Heart of Silver, Soul of Glass
by Stormlight
Chapter Fourteen

Things were tense and unsettled in the castle for the next few weeks as 
everyone waited with baited breath for King Ayurhu’s returning message. 
Nobody had a clue as to how he’d react to this unexpected news (although 
certain royal children and their friends didn’t expect it to be good), and 
King Reagan was unwilling to take unnecessary risks, either way. He doubled 
the guards in their normal rounds about the castle, and forbade Rei to leave 
the grounds, much to her outrage. Endymion and Hotohori, after all, were 
allowed to leave whenever they wished, which she pointed out quite 
forcefully. Reagan merely stated that they were not the ones who had broken 
the engagement with the proud king of Elithia, and that they were more 
capable than she was of taking care of themselves.

In the meantime, certain things were rather unsettled in Miaka’s life, as 
well, although not for the same reasons. Ever since learning of Hotohori’s 
engagement, she’d hardly seen hide nor hair of him. He seemed to be making it 
a point to avoid her, and that knowledge hurt almost worse than the knowledge 
that he was engaged. She spent most of her days reading in the library, or 
walking in the gardens, or simply staring out the window at nothing, 
remembering happier times. What made things worse was that Tamahome had begun 
to stalk her, or so it seemed. He appeared to turn up wherever she happened 
to be at the moment, and didn’t seem to understand...or maybe just didn’t 
care...that she wished to be left in peace. 

Of course she refused to give into her irritation and rudely tell him to 
leave her alone; he was so dear, so earnest, in his attempts to cheer her up, 
and she did appreciate the thoughtful things he did for her. One morning he 
left three beautiful roses of pale, silvery-white on her pillow...her 
favorite kind, called Sterling, which had been the last blooms of the season, 
and for which he would have gotten into serious trouble with the head 
gardener had he been caught picking them. He’d also surprised her with an 
expensive, beautifully-crafted ivory hair comb on another day, but as much as 
she loved the gifts, she wished Tamahome would stop being so...so kind. 
Somehow, she just knew that Hotohori knew of his attentions to her, and the 
last thing she wanted was for the prince to get the wrong idea. After all, he 
was as heartbroken about the whole affair as she was.

She hoped.

But at least he’ll still have someone to be with, even if she isn’t who he 
wanted. If she’s half as witty and beautiful as the servants say, he won’t 
have any trouble falling in love with her and forgetting about me, she mused 
one evening while walking quietly through the gardens, relishing in the peace 
she found there. She came upon a wooden bridge, which stretched from the 
grassy shore of a large fish pond out to a little gazebo situated in the very 
center of the pond. After a moment’s hesitation, she crossed the bridge and 
took shelter beneath the dome of the small building, leaning on its railing 
and gazing into the quiet water beneath. Still...if it means he’ll be 
happy...I guess I can at least be glad for that much, she added silently, 
sighing a little. If only...if only he would talk to her. It was the greatest 
pain of all, knowing that she had not only lost her dearest love, but also 
her dearest friend. She swallowed and blinked away sudden tears. 

"Come on, now," she scolded herself. "This isn’t the time to be feeling sorry 
for myself! A possible war is brewing, Rei’s life could be in danger, and my 
little sister is somehow caught up in the middle of it all. That is what I 
should be concerned about. Not some pampered prince who obviously doesn’t 
care enough about me to try and discover my feelings about this whole 
engagement idea!" Despite herself, an angry sob caught in her throat, and she 
squeezed her eyes shut. "Why won’t he talk to me anymore?! Doesn’t he realize 
how much his silence hurts?!" she called out in sudden anguish, letting a few 
bitter tears escape from her closed eyes to slide down her cheeks.

The unexpected answer came in the form of two arms encircling her shoulders, 
and a sad, quiet voice whispering in her ear, "I’m sorry, Beloved."

She jumped a little, then stiffened, fighting an inner battle of giving in to 
her longing and returning his embrace, or giving in to her anger and slapping 
him across the face. She compromised by pulling away and refusing to look at 
him. "You aren’t the only one suffering from this," she told him in a low 
voice.

