds to compose herself before responding. ¡°The only reason I do not have to wear them is because the first time I met your father was beating him in a sword fight in the training room. If the first time you see your husband is at a party wearing a corseted dress and high heels, then that will probably be your normal attire for the rest of your life.¡±


    Thinking quickly I said, ¡°Well then why don¡¯t you invite them all to fight me? That way some or most of them will have met me in the training room when they fight me. I mean, they might beat me, but I can live with that.¡± Choosing to ignore me, she intertwined my arm with hers and helped me to the party. Announced at the same time, we descended the stairs arm in arm as well. Barely avoiding a fall, even with my mom helping me, I wondered how I would make it through this party. The first Prince that came up to talk to me answered that question. Prince Darius appeared in front of me and bowed. Attempting a curtesy, I dipped down just far enough to not offend him and then rose as fast as possible. I was very proud that I had not fallen down during that. Taking my arm in his just like my mother had done not that long ago, he guided me to the edge of the room so that we could talk in relative peace and quiet. Well as much peace and quiet as could be found during a party with hundreds or maybe even thousands of people.


    ¡°You know, you do not have to curtsey to me.¡±


    I blinked at him in surprise. ¡°You might not care if I curtsey to you or not, but the rest of the people in this room sure do care.¡±


    ¡°That is true. Why do you wear a corseted dress and high heels if you can barely walk and breathe in them though? Why put yourself through that much misery?¡±


    ¡°It is like you can read my mind. That is what I said to my mom when she made my maids put me in it. She said that my husband might make me wear these awful things all the time once I marry someone, so she wants me to get used to them. However there is no getting used to these wretched things.¡±


    An odd looking gleam was in his eyes. I soon found out what it was for. ¡°If you marry me you will never be forced to wear, and I quote you ¡®these awful and wretched things¡¯. You could wear trousers and a shirt for all I would care.¡±


    I closed my eyes and just thought about that. Opening my eyes, I looked back at Prince Darius. ¡°That sounds like the best thing ever.¡±


    Prince Darius¡¯s laugh caused several people to turn around and look at us. Blushing a bit from the attention, I kept my face turned away from the rest of the party goers so that they could not see it. Seeing my embarrassment, Prince Darius took my arm again and led me out into the gardens. Stopping just inside the gardens, I whistled all of a sudden. It made Prince Darius literally jump into the air, startled. Giggling, I returned his playful glare. ¡°What was that for? You scared me, and almost gave me a heart attack.¡± Not even bothering to answer, I just waited. Seconds after I whistled, Tyler, Casey, Alex, and Liam ran into view with their weapons drawn.


    Putting my hands up, I called to them. ¡°It is just Crown Prince Daius Hashim from the eastern kingdom of Thacaea and me. My mom told me that if we went outside, I needed to whistle for you guys to come with us.¡± Hearing this, they all put their weapons away and relaxed a bit. I knew that they understood that I had been forced to do it and so they did not hold a grudge against me. Normally a whistle would mean that I was in danger, but they were totally fine with me using it in this way. I knew to not expect them to react any differently when I did that, and I did not want them too. If they reacted differently than it could put me in even more danger than I might already be in. Prince Darius nodded approvingly at me.


    ¡°Good job remembering that. My parents said the same thing to me and I totally forgot about it until now. I guess that I should call my own guards now.¡± My guards and I all nodded in unison without even realizing it. Trying now to laugh, Prince Darius turned towards where his guards were, took a deep breath, and whistled. His whistle was a lot more high pitched than mine. It definitely explained why his guards had not come running when I had whistled. Looking at my guards with a question on my face, Casey and Tyler shook their heads while Alex and Liam scanned the scenery. Loving how they could answer a question without me even needing to answer it, I was very glad that they knew my whistle and would not come to Prince Darius¡¯s whistle. Or anyone else¡¯s whistle for that matter.


    Either faster than my guards had come or just as fast, Prince Darius¡¯s guards came barreling over with their weapons drawn. ¡°It is just I, Crown Prince Darius, with Princess Ariana Esma, and her four guards.¡± Drawing closer, they sheathed their weapons, and slowed down so that they stopped right by their charge. Waving at them, I was happy to see two of them wave back at me. They had the same system as my guards. Two guards looked at the scenery, while the other two looked at the people they needed to protect or maybe to be suspicious of. Now fully protected, we continued walking into the beautiful moonlit gardens. The flowers around us seemed to shimmer in the uncertain moonlight. Holding hands, we started talking. The topics ranged from our lives, to our duties, our futures, and just about ourselves. After a while we were finally on a first name basis or a nickname basis in my case, and were comfortable with each other. Told by our guards that it was time to head back to the party because it was almost over, we walked slowly towards the lights and noise.


    Reaching it finally, I went in to say goodbye to everyone that had come. I promised them that I would be at the next party in one of the northern kingdoms. Nearly an hour later, the only people left were some random guests and Darius. Seeing my parents go over to talk to the random guests that were left, and my brothers near the food table with their guards, I went over to Darius. Both sets of our guards were back around us now. They had scattered into the crowd when we had joined the party again, but now most people were gone. Our conversation had gone on for several minutes when I noticed that the other guests were still there talking to my parents and the conversation was getting kind of heated. Concern furrowed on my brow, I headed over to them. ¡°What is going on here? Do you need something?¡± Everyone in the group turned to me, and I knew that my guards were tightening their grips on their weapons.


    The random guests, that I still did not recognize, smiled at me. ¡°We just needed to ask your parents a couple of questions, and we were a bit frustrated when they did not answer the way we wanted them to.¡±


    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my dad¡¯s face darken with anger. Thinking I knew what the questions had been, I asked, ¡°Where are you guys from? I do not know your accent, or looks.¡±


    This time, when they smiled, it felt vaguely threatening. My guards tensed up even more. ¡°We were waiting for someone to ask us that. So thanks for that. All of us,¡± he gestured to himself and the other three guys with him, ¡°come from a kingdom in the east.¡± Everyone gasped and their eyes widened in shock.

 Visitors From the East

    After stuttering for a bit my mom composed herself enough to talk. ¡°I was not aware that you received invitations to these parties. Or that you had ways to cross the waters to other lands.¡±


    Their grins were most definitely threatening and dark this time. ¡°We were not invited, but we had heard about it and wanted to come and wish your beautiful daughter here a late Happy Birthday and to congratulate her on getting a presence.¡± I managed a shaky nod of thanks. Out of the blue, one of the four easterns in front of us snapped their fingers. Before we could even complete our looks of bewilderment, a loud bang echoed through the air and smoke started spreading throughout the room. All four of my guards grabbed onto me right away so that we would not get separated in the smoke. Using their memories, my guards dragged me to where they remembered the door to the outside to be. Even knowing that move could be exactly what the easterners wanted us to do, it was the best course of action. Feeling blind, I kept my arms out so that I did not run into anything. Finally, my hands ran into the door. Groping for the door knob I found it and yanked the door open. Coughing in the thick smoke, we kept walking until we had escaped most of the smoke and could breathe normally again.


    Instantly, we were surrounded by men in black clothing that were each carrying at least one weapon. As they drew their weapons, I was pushed into the middle of my guards. Wishing that I had a weapon of some kind, I curled my hands up into fists and got into a fighting stance. I was so grateful now that I had taken some lessons to know what to do in situations like this. Looking around us, I spotted Darius in a similar situation not too far away. Nonetheless, he was too far away to reach safely. I didn¡¯t dare call out to him just in case it distracted him. No matter where I looked though, I could not see my brothers or parents anywhere. Forcing myself to focus on what was right in front of me, I saw one of the black clothed men step forward. ¡°No one needs to get hurt here. If you all surrender and give us your weapons, then we will just take all of you and leave.¡±


    ¡°Wait, why do you want my guards? I know why you want me, but they do not have to be a part of this.¡± Judging from the glares and growling coming from my guards, they did not agree with me. I knew that they were just as curious as me though as to why these men wanted them as well as me.


    The leader of the black figures shook his head. ¡°I am not allowed to tell you that. Just do as I say and we can do this the easy way. Otherwise I can not guarantee that no one will get hurt.¡±


    ¡°We will never submit to you.¡± Casey startled me when he spoke. He only spoke when something was really important to him or he was really passionate about something.


    Nodding, the black figure said, ¡°I figured you would say that. I am sorry about this.¡± Right after he finished talking his men attacked us. We were outnumbered about 20 to 4. It would be 20 to 5 if they let me fight. Or at least 20 to 4 and a half. Fighting hard, my guards managed to hold them back for quite some time, but the black figures¡¯ numbers were too great to hold back for forever. The first one overwhelmed was Liam. I stepped into the hole and punched one of them square in the face so hard that he fell down, but it was a lost cause. The attackers had weapons, and I did not. I was grabbed around the waist and held by several of them off to the side. Seeing that struggling would do me no good, I stopped to conserve as much energy as possible. Once they had that hole, even though my guards had tried desperately to close the hole and fight their way to me, the rest of my guards were quickly overwhelmed and subdued. All of our hands were tied behind our backs, and two attackers grabbed onto each of us. Only Tyler had been injured from the fight. His left shoulder had been cut by one of the attackers on accident.


    Someone who looked like the black figures¡¯ medic was wrapping it and applying pressure to make sure that the bleeding stopped. The only sign that Tyler showed that his wound hurt was that his teeth were locked together. Glancing to where Darius and his guards had been, I saw that their battle had also ended against the black figures. They had all lost and been subdued as well. None of them looked injured, but one of them looked slightly dazed like he had taken a blow to the head. His captors seemed more like helpers because they were trying more to keep him on his feet than to keep him from getting away. I hoped that Tyler and Darius¡¯s guard would both be healed pretty quickly and completely. Stumbling a bit in my high heels when we started walking, I gave up on them. Looking at the two men holding my arms I asked if I could change into better shoes. When they looked uncertain, I told them that if they wanted to walk any amount of distance then they would either have to carry me, make me walk barefoot, or let me get new shoes.


    Their leader had overheard and now he came closer to me. ¡°We will let you go up to your room and change into more comfortable shoes and clothes. Besides, we need to go up there anyway to grab your maids.¡±


    ¡°Why do you need my maids, my guards, Crown Prince Darius, his guards, and me?¡±


    The leader smiled at me. ¡°Don¡¯t forget your castle trainer Cayden.¡±


    I restated my question. ¡°Why do you need everyone except my parents, my brothers, all of their guards, and the rest of the staff here in the castle?¡±


    ¡°That is a much better question. Unfortunately, I can not answer it anymore than I could have answered your last two questions.¡± Deciding to just go with the flow for now, there was nothing else for me to do anyways, I shut my mouth and let my two captors lead me where they wanted me to go. In the ballroom I spotted my parents, their guards, my brothers, their guards, and Cayden. More of the black figures in here looked injured than the five Darius¡¯ and my group had managed to injure, but that was probably mostly from them fighting with Cayden. He was a very formidable opponent. Particularly, when he has a weapon in his hand or when he is familiar with the battlefield.


    My mom saw me first and she almost started crying. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    I tried to make my tone as reassuring as possible. ¡°Do not worry about me mom. Everyone is fine except for Tyler who got cut on his left shoulder and one of Darius¡¯ guards who looks like he got a blow to the head. Are all of you alright?¡±


    This time my brother Carter spoke up. ¡°We are all good here. None of us got injured, but to be honest, it was not a very fair fight. They attacked us while we were blinded and choked by the smoke.¡± I bit back a smile.


    ¡°Does that mean that all the black clothed people in here that are injured were all hurt by fighting Cayden?¡±


    Cayden nodded with a smile. ¡°They made the mistake of attacking me in my training room with a bunch of weapons, weights, and I was very familiar with where everything was. The only way they managed to beat me was that some of them climbed in the back window and flanked me on two sides. Plus, I was extremely outnumbered. They certainly made sure to bring enough people to attack us. My question for them, that they will not answer, is how they managed to get so many people over here. Especially when they one, do not have a way across the water for even one person, and two, none of the kingdoms there have this many fighters. Or at least no kingdoms there that we were aware of. To get this many fighters one eastern kingdom must have allied with other eastern kingdoms, but that is completely unheard of for them.¡± Though none of the attackers talked to him, they all smiled mysteriously. Everyone knew that they had at least one huge secret that they were keeping from us, but no one knew what that was.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Feeling my captors start to push me again, I said goodbye and started walking. Panicking, my family called after me. Over my shoulder I said, ¡°They are just taking me to my room so that they can get my maids, and I can change into more comfortable clothing and shoes for the journey.¡± Hearing my mom demand to know what journey I was going on, I was glad that I was getting too far away to actually answer her. Climbing the stairs to my room, two black figures went in front of me and burst into my room. Screams came from both Sophia, and Hazel. Shaking my arms free from the two black figures who held me, I rushed into the room towards them. Yanking my maids free from the men, I put my body in between them. ¡°I need them to help me get ready.¡± After looking at me with consideration, they nodded and pointed to the bathroom. Not moving, I looked pointedly at my hands. Taking the hint, one of them stepped forward and untied me. Nodding my head in thanks, I allowed my maids to pick out my traveling clothes and shoes, we then went into the bathroom and they helped me into the clothes.


    After they glanced at the door for the sixth time, I spoke up. ¡°I promise that they will not hurt you. I will make sure of it and stay by you at all times.¡± Sophia and Hazel both had tears in their eyes after I finished talking. Pulling them both into a tight hug, I comforted them. Sniffing and wiping their eyes, they pulled away and finished helping me change. Done, they tentatively opened the door and we walked out arm in arm. As the attackers came towards us, I shook my head. ¡°We will not run and you can tie our hands behind our backs if you want to, but I will not be separated from them.¡± Seeing the respect and admiration in their eyes, I knew that I would be able to keep my promise at least for a while longer. They did tie our hands behind our backs, but they let us walk side-by-side down to the ballroom. When the leader of the black figures saw us, he took a double take.


    My head tilted to the side in curiosity. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I did not expect your maids to look about your age. To be honest, I thought that they would be way older than you.¡±


    I nodded in understanding. ¡°Most people think that they would be older than they are, but Hazel¡± I inclined my head towards her to show which one she was, ¡°is only a year older than me and Sophia¡± I moved my head to her, ¡°is actually a year younger than me.¡±


    ¡°Why is that? Were they the best ones for the job, or was it just because your parents wanted your maids to be your friends?¡±


    I did not even have to think about my answer. ¡°Both. They are extremely skilled at what they do, and they have become my best friends.¡± Seeing the leader smile, I knew that I had said the right thing.


    The leader turned so that he was facing and looking towards everyone. ¡°Okay, I do not want anyone to talk until I am done talking, because I do not want to have to repeat myself alright?¡± We all nodded. ¡°Good. The reason we attacked you is because we are going to take Crown Prince Darius Hasim of the western kingdom of Thacaea, his guards, Princess Ariana Esma of the southern kingdom of Kuli, her guards, her maids, and Kuli¡¯s castle trainer Cayden.¡± Noise broke out across the room from my parents, my brothers, and both sets of their guards. Waiting patiently, the leader just stood there looking at them until they calmed down and stopped talking. Once only silence could be heard again, did he continue talking. ¡°I realize that this is coming as a shock, but it is necessary. You see, for a long time us in the eastern kingdom have gotten tired of being ignored and forgotten. Known to the rest of the world only as barbarians, and savages. The time has come for us to step out of the shadows and to show that it was a mistake to think of us as thus. The reason that we are taking these people is because they are very powerful and important people. Crown Prince Darius is the heir to the throne of the most wealthy and dominant kingdom across all the lands, Princess Ariana has eyes so dark that her power, once she learns to control and harness it, could be strong enough to destroy armies, and Cayden is the most fearsome and mighty warrior in all the land. The guards we are taking because we want them to know people and to know that we are not what you think we are. We can be civilized. Plus, we heard that some of these guards are extremely good at what they do and can hold their own against the best of the best. Princess Ariana¡¯s maids are coming because they know what she likes and they are her friends.¡±


    He waited for us to say anything, but everyone was shocked into silence. Finally I spoke up. ¡°What do you want us to do in your kingdom? Fight back against our own people and kingdoms? Wage war on innocents?¡±


    The leader was shaking his head before I even finished. ¡°We want you to help us protect our part of the world and bring peace. Also, we want you to marry one of our royalty, but only if you choose too. That part is not necessary. Another thing we want from you is to learn who we really are and tell everyone else it.¡±


    ¡°So you want us to be your weapons and messengers. You want us to fight your wars, and declare your true behaviors and selves.¡± All of the black figures nodded. ¡°Will you take no for an answer?¡± All of them shook their heads. ¡°I will go willingly with you as long as you leave behind my guards and maids. There is no good reason to bring them along. I will be fine.¡± My guards and maids alike glared at me.


    Alex spoke for my guards. ¡°If you are going, we are going.¡±


    Hazel nodded. ¡°You promised us that you would never leave our sides. We return that promise to you now.¡± My eyes teared up. I knew that they all meant what they said and I was grateful that they were choosing to venture with me into unknown, potentially dangerous territory. I hugged them all one by one as best I could with our arms tied behind us still.


    Darius looked to his guards. ¡°Will you all stay here? I refuse to drag you into something you did not choose. If you come, you come of your own free will and not out of any sense of duty to me.¡±


    His guards laughed. ¡°We would follow you anywhere. Besides, it sounds like it could be fun!¡± Darius hugged his guards and, when he pulled back, I could see that his eyes had gone all teary. We all looked to the leader with new determination in our gazes.


    ¡°You may say goodbye to everyone before we leave, but make it quick. We have already stayed here too long.¡± Going to my parents first, I murmured farewell to them while they sobbed into my shoulders. Next were my brothers who both whispered words of encouragement in my ears about how they were going to gather an army and get all of us back. My guards went to say goodbye to my family and to their guards as well. Darius had no one to say goodbye to. However, my parents said that they would tell his parents everything that had happened and pass on a message for him. They also promised to tell Hazel and Sophia¡¯s families and friends everything as well. Ready to leave now, all of us that were going stood across from those that were staying and memorized their faces before turning and walking out of the room. All of the guards, staff, and servants that we passed from my castle were tied up, unconscious, or both. I let out a sigh of relief when I noticed that none of the people that we passed were dead.


    Noting my relieved face, one of the black figures leaned towards me. ¡°Like we told you before. We are not barbarians or savages. The ones who fought back were knocked unconscious. The ones who tried to run were tied up. The ones that were harder than others to defeat, were both knocked unconscious and tied up. The ones that did nothing, we locked in different rooms. A group of us will linger behind and unlock a couple of the rooms and those people can free everyone else.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Even though I had whispered it, I knew that he had heard me. His eyes softened and he nodded imperceptibly. Standing up taller, I walked more confidently from the only home I had ever known. Just knowing the fact that the people who had attacked had not tried to harm us, or do anything bad to us made me feel better. It made me realize that I was going to get through this okay and when the time came to decide whether I would stay or leave the eastern land, it may be a harder choice than I had first thought. Outside the kingdom walls now, I turned back to look at it one more time. The black figures did not seem to mind stopping and allowing me to look at it. Closing my eyes, I burned the image of it into my brain. I never wanted to forget the place where I had been born and raised. Especially if I never came back here again.

 Beginning the Journey

    Leaving the city that surrounded the castle was easier than expected. None of my people attempted to come to our aid, which both relieved and puzzled me. You would think that some of them would have tried to help. Noticing my expression, one of the black figures holding onto me explained. ¡°We told them that we were going to kidnap you and if any of them tried to interfere we would harm you. Your people are very dedicated to you so we knew that they would not try anything that would result in you being harmed.¡± Reaching the road outside of my kingdom after quite a while of walking, I gazed in awe at the forest that surrounded us. I had never really been allowed outside before other than a couple of trips to close ally kingdoms. After a few minutes of walking in the forest outside of my kingdom, a carriage approached on the road. The black figures tightened their grip on us and pulled us deeper into the forest and out of view of whoever might be in the carriage. I was very curious about who might be in the carriage seeing as the party had ended a long time ago. My curiosity was soon satisfied. Right as it was about to pass us by, the carriage came to an abrupt halt. The men around us tightened their hands on their weapons. I knew that they were praying that the carriage would continue on its way. However, I knew that they were also worried about them getting to my castle too fast. Some of their men might still be inside when this carriage arrived.


    When the door to the carriage nearest us opened and a man stepped out, there was a general sigh of relief among all the black figures. The man on the road had short black hair with darker skin and hazel eyes. Guiding us more gently this time, we were led up to the road beside the carriage. The man looked at us happily. ¡°You got them, and it looks like only two of them were injured. Thankfully neither of those injuries look too bad.¡±


    The medic stepped forward. Now that we were out of my kingdom, all of the black clothed figures had taken off their masks and since I had mostly gotten over my shock by now I actually got a good look at him this time. His short brown hair was wind tossed and he looked to be only around twelve years older than me. ¡°No, neither of the injuries to them are bad.¡± He went over and pointed at Tyler¡¯s arm. ¡°This is the worst injury out of all of us.¡±


    Surprise and delight showed on the man¡¯s face. ¡°None of our people got injured too badly?¡±


    ¡°No. The worst we have is a couple unconscious people who were put in one of their carriages¡± at this the medic pointed at me, ¡°and they were taken the safe, but longer way back towards our kingdom.¡±


    The man nodded and had just opened his mouth to speak when I broke in. ¡°Excuse me.¡± Everyone turned and looked at me expectantly. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    The man startled. ¡°Right, I haven''t introduced myself yet. My name is Milo Bullara and I am the heir to the throne of the biggest eastern kingdom Raetis.¡±


    While this information would have shocked me this morning, it didn¡¯t even faze me now. ¡°Hello Crown Prince Milo.¡±


    He interrupted me. ¡°Please just call me Milo, Princess Ariana.¡±


    A smile quirked my lips. ¡°I will call you Milo if you call me Ari.¡± Milo blinked in surprise, but nodded. ¡°Anyways, like I was saying before I was interrupted, are we walking the entire way there, or are we all going to somehow fit into that carriage?¡± I indicated it as best as I could with my hands tied behind my back. That gesture seemed to help him notice for the first time that all of our hands were tied behind our backs.


    When he pulled a knife from behind his back and headed towards me, all of my guards reacted instinctively. They were about halfway to us when some of the black figures managed to catch them and hold them back. Milo hastily raised his hands in the air with the knife. ¡°Please do not worry. I am not going to hurt her. I was just going to cut her bonds.¡± He moved slower this time, very aware that my guards were watching him closely. Glancing to the side, I noticed that Darius looked ready to tackle him if he made even one wrong move. Trying to hold back a smile, I held perfectly still while he cut my ropes. Freed, I rubbed my wrists to try to get some circulation back into them. Biting the inside of my mouth, I waited for the stabbing pain to subside. Milo instructed all of his men to cut the rest of us free. My guards looked at me out of the corners of their eyes as they were being cut loose. I shook my head. There was no way that we would be able to get away from our captors. Not while they had a carriage and greatly outnumbered us.


    Coming back over to me, Milo thanked me for not making them chase us all down. It did not really surprise me that he had noticed our interaction. He seemed like the kind of man who noticed every little detail. Darius, who had not spoken for a while, asked ¡°So are we going to walk the whole way there? Also, what should we call your men because it looks like we will be traveling together for a long time.¡± Turning to him, Milo seemed to appraise him. By the look on his face afterwards, Milo seemed to like what he saw.


    ¡°You must be Crown Prince Darius.¡± A curt nod is all he got in return. ¡°If I can call you Darius, then you can call me Milo.¡± A smile lit up his face when Darius answered him.


    ¡°I can agree to that as long as you answer the questions that I asked you a little while ago.¡± A laugh burst out of Milo. ¡°Of course. There are two more carriages coming soon so no we will not be walking the whole way there. That would take way too long. Also you can call my men either by their names if they tell you them, or you can call them the Black Renegades. If you want to, you can even shorten that to the Renegades.¡± The two carriages he had just mentioned rolled up as he finished speaking. ¡°I am very sorry, but I have to separate you all into three groups. That way we will still have you outnumbered in each carriage and will not have to worry about anyone escaping. Ari¡¯s guards will go in the first carriage with Hazel,¡± Hazel looked to my guards who each gave her a reassuring look. While she had been around them a lot, she had never been alone with them before.


    Leaning closer to her I whispered, ¡°They will take care of you. There is no need to worry. I trust them with my life and they have saved my life before.¡± She nodded and walked over to them slowly, but steadily.


    Milo continued, ¡°Darius¡¯s guards will be with Sophia in the second carriage,¡± She looked scared until Darius and I talked to her and told her that they would treat her with respect, and they would protect her. Walking over to them, she still looked a little worried, but Darius¡¯s guards hurriedly set those worries to rest. ¡°and in the last carriage is Darius, Ari, and Cayden.¡± The Black Renegades split up as well and ushered us all into a carriage. Around 10 Black Renegades went in the other two carriages while at least 15 got into ours. The carriages were huge and about double the size of the carriages I had at my kingdom. Milo joined Darius, Cayden, and me in the last carriage. The medic went with my guards so that he could help Tyler heal as fast as possible. Tyler claimed that his arm was all better, but the medic did not agree. Darius¡¯s guard that had been injured was looking much better and had insisted that he was fine and did not need the medic anymore.


    Starting to rumble along the road, my thoughts were filled with my family. I wondered if their bonds had been taken off yet. I hoped that they did not come after us. Our kingdom did not have enough manpower to track us down and free us. It would just end with more injuries and pain. There had been more than enough of that already. Glancing around the carriage, I noticed that out of all of us Cayden seemed the most relaxed and calm. I wondered why. As if he could sense my gaze upon him, Cayden looked directly into my eyes. ¡°What is it Ari?¡±


    ¡°How are you so calm? This entire time you never seemed to be flustered, mad, or upset.¡±


    Cayden¡¯s laugh was deep and full. ¡°I have been in many rough situations. This is not even the worst thing I have endured.¡± Wanting to ask what other situations he had been in, but not wanting to upset him, I just kept my mouth shut. ¡°You can ask whatever you want to. If I do not want to answer you then I will just tell you that. There is no point in not asking.¡±


    ¡°Okay, what is the worst situation you have been in? Or if you do not want to answer that one, then what is another bad situation you have been in? It is weird, I have known you my whole life, but I feel like I know nothing about you or what you have gone through.¡±


    Cayden¡¯s smile was full of amusement, sadness, and understanding. ¡°The worst situation I have ever experienced was my parents being killed right in front of me. That is all I will say about it though. Several times in my life I have been taken captive by enemies, or been enslaved. I made sure that no one knows most things about my life and past. It is just better that way. This way you do not feel sad for me and I do not have to dwell on the things that happened a long time ago. Not even your parents know about most of the things that I have done or that I had done to me in my life.¡±


    ¡°How did you meet my parents and get hired as the castle trainer then? Did you save their lives or something? Whenever I asked my parents for the story, they would just tell me that I had to ask you because it was your story to tell. They did not want to break your trust.¡±


    ¡°If I see them again I will be sure to thank them for that. I will not answer that question though. Meeting your parents made my life a lot happier and worth living, but it was a time of desperation and loss as well.¡± Conversation stopped for a while as everyone in our carriage thought about what the situation must have been like. Most of us could think of a time when we were desperate and were experiencing a loss of some sort.


    Darius then asked a question that both confused and startled me. ¡°Have you met my parents before Cayden?¡±


    ¡°Yes I have. Many years ago I encountered them when I was traveling around the world. They are very kind and caring people. Great people to be around when you are in need. Have they talked to you about me before?¡±


    ¡°At Ari¡¯s birthday and presence getting party, my parents were talking to her parents and her parents mentioned the name Cayden. Let''s just say that my parents were very surprised to know that you were working at their castle as a trainer.¡±


    ¡°Yes, when I met them the last thing I wanted to do was to work under anyone. In fact they even offered me the job to be their castle trainer and I turned them down. Things have happened since I left them though and I learned some important lessons. These lessons taught me that I needed to settle down and start to trust others. Now we are done talking about me. So we can either talk about something else or sit in silence.¡±


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Darius turned to Milo this time. ¡°What is your kingdom like? Do the people all sound and look like you? Is it really different from our kingdoms?¡±


    ¡°All kingdoms are different from your kingdom, but yes our kingdom is very different from any that you have seen before. We do not have all of the weapons and defenses yet that you have. I am not sure that I want my kingdom to have all of those things though. You see, ours may seem old fashioned, but it is very well protected and it serves all of our purposes. In the east we see no point in making our castles look all majestic and shiny as well. No offense or anything, we just do not see the point of it.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°No offense taken. I do not see the point of it sometimes either. There are definitely some problems with it. Like the wealthiest looking ones will get attacked a lot more than ones that do not look as good.¡±


    Milo pointed at me empathetically. ¡°I am glad that you understand me.¡± The carriage hit a big bump in the road and we all were bounced around the seats. I ended up on Darius¡¯s lap who was sitting to the right of me, Milo was thrown against the door, and Cayden bounced into one of the Black Renegade guards. He was lucky because the Black Renegade braced him and made sure that he was not going anywhere. Milo hit the door pretty hard, and was now rubbing his shoulder. It was probably bruised. My cheeks were a little pink as I tried to scramble off Darius¡¯s lap as fast as humanly possible. Amusement clear in his eyes, he picked me up and placed me gently back beside him. I tried to apologize, but he just waved me off and told me that it was fine. Not able to look at him now without my cheeks turning pink, I gazed out the window at the scenery. I was grateful that it would be more suspicious to see a carriage in the summer with its windows covered than one with open windows and a bunch of interesting looking people in it as it allowed me to see the world around me.


    A flash of bright color outside of the window caught my attention. Peering closer at it, I was not prepared when the door burst open and someone yanked me out of the moving carriage. Screaming, I tried to hold onto either the side of the carriage or someone''s arm, but I was not strong enough. Plus, the person yanking at me had all the momentum and weight. Hitting the ground hard, the wind was knocked out of me and I was left gasping for breath. Heaving me up into their arms, my assailant started to run. Struggling as hard as I could to get away, I could hear the Black Renegades, Cayden, Darius, and Milo coming after me. Knowing that the other carriages were probably completely unaware that ours had stopped since it was last in line, we were in a bit of trouble. The person carrying me was strong and very fast. Every one of my attempts to break free were thwarted easily and I was starting to get frustrated. Peering up into the face of the person carrying me, I gasped when I saw lighter violet eyes looking into my darker violet eyes. Hearing the sounds of footsteps behind us growing quieter and quieter, my heart started pounding. Knowing that night was growing near and that we would be nearly impossible to find in the dark, I screamed as long and loud as I could. Having gotten my breath back, it was quite loud and I could have kept screaming for a while, but my kidnapper¡¯s hand covered my mouth after only a couple of seconds.


    Now that one of their hands were occupied, I managed to wrench my body to the side and get free. Rolling to my feet, and infinitely grateful that I was not wearing a dress, I started sprinting back to where I thought my friends were. Even though Milo and the Black Renegades had stolen me away from my home, they were more like friends to me than this new person was. Screaming as much as I could while still sprinting, I hoped that my friends could hear me and find me. I did not make it very far before I was caught and slung over my captors right shoulder. Hitting their back got me nowhere and I was just starting to give up when we were tackled to the ground with me on bottom. With the wind knocked out of me again, I did not have much fight left in me. So when someone lifted me up into their arms my struggle was not as good as it needed to be in order to let me escape. When the person holding me spoke, I stopped fighting all together.


    ¡°If you stopped fighting with me then it would be way easier to carry you to safety.¡± Peering up at the face above me, I recognized Darius as the one holding me. Relaxing into his arms, I just concentrated on breathing evenly.


    ¡°Thank you for saving me Darius. I really owe you one now.¡± I could barely get the words out because of how little breath I had in my body right now.


    He shook his head. ¡°You owe me nothing. I was the one that failed to grab you and haul you back into the safety of the carriage. Instead I just let you get taken without so much as a struggle.¡±


    I looked at him in disbelief. ¡°There is no way you can blame yourself for me getting taken. They came out of nowhere and they had all the momentum, and the weight on their side. Even if you had been prepared for it, I am still not sure if I would have been saveable. They had a presence that seemed to make them stronger and faster than a normal person should be. Honestly I need to get stronger so I can stop being the weak link in this group. The rest of you are so strong and confident. Meanwhile I am always the one that needs to be protected. I hate it, but am not sure how to change that now that we are on the road.¡±


    Darius held me closer and tighter to him. ¡°You are not a weak link in this group. Though if you really want me too, I can help train you along with Cayden while we are traveling to Raetis.¡± Squealing with delight, I put my arms around his neck and squeezed.


    ¡°Thank you, thank you, thank you!¡±


    He laughed. ¡°If I had known that you would have been this happy with me just for saying a couple of words, then I would have said them way sooner.¡± A loud bang to our left caused me to jump a little in his arms. When a dark figure came out of the darkness, I tried to get down and free up Darius¡¯s arms, but he would not let me. ¡°Calm down. It is just Milo.¡± Several more shapes appeared from the trees. ¡°Also Cayden, the Black Renegades, and the one who tried to get away with dragging you from a fast moving carriage.¡±


    Seeing the motionless shape that one of the Black Renegades threw to the ground I wondered aloud. ¡°Are they still alive?¡±


    Milo bent down and checked their pulse. ¡°Yep, they are definitely still alive. Not in the best shape, but we got a little angry with them and may have hit them a little bit harder than necessary.¡±


    ¡°Can I hit them later? Maybe when they are all tied up and harmless?¡± The men all laughed at me, but I was okay with that since they had all just helped save me. ¡°Thank you all for coming and helping me out. I am not sure what would have happened if I had been alone or if you had lost me. How did you find me anyways?¡±


    ¡°We can thank you for that. If it was not for your screaming and making a huge fuss, I am not sure that we would have ever found you.¡± Milo¡¯s voice was heavy with relief. ¡°I am glad that you are so loud. Never thought I would ever say something like that, but there it is.¡±


    Squirming a bit in my position in Darius¡¯s arms, I said, ¡°You can put me down now Darius. I have finally received my breath back for the second time in the last couple of minutes.¡±


    ¡°That is exactly why I am still carrying you. You have had a pretty rough day and I do not want you to collapse trying to walk back to the carriage.¡±


    ¡°I won''t collapse. I am perfectly fine now.¡± When everyone turned and looked at me with doubt in their eyes I glared at them all. Rolling their eyes at me, everyone turned back to looking at where they were going and started ignoring me. Offended by their obvious disbelief in me, I looked up into Darius¡¯s eyes with a plea in my gaze. Sighing in defeat he put me down to walk the rest of the way to the carriage which was almost in view. Keeping his arm around my shoulders to catch me if I tripped or became dizzy, we started walking quite slowly, but eventually went faster and faster until we were staying up with the rest of the group. Reaching our carriages, we saw the two carriages that had been in front of us coming back towards us. The moment they stopped my guards, Darius¡¯s guards, my maids, and all the Black Renegades flew out and started questioning us. Milo answered all their questions with ease and regality.


    Alex was the first to speak up after the explanations were complete. ¡°Ari is going in our carriage now. You can take the prisoner in your carriage.¡± His tone brooked no argument. Milo, after a slight hesitation, agreed to the change. Surrounded by my guards, I was ushered quickly into their carriage with Hazel. Once inside, the carriage started down the road and the interrogation started.


    Hazel was the first to talk. ¡°Are you okay? That must have hurt to be slammed to the ground that hard twice in a very short amount of time.¡±


    I shook off her worry. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I am fine. Nothing seems to be broken or even bruised. Plus Darius, Milo, Cayden, and all the Black Renegades in my old carriage made sure to save me and prevent further injuries.¡±


    Alex shot me a wry look. ¡°Milo saved you from further injury by slamming you to the ground with our new prisoner on top of you?¡±


    Without even a trace of sarcasm I said, ¡°Yes. The only way to save me was to hurt me. Who knows what would have happened if he hadn¡¯t done that?¡±


    Tyler glared at the last carriage. ¡°When we stop for the night I am going to have a very long serious talk with the one who attacked you.¡±


    ¡°Only as long as I get to see who it is first before you all mess up their features.¡± My guards all reluctantly agreed to my demands, but they did not seem too happy about it. Once night had fully fallen and our driver could not see the road clearly in front of them, we pulled off the road and walked quite a ways to make camp. There were several tents set up for all of our different groups. The tents were large enough to fit my guards, my maids, and myself all in one tent. In fact, that is what was insisted upon by all of my staff. Dragging the now conscious prisoner near the fire, everyone waited breathlessly to see if either Darius or me knew them. Staring long and hard at the face in front of me, I furrowed my brow. Something about them seemed familiar, but I could not place them for several minutes. Suddenly, I shot up from my crouched position with realization. ¡°I know who it is!¡±


    Everyone seemed to ask the same question at the exact same time. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°It is the Crown Prince of Nicuria whose name I do not know. The only reason that I remember him is because his family was the first one that came to see if I had gotten my presence. He certainly has a motive for attacking me though. His family has hated mine for ages. You see, they used to be the most loved and wealthiest kingdom in the south until I received my presence. Now we are the ones first invited to parties and the first ones shown possible suitors.¡± The Crown Prince of Nicuria spit on my legs. Recoiling in disgust, I winced as Darius slapped him so hard that the Crown Prince of Nicuria¡¯s head snapped to the side. ¡°Wait, do not hurt him anymore. I have some questions I need to ask him.¡± Darius listened to me even though his eyes were brimming with fury. ¡°What is your name?¡± When I realized that he was not going to answer me unless I gave him some incentive, I said in a mild tone, ¡°You do realize that no one here likes you right? In fact, most people here can not wait until I give them permission to do whatever they want with you. I am the only one protecting you right now, but that could change in an instant.¡±


    His voice filled with anger, and resentment he muttered, ¡°I am Crown Prince Hunter from the southern kingdom of Nicuria.¡±


    ¡°Good, now we are getting somewhere. Next question. Why did you attack me exactly? Also was that flash of color outside my window?¡±


    A slow smile spread across his face and happiness appeared in his eyes. ¡°I attacked you because your eyes were so dark and because my parents want me to force you into a marriage. We would be the perfect match. After all, we both have presences and are around the same age. I am only three years older than you.¡±


    ¡°I have several reasons why we would be a horrible match. We don¡¯t like the same things, our parents hate each other, and you just tried to kidnap me and force me to do something that I really do not want to do!¡± Taking a deep breath to calm myself down, I asked my second question again. ¡°What was the flash of color outside of the window in the direction that you grabbed me from? It could not have been you. I saw it right before you grabbed me and it was still far away. Even with your presence you are not that fast.¡±


    The gleam in his eyes got brighter. ¡°You will figure out the answer to that question very soon. I, personally, am really looking forward to when you all find out what that flash of color was.¡± The Black Renegades started to study our surroundings even closer than they had before. Hunter''s laugh rang out. ¡°You are doing too little, too late.¡± A loud bang filled the sudden silence after that declaration, and colored smoke filled the clearing in a matter of seconds. Dizziness engulfed me and I collapsed to my hands and knees. Shapes in the smoke appeared all around me. Collapsing to the ground, I was unable to resist when someone grabbed me and swung me up onto their shoulder. Hoping that it was someone that I knew and trusted, I closed my eyes and surrendered to the darkness.

 Old Acquaintance from Deadora

    I woke up to a bright light. Squinting I tried to turn my head away from it, but I was too weak. ¡°She¡¯s awake.¡± The gruff voice came from somewhere behind me. Not able to deal with the bright light right now, I closed my eyes again. Soon after doing that the light disappeared and someone shook my shoulder gently.


    ¡°You can open your eyes now Princess Ariana. I turned off the light.¡± Trying to place the familiar voice, I opened my eyes and blinked up at them until I could focus on their face. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open when I realized who I was seeing.


    Your Crown Prince Malick! From the kingdom of¡­¡± My voice faded out as I tried to remember where he was from. ¡°I am sorry, but I can not remember where you are from.¡±


    ¡°That is all right.¡± He kept his voice gentle and friendly. ¡°I am from the kingdom of Deadora in the north.¡±


    Confusion appeared on my face when I registered that something about him was different than before. ¡°You did not have medium dark violet eyes before, did you?¡±


    He shook his head with a small smile on his lips. ¡°No, I put dye in my eyes the last time we met to make them brown. These are my real eyes though.¡±


    Yawning, I muttered, ¡°Why would you do that? Your eyes are beautiful.¡±


    Prince Malick¡¯s smile grew wider. ¡°Thank you Princess Ariana. However, my eyes do not even hold a candle to yours.¡±


    ¡°Of course they don¡¯t. Eyes can not hold candles. That would be really dangerous.¡± Feeling really loopy, I gave a little giggle at the end. ¡°What is wrong with me? Why do I feel really weird and out of it?¡±


    ¡°The smoke that you were caught in earlier had lots of plants in it to make you fall asleep and make you out of it when you awoke so we could get you away from everyone else safely and easily. Sorry about that, but it was the best option that we had.¡±


    ¡°That is okay. I am just having a hard time staying awake. Can I go back to sleep, at least for a little while?¡±


    ¡°You can after you answer two more questions of mine.¡±


    ¡°Sure, what is it?¡± My sentences got shorter and shorter as I drifted closer and closer to falling asleep.


    ¡°Can you tell me who the men in black were that took you away from your home? Also, who is the one that they call Milo?¡±


    My voice sounded really far away when I replied. ¡°The men in black are the Black Renegades. Milo is their leader and their Crown Prince. They come from the eastern kingdom of Raetis, and they are pretty nice.¡±


    A triumphant smile lit up Prince Malick¡¯s whole face. ¡°Thank you my dear. You can go to sleep now.¡± Almost immediately after hearing that, I floated off to sleep. Waking up several hours later, I found myself in the same spot that I had woken up in earlier. Or at least in the same place that I had dreamed of. I could not remember if the conversation I had earlier with Prince Malick was real or not. When he walked in the room and I saw his medium dark violet eyes, I knew that the conversation had been real, and I might have given away crucial information regarding Milo and the Black Renegades. It was hard to remember exactly what I had said to him though. I had been, and was still, kind of out of it.


    ¡°Malick, what did I say to you when I woke up last time? I can not remember parts of it that I feel like I should be able to.¡±


    Resting his hand on my shoulder, he smiled fondly at me. ¡°Do not worry your pretty little head about the past. You just told me what I needed and wanted to know. Nothing more, nothing less.¡±


    Trying to jerk away from him, I winced when I pulled against the ropes on my wrists. Twisting my head, I saw that my legs were tied to the chair I was in as well. ¡°Why am I tied up? What do you want from me?¡± My voice was getting madder the more the plants and smoke got out of my system.


    Caressing my cheek, Malick took his time to respond. ¡°I want you to marry me.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°You are insane if you think that I would marry someone like you. Also how did you find me in the first place?¡±


    ¡°I paid off one of your servants to keep me aware of your every move and then I watched as you got into the carriage. Then all I had to do was get Hunter to slow you down. Also you will marry me if I threaten your friends.¡±


    Not wanting to think about someone stalking me for the past little while, I concentrated on what he had said last. ¡°Let them go. They have nothing to do with this. Especially if all you want from me are the words ¡®I do¡¯.¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°I do not think that you understand the situation. Either you marry me, or I will hurt your friends until you marry me. Those are your only choices and they both lead to the same thing. You as my wife and your friends as our prisoners. There are still many things that I need from your friends, so I can not let them go yet.¡± He tilted his head in consideration. ¡°Or maybe I will never let them go. It really just depends on my mood. I will give you an hour to think about it and then I will come back for your answer.¡±


    As he turned to walk from the room I panicked a bit. ¡°Wait!¡± Desperation was clear in my voice. Malick stopped, but did not turn or answer. ¡°What is your presence?¡±


    He gave a low laugh and looked over his shoulder at me. ¡°Wondering if you and your friends have a chance of escaping? My presence allows me to control the air around me. This means that I move faster than normal people, I can cause you to go slower, and I can cause the air in your lungs to simply disappear. I am not a person that you want to mess with or take lightly. By the way, I look forward to figuring out what your presence is.¡± Alone now I leaned my head forward onto my chest and started to cry. Malick swaggered back into the room an hour later to find me looking defeated and red faced. Sighing, he hugged my head to his chest. ¡°There is no need to cry sweetie. I promise that I will treat you like the princess you are, and love you until I die.¡±


    Distracting him by pretending to start crying, I slipped my hands out from my bonds and swung a fist at his head. Caught by surprise, he was not able to dodge it and staggered to the ground dazed. Standing up, I smiled down at him. ¡°This is what you get for kidnapping me, calling me sweetie, and trying to get me to marry you.¡± The last thing he saw before everything went black was my foot heading for his head. Rushing around his limp body, I ran out the door and hoped that the only people left in here were my friends. Rounding a corner and slamming into someone, I cursed my luck. With the way things had been going lately, I should have known that I would not get lucky enough to get away that easily. Hitting the ground hard, I bounced back up to my feet and assumed a fighting position. When the person that I hit faced me I knew that I was in trouble. They were around a foot or two taller than me with huge muscles that stood out along their whole body. Not ready to give up when I was so close to getting free, I stood my ground. Glimpsing movement behind this boulder of a man, my shoulders sank a bit in discouragement. Seeing as the only people I know here are locked up and have no way to get free, the people running up to us must be the giant¡¯s reinforcements.


    Keeping my fists up, I reviewed my options. There was no way that I would be able to outrun every single one of Malick¡¯s people and I hated the idea of threatening anyone no matter how evil they were, so that left me the option of fighting. Deciding to not wait for the giant¡¯s reinforcements to arrive, I charged towards the giant hoping to catch him off guard. The only sign of emotion he showed on his face was a quick blink of surprise. His face then returned to the emotionless mask it had been before. Almost to him now, I hit the floor and slid. Making it through his legs and behind him, I jumped to my feet and slammed my foot into the back of his kneecap. The Boulder¡¯s knee bent a little, but he was too strong to knock off his feet with only one blow. Especially when it came from someone who was as weak as me. Backing up against the wall I made sure that no one could attack me from behind because around a dozen people were running up to me and they were all wearing the same uniform. Brown pants, red shoes, a red shirt, a brown mask, and Malick¡¯s red royal seal of a leaping fox. ¡°This seems like an unfair fight. It would at least be better if you fought me one on one. Even that is not super fair since you guys have weapons or are huge, but it is more fair than this.¡±


    The uniformed guards all looked at each other and nodded. Stepping back, they relaxed out of their fighting stances. Shocked that they actually listened to me, it took me a moment to turn to the giant. I was still suspicious of the guards, but I still had one secret weapon up my sleeve. When the giant ran at me, most likely to just pummel me into the wall, I stepped back into the wall. That meant that he ran directly into the wall and I came out on the other side. Hoping that the shock of seeing me do something like that would stun the guards into not reacting for a bit, I started to run away from the wall where the stumbling, most likely concussed, giant was behind and towards where I hoped my friends were. Faster than was ideal, I heard footsteps coming towards me. They were definitely faster than me and had apparently known a very fast way to get around the wall. Not wanting to yell just in case there were other guards nearby, I slid around a sharp turn and was faced with an open door that had stairs going down into what looked like utter darkness. A glance behind me showed that the guards were hot on my heels, so I started down the stairs. One of the guards called something out to me, but I couldn''t really hear what they said over the loud beating of my heart. It was probably just something along the lines of give up though.


    Careening down the stairs, I pulled up short when I saw something that should have been impossible. Flames shot out from both sides of the hall and blocked off my path. Once the shock of what had just happened wore off, I looked up at the ceiling and wondered why this had to happen to me. I was doing so well up until this point. Not thinking that I could phase through fire unscatched, I faced the guards and put my hands in the air in surrender. Stopping just out of my reach the lead guard grabbed his mask and pulled it off. My eyes doubled in size from my shock at seeing Darius. ¡°How did you get out of your cell?¡± Glancing behind me to where the fire was now disappearing I asked, ¡°Also who created the fire and how?¡±


    Cayden, some Black Renegades, and Milo seized their masks next and pulled them off. ¡°There is no time to explain right now. Let¡¯s go back to the carriages and our campsite and see if the rest of the Black Renegades, your two sets of guards, and your two maids are still there.¡± Milo¡¯s tone gave us no space to argue. Shelving my questions for now, I started to follow them back up the stairs. On the way up they put back on their masks and I was dragged in front of Cayden who was in the lead. Feeling my hands being tied behind my back, I tried to keep my breathing normal and to not panic.


    Cayden leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear. ¡°It is only for a little while until we get past the guards. Sorry, but we do not have another guard uniform for you and we have to appear like actual guards. We do need to avoid Malick though because we are not sure if he knows all of his guards or not. If you have any idea where he is, now would be the time to tell us.¡±


    I smiled at the memory of Malick. ¡°The last time I saw Malick he was unconscious on the floor of the cell where I had been kept. When you caught up to me I was almost directly outside of that room.¡± Even though they were behind me, I could still feel all their stunned gazes on my back. My shoulders shrugged.  ¡°What? He made me really mad. All he would talk about how he was going to make me marry him and torture all the rest of you until you told him everything that he wanted to know. Things like that can make me act in ways that I do not normally act.¡± Hearing some stifled laughter, I felt some pleasure at what I had done. Squinting a bit in the light from upstairs I almost rammed right into someone. Pushed from both behind and from the side of me, I was maneuvered out of everyone¡¯s way. Stumbling a bit from the unexpected shoves, I leaned against the wall for support. Exhausted from all the events that had occurred that day, I waited to see what Cayden, Milo, Darius, and the Black Renegades would do to get us out of this mess. Spying the giant among the many guards now surrounding us, I groaned inside my head. Why couldn¡¯t he have just stayed down?


    After a couple seconds of no one speaking or doing anything I grew bored. ¡°What happens now? Are we just going to stand around forever staring at each other or are we actually going to do something?¡± Footsteps coming down the hall forestalled any response that they might have given. When Malick came into view I slumped into the wall with disappointment. I had really hoped that he would have been knocked out longer than this, but fate did not really like me today.


    ¡°Hello love. I am so glad that I could catch up to you before you managed to get away. During our last encounter you left me with quite a few questions and absolutely no answers.¡±


    I nodded slowly. ¡°That is true. I also left you unconscious on the ground, but I noticed that you deliberately left that part of the story out.¡±


    Malick¡¯s eyes sharpened. ¡°Yes, that is one of the things I had questions about. I checked your ropes after I awoke to see that they were still tight and in perfect condition. That means that you somehow got out of them without adjusting them or messing with them at all. The only way that might be possible is if you discovered what your presence was and at least partially learned how to use it.¡±


    ¡°That is one possibility. Another possibility is that I untied them and then retied them so that it would confuse you or give you the wrong idea.¡±


    ¡°Would you then tell me that you did that?¡±


    I tilted my head to the side in consideration. ¡°I might if I wanted you to be confused or to rethink your ideas. Also, I could just be really tired and not be thinking straight.¡±


    Shaking his head, Malick gestured to some guards behind me and my hopes rose. ¡°Take her to the west tower and make sure that she stays there. If she gets away from you then I promise that I will make your lives miserable.¡± Dismissing us, I was taken from the room and taken to another flight of stairs. Willing myself to have enough energy to make it up these stairs, I forced my legs to obey me and slowly started lumbering up them one by one. Malick¡¯s guards did not make a sound the entire time we traveled up. Wondering if I made a mistake and these were not actually my friends, I tried to think of an escape plan, but my head seemed to be floating in the clouds. About halfway up the long flight of stairs I faltered. The ground beneath me seemed to be moving and getting closer and closer. Nausea appeared in my stomach and my head pulsed with sudden pain. Pitching forward I would have collapsed onto my face, but was caught at the last instant from behind. Disjointed voices floated around me before everything darkened and my eyes closed.


    A cool breeze drifted over my face, waking me from a deep sleep. Prying my eyelids open, I winced at the light in the room. Looking around me, I was astonished by what I saw. I was in a huge, white room with expensive looking furniture all around me. Marveling in the softness of the bed I was in, I wondered if this was the west tower that I was supposed to have been brought to. Attempting to get into a sitting position, I moaned when all my feelings came back. Pain was back in my forehead, and nausea returned to my stomach. Glad that I had not eaten anything lately, I laid back down. Apparently someone had heard me because a knock sounded at the door. Clearing my throat to make sure that I would be heard, I called out, ¡°Come in!¡± Malick walked in the door and came directly over to me.


    ¡°Are you feeling better? You should have told me that you were not feeling well. I would have had one of the guards carry you or put you in a closer room.¡±


    Brushing away Malick¡¯s concern, I got right to the point. ¡°What do you plan on doing with me now? Obviously I have ways of getting out of areas that should be impossible to get out of, so there is no way that an ordinary room will keep me captive here.¡±


    Malick¡¯s laugh had me thinking that he had figured out what exactly my presence was. I hoped not because I was not even quite sure what it was or what I could do with it. ¡°Darling, my plan for you is still the same as it was before you tried to escape. You will marry me either the hard way or the easy way. The only difference is that now I want to marry you even more than before and I want to do it faster. Preferably I want to get married today. After we are married then I can help you explore your presence and figure out what it is and what its limits are. However we now know one of the consequences for using it.¡±


    I covered my face with my hands. ¡°You mean several consequences. I have nausea, a headache, and am very fatigued.¡±


    Sitting on the side of my bed close to me, Malick touched my cheek tenderly. ¡°I will have to see if we have something to help with those symptoms, but first I want you to answer my question.¡± My blank look seemed to amuse him. ¡°Wow, you must be even more tired than I thought sweetie. I just proposed to you like 10 seconds ago and already you do not even remember it.¡±


    Understanding flickered in my eyes before I scowled at him. ¡°Why must you ask this question when you already know the answer to it? My friends are gone and free. You can¡¯t threaten them anymore, so what would be the point of me saying yes to your proposal?¡±


    Chuckling Malick leaned so close to me that I could feel his breath on my cheek. ¡°Do you really think that I do not know my guards or staff members? At first I did not know that the guards that brought you up here were your friends, but it soon hit me that I did not know them. Running up here I caught them in the act of trying to run away with your unconscious body and had my loyal guards recapture them and take them to a new cell with lots more guards than before. It was shocking to learn that Crown Prince Darius has a presence though.¡±


    Disbelief spread through my body. ¡°What do you mean Darius has a presence? His eyes are blue, not violet.¡±


    He leaned back and scanned my face. ¡°I am stunned that Prince Darius had not revealed it to you yet. That is how they escaped from their first cell. He used his fire to cut through the door and attack my guards.¡±


    Realization came to me. ¡°That is where that fire came from! It all makes sense now!¡± Looking into Malick¡¯s violet eyes I said, ¡°He did the same thing you did. He put a colored dye into his eyes to trick people into thinking that he did not have a presence. His family already has someone with a presence so it did not matter that he kept his a secret.¡±


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Nodding Malick queried, ¡°When did he use his presence around you?¡±


    ¡°That is none of your business. How are you keeping them here? Wouldn¡¯t he just be able to do the same thing to get free?¡±


    Shaking his head, Malick elaborated. ¡°I placed them in a much more secure cell, with thicker walls, more guards, and Prince Darius is already reaching his limit on how much he can use his presence. He is feverish, and a little delirious. It would be dangerous to use it again anytime soon.¡± I nodded. I kept forgetting that even though presences are powerful, they take a huge toll on our bodies and are not the safest things to use. ¡°I will leave you now to give you time to think upon your answer now that you know what is really at stake. I am sure that there would be tons of people that would love to get a hold of the news that Prince Darius has a presence and a very powerful one at that.¡± Childishly, I turned my head away from him and pretended to not be listening to him. Straining my ears to hear when the door closed, I sighed with relief. I was not sure how much more of him I could take. I tried to think over his offer and what could happen if I refused him again, but my mind just kept coming back to one fact. Darius had lied to me. Since the very first moment that I had met him, he had lied to me about a very big part of himself. I could understand why he hid it from those that would take advantage of him, but I was one person that could relate completely to him, and he had shut me out like I was just another person.


    Tears welled up in my eyes, and I let it all come out. Blaming it on hormones and a complicated and emotional day, I put my face in my pillow and let loose. After what felt like hours later, but was probably only a couple of minutes, I felt my emotions turn. They began to turn to anger and frustration. I had shared some really personal things with him and thought that I could trust him. Yet he had decided that I was not important enough to let in about his own secret. Clenching my hands, I pressed my nails into my palms and felt the sting of pain. Just as all things had to though, that emotion faded away as well and I was left feeling numb and confused. Forcing myself to unclench my hands, I stared at the crescent moon shapes on my palm. Not able to think in the state I was in, I got up out of bed and started pacing. My mind always worked better when I was pacing. My situation right now seemed pretty dire, but there were some positives that I had not thought about before. My maids, Darius¡¯s guards, and my guards were still free along with a lot of the Black Renegades. Or at least, those were the people that I had both not seen and not heard that they had been captured. They must have gotten away and must be coming up with a plan to free us at this moment. I just needed to concentrate and delay.


    I did not want to say yes to Malick¡¯s proposal because of how much was uncertain. He might take me somewhere else and get us married today. Then I would be stuck in more ways than one. Another option would be to say no to Malick¡¯s proposal, but I was afraid for Milo, Darius, Cayden, and the Black Renegades that were being held captive with me. If they got hurt because of my stupidity, I would never forgive myself. There had to be another option. Some way to give me more time and to keep everyone safe, and happy. An option that I could live with. Pacing the room faster, I impatiently wished for something to come to me. When a new idea did come to me though, it stopped me in my tracks. Thinking through all the possibilities and what could happen, I started smiling. My new plan might actually work and give our allies enough time to find and free us. Maybe it would give Darius and me enough time to recuperate and be able to use our presences again. Malick was a very old fashioned person from a very old fashioned family and I was hoping that even in times like this, where he was desperate for something, that he would stick with his past and his values.


    Two hours later Malick swaggered back into the room. It was painfully obvious that he was thinking that I would say yes to him and he would get everything that he wanted. I could not wait to prove him wrong. ¡°Hi babe, I am assuming that you have come to a decision?¡± I nodded trying not to look too happy or confident. ¡°Alright, I am ready for whatever you are going to say.¡±


    My smile almost broke free of my control at those words. There was no way that he could have ever predicted what I was going to say next. ¡°I would love to marry you Malick,¡± his grin grew wider, ¡°but there is a problem.¡±


    He faltered. ¡°What problem could there be? We could have the ceremony all set up and over within a couple of hours, we have the witnesses, the contracts, everything.¡±


    I hesitated as if I was embarrassed to correct him. ¡°There is still one thing that has to be done before I can accept your proposal. Our parents have to agree to our union. Without their permission there is no way I can say yes to you in good conscience.¡±


    By the way Malick¡¯s mouth dropped open, I knew that he had not thought about that. Furrowing his brow, he started pacing back and forth across my room. Several minutes passed before he finally stopped and addressed me. ¡°That is a very good point, but I think I have an easy solution. I will send your parents a messenger right now with a letter written by you. It will say something along the lines of how much you love me and need their permission to marry me. My parents have already given me permission to marry whoever I choose so that definitely saves us time because Deadora is over a day¡¯s ride away.¡±


    Annoyed that he had already made a plan for my excuse, I replied, ¡°I am not so sure that it will be that easy. After all, my parents witnessed me being kidnapped from mysterious people from the east. They would be understandably confused to receive this letter, and would probably insist that I return home immediately to them. It would then take several days if not weeks for us to get married.¡± I shrugged in fake disappointment. ¡°If that is the only plan that you can think of though¡­¡± Letting my voice trail off, I held my breath waiting anxiously for his response. Settling back into his pacing, he crossed the room several times before he stopped again.


    ¡°Okay, what about this plan then? We get married now and get your parents¡¯ permission later. Since they have already been considering other peoples¡¯ proposals we can assume that they would not care that we decided to tie the knot and get married. Especially since I had just saved you from the wicked kidnappers from the east.¡±


    Internally rolling my eyes at his dramatic language I said, ¡°Their reactions to that would not be positive. They promised me that we would talk about each wedding proposal before any decision was made.¡± I realized that now was the perfect time to fish for more information. ¡°Also, shouldn''t we be at least a little worried about the rest of the people from the east, and Darius and my guards? Will they not try to stop this union?¡±


    When Malick laughed at me again, I gritted my teeth. His laughs were really starting to bug me now. ¡°Hunter is taking care of them and making it really difficult for them to get a moment of peace. This is the real reason why you have been posing all of these questions isn¡¯t it? No amount of time wasting will save you from marrying me. They are not coming anytime soon. We will just stick with my plan of getting married and getting your parents¡¯ permission afterwards.¡± He grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet. ¡°I will send in some servants to help you dress and they will then escort you to where the wedding ceremony will take place.¡± Yanking my arm out of his arm, I opened my mouth to argue. Forestalling me by raising his hand, Malick spoke first. ¡°You already said that you would love to marry me. I am officially taking that as verbal consent to the marriage and you know what will happen if you don¡¯t sign the papers or say I do. Personally I would love to interrogate my other prisoners, but I have a feeling that you would not enjoy that as much as me.¡±


    Repulsion on my face, I stalked over to the window and gazed at the outside world. Seconds after Malick left the room, servants bustled in. ¡°Princess, we are here to help you get ready. Could you please come stand over here so we can get started?¡± Tears started to well in my eyes, but I impatiently brushed them away and walked over to the servants. There was no point in trying to make a stand or anything. Malick held all the cards right now and he knew it. Raising my arms to my sides, I stood perfectly still while they clothed me in beautiful layers of silk, gossamer, and makeup. Looking into the mirror they held in front of me, I stared emotionless at the image. Everything about me looked the opposite of how I felt. I looked so gorgeous, regal, put together, and completely in control of my life. Once they finished putting super high heels on my feet I turned away from the mirror and faced the door. Taking several deep breaths, I prepared myself to walk down the stairs to where my life would basically end. Never again would I be allowed to think for myself, take lessons from the staff, or do anything without Malick¡¯s permission.


    Straightening up as the door opened, I resolved to get married with as much dignity and self control that I could muster. No matter what occurred, I would always try to stay true to myself and do everything possible to at least partially control my life and future. After only one step however, I paused. Reaching down to my feet, not without its own set of difficulties because of the corset I was wearing, I pulled off my shoes. If they wanted me to walk down the stairs then they would have to deal with me doing it barefoot. I heard some gasps of shock from the servants and guards behind me, but I ignored them. Sighing from the relief of having my feet free from the torture devices they had placed on my feet, I continued my trek down the stairs. Entering a large room decorated with flowers, garlands, and vines I felt like I was entering a magical forest. Under normal circumstances I would have been stunned into silence with the beauty and majesty of my surroundings, but today I barely blinked.


    Resting my shoes on one of the tables nearby, I refused to put them on until I was forced too, I walked around looking at all the decorations and food. My head was still trying to wrap itself around the idea that I was getting married today. Biting my lip and hugging my arms to my chest, I made myself consider a life with Malick. This did not necessarily have to be the end of my freedom. Maybe Malick would let me continue taking some lessons occasionally and let me train with him. Despair forced those thoughts out. Hearing my name called, I gathered myself and walked slowly towards the voice. When Malick came into view I almost started crying. He was dressed in a white suit, and looked so happy that he seemed to be glowing. Meanwhile I was also dressed in white, but I was sure that I did not seem to be glowing. Seeing the priest walk into the room and gesture us to the arch of flowers in the middle of the room, we started over to begin the wedding. Grateful that Malick had not noticed that I was not wearing my heels still, I enjoyed that little bit of freedom. The only people present other than Malick, the priest, and me were the guards, the giant, and the staff. Barely hearing the words that were being spoken, I gazed despondendently over Malick¡¯s shoulder at the opposite wall.


    Shaken from my thoughts suddenly by someone poking me, I looked at Malick in confusion. When he looked pointedly at the priest, I looked that way as well. Repeating himself for my sake the priest asked, ¡°Will you, Princess Ariana Esma from the southern kingdom of Kuli, take Crown Prince Malick Elsher from the northern kingdom of Deadora to be your lawfully wedded husband?¡± With the breath stuck in my throat, it took me a while to finally splutter out the words I do. Malick took much less time to speak the words. Moving to the next part of the ceremony, the priest asked if there were any objections to the union. Looking hopelessly at the people in attendance, I prayed that one of them would step forward, but they all avoided my gaze. As the priest opened his mouth to finish the ceremony, the huge double doors crashed open. Jaw dropping in complete and utter shock, everyone in the room could only stand there as tons of people poured into the room. Hearing a strange noise coming from Malick, I turned back to him and a smile started to spread across my face at the look of utter shock on his face.


    Dozens of voices from the wedding crashers cried out now in unison. ¡°We object!¡± Lifting up my dress, I ran down to them. Recovering from his shock now, Malick started screaming orders to kill everyone and bring me back to him. Shaking themselves out of their stupors, his guards raised their weapons and charged at us. As I was dragged to the side of the battle, several Black Renegades positioned themselves in front of me to protect me. Searching the faces of those fighting around me I saw Milo, Darius, Cayden, Alex, Tyler, Casey, Liam, and all of Darius¡¯s guards. The only people that I did not see were a couple of Black Renegades and my maids. My maids would never be brought into a fight though, and the couple Black Renegades that were missing would be making sure they were safe during this battle. Spying a sword on the ground, I picked it up and surveyed my dress. There was no way I would be able to fight in it, so I cut it off up to my knee and put slits on both sides. Both Malick¡¯s and my sides were about even in this battle, and I had a feeling that I might need to fight in it before it would end.


    Even though the fight was still raging and I was not sure which side would win, my smile was as big as ever. My friends had come for me and, as of right now, I was not officially married to Malick since the ceremony had not been finished. Life was great right now. Swinging my sword in a few practice swings to get the hang of its weight and build, I settled into a fighting stance and waited for my chance to attack. The Black Renegades protecting me were all busy in their various battles and I did not want to distract any of them. That could be a fatal mistake for them. Watching very closely I soon saw my moment to shine. One of my guards was struggling against their opponent. Making sure that my sword would strike true, I advanced. Swinging my sword, I hit my target¡¯s shoulder. Reflexively grabbing it, they were easily and quickly dispatched by my guard. Sending a brief look of thanks, they were quickly caught up in a new battle. Getting several other chances to help out my guards, I finally felt like I was doing something to help.


    During a respite, I looked around the room to see how the rest of my friends and allies were doing. This meant that I was the only one to notice Cayden. He was fighting against three other opponents and did not see that a fourth person was sneaking up behind him. Screaming his name, I shoved through my circle of guards and started sprinting towards him. Knowing that he could not hear me, I hurried as fast as I could to him, but was engaged by an enemy halfway there. I beat my opponent in five quick strokes, however the exchange had still taken too long. The man had reached Cayden and stabbed his sword right through him. Rage overtook me and all I saw for the next couple of seconds was red. Blinking my eyes, I saw that my sword was covered in blood and bodies lay around me. Ignoring them for the moment I found Cayden and knelt down beside him. Grasping his hand in both of mine I scanned him, looking for any sign of life.


    It was only when I leaned down and put my ear right by his mouth that I realized that he was breathing. Relief coursed through me, but fear was still present. His breathing was too weak. ¡°Cayden.¡± I shook him. ¡°Cayden, I need you to talk to me.¡± Ripping a long strip of cloth from one of the bodies around me, I wrapped Cayden¡¯s wound tightly and started applying pressure. The wound was very deep and right in the middle of his stomach. Not knowing what else to do, I shook Cayden again.


    Tears streamed down my face when he blinked his eyes open. ¡°Ari?¡± His voice was little more than a whisper.


    ¡°I am here, Cayden. Don¡¯t worry. I am doing everything I can to save you.¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°It is too late for me. Please do not worry. I have lived a long good life. Your family made my life worth living and besides, I will die the way I wanted to die. Fighting a good fight.¡± Cayden gripped my hand tighter. ¡°Do not cry or mourn for me. Just live your life happily and to its fullest for me. Promise me that.¡±


    ¡°I promise.¡± Wiping my tears away, I took a deep breath. ¡°Goodbye Cayden. Thank you for training me.¡± Smiling back at me, his eyes closed and his breathing stopped. Laying my head on his chest, I swallowed my tears and screams. Taking a shuddering breath, I got up and stood on shaking feet. Lifting my sword again, I turned away from Cayden¡¯s body and rejoined the battle. Finding the rest of my friends, I was beyond grateful to see them all whole and well. Crossing blades with another of Malick¡¯s guards, I slid gracefully from move to move. Now that Cayden was dead, I wanted to honor him by showing everyone just how much he had taught me. How much he had inspired me. Hitting the sword out of the guard¡¯s hands, I slammed the hilt of my sword into the side of their head. There had been too much death today. By my hand alone already six people had died. When no one came to replace the person I had just knocked out, I looked around. Most of Malick¡¯s guards were on the ground either dead, or unconscious. Several others were tied up in a corner with seven Black Renegades standing over them.


    The only fights still going on involved Darius, Alex, Milo, and Casey. They were all doing well in their fights and were soon victorious. Walking tiredly over to them I dropped my borrowed sword on the ground. That sword had worked well for this fight, but it was too heavy for me to wield for long. I needed to find myself a weapon that was made specially for me. Even back at Kuli I had never had a sword that was just for me. Maybe further along this journey I would find one. Staggering to Darius, I leaned against the wall beside him completely spent. Darius looked at me with concern. ¡°What is wrong?¡± He looked closer at me. ¡°Why are you covered in blood?¡± Horror was obvious in his voice.


    Numb from everything that had happened, it took me a moment to respond. ¡°Cayden is dead. Someone stabbed him from behind.¡±


    ¡°I am so sorry Ari. Is there anything I can do for you?¡± Darius wrapped me in a tight hug and laid his head on top of mine.


    ¡°This is enough.¡± I sighed in comfort and relief. Hearing the others start to talk, I pulled out of the embrace. ¡°What happens now?¡± Realizing that someone was missing, I asked, ¡°Where is Malick? Did he get away?¡±


    Milo stepped forward. ¡°Yes, Malick got away. We do not have the troops to track him down, but he should leave you alone at least for a while. By the time he has enough people to come after you again we will already be in the eastern kingdom of Raetis.¡± Nodding in agreement, I waited while everyone grabbed their things and then followed them out of the hideout. Sad that we did not have enough time to at least bury Cayden, I climbed into my carriage with Milo, Darius, and my maids. Sophia and Hazel, upon seeing me, insisted that we find the nearest stream and allow them to clean me up. No one dared argue with them because of the tone they used. About a five minute carriage ride away we found a stream and my maids helped me bathe and change into clean clothes. I was shocked by the amount of bruising on my skin, but was kind of proud of them. They showed that I had helped contribute to the fight and held my own against several opponents. Clean now, we climbed back into the carriage and continued on our way.


    The first thing that I noticed was that Darius had washed out the dye that had colored his eyes blue. Now I would not be the only one in this group with a presence. Shaking those thoughts away, I focused on more important matters. ¡°So how did you all manage to get out of your cell and come help me? I thought that Darius was too weak to use his presence again and that you were put in a super guarded cell.¡±


    Milo nodded. ¡°We were. The Black Renegades and both sets of your two guards freed us. As to how they got there, I would like to know that as well.¡±


    Everyone turned to the Black Renegades in the carriage. The one sitting next to Darius cleared his throat. ¡°Well once you had all been taken captive, we woke up still in the middle of the woods in our campsite. Gathering up all of our stuff, we set off to find you and soon saw Malick¡¯s hideaway. Before we could reach it though, we were attacked by Hunter and several of Malick¡¯s men. Fighting as hard as we could, it still took us a long time before we managed to defeat them. Thinking that maybe we were too late to help you, we rushed to the hideout and broke through the walls and first couple lines of guards. It was a lot easier than we thought it would be to break in and free everyone. Honestly, we thought there would be more defenses and defenders.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Malick must have just underestimated us.¡± Yawning, I leaned back against the back of the carriage and fell asleep almost instantly. Waking up several hours later, I glanced around to see no one else in the carriage. Thinking they must be setting up camp, I left the carriage to look for them. Stretching, I walked around the carriage and stopped in my tracks. In front of me was a scene that I never thought I would see. Liam was kissing Sophia and they were holding each other in their arms. It was clear they had done this before. When they pulled away I quickly went back behind the carriage. I did not want to get caught watching them kiss. Coming back around the carriage once I was pretty sure I had given them enough time to either leave or act like nothing had happened, I saw Sophia standing alone. Smiling innocently at her, I asked where everyone else was.


    She led me to where our new camp was and sat down next to me on a log. Hazel came over a moment later. Seeing that no one else was around us, I decided to just ask the question. ¡°Are either of you two in love with anyone?¡±


    Both of them startled visibly, but then both laughed. ¡°We should have known that you would figure it out sooner or later. Sophia is in love with Liam and I am in love with one of Darius¡¯s guards. His name is Joshua.¡± Hazel sighed dreamily and her eyes got a glazed over look. When I looked over at Sophia, she had the exact same look on her face.


    My smile was huge and bright. Hugging them both to me I exclaimed, ¡°I knew it! Sorry, but I kind of saw Sophia kissing Liam. And Hazel I knew that you were in love with someone because I saw you gaze over at Darius and his guards with the same dreamy look in your eyes as you have now. Can you introduce me to this Joshua person? I would love to meet him.¡±


    ¡°Of course I will introduce you two.¡± She laughed and stood. ¡°In fact you can meet him right now.¡± Spotting Darius and his guards coming over, I stood as well. As Darius opened his mouth to speak, Hazel cut in. ¡°One second please Prince Darius. I was hoping to introduce Ari to all of your guards seeing as she does not know them and we will be traveling together for the foreseeable future.¡± Darius amusedly gave his approval. I had a feeling that he knew about Joshua and Hazel¡¯s love. Pointing to each one in turn, Hazel told me each of their names. ¡°This is Dustin, Ethan, Kane, and Joshua.¡± They bowed to me when their name was called.


    I gave a small laugh. ¡°You do not have to bow to me. Especially not out here in the middle of a forest. Also please just call me Ari.¡±

 Feelings Revealed

    Darius now spoke up. ¡°Hazel, you and Sophia do not have to call me Prince Darius. Daius is good enough for me. I am glad that we finally got to introduce Ari to my guards, but now for the actual reason that I came over. Milo wants to tell us about customs in his kingdom. That way we can show up prepared and can make a good show of ourselves. Everyone is invited to come and learn. I plan on having my guards come so they can make sure they know what they can and can not do there. Like pull a sword when certain people are present and stuff like that.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a very good idea.¡± I glanced back at my guards and maids. Nodding, I continued. ¡°I will bring my guards and my maids. Then my maids can learn what kind of things they wear there and who they have to bow to and everything.¡± With that now figured out, we headed over in Milo¡¯s direction. Milo smiled at us and gestured for us to sit down across from him on a log. Sitting, we looked expectantly at him.


    ¡°Good choice bringing both of your staffs. You will learn a lot about my people and even about myself. Things there may be very different from what you are used to and they may seem odd or made up to you, but I swear to you that everything I say to you is the truth. The Black Renegades can witness and attest for my truthfulness.¡± All the Black Renegades around him nodded in solemn agreement. Knowing that no one here would lie to us, we dipped our heads in agreement to Milo. We were all ready and eager to learn the different customs and rules in the land of the east. ¡°First, our King and Queen do not dress in all the finery that all of you do. We dress in apparel that you would probably find shocking. The Queens and Princesses in our kingdom and other kingdoms near ours wear trousers.¡±


    My eyes lit up and my fist shot up into the air with excitement. ¡°Seriously! Yes! I have been waiting to hear those words my entire life! As soon as we get there I am burning all of my hated dresses and high heels!¡±


    Laughter erupted from everyone surrounding me. ¡°Ari, must you shout that for the whole world to hear? They will think that we did not do a good job in caring for you.¡± Hazel tried to sound stern, but amusement was obvious in her voice.


    ¡°You and Sophia did a great job in raising me. I have hated dresses and heels since I was born. It was no fault of yours. Of anyone, the most fault would most likely have to be with my mother.¡±


    Coughing to regain our attention, and probably to mask his laughter, Milo waited for us to stop talking and start listening again. ¡°Right, moving on. Our servants and staff are treated as equals to us and lots of them are our friends. Much like how you two treat your staff and servants. Touring the south, north, and west though, I realized that most people in those regions do not treat their people well or with any respect. They think they are so high and mighty that they do not see that without their people, their servants, and their staff they would be nothing.¡± Darius and I had looks of similar acknowledgement. We had seen this time and time again from visiting royalty. Their attitude and treatment to our servants and staff was unacceptable and we had made sure to tell them that. Let''s just say that most of the time they did not appreciate us telling them that. When our parents told them they listened more, but still not very well. Some of their visits had been cut short because of that reason. Milo gave us an appreciative nod. ¡°I am very glad that you both understand and share our views.¡±


    Raising my hand so I did not cut him off like I had not that long ago, I cleared my throat when he called on me. ¡°When exactly did you start touring our lands and how come we never saw any of you until you kidnapped us?¡± Darius, his guards, my guards, and my maids looked expectantly at him. They had all been about to ask this question as well, I had just beaten them to it.


    Milo blushed a little in embarrassment. ¡°I started touring your lands about three years ago. You do not see things that you do not expect to see. Or at least, most of you do not.¡±


    It was true. We had gotten complacent in our security and had stopped looking for anomalies. Instead we looked at the obvious and assumed that they were who they said they were and they were where they were supposed to be. Settling in, we listened to Milo talk about his lands for the next three hours. There were so many things we had to learn, and not a lot of time to learn them. According to our guides, we would arrive at the boat that would take us to their lands in three days. The boat ride after that was about two days across the waters. Practicing my greetings and what I would do when I met certain people, I was exhausted by the time we had finished for the day. Scarfing down my food quickly, I dropped into bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep. The next morning found me already up and about by dawn. Sitting by the fire, I helped some of the Black Renegades with breakfast.


    Today¡¯s breakfast was a porridge-like substance with some fresh berries we had picked earlier. They were the perfect ripeness and were so juicy and good. I might have sneakily eaten some of them before the Black Renegades had started putting them in bowls. There were still plenty for everyone else however, so I did not feel bad about it. Sophia and Liam were next to come to the fire. Turning to the side, I smiled. They looked like they had already had some good morning kisses. Their hands interlaced, they sat down beside me. Handing them each a bowl of food I started on my own. Closing my eyes to further savor the delicious berries in the porridge, I did not see the person who came and sat on my other side. Opening my eyes once I had finished eating, I was a little surprised to see Dustin on my other side. ¡°Hello Dustin.¡± I kept my tone casual and open. I wanted to know why he sat beside me, but did not want to sound like I was interrogating him or anything. From the smile he gave me I knew that he knew exactly what I was doing.


    Giving a little smile of my own, I decided to just see if he would bring the reason up. After a couple of minutes I grew bored of our game of who would break first. Standing I walked away from the fire and headed towards the practice swords the Black Renegades had brought to practice with. Snatching two up off the ground I threw one to the person following me. No surprise, it was Dustin. He showed no emotion as he caught the sword and settled into a fighting stance. Gripping my own, I slowly started to circle him. Seeing how smooth his movements were, I knew that there was no way he was going to trip or anything because of me circling him. Changing tactics, I stepped to him quickly and slashed downwards. Feeling the jar from our swords connecting, I let my smile loose. Fighting was when I was happiest. That and when I was working out. Getting into a rhythm, I quickened my strokes and switched from position to position very fast. Dustin matched me stroke for stroke. He seemed to still be feeling me out still, but a moment later that changed. Sure of what I could do now, he went all out and my sword flew out of my hands while his sword point rested on my throat.


    ¡°Can you show me how to avoid having that happen and teach me some of your tricks and moves?¡± My breathless eager tone seemed to throw Dustin off a little before he recovered.


    ¡°Sure. I could do that.¡± Handing me back my sword, we started off again, but this time Dustin threw out advice. ¡°Keep your sword up higher. Stay on your toes and never stop moving. Try to hook your blade around mine to take it from my hands.¡± Finding his advice really helpful, it took him longer to beat me. ¡°That was better than last time, however you sometimes are showing me what you are going to do before you do it. The way you do this is by flicking your eyes, shifting in one direction, or changing your grip on your sword. Use this knowledge and fake me out. Make me think that you are going to do one thing, and then do something else.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I can do that.¡± My voice was slightly breathless. I really needed to work out more. Coming back into my beginning stance, I attacked again. ¡°So what did you want to talk to me about?¡± Blocking his next strike, I waited for his answer.


    ¡°I wanted to talk to you about Darius.¡± He seemed hesitant to ask about it.


    Curious, I asked, ¡°What about Darius?¡±


    His voice became rushed and abrupt. ¡°Do you love him?¡± Faltering from the shock that his question brought, I missed blocking his thrust and staggered back, wincing from the sudden pain on my now bruised ribs. Dustin hurried to apologize and make sure that I was fine.


    Shaking the pain away, I waved Dustin off. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It was my own fault for getting distracted. Still, I did not expect you to say that.¡± Dustin¡¯s laugh was deep and full. ¡°Anyways, to answer your question, I am not sure if I love Darius. He is a really good friend, he is always there for me, and I love having him around. However, I am still young. I am not quite sure what love is or what it feels like.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense. If it is not love now, do you think that you could love him?¡±


    I didn''t even have to think about how I would answer that. ¡°Yes. I think that I could definitely fall in love with him. Why are you asking me all these questions about how I feel about Darius though? Did he ask you too?¡±


    ¡°No, he did not ask me to talk to you about this. I am one of Darius¡¯s best friends though, and I knew that he has wanted to know these answers for a while now. This is a little surprise gift for him. Can I tell him what you told me?¡±


    ¡°You can tell him. Can you ask him these same questions and tell me the answers?¡±


    Dustin shook his head. ¡°If you want to know these answers you have to either ask him yourself, or have one of your own guards or maids do it. That way he will tell them and know that it comes back to you instead of me losing his trust because I told you his answers without his permission.¡±


    I gave a soft smile. ¡°Dustin, you are a good person and friend. Darius should be glad to have you as one of his guards. Thank you for helping me with my practice today and for giving me advice.¡± Dustin bowed and walked back to where Darius and the rest of his guards were watching us with obvious curiosity in their eyes. They were about to get a pretty big surprise. Placing the sword back on the ground, I went over to get my guards. ¡°Hey everyone.¡± Looking up from their meals, my guards greeted me. ¡°I am going for a run. I figured that you would want to know. My course will take me¡­¡±


    Casey raised his hand to cut me off. ¡°There is no need to tell us where you are going to be running because at least two of us are going with you on this run.¡±


    My shoulders slumped. ¡°There is no need¡­¡± I was cut off again, this time by all of their disbelieving and exasperated looks. ¡°Alright. Pick the two that are coming with me.¡± After discussing it a bit, Alex and Tyler were picked to come with me. ¡°Right, now I have a job for one of the two that are staying.¡± Casey and Liam looked at me interested. Casey volunteered for the job, but everyone stayed to hear what it would be. ¡°Casey I was hoping that you would go over to Darius and ask him some questions for me. I want these responses even more now than before because one of his guards just asked me these same questions about Darius. Can you ask him what he feels for me and, if he doesn¡¯t know or if he says no, can you ask him if he could feel something for me?¡± My face by this point was bright red, and I was embarrassed, but I wanted to know.


    Everyones¡¯ faces only held understanding on them. ¡°Of course I can do that for you Ari. Do not worry about it.¡± Casey¡¯s voice was gentle and kind.


    ¡°Thank you Casey.¡± Relief was heavy on my voice. Saying goodbye to Casey and Liam and telling them to say bye to Hazel and Sophia for me if they saw them, I started off on my long run with Alex and Tyler. The trek was long and arduous, but it felt so good to run this long and hard. Knowing that we had tons of time until we started our journey in the carriages for the day, I took the long route to get my whole exercise done during this run so we would not do any extra exercises. Halfway through our run, a crash in the forest to our right caused Alex and Tyler to grab one of my arms each and pull me back in between them. While they drew their swords, I reached down and grabbed a heavy rock. Hefting it in my right hand, I hoped that it was just a small animal, a tree falling, or some natural thing that would not really bother or impact us at all. Nothing came out of the trees, so after a while, Alex and Tyler began to lead me away from where the noise had come from. Dropping the rock to not waste energy, we left that area briskly and continued our run.


    By the end of our run, I was bent in half trying to catch my breath and not puke. Alex and Tyler were breathing heavily, but they both looked like they would still be able to go back and run that same route a second time. Hating how in shape they were, I glared at them while they laughed at me. Putting my hands behind my head, I forced myself into a standing position and walked the rest of the way to camp. Shuffling my clothes around, I found a clean pair of clothes and went to the river near camp. With Alex and Tyler standing guard to make sure that no one stumbled unknowingly upon me bathing, I stripped and cleaned myself. Luxuriating in the feeling of cleanliness, I slowly put my clean clothes back on and pulled my hair into a braid. Heading back to my look outs, I took my time and enjoyed the scenery and sounds of the forest. Spinning in a circle to take it all in, I was astonished by the beauty of it all. Autumn was coming and the leaves were starting to turn different colors. Some of those same leaves crunched under foot and those noises joined with the animal and nature noises around me to create a beautiful symphony.


    Skipping the final couple of feet to Alex and Tyler, I put one arm around each of them and hugged them. ¡°Thank you for coming on the run with me and for watching over me for all these years. I do not know if I ever thanked you for it before, but I really appreciate it.¡±


    Though they were astounded from the suddenness of my proclamation, they hugged me back. ¡°Of course Ari. We will always be here for you. You are like our sister, and our best friend in one person.¡± Sincerity rang true in Alex¡¯s tone. Tears formed in my eyes, but I blinked them back. Happiness for my life and everyone still in it flowed through me. I missed those that I could not see anymore like my parents, brothers, and Cayden, but they would always be in my heart, and maybe I would see my parents and brothers again one day. Grabbing my arm before I could go over to where I saw Casey sitting, Alex turned me to face him. ¡°Ari, since you always seem to be in danger, would you help ease my mind and carry a dagger on you at all times? I will teach you to fight with it later.¡± Smiling at the worry in his voice, I agreed to carry the dagger and slipped it into my left boot. That done, I walked over to where Casey was sitting.


    He spotted me and smiled. Waving, I hoped that whatever he told me was good news. Standing next to him, I became extremely nervous. What if Darius had said that he didn''t love me and never would? What would I do then? Noticing my anxiety, Casey stood and pulled me to a spot away from everyone''s hearing. ¡°There is no need to be anxious, Ari.¡± A huge breath went out of me at that. ¡°Were you holding your breath?¡± My guilty look confirmed what I would not say. After shaking his head, Casey continued. ¡°The conversation with Darius went great. We went away from everyone and I asked him straight out your questions. His reply to the first one about his feelings right now was that he thought of you as at least a friend and maybe even more than a friend. The answer to the second question was that he was positive that he could fall in love with you. It may not even take much longer for him to.¡± My cheeks blushed a bright red. Chuckling a little, Casey left me alone with my thoughts. However I wasn¡¯t sure what to do with my thoughts since they were everywhere. Like papers in a whirlwind.


    After spending some time trying to put my thoughts together, I just decided to give up and try again once I had thought it through a while longer. Rejoining the rest of the group, I noticed that they were starting to take all the tents down. We were leaving to start our journey again to the east. As I was carrying my things over to put in the same carriage as my guards and Sophia, Milo came over to me and told me that my guards had given him permission to put me back in his carriage. Nodding my understanding, I helped with my tent and belongings and I packed them in our carriage and crawled in. I was both glad that we were leaving so that we could arrive there sooner, but I was also unsure because Darius was in my carriage and I was not sure how I should act around him right now. Should I bring up what our two guards had questioned each of us about and our separate responses to them? Or would that be weird, especially with Milo and some of the Black Renegades in the carriage? Choosing to let Darius make the first move in that direction, I resolved to act normally around him until he acted differently. Relaxing on one of the seats, I patiently stayed there waiting. Soon everyone had finished packing their things away and had joined me in the carriage.


    Signaling the driver to start, Milo was the last to climb in and sit down. Sophia and Hazel had both chosen to stay with their loves in their carriages. I fully supported their decisions. After all, I was with the person that I liked, so why would I not let them have that same luxury? Though the Black Renegades were still surrounding me, I did not feel like a prisoner anymore. Sure, if I tried to run or leave they would stop me, but they had helped save me so I felt duty bound to go with them. Plus, they had fast become some of my very best friends. As one of the Black Renegades started telling a joke, we soon had a joke war going. Each person tried to out last the others. If you could not think of a joke in the allotted time, then you would lose. Since I did not have many jokes memorized, I was soon out of the running. Darius, Milo, and three of the Black Renegades were soon the only ones still going. Cheering them on and laughing at their cheesy jokes, I couldn¡¯t remember a time where I had more fun. The competitors were soon down to only Darius and Milo. Apparently Princes need to know tons of jokes no matter where their kingdom lies.


    My cheer was among the loudest when Darius finally beat Milo. His eyes connected with mine and we shared a smile. Certain that my cheeks were a little pink, I turned to look out the window to enjoy the views we were passing while recovering my composure. Remembering the last time I had done this resulted in me being taken hostage by Hunter and later by Prince Malick, I was greatly relieved when I saw nothing out of the ordinary. Our trip for the rest of the day was uneventful and as night fell we each started to drift off to sleep. Since we had camped the previous day, we would not camp again until we reached the boat that would take us the rest of the way. Our drivers would switch off so each could get some sleep, food, and water while the other would drive. Letting my eyelids close, I placed my head back against the seat and slept.


    I was jerked from my sleep when our carriage went over a huge bump and I almost flew out of my seat. No one else seemed to notice what had just happened and they all continued to sleep on. They must have been much more tired than me. Or maybe they went to sleep a long time after me. Leaning my head back against my seat, I quickly realized that I was not going to go back to sleep anytime soon. Sitting up, I looked around for something to do, but everything I saw other than looking out the window or doing my hair had the possibility of waking everyone else up. Not about to do that, I started to play with and do my hair. Soon my hair was up in three braids and I moved on to braiding those braids together. I was not able to see my hair, but it felt cool looking. Glancing at my sleeping friends it was a pleasant surprise to see that Darius was the first one awake. ¡°Hello sleepyhead. How was your nap?¡± My voice was soft and low so as to not wake up anyone else.


    ¡°My nap was pretty good. When did you wake up?¡±


    Tilting my head to the side in consideration, I replied, ¡°About five or ten minutes ago. The carriage went over a huge bump. I was surprised that I was the only one to wake up from it.¡±


    Darius gave a soft laugh. ¡°Yeah well the rest of us were really tired apparently. I love what you did with your hair to take up time though. It is really pretty and unique.¡± Blushing a little, I thanked him. ¡°Of course.¡± Wanting to bring up what our guards had both asked us and answered us, but not sure how he would react, I looked at him in obvious deliberation. Before either of us could say anything else though, one of the Black Renegades stirred and woke up. Nodding good morning to them, we did not have to wait long until everyone else in the carriage woke up as well. The sun was coming up outside the windows now and shining its light over all of us inside. Blinking the tears out of our eyes from the sudden light, the carriage stopped abruptly. The Black Renegade drivers changed out and the old one climbed exhausted into their seat and fell into a deep sleep. Milo looked at the driver with a bit of concern. Before the new driver could start driving, Milo went out and had a little chat with him.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    He told him to not drive for as long without taking a break. There were plenty of people who could drive. The horses were switched out with fresher ones that had just been walking alongside us. After the new driver agreed to Milo¡¯s terms and once Milo had climbed back into the carriage, we set off again. Falling back into easy conversations with the Black Renegades next to me, I barely noticed the time passing. Before I knew it the sun was directly overhead and it was time for lunch. Pulling out my snacks for today, I started to eat my portion. Everyone¡¯s portions were exactly the same. Some berries, nuts, some porridge, and water. Not too much food, but it would be enough to sustain us throughout the rest of the day. The moment I put the last bite of food in my mouth, our carriage hit another big bump and I bounced about a foot off my seat.


    Food from other peoples¡¯ portions flew across the carriage and I laughed when a berry hit my face. Milo immediately asked, ¡°Does everyone still have enough to eat, or do we need to stop to get some more food?¡± The answer was the same from everyone. They all still had enough to eat. Plucking the berry off the ground, I flung it out the window. Watching it fall to the ground as we passed by it, I stared at a splash of color that appeared behind the berry. It disappeared before I could get a good look at it though. Hoping that color was just a natural part of the forest, I put my head out the window and looked back at the spot where it had appeared. Nothing out of the ordinary was in sight. Sighing in relief I pulled my head back in the window and continued watching the scenery flash by. Another splash of color appeared about fifteen feet after the first one. This one disappeared as well. The next fifteen feet passed and another splash of color came and went. Getting a bit worried, I looked over my shoulder at Milo and Darius. They were both staring out the opposite window and they looked like they were staring intently at something.


    Spying part of a splash of color above their heads on their side of the carriage, I completely understood. ¡°You two see the splashes of color every fifteen feet as well?¡± Darius and Milo whipped around to face me. ¡°They are on my side as well. I haven¡¯t been able to see what it is though. Have you?¡± They both mutely shook their heads. Mystified, I looked back out the window to see the next splash of color. The splashes of color all seemed to be different colors and they all kind of looked like an illusion. They shimmered and wavered like something that did not exist. Not daring to stick my head out the window of the carriage just in case the splashes of color contained something dangerous like the last one did, I got as close to it as I dared. One of the Black Renegades by the window gazed at them as well. We exchanged confused looks.


    ¡°Do you think we should stop and figure out what they are? Or at least slow down so we can get a better glimpse of them? Maybe they are friendly people that we have just never heard of or seen before. It has happened before.¡± I looked meaningfully at Milo and the Black Renegades.


    Milo shook his head. ¡°No. We keep going. If we were to change our pace at all it would just prove that we have seen these splashes of color and if they are people they may attack us. There must be tons of them, or they must be super fast runners to keep up with us and appear every fifteen feet exactly.¡± While that was true, I ached to know what they were. My curiosity was almost overwhelming. I hated not knowing something. Peering back out into the forest I strained my eyes and leaned a little closer to the window. My head was still inside, but the Black Renegade next to me still pulled me back a little. I turned to glance at him with a question in my eyes.


    ¡°It is better to be safe than sorry.¡± I nodded in gratitude and understanding. They were only looking out for me and making sure that I stayed safe. When I peeked back out the window I was stupefied to see a person standing right inside the trees staring at me. Exclaiming I leaned far back into the carriage alongside the Black Renegade. Everyone turned to look at me.


    ¡°There was a person standing right inside the tree line looking at us. They appeared out of nowhere and¡± I continued after staring out the window again, ¡°they disappeared just as fast.¡±


    Darius grabbed my shoulders and proceeded to interrogate me. ¡°What did they look like? Were they looking at all of us or just you? Did they seem friendly or hostile?¡±


    ¡°I think they were wearing what looked like a red leather short top that left their stomach uncovered, they were definitely a woman, she wore a red leather skirt, and seemed barefoot. She kind of looked like she was looking at all of us, and I am not really sure whether she seemed hostile or not. There seemed to be mostly just curiosity on her face.¡±


    ¡°Curiosity is good. That means they will try to watch us more or maybe even interact with us before they do anything drastic. At least that is what the majority of people in this world would do. Who knows if these people are anything like anyone we have ever seen or encountered before.¡± The Black Renegade who said it now looked to Milo. He would be the one to make the final decision on this matter.


    Milo seemed to still be thinking about what we would do about these mysterious people that watched us from the trees. Finally his face showed his resolve. A conclusion had been made. ¡°We will carry on with what we are doing. Changing anything about what we are doing right now could have huge consequences. The best course of action until something changes is to be constant and predictable. This will make sure that we do not anger or make these forest people panic.¡± Even though everything Milo said made perfect sense to me, I still itched to do something. Being unable to control what happened next made me feel weak and helpless. I hated feeling those emotions and would do everything in my power to never feel them even though I knew they could make me stronger. Letting out a sigh, I leaned back in my chair from my leaned forward position and tried to think of something, anything else.


    In the midst of my thoughts, a scream came from outside the carriage in the forest. Our carriage came to an abrupt halt and everyone raced out of the carriage to see what was going on, who had screamed, and why the carriage had halted so suddenly. Gazing up to the driver first, I saw that his face was pale and he looked scared to death of whatever had made him stop. Now looking at the road in front of us I was stunned by what I saw. A woman stood about twenty-five feet in front of the carriage and she was covered in what looked like blood. Wondering who she had killed, it did not appear that she was injured in any way, I soon saw the leopard about two feet to the woman¡¯s right. There was a spear embedded deep within its body, and it was obviously dead. My jaw dropped and all I could do was stare at the woman. She was strong enough to kill a fully grown leopard with just a spear and escape without any visible injuries?