Hotohori winced. "I’m sorry," he repeated. "I understand why you’re angry. I 
understand that you’re suffering. Seeing you so sad...it tears my heart to 
shreds," he whispered, clenching his fist as golden-brown eyes fixed intently 
on her back. "Please forgive me for being so heartless to disregard your 
emotions, Miaka. I have been selfish to keep myself away from you when you 
needed me..." His breath caught, and he swallowed. "If you’ve been feeling 
half the pain I have been..." He couldn’t finish the sentence, instead 
reaching out a trembling hand to lay it gently against her head, stroking her 
soft hair. "I will not give up on you," he whispered. "I love you, and I will 
find a way to keep you, even if I have to steal you away from here and marry 
you in secret. I will not allow my father to keep us apart."

"I don’t want to be the cause of a rift in your family," she replied as tears 
once more flooded her eyes. "Please don’t be foolish. If you do that, you’ll 
destroy your relationship with your father and bring shame to the House of 
Rosewood for marrying a mere servant."

His arms encircled her once more. "Do you really think I care?" he whispered,
softly kissing her cheek.

"You have to," she replied. "Davinshire faces a possible war now. All that 
talk we heard over the years growing up, of recruiting more men for His 
Majesty’s army, buying more weapons...it’s really going to happen now, isn’t 
it?"

"Only if King Ayurhu is as much of a maniac as you seem to believe he is," 
Hotohori replied seriously. "There is still a good chance that my father is 
overreacting to the possible threat. Ayurhu would have no trouble finding a 
wife with any number of princesses. He doesn’t need my sister."

"Not unless he wants Davinshire’s throne, which we’re all certain he does. If 
marriage won’t get it, maybe war will." She met his gaze seriously. "I don’t 
want you to get hurt, Hotohori," she whispered. "If there’s a real battle..."

"I won’t be hurt, or killed, for that matter. I’d never die and leave you in 
so much pain," he assured her, tightening his hold around her. "And I won’t 
allow any harm to befall you, either. You are my life. If you die...what 
reason have I to live any longer? Even if I do marry that princess, I can be 
at peace knowing that at the very least, you’re alive and well."

"Although I might as well be dead," she replied mournfully, turning in his 
embrace to slip her arms around his waist tightly and rest her head against 
his chest. "Please, Hotohori...even if we can’t be...anything more than 
friends...please let us be that, at least. Please don’t shut me out again. I 
have missed you so much..." A few more tears escaped, and the weight of his 
arms lifted from her shoulders so that he could tilt her face upward. Gentle 
fingers caressed the moisture from her face, before he lowered his head and 
kissed her softly.

"Yes, friends," he murmured against her lips, before lifting his head again. 
"Until I resolve this thing peacefully with my father...and it will be 
resolved...I should be glad to have you as my friend. My very best friend. As 
for now..." He paused and smiled at her gently, and she returned it 
wholeheartedly, suddenly feeling much better. "For now," Hotohori continued, 
"it is getting rather late, so please allow me to escort my best friend in to 
dinner." 

And so saying this, he released her and took her hand within his, and 
together they made their way back to the castle.

~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@

Rei sighed as she made herself more comfortable on the padded bench, which 
sat at the edge of the terrace just outside her chambers. She was bored 
silly, being locked up like some kind of fragile vase in the china closet. 
Her father was being completely unreasonable, keeping her confined to the 
castle grounds. True, they were rather large castle grounds, but it wasn’t 
the same as being able to go beyond the walls and into the large city that 
sprawled below them. He wouldn’t even let her go despite her promise to take 
several guards with her! Of course...that might’ve had to do with the fact 
that in the past she’d always managed to ditch the guards and take off on her 
own...but that had nothing to do with right now!

She scowled irritably at the open book in her lap. The sun was setting, and 
it was really getting too dark to read properly, but she didn’t particularly 
feel like fetching a lantern, or even calling a servant to fetch one for her. 
What she really wanted to do was to go riding. There was always the paddock 
on the other side of the gardens...which was large enough to hold nearly 
every horse in the stables...but again, it just wasn’t the same as riding in 
the open meadow with nothing but the trees around her and the sky stretching 
from one end of the horizon to the other. She was restless, feeling much like 
a caged bird, with her wings bound tightly to her sides, and all because she 
happened to be a princess. It wasn’t fair that her brothers were allowed to 
go out whenever they wanted and she wasn’t, just because she was the wrong 
gender. "Besides, I can take care of myself just as well as my brothers 
can!" she exclaimed rebelliously to no one in particular.

"Heh. I can believe that. Yer temper’s enough ta drive the meanest outlaw to 
his knees in terror," a smug voice proclaimed from out of nowhere.

Rei yelped in surprise and almost fell off the lounge. Wide, purple eyes 
frantically searched the area around her, looking for the offender, even as 
she realized that she recognized the voice.

"Gettin’ warmer," it mocked, and she finally looked upward into a tree, where 
she was startled to see two bright, amber eyes gleaming back at her in the 
dim light. "Boo," the owner smirked, flashing her a toothy grin.

She glared. "Oh, it’s you again." Leaning back with a disappointed sigh, she 
added, "And here I thought it was someone dangerous. I was looking forward to 
some excitement."

Tasuki snorted and leaned back against the tree trunk from his perch on a 
sturdy branch, crossing his arms behind his head as he regarded her through 
lidded eyes. He was the very picture of a big, lazy cat. "So what do you want 
now, Tiger Eyes?" Rei asked irritably. "Are you skipping out on your training 
session again?"

He smirked and shifted positions, so that he now sprawled across the branch 
on his stomach. "Maybe. What’re ya gonna do about it?" he challenged.

She shrugged gracefully. "Nothing. If you get yourself maimed or killed 
during a battle, I’d say that ought to be enough of a punishment. Aside from 
that, it’ll help weed out the idiots from the real warriors," she sniffed.

"Ya know, if there is a war, it’ll be yer fault," Tasuki replied lazily. "Yer 
the one who dumped the king in the first place."

The book closed with a snap. "I did not dump him!" she bristled. "I 
discovered that the good king had some rather questionable morals, and 
decided that until he could otherwise prove that he is the man he led 
everyone to believe, he would not make a suitable husband."

"Feh. Typical woman. Ya realize yer perfect man ain’t so perfect and ya head 
out fer greener pastures."

"He attempted to strangle my best friend!" Rei yelled furiously, leaping to 
her feet.

Tasuki looked thoughtful. "Well," he replied after a long moment, "what’d yer 
friend do ta get him pissed enough ta strangle her in the first place?"

"Oh!" Rei stamped her foot in utter frustration. "You ignorant moron! You 
don’t understand anything, do you?!"

He merely smirked and leaned back against the tree again, one leg dangling 
lazily. "Maybe I just like gettin’ ya pissed off," he replied. "Yer a real 
easy lady ta rile up, Princess."

"Well, what can I say? You bring out my worst side," she muttered.

"About as much as ya bring out mine," he replied with a grin.

"Oh really?" She faked a look of surprise. "How odd! I never realized you had 
a good side to begin with!"

He laughed outright at that. "Ya got guts, Princess. I kinda like that. You 
ain’t no simpering little girl like all them other princess’s out there. You 
remind me of me!"

She looked properly horrified. "If that’s the case, I’d best kill myself now 
to spare my family complete humiliation later," she deadpanned.

He shot her another wolfish grin, before abruptly allowing himself to drop 
out of the tree, landing on his feet with a neat little twist. Rei did her 
best to look unimpressed. "Well, back ta the barracks," he stated, giving her 
a salute and a devilish wink before sauntering away. "See ya later, 
Princess." He gave her a backwards wave over his shoulder. Rei watched him 
go, head tilted to one side in consideration. 

"Bye...Tiger Eyes," came her thoughtful reply.

~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@

There was no moon that night. The entire earth seemed to be draped in one 
large shadow, and in sharp contrast the stars glittered as brilliant 
pinpoints of cold, pure light against the black sky. It was the kind of night 
that thieves and cutthroats thrived on, where wolves and wildcats reigned, 
where man and animal could emerge from their dark lairs and stalk their prey 
with little fear of detection. And yet, even they seemed to have been 
swallowed by the shrouding shadows, giving the entire country a sense of 
utter desertion.