    Alex, Tyler, Hazel, Sophia, Casey, and Liam raced over to me. My guards already had their weapons out and ready. Darius¡¯s guards Dustin, Joshua, Ethan, and Kane rushed over to him. They also had their weapons out and held at the ready. About five of the Black Renegades ran over to Milo and stood with their weapons at the ready as well. It seemed that he had assigned guards as well. Not dwelling anymore on them, I turned my attention back to the woman. During all of us running over here, she had not moved a muscle. She had just stood there and watched us prepare for battle. Milo took a step closer to the woman, which also took him a step away from his guards who did not seem to appreciate it when he gestured for them to stay put, and addressed her. ¡°That is an excellent kill. I am very impressed by your skill with a spear.¡± The woman lowered her head in thanks to Milo, but did not speak to him. ¡°What is your name? Are you part of the people that have been watching us during our ride through the forest today?¡±


    Instead of answering, she glanced at the forest to her left. Milo followed her gaze and was astonished to see that there were tons more people that looked a lot like the woman standing right inside the tree line. They had the same dark skin tone, they wore leather clothes in varying colors, they were all barefoot, and each of them seemed to either have black or dark brown hair. We could not see exactly how many of them there were, but there were definitely more of them than there were of us. Praying that these people were friendly I signaled for my guards to put away their weapons. Though uncertain about it, they followed my order and sheathed their weapons. Seeing that, Darius had his guards sheathe their weapons as well. Neither group seemed happy about it. Milo soon had his guards putting away their weapons also. The rest of the Black Renegades followed suit and placed their weapons back in their sheathes. Now all of us were completely unarmed and I was not sure what else we could do to appear more friendly towards them. All of the people standing in the trees now approached us. Their own weapons were held at the ready except for the one in the front of the pack. He seemed to be their King.


    Judging from the way he kissed the woman who had slain the leopard, we had been talking to the Queen. I was glad that we had talked civilly to her at least, even though we had pulled our weapons on her. I waited with bated breath to see what would happen to us next. It was still a day¡¯s ride to the boat and if we were chased by these people I was not sure about how good our chances of making it safely were. Based on the way my guards and maids were all tensed up, I assumed they were thinking the same thing. When the King opened his mouth, we all silenced even the smallest of our movements. This was not something we wanted to miss. ¡°I am glad that you did not attack my wife. Now we can use our manners and talk to you instead of using our weapons.¡±


    ¡°We are not the kind of people to attack someone without provocation. Your wife may have saved at least one of us from injury by killing the leopard that apparently was about to attack us. Thank you for that.¡± Showing his appreciation, Milo gave a little head bow to their King.


    Giving out a deep long laugh, their King waved off Milo¡¯s bow. ¡°That was nothing. You should see some of her bigger kills.¡± His wife elbowed him in the side and whispered something in his ear. Their King laughed again. ¡°My wife just reprimanded me for being rude. Let me apologize now for that.¡±


    ¡°There was no offense taken Your Majesty, so there is no need to apologize.¡±


    ¡°You do not need to call me Your Majesty seeing as I am not royalty. My people put me in charge of them because I was the best for the job. You can call me Everett. My wife¡¯s name is Aziza. Now down to business. I am sure that you could have easily taken care of that leopard. In fact, I bet that at least some of your warriors could have taken it on single handedly. Especially those two with violet eyes.¡± Seeing Darius and me smile at each other, Everett laughed again. ¡°That is what I thought.¡± Peeking around my guards to look at Darius, I saw him doing the same thing to look at me. Silently chuckling at each other, we returned our attention back to Everett and Aziza. ¡°Would all of you like to come to our village for a feast? We could get to know each other better and maybe we could help one another.¡±


    Gauging our reactions to that news, Milo graciously accepted Everett''s invitation on all of our behalves. ¡°It would be our honor to come and feast with you.¡± Striding forward, I ended up near the front with Darius and Milo.


    ¡°How do you think this will go? Do you think there will be any problems?¡± My voice was barely audible to them. We were too close to Everett and Aziza to speak any louder without them hearing.


    ¡°It is hard to tell. They seem friendly, but it could always be a trap. Keep all of your guards up and your weapons ready.¡± Nodding, our guards loosened their sheathes so they could pull out their weapons in a moment¡¯s notice. Making sure to keep our pace the same so that no one would get suspicious, we had the order relayed throughout all of the Black Renegades. If something happened, we would not be caught unprepared. After he had kidnapped us, Malick had seemed nice for a time as well. I had told him many things that maybe I should not have. That would not happen again. Seeing that all of our people had awareness in their eyes, I knew that we had gotten the message to them all. After about twenty minutes of hiking in the forest we finally reached our destination. All around us people were grabbing ropes that were thrown down from above and had started climbing into the trees. Craning my head back, I could just make out the people and wood buildings near the tops of the trees.


    ¡°This is a really hidden home. I like it.¡± The awe and appreciation was clear in my voice.


    ¡°Thank you. We worked really hard on it. It took us years to make it perfect for us.¡± Everett had obvious pride in his voice. It was well deserved. I had meant every word that I had said. As a rope fell near me, I grabbed on and started my ascent. The Black Renegades, Milo, his guards, Darius, his guards, my guards, and my maids were all now on ropes and going up. It was a long way up, but I made it pretty easily since I had been working out a lot since I had been kidnapped. I would never be too weak again. Quickly running over to the rope that held Sophia, I pulled on it until she finally reached the top. After all, she was younger and weaker than me. Leaving her gasping for air near some of the native people, I went over to help Hazel. Heaving her to the top, I put my hands on my knees and pulled in a couple of big breaths. Better now, the first person I saw when I stood up was Darius. He was smiling at me from about five feet away.


    ¡°How are you doing? I saw you pull your maids to the top. That was nice of you.¡±


    My laugh was a little breathless, and it was not just from the physical exertion. ¡°They needed a little bit of help, and I needed a bit more of a workout. It was no big deal.¡± Waving my good deed off, I did something bold. I went over to Darius and held his hand. ¡°Walk with me to the feast?¡± Darius¡¯s smile answered my question. We walked over to where the feast would be held side by side, and hand in hand. Aziza was the first to see us like this and she gave me a look that clearly told me good job. She seemed to understand how much courage it had taken to take the first step and grab Darius¡¯s hand. Noticing that I was about to pull out my chair to sit down, Darius pulled it out for me first. We sat down on seats right next to each other, and I let go of his hand. It would have seemed weird to continue to hold his hand when sitting. My heart was pumping wildly. He had held my hand back and even pulled out my chair for me. That totally meant that he liked me right? He had even told Casey that he might even like me more than a friend already. I hoped that he had reached the point where he knew that he liked me more than a friend because I had now officially reached that point.


    Standing up, Everett said a few words about his hopes for the future with us and then he announced that the feast had now begun. Cheering along with everyone else, I started to dig into the delicious food in front of me. There was wild turkey, wild boar, apples, oranges, rice, noodles, different sauces, and a lot of foods that I didn''t even recognize. My eyes closed in pleasure. It felt like my taste buds were having a party on my tongue. Eating even more enthusiastically now, I was soon too full to eat anymore. It was sad because I had not even sampled everything on the table that I had wanted to try. I was satisfied though because all the food I had eaten had tasted so good and exotic. The spices were unlike anything I had eaten before. The sauces were interesting, but somehow seemed to go with everything else on the table. All the people sitting next to me seemed just as full and happy as me. Even the native people who had at least tried all this food before. Apparently a feast like this was not an everyday event. Wishing we could stay for several more days and have more feasts, I leaned back in my chair in satisfaction.


    Aziza stood up this time. ¡°Now that most people have finished eating, there are several games and activities that you may participate in if you wish too. For the children there are several areas roped off just for you. These areas hold all the things you might need to have a great time. Adults, the rest of the space is for you. Leave the roped areas alone and you can do practically whatever you want. There is only one rule for everyone. Have fun!¡± Screaming their happiness, the little kids ran off first to the roped areas. Giggling at them, some of the adults got up seconds later to go do what they wanted. Not sure what I wanted to do, I stayed sitting and waited for someone to take me and tell me that I was going to do something with them. Or I could just sit here for the rest of the night. That would be fine with me. Once I was hungry again I could just eat more food because it seemed they were going to leave it all here for anyone who wanted a snack during the night.


    Coming over to me first, Aziza took my hand and pulled me to my feet. ¡°Were you just planning on staying here for the rest of the night?¡±


    I grinned at her. ¡°Well if it kept me near the food then¡­¡± Raising my hands in the air, I looked at her with amusement. Rolling her eyes at me she dragged me over to a bunch of other native people that were dancing what looked like a traditional dance. Watching them for a moment, I soon knew enough of the dance to join in. Pounding my feet to the rhythm I was soon spinning and jumping along with them all. Having the time of my life, I did not even notice the crowd that was starting to gather. They were all mostly watching me and they were all getting caught up in my energy and fun. Striking a final pose for the last beat of the song I bowed to the tumultuous applause that the audience gave me. A little embarrassed from all the attention, I tried to back out of dancing in the next song, but I was forced into staying. Dancing more reserved this time at the beginning I attempted to stay out of the limelight, but I soon got caught up in the song and beat and I started to come out of the shadows and everyone began to watch me again. By the end of the second song I was breathing harder than everyone else just because of how much energy and effort I put into my dancing.


    Leaving the dance floor I found an open seat where I could still see the dancers that were still dancing. Their movements were so graceful that they almost looked otherworldly. My dancing definitely had not been that good. The only reason I had been applauded was because I was different and the native people had seen that I had tried really hard to do good and become kind of like them. Resting my aching feet, I looked up when someone sat next to me in the open seat to my left. Straightening up, I smiled at Darius. ¡°Hey you. Have you done anything fun yet?¡±


    ¡°Nothing real exciting. The only thing I have done so far is beat a couple of the warriors here in sword fights and watched you dance a little. Did you enjoy the dancing as much as it looked like you did?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I really enjoyed the dancing and the people were really supportive and nice.¡±


    ¡°They did seem really nice. I am starting to think that we will be safe here at least for one night. Milo says we are leaving early tomorrow morning though. He does not want to delay our journey more than it already has been delayed.¡±


    Nodding, I replied, ¡°That makes sense. He does not want his people at the boats to be waiting there for longer than they have to. After all, this land can be dangerous as we have already seen during our travels.¡± Before Darius could respond to me, two of the natives came over and pulled us both to our feet.


    ¡°You both have to come dance with us! It will be so much fun!¡± Protesting weakly, we were soon on the dance floor. Mimicking those around us we were just getting into the groove of the music and figuring out the dance moves when the music changed on us. Glancing around to see what we were supposed to do now, I was confused to see that everyone was pairing off and doing their own dances.


    Another native came over to explain it to us. ¡°Darius put both of your hands on her waist, and Ari put your hands on his shoulders. Then you can either sway, go in circles, or basically do whatever you want. This is the easiest way to dance to this music. If you want to do something harder you can attempt to do what that couple is doing.¡± Staring wide-eyed at the two people he indicated I was stunned by what they were doing. They were spinning and flipping almost too fast for me to follow with my eyes. There was no way we would be able to copy them. Laughing softly, the native went back to his girl to dance. Slowly swaying to the music, I found that I really liked this dance. It was really similar to how we had danced in my kingdom except that you could do whatever steps you wanted, and there was no possible way to mess up. Another thing I liked is that it required that I get close to Darius and even talk to him. Both of which I was not opposed to at all. Opening my mouth to speak, I saw Darius open his mouth at the same time. Stopping, I told him to go ahead. He said the same thing.


    Chuckling, I decided to go ahead and talk first. ¡°This is nice. I like this dance. Maybe even more than I liked the other dances I have done so far.¡±


    ¡°I really like this dance too. Almost as much as I like you.¡± He sounded hesitant by the end, but he forced the words out nervously.


    Smiling so big and hard that it almost hurt, I gave him the answer he had been waiting for. ¡°I like you too. I might even like you more than you like me.¡±


    Darius grinned in relief. ¡°I do not think it is possible for you to like me more than I like you.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°You never know.¡± Hearing the music picking back up and all the couples breaking apart and getting into lines I reluctantly pulled away. ¡°We should probably get back into the lines now. However we will have to do this again. We could even do it when we camp next away from everyone else.¡±


    ¡°I would really like that.¡± His voice had gotten soft and low. Returning to our line and spot, we continued dancing until late into the night. Finally exhausted we had to say good night to everyone and head to where we would sleep for the night. Collapsing into my assigned cot, I soon realized that I was way too happy to go to sleep even though I was so tired. Turning onto my side, I suppressed my giggle because of the other women that were around me sleeping. I did not want to be a bad guest and wake them all up in the middle of the night. About an hour later I was finally able to go to sleep with a smile on my face. Waking up with a jolt hours later, I sat up fast. All around me, the women were all still sleeping. None of them even stirred. Wondering what had woken me up I got out of bed and slipped my boots and the dagger that I had gotten from Alex. Those were the only things I had removed before I had gotten into bed. I had not wanted to be unprepared for anything unexpected that could happen. Grateful for that now, I slipped quietly from the wooden building I had been sleeping in. Wishing that I had found a sword before now, I thought about waking Hazel and Sophia, but quickly dismissed that idea.

 The Injury

    Since I had no idea what had woken me up I did not want to bother anyone for no reason. For all I knew it had just been an animal or something. Plus I had my presence. If anything attacked me I could always phase through it and run back to get help. Walking on my toes, I made sure to not make any unnecessary noises as I went along. No one was up and about as far as I could tell. Something about that did not seem right. We always had at least a couple of sentries that switched off staying up and watching over us during the night. Did these people just feel so safe up in the trees that they did not feel the need for a bit more security? Weaving through the wooden buildings I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Moving faster and faster, I eventually reached the place we climbed up the ropes to reach this village and was shocked by what I saw. The ropes were lowered. Creeping forward slowly, I saw that all of the ropes were moving. People were coming up them. Hoping that it was just some of the native people, I crept over to a neighboring tree to see the climbers without being seen.


    After only one small look at them in the dark I knew that these were no native people. Instead of the tan dark skin that the natives had, these men had whiter and fairer skin. Also, they each carried at least three weapons and, if that wasn¡¯t enough proof that they were not welcome here, several natives were unconscious and tied up on the forest floor. Covering my mouth in horror, it took me a moment to get up and start moving back to the village people. I had to warn everyone. The first intruder reached the top and he saw me immediately. Signaling to his friends that they had been seen, he raced towards me. Putting all my energy and adrenaline into my legs, I ran as fast as possible. Knowing that I would not make it, I began screaming as loud as possible and used my presence so when the intruder tried to tackle me he just went right through me to the floor of the village. Continuing to scream out for help, I hoped that my presence would last until I reached them. It had taken about thirty minutes to reach the ropes when I was trying to go slowly and quietly so it would take about fifteen minutes to reach them at a dead run. Hoping that my voice would reach them before them, I had to slow a little. My presence was taking more out of me than I could afford right now.


    Especially since I was using it in a continuous stream. Stumbling a bit the only thing I could hear was my heartbeat and the breathing of the man following closest behind me. Having learned his lesson about touching me, he was now waiting for me to become solid again. He seemed to know quite a bit about how a presence worked. I coughed, and my scream ended for a moment. My voice was giving out on me. Gritting my teeth, I knew that I would have to fight. I would not go down easily. I would fight until they finally won, but I would take at least one of them down in the process. Less than ten minutes after I had started running, I let out my biggest scream yet, and then turned to face the attackers. The first one flew through me before stopping. Surrounded by several dozen people, I was not sure if the native people had enough fighters to stop these people in their tracks. They would need the Black Renegades, Darius, Milo, and all of our guards to help them. Even then it would be a hard fought fight. We were all tired and would be surprised. Widening my stance, I pushed that stuff out of my mind. I had to focus on the fight in front of me. Pulling my dagger from its sheath, I held it in front of me.


    A couple of scoffs and chuckles came from the men around me. They pulled out their primary weapons that ranged from swords, maces, hammers, axes, and spears. I kept my face calm and composed. They did not scare me. If I died here, then at least I had tried. I had given the natives, and my friends some more time. Shouts were starting to come from the village. Either my bed had been discovered empty, or my screams had been heard. Now my face changed. A slow smile crept over my face. These intruders would get utterly destroyed by their opponents. Lifting my dagger higher my presence gave out and I became solid again. Letting out a savage war cry, I charged at the ones directly in front of me. I managed to stab one of them in the stomach and they slid to the ground with a surprised look on their face. Reaching down I scooped up their sword. Holding it in two hands I attacked the rest of them. Having overcome their shock from me charging at them, their anger took over next and I was disarmed only a couple seconds later after only injuring two more people. Knocked onto my back on the ground there was nothing left I could do other than watch an ax descend towards my chest. Though I was tempted to close my eyes I refused to look weak in front of these men.


    Looking defiantly into their eyes, I did not even move as the ax sliced closer and closer to me. Respect showed on some of the mens¡¯ faces. Right as the ax kissed my skin someone slammed into the group and knocked them all away from me. Darius looked furious and his sword was a blur as he slashed and hacked in every direction.  Struggling to get to my feet, I felt someone put their hands under my armpits and I was hauled up. Once on my feet my knees threatened to give out on me. Milo kept hanging on until I was finally stable on my own. Picking back up the sword I had stolen, I helped the rest of my friends utterly crush the intruders. It took about half an hour and we only sustained a couple of minor injuries. Hugging Darius after the battle had ended I thanked him with a kiss. Shock was the first emotion I saw on his face, but it was soon followed by happiness. After he kissed me again though, a new emotion appeared on his face.


    Fear. ¡°Ari, are you injured?¡± Pulling back from me, I realized that I was indeed injured. Where the ax had touched my skin, blood had coated my shirt and chest. As the adrenaline left me I would have fallen to the ground had Darius not caught me. Scooping me into his arms he rushed me to the native and Black Renegade healers. He was not taking any chances with my safety and they both examined me at the same time. After looking at the wound, they declared that I was not in any serious danger. The Black Renegade healer stitched me up while the native healer made and then applied a poultice that was supposed to reduce the pain and the swelling. Following them looking at it and then taking care of it, I was ordered to go to sleep so my body could produce blood to replace what I had lost. Happily accepting their order, I went to sleep quickly. When I woke up I was glad that it was just a natural wake up and not because I had a bad feeling or anything. Sitting up slowly so as to not pull my stitches, I got out of the cot I was in and stood up. My boots and dagger were by the side of the cot. Apparently someone had retrieved my dagger from where I had lost it during the beginning of the fight. Putting them gingerly back on, I walked out the door to find that all evidence of the battle had been removed.


    Nodding hello to people that I passed, I searched for Darius, Milo, a Black Renegade, one of Darius¡¯s guards, one of my guards, or one of my maids. Someone to tell me when we were leaving. Spying Sophia around five minutes later I waved to her. Spotting me, she ran over. ¡°There you are. I just came from where you were supposed to be sleeping and was freaking out because you were gone!¡±


    ¡°Sorry. I came out looking for someone to tell me when we are leaving to continue on to Milo and the Black Renegades¡¯ home.¡± I laughed. ¡°I didn''t mean to worry anyone, promise.¡±


    Sophia sighed in exasperation. ¡°We have not decided when we are leaving because we were going to wait until you had fully recovered.¡¯


    I shook my head. ¡°No, we can not wait that long. Who knows what could happen in that amount of time? I am well enough to travel today. Take me to everyone else.¡± Sophia did not even argue with me since she knew that would have been useless. Strolling back in the direction she had come from, she waved for me to follow her. Grinning at how fast she gave in, I  fell in step behind her. Matching her stride for stride, I saw the group at the same time she did. When I waved to them they all waved back.


    ¡°We are all so glad that you are okay.¡± I could tell that Alex was speaking for everyone when he said this.


    ¡°I am glad that I am okay as well. However, I was not okay to hear that you were planning on delaying our journey to Raetis because of my small injury.¡± Several sighs could be heard from the group when I said that. ¡°I am serious. My injury is small and there is no reason that I can not sit in a carriage. Honestly it is probably pretty close to staying here and moving with the swaying of the trees.¡±


    ¡°It is no use trying to keep her here. Even if we try to, she will just pack up all of our stuff herself and force us all into our carriages before driving them all herself. That is how stubborn she is.¡± Everyone looked to where those words had come from and they all glared at Darius. He shrugged. ¡°You all know that what I said was true. There is no use denying it.¡±


    ¡°What Darius says is true. We might as well give up and just continue on our way to Raetis.¡± Milo¡¯s voice was exasperated, but firm. No one dared to argue or glare at him. Instead they all walked to the buildings they had been staying in and grabbed their stuff. Happy now that they had decided to listen to me and by the fact that we would be at the boat by either the end of the day today or tomorrow morning. Then it will be about two days in the boat until we made it to eastern shores. After that we would be in the eastern peoples¡¯ land and we would have about an hour or two of walking before we would reach the kingdom of Raetis. Though I had started out dreading when we would reach Raetis and the eastern lands, I was now really looking forward to it and hoping that we did not have any more trials that we had to get through and survive before we got there.


    Packing the rest of my stuff into the carriage, I grunted a little in pain when my stitches stretched in my chest. Liam, hearing my grunt, gave me a baleful look and pointed to the carriage. Knowing that he would pick me up and place me in the carriage against my will if I didn''t do it soon, I waved goodbye to all the natives that were watching us, and stepped up into the carriage. Leaning my head back against the seat, I wished I could do more to help my friends pack up the carriages and take some of the load off their backs. Placing my hand on my stitches that were in the middle of my chest I pushed gently on them.  Sucking in a breath from the sharp pain that radiated throughout my entire body from that one spot I sighed. There was no way anyone would let me help with anything for the rest of the journey to Raetis. Hearing someone climbing the steps to enter the carriage, I whipped my hand away from my chest and tried to look normal and not like I was in any pain. Seeing Darius come in, I knew there was no way I could hide anything from him, but I still tried. Giving him a big smile, I saw his eyes narrow. ¡°How much pain are you in right now?¡±


    ¡°None. In fact I feel completely better.¡± Right after the words came out of my mouth I regretted it. Maybe if I had said that I was in a little pain, but that it was not that bad then maybe, just maybe, he would have believed me. As it was, he did not believe me one bit. Sitting down on the chair right next to me, he placed a feather light touch on where my stitches were. Sucking in a breath that had nothing to do with pain, I held that breath until he had finished probing my wound.


    ¡°Your stitches are good and are holding up well, but there seems to be some swelling. Most likely from you packing and carrying your stuff. For the rest of the day you need to take it as easy as you possibly can. Got it?¡± The stern look he sent me said that I better agree.


    ¡°Fine. I will take it easy. Since when have you been a healer though? Or had any of their skills?¡± My incredulous tone made Darius laugh.


    ¡°All soldiers in the west learn some medical skills so they know if a wound is serious or not and so that they can help others out when a healer is not available.¡± It made sense, but I refused to acknowledge that fact. Right when I was going to say something that I would regret later, the pain was making me mad and impatient, the rest of the people that went in our carriage bundled in. Signaling the driver that we were all ready, Milo sat down last and looked at me.


    Before he could ask how I was doing or anything of the like, I cut in. ¡°Was anyone else injured in the fight?¡±


    ¡°There were a couple of minor injuries, but no other Black Renegade, any of either of your two staffs, or the natives were badly hurt like you were.¡± Breathing a sigh of relief, I nodded my thanks at Milo for answering my question. Understanding that I did not want to talk about my own injury, he looked to one of the Black Renegades sitting next to him, I recognized them as one of Milo¡¯s guards, and started talking to him. The guard had shoulder length black hair and had a scar across his left eyebrow.


    A couple minutes later, when it seemed like their conversation was ending, I spoke up. ¡°Milo?¡± He looked at me expectantly. ¡°Who are your guards and what are their names?¡±


    ¡°That is right. I have never introduced you two to them.¡± Pointing to the Black Renegade that he had just been talking to, he started the introductions. ¡°This is Jet. He is the leader of my  guards and he is over all the security for the Black Renegades.¡± Continuing to point at each person that he named, I learned the rest of his guards¡¯ names were Anders, Rik, Gareth, and Leander. I waved hello to them each in turn. They all seemed friendly to me, and they all waved back except for Rik who nodded. Out of things to say now, I looked back out the window praying that I would not see anything out there. There had been way too much excitement over the past couple of days for me. Also, I would not be able to help fight for the next couple of days. Nothing could be seen out there. Relieved now, I admired the beautiful scenery and saw a leaf floating in my direction. Reaching out my hand I caught the leaf and pulled it inside the carriage. Twirling it between my fingers I loved the way it reflected the light and created something that almost looked like a rainbow. Caught up in the moment I didn''t even notice the time passing.


    After what seemed like only a couple of seconds, I was startled to see the sun going down. Night had fallen upon us and the light was fading away behind the trees. Dropping the leaf out the window to slowly drift to the forest floor, I shook myself out of my weird mood and looked at everyone else. ¡°Are we almost there now, or are we going to reach it in the morning?¡±


    I was surprised when Anders spoke up. ¡°We will be there in about three hours so you should get some sleep now, or you can sleep on the boat. However it might be hard to sleep on the boat if you are not used to it. The rocking has been known to upset people that have not been on a boat before.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that is very possible. I have never been on a boat before and, I can''t believe that I did not think of this before, it could be a problem, I do not know how to swim.¡± Several sets of shocked expressions greeted me after this statement. ¡°What?¡± I defended myself. ¡°My kingdom is not near any water and my parents were kind of protective of my brothers and me. They did not let us do quite a few things that other parents allow their children to do.¡±


    ¡°That is true. They would not even let you help your servants in your own kingdom. Plus, you have never even been allowed out of your house other than a couple of visits to very good friends or family.¡± Darius¡¯s voice held some understanding, but mostly just shock.


    I nodded. ¡°All of that is true, however, part of the reason for that is after Carter turned 16 and did not get a presence they wanted to protect me from everything. I was their last hope.¡±


    ¡°There were 14 years before that point where they could have allowed you to do things. What was their reason then?¡± He almost sounded indignant and I could tell that he thought I had been wronged by my parents.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t want me to turn out like them.¡± My voice was heavy with resignation. ¡°My mom and dad used to be super rebellious and they were fighters. There was no one else that would have taken them and my mom tells me to this day that if it was not for my dad, she would be single and a disappointment to her family.¡±


    Milo spoke now. ¡°Those reasons might make sense to people in your lands, but in the east we treat our women very differently. The better fighter they are, the better they usually marry. However we do not just throw out the women that are different. If they like dresses and hate fighting, then we find a man that matches them and pair them up. If they want to get married, then they will get married. Might not be to the richest man, but we will find them someone. It has been officially part of our job to do it for around five generations of royalty now.¡±


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°It is certainly an interesting system. I am not sure how that would work with our society, but it would certainly be different and maybe even funny to put it in place. People would revolt over it though so it is probably better to leave it in the east.¡±


    Laughter was clear in his voice. ¡°Yeah, I agree with all of that. Most things we do are better left in the east because we have lived like that for several generations, and you have lived your way for several generations.¡± The Black Renegades around us all nodded. It was clear that they all agreed with the two of us. Early the next morning, after at least most of us got a couple hours of sleep, we arrived at the boat. Clambering out of the carriage I stretched to try to get some of the soreness out of my muscles, but I immediately regretted it. Whipping my arms back down, I rubbed my stitches in the middle of my chest gingerly. Hoping that I did not pull any out when I stretched, I put my hand down again and hoped that no one had seen what I had just done. No such luck.


    ¡°Did you pull any stitches when you did that?¡± Turning around with a sigh, I looked at the Black Renegade¡¯s healer.


    ¡°Hi, I did not see you there. How was your carriage ride?¡± Trying to keep my tone nonchalant, I attempted to distract them by asking tons of questions about them and not talking about myself or my wound. It did not work at all.


    ¡°It was great. Now how is the injury?¡± I dared not argue with how stern they sounded.


    I sighed again. ¡°It is fine. If I did pull a stitch out, then it does not really hurt or anything. I will be fine. If you really want to though, you can examine it again once we reach Raetis. However you can not do it before then because we have to hike to get to Raetis and there is no way that I will let us make camp only a little ways away from Raetis because of me.¡±


    The healer gave me a look of deep displeasure. ¡°You would think that I would be used to people telling me no and that they are fine, but I do not think that I will ever get used to people not wanting to heal and get better.¡± Rolling my eyes, I decided not to answer him. Plus I did not have an answer ready. Heading over to one of the boats, I noticed that there were two new Black Renegades on each boat. They must have been guarding them this whole time. Noting the relief on their faces, I realized that we must be really late in arriving here.


    ¡°Hello there. I know that we have never met before, but my name is Princess Ariana Esma. You can all call me Ari though. Ariana is such a mouthful.¡± From the stunned looks they were giving me, I could tell that it was the last thing they expected me to say. Their gazes drifted from my face to my clothing and I could tell that it shocked them as well. No doubt they thought I was like every other Princess who was not in the east and that I loved wearing dresses and was snobby and uptight. About to say more to introduce myself, I was interrupted by Milo. He came over and greeted each of the guards.


    ¡°She has probably already introduced herself to you, right?¡± They all nodded. ¡°Her introduction was most likely not what you were thinking it would be, correct?¡± They all nodded again. Milo chuckled. ¡°Yeah that is exactly what I was thinking she would do. As you can tell, she is not at all the person we all expected her to be. Prince Darius is not what we thought he would be either. He might even be less formal than Ari here.¡± As if on cue Darius walked over to us and put his arm around my shoulders.


    ¡°Hey everyone.¡± He spotted the new guards. ¡°Were they here this entire time guarding the boats?¡± Milo and all the Black Renegades in hearing nodded. ¡°Were we extremely late in getting here and were you all super worried about us?¡± All of them nodded again. ¡°Great.¡± Darius walked over to them and shook each of their hands. ¡°I am so sorry that we were so delayed in getting back here. Ari is like a target and attracts every danger within 50 miles in all directions.¡± Seeing my glare, Darius laughed. ¡°You did. First Malick and Hunter, then the leopard, and last the people that invaded the village and almost killed you.¡±


    Defending myself, I said, ¡°Okay so yes Malick and Hunter were both after me, but you can not blame those last two on me. There is no way that a leopard could specifically target and attack one person. It just smelled all of us and was hungry. The invaders were not my fault either because they were after the native people like Everett and Aziza. Not me. The only reason they almost killed me was because I was the first one to spot them and was trying to warn everyone else. It could have been anyone that spotted them.¡±


    Tyler cut in now. ¡°Why were you out there all alone anyways? If you thought there was danger you should have woken at least one of us up to go with you.¡±


    Shaking my head I responded. ¡°I have no idea what woke me up that night. I just woke up all of a sudden and felt like something was wrong, but I was not sure what or if it was my imagination. For all I knew I had a nightmare that night, and that was making the bad feeling. Wanting some air, I noticed that there were no sentries around and thought that was a little odd. However, I had no idea what the natives'' customs were and assumed that they thought themselves safe enough in the trees and did not need sentries. Reaching the ropes that brought us up, I got worried when I saw them down and moving with people on them. I jumped into the tree nearby and looked at the people climbing. Realizing finally that they were attackers, I rushed to warn everyone, but was seen. That is when they surrounded me and tried to kill me.¡±


    ¡°You were pretty far from the ropes when we saw you. How did you get that far away?¡± Gareth¡¯s voice held a lot of skepticism.


    ¡°I used my presence until I was too exhausted to take another step. It gave me some time to run farther, but it made it so I could not defend myself very well.¡± Understanding could be seen in everyone¡¯s eyes other than the ones that guarded the boats this whole time.


    Milo cleared their confusion. ¡°Ari has the presence to phase through things. Kind of like a ghost. In this state no one can touch her and she can go through any solid object.¡±


    Clarifying my presence a bit I added on, ¡°There are some limits to it though. The more I use it, the more tired I get. Also it is really hard to not to phase through some things like the floor. I am not sure what would happen if I went through the floor, but it is hard to make sure that I do not.¡±


    With a concerned voice, Casey now spoke up. ¡°You never told us that before. Your presence could be really dangerous to you. For now you should not use it until we learn more about it and learn what could happen when you phase through different things.¡±


    Giving him a small smile, I replied, ¡°I was not planning on using it anytime soon, but I was not planning on using it the last two times I used it.¡± My guards all exchanged long glances and I knew they were silently talking with each other.


    Looking back at me now, Alex told me what they had discussed. ¡°We decided that we will not allow anyone to come near enough to make you feel threatened and use your presence. Also, whenever you go somewhere, even if you feel like you are completely safe or that it is stupid, you will take at least two of us with you.¡±


    My mouth dropped open. ¡°I used to only have to take one of you.¡±


    Alex looked at me with exasperation. ¡°That was when you were healthy. Now you are injured and more vulnerable than before.¡± Accepting that explanation, I agreed to their terms. ¡°Great. Now we can move on to the next problem.¡± Alex turned to Milo. ¡°How are we all supposed to fit on those four boats? There is not enough space for all of us on them. Are we going to go in groups?¡±


    Milo shook his head, but Jet answered for him. ¡°No. We brought more boats, these are just the only ones in view. We were going to do only a couple of boats and go in groups, but that was too much of a security risk.¡± Going over to some bushes nearby, he pushed aside some of the foliage to reveal several more boats. Other Black Renegades uncovered the rest of the boats.


    Leaning forward, I peeked around a couple of people to catch Tyler¡¯s eyes. I figured he would be the most likely to grant my request. After all, he was my nicest guard. ¡°Can I help row? Then I can learn how and it would be a good experience.¡± Tyler rolled his eyes in amusement. Shaking his head, he rejected my request. Pouting, I leaned back and folded my arms in frustration. This injury made it so that I could not do anything. Darius slipped his arm back around me and pulled me into him to comfort me. Laying my head on his chest, I let him hold me for a while. ¡°They won¡¯t let me do anything Darius.¡± A sudden thought popped into my head and I leaned back to look at his face. ¡°Can I go on your boat without my guards and help to row your boat?¡± Judging by his laughter, his answer was the same as Tyler¡¯s. Letting my head fall back onto his chest in disappointment, his laughter started to fade and his arms went around me to interlock on my back.


    ¡°I love how persistent you are. You know what you want and you do everything you can to accomplish or achieve that thing.¡± Amusement was very clear in his voice.


    ¡°I will take that as a compliment.¡± My tone was smug, but a bit disappointed. Glancing over at my guards I could see them all struggling not to laugh. They had not been worried at all about whether or not Darius was going to grant my wish of helping to row his boat.


    ¡°Just because of that persistence, you are riding with us Ari. Sophia can join us as well. However,¡± Alex now faced Darius. ¡°can Hazel ride with you? There is not enough room in our boat to take her as well.¡±


    Darius looked to Hazel and saw her pleading look. ¡°Of course Hazel can ride with us. I wouldn¡¯t want to keep the two love birds apart.¡± Hazel and Joshua both blushed a little at his words, but they still seemed pleased because they could be by each other during the boat ride. Climbing into the boat, I almost was thrown from it when it pitched to one side unexpectedly. Throwing my arms out to each side to try and balance myself, the only thing that kept me from falling overboard was one of the Black Renegades who grabbed my arm and helped me stop the movement of the boat. Immediately sitting down after that, I sat right in the middle of the boat far away from the water. There was no way that I was going anywhere near the water. Especially since I could not swim and I was just now learning that I was mildly scared of water. Anything could be in there. My guards piled into the boat more confidently then I did. All of them can swim and none of them were scared of the water. My parents had made sure that all of them learned since my brothers and I had never learned.


    Gripping the edges of the boat with a death grip, I did not relax it until everyone had settled in and sat down in the boat. All of our gear and stuff was packed near me. Alex and Tyler picked up the oars first and pushed us away from the shore to join back up with the rest of the groups. Their strokes were smooth and strong. Marveling over the fact that they both moved their oars in complete unison, my fingers ached to grab one of the oars and try it for myself. Peering around the boat, I noticed that Liam and Casey were watching me very closely. ¡°What? Why are you two looking at me like that?¡±


    ¡°You do not know how to swim and have never been in a boat before. We are a little worried that you will somehow fall out of the boat, or that you will become sea sick. Either way we want to know right away if one of those things happens.¡± Though Liam¡¯s answer was completely reasonable, there was still a hint of suspicion in my mind.


    ¡°There is another reason you are watching me isn¡¯t there?¡± Seeing the guilt spread across both their faces I glared at them. ¡°You both think that I might try to grab an oar away from Tyler or Alex.¡± Not even trying to deny it now, they nodded. I shrugged. ¡°Well the sad thing is I was just thinking about doing that.¡± Lips quirking into small smiles, all four of my guards tried to contain their amusement and laughter. Barely managing it, they all quickly composed their faces. Paddling over to Darius¡¯s boat, my guards all waved to his guards. I would have waved to them as well, but we had just gone over a little wave and it had rocked the boat. I had returned to clutching the sides of the boat in a death grip and there was no way that I was going to let go of the boat to wave to them. Nonetheless, I did manage to nod a greeting to them. Darius nodded back at me and I noticed that his face was a little green. ¡°Are you sea sick? I thought you could swim!¡± I shouted across the gap separating our boats momentarily forgetting about my fears.


    ¡°I can swim, but I have never been on a boat before. Who knew that it was so choppy and made you feel like you were going to puke?¡± My laughter at his answer reached even the farthest groups and everyone turned their heads to see the source of the laughter. Some of them spotted Darius and smothered laughter of their own. The sound of someone gagging cut off my laughter. Peering around my boat I tried to see who was making that noise and my gaze settled on Sophia. Liam was holding her hair away from her face and was also rubbing her back. Soothing words flowed from his mouth, but Sophia continued to look miserable. Gently pushing Liam out of the way, I took his spot and asked her questions to take her mind off the situation. Very quickly, I had her laughing and looking less green. My questions mostly centered around either Liam or Hazel. Soon I realized that I had a real question to ask her.


    ¡°Sophia, do you think that our parents will ever understand why we were taken away? And why we might choose to stay in Raetis?¡± Tears gathered in my eyes when I asked those questions.


    Embracing me, Sophia took her time to respond. ¡°I am not really sure Ari, but there is something that I do know for sure. Our parents and siblings will always love us no matter what decisions we make in our lives. If we do return to them, even if it is years from now, they will welcome us back with open arms and will love to hear our stories. They will respect our opinions and they will try to understand why we made the choices that we did. Though it may be hard for them, they will continue to do everything they can for us and they will always be supportive of us. Especially if we have good reasons for what we did and for what we are now going to do.¡± My tears flowed freely and unrelentlessly now.


    ¡°Thank you for that Sophia. You always know what to say to me to make me feel better.¡± I felt her tears start to fall on my neck and knew that she missed her family as much as I did. We both knew that we needed to finish this journey and see what the eastern lands were like. If they were as Milo said then we needed to spread the word that the eastern lands were different then we thought they were. They were people that were way more similar to us then we had originally thought and we should start trading with them and becoming allies and friends with them. I hoped that my parents and brothers would come to see this in time. It might be a bit difficult because they had seen their only daughter taken from them because of the easterners, but I wished that they would see the reasons behind it and understand why it had to be done. I wished the same for Darius¡¯s parents.


    The rest of the boat ride seemed to pass by quickly for me, but for Sophia and Darius it seemed to take forever. Darius never puked, however sometimes he got very close to puking. He stayed near the railing the entire ride. Sophia did not puke after the first part of the ride, and she even seemed to improve to the point where she was only mildly sick. She mostly seemed normal by the end and even liked the last part of the boat ride. Alex jumped into the water and pulled our boat onto the shore so that it would not float away. Liam and Casey, who had been rowing since we had started back up after our break in the middle when it was night time, put their oars away and jumped out next. Tyler stayed in the boat to help me out. He lifted me up and handed me out to Liam who grabbed me and placed me on the dry sand. Extremely relieved to finally be on dry land I resisted the urge to fall to the ground and kiss it. The first step I took was extremely wobbly and I almost fell to the ground. Casey took one of my elbows while Alex took my other to make sure that I would not fall. Staggering like a drunk I went a little ways away from the boats until I reached a rock that looked like a good place to sit.


    Slowly easing myself down onto it with help, I was soon sitting on it and felt a lot more stable. Putting my elbows on my knees and then putting my face on my palms, I slowed down my breathing and attempted to get my heart rate back to its normal beat. A hand fell on my shoulder and my head jerked up. My heart rate went right back up because of the scare, and because of the face only a couple inches from my own. Close enough to feel Darius¡¯s breath on my face, I froze. I was unsure what to do, or what he was going to do. Darius leaned back and the moment ended. Looking around me, I understood why he backed away. Black Renegades were everywhere and some were looking at us along with both sets of our guards and both of my maids. We really needed to find a place with at least a little privacy. Grabbing Darius¡¯s hand, I let him pull me back up to my feet and help to keep me on my feet. ¡°You¡¯ve recovered from your earlier illness?¡± I posed it in an innocent voice, however, my glee was evident on my face.


    Darius sent me a glare that seemed more fake mad than real mad. He was just humoring me now. ¡°Yes I have entirely recovered from what plagued me on the boat. Now we just have a couple hours of hiking and then we will have arrived in Raetis.¡± I did a short celebratory dance. Wincing a little from the pain coming from my injury, I ignored the worried looks from both Darius, my guards, and the Black Renegade healer.


    Milo pulled all the attention from me over to him. ¡°We are now going to start our hike through the forest and we will arrive at most of our home and kingdom Raetis.¡± The Black Renegades all cheered and pumped their fists in the air. After letting them cheer for a moment, Milo raised his hand for silence. ¡°Now everyone grab your stuff from the boats and we will start along our way.¡± Running to grab all the stuff, soon all the Black Renegades were carrying all of our gear. Casey went over to the ones carrying our gear and tried to take some of their weight off, but they refused to give it up.


    ¡°You need to concentrate your efforts on protecting Ari. Not on carrying your stuff.¡± Acknowledging the point Casey let them carry it, but he still did not seem super happy about it. Beginning our trek into the forest I walked side by side with Darius. Milo was in front of everyone with Jet, Rik, Anders, Gareth, and Leander. The whole way to Raetis I was dazzled by the lush beautiful greenery that surrounded us. Yes I had been in the forest for quite a few days now, but most of that time I had been in a carriage which was just not the same as walking. Three hours later the kingdom of Raetis came into view above the treetops. My jaw dropped in shock at how beautiful and big it was. The walls were about the height of 15 full grown men standing on top of each other, and the castle turrets stretched up even higher. Guards on top of the walls spotted us as soon as we glimpsed them. Once we reached the front gates they shouted at us to stop and state our business, leave, or get shot at with arrows.

 Arriving at Raetis

    Milo waved up at them and shouted back, ¡°My name is Crown Prince Milo Bullara. I have returned from my mission and brought back all my troops and Princess Ariana Esma of Kuli, and Crown Prince Darius Hashim of Thacaea. The people that were injured during our travels should have arrived already.¡±


    The gates opened and a man stepped out to greet us. ¡°They arrived two days ago. I am so glad that you are safe, my son.¡± The man opened his arms and hugged Milo while I tried to process his words. This man was the King? He wore the same clothes that peasants in my land would wear, and no crown adorned his head. His hands were calloused and looked to have seen a lot of hard work. My dad¡¯s hands had callouses from wielding his sword, but not like this. As Darius bowed to the King to show respect, I curtsied. I felt kind of dumb curtsying in pants, but I did it anyways. The King saw us doing this and he waved for us to stand. Noticing that none of the Black Renegades had bowed, I was a bit confused. All of my guards, and maids had curtsied or bowed along with Darius¡¯s guards. The King seemed to sense my confusion and answered my unspoken question. ¡°There is no need for anyone to bow or curtsey to me. Yes, I am the King of Raetis and yes, it is proper protocol to show that kind of respect to me, but if there are no other royals around then there is no need for it. Plus we did kidnap you all from your homes so there is doubly no need for you to show that kind of respect to me.¡± Milo¡¯s dad bowed to us. ¡°I am sorry about doing that. You deserve better.¡±


    ¡°Please do not bow to us, King. The adventure has been good and we have become great friends with the Black Renegades and your son.¡± Darius looked at me and I knew that he was going to mention my injury. The boat ride and hike through the forest had been a bit rough on it. ¡°Ari has been spending a lot of time particularly with your healer.¡±


    The King immediately looked to the healer. ¡°What is wrong with her?¡±


    Stepping forward the healer inclined his head to the King. ¡°Jonas, she was injured during a fight. Someone hit her with an ax. It cut pretty deep, but not deep enough to kill or gravely injure. She will be fine, but she is very stubborn and would not let me finish treating it until we reached here.¡±


    ¡°Well then take her to her room and you can begin treating her right away. Also I will be in shortly to hear your diagnosis and what you need to treat it.¡± The healer nodded and grabbed my arm. As I was being dragged towards the castle, my guards hurried to catch up to us. Jonas started to say that I would be perfectly safe, but Milo stopped him. He knew how protective my guards were. Climbing several sets of stairs, we eventually reached the room that would be mine until we left Raetis. The healer pointed at the bed and told me to sit. Rolling my eyes, I sat on the edge of the bed. While the healer left the room to grab all the stuff they needed to examine me, I looked around the room in boredom.


    Once the healer came back in, I asked a question that had been on my mind for a while now. ¡°What is your name?¡±


    ¡°My name is Aeson.¡± He did not even look up at me when he answered my question. He just continued to put all his equipment out and prepped to give me a real examination. Even his first examination of me had not been the best one, because he had not had all of his stuff and someone else had been examining me at the same time. Finally looking at me, he gestured for me to lay on my back. Easing myself down slowly I laid down on my back and attempted to hold in my gasp of pain, but did not succeed. Aeson gave me a sharp look and came over to me. ¡°What is your pain level right now from 1 being it barely hurts to 10 being that I am in so much pain I feel like I am dying.¡±


    That forced laughter from me, but it also made me double over in pain. ¡°Well it was at like a 5. Now that you made me laugh though, it is like a 7 or 8.¡± Aeson did not reply to me, but his mouth did tighten a bit. I knew that meant that he was worried about me. My pain was higher than he must have expected.


    ¡°Alright, I need to cut off part of your shirt to see the wound. Is that okay?¡± Though my cheeks blushed a bit, I knew that he was a doctor and would be professional about it. Plus the area that it was on was not in a very revealing area. Giving my permission, I laid completely still while he cut away the smallest portion of my shirt that he could. Gently prodding the injury I saw that it was a bit swollen and was bruised all along the edges of the stitches. ¡°You pulled out the edges of your stitches so I will have to restitch those parts back together. Next I have to make and apply a poultice and put a cloth bandage over your entire chest to make sure that does not happen again. After that you have to take it easy for a couple of days and not do anything that puts pressure or stress on that area. That means no lifting anything, don¡¯t lift your arms too high, no running, and no sudden movements. If you need something done then either get your maids to do it, which they should be learning where everything is in the castle so they can help you navigate through it or get you anything you need, or you need to have your guards do it.¡± Aeson shrugged. ¡°Or you could get any of the people around the castle to do it. You are a very likable person after all.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Aw thanks! That might be the nicest thing you have ever said to me!¡±


    He rolled his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much about it. I did not say that I liked you or was your friend or anything.¡± Proceeding to a different part of the room, he sat down at a table and started to mix the poultice so he could put it on directly after stitching up the parts that had come undone. Right as he stood up to come over and start working on me again, Jonas came in with a woman with light violet eyes. Guessing from the arm that Jonas had wrapped around the woman, that was his wife.


    She soon proved me right when she came over to me and clasped my right hand in both of her hands. ¡°Hello darling. My name is Valeria and I am technically the Queen of Raetis, however I prefer to just be called Valeria. I am more than just a Queen and I am sure you can understand my feelings on that matter.¡±


    ¡°Yes Valeria, I can totally understand your feelings on that. Please call me Ari. Also I love the color of your eyes. They are very pretty and unique.¡± A smile creased my lips. It was nice to finally meet another girl who had a presence. As of yet I had only met a couple of people with presences and they had all been boys. However, as I had figured out twice now, there were people that wore contacts so that no one knew who had presences and who did not. It was a good idea and I was definitely considering doing that. Especially since I had been attacked before for having violet eyes.


    ¡°Thank you Ari. Your eyes are more beautiful than mine though. They are so dark and mysterious looking. I can see why there is so much fuss going around about your eyes.¡± Valeria said it with such sincerity that I knew every word she spoke was the truth. I smiled at her again, but did not reply. She seemed to know what was on my mind. ¡°It is not your fault that you were all attacked several times on your way coming here. Do not even let that thought cross your mind. Know that no one blames you and we all think that you are very brave. You even prevented a tragedy at the native forest peoples¡¯ homes when you warned everyone of the intruders.¡± Several tears gathered in my eyes, but I blinked them away furiously. Valeria reminded me so much of my own mother that it was hard to focus on anything else.


    Aeson cleared his throat. ¡°I am sorry to interrupt this conversation, but I really need to finish working on her.¡±


    ¡°What is your diagnosis? Is it bad or is she all good to go after this?¡± Concern was clear in Jonas¡¯s voice.