Within the sprawling meadows a good distance away from town or village, a 
single, small fire burned, its soft crackling seemingly as deafening as the 
crack of thunder in a storm. Sparks flew into the air, like fierce, burning 
fireflies, and a thin column of gray smoke made its pale ascent into the sky. 
Beside this fire a single figure sat hunched, cloaked all in black, although 
even he could not fully blend into the blackness around him. He poked at the 
fire occasionally, watching the sparks fly hissing into the air, and trying 
not to fall asleep as he waited for his partner to arrive.

Late again...as usual, the figure thought grumpily as he stifled yet another 
yawn. Sometimes, it was really more trouble than it was worth to be a spy, no 
matter how good the pay was. Why they had to hold these meetings so late at 
night was beyond him, but his partner was a mysterious type, if not a little 
overly-cautious. Still, he supposed that after the last incident, the man was 
right to be careful. It certainly wasn’t easy getting things done anymore, 
what with the way security had been stepped up in the castle lately. Still, 
if he doesn’t show his mug soon, I’m gonna leave and go back to get some real 
sleep!

It was at that moment when he found a variable waterfall being dumped from 
the skies, despite the fact that not a single cloud marred the perfect 
backdrop of stars. The unexpected downpour thoroughly doused not only the 
fire, but the man as well, and he leaped to his feet amid a volley of curses, 
glaring wildly around until a faint glimmer of light caught his gaze and held 
it.

His partner had finally shown up, it appeared, and the shimmer of the Mage-
light lying nestled in his hand lit his face with an eerie, haunted glow.

"What the hell didja do that for, ya blasted magician?!" the first spy 
snarled, shoving his sopping hair out of his eyes.

"Are you a complete moron?" the magician replied amiably. "How badly do you 
want to get yourself caught? A fire on a night like this, in a deserted 
meadow...that’s just stupid! You may as well walk up to a guard and beg him 
to arrest you, Dolt! We can’t afford to fail again. The boss isn’t very happy 
with us, you know."

"Waddaya mean ‘us’?" the spy snickered. "Yer the one that messed everything 
up the last time, remember?" Which he was secretly glad about, in truth. He 
knew his place in matters such as this, but really. Burning them to death? 
That was just...gruesome. In a moment of spite, he added smugly, "That’s why 
I got a new assignment from the boss."

"You?! But this was my job!" the magician cried angrily, clenching his hand 
around the shimmering light. It streamed out through his fingers, turning a 
dangerous golden-orange.

"Hey, if ya didn’t go an’ let ‘em all escape, maybe ya wouldn’t be in this 
kinda trouble," the spy snickered, crossing his arms. "Don’t worry! I got my 
job, an’ it ain’t none of that hocus-pocus crap, neither. It’ll succeed."

"It’d better, or it’ll be both our hides in the fire this time!" the magician 
sniffed haughtily. The Mage-light abruptly vanished, plunging the world into 
darkness once more. The spy blinked in surprise, then scowled and kicked at 
the remains of the fire irritably when he realized that his partner had also 
vanished. 

"I really hate it when he does that."

~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@

"Explain to me again why we’re sneaking out of the castle in the middle of 
the night?" Miaka muttered sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"It isn’t the middle of the night," the princess replied. "It’s almost dawn, 
and we’re sneaking out to go riding in the meadows this morning."

"You aren’t supposed to leave the castle grounds!" Miaka protested, suddenly 
wide awake.

"So? And your point would be...what exactly?" Rei asked sweetly, adjusting 
the large bundle she carried on her back.

"So...we’re going to be in so much trouble if we get caught!" Miaka 
sputtered. "Why did you have to drag me into this?!"

"Because, let’s face it. Attempting to shake the sleep from Serena before the 
sun rises is as futile as attempting to shake the death out of a corpse," Rei 
replied humorously. "Besides, you’ve been so depressed lately. A good, brisk 
ride is just the thing to cheer you up!"

Miaka sighed as she followed Rei through the dusty hallway that lay between 
the adjoining walls of their chambers. They were in a hidden corridor; one 
that had been lost and forgotten over the long passage of time, but had been 
rediscovered by the three girls quite by accident some years ago, when a cat 
they’d been playing with had mysteriously disappeared. They’d lost interest 
in the creature, due to the fact that it kept falling asleep, and had begun 
playing a much better game when the cat suddenly began to wail piteously. 

Of course Serena, being the soft-hearted girl that she was, refused to play 
another game until the distressed creature had been calmed. So, after a good 
while of intense searching, with no sign of the cat anywhere, they’d finally 
realized that the wailing was coming from inside the walls of their chambers. 
After a long argument on how the cat had gotten there...Serena was convinced 
it was some lurking monster who had snatched the poor beast when they weren’t 
looking...they immediately began to search for hidden entrances in the room.
 The door turned out to be hidden in the back of Rei’s wardrobe. Perhaps it 
wasn’t the most original place in the world to hide a secret door, but that 
hardly mattered to three little girls, who felt as though they’d stumbled 
upon a brilliant treasure. 

And indeed they had. The castle was full of hidden hallways, most of them 
known, some of them not, but not only was this one a new discovery, but after 
a bit of exploring the girls realized that it seemed to be the very center of 
an entire labyrinth of passages, ranging from one end of the castle to the 
other. It had side-passages that led into other hallways, and exits leading 
out into some most unusual places, such as up inside the chimney of the large 
fireplace in the king’s personal study. Luckily a fire had not been burning 
at the time, but the girls were hard-pressed to come up with a decent 
explanation as to why their clothing and hair were full of soot.

They’d mutually decided to keep their personal labyrinth a well-guarded 
secret, which had come in handy quite a number of times when escaping 
punishments and such. It was certainly coming in handy right then, since one 
of those many side-passages led right out to the stables where the royal 
family kept their personal horses. It was little trouble for the girls to 
find the right hall; they’d long ago memorized the routes, and had marked 
where each one led with a piece of chalk, just to be on the safe side.

"Rei, the stable boys are not going to let us just waltz on out of here with 
the horses," Miaka tried to explain as they neared their goal, attempting to 
make the stubborn princess see reason.

"The stable boys aren’t awake yet. Besides, they’re not above a little 
bribery," Rei replied flippantly as they paused before a wide, short stairway 
that led up to a trap door just above their heads. "This is it!" she 
exclaimed as she and Miaka climbed the stairs, using their combined strength 
to push open the heavy exit. They climbed out of the hole and together closed 
the door again, being careful not to make too much noise. When it was shut,
 it blended seamlessly into the cobblestone floor of the stables. Its heavy 
wood and the stones that had been carefully mortared into it served to make 
it solid enough so that it wouldn’t creak or splinter when walked upon, as 
well as disguising it well enough so that it couldn’t be noticed unless 
someone was actually looking for it. It couldn’t, however, be opened from 
that end, as it merely served as an exit from the passage.

"Here," Rei hissed, shoving a soft bundle at Miaka’s hands. "Put this on and 
grab a horse."

Miaka blinked as the bundle unfolded itself into a soft, velvet cloak of deep 
crimson, and her eyes went wide when she realized whose it was. "Th-this is 
Hotohori’s cloak!" she exclaimed. Not only was it his cloak, but there was a 
smaller bundle inside the cloak which appeared to be a loose cotton shirt and 
a pair of soft linen riding breeches. A pair of leather boots rested atop the 
pile. "These are his clothes?!"

"Well of course they are," Rei replied with a laugh. "You don’t actually 
think we were gonna go out in our own clothes, do you?" She held up a bundle 
of her own, which happened to be Endymion’s cloak and clothing. "They aren’t 
using them at the moment, so I don’t think they’ll care if we borrow them for 
awhile," she stated smugly.

"How did you get these?" Miaka demanded suspiciously.

"A visit to the laundry, of course. Oh, don’t worry! They’re clean," she 
teased upon seeing the look on her friend’s face. "The boots were more 
difficult to get, of course, but I got them. I should have been born a 
bandit, I tell you." 