    ¡°A bit of her stitching was undone so I have to restitch those parts, apply this poultice to reduce the bruising and swelling along the edges, and then bandage her up tightly to make sure that they do not come undone again. I have already told her the limitations of what she can do, but I can repeat them. She can not lift her arms very high, carry anything, put any stress or pressure on that area, and no sudden movements.¡± Jonas nodded. It appeared that he had expected something along those lines and he looked grateful that it was not worse. Grumbling a bit under my breath about overprotective healers, my guards all gave me looks that said they would make sure that I followed Aeson¡¯s orders. Sticking my tongue out at them, I tried to think of a way to get away from them and workout or something, but I could not think of anything. They just watched me too closely. In fact right now they were looking at me so closely that I left wondering if they knew what I was thinking. When Aeson first put the needle into my skin it made my fingers twitch involuntarily. Taking my hand out of Valeria¡¯s, I clenched my hands together and tried to ignore the sensations of the needle going in and out of my skin.


    There was basically no pain from it, but it just felt wrong to have a piece of metal go in and out of me. Relaxing my body, I attempted to think of something other than what was happening. Glancing over at my guards I noticed that they all looked uncomfortable and couldn¡¯t look directly at me. Smirking at them, I knew that it really bugged them that someone was hurting me and making me feel kind of uncomfortable and they could not do anything to help me. They all sent me mock glares, but I noticed that they only looked into my eyes and they still refused to look down at what Aeson was doing. ¡°I am okay guys. It does not really hurt and it is only a little bit of a weird feeling. You are not failing me or anything by letting this happen. In fact, you are fulfilling your duties by letting Aeson do this.¡± Eyes softening, they finally were able to look at what Aeson was doing. Jonas and Valeria had proud looks on their faces. Apparently they thought that I was an angel or something for comforting other people when they thought I was the one in need of comforting.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that I did not need comforting. I was stronger than they thought and this injury was nothing compared to the pain after the first day of me training with Cayden, or the pain my heart was in after Cayden had died. As if my thought transmitted itself into Jonas¡¯s brain he looked at me with curiosity in his gaze. ¡°I told Milo to bring 13 people here, and there are only 12. What happened to Cayden? When I asked the others, they told me that it was your story to tell since you had known him the best.¡±


    Detaching myself from my feelings, I made sure that I was in control of my voice and feelings before I began. Aeson quickly finished applying the poultice and wrapped me real quickly in such a way that I did not even have to rearrange my clothing, but he still managed to get it under my clothes and got it tightened just enough that it put some pressure on it, but not enough to hurt. Stepping back he went into a corner of the room. With all eyes on me, I started to tell Jonas and Valeria what had happened to Cayden. About the person that had snuck on him, and how I was too late to save him. Valeria tried to grab my hand and comfort me, but I kept my fists clenched so she couldn¡¯t. When she tried to pat my hand, I moved my hand away. Hurt flashed in her eyes, however I did not regret doing it. If someone started comforting me now then I would break down and I had promised Cayden that I would not cry or mourn for him anymore. Leaving out my conversation with him, I finished telling them the simplified version of how he had died.


    ¡°Valeria I am sorry for hurting you by not letting you comfort me or anything, but I promised Cayden and myself that I would not cry or mourn for him. He died the way he wanted to die. Fighting.¡±


    ¡°I understand Ari, but just know that I am here if you ever need to talk or need help with anything.¡± Sadness filled her voice. Nodding my thanks for her offer, I knew right then and there that I would never take her up on it. She was not my mother, and she never would be. Plus I had only started talking to my mom about things like that a month or so before I had been taken away from her. Gingerly sitting up on my pillows I attempted to get into a more comfortable position that did not stretch my wound. Right after I finished getting up Sophia and Hazel came in. Rushing over to me they asked me how I was doing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I am doing really well and the healer already bandaged me all up and everything. How was the tour of Raetis? Is it as cool as it looks?¡±


    Sophia was so excited that she almost vibrated with energy. ¡°The tour was awesome! The grounds are huge, there are people everywhere, they have a really big area that they only use for training and exercising...¡± My eyes lit up at that. ¡°Yeah I thought you might be excited about that. Anyways, they also have a marketplace that is full of spices, stands, people, noise, and insanity. It¡¯s the best!¡± Laughing, I motioned for both of them to climb onto my bed beside me.


    ¡°That all sounds really cool. As soon as I am able, you two will have to take me to see all of these sights.¡± Hazel sat down next to me with great care.


    ¡°When will you be able to come with us to see them?¡± Giving a pointed look at Aeson, we all waited for him to answer.


    Annoyed by all the attention he said, ¡°She can go out and do whatever she wants in about three days. After that her injury should be either almost healed or all the way healed.¡± My maids squealed in excitement. It was obvious that they had thought it would have been way longer. Rolling my eyes at them, I gave a little smile. It was good to have them near me. Putting my arms around them both, I squeezed them against me in a hug. In return they put their arms around me and rested their heads on my shoulders. Soon they were both asleep and Jonas and Valeria left us alone. Aeson gathered up his stuff and slipped out silently. While Casey and Tyler stayed inside the room with us, Alex and Liam went out in the hall right outside my room.


    ¡°Is it really necessary for all these protections? I mean we are with Milo¡¯s family and they would not have gone through all this effort to get us here safely to hurt us.¡± My voice was barely above a whisper, but Casey and Tyler heard me.


    ¡°It is even more important to keep our security tight here because we do not know these people very well, they just kidnapped us, and you are injured. All of those reasons make us a little nervous and very tense. There is no way we can leave your safety up to chance.¡± Tyler¡¯s argument made sense, but it bugged me that I still needed this much security even in such a secluded place as the east. Resting my head back on the pillows, I tried to go to sleep. Many minutes passed before I was finally able to drift off. When I awoke it was starting to become dark outside. Sensing that Sophia and Hazel were already awake, I shifted to let them know that I was now awake as well. Getting up off the bed, they climbed to their feet and smiled down at me. Moving to follow them off the bed, I glared at Alex when he suddenly appeared in front of me and folded his arms. Sighing I let him help me back into the middle of the bed. Slumping down into the pillows I folded my arms across my chest in mockery of what Alex had just done. He just quirked his eyebrow at me in levity.


    My stomach started grumbling to tell me that it was time to eat. Blushing a little in embarrassment, I asked Alex and Liam what time it was. ¡°It is around 4 p.m. You slept for around 5 hours. Not as long as you should have, however no one can sleep very long the first time in an unfamiliar place.¡± Liam sounded resigned to the fact that I may not sleep very well the first couple of nights.


    ¡°Is dinner being served this early?¡± As if to support my statement, my stomach grumbled again.


    Hazel started moving to the door. ¡°I will go and see if it is.¡± Knowing that she wanted to see Joshua again, I let her go. ¡°Do you have anything you want in particular?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Whatever they have or want to give me will be fine.¡± Nodding, Hazel left the room and closed the door behind her. Sophia was staring at Liam and I barely resisted rolling my eyes. ¡°Liam, you are dismissed from your duties as my guard for the next two hours. Go have some fun, and take a tour of Raetis for me. Sophia you are dismissed for the next two hours as well.¡± Liam started to protest, but I cut in. ¡°I still have three other guards that can protect me and besides I am just going to be staying in my room for the next while so if someone does try to attack me at least it will distract me from my boredom.¡± Only after looking at Alex and seeing him nod though did Liam leave. Once the door had shut behind them, I turned to Alex. ¡°Did he look to you for permission to leave?¡± Alex nodded. ¡°Aren¡¯t I in charge of my own guards?¡±


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°You are in charge of us, yes, however I am in charge of your security. That means that in times of safety you are in charge of us and can tell us what to do, but as soon as there is a hint of danger then I take over.¡±


    ¡°That means that you will be in charge the entire time we are in the east, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Suspicion laced my words. He decided not to answer which ultimately answered my question anyways. Scooting to the edge of my bed I placed my feet on the floor and was about to stand up when Alex stood right in front of me again.


    ¡°And what do you think you are doing?¡±


    ¡°I am getting up and I am going to move around a little. That way I can see if I am ready to take a tour of Raetis today after dinner or snack.¡± Trying to push myself to my feet, I was forced to sit back down when Alex¡¯s hand descended onto my shoulder.


    ¡°The healer said that you needed to take it easy for the next three days and he even specifically said that, when the question was brought up whether you could take a tour of the kingdom or not, that you were not ready for it or not.¡±


    Shaking his hand off before answering I replied, ¡°No, he said that in three days I will be healed and could do whatever I want to do. All he said for right now is that I can not do anything that would make it worse basically. That is why I am only going to try to stand and walk around a little. If it hurts or does not feel good then I will sit or lay back down and not try again until tomorrow.¡± Resignation on his face he went to one side of me and grabbed my elbow to help me stand. Assisting me as well as he could, I was soon in a standing position. While I walked slowly around the room Alex stayed right by me and made sure that I did not fall down. The pain was worse now than it was on the way here. My best guess as to why would be that it had stiffened up and was now protesting all the movements that I did. ¡°Alex, can you let me go? I want to see if I can do it on my own.¡± He reluctantly let my elbow go, but stayed right by me and seemed to be even more diligent in watching me. I had not even known that was possible.


    A knock on the door messed up my concentration and I would have fallen to the ground if Alex had not caught me at the last moment and smoothly pulled me back up onto my feet. Pointing back to the bed, Alex headed to the door to see who it was. Resigning myself to the fact that I might not be able to get a tour of Raetis for a while, I obeyed his gesture and sat down on my bed. When Alex opened the door and Milo came in I laughed. He looked inquisitively at me. "It was just a little weird to see you knock on my door. Especially since you just barged into my home, kidnapped me, and then you dragged me through the forest until we reached your home. Oh, I almost forgot the part where you put me in a boat for a two day boat ride when I can not even swim."


    Milo winced. "Yeah I am sorry about that, but..."


    I cut him off. "I forgive you, I was just teasing. Plus you got me out of my house. If you had not done that then I would never have been allowed to leave my house. You gave me an adventure worth remembering and it has just barely begun. Thank you.¡± He knew that I meant it and when he replied he sounded a little choked up.


    "You are welcome. However I hope that the rest of the time you are here in Raetis and in the east that it will not be as eventful as it was on the way here.¡±


    "That was part of the fun though! Besides, now we have made it so Malick and his family will not bother us for a long time and the natives are still alive and thriving in their tree homes.¡± Milo thought about it for a moment before he nodded in agreement and understanding.


    "Those are all true, however I am sad that it came at the cost of you being injured.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°It was worth it and if I had to do it again I would.¡± Pressing on my wound lightly I said, ¡°It does not even hurt that bad. I would be up and walking around the kingdom if not for Alex.¡± Milo turned to Alex who just smiled and nodded at us. Another knock at the door interrupted our conversation. Alex went over and opened it again. Darius walked in this time. Waving at him from the bed I wondered when Hazel would come back with my food. I loved seeing Milo and Darius, nonetheless, I was very hungry and wanted Hazel to come back soon with a lot of food. After answering all of their questions regarding my injury and assuring them that I was going to be fine, another knock sounded at the door. Hazel walked in this time when Alex opened the door and she was arm in arm with Joshua. In front of them was a huge tray full of food that they had carried up here from the kitchens. My mouth salivitated when I thought about how good that food must taste. Standing with Alex''s help I thanked them for bringing it up and hugged Hazel. Saying goodbye to them so they could have some alone time, I turned my attention back to the other people in the room. I did not want to be rude and eat in front of Darius and Milo, so I set the food down on the bed and started up our conversation where we had left off.


    Only about a minute or two into our resumed conversation, Darius gave me a pointed look. Giving him a confused look back, I waited for him to explain why he had given me that confused look. Elaborating, he said, "Please eat your food. None of us care if you eat in front of us and we all know how hungry you must be.¡± Milo doubled that statement.


    "He is right. We do not care if you eat right now, and besides, your stomach has growled like three times since it has been brought in.¡± Blushing a little, I pulled the tray a bit closer to me and picked up my fork. Putting it into the delicious looking noodles, vegetables, meat, and sauce, I almost died when its taste exploded in my mouth. Closing my eyes to savor the taste, I forgot about everything except for how good the food tasted. Chewing as slowly as I could, eventually I opened my eyes and looked at Milo and Darius. They were both smiling and trying to not laugh. It was most likely because I had a super happy look on my face when I had been enjoying my first bite of Raetian food.


    "When you guys get dinner, you should at least try this. It is so good and makes my taste buds happy.¡± There was no embarrassment or guiltiness in my voice.


    "We will definitely both try it and see if it is as good as you apparently think it is.¡± Darius looked me in the eyes and I could see his love for me expand and grow. Dropping my gaze back to my food, I took another bite to hide my blush that had come from the love in his glance. Leaving me to enjoy my meal, Darius and Milo went down to get their own food. Apparently I wasn¡¯t the only one that was hungry. Sending each of my guards down one at a time, they all got their own food and enjoyed it as much as I did. Finishing up my meal about an hour after I started it, I sat back with a sigh. Spotting Alex coming over to grab my dishes, I shielded them protectively with my body.


    ¡°I want to take them down myself. Then I can really work on stretching out my muscles and I promise that I will not push myself too hard. If something starts hurting then I will stop and take a break for a while.¡± Eyeing me warily, Alex gestured for Liam, he had come back after his two hours were up, Casey, and Tyler to get up. They came over to us and looked to Alex for directions. Hoping that Alex was going to let me take my own dishes back instead of forcibly removing them from my grasp, I looked at him nervously.


    ¡°We are going to help Ari down to the kitchen so she can get some exercise. If she starts hurting too much or gets too tired then the closest one to her picks her up and carries her the rest of the way. Understood?¡± Even though he was looking at the boys, I knew that he was talking to me as well. Affirming that I heard and understood him I stood with help from Casey. Picking up my dishes and using two arms to carry them, I saw the others stack theirs on the trays that they had brought up, but I refused. I needed to prove to myself that I was strong enough to carry these dishes down to the kitchen on my own. Staggering a little for the first couple of steps, I quickly found a rhythm and regained my equilibrium. Four sets of eyes watched my every move with a wariness that told me they would pick me up the next time I struggled even a little. Clutching my dishes to my chest I realized finally that it might make a mess on my shirt, but I was fine with that. Once in the kitchen I could just grab a wet cloth and clean myself off.


    Reaching the first staircase, out of four that were coming up, I looked apprehensively at the several steps that awaited me. Alex spoke up from behind me. "We could just pick you up and carry you down the stairs and then put you down to walk to the next staircase.¡±


    I was shaking my head before he had finished speaking. "No. I refuse to be carried at all, at least on the way down. I want to prove myself strong and able to show the easterners that I can handle living in this harsher environment.¡±


    Startled by a hug from behind I almost dropped my dishes onto the hard tiled floor. Catching them at the last moment I leaned back into the hug and glanced over my shoulder to see who was hugging me. Tyler smiled at me. "You have nothing left to prove to anyone. Just making it here through all the trials and obstacles that came upon us proves that you are extremely strong and determined. Not to mention brave and resourceful.¡± Closing my eyes against the tears that were threatening to come out, I pulled away from him and took a deep breath. Placing my right foot on the staircase I started down the stairs. Slowly and carefully. It would not be good if I fell down the stairs. Aeson would definitely have something to say if I reopened my injury or if I got new injuries. After reaching the bottom of the first staircase I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. Spotting Alex coming towards me with determination on his face, I hurried to start walking again and show him that I was good to keep going.


    Hearing his sigh of exasperation I grinned a little. It was fun to antagonize him and make him frustrated. I just had to make sure that I did not push him too far and make him take action that I did not want him to take. Like picking me up and not letting me walk anymore. It took me about 20 minutes to finally reach the kitchen, but none of my guards complained or whined about the slow pace even though they could have reached the kitchen in around 5-7 minutes. Leaning on the counter after putting my dishes in the sink for the servants to clean, I began to catch my breath.Turning I saw that my guards were all watching me and their arms were all folded over their chests. Giving a breathless smile at them I held up a finger. "Just give me a little while to recover and then I will be good to go back up to my room.¡± All my guard''s eyes rolled in unison. I knew that there was no way they were letting me walk back up to my room on my own. One of them was going to carry me the whole time going back up.


    Sighing in resignation, I put up my arms and waited to see who would take me first. I hated being a burden, but I knew that they did not see carrying me as a burden. They saw it as an honor. Casey stepped forward first and slung me around him and onto his back. Wrapping my arms and legs around him gently, I waited for the journey to begin. Apparently they thought this way would be easier than carrying me in their arms. Letting my head drop onto the place in between his shoulder blades, I slowly drifted off to sleep with the rhythmic pounding of his feet vibrating throughout my entire body. My dreams started out on a good note with my parents and brothers standing beside me in a huge room. It seemed like we were having a party. Maybe it was someone''s birthday. Clutching my family to me, I almost wished that it wasn''t a dream. However part of me was glad that I was where I was. Right now I am more free than I had ever been before. Savoring their touches though, I was glad that I could still dream that I was with them at least. Only a couple minutes later my dream changed. And not in a good way.


    People wearing all black ran into the room through the walls. They reached us and ripped us apart. Dragging me away from them screaming and fighting I felt my heart break. This part of the dream was different from real life. I was much more frightened in this dream and the black figures were much more ruthless. Rough ropes forced my hands together and their frayed edges cut into my wrists. Feeling the trickle of blood going down from my wrists to my fingers it was almost like I could hear the plink of the drops of blood hitting the ground. Tears started down my cheeks and then my dream changed again. I was in a dungeon and Malick was standing over me. He was laughing and when I looked down on myself I noticed the white dress I was wearing. This time no one had come to save me and I had become his wife. His promises were all lies and I knew that I was going to stay in that dungeon for a very long time. Screaming my hatred at Malick I watched him turn and walk out of the dungeon. There was a crash as he closed and locked the door. Still screaming, my voice soon went hoarse and even talking was painful.


    Feeling someone shake me, I tried to move away from them, but someone''s hands were restricting me. Attempting to shove them away I felt some pain come from the center of my chest. Pushing even harder I started twisting and screaming. Before I could get more than a squeak out, one of the people standing over me put their hand on my mouth. Eventually voices registered in my brain. "Ari! Ari, wake up!¡± My eyes flew open and my whole body immediately relaxed as I saw my guards standing over me. The first thing I heard was someone''s panicked breathing. Judging from the fact that none of my guards appeared to really even be breathing, I guessed that it was my panicked breaths.


    Struggling to regain control of myself, I concentrated on my breathing and tense muscles. "What happened? The last thing I remember is falling asleep on Casey''s back for the walk back up to my room.¡±


    Liam leaned towards me even more. "That is what we were going to ask you. Halfway back up to your room you started to act really weird. You started to cry uncontrollably and you were shaking all over.¡±


    My memory flashed back to the parts of the dream I could remember. Which was not as much as I wanted to remember. I knew there were important parts of it that I was forgetting. ¡°I had a dream that started good, but ended bad. The beginning had something to do with my family. I don''t remember exactly what we were doing, but it was fun and the mood was very festive. Then it changed. Ghost people wearing all black flew through the walls and took me away. Something else happened I am pretty sure. Next I was in a dungeon and Malick was standing over me. Last thing I remember about the dream was that I was scared and sad.¡± All of my guards leaned in now and gave me a big group hug. Wrapping my arms around all of them was a challenge, but I managed it. In that moment I took a deep breath in and then when I breathed it all out, I released all my worries, fears, and felt peace and happiness come over me. I had not realized that I was holding all of that in until I let it all go.


    No matter where I was or what was happening, I knew that I was always going to be safe as long as I was with my friends. Letting go of them I laid back onto my bed. This time when I closed my eyes and fell asleep I knew that my dreams were going to good. Waking up several hours later, I felt more rested than I had in weeks. Spying Liam and Casey in the room with me, I waved at them. Amusedly they waved back. Getting out of bed I slowly got up to get dressed. Every movement sent searing pain through my chest. It seemed that I had made my injury worse when I had struggled against my guards while still half asleep. By the looks Casey and Liam were giving me I knew that they were very aware that I was in a lot of pain. When Liam went out of the room and talked to someone I looked suspiciously at him. There was no way that he was up to any good. Seconds later Liam came back in with Hazel and Sophia. A little sigh of relief went through me.


    As they helped me change my clothes, I tried to avoid moving my upper body as much as possible. When they uncovered my bandage I winced. Blood was staining the middle part of it. That meant that I had most likely torn out some of my stitching. Right after I had finished dressing, a knock sounded at the door. Answering it immediately, I wondered who would be calling for me at this hour. It seemed to be around dawn. Seeing Aeson outside of the door I tried to close the door on his face. In the state I was in though he was a lot stronger than me. Sliding me out of the way and getting inside the room he closed the door behind him. Putting his hands on his hips he asked me what I had done yesterday that made my guards call for him this morning. Glaring at Liam and Casey behind Aeson, I quailed a little under Aesons own glare. Slumping over to my bed I allowed Hazel and Sophia to help me lay down on it. Biting my lip to avoid crying out in pain, I waited for him to begin his examination. I had decided to not answer his question and just let him see what I had done for himself.


    Glad that I had put on a button down shirt, I gave him permission to unbutton as many buttons as he needed too. Once he had cut the bandage away from the wound, I gasped when I saw the injury. It was swollen up and at least half of my stitches had ripped. Eyes watering from the pain of exposing my wound to the air, I had to close my eyes when Aeson started prodding it. "What did you do to mess up your injury this much?! Did you go running with weights?¡± Teeth gritted, I gestured for one of my guards to answer the question. There was no way that I was going to be able to talk like this. If I opened my mouth, all that would come out would be a scream.


    "We did allow her to slowly walk down and put her dishes in the kitchen, however,¡± Alex began talking faster to cut off Aeson before he could berate them. ¡°that is not what did that.¡± He pointed to the ugliness on my chest. "Casey was carrying her back up to her room since she was tired from her trip going down. About halfway up to her room, she started mumbling and squirming a little. Looking at Ari we realized that she was sleeping. Once we reached her room we put her on the bed and that is where everything went wrong. She began to scream, and move all over her bed. In fact, if we had not held her down then she would have fallen off the bed. While asleep, she fought our hands with every fiber in her body. By the time we woke her up, she had already done all of the damage that you see to your stitching.¡±


    Aeson looked at me with pity in his eyes. ¡°Did you dream about things that have happened since we took you from your home? Also I do not blame you anymore for injuring yourself this bad now. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it.¡±


    ¡°My dreams were related to some of the things that have happened since I was taken from my home, but they all had differences that made it only slightly similar to what actually happened. The dreams I had, or more accurately, the nightmares I had, were much worse than what actually occurred. Though I am glad that you decided not to blame me for what you are seeing.¡± It took a ton of determination and strength to open my mouth and say those words. The effort it took not to scream made sweat start to appear on my body. Knowing what had transpired now, Aeson got to work on fixing me back up. Hazel and Sophia each gripped one of my hands to try and help me through the pain. When he stitched me up this time, the pain was ten times worse because of how much more swollen and bruised it was. Trying to avoid squeezing Hazel and Sophia''s hands too much, I tensed all the rest of my muscles. Once Aeson finally finished it was so hard to untense my muscles. I had to focus on each muscle and relax them one by one. "Thank you Aeson for sewing me up again.¡±

 Thinking of the Past

    He nodded back at me. ¡°Of course. That is my job after all. However, I would prefer that you not work me as hard.¡± Getting his serious face on, I knew that he was now going to say all my limitations and restrictions. ¡°Today and for the rest of the week you are basically on bed rest. No walking, running, and as little sitting up as possible. We want to help this injury heal as fast and well as we can.¡± Face falling in disappointment, I tried to think about how keeping these restrictions would help me in the long run, but it was really hard to think on the bright side. Giving my verbal agreement to him, I yawned. Hazel and Sophia jumped into action after seeing that.


    ¡°Alright. Everyone out.¡± Working together, they herded everyone out of the room and then turned back to me. ¡°Go to sleep now. After you wake up, tell us and we will bring you some food.¡± Nodding sleepily to them I put my head back on my pillow and slipped effortlessly into a dreamless sleep. A crash several hours later jolted me awake and I shot into a sitting position. Wincing at the immediate jolt of pain that went through me I prayed that I did not rip out any more stitches. If Aeson had to redo them again, I feared that he would kill me. When Alex and Tyler burst into the room with their weapons drawn an instant later they made me jump in surprise. Putting a hand to my heart I tried to slow down its rapid beating.


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± I asked them this once I had calmed down a little. Instead of responding they moved to both sides of the room and began to search every nook and cranny. Brow furrowed in confusion I wondered if they thought that the crash had some from somewhere in my room. ¡°I am pretty sure that the crash was from outside my room. It sounded kind of muffled like there was a wall in between me and the noise.¡±


    Tyler shook his head. ¡°That does not make sense though. The noise on the other side of the door sounded muffled as well. That is why we came in here like madmen.¡± After a couple more minutes of talking about the mysterious noise, we were no closer to the answer than before. However Alex still assigned Tyler and Liam to stay inside the room with me while he and Casey kept watch from outside the door. Sighing at how overprotective he seemed, I was starting to think that he was even worse than my parents, I laid back down on my bed. Even that slow small movement caused me to gasp a little from the pain. Hearing that noise, quiet though it was, Liam told Alex that I needed Aeson. Frustrated that I could not even go a day without needing Aeson to come in and check on me, I grabbed my pillow from behind my head and screamed into it. Stifled laughter caused me to pull the pillow away from my face so I could glare at Tyler and Liam. However, knowing that they still felt responsible for me getting injured, I was glad that they could laugh about my wound now.


    Aeson came into the room carrying his supplies only about a minute after he was called for. ¡°Am I your only patient right now? Because if not then you don''t have to come so quickly. You can check on them first or finish up what you are doing.¡±


    Shaking his head at me Aeson replied, ¡°I do have other patients, but you have the worst injury and there are other healers that can deal with their smaller wounds. Besides, I was ordered by Jonas and Valeria to make sure that you got better as soon as possible.¡± Grumbling under my breath a little I allowed him to look at my injury. A huge wave of relief washed over me when I saw that I had not pulled any stitches out, but the area was more swollen and bruised then it had been yesterday. ¡°What did you do?¡± He looked me directly in my eyes when he said this. I reluctantly told him about hearing the crash and my body jolting up into a sitting position. Deciding not to make excuses for myself, I waited to hear what he would say next. I was stunned when he turned away from me and looked at Liam and Tyler. ¡°Do you two know what caused that loud noise?¡±


    They both shook their heads. ¡°To be honest, we thought that it had come from Ari¡¯s room, but she said that it had sounded muffled like there was a wall in between her and where the noise came from. We are confused and a bit worried about it.¡± Nodding his head in understanding, Aeson turned back towards me. ¡°I will let you off easy with the lecture this time since there was an event that happened that was out of our control. Next time though, do not even sit up.¡± While saying that he pointed his finger at me in warning. Laughter in my eyes, I agreed to his statement. Letting him finish up applying salve to my wound and then bandaging it up, I waved goodbye to him as he walked out the door. He rolled his eyes in return. Settling back onto my pillow I resigned myself to a boring couple of days. Soon something would happen that would change my mind about that fact. Right as I was beginning to attempt to go back to sleep, the crash came again. My door burst open, however Alex and Casey stayed outside when they saw nothing unusual in my room. Happy that I had not sat up from the shock of hearing that noise for the second time, I was now very curious about what was happening. The sound was the same volume as before and seemed to originate from the same spot.


    Sitting up slowly with help from Casey, I faced the wall that the crash had seemed to come from. The only problem was, the only thing that was supposed to be beyond that wall was air. Drawing their weapons very carefully, Liam and Tyler creeped up on that spot on the wall while Alex and Casey came by me. Their weapons were drawn and held at the ready. Reaching the wall, Liam and Tyler started running their hands over the bricks in the wall trying to see if any were fake. There was a chance that there was a secret passage behind the wall. My castle had not had any, but I knew of other kingdoms that had a lot of them. A quiet click sounded from where Liam was pressing the bricks and the wall started to slide apart. Concern flashed on all of my guards¡¯ faces. This passage would make protecting me quite a bit harder. Peering into the dark corridor I could not see anything. "Does anyone have a torch?¡± Everyone shook their heads in answer to my question. Responding to the look Alex gave him, Casey ran out of the room to get one. They were going to investigate the passage and make sure that no one was in there. If someone was in there then they were in trouble.


    Casey came back into the room carrying a lit torch. Handing it off to Tyler, he stationed himself by me again. Watching Liam and Tyler enter the secret passage, I wished I could go with them. I considered asking either Alex or Casey to carry me so that we could all go down it together, but I already knew what their answer would be. There was no way that they would put me in more danger than was necessary. Clenching my hands into fists, I waited anxiously for Liam and Tyler to come back. While they were gone and out of my sight I worried about their safety. Even though they were capable of taking care of themselves I still worried about them. Several long minutes passed before Tyler and Liam walked back into the room. Other than being covered in dust, they looked fine. A relieved breath escaped out of me. They had found no one in the passage which was both good and bad. It was good because I was safe for the moment, but it was bad because we had no idea who or what had caused that huge crash. Laying back on my bed I relaxed all my muscles. Hoping that the loud noise did not repeat itself, I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep again.


    About an hour later I woke up again. Casey and Liam were in my room guarding me this time. Straining my ears to hear what woke me up, I faintly heard the sound of whispering coming from the two of them. Their whispers sounded urgent, but I could not tell what they were saying. I was tempted to ask them what they were whispering about, however, I figured that if I gave them any indication that I was awake then they would go silent or talk about something else. Slowing and quieting my breathing I attempted to hear what they were saying. My eyes snapped shut when the room fell quiet. Muted footsteps came over to my bed and I sensed someone standing above me looking intently at my face. It was obvious that Liam and Casey did not want me to hear what they were saying. That just made me want to know about it even more. After what seemed like several hours, the person standing above me moved away.


    Catching myself right before I gave a sigh of relief, I struggled to understand what they were whispering about again. A small grin appeared on my face once I finally understood what they were saying. "She will not understand. We need to keep this from her until we are sure that she is all better. Otherwise she will just freak out and try to run off and get this person that has been wandering in the secret passages throughout this castle.¡± Casey sounded really worried when he said this, and I wondered what he meant exactly. Why would I run after the person in the secret passages? Especially when I am as injured as I am right now?


    "We will have to keep it from her, but who knows how long it will be until she is proclaimed completely healed. This may be harder than we think to keep something this big from her for that long.¡± My brows furrowed together. The more I listened to their conversation, the more confused and concerned I became. The temptation to reveal that I was awake was growing stronger. Along with me wanting to ask them what they meant by what they were saying. Resisting the urges, I listened even more intently to them. Liam and Casey seemed to be done talking though. They had fallen silent even though I wanted them to keep talking and to get more specific about what they were talking about. Eventually I slipped back into a troubled sleep. When I woke up the next morning I could barely even remember what had happened last night. Fragments of a muffled conversation went through my mind, but nothing distinct stood out about it. Shaking it off as just a weird dream I sat up as slowly as I could. Spotting me doing that, Alex rushed over and assisted me in sitting up the rest of the way. Tyler nodded good morning to me. Slightly out of breath, I nodded back at him. Before I could talk about the weird dream I had last night, I was interrupted by my stomach. The growl it let out caused Casey and Liam to burst into the room with their weapons drawn.


    When Alex and Tyler burst out laughing and they saw the amused and embarrassed look on my face, they shook their heads and left the room once more. A couple minutes later Liam came back into the room carrying a tray full of delicious looking food. Just the sight of it made me start to drool and my stomach growled again. Grabbing the food closest to me, I filled up my plate and started to eat. The delectable food soon made me forget about telling Alex and Tyler about my weird dream last night. Only once I had eaten about three plates full of food did I finally lean back on my pillow, stuffed. My guards were all looking at the food with desire in their eyes. "When was the last time you guys ate?¡± Suspicion was clear in my voice. None of them would look me in the eyes or answer me. Rolling my eyes at them I gestured for them to dig in. They did not even hesitate. They each grabbed a fork and ate straight out of the dishes. The food was soon only a pile of crumbs and each of them now looked content and happy. Casey grabbed the tray and carried it out of the room to take it to the kitchen. My smile disappeared as I realized that I would not be allowed to do anything like that for at least four more days. Not sure how I was going to survive, I threw off my blankets and made as if to get out of bed.


    Tyler was onto me however, and he stopped me in my tracks. Folding his arms, he looked down at me with determination. Undaunted, I turned to leave my bed on the other side, but Alex was there. ¡°I know that you want to get out of bed and work out or just walk around, but you heard Aeson. If you can last about four more days then you should be totally healed and you can do whatever you want to do after that.¡± Folding my arms, I began to whine and pout like a little kid. It was the only thing I could think of doing other than crying that might sway them to my side of the argument. Neither of them budged an inch. Giving in, I refused to cry about something as trivial as this, I leaned back on my pillows and cast my mind about for something to do. After nothing came to mind I grabbed another pillow from behind my head and screamed into it again. That seemed to be the one thing I could do other than sleeping, eating, or going slowly insane. A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. Nodding my permission for Tyler to open the door, I beamed when I saw who was standing there. Darius.


    ¡°Hey Ari. Sorry I have not come by before now, but I have been kept busy doing things around the palace like telling everyone what Thacaea is like, and training with everyone who wants to learn my moves. I keep telling them that they will never beat me, however they just won¡¯t believe me.¡± Darius raised his arms in resignation. The small smile that crept over his face showed how much he enjoyed fighting the easterns. His voice was colored with concern now. ¡°How have you been doing? Is the injury getting any better? How much longer are you going to be stuck in bed?¡±


    My shoulders slumped and tears started to form in my eyes. Nothing undid me more than when he became all concerned about me. ¡°I am okay. Whenever I think I am making progress though, something will happen to set me back again. Hopefully I will only be in bed for four more days, but that is only if I stay at my current progression rate and don¡¯t get set back anymore. Other than that and slowly being driven insane, I am doing pretty well.¡± Reaching my bed, he sat down next to me and gently pulled me into his arms.


    Pressing a kiss to my forehead, he replied. ¡°No matter what happens I will be here for you and make sure that you do not reach the point of complete insanity.¡± Pulling back a little he gazed into my eyes. ¡°What has been setting you back?¡±


    Unable to look him in the eyes when I answered his question, I gazed down at my lap. ¡°Well you see, I had a nightmare that caused me to thrash around in my sleep which put me back a day or two. Then I shot up into a sitting position earlier today when a crash sounded right outside my room. Thankfully I did not do that when the crash sounded a second time only a couple of minutes later.¡± With a frown furrowing his brow, Darius looked to my guards for an explanation.


    Alex decided to speak up since he was the head of my security team. ¡°We are not quite sure who or what is making the crashing noise. The good news is that we finally found out where it was coming from after it sounded the second time.¡± Tyler walked over and opened the secret passage following him seeing the look Alex gave him. A press on the right brick had the wall sliding open to reveal the secret passage behind it. Darius¡¯s mouth dropped open in shock at the sight.


    ¡°Does everyone¡¯s rooms have this?¡± All of us shrugged. ¡°Well my guards will certainly want to know about this when I meet them in the kitchen later today for dinner.¡±


    ¡°Why are your guards not with you now Darius?¡± Casey¡¯s voice came from behind us.


    Darius turned to face him. ¡°I convinced them that I would be safe here with Ari since all of you are here. I will tell you though, it took a lot of convincing until they let me leave without them. Also, I had to promise that I would be in the kitchen in two hours.¡± My guards all nodded in understanding. They understood now and they would have done the same thing if they had let me go alone at all. Tyler shut the secret passage and they all stepped back to give us at least a semblance of privacy. As royals we were used to not having privacy, so them being there did not bother us in the least. Tenderly pulling me onto his lap and leaning me against him, I relaxed into him. This is the way we stayed for the next two hours. Once our two hours were up however, Alex cleared his throat and we reluctantly separated. Placing me back on my bed, Darius left the room and promised me he would be back tomorrow. Alone with my guards again, I leaned back on my pillows. This time however, I was more content and happy since Darius had come to visit me and I knew that I had not been forgotten.


    The next three and a half days passed quickly especially since Darius came to see me often. Aeson was called for after my four days were up and he took out my stitches and proclaimed me healed. There was barely even a scar anymore where I had been wounded. Getting out of bed I stretched gingerly and was relieved when there was no pain. Squealing with delight I changed into some comfortable exercise clothes, hugged Aeson, and ran out the door with my guards right on my heels. They were as excited as me to get out and get moving again. Behind me I could practically feel Aeson rolling his eyes at me, but I ignored it and headed to where I thought the training room was. My guards corrected me several times, nonetheless, I eventually found it. Stepping into the training room felt like a dream come true after being cooped up in my room since I arrived here. Looking around there were tons of men and women working out. It was strange to see women other than my mother training and fighting. The first thing I decided to do was run. I had not run in so long that my goal was only to run a mile and not puke.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Setting off on a slow pace I went around the field twice to do a mile. By the end of it I was a little out of breath, but it was definitely easier then I thought it would be. I ran another mile just to prove to myself that I could. Stretching out after I finished my run, I headed over to where the weights were. Selecting twenties I began to lift and build my muscle back up. A little frustrated when I was not able to lift as much as I used to, I picked up a wooden sword afterwards and began swinging it around a little. Knowing that I was not ready to train against another person yet, I slipped into a ready stance and fought against an imaginary opponent. The moves and combos came back to me pretty easily and I soon fell into a rhythm. Near the end of my workout, another wooden sword clattered into mine and almost knocked the sword out of my hands. Whipping around to see who had attacked me I relaxed when I saw Milo.


    "Hey Milo. How has it been being back in your own kingdom and room?¡±


    He laughed. ¡°It has felt really good and comfortable. However I am not allowed to do as much here as I was allowed to when we were out on the road.¡± I nodded. That was exactly how I had been feeling lately. ¡°I see that you are fully recovered now. Is this the first time you have been out of your room since you arrived here?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I went down to the kitchen one day, however that was the only time that I have left my room until now. After this I was planning to go and explore your palace. Want to go with me and be like a tour guide?¡±


    A smile in his eyes, Milo''s reply was, ¡°I thought you would never ask. Of course I want to be your tour guide around my home! Are you almost done? When can we start?¡± With all the eagerness in his voice he sounded almost like a little kid. One whose party was about to start and all of his friends were arriving.


    Amusement shining in my eyes I answered, ¡°Just let me put away my equipment and then we can start. I have already finished other than a cooldown, but I can just count walking around the palace as my cooldown.¡± Milo immediately began to help me put things away and called out to my guards that we were leaving. Letting out a sigh after he called for them, I realized that I should have told him earlier that I did not want them to come. I wanted a little bit of freedom for the first time since I had come here. Instead Milo had been a good friend and summoned my guards. Giving my guards a sheepish look when they came over, they all soon knew that I had tried to leave without them. Alex thanked Milo for calling them over even though I had not wanted them along.


    Milo shrugged. ¡°I didn''t even know that Ari did not want you along, so there is not really anything you should be thanking me for. If I had known that she did not want you along then I probably would have left silently with her.¡± Spotting the look that Casey threw his way, Milo shrugged again. ¡°Sometimes I feel smothered by my guards too. Why do you think I am not with them right now?¡± Quickly covering his mouth, his head drooped forward. ¡°Please tell me you are not going to do what I think you are going to do.¡± Patting his shoulder in a consoling gesture, I waited while Tyler went to go find Milo¡¯s guards. All six of them came back to us very fast. Apparently Milo¡¯s five guards had been scouring the whole palace for him. They had looked here first, but Milo had waited until they had left to search another area before actually entering the training grounds. He had thought he was so clever and I secretly agreed with him. When I ran away from my guards I would have to remember that trick. However I was unsure if it would work now since everyone knew about it now.


    A glance to my guards showed me that they knew exactly what I was thinking and their expressions told me that it would not work on them. Glaring at them, I tuned back into Jet. He had been practically scolding Milo for leaving them behind. Very similar to how a parent would scold a small child when they had been naughty. It made a small smile come to my face since now I knew I was not the only one whose guards did that to them. Stepping in between the two of them I asked Jet if it was okay if we started the tour as he continued to rant at Milo. With a small smile on his face, Jet agreed to my terms. Relief filled Milo¡¯s face and he abruptly started walking and talking about his palace. Biting my lip to contain my laughter, I matched his pace and listened to all the facts he recited about his palace. The more he talked, the more animated he sounded. It was apparent that he loved his home. My expression grew a little sorrowful as I thought of my own home.


    Noticing that Rik was looking at me, I forced a smile and gave him a little wave. Spotting the barely noticeable shake of his head, I knew that I had not fooled him at all. Gazing back in front of me I forced myself into the present. If I wanted to then I could go home one day. I did not know when they would let me go back, but I knew it would be a while. I was still trying to decide if that was a good thing or not. Although I loved the adventure and all the friends I had made along this trek, I missed my family, my home, my servants and staff, and the innocence that I had left behind. No matter what happened I would never be the same girl again. Since I had left I had killed some people, been in grave danger, lost a friend, and seen people who don¡¯t care about others lives. Taking a deep breath I pushed all those thoughts away and centered my attention back on Milo. He was describing all the people in the portraits that we were passing. One of them caught my gaze and my jaw dropped open. Stopping suddenly I could only stare at the painting.


    Tyler stopped too late and ran into me. It sent me stumbling a step or two, nonetheless, my eyes never left the painting. Milo and his guards looked at me with confused looks, whereas my guards all peered at the painting that held me so captivated. Gasps came from each of them when they recognized the person in the portrait. ¡°Do you all know this person?¡± Leander was the first to ask the question that must have been on all of their minds.


    I turned to them in a dazed state. ¡°Is the person in that portrait¡­¡± My voice trailed off and I looked to my guards in frustration.


    Casey spoke up in a solemn voice. ¡°Einar Surn.¡±


    Shocked, Anders was the first one to respond. ¡°Yes. That is his name. How do you know it though? He was not even really that famous among our people?¡± There was no way that I would be able to respond to that question. At that moment I was sucked back into the past. The day that he attacked my home. It was a sudden attack that we had never anticipated happening. Even though Tristan was only six, Carter was only five, and I was only three, we all remembered it vividly. Even thirteen years later I still could recall it like it was yesterday. All three of us had been outside playing when shouts had been heard. One of my guards at that time had run into the palace to find out what was happening. I had been too busy playing with my brothers to even pay attention to what was happening. When the guard had run back outside and talked urgently to all three sets of guards that were out there for my brothers and I, the danger had been made very clear.


    The guard that had gone inside had seen the first of the intruders enter the palace and they were heading in our direction. Rushing over to us, each one of us was picked up and everyone ran into the cover of the woods that surrounded the palace. Too young to understand what was happening, I started to cry. All the people around me seemed so scared and serious. Clutching me tighter to him, the guard holding me tried to comfort me, but it was not long before all three of us young royals were crying. Scared that our crying would tell the enemy of our location, hands covered our mouths to stifle our cries. That of course just made us cry even louder. Fighting against our guards, we all struggled to get free. Soon we realized that we were not strong enough to break away from our guards so we settled down and waited to be released. The tears stopped flowing down my cheeks and I felt the guard holding me relax and let go of my mouth. Following my example, my brothers calmed down as well.


    About an hour passed before we could finally leave our hiding spots and go back to the palace. Squirming out of my guard¡¯s arms, I ran in front of him to meet my parents who were running towards us. When they picked us up, they made sure to hold us in such a way that we could not see the blood or bodies that littered our palace. Blinking my eyes, I forced myself back into the present. Alex and Tyler were switching off telling everyone the story of what Einar Surn had done to my family. Yes none of my family had been injured, however it had scared us all and made my brothers have nightmares about it for weeks afterwards. Everyone was fully invested in listening to the story. Even Casey and Liam because they had never actually heard the entire story before. Just the basics to know what to do if something like that ever happened again. ¡°So how do you two know the entire story? I mean it was way before you two were made guards.¡± A small giggle slipped out of me when I heard Gareth ask that question.


    ¡°Sorry that just slipped out.¡± Knowing that I might as well answer Gareth¡¯s question since everyone¡¯s eyes were already on me, I continued. ¡°Alex and Tyler have been friends of my family ever since I can remember. Their parents were both trusted members of our staff. In fact, before they both passed away, both of their fathers were members of my dad¡¯s guards. Their mothers were some of my mother¡¯s maids. Of course their dads¡¯ told them all about the attack.¡±


    Anders asked the next question.  ¡°How did your fathers¡¯ die? It sounds like they survived the attack.¡±


    Nodding, Tyler responded. ¡°My dad died from a heart attack around 6 years ago. It was very sudden and my mom died of a broken heart soon after.¡± Pointing to Alex, Tyler replied for him as well. ¡°His dad died from a sickness that struck Kuli only around 4 years ago. Alex¡¯s mom died from that same sickness only a week later.¡± Sympathy was clear on everyone¡¯s faces other than mine. I knew that they did not want or need sympathy. Clearing my throat to take the attention back onto myself, I saw gratitude on Alex and Tyler¡¯s faces. After sending them both small smiles, I asked what they had thought Einar Surn had died from if they had not even known of the attack. From the way everyone had reacted it was clear they had no idea that Einar had even been in the kingdom of Kuli. Let alone that he had attacked it.


    Shrugs came from Milo and his guards. ¡°Like we said earlier. He was not very well known even by us. The only reason his painting is hanging here is because he gave a large amount of money to my grandfather. Before that we had never even seen him before. After he gave us all that money he disappeared never to be seen again. Never have I ever heard of a more mysterious man. No one knows why he gave us all that money or how he acquired it. Well I guess now we know he got it by doing jobs for other kingdoms as a mercenary type person.¡±


    Deciding to change the subject and move on now, I said, ¡°Can we continue the tour? There is no need to keep talking about a dead man.¡± Understanding my reasons behind saying this, Milo nodded. He then started talking about the more important pictures like those of his ancestors and of famous people who did something remarkable for Raetis. Or just for the east overall. My thoughts did not wander from the present for the rest of the tour. The palace was huge and gorgeous. Intricate patterns lined dozens of pillars, the floors sparkled, the ceilings were super high, and sunlight streamed in through countless windows. By the end of the tour, it had lasted for around two hours, my guards and I headed back to my room. Reaching it I was startled when someone called my name. Alex and Casey moved in front of me and drew their weapons. As they entered the room warily, I was held back by Tyler and Liam even though I was pretty sure that I already knew who was in the room. Moments later I was gestured in by Casey. Spotting who I had thought it was in the room I beamed. ¡°Hey Darius! I did not expect to see you today! Sorry I was not here to greet you when you first arrived, I was taking a tour of the palace finally. Were you waiting long?¡±


    Darius shook his head. ¡°I was only here for a couple of minutes.¡± Getting up from his position on my bed, he walked over to me. ¡°My intention was to take you on the tour of the palace myself, but seeing as you have already done that¡­¡± After thinking for a couple of seconds I knew what we could do.


    ¡°You know, the tour I was taken on did not include the grounds¡­¡± My arms raised into the air helplessly. Smiling at me, Darius grabbed my hand and pulled me back out of my room. Laughing, I allowed him to lead me to the palace grounds. Once outside however, I sped up a little so I was walking right beside him. Hand in hand we explored the beautiful palace grounds. Flowers bloomed all over leaving their intoxicating scents all over the place. Every color I could have ever imagined was all around me while fountains of pure, cold water bubbled all over. It seemed like the most romantic spot in the world. Resting my head on Darius¡¯s shoulder while we walked leisurely around, I felt so much peace and happiness that I felt like I could stay like this forever. Unfortunately nothing lasts forever. A guard rushed up to us and told us that Valeria and Jonas would like to meet with both of us. Turning around we headed back to the palace with our guards behind us.


    Letting the guard in front of us lead us to where Jonas and Valeria were awaiting us, I took my head off Darius¡¯s shoulder and thanked him for showing me the gardens. Kissing me softly on the lips he whispered, ¡°It was my pleasure.¡± With a faint blush on my cheeks we reached our destination. Standing when we entered, Jonas and Valeria greeted us warmly with hugs. It was kind of weird to have them hug me, but I went with it and hugged them back. Following their lead and sitting down, Darius and I waited for them to speak up first.


    Valeria spoke up for both of them. ¡°Thank you so much for coming to see us. We wanted to talk to you two about starting to get to know some of the people in the east outside of Raetis. Even though you have not seen and talked to a lot of the people here in Raetis, Jonas and I were discussing this and we think that it would be more beneficial for everyone if you two visited people outside of this kingdom.¡±


    Understanding filled my voice. ¡°You want us to meet the people who are not quite as happy with us being here. Here in Raetis at least most of the people here accept us and will treat us with respect. However if we want to be able to say that we know that the people of the east are good people and they deserve to be traded with then we have to be able to meet the ones who might not be so nice to us.¡±


    ¡°You also want us to talk to them so that they can get to know us and like us. That would help the transition of our kingdoms trading with the east an easier switch and they can adjust better and faster to it.¡± Darius had obvious respect in his voice. It was clear that he agreed with the plan wholeheartedly. Knowing that my guards were outside and I would have to explain this all to them, my agreement was a little more reluctant. Seeing the concern on everyone''s faces, I realized that they thought that I wouldn''t do it. Rushing to reassure them, I told them my real worry. Amusement and relief appeared on Jonas''s and Valeria''s faces while Darius started to look as worried as me. Convincing guards to let them put you in more danger than is needed is always hard to do. Hopefully they will understand that we need to do this in order to help the people of the east the most. Heading slowly out the door to my guards, they immediately knew that I was going to ask them to let me do something that they would not like.


    ¡°Hey guys, how are you all this beautiful day?¡± By the looks on their faces I knew that I was not distracting any of them. Not even a little. A sigh escaped me. This might be harder than I had initially thought. ¡°Alright, straight to the point then. Valeria and Jonas were talking to us and they had an idea. An idea that I fully support and would love to do. However I am not sure if you will approve or not.¡± Tyler gestured for me to just say the idea. Taking a deep breath I decided to say it as fast as possible. ¡°They want us to leave Raetis and see some of the people who might not be happy to see us. Jonas and Valeria want us to help them see that we are good people and that trading with our kingdoms will be to everyone¡¯s benefit.¡± A little breathless from saying that all in one breath, I waited anxiously for their reply. Gathering in a huddle they started discussing what to do. Pacing outside of their little huddle I wondered what their verdict would be. They were so unpredictable sometimes. Though they promised to never help me disobey my parents, they had supported me in working out without my parents¡¯ permission, training without my mom¡¯s permission, and helping out the servants and staff without my parents¡¯ permission.


    Other times they smothered me by following my parents¡¯ instructions to the ¡°t¡±. Like when they force me to dances and won¡¯t let me leave early, when they won¡¯t let me talk to certain royals, and when they won¡¯t let me leave the palace grounds. Spotting Darius across the room watching his guards with the same stressed expression I wondered what would happen if only one of our sets of guards allowed us to go. Would the other be left behind while the other left? That thought left me more worried than before. I would go insane sitting around here while he was out there talking to the locals. As soon as my guards came out of their huddle I clasped my hands behind my back to hear what they would say. ¡°We will allow you to go visit other people out of this palace as long as we are allowed with you, and you practice wielding a sword more. If something happens out there then we do not want you to be the only one that can not fight.¡± Letting out a squeal of delight at Liam¡¯s words I went around and hugged all of them in turn. Rolling their eyes at me, they hugged me back.


    My gaze now looked at Darius. He was smiling as well and clasping hands with all of his guards before pulling them into a hug. Assuming that meant that he was allowed to go as well, I celebrated harder than before. Skipping over to him, I grasped him in a hug as well. His arms went around me to hug me in return. Running back to my guards after giving Darius a goodbye kiss, I went eagerly to my room to pack. Remembering their second requirement in order for me to be able to go, I asked them where the armory was. In order to practice fighting with a sword, I needed to be able to get a real sword so that I was completely prepared. Leading the way, Alex gave me tips all the way to the armory about what qualities are good in a sword, and which ones are unnecessary. Like it needs to be balanced, sharp, and fit my grip. It does not need jewels, fancy designs, or any unneeded weight. Committing all of it to memory I reached the armory and my mouth dropped open by the amount of weapons inside.

 Meeting the Locals

    Tridents, weighted nets, swords, daggers, maces, axes, shields, crossbows, normal bows, and tons of other weapons lined the walls. Crossing to the swords I started searching through all of them, but there were so many of them that I didn''t even really know where to begin. Soon after we arrived a man who looked like he was 8 feet tall and was as wide as a fully grown tree came out of the back room to greet us. ¡°Hello. My name is Ari and I am looking for a sword. Do you have any recommendations for me?¡± Really hoping that he could help me at least get started, I was relieved when he said that he could help me. Introducing himself to me as Jove the Head Armorer in the kingdom of Raetis, I was willingly to bet that there were very few people in this entire world that could beat him in a fight if there was even one person. Picking up one of the swords that he laid out for me to try, I swung it around a couple of times, but could quickly see that it was not for me. It was way too heavy and the grip was way off. Praying that I could find one that was a good match for me, I tried the next one.


    Seven swords later I finally found one that suited me. Sinking into a fighting stance I went through several combos and moves until I was satisfied that the sword was indeed the one for me. Facing Jove I beamed at him. ¡°I will take this one. How much will it cost me? Keep in mind that I have no money so it will have to be paid back in either favors, or helping out around your shop.¡±


    He let loose a deep bellowing laugh. ¡°That is okay. I heard that you are going on a journey pretty soon to the eastern lands so you will just have to owe me something. Once you get back I will tell you what you can do to make it up to me. For now just take the sword and become the best swords woman that you can be.¡±


    A huge smile split my face. ¡°Thank you so much for your help and I will be sure to come see you after my journey to repay you for the sword.¡± After getting the scabbard that went with the sword and having my guards help me put it on, I put my sword away and secured my dagger onto the scabbard as well. Heading directly to the training room, I began to get used to the feel and weight of my sword. My guards called out moves and exercises for me to do and I realized that wielding a real sword is a lot harder than wielding a wooden sword. The only time that I had ever fought with a real sword was the battle against Malick''s people and I did not do very much in that battle. Two hours later my arms could not lift my sword anymore and I decided to call it a day. Heading back to my room I quickly showered, changed, and then collapsed into my bed. Before I could go to sleep though, Aeson came into my room. Confusion on my face I asked, ¡°What are you doing here Aeson? My injury is completely healed and no pain came from it all day.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Yes I know all of that, but it is normal for healers to check on their former patients occasionally for a check up. Not all of them are smart the first couple of days after becoming healed and they sometimes reinjure themselves. I figured I would make sure that you are ready when you leave for your trip around the eastern lands in a couple of days.¡±


    Alex spoke up now. ¡°Do you know exactly when we are supposed to leave? I forgot to ask that in all of Ari''s excitement at being able to go and then getting a sword.¡±


    ¡°You will leave in two days at around seven in the morning. They want to make it to the nearest village by lunch time.¡± The second after Aeson finished examining me and left the room I fell into a deep dreamless sleep. Waking up six hours later the first thing I saw were my maids. Waving sleepily to them I dragged myself out of bed. They helped me get ready for the day in my now usual black pants and white shirt. Sophia and Hazel were already dressed for the day. Their outfits were very similar to mine in both style and color. Splashing some water on my face to wake myself up the rest of the way, I strapped on my sword and dagger. Hearing my stomach growl, I waved good morning to all of my guards and led them all down to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. My mouth started to water as the delicious aromas of today''s breakfast started to waft up to where we were. Walking faster now I reached the kitchen in record time and quickly piled up a plate full of the delicious looking food. Sitting down at an empty table, I began to dig in. My maids and guards sat down next to me and started in on their food as well.


    Several minutes passed in silence while we enjoyed our food. Done before everyone else, I went to go bring my dirty dishes back to the kitchen. Declining the kitchen staffs¡¯ offers to take the dishes from me, I went into the kitchen and cleaned them myself. Aware that everyone was looking at me in amazement, I smiled to myself. Finished with putting dishes away I went over to the person who seemed to be in charge of the kitchen. ¡°Excuse me, are you the Head Chef of this kitchen?¡± Startled, all they could do was nod mutely at me. They seemed to be only around ten years older than me, but they had a confidence that far surpassed most people in this world. The way they told everyone around them what to do left me with no doubt that they were the one in charge. ¡°Great! I was wondering if I could come help in your kitchen whenever I am able. It would be really good experience for me and I would not be in anyone''s way because I already know some things. I took a few lessons from my kingdom''s Head Chef before I came to this kingdom.¡±


    Seeming to overcome his surprise, he grinned at me. ¡°Of course you can help us around the kitchen. We can always use an extra pair of hands and I would never pass down the opportunity to teach a willing student.¡±


    A voice behind me made me jump. ¡°Does that mean that I can help around here as well? We both have to leave on a journey tomorrow morning, but we can help with the rest of the meals today.¡±


    Astonishment on his face again, the Head Chef said, ¡°Yes, just come in to help with lunch around 10:30 a.m and come in around 4:00 p.m. to help with dinner.¡± Both of us thanked him for giving us a chance to help out before heading out of the kitchen back to our guards. They had all finished eating and were ready to follow us wherever we went next. Looking at Darius I waited for him to make the decision. I wanted to train with my new sword, but if it meant hanging out with Darius then I was fine doing anything. Right as I was thinking that though, Darius noticed my sword for the first time.


    ¡°When did you get that? Please tell me that you got it recently and I am not just blind.¡± The pleading note in his voice almost made me laugh out loud.


    ¡°I got it yesterday right after I left you once our guards had both agreed to let us see the rest of the eastern lands.¡± Laughter was in my voice and it was hard to keep the smile off my face.


    He let out the breath he had been holding in. ¡°Oh good. I feel a lot better now. If you want I can go get my sword and I can help to train you since I am sure that your guards and my guards will want to help as well.¡±


    ¡°That sounds great!¡± A thought then occurred to me and I turned to face my maids. ¡°Do you guys want to learn how to fight as well? I don''t want to leave you out or anything. If you don''t, then don''t worry about it, but if you do then I will help you find a weapon suited for you. Like a bow, sword, dagger, or staff.¡± Hazel and Sophia looked at each other and seemed to be thinking through my offer. I did not rush them because I knew it was a big decision. For me it had seemed pretty easy because as soon as I had picked up a sword for the first time I had known that it was the weapon for me. However for other people it is not that easy. Sometimes it takes them years to decide which weapon is for them. After a couple minutes of silence I broke in. ¡°Why don''t we go see Jove and see if he has any suggestions for you two? Or if you want to be a healer or something then we can talk to Aeson and see if he will take you on as an apprentice.¡±


    Sophia''s eyes lit up at that idea. ¡°I would like to talk to Aeson. Becoming a healer sounds really good to me.¡± Smiling at her, I gestured for someone to lead the way to where Aeson was. Since he had always come to me I did not actually know where his room was or where he worked. Ethan stepped forward and started leading the way. It was a little strange to see Ethan leading the way since it had seemed like he was a person who preferred following.


    Darius seemed to understand my confused look and answered me. ¡°Ethan is my analyst on the team. He knows everywhere we have been and knows all the escape routes from the place we are in. Also he has a photographic memory which comes in handy a lot.¡± I looked at Ethan with a lot more respect in my eyes than I had before learning all this information. Looking around at everyone I realized that I did not know very much about any of them. Their pasts, their hobbies, their likes, their dislikes, it was all a mystery to me. Making a promise to myself to find out more about them later, I brought myself back to the present. We had arrived at a door that was presumably the entrance to Aeson¡¯s quarters. Stepping in front of everyone I knocked on the door. Only a couple seconds passed before the door swung open.


    Upon seeing me he frowned. ¡°Did you injure yourself again?¡± Aeson saw everyone else in the group behind me. ¡°Or did someone else get injured?¡±


    A small push in my side made me step to the side. ¡°We came to see if you were willing to take me on as your apprentice. I want to become a healer and you are the best healer I know. I promise that I will work hard, not waste your time, and follow all of your orders.¡±


    The look on Aeson¡¯s face after Sophia finished speaking was hilarious. His mouth had dropped open and his eyes had gone as wide as they possibly could. It seemed that what Sophia had just said was the last thing he had expected to come out of her mouth. I wondered if he had ever taught anyone before. Judging on how young he was I was guessing that he had not. Slamming his mouth shut and returning his eyes to their normal size he now seemed to be assessing Sophia. She straightened up and tried to exude as much confidence as she possibly could. Finished with his examination now, he nodded slowly. ¡°Alright. You can be my apprentice. I am assuming that you are going with Ari on her journey around the eastern lands.¡± Sophia nodded eagerly. ¡°Then that will be when I first start teaching you. As we travel I will teach you all about medicinal herbs along the way and show you how to treat any injuries that may occur while we are out there. Hopefully no one gets injured of course.¡± He added this last part hastily after seeing Liam¡¯s look that he gave to him.


    Liam gave an approving nod and Aeson quickly shut the door before he said something else that made someone angry with him. Sophia, Hazel, and I all shared a victory hug before I asked what Hazel wanted she wanted to do. There was no hesitation when she replied. ¡°I want to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow. After all, all of you wield swords primarily with other close range weapons as your secondary choices like maces, axes, or daggers, but we don¡¯t have any far range weapons really and I don¡¯t want to have to kill or injure someone at close range.¡±


    Joshua hugged her and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to learn how to use a weapon if you don¡¯t want to. You can learn to be a healer with Sophia or you can learn hand to hand fighting where you normally never kill anyone.¡±


    Hazel shook her head. ¡°No this is what I want to do, though it would not hurt to learn some hand to hand fighting as well so if anyone gets too close to me that I can not shoot them then I am not entirely useless.¡±


    ¡°I should learn some hand to hand fighting as well. I mean, what if someone comes after me? I will have to know how to defend myself.¡± Sophia sounded nervous, but determined. No one objected, so we headed first to the armory to get Hazel a bow and arrows. Jove met us at the door this time and ushered us in eagerly.


    ¡°What are you after this time Ari?¡± He rubbed his hands together and looked really excited to be able to help someone.


    I shook my head. ¡°This time it is not for me. One of my maids wants to learn how to use a bow and arrows and so I came to show them where you are and be here for advice if it is needed.¡± Jove looked around the group until he spotted Hazel who was already looking at the bows with Joshua by her side.


    He walked over to her and asked, ¡°What is your name and do you know what kind of bow you are looking for?¡±


    Smiling up at him she responded, ¡°My name is Hazel and I have no idea what kind of bow I am looking for. Can you help me out?¡±


    Jove laughed his deep bellowing laugh. ¡°Of course I can help. It is what I do for a living.¡± He grabbed a smaller looking bow off of the wall and handed it to her. ¡°I need to know how strong you are first of all though. Please pull that bow string back as far as you can.¡± Hazel pulled back on the string as hard as she could and just managed to bring it back about halfway. ¡°Can I adjust your stance and help your technique?¡± She nodded and Jove asked which was her dominant hand. Figuring out that it was her right hand, Jove immediately moved her body so it was sideways and moved her fingers to the correct spots on the bow. When she pulled back this time it went back farther, but it still did not go back as far as it needed to in order to make the arrow go very far. Next Jove told her to use her shoulder blades as well and to remember to pull with her breaths. To pull the string back when she breathed in and then release when she breathed out.


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    This time when she pulled the string back it went back and she could touch her pointer finger to her nose. Before she released it however, Jove grasped her hand and slowly released the tension from the bow string. ¡°You never dry shoot a bow. Dry shooting a bow means that you let the bow string go when there is not an arrow on it. This can ruin the bow string and cause it to lose some of its tension which makes it pretty much useless as a weapon.¡± Nodding to show that she understood, we all watched as Jove went over and grabbed a quiver of arrows. Once he had shown Hazel how to carry both the quiver of arrows and her bow on her back, he waved us out of the armory. I was the last one out, but before I left I told him that I now owed him two favors. He laughed again and waved good-bye. Darius and I led the way to the training grounds so that we could start helping Sophia and Hazel learn some simple defensive hand to hand fighting moves. Also so that Hazel could start practicing with her bow.


    Once inside I watched as Liam began helping Sophia while Joshua began helping Hazel. It seemed like the rest of us were not needed to help teach them. Shrugging I decided to do my workout for the day and practice with my sword. Asking Darius if he wanted to join me, we first went for a three mile run around the field. Next we picked up some rocks and worked on building back up our strength. Then we got to actually using our swords. We worked on combos and exercises with our real swords for a while before we were ready to fight. Since it was too dangerous to fight each other with our real swords, we put those away and each grabbed a wooden sword. Facing each other we began circling. Assessing each step that the other person took we soon had a feel for the way the other moved. Darius made the first move and slashed downwards suddenly. However I had seen his muscles tense in anticipation of his first move and was ready to block it.


    Engaging in a flurry of combos and exchanges, we soon fell into rhythm. Wondering who would mess up first, I smiled. I never felt better than when I was fighting someone. The best times that I had happened to me in Kuli had been when I had fought either Tristan, Carter, my guards, Cayden, or one of my parents. It just made me feel so alive. A slight stumble on my part gave Darius the advantage and he disarmed me in three simple strokes. Wooden sword to my throat, I concluded defeat. Looking down to see what had tripped me up, I sighed when I saw a random rock. Most of the rocks had been cleared off the training field, but apparently one had been missed. Picking it up and throwing it as hard as I could off the training field made me feel slightly better. Glancing around I saw that all of our guards were busy sparring with someone else in either hand to hand combat or with wooden weapons.


    Hazel and Joshua had now moved from hand to hand fighting to training with her bow while Liam and Sophia were running around the field together. Even though Liam could have run way faster then Sophia, it warmed my heart to see him staying pace with her and making her laugh. Darius soon brought my attention back to him by saying, ¡°Do you want a rematch? Or are you okay with ending in a loss?¡± The challenge in his voice made all my focus go back on him. Glaring at him in fake anger, I raised my wooden sword once again. The next two hours passed in a blur for me while I went round after round fighting someone. Half the time we were fighting with wooden swords, and the other half of the time it was hand to hand fighting. Also I switched off who I faced basically every round so that I fought all of my guards, my maids, and some of Darius¡¯s guards.


    Sophia and Hazel were getting a lot better, but they were still pretty far behind the rest of us. It made sense because the rest of us had been training for a lot longer than they had. By the end of our training session, I had a new goal. I was going to beat Darius in at least one round of wooden sword fighting and one round of hand to hand fighting. Every single time I had gone up against him, in fact every single time I had gone up against anyone other than Sophia and Hazel, I had lost. Since I wasn¡¯t sure I would ever beat any of the guards, I set my sights on Darius. I would train extremely hard every day until I beat him. Even when we are on our journey visiting other parts of the eastern lands. Putting everything back where it belonged, we all headed back to our rooms to shower, change, head back down to the kitchens to help make the food, eat the food, and then go to sleep. We had to wake up early tomorrow to start our journey and it would be good if we were all well rested.


    Getting to the kitchen a little late we apologized that we were not there to help with lunch and that we were late coming to help with dinner. The Head Chef waved away our apologies and put us right to work. Soon I had gotten to know quite a few people in the kitchen and figured out the Head Chef¡¯s name was Barry. By the time we had dinner all ready, I had helped with seasoning the meat, cutting the vegetables, and cutting the fruits. Plus I had learned the names of thirteen new people. Saying good-bye to all of them as I went out to eat the food that I had just helped prepare, I linked arms with Darius as he walked beside me. Sitting right next to each other as we ate, we pointed out all of the foods that we had helped make. Between the two of us we had helped with about a fourth of the food that was served for dinner that night.


    Kissing good-night after dinner, we headed back to our rooms with a smile on all of our faces. Alex, Casey, and Tyler were all smiling because they were happy that Liam, Hazel, Sophia, and I were all happy. Sophia and Hazel climbed into their beds right after helping me get all ready for bed. Before I got in bed though, a random memory flashed through my head. Straining to remember all of it, I sat on my bed thinking for ten minutes before I remembered all of it. Whipping around to see Alex and Liam, who were in the room guarding me, I spoke quietly to them. ¡°Liam, I am not sure if this is a dream or not, but did you have a conversation the night of discovering the secret passageway right outside of my room with Casey?¡± A flash of panic went across Liam¡¯s face before he hid it. Before he could try to deny it though I spoke up again. ¡°I saw that flash of panic on your face so don¡¯t even try to deny it. I know the conversation had something to do with what was done in that secret passageway and I remember that one of you said that if I knew what was down there then I would have gone down there even though I was injured. Can you tell me exactly what was down that passageway? Alex feel free to answer that question as well.¡±


    Alex cast a glare at Liam before he answered. ¡°We did not want to tell you about it for fear of making you do something rash, but I guess it is time that you knew. You are fully healed after all.¡± Opening the door of my room he beckoned Tyler and Casey into the room as well. He quickly explained the situation to them before telling them to stay in my room and guard Sophia and Hazel just in case someone came in through my door. Grabbing a torch off the wall, Liam led the way into the passageway. The walls were made of what looked like schist. Running my hands along its rough surface, I waited to see what was in these tunnels that would have made me try so hard to find the person who had done it. We went about 100 yards and around several turns before Liam and Alex finally stopped. Trying to peer around them to see what they were both looking at, I eventually gave up and tapped Alex''s shoulder impatiently.


    ¡°Are you going to let me see it or did you bring me down here for nothing?¡± Alex turned around to face me abruptly and began dragging me back towards my room. I was caught by surprise and went without resistance for a little while until my brain caught up with what was happening. Then I began to drag my feet and attempt to see what had spooked him so much. However as soon as I began doing that Liam pushed me from behind so that I had to keep up with Alex. Wondering what was going on, I decided to just go along with it, however once we reached my room they were going to have some serious explaining to do. As soon as we were back in my room Liam shut the secret passageway door, woke up Sophia and Hazel, handed me my scabbard with my sword and dagger in it, and then had all of us out of my room and heading down to where Valeria and Jonas''s room was.


    Whenever I tried to open my mouth and ask what was going on, they would either just ignore me or they would shush me. Getting kind of irritated with them I considered screaming my questions at them, but I resisted the urge for two reasons. One because they were making me a little worried by how concerned they were for me, and two I did not want to wake up anyone in the castle who was getting a good night''s rest. My guards were all whispering to each other and so I knew that all of my guards at least knew what was going on, but my maids looked as confused as me. Grabbing each of their hands I tried to convey fearlessness to both of them, but it did not seem to be working very well. They were both trembling and looked so scared and vulnerable in their nightgowns. Grateful that I wore pants and a shirt to bed so that I was more comfortable, I clutched their hands in mine even tighter. Outside Valeria and Jonas''s room now, my guards whispered something to their guards that were outside of their room and then we were all were gestured inside. The door slammed shut behind us and Jonas and Valeria shot up into sitting positions in their bed. The guards inside questioned my guards, but soon were turning the lights on and looking even more vigilant in their guarding.


    Valeria and Jonas were now looking at me with tons of questions in their eyes. I just shrugged helplessly. I still had no idea what was going on or what had been in that secret passageway that had scared everyone so much. Pointing at Alex to show that he was the one with all the answers, they switched their gazes to him. Alex, knowing that everyone''s eyes were on him, began to tell everyone what had happened. ¡°There is a secret passageway right outside of Ari''s room that goes throughout the entire palace basically. We used to hear crashes coming from inside of it, but since we discovered and went inside of it nothing has been heard from there. However when we went inside for the first time, it was just Liam and Tyler who went in while Casey and I stayed with Ari, there was a note written on the wall about 100 yards in. The note said that we should not be here and that if we did not leave then this person would kidnap Ari''s family and make us leave.¡±


    Panic flashed through me and I looked at Alex with wide eyes. He hurried to reassure me. ¡°Don''t worry Ari, your family is safe. They are in a huge fortified kingdom with tons of guards, and defenses.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I was taken from there and all of those things were there. In fact there were even more guards there before I was taken.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but you were taken because a huge army came after us and they greatly outnumbered us. The person who wrote that note does not have that.¡± He was trying to make his voice soothing, but I was still having a mini panic attack.


    "You don''t know that. As soon as you saw that note you should have told me.¡± There was a command in my voice that no one could deny hearing. Alex bowed to me and I knew that he would tell me next time unless it put me in danger to hear it. ¡°Please continue now Alex. What did you see this time that caused you to drag me out of that passageway, wake up Sophia and Hazel, take us into this room, and have their guards let us in here? I mean we practically ran the whole way here.¡±


    Resignation and fear for me was clear in his voice. ¡°There was another note there today. However this one was not as tame as the last one was. It said ¡®If you don''t leave now then harm will befall the one you protect. No matter what you do, they will soon meet their demise.¡¯ The person who wrote the first note knew that we had seen it, and knew that Ari would not be the one to find this second note. They have been watching us and I knew that she could not stay in her room tonight. Plus now we are all ready to leave in the morning to go all around the eastern lands. If we wake up Darius and his guards then we can leave tonight and not have to worry about having someone attacking us.¡± Valeria and Jonas turned to face one another and began discussing in quiet tones. They were probably talking about whether they should summon Darius and his guards so that we could leave tonight. Before they had reached a decision though, the door to their room opened again.


    My guards had their weapons out in an instant and Hazel, Sophia, and I were shoved behind them. As soon as I had regained my balance then I had my sword out as well. Since I could not see anything I just relied on reading my guards body languages. The second they seemed to see who had entered the room they all relaxed and put their weapons away. Now able to see who had come into the room since my guards had moved out of the way, I smiled, sheathed my weapon, and ran over to hug Darius. ¡°Hey what are you doing here?¡±


    He laughed. ¡°I was just about to ask you that same question. Right now I am here because of my overprotective guards. Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°I am here for that exact same reason. What made your guards become so overprotective?¡±


    Darius shrugged. ¡°To be honest I am not quite sure. They entered the secret passageway that connects to my room and came back pretty quickly and forced me out of my room and down here.¡±


    Alex immediately asked what they had seen and Dustin spoke up. ¡°Since we heard that Ari''s room had a secret passageway that connected to it, we made sure to find the one that connects to Darius''s room so that we could not be taken by surprise. The first time we went in there we saw a note that said that if we did not leave then this person would kidnap Darius''s family and make us leave. Darius wanted to see it as soon as we told him about it, and we finally relented and were going to show him that note tonight. Kane and I went in to make sure that it would be safe for him to enter. We reached the wall where the last note had been written and was shocked when we saw a new note on the wall. This one said that ¡®If you don''t leave now then harm will befall the one you protect. No matter what you do, they will soon meet their demise.¡¯ That is when we went back and got everyone out of there.¡± Before he could continue Tyler cut him off.


    ¡°There is no need to explain anymore. We understand why you did what you did because we did the exact same thing. Those same two notes were on the walls of the secret passageway that connects to Ari''s room. That is why we were discussing getting all of you and leaving tonight.¡±


    Ethan nodded. ¡°I think that would be for the best. The other options we have could end in someone getting hurt.¡± Now that the decision was made we moved quickly. Darius and my guards went to pack up and get all of our belongings from our room. Meanwhile we both went into separate rooms to change into our clothes for the day. Hazel and Sophia helped me change, even though I really did not need them to help me. They liked doing it so I let them help, and then they changed themselves. Deciding that my hair was not looking its best today, I pulled it back into a braid quickly and then grabbed some of my stuff to help bring it out to the carriages. Wherever I went however, at least one of my guards went with me. I was getting kind of mad at who had left those notes because now I had no privacy whatsoever. Not that I really had any before this, but at least my guards were not quite as attentive then as they were now. We were all ready to go about an hour after we started packing. Piling into the carriages, we left the kingdom to go see the rest of the eastern lands.

 The Tests

    Exhausted from having all those emotions flow through me and because of the fact that it was the middle of the night, I leaned my head back against the padded back of the carriage and fell into a deep dreamless sleep. A hand shaking my shoulder woke me up a couple of minutes later. Blinking my eyes open and struggling to pull myself completely awake, I looked blearily at the person who woke me up. When my vision cleared I realized that Casey had been the one to wake me up. ¡°We are almost to the first village. Are you ready to meet some new people?¡±


    Fully awake now, I smiled at him. ¡°I am always ready to meet new people.¡± That got a small laugh out of him. Grateful that my guards were finally relaxed enough to laugh, even if it was only a small laugh, I resolved to make them laugh more often. They were always so stressed and it made me sad because I knew they were only stressed because they were trying so hard to protect me. While I was thinking of ways to make them laugh more and have fun, the carriage stopped and both doors opened to let us out. Scrambling out of the carriage after Casey, I stared at the only thing that I could see in front of me. A huge gate with people holding torches on top of it. Milo introduced himself to them and asked for permission to enter. The people on top of the gate immediately pushed the gate open. Hoping that they would like me, I walked into the village directly behind Milo.


    My first thought after we went through the gate was how big the village was. There seemed to be around 100 wood houses of varying sizes spread throughout the village. In Kuli there are around 300 houses, but the villages close to Kuli only have around 50-75 houses. Apparently the eastern kingdoms were larger than all the other kingdoms were. Especially since Raetis, even though I have not gone to see all of it, had around 450 houses according to Milo. Gazing around at all the people who had gotten out of their houses to see who had entered their village, I was stunned by how dark their skin was. The natives we had met in the forest had pretty dark skin, but it was nothing compared to these villagers'' skin. You could barely see them because they blended in so well with the dark night sky. Whispering to Milo I asked, ¡°Why is their skin so dark? I mean your skin is not dark.¡±


    Milo gave a soft chuckle before he whispered back to me. ¡°People outside of the main kingdoms here in the east color their skin a darker color with some native plants. They do this so you can tell them apart from people who live in the main kingdoms.¡± Spotting the question in my eyes, Milo elaborated. ¡°We never told them to do this. It is their tradition and they were the ones who decided to start doing it.¡± While still curious about why they darken their skin, I decided to save my questions for someone who might actually know the answer to them. Milo pulled away from our group to address the natives who were facing us. ¡°Some of you already know me. For the ones who do not, my name is Milo Bullara, Crown Prince of Raetis.¡± Murmuring broke out among the natives facing us. It seemed that most people had not heard him when he had introduced himself.


    One of the natives stepped forward and introduced himself as the leader of the village. He said that his name was Brendon. After we had all introduced ourselves to him, Brendon gestured us towards one of the wooden houses that seemed to be their guest house. Piling gratefully inside we each found a cot and quickly fell asleep. My dreams swirled through my head with no obvious pattern. Sometimes they were nightmares, other times they were daydreams. As soon as one started though, a new dream would take its place and soon I was lost in chaotic colors and images. Several hours later, when someone shook me awake, I jolted upright so fast that I startled the person who had woken me up. That person turned out to be Sophia. She stumbled backwards a step and let out a gasp when I shot upright. Once I had apologized for scaring her, I thanked her for waking me up. Wiping a trickle of sweat off my brow, I hurried to get ready for the day. Everyone else had already gotten up and was outside with the natives eating what smelled like a delicious breakfast.


    Attributing the dreams to all of the activity that had been happening lately, I splashed water on my face and thrust the dreams from my mind. Following Sophia out of the house, my mouth began to water as I got closer and closer to the tantalizing smells. Once I had grabbed a bowl full of what looked like a bunch of random food thrown together, I sat next to my guards while Sophia went to sit next to Hazel who was talking with a bunch of native women. Peering into the bowl, I asked my guards what was in the bowl. Alex answered, ¡°It is a mixture of several different types of fruits, some type of porridge, and some salmon. They caught the fish this morning in a nearby stream.¡± My expression changed from one of excitement to eat the delicious smelling food, to a look of suspicion. While that was all good food alone, I was unsure how they would taste all mixed together. Taking a deep breath I dipped my two of my fingers into the bowl, the natives did not have anything to eat the food with, and I took comfort from the fact that everyone around me seemed to like the food. I then scooped some into my mouth.


    Immediately afterwards my eyes shot open in shock. The texture of all that food mixed together was kind of unpleasant, but the taste more than made up for it. The fruit was sweet, but not too sweet, the salmon was smokey and tender, and the porridge made it filling without adding too much flavor. Relaxing now I enjoyed the rest of my food while also gazing around the village now that it was day time. The natives¡¯ skin looked lighter in the daylight, but it was still very dark. Most of the natives wore very colorful clothing. The women wore skirts and shirts while the men wore either pants or shorts with a shirt. Based on what I could see on the children running all around, they wore a shirt and either shorts or a skirt that covered most of their bodies. All of their clothing was made out of the same material. Skin from wild beasts that they had tanned, dyed different colors, and sewed together. Brendon came up and sat next to us when I was about halfway done with my meal.


    Some of my guards looked at him expectantly thinking that he had come over to talk to us. However, he just started to eat his meal. In fact it did not really appear like he had even noticed us other than the fact that he had sat next to us. Shrugging internally, I went back to eating my meal. Once I had finished, I made to stand up. Before I could though, Brendon¡¯s hand shot out to grab my arm. Startled, I looked at him curiously. He still did not say a word. Instead he tugged on my arm to let me know that he wanted me to sit back down. After sharing mystified looks with my guards I sat down again. Several minutes passed and still nothing was said between us. Brendon just kept eating and watching the children run and play around the village. Confused by his behavior I wondered if I should initiate the conversation since he wouldn¡¯t. The second I opened my mouth Brendon spoke up. ¡°You are very patient. An attribute that I greatly appreciate. It is not everyday that you meet someone who will sit still in silence for as long as you have.¡±


    Grateful now that I had not said anything I replied, ¡°Thank you. I have worked very hard on becoming as patient as possible because that is what was expected of me in my kingdom. Was the reason why you sat by me, did not talk to me, and why you tugged me back down when I stood all to test my patience?¡±


    Brendon finally turned to face me. ¡°Yes. We do not get many outsiders here and I was wondering what you were all like. This was one of the ways to figure something out about you. Your guards also did very well at being patient. I suspect however that they have had much training to become the way that they are.¡± All of my guards nodded. Whenever I went in for meetings or for classes they would have to go in with me and they were not supposed to interrupt us in any way shape or form. My teachers and other royals expected it of them. I had watched them doing this for years and that was another reason why I was as patient as I was because I had tried to beat them in sitting or standing still longer than them. I was way too competitive, but my competitiveness helped me accomplish my goals and become a better person. Either that or it had made people not like me because they were sore losers. Many royals were like that so I had to be careful who I competed against so that I did not start a war because of it. Brendon now stood and held a hand down to me to help me up.


    Taking it, I wondered what was going to happen now. Was he going to give me another test, or were we just going to talk? First we placed our dishes down next to a pile of other dirty dishes that a couple of young natives would take down to the stream to wash and then we continued walking around the village. It almost seemed like Brendon was giving me a tour of his village except that he was not talking to me again. After he glanced behind him towards my guards he finally spoke to me. ¡°Please dismiss your guards. They can have fun with my people or just wander around the village. However you will not need them and I wish to speak with you privately.¡± Thinking about how I would explain this to them I slowed down to talk to my guards. It took a couple of minutes to convince them to go off on their own and let Brendon and me talk in private, but eventually they left. Their grumbles were audible for a little while even while they walked away. Smiling, I went back to Brendon to see what he wanted to say to me. Once I had caught back up to him, he had not stopped walking even when I was talking to my guards, I waited for him to talk to me again.


    It was kind of starting to annoy me that he took forever to start talking to me after he stopped, but I forced myself to stay silent. I was afraid that if I broke the silence then he would either just ignore me or he would say how impatient I was and not talk to me. Or he might even just send me back to my guards and not tell me what he wanted to tell me. Putting all my energy and impatientance into my hands I clenched them together hoping to release it all in that way. It was a skill that I had watched other people do and I had heard worked for them, but not something that had actually worked for me. At least not yet. For the next while all of my focus went into forcing all my emotions into my hands and getting them out of my system. I was paying just enough attention to dodge the child that ran in front of me all of a sudden however. All it took was a small sidestep to avoid the child. Hearing Brendon start to clap, I released my hands and returned my gaze to him.


    ¡°You just passed my second test. Whether you could still pay attention to your surroundings when you are focusing your attention on other things.¡± He sounded impressed about it, but I was used to dodging around obstacles when I was running, walking, or paying attention to my emotions. It was something that I did practically every day. Following all of these tests from Brendon I was going to have to go on a long run to release all of my frustration. Although I understood that he wanted to learn more about me and wanted to see what I was capable of, it still really annoyed me and made me want to scream. Maybe that was because when I was tested in the past, if I did not get it exactly right then I had to do all the lessons again until I could pass the test easily. These tests triggered so much stress because of that reason. Gritting my teeth I did not respond to his question and resolved to just go along with his tests. I had to show respect to him since the whole point of Darius and me meeting all these new people was to get them to like us and see that an alliance with our kingdoms would be beneficial to everyone.


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    Spotting him looking at me with a smile on his face, I realized that he knew all about why we were here and what we were trying to accomplish. That also meant that he knew that I had to be on my best behavior and not retaliate against him and his tests. Normally I would send him tests of my own, but I did not want to accidentally get on his bad side. Letting out a huge breath, I hoped that would let out my annoyance more than me clenching my fists because I felt like clenching my fists did practically nothing other than make me want to punch something. Brendon finally broke the silence surrounding us. ¡°For your third test I am going to ask you some questions and I want you to answer them completely honestly.¡± Narrowing my eyes at him I almost listened to the little voice inside of me that told me this was a bad idea, but I decided to get it over with. With the way he was playing with me right now I figured he would get me to answer these questions anyways and it would be better to answer them with just him around instead of a big audience.


    ¡°Go ahead and ask your questions. As long as it does not endanger my friends, family, or myself then I will try to answer them as truthfully as possible.¡± I thought that I was so smart adding that condition in there. I would soon realize how hopelessly outmatched I really was.


    ¡°What is your full name?¡±


    ¡°Princess Ariana Esma. My parents did not like middle names. They said they have no purpose.¡± Most people wondered why I did not have a middle name since most royals had them so I always added that last part in there to forestall that question.


    Brendon smiled at me. ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°I am 16 years old.¡±


    ¡°When was your birthday?¡±


    This question actually made me think for a second before I just decided to guess. Honestly I was not sure how long ago my birthday was. ¡°It happened around a month ago.¡±


    ¡°Who are all the members of your family?¡±


    ¡°I have two older brothers, Tristan and Carter, and then my two parents. However I have always seen my personal guards and maids as part of my family as well.¡±


    That answer seemed to shock Brendon. He undoubtedly thought that I was one of those uptight snobby royals who think of all non-royals as lesser beings. Sometimes they do not even think of them as human. ¡°What are your guards¡¯ and maids¡¯ names?¡±


    ¡°My guards¡¯ names are Tyler, Alex, Liam, and Casey. My maids are Hazel and Sophia. Alex is the head of my guards, and Hazel is the oldest of my two maids.¡± I was fine responding truthfully to all of the questions that he had asked me so far. I just wondered when he would start getting to the harder questions to answer. I didn¡¯t have to wait long.


    ¡°Do you like anyone as more than a friend and this has to be someone who is not part of your family.¡±


    Shock registered on my face before I could stop it. ¡°I-I am not sure if this is relevant to anything.¡±


    Brendon smiled at my obvious discomfort. ¡°It is a pretty simple question and I think it relates to everything. Love can be a weakness, or a strength. Sometimes it can even be both. When someone loves someone else it changes them. I think that it is a very important question to ask someone because it can tell you a lot about that person.¡±


    Positive that my cheeks were bright red with embarrassment, I considered how to approach this question. I had to answer truthfully since it did not endanger anyone. ¡°I¡­¡± Pausing here to gather my confidence up, I continued. ¡°Do like someone as more than a friend and they are not part of my family.¡±


    A huge smile split Brendon¡¯s face and I could tell that he was going to continue down this vein of questioning for at least a little while longer. ¡°What is this person¡¯s name?¡±


    Resigning myself to the fact that Brendon would most likely soon know practically everything about me, I sighed. ¡°His name is Crown Prince Darius Hashim.¡±


    A thoughtful look came over Brendon¡¯s face. ¡°Does he know that you like him? Also does he love you back?¡± A soft smile immediately appeared on my face. Him asking those questions sent my mind back in time to when we both sent our guards to see what the other person thought about us. It may have been kind of cowardly of us to not just ask each other ourselves, but it had all worked out. ¡°I am going to guess by that smile on your face that the answer to both of the questions I just asked was yes.¡± I gave a small nod. I decided from now on I would not give him more information than needed. After all, I knew barely anything about him. ¡°How was your trip out here to the east? Was it uneventful or was there at least a little excitement in the journey over?¡± Laughter bubbled up inside of me before some of it came out. Once some of it came out I did not seem to be able to stop the rest of it from following suit. Brendon seemed very confused, but that just made me laugh harder.


    Finally able to talk now that my laughter had subsided at least a little, I said, ¡°It was definitely not a boring trip.¡±


    Brendon¡¯s eyes narrowed at me again. ¡°Do you care to explain that statement?¡± I tapped my chin in fake thought for a moment before I shook my head.


    ¡°Nope I think that statement will suffice for the question that you asked.¡± Unable to help it, I smirked a little at him.


    Rolling his eyes at me, he seemed to be considering what question he would ask me next. ¡°Alright, fine then I will ask another question. Was there an event that stood out above all the others that happened on your way over here? If there was, what was it?¡±


    I had to bite my lip to keep myself from laughing again when I responded to these questions. ¡°Yes there was. That event would have to be when I got kidnapped and what happened while I was being held captive.¡±


    A sigh escaped Brendon. ¡°The part where Crown Prince Milo kidnapped you can not count in this question so pick a new event.¡±


    Barely able to swallow the laughter that once again almost escaped from me, I had to take a moment before I replied. ¡°That was not the kidnapping I was talking about, however you are right. Malick and the Black Renegades did kidnap me as well.¡±


    In shock from what I said, Brendon stammered, ¡°You mean to tell me that someone kidnapped you from Crown Prince Milo and the Black Renegades when they were bringing you to Raetis?¡± A shout from one of my guards forestalled my reply. Apparently Darius wanted to speak with me. Waving good-bye to Brendon I ran towards my guards. I was pretty happy with the way that conversation ended. Even though Brendon had asked me some questions that had made me embarrassed and he had directed that whole conversation, I had not said anything that he could really use against me. Most of my secrets were still mine and he did not know what Darius''s and my presences were. Reaching my guards I smiled up at them.


    ¡°That was awesome timing on your part! He is now extremely confused and concerned.¡± I said this all with a satisfied smirk on my face. ¡°Serves him right for trying to ask me a ton of personal questions.¡±


    ¡°What kinds of things did he ask you and what did you say? I have to determine if anything was said that could have put you or anyone else in danger. Even something innocent could have consequences that we do not want.¡± Alex said this in such a way that I knew he wanted me to say our conversation as word for word as I could. He even wanted me to say the things that I considered irrelevant. Resigning myself to a long conversation sometime in the near future, I asked where Darius was so I could talk to him before we had our long conversation. A smug look came over Alex''s face. ¡°Darius did not ask for you. I am sure that he would love to talk to you, but he did not tell us that.¡±


    My face turned incredulous. ¡°You lied to get me over here and stop talking to Brendon?¡± I couldn''t contain the laughter that grew inside of me and soon I was bent in half laughing hysterically. Again. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately, but at least this time I was not alone in doing it. All of my guards tried to repress their laughter, but soon they were all laughing along with me until we were all gasping for breath. Several of the natives were giving us very strange looks and when one of us saw their looks we would start laughing again. As such it took us several minutes before we were finally able to completely stop laughing and regain control over ourselves. Deciding that now was as good of a time as any to recount my conversation that I had with Brendon, I launched right into it. While I did not have as good of a memory as Ethan or Tyler, I felt like I did pretty well. Once I had finished I waited patiently while my guards all considered my words. If I had said anything to compromise any part of my security or anyone else''s security then they would find it. During my wait, I began to observe the village and the people who lived here. The kids all seemed to be separated into different groups. Each group played a different game and when a child got tired of being in their group then they would just randomly join a different group so the amount of kids in a certain group was always changing.


    Meanwhile the adults and older children seemed to either be doing chores, talking, taking care of children too young to play, or just wandering around the village. Some of the natives must have already started working on lunch because the savory smell of meat permeated through the air to me. I closed my eyes to focus more on the smell and my mouth started to water. Breakfast had only happened around an hour ago, but I was already starting to get hungry again. Casey''s voice broke through my musings and my attention turned to him. ¡°We do not think that anything you said could put anyone in danger or threaten their security.¡± A huge breath of relief went out of me. I had assumed that I had not said anything harmful, but you never know. Some people can take the smallest bit of information and turn it into a huge problem. Spotting Darius waving to me from behind my guards, I pointed to him and asked if I was now free to go. Rolling their eyes at me, they moved out of the way and allowed me to walk over to Darius. They followed pretty closely behind me. It was apparent that they were not going to leave me again no matter what anyone said. The threats that had been said against me were obviously still on their minds.

 The Strangers

    Reaching Darius, I immediately grabbed his hand and wove my fingers through his. Especially now that Brendon knew that we were in love with each other, I really could not care what others thought about us. Darius looked a little startled, but he got over it quickly. Smiling down at me, he asked how my day had been going so far. ¡°It has been pretty good. I seem to have passed every test that Brendon threw at me, the breakfast this morning was super good, and I had some time away from my guards.¡± Realizing that Darius had no idea what tests I was talking about, I explained what they had been and what I had told Brendon about myself.


    Understanding dawned on his face. "That is why you were comfortable enough to grab my hand. The leader here already knows we are in love.¡± I nodded with a small smile. It always made me happy to hear him say ''we''. ¡°Did your guards already hear your conversation to see if anything you said compromised anyone''s safety?¡±


    "Yep. That is what we did right before I came over to you. They couldn''t find anything so we are all good.¡± Darius nodded. It was what he had expected, but he had wanted to make sure just in case. As a royal you learned to be extremely cautious. Before we could continue our conversation a voice interrupted us.


    Turning towards it, we both waved to Milo. ¡°Hi Milo. What have you been up to today?¡± A little disappointed that I had not been the one to ask him, I waited for Milo''s answer.


    ¡°Hi you two. I have been meeting with the head guards of this village with Jet. He was worried about our safety here so I had to reassure him that I was completely safe so that we could stay for a couple more days. Afterall how are we supposed to get to know anyone in only one day?¡±


    As if summoned by magic, Brendon walked over to us and proclaimed, ¡°I basically know everything I need to know about Ari, other than one thing that I will get out of her sooner or later,¡± at this he turned and stared at me. I just sent a beaming smile back at him. ¡°So it is your turn to go through my tests Milo.¡± Milo looked at him stunned for a couple seconds. Brendon had just destroyed his reasoning for staying in this village with a few words. Coming back to himself, he rushed to catch up to Brendon since he had not waited for him. Just like he had done for me. Smothering my laughter, I wondered if he was going to be tested on the same things that I had been tested on. If so then I hoped he passed. Facing Darius again I realized that I had not asked what Darius had been doing all day.


    Opening my mouth to remedy that, I was shocked when someone beat me to it once more. ¡°What have you been doing all day Darius?¡± Sending a baleful glare at Casey I sighed. It seemed that I was going to have to ask what was on my mind a lot faster if I actually wanted to get the words out. Casey responded to my glare with a confused look. He didn''t seem to know what I was mad at him for which made my anger dissolve into amusement. I decided not to tell him, kind of childish I know, since it was good to keep my guards on their toes.


    ¡°I haven''t really done much today other than I took a tour of the village, played with some little kids, and helped with a couple of chores.¡±


    ¡°Can you take me on a tour of the village? I saw some of it, but didn''t really understand all of what I saw.¡±


    He shot me a grin. ¡°Of course I will be your tour guide. Do you have anywhere you want to go first?¡± Following a brief moment of thinking, I shook my head.


    ¡°Take me wherever.¡± Nodding Darius began leading me back in the direction that I had come from. I glanced quickly behind me to make sure that our guards were following, they would kill me if I left them, and something about the way they followed us almost made me laugh out loud. After thinking about it, it registered in my mind that they reminded me of baby ducklings following after a momma duck. Though I may not have gotten out much, I had seen baby ducklings and a momma duck when they had wandered into our garden. When they got into our fountain and started swimming I stayed there for around an hour watching them. I thought it was one of the cutest things that I had ever seen. I enjoyed the tour so much that when we got to the end of it I was sad. It had distracted me from everything else and it was interesting to learn about new cultures and people. I didn''t have long to be sad however because dinner was announced soon after we finished.


    Heading over as fast as we could while still walking, as soon as dinner was announced we remembered that we hadn''t eaten since breakfast and were starving, we got in the line for food and waited impatiently for our turn to get food. As we got closer to the front of the line my stomach started growling louder and louder. Darius had laughed at me when it first began, but when his stomach growled he stopped. The village people around us were trying hard to not laugh at us, but some of them were not doing very well. I didn''t get offended though I just laughed along with them. It was really funny after all, why not make fun of it? Reaching the food now, I gratefully piled tons of food into my bowl and thanked the servers and chefs. Finding an empty spot to sit, I scooped food into my mouth and closed my eyes. For my first bite I had soft meat with a tangy sauce, mashed potatoes, and a green vegetable that I had never had before. Combined I believed that it was the best thing I had ever put in my mouth. While I may have believed that a lot lately, I felt that each food I put in my mouth kept getting better and better. Plus when you switched environments everything tasted differently and fascinating.