Miaka looked unconvinced, and the princess sighed. "Look, you’re shorter than 
me, and Hotohori’s shorter than Endy. He’s also skinnier than Endy is, so his 
clothes ought to fit you better. Just change in that empty stall there. Oh, 
and here’s a cloth strip." At Miaka’s questioning look, she grinned wickedly 
and added, "Well, how far do you think we’ll get if somebody should see us 
leaving? Unless, of course, that person’s an idiot and thinks that the crown 
prince and his brother suddenly developed breasts overnight or something..."

"Oh!" Miaka turned bright red and hurried into the stall while Rei laughed 
behind her.

Minutes later she emerged dressed in the clothes with her chest bound flat. 
"The boots are too big," she complained. "So is the shirt." She shook her 
hands free of the sleeves. "This isn’t going to work! And how are we going to 
get out of here on our own horses?"

"We’re not. We’re riding theirs," Rei replied amiably.

"What?!" Miaka was now thoroughly convinced that her friend had gone 
completely insane. "Endymion will kill you if you take the Ghost! And I can’t 
handle Panther! He’s too wild!" she cried.

"You’re excellent at handling horses," Rei replied as she calmly emerged from 
another stall, dressed in Endymion’s clothes. Miaka gave a start. With her 
hair braided like that and tucked beneath the hood of the cloak, Rei could 
almost have been a twin to her brother. "You can deal with him for a short 
time," the princess added. "And I’ve ridden the Ghost before, so he’s used to 
me being on his back. Now come on and saddle the horses before the stable 
boys come in."

Miaka reluctantly helped her friend to saddle the Ghost, who danced anxiously 
in his stall, knowing he was going for a ride and eager to be out. Panther 
shifted nervously, as well, not certain what to make of the strange scent 
that underlay the familiar scent of his master’s cloak. Still, as Miaka spoke 
softly to him, the huge black calmed and allowed himself to be led from his 
stall. He took a nervous sidestep when Miaka mounted him, unused to the 
lighter weight on his back, but he didn’t bolt or rear, much to her relief.

"Come on," Rei whispered, flicking the Ghost’s reigns. "The sun’s rising, and 
the stable hands will be here shortly. We can’t be out long, because if my 
brothers wake up and decide to go riding this morning..." She let the rest of 
that sentence hang ominously as they led the two horses out of the stable and 
into the dimly-lighted courtyard. It was a misty morning, the sky overcast 
with thick clouds that bespoke of possible rain. All the better, if it meant 
an easier time not being discovered. Hooves clattered on stone sharply, 
alerting the patrolling guards, who turned startled eyes...as well as 
weapons...to face the riders. They relaxed, however, upon seeing the familiar 
sight of the two princes riding toward the main gates, cloaks drawn tightly 
about them to ward off the morning chill, hoods drawn up over their heads, 
cloaking their faces in shadow.

"A fine morning to you, Your Highnesses," one of the guards greeted, bowing 
low to them, while the other opened the heavy door which would lead to their 
freedom. The two riders nodded back cordially as they passed by, before 
flicking their mounts’ reigns and taking off in a fast gallop away from the 
gates. The two guards looked at each other in puzzlement. "That was odd," one 
of them stated. "Think they’re up to something?"

"Heh. Who knows with those two," the other stated as he shut the gate behind 
him. "Shift’s over at any rate. Let’s go get some breakfast."

"Sure!" The two guards started toward the kitchens, greeting their 
replacements as they passed by. They were almost there when the first one 
stopped and scratched his head. "Hey, Orson," he began uncertainly. "Is it 
just me, or did Their Highnesses look a little...shorter to you this 
morning?"

~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@

"That was too easy," Miaka stated when she and Rei were well away from the 
castle. "Do you think they really don’t suspect?"

"Why should they? They certainly don’t have any reason to suspect anything. 
Our disguises were good enough to get us through," the princess replied. "Now 
come on! I’ll race you to the meadows!" She gently kicked the Ghost’s flanks, 
and the white stallion shot forward with an indignant whinny. Panther was not 
to be outdone, however, and before Miaka could command him to move, the black 
stallion had also bolted, almost leaving his rider sprawled in the dust.