    Every culture and place has its own flavors and food. Even if they have the same basic ingredients, they make something new from those ingredients that has its own textures, tastes, and smells. Hearing people sit next to me, I opened my eyes to see Darius, his guards, and my guards. I gave them a little wave as I continued eating my food. The only thing I got back was a little nod from Kane. The rest of them were too busy chowing down to pay any attention to me. Knowing exactly what they were thinking I began ignoring them and only concentrated on my food. Several minutes passed before any of us spoke, most of us had gone for seconds, and when we did speak it was only to compliment the chefs on making such delicious food. Only when Milo and his guards joined us did we actually begin a real conversation. ¡°What kind of tests did he put you through and did you pass them?¡± A triumphant look appeared on my face. I was finally the one to ask the question that was on my mind.


    Milo gave a shaky laugh and ran a hand through his hair. ¡°He put me through the same three tests that he said that you did, but he went about them in different ways. For the first one he sent me over to a very talkative woman and had me listen to them ramble on about their kids for around ten minutes. Thankfully I was able to hold my ground and my patience. Thus, I passed the first test. Next he talked my ear off with things that I can do better in Raetis, and then had a kid run directly at me. Luckily I noticed the kid soon enough and was able to get out of his way, but it was a close thing. So I passed the second test. Lastly, I had to answer a bunch of questions about myself and he made me talk about when you got kidnapped from us. Sorry if you were trying to keep that a secret. My guards have already evaluated my answers and nothing I said could put anyone in danger.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°It kind of sounds like he did the opposite to you then what he did to me. I was in silence for the first two tests. And don''t worry about telling him about my kidnapping by Malick. The only reason that I hadn''t told him about that was because it annoyed him not to know.¡± Milo grinned in relief. Before he could say anything more, Brendon came back over to us.


    ¡°Alright. Since I still have time, I am going to do Darius''s tests now.¡± As Darius stood up with his guards, Brendon held his hand up in the universal wait sign and everyone stopped moving. ¡°Darius only. His guards can stay here and I will send him back to you later tonight.¡± Mumbling under their breaths, Darius''s guards reluctantly sat back down and tensely watched Darius walk away alone with Brendon. My guards, understanding how they felt, engaged each of them in conversations to try to take their minds off of Darius alone with Brendon. They knew that it wouldn''t work, but they were not able to think of anything else to try to help. Pondering hard, I tried to think of something that would completely distract them, but was drawing a blank as well. Several seconds later it came to me.


    Stifling a small smile I stood up. With everyones¡¯ eyes on me I asked, ¡°Do you all want to do a perimeter sweep?¡± Choking back laughter, everyone knew what I was trying to do, they all agreed and stood up. Even Milo and his guards who had all now finished eating. Heading off in the direction of the closest edge of the village, I stopped when I reached the inside of the wall that encircled the entire village. Not really sure what I was doing, I looked to Alex for help. Understanding the question in my eyes, he stepped up and began giving duties to everyone including Milo and me. Assigned to the rear guard position with Casey and Anders I trembled a little with anticipation. It was exciting to finally be able to help with the security of myself and others. Much better than being the one always being protected. Scanning behind and to the sides of me I tried to be as observant as possible. Though I knew that we would probably not see anything out of the ordinary or anything that could be a danger to us, I wanted to do a good job on my first security job. Anders and Casey next to me had noticed how attentive I was and they decided to take the perimeter sweep seriously. They wanted to give me the real experience and show me what the real thing felt like.


    It took us quite a while to sweep the whole perimeter of the village. Longer than I thought it would take, but during it everyone seemed to really focus on doing a good job. Mostly because I think they wanted to give Milo and me the real experience without any of the danger that occasionally occurs. Reaching where we started, I noticed that Darius''s guards seemed to have relaxed quite a bit since they had seen that there was no danger in the village. Heading back over to where we had eaten dinner we saw that Darius was waiting for us with Brendon. From the way they were talking it seemed that Darius had passed the tests that had been thrown at him. Spotting us Darius waved. ¡°Where have you all been? Don''t worry, I haven''t been here long, and I didn''t get hurt at all.¡± Hurrying to his side, all the remaining tension flooded out of his guards. Kane then filled him in on what we had done since he had left. ¡°You two really got to go and help conduct a perimeter security sweep?¡± His voice was both incredulous and jealous.


    Ethan chuckled. ¡°We will take you on a perimeter security sweep later. Either in this village or the next one.¡± Darius nodded and seemed satisfied by that solution.


    ¡°I will hold you to that.¡±


    Ethan then added a condition. ¡°Unless we deem it too dangerous.¡±


    Darius groaned. ¡°No, don''t say that. Now you are going to deem every situation as too dangerous and I will never get to do it.¡± Deciding not to answer that Ethan just shrugged innocently. Shaking his head, Darius turned to Milo and me for some help, but we shook our heads quickly. We were not going to start arguing with Darius against his guards because one, we always lost those arguments, two we didn''t want to pick sides, and three we wanted to see what he did now. It wasn''t very exciting though. Since he knew that he had no backup, and his guards had eight more people who would help them, he just sighed and let it go. While it was the smartest thing that he could have done, it was the least entertaining option for Milo and me. Letting out twin sighs of disappointment, we both smiled innocently when Darius turned around to look at us.


    Brendon spoke up now. ¡°Now that I have gotten to know all three of you and you all passed every test, you may freely talk to everyone in this village and do basically whatever you want. I will not force you to talk to me or anyone else, but I do want to talk to you all before you leave.¡± Nodding our agreement and thanks to him, we all headed back to our guest house to sleep. It was now getting pretty late and it had been a long day for all of us. Spotting Hazel and Sophia talking to a couple of girls nearby I waved goodnight to them and received smiles in return. Laying down on my cot I reflected over everything that had happened today and was slightly surprised that it had been only yesterday that Darius and my guards had seen the threatening notes and taken us out of Raetis. We had been in this village less then a day and already I had grown to know Brendon really well, knew that I loved the food here, and learned that the people here were pretty welcoming and kind. Wondering what I would do and learn tomorrow, I closed my eyes and gently floated off to sleep.


    Whispering to both sides of me woke me up early the next morning. Not wanting to startle the others who were awake, I wondered if I would be able to go back to sleep. Vaguely listening to the whispers surrounding me, a small smile touched my lips when I realized that it was Liam, Sophia, Hazel, and Joshua. Each couple was talking to each other and talking about basically the same thing. It made sense to me since they had not seen each other for almost all of yesterday, and I resolved to get them together more often. It was not fair for me to keep them apart by giving Liam jobs to do and keeping Darius, and Joshua, with me. Thinking about how I could stay by Darius and keep them all together I started to make a plan. About an hour and a half later everyone else started to wake and get up so I got up with them. Blinkling in the early morning light I headed over to another delicious smelling breakfast and piled my bowl up high. Carefully transferring food into my mouth I waited to put my plan into action. Right now all of us were together so there was no need for my plan. As we all stood up to go about different things I began my plan.


    ¡°Tyler, would it not be good if we trained for at least part of today? After all we didn''t get to train for very long back at Raetis and I would hate it if we lost all of the skills that we started to gain during that time.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°That is a really good idea. Especially when we are in unfamiliar territory with people we don''t really know. We should be prepared for anything to happen at any time.¡± All the guards around me nodded their heads. There were a lot of them since Milo and Darius had now joined us when they saw us just standing there. Everyone seemed to like my plan and a small smile touched my lips. Now everyone would be together and it would shock me if Liam and Sophia or Joshua and Hazel did not pair up with each other. Heading over to where the natives seemed to have their training area, we each grabbed what we wanted to work with, for Darius and me we got wooden swords, Hazel and Joshua grabbed bows and arrows, Sophia and Liam just settled into ready stances to do hand to hand combat, Milo grabbed a wooden sword to fight Jet, and the rest of the guards settled back to watch us and make sure that no one tried to attack us while we were training. They would switch in to practice in a little while.


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    Blocking out all of my distractions now, I focused completely on the battle that was about to occur. Acting almost simultaneously we both began to circle the other. Making sure that I stayed balanced and was ready to react to anything that he might do, I stepped one leg across the other and kept my eyes on him. Praying that there was nothing on the ground that could trip me up, I contemplated what to do next. If I acted first then he could do a quick counter and get past it, however if he acted first then he could catch me off guard. Wondering what was going through his mind right now, I watched him closely to see when he would strike. Thinking that I would let him make the first move I waited patiently. Continuing to circle him I watched both his eyes and his body. Everyone had a tell. The trick was to figure out what it was. Sometimes their eyes would twitch, their arms would flex, or they would lean forward slightly more than before right before they attacked. Biting the inside of my cheek slightly to make sure that I stayed alert and ready, I narrowed my eyes. It seemed like he was waiting for me to attack just like I was. Knowing that I needed to do something to change the situation and give myself the advantage, I decided to do something risky.


    Feinting towards him like I was about to take a strike at him, I watched in satisfaction as he automatically raised his sword to block my fake strike. Whipping my sword to the side I attempted to hit him, but he was too skilled for that. Even with falling for my trick he still managed to block my sword and almost managed to land his own hit on me. Jumping back a little I evaded his swipe and settled into a crouch. Blocking his next two strikes we began to fight in earnest. Nothing existed outside of our little bubble. The only things that mattered now was blocking his sword and hitting his body with my own sword. Our moves and combos flowed easily from one to another. Moving my body as smoothly as possible to become as fast as I could, I hoped that I would be able to beat him this time. If I did, then it would be the first time that I had ever beaten him. Determined to win, I concentrated on making my combos more and more complicated to try and catch him off guard. I was even making up some new moves. Some worked and some didn¡¯t. Once I finished a move though, if it hadn¡¯t worked, then I luckily had enough time to block his counter before it could hit me.


    All of a sudden his sword hit mine so hard that it knocked it out of my hands and then his sword point was touching my throat. Sighing in defeat, I raised my hands in surrender. ¡°How did you do that? I didn¡¯t even see that move coming! I really thought I was going to beat you this time too.¡±


    Darius laughed. ¡°It was a new move that I have been working on for a while now. It is good to see that it works.¡± Resigned to the fact that Darius was a better fighter than I was, at least for the moment, I asked him if he wanted to fight me in hand to hand combat. His agreement was immediate. Knowing that he was going to beat me, I just hoped that I could learn something new from him. The fight was short and after I got beat I switched out one of the watching guards. Now Leander was fighting Darius and I was watching the perimeter. Jealous when I saw that Leander and Darius were pretty even, I turned away from them. It may have been a childish move, but it made me feel slightly better. I wanted to become a better fighter so bad, that it really annoyed me when someone beat me. You would think that I would be used to it by now since I rarely ever won a fight, but I wasn''t sure that I would ever get over it. I was trying to change my look on losing. To think of it as a learning experience instead of a bad thing, but it wasn¡¯t working so far.


    Spying Hazel and Joshua having a shooting competition I was pleasantly surprised to see that Hazel was now hitting the target every time. She wasn¡¯t getting that close to the bulls eyes, but it was definitely progress. Switching my attention to Sophia I noticed that while Liam was not fighting all out, he was still going kind of hard. One day she would get good enough that they could fight in earnest, but for right now it was more of a learning session. Sophia was learning all the different stances, punches, kicks, and feints. Liam was winning every battle, however once the battle was over he would teach her what he did and how to block it. Then she would try it a few times before they went back to fighting. A couple of minutes later Hazel and Joshua switched to hand to hand combat and Sophia and Liam switched out two of the watching guards to go fight and they kept watch with me. Scanning the village surrounding us we watched for anything suspicious, but there was nothing. Some villagers would observe us fighting for a little while, but we could tell that they were just curious. They would get their fill of it pretty quickly and then they would move on.


    After everyone went through and fought at least three different opponents we left the training area and headed to the river that was just outside of the village. Half dove in while the other half kept watch. All of our clothes were soaking wet by the time we were done, but now we were clean. Laying out on a patch of grass inside the village walls we relaxed and tried to get dry. A few minutes into this, Brendon came over and blocked some of my sunlight. Peering up at him I waited to see if he was going to tell me what he wanted. From the way he was looking at me it was clear that he had something to tell me, but the look on his face made me wonder if he was unsure if he actually could. Reaching a hand down to me he helped me to my feet and began leading me away from my group. Spotting my guards beginning to follow me, I raised my hand to keep them where they were. It appeared that Brendon wanted to talk to me alone and he looked serious. I didn¡¯t want to do anything that would keep him from telling me what he came over to tell me.


    Stopping out of listening distance, but staying in sight, Brendon sighed. ¡°I was unsure if I was going to tell you this, however I think you deserve to know. There are several strangers outside of our village. They showed up directly after you came back into the village after swimming in the river. They stared at the gate for a minute or two and then began to walk around the village. At first it looked random, now we are wondering if they are going in a pattern.¡±


    My eyes narrowed as I thought this over. Making a decision I asked, ¡°Can my group and I go up to the top of the wall and see these strangers for ourselves?¡± A nod from him was all I needed. Waving to my group to join us, we started towards the stairs up to the top of the wall. Once they had rushed over to us, we explained what was going on and curiosity and concern appeared on all of their faces. Getting to the stairs we walked up it in a single file line so that people coming down could pass us easily. Filing onto the top, we gazed out into the trees and tried to see the strangers. A flash of color drew my attention to my left. Studying that area, it wasn¡¯t long before I saw one of the strangers. Pointing them out to everyone else we watched attentively as the stranger continued walking around. The odd thing was he seemed to be walking in a giant circle. Confused, I wondered if all of the strangers were walking in giant circles. Searching around for another one, Milo soon drew all of our attention to a second stranger that he had found. Seeing that they were also walking in a circle, we exchanged bewildered glances. ¡°Are the strangers only on this side of the wall, or are they all around?¡±


    Brendon shrugged. ¡°The only ones that we have seen are on this side of the wall, but it is very possible that we just missed them. With the dense trees on the other sides of the walls it would be hard to see them if they are out there.¡± Nodding my understanding I debated whether I should go to another side of the wall to see if I could spot any strangers. If there were more out there walking in circles then it could possibly help us figure out why they were doing it. Maybe they were making a specific shape?


    ¡°Can we go over to another side of the wall to see if we can spot anymore? I was thinking that maybe they are drawing a specific shape and so it would be helpful if we knew how many of them there were and where all of them are.¡± My group all nodded. It seemed that they thought my reasoning was sound. Glad that I didn¡¯t sound crazy, I followed after Brendon as he led the way along the wall to another section. Stopping after several minutes of walking we began peering out into the trees searching for anything that looked off or didn¡¯t belong. I strained my eyes so hard looking for anything out of the ordinary, that after a while of this my eyes began to get blurry and watery. Closing my eyes to rest them for a second, I wiped away the one tear that had slipped past my eyelids. Since I was resting my eyes I figured it couldn¡¯t hurt to try and listen for anything off. Listening as hard as I could to the world around me I could only hear the normal forest sounds like the birds and the wind whistling in the trees for the longest time. Right as I was about to open my eyes to begin searching once again, a noise I heard made me stop and wait. The bird sounds had gotten quieter. All of them at once had stopped chirping for a second. There was a flutter of wings and then they started up again.


    Opening my eyes I asked Darius where all the birds had flown away from. Gazing at me with an odd look on his face, he pointed to a spot just off to his left. Staring closely at that spot I hoped that I had found one of them. What I saw though was not one stranger. No, instead it was several strangers. They were wearing different shades of green that gave them an irregular pattern that helped them blend in. Some of them seemed to be carrying bows while others had the glint of metal on their side. Grabbing Darius¡¯s shoulder I pointed at them. ¡°Does that look like a friendly group to you?¡± Spying the group that I had seen, Darius started and went to Brendon. Once Brendon had seen them he ran to the nearest group of guards and the alarm was sounded. There was a flurry of motion as guards ran around trying to get to their defensive positions as quickly as possible. Meanwhile I continued watching the strangers. However the more I watched the more confused I got. Why was such a small group coming towards us like they were planning on attacking us? Why not stop once their cover was blown and the alarm was sounded? How did they plan on even getting into the village to do any damage? These questions ran through my mind on endless repeat.


    Taking my eyes off of the strangers I finally looked around me. What I saw caused the slightest bit of panic to build inside of me. Every single person was looking at the strangers. Running up to Brendon I asked if there was anyone watching the other parts of the forest. He nodded. ¡°I have two guards on the other sides of the wall watching the rest of the forest.¡± While it was said to help calm me down, all it did was cause the panic inside me to grow bigger. Sprinting to another section of the wall I scanned the forest as quickly, but as thoroughly as I could. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary other than the few strangers on this side, I went to the next section of the wall. Again, there were just a few strangers there. Still walking in circles and seeming oblivious to the world. Going to the last section left I had barely started looking when I spotted something. Several medium sized groups of strangers were stealthily making their way towards the wall. All of them seemed armed and in total there were around a hundred of them. The two guards on this portion of the wall had not seen them because they were too busy talking about how they wished they were on the portion of the wall that actually had action.


    Yanking them to face the forest I pointed out the strangers and said, ¡°You should never let your guard down. Just because one group of enemies has been found doesn¡¯t mean they all have been found.¡± Properly ashamed, they flew into action and soon half the guards had been moved from the first side to this side. The other guards on the empty two sides were digilant in their duty after hearing what had happened. Everything was going smoothly and we were protected on every side. So why did I still feel panicked? Was it because we were in danger again? Or was something else wrong? Trying to figure out why I was feeling the way that I was, I went back to watching the smaller group on the first side. Now that I knew why they had kept coming, I waited to see if they would just turn back when they reached the wall. We weren¡¯t going to fire down on them because it wasn¡¯t honorable. Who fires on an enemy who can¡¯t even reach you? While their bows might be able to reach us once they were almost right up against the wall it would be very difficult for them to aim well enough for us to even start to worry.


    Studying their movements, my brow furrowed when I realized that they were not stopping. They weren¡¯t even slowing down. In fact, if anything, they seemed to be speeding up. The guards around me were all paying close attention to the strangers as well. No one seemed to know what they were doing or why they were doing it. What would running into the wall accomplish? My curiosity grew along with my panic. At this moment those two feelings seemed to be linked. When one grew, the other grew and vice versa. The strangers were almost to the wall now and they were at a full sprint. Not able to watch them crash into the wall I went over to the other side with strangers to see what they were doing. As such, I missed the impossible. The strangers had run halfway up the wall and were now climbing up the smooth wall without any help. There were no ropes and none of the strangers had violet eyes. Unless they had dyed their eyes to trick us, these were just normal people. Hearing all the shouts and chaos behind me I turned around in confusion. I had expected to hear groans or cries of victory, not confusion and fear. I turned at the exact moment that the first stranger got to the top of the wall. To me it seemed like he appeared out of thin air. My mind couldn¡¯t process what was happening. Darius ran up to me and grabbed my hand.


    That contact brought me back into the present and I got out of my shock. ¡°What is happening Darius? How did they do that?¡± By now more strangers had reached the top of the wall and were attacking the guards. They seemed to be trying to not kill anyone. There were tons of unconscious guards lying on the ground behind their line that was rapidly forming. Soon all ten of the strangers were at the top and were fighting. I pulled my sword out and joined the small group of guards who were organizing. We were late in coming together though and the second group of strangers hit the top of the wall. We were surrounded and were now outnumbered. Too many had already been taken out of the fight and too many had now joined the fight. Those of us who were remaining, at least that I was by, got in a circle and fought as hard as we could. Darius, who was on my left, shouted in my ear to ask me a question. ¡°Should I use my presence?¡± I shook my head. There were too many people around us who were on our side. He could hit one of our allies. He let out a frustrated growl that I totally understood. I wanted to use my gift as well, but in this situation it would not be much help. It was more for escaping than fighting. The strangers fought in strange ways that kept throwing off my group. They lunged into the fight for a furious few seconds and would then leave. That pattern just kept repeating and it was a very disorienting tactic.


    Soon holes began to appear in our circle as men began to be hit and dragged away. I fought as hard as I could, but I could tell that we were going to lose. It was only a matter of time. There was no surrendering in this situation because if you stopped fighting then you would be skewered. All of a sudden all of our enemies jumped back and pointed their swords right at us. Glancing to the sides of me I was stunned to see that I was alone with only one other guard by my side. Understanding this as a request for our surrender, I decided to give them what they wanted. Sheathing my sword back at my side I raised my hands in the air. The guard followed my example and we waited for them to make their move. The swords around us were lifted up into the air and we were each grabbed and dragged into their ranks in different directions. The guard panicked and struggled to escape. I didn¡¯t. I knew there was no point. We had lost, and now the strangers could do what they wanted with us. We were their prisoners. Lowering my head in defeat I wished that I would stop getting into positions like this. Playing the role of the captive was starting to get old.

 The Old Man

    My sword belt was taken away from me and I was patted down for any other weapons. My hopes that they wouldn¡¯t find my dagger in my boot was not realized. They were very good at finding weapons. Glaring at the person¡¯s back who had taken my weapons as they walked away, I heard some soft chuckles from people around me. Sending an icy stare in the direction that I thought they had come from, I lifted my head up and tried to exude confidence. It is better for your captives to think that you are braver than you actually are. Plus if you fake confidence well enough you can actually become braver in that moment. The chuckles around me were silenced and the strangers did seem to look at me in a different way. My guide started leading me along again. Scanning the faces around me I tried to see if anyone I knew was near. Right now it seemed that they were keeping us as separate as possible though since I saw no one. Not even a guard whose face I vaguely recognized. Marching through the crowd of watching strangers, I began searching for anyone with violet eyes. There was no way they breached our wall without any presences.


    As of yet, I hadn¡¯t seen any. It just didn¡¯t make sense. How long have they been planning this attack to pull it off so smoothly? Why attack this place? How did they climb the wall? I had so many questions and no answers. And the only people who had answers weren¡¯t talking. Figuring it wouldn¡¯t hurt to ask them a question or two to see if they were feeling talkative, I tapped the shoulder of my guide to get his attention. He spared a glance behind me to show that he was listening, but then kept looking ahead of him. ¡°How did you climb the wall? Do you have someone with a presence?¡± Stares came from people all around me like they couldn¡¯t believe that I had the audacity to ask them questions. None of them said anything back to me and I sighed. Seemed they weren¡¯t in a talkative mood. I resolved to not ask anymore questions until I came to someone who either looked like they wanted to talk to me, or someone who was in charge. When my guide started down the stairs to get off the wall I wondered where we were going. I had thought that they were taking me to someone of a higher rank than themselves. Maybe their leader was down in the village looking around their new home.


    Catching sight of Casey I started to wave and call out to him to show him where I was, but a stranger to the side of me grabbed me and placed a hand over my mouth. Not giving up, I slammed my heel down on the arch of his foot and he gasped in pain. Unable to help it, he released me and bent down to grab his foot. He was in so much pain that tears were gathering in his eyes. Facing where Casey had been I searched desperately for him. He had disappeared while I had been distracted. Huffing in disappointment, I was not surprised when I was grabbed by several strangers who began dragging me after my guide who hadn¡¯t even slowed down. Not resisting anymore, I didn¡¯t have any reason to, I kept my feet under me so I wasn¡¯t dragged on the ground and looked ahead to see where we were going. Seeing that we were heading towards Brendon¡¯s house, I laughed. Getting looks from the people around me that questioned my sanity, I toned down my laughter. While I didn¡¯t care what they thought about me, it was important that I had some respect otherwise they could count me as someone who will do anything. I would rather be seen as someone strong instead of someone weak.


    Shaking off the many hands holding onto me, I walked into the building of my own accord. Not seeing anyone new inside I wondered what we were doing here. ¡°Are we here to meet someone?¡± My guide looked at me, and then looked away. Continuing to stand there in silence, I fidgeted a little in boredom. While I could be patient when I wanted to, right now adrenaline was still slightly coursing through my veins from the fight not that long ago and I wanted to move or talk or do something. Containing myself from blurting something random out, I forced myself to wait. Taking deep, slow breaths to calm myself down and get all my adrenaline out, I closed my eyes to focus better on it. A soft squeaking noise startled me and my eyes opened. Two strangers were wheeling in a small cot like bed. On that bed lay a frail looking older man whose eyes were closed. For a moment I thought he was dead. Then I saw the slightest rise and fall of his chest that showed he was breathing, but just barely. Not sure what to think of this new development, I watched as they kept wheeling the old man in my direction. Taking the smallest step back, I bit my lip to help me stay where I was. Something about this old man seemed off. Like he wasn¡¯t always this way, or that he wasn¡¯t supposed to be this way.


    When the cot was about a step away from me, the strangers stopped wheeling it. Stepping back and bowing to the cot, they then left me alone with the old man. Even my guide left. Shaken a little by their trust that I wouldn¡¯t hurt the old man, I leaned over him a little to try and guess what I was supposed to do now. A low sound had me glancing around the room to see where it came from. As it came again, I was surprised to note that it had come from the old man. He was trying to talk to me. ¡°What did you say? Is there any way you can speak up?¡± My voice was gentle. Even if this man was with my enemies, he was an old man and I had been trained to respect the elderly. Plus there was no way that this old man could hurt anyone. I mean, he could barely speak.


    He managed to speak loud enough for me to hear and understand him this time. ¡°Are we alone?¡±


    I nodded and then registered the fact that his eyes were still closed. ¡°Yes we are alone in here. If you want however, I can go get someone.¡± I had just turned away from him to do just that when he spoke again.


    ¡°No. I want to speak to you alone.¡± Facing him I stayed silent to let him know I was listening. The old man¡¯s eyes opened and I gasped. His eyes were dark violet. In fact, they were the darkest that I had ever seen. Even my eyes weren¡¯t that dark. ¡°Hello dear. You can call me the Master.¡± I shook my head. No matter how much respect you are supposed to give to the elderly, there was no way that I was going to call him Master. ¡°Then you will not speak to me.¡± Choosing not to reply to that to show that I would honor that command, as long as I could at least, I gestured for him to continue. A small smile graced his wrinkled lips and a small shudder ran through me. I respected my elders, but that didn¡¯t mean that I had to like old people. Their wrinkled and weak bodies freaked me out a little. It was scary to think that would be me one day. I didn¡¯t want to get to the point where I couldn¡¯t even walk on my own. There were still too many things I wanted to do. Focusing only on his eyes since they were kind of familiar to me, after all I saw almost the same thing whenever I looked in the mirror or at Darius.


    ¡°Your name is Princess Ariana Esma correct?¡± I nodded in his view so I didn¡¯t have to speak. ¡°Why did you come here? I guess you may speak to me when I ask you a question, but otherwise don¡¯t talk to me.¡±


    Grateful that I didn¡¯t have to try to act it out, I spoke. ¡°I came here to this village because Darius and I want to prove that our lands aren¡¯t so bad. The people there are just like the people here. We were brought here to eastern lands by Crown Prince Milo Bullara to help them start trading with our lands and bring our people together. Or at least closer so we don¡¯t attack each other and have a better understanding of what the other land is like.¡± The old man seemed to be thinking this over. Meanwhile I peered around the room I was in. I had never been in Brendon¡¯s house before. Just seen it from the outside. It seemed like the guest house. The only difference was how it was furnished. The furniture and decorations were very sparse. It appeared that Brendon preferred simple things. That made me respect him even more. Leaders who liked expensive and tons of things made me feel mad. They normally stole money from their people to pay for those things and were very unfair rulers. I hadn¡¯t met one like that who was a good person.


    Bringing my attention back to the old man when he began talking again, I leaned a little closer to hear him better. ¡°I guess that your explanation makes sense, but I think it would be for the best for everyone if you went back to your own lands. We are happy here in the east and don¡¯t need anything from your lands. Plus I am sure that your family misses you.¡±


    Not able to help myself I blurted out, ¡°Do you think that it was my idea to come here? The only reason that I am here is because I was kidnapped. Otherwise I would still be in my lands. However I am glad that I came here. Now I know that the people in the east are not the savages that everyone thinks they are. You are normal people, you just live differently than other lands. Which isn¡¯t a bad thing. In fact I think your way of life might even be better than the way of life in the other lands.¡± Catching myself now, I shut up and lowered my eyes. While I may be trying to stay on his good side, I didn¡¯t regret what I said and I wouldn¡¯t take it back. The old man could take it anyway that he wanted. The old man seemed caught off guard. His eyes stared at me in a way that was different than before, but in what way I couldn¡¯t tell. Did he appreciate my words, or was he thinking of a way to punish my impertinence?


    Several minutes passed as I stood there in silence. I was so tempted to break the silence to explain more about why I stayed now or something, but resisted. There was no need to make more trouble between us than there already was. Grateful when the old man finally looked at me again, I held my breath for his next words. ¡°After my initial reaction of anger for you talking to me in that way, especially after I told you not to talk to me at all, I have calmed down some. Considering your words in my mind I was pretty shocked. Crown Prince Milo kidnapped you? He is such a kind person and I couldn¡¯t imagine him doing anything like that. It seems I will have to rethink my opinion of him.¡± Instantly shaking my head, I still kept silent. There was no way I was interrupting him right now when it seemed that I was in his good graces. ¡°You disagree? Please share what you are thinking.¡±


    The politeness in his voice was unexpected and it threw me off for a second. Taking a second to gather my thoughts, I took a deep breath. ¡°Crown Prince Milo is a very good person. The only reason he kidnapped me is because he wanted to do what was best for his people. He wanted to start trading with us and make us rethink our opinions of the eastern people because he cares so deeply for you. He wants to give you the option to live your life the way you want to. That includes moving to other lands if you wanted to. Right now if easterners are found in other lands they are practically killed on sight. I am so sorry, but it is the truth. You are only savages in their eyes and I am sad to say that is how I pictured you as well. Now that Crown Prince Darius and I know the truth we can help our kingdoms know what we know and change their views of you. Then we can make all the lands better places and be fair towards everyone.¡±


    The old man appraised me with admiration in his eyes. ¡°You really do care about the eastern people now. Including Milo. Is there more than friendship there?¡± My mouth dropped open in shock and the old man chuckled. ¡°I guess not. You must be in love with Crown Prince Darius then.¡± A blush came into my cheeks without my permission. ¡°I knew it. You act like a woman with someone to lose. That is why you are fighting so hard to be nice to me even when I am being difficult.¡±


    ¡°Is it really that obvious? I thought that people could only tell that I was in love when I was around Darius. I won¡¯t lie and say this isn¡¯t concerning to me. Love can be used against you and I would prefer it if no one knew that I was in love. Can you keep it to yourself? I will work on making it less obvious.¡±


    He laughed. ¡°I am fine with keeping it a secret, but I can assure you right now that we are not going to use that knowledge against you. While you may be our captives, we are not planning on hurting you.¡± I cocked my head to the side and studied his face to see if he was lying to me. I was getting pretty good at seeing if people were lying to me, but it appeared that he was being honest.


    I nodded slowly. ¡°Alright. I will believe you until you give me reason not to.¡±


    The old man smiled. ¡°And I will let you speak to me without calling me Master as long as I like you.¡± Laughing I nodded in agreement. It seemed fair to me even though the limits were very unclear. At least I could speak to him. ¡°It was very nice speaking to you Ariana, and we will have to speak another time soon. Can you summon my guards so they can wheel me to my new room? I need to rest. After all, I am an old man.¡±


    ¡°May I ask you a question before I summon your guards?¡± I had been wanting to ask this question since I had seen his eyes, but we had been too busy talking about other things. He nodded his head. ¡°Were you the reason that your people were able to run and climb up the walls to get into the village? You are the only person that I see who has violet eyes.


    The old man gave me a proud smile. It seemed I was right, but he wasn¡¯t about to tell me that. ¡°Now that you have asked your question, you can summon my guards. You never asked if I would answer it.¡± Amused by his smart answer, I nodded and called out for his guards. They burst into the room quickly and grabbed onto his bed. Gently wheeling the old man away, I waved goodbye to him even though he couldn¡¯t see it. My guide took hold of my arm and took me from the room as well. Maybe I would be reunited with my friends now. That hope was dashed when I was taken to a hastily put together cage. There were several cages all around the village, however my friends were still not in sight. Sighing, I climbed in, and turned to watch as he closed the door behind me. Seeing the strangers running all around I assumed they were trying to figure out where to put all of us and still have room for them. A younger looking stranger came over and stood right outside of my cage. Staring at me for a moment, he appeared to be examining my eyes more than the rest of me.


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    Raising my eyebrows I waited for him to stop staring. He blushed when he realized that he had been staring at me for several seconds straight and whipped around. From the way he was standing he was my guard. Pleased that they thought me dangerous enough to have a guard even when I didn¡¯t have a weapon, I wondered if they knew what my presence was. Spinning in a slow circle to see everyone around me, I spotted someone I knew finally. ¡°Sophia.¡± My shout turned many heads including the one that I had meant to turn. Sophia saw me and attempted to come closer to me, but her guards kept pushing her away from me. She shouted something back at me. However everyone around me had raised their voices as well. And I couldn¡¯t make out what she had said. Meeting the eyes of one of the strangers who had raised their voices, I realized that they had done that on purpose. They must have instructions to not let us talk or see each other.


    Annoyed by that, I tried to find something to occupy my mind. Unfortunately for me, there was literally nothing in the cage I was in other than me. There were things going on outside of my cage, but nothing of particular interest. Tapping my guard on the shoulder I was pleasantly surprised when he jumped in shock. He was a jumpy fellow which could help me if I decided to escape. ¡°Sorry to catch you off guard. I was just hoping to ask you a few questions. If you don¡¯t mind me asking them of course.¡± Glancing quickly around us to see if anyone was watching us, they weren¡¯t, he nodded and I asked my first question. ¡°Why did you all decide to come to this village and take it over? Did the villagers here do something to you?¡±


    Seeing the young man¡¯s eyes glaze over a little, I could tell that he was mentally debating whether or not to tell me. When his eyes cleared, he spoke. ¡°I will tell you, but only because I don¡¯t think it will do any harm. We took over this village because some other people took over our village and were killing anyone who stayed and fought. We had to come here otherwise we most likely would have died in the wilderness.¡±


    ¡°Where are your women and children then? Are they coming here?¡± If they had to flee their village or die then I hope that they women and children were going to meet them here.


    Touched by my apparent concern, he beamed at me. ¡°Yes, they are going to meet us here in the next day or so. We didn¡¯t want them to already be here when we first started to attack this village just in case the attack didn¡¯t go so well.¡± Their story was coming together now in my mind, and I began to feel bad for them. They had been forced to come here or perish in the wilderness. There were too many things in the wilderness that were much more dangerous than any humans. Though there were some humans that lived in the wilderness, they weren¡¯t fully human. All the stories that I had heard about them, just from the people here in the east, were horrifying. They were what I thought the word savage came from. Holding back a shudder, I focused back on the conversation.


    ¡°Are you sure that they are safe on their own out there?¡± I was sure that they had taken precautions to make sure that nothing happened to them, but I had to make sure.


    He nodded vigorously. ¡°I am completely positive. We took so many precautions and did everything we could think of to make sure that they got here safely.¡± I let my breath out in relief. They might be our enemy right now, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that I didn¡¯t want anyone getting hurt. They had taken special care not to injure anyone more than needed when they had taken over this village and they had made sure that we were at least semi comfortable. They hadn¡¯t stuck us all in the same cage at least.


    ¡°How long are we staying in these cages? Also when will I get to be with my friends? Are you planning on keeping us apart forever?¡± A trace of worry crept into my voice.


    I could tell that he wanted to reassure me that I would be back with my friends soon, but I could also tell that he wasn¡¯t sure that was going to happen. Finally he admitted what I already knew. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the plan is for you or for your friends. I wish I could say that you will be with them soon, but I don¡¯t know that.¡± I nodded.


    ¡°That is alright. I knew that you didn¡¯t know the plan for me when I saw your face after I asked the question.¡±


    ¡°I will have to get better at hiding my feelings.¡± Excitement lit up his face and I raised my eyebrows in a question. ¡°Speaking of hiding things, will you reveal what your presence is? Right now the answer is hidden from me so that works. Doesn¡¯t it?¡± His excitement gave way to nervousness as he contemplated whether it worked or not.


    I stifled my laughter for his sake. ¡°Yes I think that works. However I am afraid that I am not going to answer that question. Not because of the way you asked it or anything, I just don¡¯t want to give away that secret. Once you know what my presence is you could tell the old man and then he would try to do something to prevent me from using it to escape.¡± His expression was crestfallen, but his eyes showed understanding. Which showed me that had been his plan this whole time. ¡°That was your plan the whole time wasn¡¯t it? It was a pretty good plan, however I don¡¯t think most people in my situation are going to give away their secret.¡± As he was about to answer he happened to glance at the people around us. Some of them were starting to look at us and curiosity was on quite a few of their faces. He clammed up immediately and spun around so that his back was to me. When I tried to engage him in another conversation he refused to respond to me. Seemed that since he couldn¡¯t get what he wanted, he had decided that it was not worth the risk of talking to me anymore. Shrugging I tried to think of something to do. My situation was now as boring as it had been before I had begun talking to the young guard. Sitting down to relax my legs a little, I realized that it was slightly difficult to stay awake while sitting down.


    Since sleeping was probably my best and most productive course of action as of now, I laid down on the floor, not caring that it was dirt, and quickly fell into a deep sleep. A low noise roused me from my sleep. Not moving so as to not give away the fact that I was now awake, I waited for the intruder to get closer to me. They moved quietly and I wondered if they were here to hurt me. That didn¡¯t make sense though since the old man had said that no harm would befall me. I had no reason to doubt his word yet so I figured this person must be here for another reason. The instant that the person¡¯s hand touched my shoulder I grabbed it and stood in one fluid motion. Yanking their arm behind their back into an awkward position I now spoke. ¡°If I push your arm any further it will break.¡± A voice interrupted me before I could say anything else.


    ¡°Wait. He wasn¡¯t going to hurt you or anything. He was just going to wake you up so he could take you to your new home. The living situation was finally figured out.¡± Seeing that it was my younger guard friend who had spoken, I reluctantly released my captive. He fell forward onto his knees with a groan. Shaking out his arm to see if it was fine, he seemed satisfied with its condition.


    ¡°That was a really good move. Call me impressed.¡± He stood up from his kneeling position and turned to face me. Curtseying to exaggerate my thanks for his words, I gestured for him to lead the way out of the cage. A smile crossed his face and he walked out of the cage. Standing directly on the outside of the cage door, he now gestured for me to go ahead of him. Raising an eyebrow at him, I shook my head in amusement and went with it. As I walked slightly ahead of my new guide, I trusted him to guide me to my new prison. While my former young guard had called it my new home, I knew that it couldn¡¯t really be a home as long as I was forced to stay there. Tapping one of my shoulders lightly to tell me when to turn and which way, I was surprised when he told me to stop in front of the guest house where I had been staying before.


    ¡°This is going to be where I will be staying for the duration of my stay?¡± The incredulous tone in my voice made my guide hesitate a little in his answer.


    ¡°At least for the time being. Do you have a problem with that?¡± It sounded like if it was a problem for me he would find a way to help me out. Interesting. I wondered what everyone¡¯s instructions were concerning my friends and me.


    ¡°No, I am fine staying here. It just surprised me because I was staying here before you all showed up.¡± He laughed in relief. Sauntering into the house, I hesitated a little when I glimpsed the shape of someone¡¯s outline standing in one of the shadows in the corner of the house. Feeling like more than one person was watching me, I peered over my shoulder and saw that my guide had already left. That meant that the person in the shadows wasn¡¯t the only person in this house and both of them were watching me. ¡°Hello to everyone watching me. My name is Ariana, and I didn¡¯t come to hurt anyone.¡± A familiar voice called out for everyone to stop. Unfortunately, they heard too late. Movement to the side of me had me turning my head to face it, but I couldn¡¯t move fast enough. Hands went around me and I was tackled to the ground. Rolling in the air to land on top of my attacker I drove the air out of their lungs. Once I heard them wheezing for air, I stood up and shook off their hands. Struggling to see their face in the darkness of the house, I was blinded by a sudden source of light. Blinking to try and clear my vision faster, I stumbled backwards to avoid being attacked while I was vulnerable.


    When I could see again I quickly looked around me, expecting someone to attack me. Not seeing anyone close to me, I rubbed my eyes to try and stop them from tearing up. Now that my eyes were drier I gazed around the room and saw that the person who had attacked me was Darius¡¯s guard Ethan. ¡°What a way to welcome me Ethan.¡± Sarcasm was obvious in my voice and he grinned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ve got you.¡± He even gave me a thumbs up. Rolling my eyes at him, I looked towards the light source in my peripheral vision.


    ¡°Darius, are you the one over there?¡± The light extinguishing was my only warning. Arms went around me in an embrace and his lips captured my own. Letting myself fall into the kiss, I thought of nothing else for the several seconds that we spent in that position. My hands linked around his neck and when he pulled away I was so dazed that I felt like I was about to pass out. Clinging to him for support, I tried to catch my breath. It took me some time to catch my breath. As soon as I had it back I let go of his neck and swiveled so that I could still see Darius behind me, but I could also see everyone else in the room. It seemed like all of Darius¡¯s guards were in here and that was it. ¡°Do you know where everyone else is Darius?¡±


    He shook his head in disappointment. ¡°No. We were all brought in here at around the same time. Since then you are the only person to come in here. Sorry that we attacked you, but we had assumed that the next person to come in here would be one of our captors. Apparently we shouldn¡¯t assume anymore.¡± A chorus of laughter went around the room. Getting serious now, I asked them what they knew about our captors. They only knew things that I knew. When I told them everything I had learned and who I had talked to, everyone¡¯s mouths dropped.


    ¡°You talked to their leader and he was just an old man? I guess that we don¡¯t have to worry about him then. Even with a super powerful presence he can¡¯t do much with it in his state.¡± Kane sounded so matter of fact and relieved that it made me sad to argue with him.


    ¡°I think that you are wrong in guessing that.¡± Looking at me curiously, he waved his hand at me to tell me to keep going. ¡°I think that his presence can affect other people. We have no idea how our captors managed to climb our wall right? Well what if their boss used his presence to give them extra physical abilities that made it possible for them to climb that wall. None of the others that I have seen around have violet eyes and it is the only theory that I can think of. It would explain at least partially why he is still their leader.¡±


    Ethan seemed the most convinced by my argument. ¡°I think I will have to agree with you. I have heard of people with presences who can do things like that and it would definitely clear some things up that I have been thinking about.¡± Smiling gratefully at Ethan, I hadn¡¯t thought that anyone would agree with me, I now moved the conversation on to the next topic. There was nothing more we could discuss about their boss and his presence without more information.


    ¡°How are we planning on escaping from this place? Especially since we are unsure what their leader¡¯s presence is exactly.¡± Frowns appeared on everyone¡¯s faces. Silence came over the house as we tried to think of a way to escape. When Kane¡¯s face lit up with an idea I became excited. That emotion quickly died off as I heard something that didn¡¯t belong. Holding up my hand to stop Kane from saying what he was planning on saying, I scanned the room that we were in. Nothing seemed to not belong, however I knew that I had heard something out of place. Looking up at Darius I opened my mouth to explain about the noise, but a flicker of movement above his head caught my eye. Moving him slightly to the side so I could see the roof better, I groaned when I saw people running along the beams lining the roof. Pointing them out to everyone else, all of our shoulders slumped. If they had been up there the whole time then they had seen Darius use his presence and half of our weapons were not as effective. Frantically searching my brain to see if we had said anything about what my presence was, I couldn¡¯t think of anything. Rotating in a circle to ask each person if they could remember saying anything about what my presence was, I was very relieved when everyone said no.


    The people above us spotted us looking at them and froze where they were. It was kind of impressive how fast they stopped moving and some of them stopped moving in really awkward positions that made me think they were about to fall over. A mad scramble to get out of sight occurred after several seconds of staring at each other. In seconds they were all gone and I wondered if they were out of hearing. Not wanting to risk them hearing our plans, I gathered everyone into a small huddle and spoke in a whisper. ¡°Do you have a plan Kane? I saw your face light up and am really hoping that you have one because I don¡¯t have one.¡±


    From the hopeful looks on the others¡¯ faces I knew that they didn¡¯t have any ideas either. Kane nodded though which made everyone give silent cheers. ¡°I do have a plan, however I am not sure if it is going to work.¡± We shrugged.


    ¡°Even if it doesn¡¯t work, we could just keep adjusting your plan until it might actually work.¡±


    Kane bobbed his head in agreement. ¡°That makes sense. Recall that it is a half baked plan though. Not refined in any way.¡± Giving him encouraging gestures to show him that we understood, Kane continued. ¡°My plan was to use your two presences in a surprise attack against our captors and while Darius gives us space to move and work, Ari would go and free all of the villagers and our friends. Then we would basically just walk out the front gate with Darius and Ari leading the way. Hopefully we could steal at least some weapons on the way out to help us in the wilderness because we will not be able to use Darius¡¯s presence unless we want a fire that could kill us all.¡± As everyone thought this plan over, the sound of careful feet sounded above us. A quick glance up showed that about double the amount of people were now on the beams. Curious as to what they were planning on doing, I watched them closely. From their body positions it seemed like they were going to come down to join us but their motivations were unclear. Why break up our huddle now? Was it because they were worried about what we were talking about or was there something more?

 The Herbs

    Tapping on the shoulders of the people beside me, I indicated the people above us and they discreetly peered up at them. Startling, they spread the word to everyone else that the people above us looked like they were going to jump down and join us. An undercurrent of fear ran through our group. While we knew that they had told us that they weren¡¯t going to hurt us, they could always go back on their word. Giving up on being careful about not letting them see us, we stared openly at them. Sensing our gazes, they looked right back at us. They didn¡¯t freeze up this time. In fact, they did the opposite. Throwing ropes down to the ground they slid down them and ran around in coordinated chaos until they were all in a big circle around us. Staying where we were we waited for them to say what they wanted. It was obvious that they had something in mind for us. Once several seconds had passed and none of them looked like they were going to speak up first, I sighed. ¡°Hello. Is there something we can do for you?¡± I kept my tone polite and unassuming. I hoped that they weren¡¯t here for what I was thinking they were here for, but I should have known that I wouldn¡¯t be that lucky.


    One of them stepped forward a little and spoke for his group. ¡°You know exactly why we are here. Now that we know Crown Prince Darius¡¯s presence we will need to separate him from all of you. Only for a little while and we will return him to you when we are done with him. We won¡¯t hurt him or do anything bad to him. All we will do is make sure that he can¡¯t use his presence against us.¡± Grabbing Darius¡¯s arm I whispered to him that it was his choice. If he didn¡¯t want to take the risk of them actually succeeding in limiting his presence then we could attempt our escape right now. He immediately shook his head.


    ¡°Our chances of succeeding right now are very low. Even if they are able to limit my presence, they wouldn¡¯t take it completely away from me. Or at least not for forever. They don¡¯t seem like those people.¡± There was a trace of terror in his eyes, but I knew that wouldn¡¯t stop him. I believed that they weren¡¯t going to take his presence away for forever as well and I knew that if we tried to escape now that we would fail, but the unknown was always scary. Kissing him softly on the lips, I reluctantly let him go. As they led him away he looked back once to meet my eyes and give me a reassuring smile. Then they had left the building and were out of sight. Biting my lip in anxiety, I paced from one side of the room to the other. Darius¡¯s guards didn¡¯t try to calm me down since they were too busy pacing as well. The tension in the air got to be so thick I felt like I could cut it with a knife. Our plan wouldn¡¯t work if the strangers limited Darius¡¯s presence so that he couldn¡¯t use it against them. I wasn¡¯t sure how they were planning on accomplishing this feat, but they had seemed confident that they could do it when they took him away.


    This made me wonder why they didn¡¯t do it to me as well. Did their method of limiting people¡¯s presences change with what the person¡¯s presence is? I wished that one of them had stayed behind so that I could question them, but they had all left the room. Speeding up my pacing, I kept my eyes on the ground and prayed for Darius¡¯s safe return. Glancing up for a moment to make sure that I wasn¡¯t going to run into anyone, I saw that three of Darius¡¯s four guards¡¯ mouths were moving. Managing a little smile when I realized they were praying just like I had been a moment ago, I knew that we were doing all that we could to help Darius. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was all that we could do. This continued on for several minutes while we waited for him to return. The wait was almost unbearable by the time we heard footsteps coming towards our house. All of us darted over to the door and waited for Darius to walk back in. We weren¡¯t sure what would happen if we left the house, however since Darius was coming back we didn¡¯t want to risk getting in trouble. We grabbed him once he was in our reach and pulled him into the house. When I saw his eyes I sucked in a silent breath. His eyes were different. Their violet color seemed a little faded.


    ¡°I am fine. Please don¡¯t worry. They didn¡¯t fully take away my presence. I can still summon fire whenever I want, they just put a limit on it. I can only summon smaller flames. Nothing that would damage people too badly other than small burns.¡± Though he kept saying that he was fine, his eyes showed that he wasn¡¯t completely fine. He might still have most of his presence, but he hated the limits that were put on it. Wrapping my arms around him in a hug I attempted to comfort him. When his arms went around me he almost crushed all the breath out of my body with the strength of his hug.


    I whispered in his ear, ¡°What did they do to you to limit your presence?¡±


    He peered over my shoulder to see that the strangers hadn¡¯t left yet, and whispered back, ¡°I will tell you as soon as they leave.¡± Nodding to show my understanding, I let go of him and let his guards all greet him. From the looks in their eyes, all of them knew that he wasn¡¯t completely happy and were waiting to hear what he was going to say after the strangers left. Sending impatient looks towards the strangers to try and rush them from the room, it seemed to take forever before all of them had left. The instant they were out of the house we closed the door with a soft thud and whipped around to face Darius. Expecting this response, he started talking the instant we faced him. ¡°They took me to the old man that you had talked about Ari. He told me that all I had to do was eat some plants that they had prepared. The only effect they would have on me would be to limit my presence. They were some of the nastiest things I have ever put into my mouth and I really hope I don¡¯t have to eat them again. From the way they were talking however, it seems that they wear off after 24 hours so I will have to eat them again tomorrow around this time.¡±


    Relief showed on all of our faces. ¡°Thank goodness they wear off. I had feared that they knew of a way to permanently take away presences.¡± Dustin seemed to voice what all of the guards had been thinking. ¡°Is the reason that you look more depressed now than before you left because your presence is limited? Does it feel any different?¡±


    Darius shrugged. ¡°It feels the same right now. When I use it however, I can feel something stopping me from creating larger flames. It is like an invisible wall in my brain that I can¡¯t push past.¡± Seeing the confused looks on our faces, he elaborated. ¡°They had me try out my presence while with them to see if the plants had worked properly.¡± Comprehending, at least partially, how upsetting it might be to have your presence not work correctly, I grabbed his hand. After only a few moments, he pulled away. Getting the message, all of us moved away to give him some space. His mind was trying to process what had happened to him still and it would be better if he did that on his own. This was his problem and there was no way we could help him. Gathering close to the opposite wall we debated quietly what to do next. Our original plan would never work now. A huge part of it was Darius using his presence to its full potential and that wasn¡¯t possible now unless we somehow kept him off the plants for more than a day. For some reason I didn¡¯t think that the strangers would allow us to do that without putting up a fight. And there were way more of them than there were of us.


    Time passed and we were no closer to an answer then we were when we first started. Deciding to give our brains a break for a little while, we all lay down on the ground and tried to find a comfortable enough place to sleep. The second that we laid down, the exhaustion that we had been keeping at bay welled up and overwhelmed us. As we slumped into a deep sleep, my brain finally allowed itself to turn off and rest. Several hours had passed when my eyes finally drifted open. Light from lit torches above me bathed the house in a reddish glow. Seeing shadowy forms in a slightly smokish haze near the roof of the house, I remembered the predicament that we were in. Silently groaning, I lifted myself up to my feet and began walking around. I knew that no matter what was happening around me that I needed to stay in shape so that when an opportunity to fight free occurred then I would be ready. Forcing myself into a run, I started doing back and forth sprints from one end of the house to the other. The pounding of my feet caused Darius¡¯s guards to startle awake, but they settled right back down after seeing that it was just me. Two of them went back to sleep, one sat up and watched me, and the last one pushed himself to his feet and he fell into a rhythm beside me.


    Sparing a glance to see which one it was, I gave a little wave to Dustin. He nodded back at me, but other than that we basically ignored each other. Falling into our own mental zones, we moved at our own paces and I fell behind Dustin. Not worrying about that, I challenged myself to go as fast and far as I could. Focusing only on moving my feet, I breathed as evenly as I could and kept going. All sounds faded away other than the sounds of my breaths and of my feet hitting the ground. I kept going like this for quite a while. It felt good to let go and just run. It seemed like forever passed before everyone else climbed out of their beds and I allowed myself to stop running. All the exhaustion that I had been holding at bay and not thinking about flooded into my body and I slumped into a sitting position. Putting my head in between my knees to try to stop the world from spinning, I took as deep of breaths as I could. Wrapping my arms around my knees I attempted to get my breathing back to normal.


    Footsteps sounded around me as the others stretched and walked around to wake themselves up completely. Groans of pleasure sounded from someone and I glanced up to see who it was. Spotting Joshua with his arms above his head and his back slightly arched in a stretch, I grinned and climbed to my feet. ¡°That stretch feel good?¡± He grunted in reply and I took it as a yes. Copying his movement, I groaned in pleasure as well and he turned his head to grin at me. Our levity lasted for only a moment before the gravity of our situation re-established itself by the sound of footsteps above us. It appeared that the strangers were switching who was watching us. Gazing around at everyone I hoped that I would find the spark of an idea in someone¡¯s eyes, but everyone looked slightly hopeless. Like they had already given up on us getting away. I knew that we still had a chance however. The strangers weren¡¯t going to keep us locked up in here forever. Or at least I was hoping that they wouldn¡¯t. The creak of the door to the house opening caught my attention and I faced it with curiosity.


    It wouldn¡¯t be time for them to take Darius away for another dose of whatever plants they had given him yet. A stranger stood there and curled his finger at me. Recognizing that he was telling me to come with him, I walked towards him without hesitation. Sending a quick glance at Darius to see that he was watching me, a spot of concern in his eyes, I sent a small smile. Following directly behind the stranger I saw that we were heading towards where I had last met with the old man. Praying that this meant I would finally learn what the plans were towards me and everyone else who had lived in this village before it had been taken over, I walked a little faster until I was right in line with my guide. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and seemed to understand why I was so eager to get to where we were going. ¡°You can go ahead and enter the house without me. The guards will let you in since they are expecting you. That way you won¡¯t have to wait for me anymore.¡± Sending him a grateful smile, I ran to the house and nodded thanks to the two guards at the door when they let me in. Stepping into the house I gave myself a second to let my eyes adjust to the dimmer light in here and then concentrated my focus on the bed in the center of the room.


    Strolling to it, I looked down upon the old man. Thankfully his eyes opened when I stood over him so I didn¡¯t have to wake him up. ¡°You sent for me?¡± I kept my tone polite and hid my impatience. He saw through my act immediately however.


    Letting out a wheezing laugh he replied, ¡°Yes I did send for you. I bet you have been waiting for me to do just that since I last dismissed you.¡± Choosing to hold onto a shred of my dignity I didn¡¯t answer him. ¡°You are probably eager to know what my plans are for you and the rest of the people that I am holding prisoner.¡± Nodding I bit my lip a little in apprehension. ¡°There is no need to worry. This is the very reason that I brought you here.¡± He paused and then shrugged. ¡°Alright, it is part of the reason that I brought you here. The second reason is that I need to know what your presence is. I don¡¯t want you to be able to use it against my people.¡± Eyeing him suspiciously, was what he going to say that he was going to do to us that bad, I shook my head slowly. ¡°I know that you don¡¯t want to tell me, but I can¡¯t risk my people¡¯s lives by leaving your presence unchecked.¡±


    ¡°My presence is not like Darius¡¯s. I can¡¯t directly hurt anyone with it.¡± I chose my words carefully so that I didn¡¯t lie, but I also didn¡¯t give too much away.


    A smile creased his wrinkled face. ¡°I don¡¯t doubt that. However, that doesn¡¯t mean that you still can¡¯t use it to hurt my people.¡± He studied my face and saw that I had no intention of telling him anything else about my presence. ¡°Please Ariana.¡±


    ¡°You can just call me Ari if you want to.¡± Seeing a small glimpse of hope flash across his face, I sadly shook my head. ¡°I am still not going to tell you about my presence. Not when it could be the original people who lived here¡¯s hope to escape from this place.¡± He sighed.


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    ¡°I was afraid of this possibility. Just remember that you forced my hand on this Ari. I didn¡¯t want it to come to this. It shouldn¡¯t hurt physically, but it may mess with your feelings and cause you distress that we could have prevented if you had just told me about your presence.¡± Staying firm to my silence, I waited for what would come next. There were only two things that I could think of that could possibly make me talk. Someone with a presence that could read my mind or something like that or a combination of herbs that I had never heard of before. The second one seemed more likely since they had already proven that they could do things with herbs that no one had thought possible before this. When a younger girl walked in carrying a bundle of herbs my fears were confirmed. I was a little surprised by the youth of the girl, but didn¡¯t let that give me hope. She wouldn¡¯t be in here unless she was the best person in the stranger¡¯s group with herbs.


    ¡°Are you the one who figured out how to limit peoples¡¯ presences with herbs?¡± My voice seemed to surprise the girl. Apparently she hadn¡¯t thought I would talk to her.


    Stammering a little in her answer she said, ¡°Yes. That was me.¡±


    ¡°Can you explain to me what the herbs you are going to give me are going to do? That way I can at least prepare myself a little for them.¡± My tone was conversational and it threw her off more and more as I kept talking. Holding back a little laugh at her expression I watched as she looked to the old man to see if she was allowed to answer my question. He nodded with amusement in his eyes.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any harm in letting her know what is going to happen.¡±


    She turned back to me and her tone got professional. It was clear that she knew what she was talking about. ¡°The herbs that I am going to give you are going to help you want to tell your secrets. It is not selective in what it forces you to say however so you could end up telling us more than what we want to know. It would be better if you just told us what we want to know.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I think I will take my chances with the herbs.¡± Holding my hands out for them, I stared as the girl hurriedly placed the leaves on a table before separating a few into a mortar and crushed them up into a powder. After adding some water to it it became a paste and she held the mortar out to me.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to eat all of it. Just around a spoonful. In fact, wait one second.¡± I raised an eyebrow at the old man as the girl rushed out of the house abruptly. He chuckled and said that was just how she was.


    ¡°Sometimes she can get a great idea, but then won¡¯t tell us until she tests it or until she finds proof or something.¡± About to reply to him, I was cut off by the sudden reappearance of the girl. She handed me the spoon she had rushed out to get and I understood how her leaving had to do with what she had been talking about at the time. Placing the spoon into the paste I scooped some onto it and met her eyes to make sure that I had enough. I had a feeling that it was going to taste nasty and I didn¡¯t want to have to eat more later when she told me I hadn¡¯t eaten enough. Getting a nod of confirmation I didn¡¯t hesitate any longer. Putting the spoon into my mouth I swallowed it down as fast as I could. I had been right. It was extremely nasty. Gagging from the taste I barely held it down. The young girl winced a little.


    ¡°I probably should have warned you about the taste. I am glad that you didn¡¯t throw it up.¡± I let out a shaky laugh.


    ¡°It was a close thing, but I still have a terrible taste in my mouth. The after taste is almost as bad as the first taste.¡± As the girl ran out of the room again I turned to the old man.


    ¡°How long will it take for the herbs to take effect? I don¡¯t feel any different right now other than the taste in my mouth.¡± The old man shrugged.


    ¡°I have no idea. You will have to ask Holly when she comes back.¡±


    ¡°Her name is Holly? That is a very pretty name and it fits her very well.¡± The old man wheezed out a laugh. He was interrupted by Holly this time before he could reply though.


    ¡°Thank you. I have always thought of my name as a sign that I am studying and doing what I was destined to do.¡± Startling a little at her abrupt entrance I smiled at her. She smiled back. ¡°Here you go. I got something from the kitchen for you to help get the taste out of your mouth.¡±


    I was touched by her thoughtfulness. ¡°Thank you so much. That was very kind of you to do.¡± She shrugged as if it wasn¡¯t a big deal. Grabbing the bowl with porridge from her I ate it eagerly and was pleased when it banished the horrible taste out of my mouth. Soon after handing the bowl back to Holly my head got fuzzy. I staggered a little from the odd sensation and Holly quickly grabbed me. Peering intensely into my eyes she seemed resigned from what she saw. ¡°What is happening? Why does my head feel so weird?¡±


    Gently pulling me to a chair she sat me down. ¡°It is the herbs. They are beginning to take effect. You may feel nauseous or dizzy, but that is only temporary.¡±


    My words slurred a little as I replied. ¡°That is good. It would be unfortunate if this was permanent. How would I fight like this?¡±


    ¡°Good thing you don¡¯t have to fight right now. Otherwise you would be in a bit of trouble. Now we have to focus on your secret though. We need to know what your presence is.¡± The old man sounded sad that he was forcing me to reveal something I didn¡¯t want to, but his voice was steady with determination.


    My brow furrowed in concentration. ¡°I am fighting right now though. Maybe not with a sword, but with my words and mind. I know that I shouldn¡¯t say what my presence is so my mind is attempting to fight the plants you gave me and it is really hard. I wish that I was fighting someone with a sword instead. Maybe that would be easier.¡± I fell silent as I contemplated this. Would it actually be easier? Holly stared at me shocked. ¡°What Holly? Is something wrong?¡± Genuine concern was in my voice. In the short time that I knew Holly I had come to like her. In some ways she reminded me of myself. A girl in a men¡¯s world making her own mark.


    Her head shook in complete disbelief. ¡°How are you resisting the herbs? I have used them on people who are stronger than you are and they told us everything we wanted to know without any difficulty. I don¡¯t understand. What makes you different?¡±


    ¡°Were they all boys?¡± There had been no hesitation before I answered. It was a pretty obvious answer. At least to me it was.


    ¡°They were all boys. I guess that could have something to do with it. Since female and male bodies are different, maybe the herbs aren¡¯t effective on girls. This is something that I will have to test out.¡± She got so lost in her head that she started muttering and pacing. It was clear she had forgotten all about the old man and me. I turned to the old man.


    ¡°Do you think that is why I can fight the plants? Because I am a girl?¡± Curiosity was in my voice. Even though I didn¡¯t understand plants really at all, it was interesting to me that they might affect different genders differently. The old man just shrugged.


    ¡°I have no idea why you are able to fight the plants and the others weren¡¯t. However, in my own opinion, I don¡¯t think it has anything to do with your gender. I think it has to do with your mental resilience.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°What do you mean? Were the others not strong mentally?¡±


    His head moved side to side on his pillow slowly. ¡°Not really. They were all strong physically sure, but they didn¡¯t seem to be the smartest of people. In fact, some of them made some mistakes that made me wonder if they were thinking at all.¡± I laughed and he smiled. ¡°It may sound mean, but it is the truth. I will have to tell you about their mistakes some other time when you are not on a bunch of herbs. Plus I am not sure if you will remember this conversation when the herbs leave your system.¡±


    ¡°Did all the others forget?¡± I didn¡¯t like the thought of forgetting. It might make me vulnerable somehow. Maybe they would say something important in this conversation. If I then forgot about it, then it could hinder our escape.


    ¡°Six out of the eight that we gave these herbs to forgot everything that happened while the herbs were in their systems. The two who didn¡¯t forget felt like their experience was a dream and later forgot all about it.¡± Promising to myself that I wouldn¡¯t forget, I worried that wasn¡¯t a promise that I would be able to keep. Afterall, it wasn¡¯t like I had much control over my mind. Sometimes I felt like I did, but the truth was that our minds controlled us. Not the other way around. Trying to burn this memory into my mind, I knew that was all I could do. The old man started talking again and I refocused on him. ¡°I still need to know what your presence is, Ari. It would really help me out. Don¡¯t you want to help out a friend?¡± He knew he was unfair. In my current situation I was way more likely to not understand exactly what giving away what my presence would mean. I was more forgetful in this state. I also couldn¡¯t think as well with my mind in the state that it was in.


    My eyes grew wide when I heard what he said. ¡°Of course I want to help out a friend. I feel like something bad will happen if I tell you what my presence is though. Something that I really don¡¯t want to happen. Right now I can¡¯t think of what exactly would happen however.¡± The old man pouted which was a strange sight. It made his face look a little younger which made his face look odd attached to his old body. I sighed. ¡°Alright old man. I will tell you what my presence is. First I want you to do something for me though. It is a simple thing don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± His voice sounded so eager that it solidified my decision to tell him what my presence was. How could telling him be bad if it made him so happy?


    ¡°All I want you to do is tell me what to call you. Up to now I have just been calling you old man.¡±


    He seemed relieved that I had asked for such a simple thing. ¡°You can continue to call me old man. It is what I am after all. My name isn¡¯t really important.¡±


    ¡°All names are important. If you are alright with me calling you old man though, then that is what I will continue to do.¡± The old man looked at me expectantly and I cocked my head to the side with a puzzled expression. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you remember? You told me that if I told you what to call me then you would tell me what your presence is.¡±


    ¡°Right. I don¡¯t know how I could have forgotten that so quickly. My presence is that I can go through any object. I basically become a ghost. Do you want to see it?¡± I was so excited to show him my presence that I didn¡¯t wait for him to answer. Getting up from my chair unsteadily I ran over to a table and began using my presence right before I hit it. Once I was through the table I triumphantly faced the old man and Holly again. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Both of their mouths were wide open. ¡°It is a very interesting and unique presence. I can honestly say that I have never seen someone else with that presence before. And I have been around for a long time and seen a lot of presences.¡± He sounded impressed, but also a little worried. Taking Holly¡¯s hand he began speaking quietly to her. I wondered what they were talking about. Not wanting to be nosy though, I didn¡¯t ask. Holly left the room immediately after being done talking with the old man.


    ¡°Where is she going? Off on another secret errand?¡± The old man shook his head, but didn¡¯t elaborate. Not sure what to do now, I went back to my chair and collapsed into it. ¡°Old man, my head seems to be becoming more and more unclear. Is that supposed to be happening?¡±


    Instead of answering my question, he asked me his own question. ¡°Ari, can you call for my guards to come in here? I have a feeling that you will need help getting back to your house.¡± I quickly jumped to my feet. That was a mistake. My legs collapsed and I fell to the floor with a thud. Turns out that was all the guards needed to hear. They rushed into the room with their weapons drawn. Spotting me on the floor they rushed to put their weapons away and help me to my feet. ¡°Ari is on the secret revealing herbs. We found out her presence and now the herbs are starting to wear off. She won¡¯t be able to even stand on her own in a few moments.¡± As if on cue, my legs gave out on me again the instant he stopped talking. Luckily a guard managed to grab me before I hit the floor again. Hauling me back to my feet, he and another guard dragged me over to my chair and gently placed me in it.


    ¡°Maybe you should stay sitting until you feel better.¡± I nodded in agreement with the guard.


    ¡°Maybe I should.¡± Sinking lower into the chair I felt my eyes slowly closing. I suddenly felt so tired and all I wanted to do was fall asleep. Before I could, Holly burst back into the room.


    She ran over to me and sank down to her knees so she was on my level. ¡°You can¡¯t go to sleep yet, Ari. I need you to eat something first.¡± Holly ordered the guards on either side of me to help me lift my head up and open my mouth. I went along with it easily and forced my eyes open so that I could see what she wanted me to eat. It looked a lot like the herb paste she had given me earlier and my nose crinkled in disgust. Nonetheless, I willingly took the spoon out of Holly¡¯s hand and placed a spoonful of it in my mouth. Swallowing as quickly as possible, I was grateful when it turned out to not taste as bad as the secret revealing herbs had been. It was still pretty bad though. ¡°Good job Ari. Now you can sleep. These two nice guards will carry you back to your house.¡± Sending a grateful smile at her I drifted off to sleep and felt my body being lifted off the chair. Raised voices woke me up a couple of minutes later when the guards carried me into the guest house. Blearily opening my eyes to see who was yelling, I was startled when I was lifted out of the guard¡¯s arms and into a new set of arms. Seeing the face of the person carrying me I relaxed. Feeling safe, I easily went back to sleep.

 Old Friends and New Plans

    Waking up was weird. When I opened my eyes I felt like something was wrong. Looking down on myself I couldn¡¯t see anything different and was stumped for a little while. It was only when I thought about the past that I figured out what had happened. My presence had been limited. It was the only explanation. The herbs that I had been given must have limited my presence. Picking up a pillow close to me I tried to use my presence to have my hand go through it. It took quite a while of intense concentration before I was able to do it. It was clear now that I had been right. The herbs they had given me right before I had fallen asleep had limited my presence. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I now completely understood how Darius was feeling. It felt like a part of me had been torn away from me and was now being held barely out of my reach. Hugging myself I noticed that everyone else in the house was fast asleep. Grateful for that, I tried to get it together. Who knew when anyone else was going to wake up and I didn¡¯t want them to see me like this.


    Taking deep breaths to try and calm myself down, I felt the tears come closer to falling. Frustrated with myself for being so weak, I decided to focus on the good. I still remembered what had happened when I had been under the secret revealing herbs. They were a little out of focus and small parts of it I couldn¡¯t remember very well, but I was still aware of most of it. Continuing to list the good things that were going on right now, I was amazed by how many things I could think of. Maybe things were as bad as they seemed. I only wished that Milo, his guards, my guards, and my maids were here as well. Then life really wouldn¡¯t be so bad. The creak of the door opening caught my attention and I watched as several people walked in. In the darkness I couldn¡¯t tell who they were, but there was something familiar about them. A torch flared to life and woke up everyone in the house. I stayed in my same position until I saw the faces of the people who had walked in. Shooting to my feet I rushed into the arms of Hazel and Sophia. The tears I had been holding back now flowed freely and Hazel and Sophia tried to figure out what was wrong with me.


    Scanning me for injuries, my guards also hovered around me anxiously. ¡°Are you alright Ari? Did they hurt you? Why are you crying?¡± I just shook my head unable to answer. It felt really good to be held and helped me feel more whole. Like my presence wasn¡¯t limited. Figuring out that they weren¡¯t going to get any answers from me, my guards turned to Darius and his guards to try and figure out what was going on. Darius¡¯s guards explained in low voices how both Darius and my presences had been limited by herbs so that we couldn¡¯t really use them. Everyone hearing about this for the first time was stunned. ¡°How were they able to figure out what your presences were?¡±


    Darius answered this time. ¡°I had not been aware that they had been watching me and used my presence to give us some light in this house after we accidentally attacked Ari. We didn¡¯t hurt her though.¡± He said this quickly once he saw the concerned looks on my guards faces. ¡°She anticipated our attack after she saw one of our forms in the dark.¡± They nodded in understanding and I saw the proud looks they sent my way. Managing a nod of acknowledgement I felt my tears slow. ¡°I would tell you how they found out about Ari¡¯s presence, but I actually don¡¯t know. They took her away a while ago and when she came back she was basically unconscious and her presence was limited. Our captors told us that they hadn¡¯t hurt her, but I am not sure if I believe them.¡± Dark look appeared on everyone¡¯s faces. I realized that it was time for me to tell them what had happened before they attacked our captors for something they hadn¡¯t done.


    ¡°I can tell you how they found out.¡± My voice was stronger than I expected and I stepped out of Hazel and Sophia¡¯s arms. ¡°They took me to see the old man,¡± I saw the confused looks on Milo¡¯s, his guards¡¯, my guards¡¯, and my maids¡¯ faces and elaborated. ¡°The old man is the leader of our captors.¡± They showed their understanding and gestured for me to go on. ¡°Once I got there they asked me several times to tell them what my presence was. Of course I told them that I wasn¡¯t going to say. They then brought in a girl who looked a little younger than me. Her name is Holly and she is their herbalist. She gave me an herb paste that tasted horrible and it made me confused and light headed. While in this state, even though I resisted it for a while, I eventually told them what my presence was. Once the secret revealing herbs had worn off, they gave me the herbs that limited my presence since I was half asleep. I guess once the herbs wore off they took basically all of your energy with them, and then I was carried back here.¡± I turned to face Darius and his guards. ¡°Sorry for worrying you. I couldn¡¯t keep my eyes open any longer once I got here and didn¡¯t have the energy to tell you what had happened to me.¡±


    They all shook their heads and told me not to worry about it. They were just glad that I was alright and hadn¡¯t been hurt. Darius gathered me into my arms and kissed my forehead. ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize. I do.¡±


    Pulling away enough to look at his face I frowned in confusion. ¡°What do you mean? Why do you have to apologize?¡±


    He lowered his eyes in shame. ¡°When they limited my presence I cut myself off from everyone and didn¡¯t even really talk to any of you. I should have turned to you for comfort, instead I forced all of you away.¡±


    I lifted his chin until he had to look at me. ¡°That is not something that you have to apologize for. When I woke up and remembered that my presence had been limited I had been so grateful that everyone had been asleep. I curled up into a ball and got lost in myself.¡± He finally looked into my eyes. ¡°So you see, I did the same thing that you did. There is no shame in taking some time for yourself occasionally as long as you come back to me eventually.¡± A smile creased his face and he lowered his forehead to touch it to mine. Our moment was interrupted by several of our captors coming into the house. Facing them while keeping our hands intertwined, we waited for them to say what they wanted. Instinctively, my guards and maids had gathered around me and my guards had put their hands where their weapons had been before they had been confiscated. It was pretty crowded in the house now with our captors in there and I hoped that they were only here for a short visit. My expression fell a little when I noticed the two mortars in the leading stranger¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Is it already time to take our herbs? It couldn¡¯t have been a day since the last time that I took them.¡± A trace of desperation sounded in my voice. I really did not want to take another dose of my herbs again. They were so nasty and I wanted to feel my whole presence again. Darius knew for sure that one of the mortars was for him so he let go of me with one hand to grab it.


    The lead stranger looked at me with sympathy in his eyes and I knew what he was about to say. ¡°We are having you take your herbs now so that we can take both of you your mixtures at the same time instead of having to come in here twice a day.¡± I sighed sadly, but grabbed the mortar. Facing each other, Darius and I scooped up a spoonful of the paste and took a deep breath. Placing the spoon in our mouths at the same time we swallowed as quickly as possible and then began gagging. It tasted even worse this time than it had before. We both took several moments of gagging before we recovered fully. My guards patted my backs while my maids murmured comforting words to me. Handing the mortar back to the lead stranger gratefully we watched as all of them left our house. Now that it was a lot less crowded in the house we spread out a little more and separated into our different groups. I went with my guards and maids, while Darius went with his guards, and Milo went with his guards.


    We talked and caught up on what had happened to us while we had been apart. It seemed that I had the most exciting time of all of us. The others hadn¡¯t even met the old man and since they didn¡¯t have a presence no one had been bothering them to try and figure out what they could do. My retelling of what had been going on with me lately took longer than everyone else¡¯s combined. ¡°No matter where we go Ari, you are always the one who gets the most things happen to them. Why are you so popular? The only difference between us is that you have a presence and we don¡¯t.¡± Casey said this in a teasing tone and I knew that he wasn¡¯t serious. My guards had known as soon as they had seen my eyes that their job of guarding me wasn¡¯t going to be easy.


    I grinned at him. ¡°I know it is so odd isn¡¯t it. People really need to straighten out their priorities.¡± Laughter erupted from around me and everyone, including our captors watching from above, stared at us in both amusement and confusion. None of them came over to us though and I knew that they were all quite absorbed in their own conversations. We quieted down and sat in a circle. All of us were doing the same thing, keeping everyone in our line of sight so that our brains could finally register the fact that we were all together again. I really hoped that we weren¡¯t separated for a long time. It had been harder than I had thought to be away from all of them. Darius and his guards may be my friends, or more than friends in Darius¡¯s case, but this was my family. I had been with all of them for way longer than anyone else. I wrapped my arms around the two people beside me and everyone followed my example. It felt good to be physically connected, even if I wasn¡¯t technically touching everyone. Several minutes passed while we were in this position and I was so content that I didn¡¯t want to move. It felt like if I moved that something was going to happen that would tear us apart again.


    Eventually though we had to move and we reluctantly let go of each other and stood up. The other groups were starting to disperse as well and as Hazel and Sophia grabbed their loves, I went over to Darius. ¡°What did you all talk about? For us we were just catching up. They don¡¯t know anything more than we do about our captors and they have no plans of escape.¡± Darius nodded. He had been expecting that, but it still disappointed him all the same. It had disappointed me too. I had hoped that they would be able to answer all of our questions and have a foolproof plan to escape. It had been an unrealistic hope, but that had been my hope. We embraced each other and shared our strength with each other. We also shared a feeling of safety. Any fears, hopelessness, weaknesses, or tenseness drained away. We relaxed into each other and felt peace for the first time in a while. That moment was shattered when shouts were heard outside. We all rushed over to the door to look out and see what was happening outside. A smile came onto my face when I saw women and children rushing into the village with a few men. Couples were running into each other¡¯s arms and tons of tears were being shed.


    Looking at each other we were all glad that the women and children had all arrived safely. I had been worried that something had happened to them. Backing back into the house we looked up to see that all of the people who had been above us were looking anxiously out at the crowds of people. ¡°Go ahead and greet your wives, children, or whatever they are to you. We will not try to escape while you do that.¡± Their uncertain faces greeted me and I knew they needed a little more convincing in order to leave their posts. ¡°I promise on the lives of all of my friends in this house that we won¡¯t leave this house during the time that you are all away.¡± Their eyes narrowed a little as they noticed my clarification at the end, but it seemed to work for them because they all slid down ropes and hurried out of the house to see their loved ones. Knowing that we would never break a promise, we all sat down and resigned ourselves to just planning our escape instead of actually attempting one. No one blamed me for letting our watchers go out or promising that we wouldn¡¯t leave the house. They had all been planning on doing the same exact thing.


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    We were much too nice to our captors. That was just who we were though. Something that was never going to change no matter what happened to us in our lives. Our discussion of what we were going to do didn¡¯t go very well. By the time that our watchers came back, around an hour later, we hadn¡¯t gotten anywhere. Quieting quickly when they came in, we stifled smiles at their wary looks. It was clear that they were aware that we had been discussing our plans to escape. It didn¡¯t appear that they knew that we didn¡¯t have any actual plans though. Which could be a good thing. They would be on their toes and expecting us to try something which might give us an opening and help us get a plan to escape. The village outside of our house was very busy over the next few days as the newcomers found out which houses were theirs and everyone tried to find and fall into a rhythm. Inside our house it was pretty quiet. The only thing that interrupted our boring days was when some of our captors would come in and give Darius and me our herbs to limit our presences. The herbs were just as awful tasting as they had been the first time we had taken them.


    Nothing had happened with our plans to escape. We had a couple more group discussions about what we could do to escape, but it was looking pretty hopeless right now. Without Darius and my presences we were just not strong enough to escape. The days passed slowly and while we had developed a routine for each day, that just made everything so predictable. Everyone knew what everyone else was going to be doing at any time of any day. Even our watchers got bored of watching us and their fear of us having a plan to escape faded away as days went by and we did nothing. One day, several days after the women and children had arrived, we heard more raised voices outside. Some of the others¡¯ curiosity caused them to walk over and open the doors. I wasn¡¯t really that interested, I figured that it was just a bunch of kids yelling or something close to our house, until I looked up. Our watchers were all staring outside and they looked quite concerned. Pointing this out to Darius we both stood up and ran over to the door to see what everyone else had seen. What we saw was mass chaos. People were running all over the place and weapons were appearing in everyone¡¯s hands other than the children and a few women who were all going into Brendon¡¯s old house.


    Watching their faces closely I could see that fear was on each of their faces. Closing my eyes I listened intently to what they were all shouting. The few words that I could make out made it sound like there were intruders coming, and that they knew who the intruders were. Walking right under where all the watchers were gathered I yelled up to them, ¡°Who are the intruders that are coming? Please don¡¯t tell me that they are the people who took over your original village.¡± The fearful looks that got sent down to me confirmed my own fears. The people who had taken over the last village that these people had lived in were now coming here. Instead of fleeing this time though, they seemed to want to fight. ¡°We can help you fight if you let us. Once Darius and I are off our herbs then we can make a big difference in this battle and many in our group are very skilled with a sword.¡± The considering looks that I saw gave me hope that they might actually let us help. They huddled together to talk for a moment before one of them ran to their ropes, climbed down, and then sprinted out of the house. Wondering where he was going, I went back to the door.


    Spotting him running into Brendon¡¯s old house I smiled when I realized that he was going to talk to the old man. I had a feeling that if it was left up to the old man then he was going to allow us to fight. Telling the others what I had done and what was now occurring, they all had the same faith. ¡°They will let us fight. They have to if they want to win this battle. Afterall, they have even fewer fighters now than the first time that they fought these intruders and lost.¡± Alex sounded slightly desperate and as I saw his hand close over the air where his sword used to be, I knew that he missed having it there. Even if it meant fighting with our enemy, it was better than staying in here and wishing for the best. We all waited anxiously for him to come back and tell us what the old man had said. Several long minutes passed as we continued waiting. Most of us had started pacing back and forth to try and work off some of our stress. I was one of those people. I had just completed a circuit around the room and had come back to the door when he finally came back out of the house.


    I stopped in my tracks and shifted from foot to foot in anticipation of what he was about to say. I hoped with all my might that he would say what I wanted him to say. All of us were huddled back around the door and as soon as he was in shouting range, even with everyone else outside shouting as well, we asked what the old man had said. No answer came from him and we groaned in exasperation when we realized that he was going to come all the way to us instead of just yelling back at us. While it only took him a few more moments to reach us it felt like an eternity. He arrived slightly out of breath and took a second to catch his breath before he spoke. We all concealed our impatience but if he took much longer then we might all lose it. He seemed to sense that and began to talk as soon as he had caught his breath. ¡°My Master says that you will all be allowed to fight with us. If we manage to defeat these intruders and drive them off then he hopes that we will be able to return to our original village. He suspects that they will bring at least most of their soldiers with them and we will easily be able to retake our village even without your help. So you will all be able to have this village back if we win. If we lose though, we will probably all lose our lives.¡±


    The way he said that so matter of factly startled us a little. Thinking about how they had already faced these people and lost however, I realized that he probably wasn¡¯t anticipating winning this battle. That knowledge just made me even more determined to win this battle. Not just for my friends and I, but for the people whose lives had already been upended by these intruders. ¡°How long until they arrive? Is there enough time for Darius and my presences to come back after the herbs wear off?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They won¡¯t be here for another day or two.¡± Seeing the question rising in my eyes, he answered before I even asked it. ¡°We have several sentries in the forest that ran back to us as soon as they caught sight of them. Thankfully they are fast runners so we got enough warning to prepare fully for the attack that is coming.¡± Extremely grateful that we would be able to use our presences during the battle, I pulled Darius aside and started talking to him about the best ways to use our presences. Darius couldn¡¯t, or rather wouldn¡¯t, use his presence if there was any chance of one of our allies getting injured. We would have to figure out a way to get him alone with a bunch of enemies. It would not be an easy thing to do. On the other hand, I would be most useful running through the enemies ranks and causing tons of confusion. Kissing each other for good luck we left to go speak to our own guards.


    Pulling all of my guards and my maids away from the huddle they were in with everyone else, I began talking strategy with them. They weren¡¯t super excited about the idea of watching me run into battle alone, but they could all see the advantage it would give us in the battle. After a bunch of compromises on both of our sides we finally came to a decision. I would be allowed to run wild and create confusion in the enemies ranks until they started to anticipate me. As soon as they weren¡¯t surprised by me running through their allies then I had to come back to my guards and fight alongside them. I also had to go back to my guards if I felt too weak to continue using my presence. I really hoped that I was strong enough to keep going as long as it would be helpful, however I still hadn¡¯t used my presence all that much so it was probable that I would get tired pretty quickly. My maids now spoke up. ¡°What are we going to be doing while you are all fighting? We want to help too.¡± After another long discussion we decided that Sophia would find out where the healers for the strangers would be and help them out as much as possible. Hazel would find out where the strangers archers would be and help them out. Now that we had figured out our various plans, we left the house and headed over to where the armory appeared to be. In order to be prepared for the battle we had to have weapons. We couldn¡¯t just have any weapons though. We had to have our weapons. Other weapons might have a slightly different grip or feel to them and we couldn¡¯t afford to be adjusting to using a new weapon when we were in the middle of fighting someone.


    All of the strangers parted as soon as we got close to them and we were soon inside of the armory. Hoping that the old man had told them that we could retrieve our weapons, I held my breath a little as we walked up to the armorer. Before we had even opened our mouths to tell him what we were there for, he pointed us to a far wall and then proceeded to turn to the person behind us. Getting the clue we headed over to where he had pointed and were happy to see that all of our weapons were hung on that wall. Quickly grabbing each of our individual weapons we put all of our sheathes on and relaxed for the first time since our weapons had been taken away from us. A warrior could never fully be happy and relaxed without a weapon on their person. It was a fact that I had learned pretty quickly once I had gotten a weapon. Resting my hand on my sword I took a deep breath in and let myself enjoy it for a brief moment before I forced my eyes open and led the way out of the armory. It was way too crowded in there and we now needed to come together as a group and discuss our various plans so that none of us interfered with another¡¯s plan.


    By habit we went back into our house and sat in a circle to talk. First I told them the agreement between my guards and I, and what my maids were going to be doing. Then Darius spoke. ¡°My guards are going to attract a large group of the enemy, as large of a group as they can get and then they will disappear into a side alley. While the enemy is trying to decide where they went I will come out of my hiding spot and use my presence on them. I will just be trying to hurt instead of kill so then my guards can come back out and we can either knock them out or tie them up.¡± He spent a second thinking something over in his mind and then made a final decision. ¡°We will knock them out and tie them up. That way we can be sure that they won¡¯t reenter the fight.¡± Turning to his guards he asked Ethan if he could find enough rope to tie up at least 20 peoples¡¯ hands and feet. Or as many as he thought that they could gather in one place. Ethan nodded and hopped up to his feet. He then proceeded to run from the room. I nodded approvingly at Darius. Ethan was a smart choice because he would be able to figure out for himself how much rope he would need. We wouldn¡¯t need to figure it out. Milo now began to tell us his plan.


    ¡°My guards and I are planning on a pretty straightforward approach. We will stay back for a little while and the first area that seems to be struggling we will go join them. That way we are like reinforcements. As soon as we get that first area under control then we will go to the next struggling area and on and on until the battle is over one way or the other.¡± All of the guards and Darius nodded.


    ¡°It is a good plan. With all of us following our plans we have a good chance of helping our captors win this fight.¡± Alex nodded approvingly at Tyler when he said this so we all knew that he agreed with him. I laughed internally at Tyler¡¯s words though because it had sounded strange stated like that. Who in their right mind would help their captors win a fight? Apparently us. Either that or we weren¡¯t in our right minds which was possible after all the craziness that we had been through lately. I shrugged. It didn¡¯t really matter because either way we were going to do it. I ignored the weird looks that the others gave me because of my shrug since I didn¡¯t feel like explaining why I had done it.

 The Thief

    ¡°Now that we have figured out our plans we should probably gather in our own small groups and figure out exactly how we are going to accomplish our separate tasks.¡± Milo said this with a glance at his guards who were nodding approvingly. They most likely wanted to discuss formations. Like who would charge in first and things like that. Darius agreed with Milo and huddled into a small circle with his guards. They were going to figure out how to get as many enemies to follow them as possible and then how to deal with them all without any of our allies getting caught in the crossfire and to do it without anyone getting injured. Meanwhile I gestured for my group to follow me a little ways away for a little more privacy and then we started talking about how they would signal me to come back as soon as the enemy began to anticipate me. More likely than not I would not notice that our enemies were starting to anticipate my movements faster then they would. I, just like tons of other warriors, could get caught up in a fight and not think about anything past my very next move. While I was working on it, I was still a long ways away from being a strategic warrior in battle.


    We determined that the best way to signal me was for all of them to whistle at the same exact time. That way it would hopefully rise above the sounds of the battle and reach me wherever I was on the battlefield. Our next problem that we had to find a solution for was how my guards would be able to even watch our enemies close enough to see when they were starting to realize what I could do and where I was going next. If they were level with them then they likely would not be able to even see where I was. Never mind the faces of the enemy. However they also couldn¡¯t be in a place where they wouldn¡¯t be able to reach me in time if something bad happened. For example if I suddenly got too tired and my presence failed me. They would have no chance of reaching me in order to save me. We racked our brains trying to think of something, but nothing that we came up with-- which wasn¡¯t much to begin with-- would actually work. They all had an element or part that made that idea unusable. For instance, we thought that maybe they could be up on the wall and that way they could see everything and then could sprint down the stairs if they saw me in danger.


    With that idea though, there were way too many stairs for them to get to me in time. Not even they were that fast. A couple of my guards, Casey and Alex, muttered to themselves that they should have been working out more. However I just shook my head. ¡°No matter how much any of you worked out, you still never would have been fast enough to make that plan work.¡± Which of course my words just made all of them start muttering and saying that they were going to prove me wrong one day. To bring them back on track I pointed out that we had to be alive and free for them to even have a chance of accomplishing that goal. That snapped them back into the present and they all nodded to show that they were ready to plan again. After running through several more ideas we were finally forced to admit that we had no ideas left. ¡°What if we asked Brendon if he had any ideas for where you all could be?¡± That made everyone go silent as they pondered that thought.


    ¡°That is actually a really good idea. He knows this village inside and out. If anyone could think of somewhere for us to be, it would be him.¡± Liam¡¯s voice sounded so surprised that I was slightly offended by it.


    ¡°Why do you sound surprised that I offered up a good idea?¡± Liam immediately knew he had to step carefully now in order to calm me down. Otherwise he was going to be in a lot of hot water soon. He glanced at the others for help but they all smiled. They were enjoying this too much to help him out. Plus they all wanted to see how he would handle it on his own. It turned out that he was pretty good at it. At least good enough to get himself out of trouble.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t exactly surprised at your idea. I was surprised that we didn¡¯t think of that before. Honestly it just shows that we have grown too reliant on ourselves. We need to start thinking about how the others around us can help us.¡± His anxious gaze settled on me as the rest of my guards all got thoughtful looks on their faces as they silently agreed with Liam. They weren¡¯t going to say anything however because they wanted to see I was still offended and would lash out at them for agreeing with him. Secretly glad that I could scare them all like this I decided to let them off the hook.


    ¡°It is true that we rely too much on ourselves. From now on we need to take that into consideration. You are off the hook for sounding surprised about my idea now Liam. Don¡¯t think that lets you off the hook in the future though.¡± I threw that last part in as an afterthought. I didn¡¯t want them to get too comfortable after all. What would be the fun in that? As a group we strolled over to where the nearest stranger was and got their attention.


    ¡°Would you be able to do something for us?¡± Alex said this politely and made sure that his posture was non-aggressive. We knew that the strangers were still wary of us. They had made us their captives and were waiting for some kind of retribution. They didn¡¯t realize that we were already over it. Over half of us had already been taken captive once before not that long ago so it wasn¡¯t like it was anything new for us.


    The stranger had jumped a little when he had recognized that we were talking to him, but now he calmed his nerves with a deep breath and replied, ¡°It depends on what you want me to do.¡±


    Glad by his answer, it wasn¡¯t like we were going to ask a hard thing from him, Alex said, ¡°We were just wondering if you could go and talk to the old man for us.¡± He paused for a moment when he saw the confused expression on the stranger¡¯s face. It appeared that some hadn¡¯t heard what we called their Master yet. ¡°We call your Master the old man.¡± His confusion melted away to reveal both understanding and indecision. I figured that he was thinking about whether he should take that as an insult to his Master or not. Seeming to come to the same conclusion as me, Alex distracted him by asking the rest of his question. ¡°Anyways we were hoping that you would ask permission of him for us to be able to visit Brendon. He used to be the leader of this village before you arrived.¡± Once he had thought it over for a moment he ran off in the direction of the old man. He probably thought that it would be important for the old man to know that we wanted to talk to Brendon even if he wasn¡¯t going to give us permission to see him. And I was sure that he was positive that we would not get the permission we wanted.


    On the other hand I was thinking that our request would get granted. The old man seemed to be willing to do whatever it would take to win this battle and us talking to Brendon would give us a better advantage in this fight. Then we would be in the best position to help in this fight. When the stranger jogged back to us he got close enough that we could see him and meet his eyes so that we knew he was gesturing to us to follow him instead of someone else. Jogging out to meet him we headed into the old man¡¯s house and stepped up to his bed in the middle of the room. ¡°It is good to see you again. How have you been doing? Are your people ready for the coming battle?¡± I was the one who was speaking since I knew the old man the best.


    ¡°I am doing as well as can be expected. If you are wondering if I am feeling weaker or if my mental capacities are shrinking then no. I feel the same as the last time we met. As for my people, they are as ready for this battle as they will ever be. The only thing left to do is to get into position as soon as the enemy is spotted outside of this village. Back to why you are actually in my house though. You wish to speak to Brendon? Why?¡± The honest curiosity in his eyes showed me that he was open to the idea of us talking to Brendon as long as we had a good enough reason.


    ¡°My guards and I have a bit of a problem. We don¡¯t know the best spot in this village for my guards to observe the battle that is also close enough for them to join the battle in a moment¡¯s notice. We figured that the best way to figure that out would be to talk to the one person who knows this village best. That person happens to be Brendon.¡± A thought suddenly hit me then and I knew I had to ask. ¡°Also I am very curious about something.¡± The old man¡¯s eyes told me to continue so I did. ¡°Why did you not use your presence to help your people the last time these intruders attacked?¡± The old man¡¯s eyes grew sad as he thought about that day.


    ¡°I would have. However in order to use my presence on them, they have to be in my line of sight. The only ones that I could use my presence on that day were my guards and all they used it for was carrying me out of that place.¡± He shook his head in such a weak way that I could barely see that movement. ¡°Alright then, getting back on topic, I will allow you to go visit Brendon.¡± Looking at one of his guards he seemed to communicate to him with his eyes. The guard sighed and waved their hand to get us to follow him out of the house.


    I raised my hand to stop the guard though. ¡°I have two other things to ask.¡± Seeing a gesture to continue, I got right to the point. ¡°Sophia is thinking that she can do the most good if she is with your healers. Would you have someone take her to them? Also Hazel is good with a bow and she wishes to be with your archers in order to contribute the most to this fight as well.¡± There was no hesitation before the old man nodded. It was clear that he agreed that was where they could do the most good and he gestured for two more of his men to take them where they wanted to go. My guards and I waved good-bye to them and went over to our guide and stayed two steps behind him as we walked to where Brendon was. As we walked we paid close attention to where we were going. If the strangers broke their promises after the battle was over then we would need to know where everyone else was being kept in order to free them in the shortest amount of time possible. I didn¡¯t think that they would break their promises, but there was always a possibility and we needed to be prepared for everything. My guards were on my same page and were studying everything around us and were figuring out which building we were heading towards. Our guide glanced back at us and their eyes tightened when they figured out what we were doing. It wasn¡¯t like we were trying to hide our actions.


    An expression of indecision came onto his face as he debated whether or not he should do something about it. When he finally came to a decision he turned back to look where he was going. He had decided that there was nothing he could do to prevent us from looking. Or at least nothing that wouldn¡¯t get him in trouble with the old man. We all shared a quick glance of triumph before going back to what we were doing. Eventually we got to the very back of the village right up against the wall and spotted a large house there. All of the doors were closed and tons of guards were surrounding it. It was pretty obvious that this was where they were. Kind of disappointed that we did all that observing for nothing, I wondered if our guide had known that this place stood out that much because I doubted that if they did that they would have debated what to do about us looking around the village. Based on the smirk that he sent our way he had no idea that it looked like this. Strolling up to the guards at the house he told them quietly that we were allowed to see Brendon, but not the others in the house. One of them immediately ran inside to go get him. Only a couple seconds later he ran back out towing Brendon behind me.


    All of us let out a relieved breath that we hadn¡¯t even known that we had been holding in. He seemed to be in perfect health. We had been slightly afraid, no matter how we had been treated, that he had been mistreated. He was the leader of this village and he didn¡¯t have a presence after all. Speaking of presences I snuck a look at Darius when I felt something flare to life inside me. He was looking right at me when I met his eyes and from the excited look in his eyes he felt it as well. Our presences had just come back. Grabbing each other''s hands in a gentle reminder of restraint, we were on their side technically now, we held our excitement in. The battle would be starting within the next 24 hours and we would be able to go wild during that. Gathering in a circle with Brendon in the middle we stepped a couple steps away from the strangers to get a little bit of privacy and began whispering to Brendon. ¡°We needed to talk to you. There will be a battle between our current captors and the ones who took over their old village within a day. We have decided to join that fight. The enemy you know is better than the one you don''t, right?¡±


    Brendon had seemed shocked for a moment but now sighed. ¡°I agree with that even if I don¡¯t particularly don¡¯t want to. They haven¡¯t treated us badly so it would be better staying with them then taking a chance with the others. Plus then you can figure out a way to break the rest of us free while you are running around free.¡± He soon realized there was something else that we hadn¡¯t told him. ¡°What? What aren¡¯t you telling me?¡±


    ¡°The strangers, our current captors, have promised that they will leave this village to us if they win this fight.¡± A hopeful gleam appeared in his eyes. They could break their promise, but at least it was more than not giving us that promise at all. ¡°They will go back to their own village and you will be the leader of this village once again.¡±


    ¡°I assume that you will all be going back to Raetis once you are free?¡± His tone was so matter of factly and we knew that was what he would do if he was in our place.