The two girls raced at full speed, laughing and taunting each other playfully 
as the wind whipped their cloaks about them. After a long while, they managed 
to slow the horses into a steady walk, riding close to the edge of the field 
where grass met forest, enjoying the peace of the morning. The mist hadn’t 
abated; in fact it had started to lightly drizzle, but they simply pulled 
their cloaks tighter about them and ignored the rain. Rei hadn’t felt this 
free in a long time.

She had just turned to toss another playful challenge at Miaka when a sudden, 
dizzying pain in the side of her head caused her to cry out instead, and 
tumble from the Ghost’s back. The white stallion reared in surprise and 
pranced a few steps forward before looking back with an air of puzzlement at 
the motionless figure sprawled in the grass.

"Rei!" Miaka gasped, turning sharply upon hearing her friend’s cry of 
distress. Green eyes widened in horror upon witnessing the sight of several 
men racing from the cover of the trees, weapons brandished as wild yells 
erupted from their throats. "Rei!" she screamed, preparing do dismount and 
help her friend, but was stopped by a sudden flurry of arrows, aimed right at 
her. Panther screamed and reared, almost tossing her from his back, but she 
managed to hold on. "Rei, get up!" she cried. "Hurry!"

Rei groggily raised her head, looking at her friend through unfocused eyes. A 
thin streak of blood made a bright slash down her cheek. "Ride," she croaked. 
"Save yourself, Miaka..."

"No!" Miaka screamed. "I can’t leave you behind!"

Rei tried to speak again, but the first of the men...bandits by the looks of 
them...had by then caught up with her and was throwing a large sack over her 
head and wrapping his arms around the dazed princess. "Look what we got here, 
boys!" the foul-smelling man jeered, glaring up at a frozen Miaka. "Th’ crown 
prince of Davinshire an’ his baby brother, too!"

Miaka’s eyes widened in horror. Oh no. They think that we’re...

"Feh! These’re the mighty princes of Davinshire? Ain’t much to look at, are 
they?" another one mocked. "I would’ve thought they’d be taller or somthin’. 
Sure got some puny men in this kingdom, don’t they? Makes me wonder why th’
boss wants ‘em all so bad." His announcement was greeted with malicious
laughter.

Are they really this stupid? Miaka thought in disbelief. Stupid or not, 
however, Rei was in very real danger. The man who had her had bound her hands 
behind her back and tossed her over his shoulder, the sack still covering her 
head. She wasn’t struggling at all, which meant she was either unconscious 
or...

Miaka’s thoughts were interrupted when a wild whinny broke from the Ghost’s 
throat, and suddenly the stallion charged forward, head low and hooves 
kicking, attacking the men who threatened his rider, just as he’d been 
trained to do. Several men were sent flying, the breath knocked clean out of 
them. One or two even met their deaths beneath the sharp, crushing hooves of 
the stallion. But it was no use.

"No!" Miaka gasped, hands flying to her mouth as one of the men still 
hovering in the trees calmly notched an arrow and aimed it at the rampaging 
animal. "Run," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "Run away!"

But he wouldn’t, she knew. The Ghost was a loyal beast, and even though Rei 
was not his true master, he would defend her to the death. It was what he was 
bred for, and why he was so worthy to carry the crown prince of Davinshire in 
battle. In another moment, the arrow hissed through the air, imbedding itself 
in the proud horse’s neck with a thwack. The Ghost released a choked scream 
and stumbled before falling heavily on his side, breath heaving in pained 
gasps. Miaka choked on a sob and turned her eyes away as someone drew their 
sword and ended the poor animal’s agony for good.

"Beasts!" the girl screamed. "You barbarians!"

"Where’s yer weapon? Ain’t ya gonna defend yer brother?!" another of the men 
jeered at her, eyes narrowed. "You were pretty stupid comin’ out here without 
a sword!"

It was rather stupid of us, wasn’t it? Miaka thought bitterly, trying to stop 
the flow of tears. If the bandits should suddenly realize that they were both 
women... "Let him go," she commanded, trying to make her voice as much like 
Hotohori’s as possible, and failing miserably. Her announcement was greeted 
with uproarious laughter and the hiss of hidden weapons being drawn from 
their sheaths.

"How about you come down here and make us?" a bandit snarled, glaring at her 
balefully.