    Gazing at my guards I knew what they wanted me to say so I said it. ¡°Yes. We will be heading back to Raetis after we are free. It is probably safer for us there than here. Even if we are being threatened.¡± Brendon¡¯s gaze sharpened and I remembered that I had not told him about that. Shaking my head to forestall his question I spoke up again. ¡°It is not important right now. Lets focus on why we have actually come to talk to you. My guards need a spot that is close enough to the battle to join it in an instant, but is high enough up that they can view at least most of the battle from there.¡± He pondered this and studied the parts of his village that he could see. From the way his eyes looked glazed we knew that he was seriously thinking over every part of his village. His eyes even closed to think about it better.


    When his eyes snapped open we took that as a sign that he knew the perfect spot. Thankfully we were correct. ¡°There is a house by the front gate that has a secret room. It is near the top of the house and has a great view of the area all around the front gate. There is a chute that goes down to the front door of that house for a speedy exit. The house is a light green color and has a brown door. It should be pretty easy to spot. To find the secret entrance to the secret room, tap on the wall to the left of the fireplace.¡± Tyler actually hugged Brendon after he gave us this information because he was so happy that they now had a spot where they could help me out the most. Brendon looked so shocked by this that the rest of us had to laugh at him.


    ¡°We have to get going now. Honestly the new intruders could show up any minute now and we need to be in position before then.¡± I said this partially because it was true and partially to get Tyler to stop hugging Brendon. Waving goodbye to him as a couple of guards pulled him back into the house, we turned and ran as soon as we couldn¡¯t see him anymore. We knew that the lookouts on the top of the walls would warn us when the intruders came into view, but we had to make sure that we knew how to get in and out of the secret room by that point. It would be bad if we had only found the entrance to the secret room by the time the intruders showed up and I had to join the fight. I definitely knew that my guards would panic and they might try to stop me from leaving. Not that they could, but it would be at least slightly annoying. Finding the house that Brendon had talked about, we ripped open the door and rushed inside. Reaching the fireplace we all began examining the wall to the left of it. Our hands all started searching for something that felt different from the rest of the wall. Our frustration grew more and more as we continued to not find anything. As several minutes passed we were beginning to wonder if we should go back to Brendon and ask him to help us open the wall to get to the secret room. Soon after we had that thought however, Liam¡¯s hand went over a small bump on the wall.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Hurrying to put his hand back onto the small irregularity he pushed on it. A quiet click sounded and all of our attention turned to Liam. When he started pushing on the wall to move it to the left we all helped him. Grinning at each other once the wall was completely open, we ran up the steps two at a time until we reached the top. The last person to enter the stairwell closed the secret door behind them by pushing gently on it. Throwing open the door at the top of the stairs we piled into the secret room. There were several small windows along one of the walls and Alex went over to check out what you could see from them. This would be a useless discovery if Brendon was wrong and you couldn¡¯t see where the battle was going to take place. Giving us a thumbs up when he saw that the windows overlooked the correct spot, we then started looking for the chute that Brendon had talked about. While we were still in the middle of searching, shouting came from outside and we knew that the intruders had been spotted. The search became more frantic as my guards tried to find the chute before I had to leave the room and join the fight. Meanwhile, I went over to the windows and peered down at the world below. I needed to know the exact moment that the fighting began.


    My hands were getting sweaty now that the time of the battle was in sight. Wiping them anxiously on my pants I rested my left hand on my sword to attempt to steady my nerves a little. The feel of the hard steel under my palm did quite a bit to calm me down. It made me feel more in control and ready for what was coming. The sound of steel hitting steel came from outside and I knew that the battle had officially arrived. Tightening my grip on the hilt of my sword I took a deep breath and readied my presence. I didn¡¯t start using it yet, but I made sure that I could begin using it at any moment. A yell of triumph sounded behind me and I glanced over my shoulder. A floorboard had been pried up to reveal the chute and all of my guards¡¯ hands were raised in celebration. Clapping my hands together for a moment to congratulate them I soon turned back to the window. The main gate shuddered a little as the intruders tried to open it. Either they were hitting it with a battering ram or they were trying to scale it. No matter which way they were doing, they would soon be in the village if the shuddering gate was any proof. My eyes were glued to the gate so I almost missed the commotion that occurred on the two walls right by the gate when ropes were thrown onto them and people started to climb.


    The strangers tried to cut the ropes, but for some reason they weren¡¯t able to. No matter how hard or how many times they hacked at them, they wouldn¡¯t cut. It didn¡¯t even seem like the ropes were fraying. I could have been mistaken though because I was so far away. Hoping with all my might that I was mistaken, my hopes sank when the first intruder made it onto the top of the wall. Covering my mouth with my right hand I felt tears in my eyes when I saw the first stranger fall. I knew that many more were going to fall before this day was done, but that didn¡¯t make it any easier to see. Concentrating on focusing my sadness into anger, I felt my eyes narrow as I accomplished it. These intruders weren¡¯t going to get away with all of their cruelty. They should have been satisfied with the one village that they had taken over instead of coming here. Now they would have to face my friends and I and we were much more of a challenge to beat than the strangers. The battle on the wall was lost quickly by the strangers. The intruders were clearly the more superior fighters.


    My hand began to cramp from how hard I was clenching my hand around my sword as I waited for the right time to leave this house and begin my attack. I was starting to wish that I had practiced more with my presence however. Was there a way for me to use my presence on my body, but not on my sword? That way I could fight without endangering myself at all. Closing my eyes to help banish these thoughts until after this battle was over, I promised myself that I would think about this later. Also once we were back in Raetis I was definitely going to work on my presence as much as I possibly could. Meanwhile, the battle was progressing quickly and the gates were starting to creak open. My guards were gathering around me now as they sensed my anticipation. A few of them gasped when they saw how poorly the fight was going for the strangers. They hadn¡¯t thought that they would be this outmatched. Both in skill and numbers. ¡°Will you tell me the right moment to jump into this fight Alex? You would know better than me.¡± A hint of nervousness came through in my voice.


    ¡°Of course I will Ari. I will also tell you the best place to start so that you can help the most.¡± Nodding my gratitude to him I stayed silent because I didn¡¯t trust my voice anymore. The moment was drawing too close. Now all of my guards were studying the battle and analyzing the best place for me to join where I could do the most damage to the intruders. The gates were now fully open and the intruders came in like a flood. They overran the strangers initial defenses without even a pause and caused some of the strangers to panic so much that some of their ranks broke apart and allowed the intruders to defeat them easily. The farther back defenses were holding still for the moment, but there was fear on all of the remaining strangers¡¯ faces. I had to either step in now or never. Alex had come to the same conclusion and pointed to a spot not far away from the house. ¡°Start there and work your way to your left as you fight. That should give you the opportunity to do the most damage.¡± Nods came from the others as they agreed with Alex.


    Giving them a quick salute I began using my presence and ran through a wall to get to the stairs and raced down them as fast as I could. Sprinting through the outer wall of the house, I smirked when I saw the shocked expressions on the intruders nearest to me and swept my sword out of its sheathe. I kept my attacks sporadic to give myself the biggest advantage and killed those who tried to cry out a warning to their allies. My sword made fast work of the enemies nearest to me and I danced my deadly dance to the spot that Alex had indicated. I only stopped using my presence an instant before my sword hit someone and turned it back on as soon as I was pulling it back out. Plus I didn¡¯t attack everyone around me. That was not the plan. I was to cause chaos everywhere on this battlefield. So I moved from one spot to another at a jog and didn¡¯t slow down. I fell into an odd kind of pattern and felt like I was a natural disaster. I wrought destruction everywhere I went, but no one could stop me. At least until someone got lucky. In the split second that I was vulnerable someone swung their sword slightly out of my view. It sliced pretty deep into my left shoulder before I used my presence again. After letting out a short cry of pain I clenched my teeth together and rolled my shoulder to make sure that I had full maneuverability still and concluded that it was just a flesh wound.


    A very painful and pretty deep flesh wound, but nothing too serious. Getting back into a fighting stance my eyes burned with anger now and I went into a dance of vengeance. More and more people started to get lucky hits, however I didn¡¯t slow down. I knew that if I stopped then this fight was lost. I was smart enough to signal that I needed help though. Realizing now that we hadn¡¯t set a signal for me to say that I wanted my guards to join, I ignored everyone attempting to kill me and raised both of my hands in the air as high as I could and hoped that they could see my sword over everything. Shrugging I knew that they would either get my signal and come or they would see that I was in trouble later and come then. The only other thing that I could do to get their attention was to run all the way back to them, but that wasn¡¯t going to happen. One, it would take too much time that I could spend creating more chaos, and two, I wasn¡¯t completely sure that I had the energy to make it all the way there. I was almost to the wall and across basically the entire battlefield from them. Both physically and mentally I was getting tired and I knew that I had to keep going as hard as I could for as long as I could.


    I remembered my promise to go back to them if I got too tired to continue, but I also knew that if we lost this fight then we were going to be in a difficult situation. We hadn¡¯t actually talked about what we would do if the intruders won. Would we sneak away from the village and leave the strangers to be killed? I shuddered at the thought and knew that if we lost then I wouldn¡¯t be able to leave the strangers. I would fight to the end and stay with the strangers and my friends. Focusing back on the fight I smiled wryly. Everyone around me was trying so hard to hurt me. They were making sure that at least one weapon was in my body at all times and I couldn¡¯t help but feel a little violated. It was still my body afterall, even if I couldn¡¯t feel their weapons. Settling back into a fighting stance I ran away from the enemies around me and headed to where I would be able to hit someone without getting hit myself. Or at least not getting hit as hard as I would hit. Finding a small pocket of space to stop using my presence, a rare find in a battle as crowded as this, I swept my sword in a large circle to keep everyone at bay for a second. Locking my eyes on the target of my choice I engaged in a battle with them.


    I watched his friends out of the corner of my eyes, they would leave us to fight alone as long as their friend was winning. Once I got the upper hand they would swoop in unexpectedly and try to kill me. This forced me to think ahead a lot more than I normally would. I would have to fake like I was losing, or at least not having the advantage, until the last moment. Then I could wound or kill him and immediately turn my presence back on. I had done this a couple of times now and it was getting harder and harder to win. This intruder seemed to be a good fighter and I knew that I was in a bit of trouble. I might have to back out of this fight if it kept going the way it was going and that thought made me irritated. I hated even the thought of losing or retreating so I fought even harder. For a split second I thought that I had turned the tide and felt a rush of excitement. That passed quickly as this intruder did a perfectly executed spin move and knocked my sword from my hand. Turning my presence back on I rested my hands on my knees to help me get my breath back as the person that I had just been facing stabbed his sword through my head. His mouth dropped open and I had to let out a little chuckle. His face was too great to not.


    Standing up straight I had to work hard to keep my presence going. A calculating look was on the boy¡¯s face and I narrowed my eyes at him in a question. Then he did something that I hadn¡¯t been expecting. He scooped up my sword and sprinted away from me. Now it was my turn for my mouth to drop open. Forcing my legs to move I staggered after him. It was too hard to keep him in my sights however. Especially since he had gotten a head start. Soon I had lost sight of him and screamed in frustration. That had been a really good sword and I was upset to have lost it. In what I thought was a huge miracle, the boy who had stolen my sword appeared in my peripheral vision. Spinning around to face him I stumbled a few steps before I had to stop. The adrenaline that had surged through my veins when I had first joined this fight was starting to dissipate and I didn¡¯t have any strength left. Thankfully my guards had caught sight of me when I had been fighting the boy and knew that I needed them. They reached me right before I hit my knees and my presence left me. Forming a circle of protection around me they yelled at me to ask if I was injured.


    I could barely get the words out. ¡°I only have superficial injuries. Nothing that won¡¯t heal in a day or so.¡± Relief spread across all of their faces¡¯ before cold hard determination replaced it. Feeling safe, at least as safe as someone can feel in the middle of a battle, I allowed myself to sink down to the ground fully and relax my muscles. I would help them if I could, but there was no way that I would be able to do anything until I got some rest. ¡°I am sorry, but I don¡¯t think I will be able to help you all for a little while. I need to rest to be able to get my presence working again, and some rude boy stole my sword so I would need a new weapon before I would be able to do anything.¡±


    There was a beat of silence that was only punctured by the clash of weapons colliding. ¡°What do you mean some boy stole your sword?¡± Casey sounded pretty incredulous and I hoped that he wasn¡¯t too distracted by my words that he got injured.


    ¡°I meant what I said. We were fighting and I was losing. He managed to disarm me and when I turned on my presence so that I didn¡¯t die, he grabbed my sword and ran. The last time I saw him he was to my left about 50 yards away.¡±


    Tyler was facing the direction that I had been talking about and he said, ¡°Well I don¡¯t see your sword anywhere, but I could just not be recognizing it. I don¡¯t know what the boy looks like and there are a lot of swords out there after all.¡± I sighed sadly and hoped that I would be able to find a sword that was as good as the one that I had lost. Heaving myself to my feet I peered over Tyler¡¯s shoulder to see if I could find the boy. He had been right. He hadn¡¯t seen the boy so I would be the only to tell if the boy was anywhere close to us. I scanned all of the faces that were closest to us and wasn¡¯t able to see the boy. Resigning myself to the fact that he was probably bragging to a group of his friends about stealing my sword and that he was either going to use it to hurt my allies or throw it on the ground. No matter which one he did, I was never going to see that sword again. About to sink back to the ground, my legs were shaking so hard that I was afraid they were going to give out on me, my eyes shot open in surprise when I saw an unexpected sight. The boy was coming towards us with my sword in his hands.


    ¡°There he is! He is about 100 yards away and getting closer.¡± Liam and Alex protected Tyler as he stared in the direction that I was pointing. A sharp nod from him told me that he saw who I was pointing out and would do his best to get my sword back. Re-establishing his position in the circle around me, he helped push back the people surrounding us until everyone had a second to breathe. ¡°If any of you have the chance, can you give me a sword? Until I get my original sword back, I would prefer that I still have something that I can use to protect myself.¡± While I still had my knife, it wouldn¡¯t help me as much as I wanted if one of these enemies made it past my guards. Before any of my guards could answer me, they were interrupted by a battle cry. Turning in the direction of the cry, we spotted Brendon and his villagers raising weapons high and charging into the battle. It appeared that the strangers had come to their senses and figured out that we were losing and needed some more help. That sight helped renew our hopes of winning this fight and when the enemy re-engaged my guards, they fought back even harder than before.


    For every person that they cut down though, another would take their place. There seemed to be an endless supply of enemies and the one enemy that I actually wanted to fight was staying infuriatingly out of reach. None of my guards was able to get me a sword as well so I was stuck with my little knife. Pulling it out of its sheathe, I clutched it in my right hand and forced myself to stay on my feet. I would be defenseless on the ground and if I sat down then I wasn¡¯t getting back up anytime soon. Slowly rotating in a circle to make sure that I knew what was happening on all sides of me, a small sigh of relief escaped my lips when Darius and his guards showed up out of nowhere. They slammed into the enemies closest to us and quickly merged into our circle. Darius¡¯s guards shoved him into the middle with me, he was not very happy about that, and we embraced briefly. ¡°How did your plan go?¡±


    A gleam showed in his eyes. ¡°It went better than I thought that it would. We managed to lure twenty-two people away from the fight and with surprise on our side we knocked them all out and tied them up. We joined the battle after that and slowly came closer and closer to you. As soon as we caught a glimpse of this circle through the bodies in between us, we rushed over here. It worked better than I thought it would. How did your plan go?¡±


    ¡°Pretty well. I helped out a lot of areas in this battlefield. Unfortunately in the last battle that I fought in, the person managed to disarm me and they ran off with my sword. That person is now waiting just out of reach with my sword still in his hand.¡± Darius and I peered over Tyler¡¯s shoulder and I pointed the boy out. ¡°He was very skilled with the sword and I was too tired to match his skills.¡±


    Grabbing the tops of my arms Darius said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We will get your sword back for you. Even if we have to find him after we win this fight.¡± Grinning at his confidence that we were going to win, I nodded my head in agreement. Turning so that we were back to back now we moved slowly in a circle so that we were covering every side of the battle that surrounded us so that we couldn¡¯t be attacked from behind. Our circle of guards seemed to be holding really well though. No one seemed to be getting close to being overwhelmed and if a sword got too close to any of our guards then the two people around them would help them out. Even if they didn¡¯t need that help. I felt the boredom start to creep in and I wanted to join the circle, but I knew that wasn¡¯t going to happen because one, I was still too tired to do much good, and two, my guards were a little too protective to allow me to put myself in danger like that. Especially since I had already done something dangerous today. Also my small injuries that I had gathered running through the battle was starting to hurt quite badly. They would most likely slow me down if I attempted to fight. I was thankful that Darius hadn¡¯t looked too closely at me, otherwise he would have panicked and then all the guards around us would have panicked as well. That was the last thing that we needed right now.

 The Injury

    Keeping pace with Darius as we continued to circle slowly, we both waited for the moment when we would be needed. Before that time could come however, Milo and his guards came out of nowhere and broke through the lines of enemies that our guards had been fighting. I had to blink a couple of times to make sure that I was actually seeing this and it wasn¡¯t just my brain recreating the moment when Darius and his guards joined us and my brain had just switched their faces. When our guards¡¯ circle got bigger as Milo¡¯s guards joined it and Darius and my circle got bigger as Milo joined us, I had to admit to myself that this was actually happening. ¡°Hello Milo. How have you been doing? Did your plan work out?¡± I kept my tone casual and light. Grinning eagerly at me, I could tell that Milo had a lot of adrenaline running through his blood right now.


    ¡°It has been going really well. Our plan worked really well. As the fight wore on though we had to adjust our plan. Afterall, everywhere needed help. So the next time we joined the battle we stayed in that area and began working our way inwards. It was really a coincidence that we saw you.¡±


    Ethan now spoke up. ¡°Is it the best idea for all of us to be gathered together like this? We could help the strangers more if we split up into our separate groups and went to different parts of the battlefield.¡±


    There was a brief moment while we considered this and then Tyler broke it. ¡°Our chances of winning this fight are a lot better if we split up, but we then put our charges in the most amount of danger. So I think that we need to take a vote.¡±


    I started speaking so fast that my words jumbled together a little. ¡°I vote that we split up. If we lose this fight then your charges would be in more danger then if we had split up and you had allowed us to fight alongside you.¡±


    Alex sighed. ¡°I think that we should make this decision without the votes of our charges. We all already know what they are going to vote for anyways.¡± Grumbles came from all of us in the middle of the circle but agreement came from everyone else and we knew that we were outnumbered and that we weren¡¯t going to win this argument. We would have to hope that they saw the sense in splitting up and would let us fight. I was grateful that our guards weren¡¯t able to talk quietly to each other since they couldn¡¯t huddle together seeing as they were still fighting. Listening closely to what they were saying, they did try to keep their voices down, a flicker of hope welled up in me when I heard that at least some of them were considering the splitting up idea. It seemed to be around half and half right now on opinions. Right now it appeared that my guards were mostly arguing against splitting up, Milo¡¯s guards were arguing for splitting up, and Darius¡¯s guards were split down the middle. A little exasperated with my guards, even though I knew they were trying to look out for me since I was still tired from my part in this battle, I barely resisted yelling at them. I only succeeded in holding my voice back because I knew that my yelling wouldn¡¯t help anything. Or if it did do something, then it would most likely do the opposite of what I intended.


    It would probably make my guards fight harder against splitting up. Clenching my teeth to smother the shrinking part of me who still wanted to yell out loud, I let out a slow exhale to release all of my exasperation into the air. Keeping with our slow pace and continuing to circle, it seemed to take forever before some of our guard¡¯s opinions began to change as they were convinced by others with a different opinion. The only problem was, it still seemed to be pretty even. Each time that one side would win someone over, the other side would as well. I was beginning to think that this argument would never end when one side finally began to get more people then the other. All of us in the middle were now holding our breaths as it became clear who was going to win. Hoping that a unanimous vote was not needed, I cheered along with Darius and Milo when a decision was finally made. ¡°We will be splitting up. I am sorry, but there is no way that we are going to get a unanimous vote, so we will have to go with a majority vote.¡± Jet sounded apologetic, but I was definitely not.


    ¡°Oh thank goodness. I thought that was never going to end. I am also grateful that you were all on the losing side and not the side that was victorious. I understand the reasoning behind your votes, but that doesn¡¯t make me any happier that you all voted to not split up even when it was clear that was the better decision.¡± All of my emotions showed clearly in my words and tone and my guards all rolled their eyes at me. Or at least I imagined them all rolling their eyes at me. I would have to get on the outside of the circle to see their faces and that was not going to happen. Now that I thought about it, I wasn¡¯t even sure that they would let me out of the circle once we had split up. That thought made me panic a little until I realized that I was going to have to think up a plan just in case that happened. As I began thinking, I stopped circling with Darius and Milo. At least until Milo ran into me which didn¡¯t take long. Muttering apologies while still in the midst of deep thinking, I began moving again. It was a touch slower then the pace we had been going at originally, however they didn¡¯t seem to care. It was clear that we were all thinking along the same lines and were all caught up in them. All three of us now feared being stuck in the middle of a circle even after splitting up.


    So while we still wouldn¡¯t be doing anything to help our guards, we also wouldn¡¯t have anyone else near us who would be sharing our same boring fate. The instant that our three groups of guards began to break apart all three of us stepped up to our respective groups and joined them in their line. This was our collective way of saying that we were not going to be stuck in the middle of a circle again. That if they tried that again, we were going to fight them every step of the way. Sighs came from all of our guards and we shared a smile before the battle swept us apart. Staying in the middle of the line, I knew that they wouldn¡¯t even consider letting me go anywhere else in the line, I scooped up a sword from the ground after Liam felled one of our enemies. Adrenaline raced through my veins once again and I couldn¡¯t even feel the pains from my various wounds. Making sure that I didn¡¯t swing my sword too hard and accidentally hit one of my guards, I engaged one of the enemies and grinned. It felt good to be fighting instead of just watching. In a way that showed everyone around them, even me, that they had practiced doing this multiple times, my guards curved around until they were in a circle. It was pretty impressive to watch and I felt cool being a part of it. Granted Tyler guided me to where I was supposed to be standing, but I still felt cool.


    It was much easier to fight in this positioning because I didn¡¯t have to worry as much about hitting anyone other than the enemy. There was still a chance that I could hit either Tyler or Liam, the two of my guards who were closest to me, but the risk wasn¡¯t as great. About half the time I was in the middle of fighting someone I would watch with resignation as either Tyler or Liam would step in and defeat my opponent. It was quite annoying, however I had expected something like this. I may be part of the circle, but that doesn¡¯t mean that they are going to take any risks with my safety. Shaking away those thoughts and focusing fully on the battle that was raging in front of me, I fought like I wasn¡¯t waiting for one of my guards to steal my opponents to be on the safe side. It would not be good if I expected them to defeat my opponent and let my guard down and then neither of them take my opponent down. I would be in some serious trouble if that happened. In fact, I would most likely be dead if that ever happened. I don¡¯t think that my guards would ever forgive me or themselves if I died. Fighting with all of my might to try and beat my guards to the final blow, I beamed when I finally landed one of them. Yes, Liam might have struck a blow that would have been fatal onto them right after I did, but the only important thing was that I did it first.


    Letting out a small, brief yell of triumph I surprised a few of the enemies surrounding us and gave my guards an opening to take them down. Which they did without a second''s hesitation. They weren¡¯t surprised by anything that I did anymore. Especially not any sounds that I might make. Afterall, they were always the ones that said that I made too many noises. ¡°Thank you Ari. That was quite helpful.¡± I barely heard Casey say this since he was one of the two people behind me. Not about to say that I hadn¡¯t meant to scare anyone and had only done it because I was proud of myself, I stayed silent. From the quiet chuckles that I heard emanating from a few of my guards however, they knew exactly why I stayed silent. While Liam and Tyler didn¡¯t exactly go easier on the enemies that they fought, they didn¡¯t interfere with my enemies as much anymore. Flashing them both grateful smiles that neither of them saw, I fought with a vengeance to prove myself. I hoped that if I proved that I could defend myself well enough that I would be allowed to participate in battles more often and be able to do more in them. I wanted to help keep my guards safe just like they keep each other safe. Maybe that was an unusual attitude for someone who has four guards whose whole job was to protect them, but I wasn¡¯t exactly a normal royal and never had been.


    It seemed like hours had passed since I had first started fighting in this battle and my adrenaline was beginning to wear off for the second time. My breath came faster and faster as I strove to keep going. My guards were in better shape than I was and they hadn¡¯t been fighting as long as I had, but they were starting to feel it as well. Their breath wasn¡¯t as even as it had been a few minutes ago and their movements were a little slower then before. Knowing that it would only place a bigger burden on them if I stepped back into the circle and forced them to protect me, I tried to shove my exhaustion to the back of my mind and keep going. Minutes now crawled by as the enemies kept coming and we tried to keep up with them. While they were fresh and energized though, we were tired and getting low on energy. My borrowed sword was heavier then my old sword had been and my wrists now burned with the extra weight. It hadn¡¯t bothered me when I had first picked it up, but now the extra weight seemed to be growing with each passing second. Sweat was trickling down from my hair and was heading for my eyes. I knew that I had to wipe it away otherwise it could blind me for a second that I couldn¡¯t afford. There was no chance to however. Swords were always circling me and waiting for a moment when they could get through my guard.


    Fighting furiously to try and force my opponent back, I felt a surge of hope when they stumbled on the uneven ground. My left hand almost made it to my face when a sword whipped in towards me. I barely got my sword up in time to deflect the blow up and get myself out of danger. Or at least out of danger of that weapon. I had to contemplate the thought of dying for the first time since this battle started now. My mind flashed back to my family and my friends. I remembered all of the good times that I had with them in the past. Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about never seeing my family again. When I had left them they had thought that I was in danger and that they would have a very slim chance of ever seeing me again. I guess that assumption was correct because there was a good chance that I was going to die now and they would never even know all the things that I had done since leaving them. They would never know that the people who lived in Raetis weren¡¯t the ones who posed a danger to us. Willing my tears to not leave my eyes, I didn¡¯t want to seem weak in front of my enemies and I didn¡¯t want to get blinded by my tears and not be able to see. As it was, my sight was already blurred because the sweat had finally reached my eyes. My mind now went to my maids and guards. My guards were most likely going to die alongside me.


    While my maids had a chance of surviving if they managed to not engage in the battle and run into the forest, I knew that they were never going to leave without my guards and me. The sadness in me turned to anger as I thought about all of my friends dying and my family mourning me without even a body to confirm that I was truly dead. A scream built up in my throat and grew stronger and stronger until it finally ripped free and echoed in the air. In that moment it was like all my exhaustion just melted away and was replaced with raw energy. Whipping my sword through the air faster to counter all the blows coming at me and countering with strikes that were fatal to all enemies around me, I made sure to keep my sword away from Liam and Tyler since my vision was still blurry. My scream had disrupted some of our enemies'' concentrations and several had been taken down with quick and decisive blows. Unknown to me, all of my guards had actually jumped a little when I had screamed because of the pure emotion that had been in my voice. As a result of that, Alex had suffered a shallow cut on his arm that, while it didn¡¯t damage anything important, it stung like crazy and distracted him. Liam had gotten a cut on his leg that was making it harder for him to keep standing. It was deeper than Alex¡¯s wound was and the blood loss it was resulting in was concerning to say the least.


    When I saw the blood dripping down his leg finally, after several minutes and my anger had worn off a little, I knew that he couldn¡¯t hold out for much longer. ¡°Liam got injured and I am not sure how much longer he will last. He is losing quite a bit of blood.¡± Right as I screamed this warning to my small circle of friends, Liam¡¯s eyes went slightly out of focus and a sword came through his defenses and slipped into his side. Screaming this time in anguish, I dealt a deadly blow to the person who had stabbed Liam, who took his sword with him when he fell to the ground, and forced Liam inside our little circle. We now had spaces in between each of us because Liam had sunk to the ground and was spread completely out. In order to not be standing on him we had to spread our group out a little which was proving to be dangerous. We were not able to help each other as much as we had before. Spotting a gap in our enemies to the left of me I saw people running into the battle to grab a wounded person and drag them away. Guessing them to be some of the runners getting the injured to the healers, I pointed them out to the others. Without speaking we knew that Liam was going to die if we didn¡¯t get him to the healers immediately. In fact, he was probably going to die even if we got him to the healers.


    Moving in synchronization we forced all of our enemies in front of us and formed a line in front of Liam. Screaming at the same time for a runner, we all let out a tiny breath of relief when we saw a runner coming towards us at full speed. Holding our line with all of our remaining strength, we hoped with all of our might that Liam might live. If he didn¡¯t live I at least hoped that Sophia wasn¡¯t the one who tried and failed to save him. If that was the case then I wasn¡¯t sure how I was going to keep Sophia from dropping into a hole she might never come out of. Seeing that Liam was now being carried to safety, another runner had come over to help the first runner with Liam, we all spared a quick glance at each other. We knew that we were going to continue fighting until the battle was over, one way or the other, and we wanted to look at each other one last time just in case all of us ended up dying in this battle. We all took deep breaths as we faced our enemies again and kept our swords moving. As our energy leached away and our swords moved slower and slower we suffered more injuries as time went on. Cuts were appearing on everyone and we had to go back to our circle in order to better protect each other and to keep people from getting behind us.


    Grimances seemed to be stuck on all of our faces as our bodies began to hurt more and more. The enemies in front of us kept coming and by now we were resigned to the fact that we were outnumbered and were going to die. However, we were going to take out as many of them as we could before we died. Right when it seemed that we were finally going to be overrun and be utterly destroyed, something unexpected happened. Arrows started to rain down all around us and our enemies began falling in waves. We gathered together as close as possible and sheathed our weapons quickly. Putting our hands in the air in a clear sign of surrender, we hoped that it was our allies that were shooting. While we waited barely breathing, each second that passed and we weren¡¯t shot made us a little more hopeful. All of a sudden people were throwing ropes down from the wall and repelling down as others ran down the stairs. These new people quickly surrounded us and held their weapons at the ready. My guards¡¯ and my shoulders slumped in defeat. These people didn¡¯t appear to be our allies and we were too tired to fight them. Our weapons were taken away from us once again and we were propelled towards where it seemed they were gathering everyone up. Spotting my maids, Liam, Darius, Darius¡¯s guards, Milo, Milo¡¯s guards, and Brendon among those in the group, I walked a little faster.


    Reaching them I threw my arms around my maids. ¡°I am so glad that you are both alive. I was worried that something had happened to you two.¡± I glanced down at Liam and dropped to my knees beside him. His eyes were closed and he was so pale that for a moment I feared him dead. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest told me otherwise. ¡°How is he? Is he going to make it?¡± I had completely forgotten about our new captors at this point. I was too busy making sure that my friends were fine. Sophia dropped down by us and shrugged a little helplessly.


    ¡°I have no idea. His wounds have been cleaned and bandaged, but he lost so much blood. There is nothing else we can do but wait.¡± As tears gathered in her eyes I knew that she was on the verge of losing her control over her emotions. Pulling her into a tight hug I felt her barrier break and her tears began to flow freely. ¡°I should have been able to do more. I should have treated him faster or better. If he dies then it is my fault.¡± Her words were starting to mush together and I knew that she was becoming hysterical.


    Gripping her shoulders I put a little space between us. ¡°You¡¯re wrong Sophie. Even if he dies, there was nothing you could have done better and he would not want you to blame yourself for his death. He would want you to move on and be happy.¡± Seeing her nod her head I knew that even though she knew the truth in her heart, her head wouldn¡¯t let her accept it. Wishing with all my might that Liam would live, I knew that we had to get him back to Raetis as soon as possible. There was a chance, a very small chance, that Aeson would know some way to help him that no one else knew. If not, I doubted that Liam would survive. His breathing was already getting shallower and his pulse was slowing drastically. I was thrust out of my thoughts when Darius placed his hand on my shoulder. Grabbing his hand I knew that I had to leave Liam and see what our new captors wanted from us. Getting up with help from Darius I saw Hazel drop down to take my place by Sophia with Joshua keeping a tight hold on her shoulder. Taking a deep breath I turned to face where Brendon was talking with one of our captors. Guessing that he was talking to the leader of our captors I walked a little unsteadily to them.


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    I caught the tail end of their conversation before they stopped to look at us. ¡°... So let me get this straight. This was your village, but then those people came in and took it over? Then another group of people came in and started attacking because they are trying to take all the villages over?¡±


    ¡°That is right.¡± Brendon said this after a short pause of them seeing us and Brendon nodding hello to both of us.


    The leader of our captors now eyed Darius and me curiously. ¡°Then who are these people? From the way they came over here they seem to represent their own group.¡±


    Darius, after a glance at me to see that I wasn¡¯t completely emotionally stable right now, spoke up. ¡°We were here visiting when this village was attacked. We are staying in Raetis as guests of Milo and his parents.¡± When he said Milo¡¯s name he pointed him out to the leader. The leader¡¯s eyes snapped over to where Darius was pointing and his eyes narrowed in consideration.


    ¡°You are saying that Crown Prince Milo Bullara is right over there? Would it be possible for him to come and join us?¡± There was a trace of eagerness in his voice that made me wary, but we didn¡¯t see the point in not bringing Milo over. If we didn¡¯t then some of our captors probably would. Heading over to him we told him that the leader of our captors wanted to talk to him and Jet immediately said that he was going with him. Bringing them both over the leader seemed a little confused. ¡°Who is this other person that you have brought over as well?¡± His gaze was mostly focused on Milo, but he spared a second to look at Jet.


    Putting his hand up to signal that he would answer this question himself, Jet replied. ¡°I am Crown Prince Milo Bullara¡¯s head guard. Wherever he goes, I go.¡± Nodding in understanding, the leader dismissed Jet from his mind.


    Bowing a little in Milo¡¯s direction, he now addressed him directly. ¡°My Prince. It is so good to finally meet you in person. I have heard many things about you, all good, and have wanted to meet you for many years now.¡± Milo looked a little suspicious still, but seemed to have relaxed the tiniest amount. It seemed like he had heard others say this to him before.


    ¡°I am always happy to meet with my people. However, I wish that we were meeting under better circumstances. I am glad that you joined this battle, afterall you most likely saved all of our lives, but we are your captives right now which isn¡¯t the best situation to meet in.¡± It was like the leader just realized that we were still being held as his prisoners.


    ¡°Guards, you may release them. If Crown Prince Milo is with them, then we are allies.¡± His tone was firm and his guards backed away from us as soon as they heard his words. You could almost hear all of our collective sighs of relief. Knowing that we were as safe as we could be right now, I sank down to the ground and laid on my back. All I wanted to do right now was sleep and there was nothing that was going to delay that any longer. I heard laughter come from my friends and then I was fast asleep. I was woken up 3 hours later by someone shaking me. Blearily opening my eyes I was ready to throttle whoever had woken me up. It was Casey and there were tears streaming down his cheeks. My heart sank. Before I could voice the words that were going on repeat through my mind, Casey spoke.


    ¡°Liam¡¯s going to make it.¡± I just froze after hearing those words. Casey wasn¡¯t crying because Liam was dead, he was crying because Liam was going to make it. My heart leaped for joy and I reached my hand up in an obvious signal for Casey to help me to my feet. He heaved me to my feet so fast that I flew. Sprinting over to where everyone was gathered around Sophia and Liam, I shoved them all aside and couldn¡¯t stop my own tears from flowing over my cheeks when I saw Liam with his eyes open. He was staring deeply into Sophia¡¯s eyes, which I had to wonder if she could even see his stare because of how many tears she was shedding. Liam¡¯s head was lying in her lap and she now leaned down over him to kiss him soundly. He eagerly returned the kiss and the rest of us were left feeling both awkward for intruding on their moment and so happy that Liam was alive. When they broke apart I knelt down beside them both.


    ¡°I am so glad to see you awake Liam. We were all really worried about you for a while there.¡± Here I smirked at Sophia. ¡°Especially this one. She literally never left your side the whole time.¡± For a moment there I wondered if Sophia had even heard me. She was so absorbed in Liam¡¯s eyes that it was a huge possibility that she hadn¡¯t. Finally she turned her head to look at me and rolled her eyes.


    Then she grinned at me and said, ¡°Be honest, if it was Darius, even though there would have been no way for you to help him, you would have stayed by his side the whole time too.¡± Throwing a hand to my heart I pretended to deny her words, but everyone could see the truth in my eyes. That is exactly what I would have done. The healer probably would have had someone pick me up and carry me away because I would have been hovering so much. The sound of Darius¡¯s laughter behind me caused me to turn around. Spotting the glare that I was throwing his way, he laughed even harder.


    ¡°I am sorry, but it is so true. If I was hurt then you wouldn¡¯t leave my side until you were forced away or I was all better.¡± Darius had now started crying; he was laughing so hard. His laughter was so contagious that soon I was laughing as well. Holding my hands up to him I let myself be pulled to my feet. Using the momentum of him pulling to my feet, I leaned in close to him and kissed him. That stopped both of our laughter quite effectively and his response was immediate. Breaking apart after a couple seconds I had to put my hands on his chest to keep my balance. His eyes looked a little glazed and I grinned. Shaking himself back into the present he gazed down at me with an intense look. ¡°If you were hurt, then I would stay by you the whole time as well.¡±


    Sliding my hands from his chest to his back I pulled him into a hug. ¡°I know that you would. In fact you already have.¡± His only answer was to hold me to him more firmly. Drawing back a little to look at his face I asked, ¡°What happened after I fell asleep? Are we free to go back to Raetis?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Milo worked it out with their leader and we can leave anytime we want. I am guessing that we want to wait a while so that Liam can stay here and heal some more.¡± I was about to agree with Darius when I got interrupted.


    ¡°No. We are not going to wait here on account of me. I will survive the carriage ride back to Raetis and then Aeson and Sophia can both take care of me.¡± Liam¡¯s voice was determined, but he wasn¡¯t going to change my mind. The only person who could change my mind about staying here for a time was Sophia. She was the healer afterall. Sophia seemed to sense my glance and seemed to be thinking it over. We all watched her, some more patiently then others, as we waited for her opinion on the matter. Eventually she sighed and met all of our eyes.


    ¡°He should be fine going back to Raetis right now.¡± She cut off Liam¡¯s victory shout and stared him down. ¡°IF, and only if, he lays down the whole time, does his very best not to move, is carried to the carriage, and submits to an examination by both Aeson and me as soon as we get there.¡± Liam seemed so happy that he was being allowed to leave this place right now that he nodded his head eagerly to her demands. ¡°Well then we should prepare and then leave.¡± Chaos erupted as the rest of our group heard that we were heading home. People were running all over packing everything up and stuffing both their stuff and themselves into carriages. Meanwhile, other than Darius who left with his guards to go to their carriage and Hazel who went with him, my group stood in a circle around Liam. As soon as everyone was ready both Alex and Tyler leaned down and scooped Liam up. Carrying him gently and walking slowly they made their way to our carriage and placed him down on one of the benches inside. Sophia would be the only other one on that side of the carriage. She sat down and laid Liam¡¯s head on her lap. She then stroked his hair as the rest of us squished onto the other bench. The ride back to Raetis was a joyous affair. Sure, Liam was injured, but he was alive. That was honestly better than we had anticipated.


    He was even cracking jokes with the rest of us. Yes, it hurt him to talk and basically do anything, but that wasn¡¯t going to break his spirits. Though he did have to stop talking for the second half of the ride because he was in too much pain. The next time I looked over at him he was fast asleep and Sophia was gazing down at him with so much love and tenderness in her eyes that I felt like I was intruding on a private moment. When Raetis came into view we all cheered, which woke Liam up and Sophia had to hold him down since he tried to shoot up into a sitting position. Waving to everyone that we could see outside of our windows we tried to see how many people we could get to wave back. It seemed that most people were too surprised to see people waving at them so exuberantly from a carriage that they were unable to wave back. I guessed that I would forgive them. This time. Reaching the palace we hopped out as soon as the carriage stopped. Casey then ran inside as quickly as possible to get Aeson so that he and Sophia could conduct their examination of Liam. They came running back a couple minutes later and Aeson looked very concerned.


    Climbing into the carriage he gestured for all of us to stand outside the carriage so they had more room. Piling out we stood right outside of the carriage and watched curiously. Moving quickly but efficiently they pulled Liam¡¯s shirt up and unwrapped his side. Turning him onto his uninjured side in order to see his injury better we all gasped when we saw it for the first time. After all the healers had allowed no one near them when they had been working on him. There were black stitches along the whole length of his side almost and the whole area was very red and swollen. Liam tried to keep from showing his pain as they poked and prodded to see how well it was healing, but he was unable to keep several pain filled sounds inside of him. Eventually they stopped their examination and turned to us. ¡°He will heal, but it will take a lot of time. This injury is very serious and will take weeks to finally get to the point where he will be able to move normally. Once we hit that point he will take several more weeks to get back to normal.¡± Aeson could tell that we didn¡¯t understand the last part of what he said so he elaborated. ¡°He will have to do a lot of exercises to strengthen specific muscles so that he doesn¡¯t hurt himself again. It will take time for those muscles to get strong enough that I would feel good about him doing guard duty again.¡±


    Alex looked slightly worried and I knew why. ¡°You are worried about me being with only three guards for that long.¡± Alex nodded.


    ¡°That is what I am worried about. However I wouldn¡¯t want to give you a new guard for only a couple of weeks. By the time Liam would be healed we would probably just be getting used to the other guard and trusting them.¡± He shook his head in frustration. ¡°We will just have to make do with only three guards for a while.¡± Casey and Tyler exchanged looks and I knew that they were planning on being even more observant in order to make up for one less guard.


    Liam sighed. ¡°I am sorry that I am the cause of this. If only I had been less careless in that battle then I wouldn¡¯t have gotten injured.¡± That was when I remembered that Liam had gotten injured in more than one place and that Alex had also gotten an injury. Neither of them were as painful or serious as Liam¡¯s injury to his side but they should also be taken care of.


    ¡°Alex did you get your arm looked at? I just remembered that you got cut there during the battle. Also Liam you got a cut on your leg as well. Was that taken care of?¡± Alex held up his hands to calm me down.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Ari. We all got our injuries looked at when you fell asleep soon after the battle. They have all been taken care of and bandaged.¡± He even pulled up his sleeve so that I was able to see for myself the bandage wrapped around it. Nodding my head I felt relief flow through me. I would have never forgiven myself if I hadn¡¯t inquired about the other injuries that had been sustained by my guards.


    ¡°I need someone, or two people, to carry Liam in and to the healing room.¡± Aeson inserted himself back into the conversation with authority and the response was instant. Tyler and Casey stepped forward and scooped Liam out of the carriage and into their arms. Sophia stayed right beside him the whole time we walked through the palace. We got several strange looks from the people we passed, but we ignored all of them. At least until we passed Valeria. We passed her and everyone nodded to her and she nodded back as she continued on her way. Until she realized what she had just seen. Then she turned around and sprinted back to us.


    ¡°What happened? Is Liam alright?¡± She sounded so worried that we hurried to reassure her. We allowed Sophia to tell her what happened since it was her love. Once she had told Valeria the whole story we assumed that she would have gone back to doing what she had been doing. That didn¡¯t appear to be the case though. ¡°May I walk with you to the healing room?¡± We weren¡¯t sure why she would want to walk with us, but we weren¡¯t about to deny her. After we had told her that she could accompany us she thanked us. Since we had expected her to talk to us on the way there we were surprised when she stayed silent. Sending confused looks to each other we finally decided to just go with it. We were almost to the healing room when she finally spoke. ¡°Am I correct in assuming that you aren¡¯t comfortable with only three guards guarding Ari for the next while as Liam heals?¡± Soft chuckles came from everyone in the group when Valeria addressed this question to Alex. It was almost like she could read his mind. He nodded sheepishly.


    ¡°That is correct. However I don¡¯t really want to find a new guard for only a couple of weeks. It would take time to find the right person and then make sure that they are good enough to be part of Ari¡¯s guards. And then by the time we finally get used to having them there, Liam would be ready to retake his position.¡± A gleam came into Valeria¡¯s eyes and I had a feeling that she already had a solution to our problem. Alex seemed to come to the same conclusion. ¡°Do you have a way to fix our problem?¡±


    Here Valeria hesitated. ¡°I may have a solution to your problem, but I wish to talk with Jonas first to see if he agrees that it is a good idea.¡± She then bid us a hasty goodbye and rushed away. We were left staring at her back and then at an empty space in shock. None of us had anticipated her doing that. Shrugging we resumed following behind Aeson to the healing room. I was sure that we would be told what was going on when the time was right. Or never if we didn¡¯t need to know. Either way, I was fine with that. When we got inside the healing room Tyler and Casey laid Liam down carefully on one of the beds in the middle of the room. Sophia and Aeson then ran around the room collecting things that they would need to rewrap Liam¡¯s wound. Sophia got the bandages while Aeson got a vial filled with a greenish liquid. Meeting back up at Liam they got to work. First Aeson helped Liam take his shirt off so it wouldn¡¯t get in the way and then spread some of the greenish liquid all over Liam¡¯s stitched up side. Liam gasped when Aeson first started spreading the liquid and we all instinctively moved closer like we could do something to help, but stopped ourselves when his whole body relaxed. Relief shone on all of our faces as we looked to Aeson for an explanation.


    He held up the vial. ¡°This is a painkiller. It will only work for a couple of hours until we have to reapply it. It will also speed up the healing process.¡± Here he had to pause because he could see the hope blossoming on all of our faces. His sigh of regret punctured our bubbles of hope but that hope didn¡¯t completely die until he spoke up again. ¡°When I gave you the timeline of his recovery, that included me knowing about this mixture.¡± All of our expressions turned to disappointment. I was the first to recover. Taking a deep breath I stood up straight again and looked back at Liam.


    ¡°We really appreciate your help Aeson. It pained all of us to see Liam in that much pain so seeing him like this is really great.¡± Liam cracked his eyes open to peer at me and I could tell that my words really touched him.


    ¡°And I really appreciate all of you. Without you I definitely would have died in that fight.¡± Liam¡¯s words almost made Sophia cry. She teared up but managed to keep them from spilling over. Covering her pain she began wrapping the bandage around Liam. His eyes met hers and they kept eye contact the whole time she was wrapping him up. The moment that she finished Liam grabbed her and pulled her close to him. Sophia met him halfway and the rest of us found things to keep us busy as they kissed. Since there wasn¡¯t much we could do in the healing room we basically just stood there awkwardly with our eyes averted. Liam and Sophia laughed at us after they broke apart and saw how we were acting. They both broke off abruptly when Liam stopped from being in too much pain. As he gasped for breath a little we all went right back to being worried about him. Aeson understood what we were feeling, but he still had to stifle a laugh.


    ¡°I am not a miracle worker. I can¡¯t just heal someone immediately. He will still be feeling pain if he does things that he isn¡¯t supposed to do.¡± Aeson took a moment to glare at Liam here. This almost caused Liam to burst out laughing again which would have made Aeson even more mad at him. The rest of us all bit our bottom lips so that we could hold in our laughter towards their exchange. The worries that had come back as Liam struggled left us again in this moment of levity. There was a knock on the door right after we had all calmed down and weren¡¯t on the verge of laughing. Alex promptly went over to the door and opened it. Outside of it was Valeria. Stepping quickly out of the doorway in order to allow her to walk inside the room, Alex went back to my side. When a man stepped into the room behind her my guards tensed. The only way I could tell was because they all went so still that they almost looked like statues. Even Liam became a statue. If there was trouble I wasn¡¯t quite sure what he would do, but it was apparent he was ready to do something. Without his sword though, it had been taken away from him by Sophia once she knew that he was going to live in order to prevent him from even thinking about doing something he wasn¡¯t supposed to, he would have to be really creative or his opponent would have to be really bad if Liam was going to beat him.


    The man who had walked in with Valeria held up his hands in a clear surrender sign when he saw all of my guards tense. Impressed that he had noticed that I gestured for all my guards to stand down. I trusted Valeria and if she had allowed this man in then she must trust him. She noticed my gesture and hurried to speak. ¡°There is no need to fear or protect your charge. Zoran is a friend and I have actually brought him here to solve your problem.¡± Alex still seemed slightly wary.


    ¡°How exactly is he supposed to solve our problem?¡± It was clear to all of us what the problem they were talking about was, but all of us were clueless as to how Zoran was supposed to solve this problem. Afterall, we had just talked about how if we got a new guard then it would just be annoying because once Liam was better we would just get rid of them.


    ¡°Jonas and I have been talking about your problem and we both agreed on this solution as being your best choice."