There was no hope for it. She had to escape. If she tried to save Rei 
herself, they’d both be dead...or worse. With a scream, she drove her heels 
into Panther’s flanks and jerked the reigns viciously, and the stallion 
reared with a scream and whirled, breaking into a wild gallop across the 
meadow toward the castle. She rode low, heart pounding wildly with fear. I’ll 
make it! I’ll make it! I have to make it! she thought desperately.

In another moment, though, she heard a tell-tale hiss close to her ear, but
barely had time to register its meaning before a burning agony tore through 
her shoulder. Her eyes flew open wide as a silent scream caught in her 
throat. She felt like she was dying. Even then, though, she desperately 
managed to cling to her mount’s back, even as darkness hovered at the edges 
of her vision. "Rei," she gasped through choking tears. "I must help Rei..." 
A dark stain was blossoming on the front of her shirt, and she was dimly 
horrified to see the glint of an arrow point protruding from her shoulder. 
The sight nearly caused her to pass out, but she gathered what remained of 
her strength and held on. Rei’s life was in her hands now. She couldn’t let 
her down.

~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@

Rei awoke slowly, the side of her head throbbing in time with her pulse, so 
painfully that she felt as though she could throw up. She gritted her teeth 
and waited for the dizzying pain to subside, and after awhile the throbbing 
dimmed to a faint thrum and the churning in her stomach settled. She took a 
deep, calming breath, and nearly choked on it, for the air was hot and musty 
and smelled strongly of...burlap? Her nose wrinkled as one eye cracked open, 
and she nearly panicked as she realized that the old sack was still shoved 
over her head and shoulders. Forcing herself to calm down, she closed her 
eyes again and attempted to get her bearings. She and Miaka had been riding, 
and...

Miaka! the princess remembered, almost panicking again. Did she manage to 
escape? She didn’t really remember much after the attack. She’d felt the pain 
in her head...and speaking of which, she was gonna kill whichever bandit was 
cowardly enough to throw a rock at her! How typically male of them! After 
that, the world had gone black; apparently after someone had thrown the sack 
over her head, she’d finally lost consciousness. She could only hope and pray 
that her friend had escaped alive.

The air was really getting rather stuffy, and Rei frowned and attempted to 
reach up to yank the sack from her head so she could breathe normally...only 
to discover that her hands had been tied. So had her feet, for that matter. 
She let loose a growl of frustration. Well, this is just perfect! Those 
stupid blockheads! Don’t they realize that I need to breathe? I’ll probably 
asphyxiate before they even think to take this thing off my head! she thought 
in frustration. It really is amazing that they managed to kidnap me so 
easily. But then again...what does that say about me?

On the bright side, at least they hadn’t bothered to gag her...

"If there is anyone close by who has slightly more intelligence than a 
rotting corpse, perhaps they might make themselves useful and remove this 
shroud from my head before I suffocate!" she proclaimed in the haughtiest 
voice she could muster.

There was a brief scuffle from her right, and then an amused voice growled, 
"Whatsa matter, Princy? Don’t ya like yer new home?"

"Princy?" Rei mouthed, suddenly confused. Was it possible that these 
imbeciles had actually mistaken her for Endymion? They’re even more stupid 
than I thought! she mused with slight exasperation. And I let myself be 
kidnapped by them? Oh, Serena is never going to let me live this one down. On 
the other hand, she supposed she should be grateful for small blessings. As 
long as they thought she was a man, they wouldn’t attempt to do anything they 
might have done had they known she was a woman.

"What, no comeback? This ‘un ain’t much of a fighter, is he, boys?" the same 
voice sneered, and she received a sharp jab in the side that made her yelp. 
"Some ‘crown prince’, eh? The boss ain’t gonna have no trouble takin’ over 
th’ kingdom if these’re the only kinda men they breed in it!"

There was a round of chuckles, and Rei suddenly realized that she was far 
from alone in whatever room she was being held in. Her eyes widened. She had 
to hand it to them; for members of the less intelligent gender, they 
certainly knew how to keep their mouths shut. She hadn’t even realized they 
were there. Heh. The members of my father’s army could take a lesson from 
them. Especially that Tasuki, she thought wryly.

"Maybe ‘is head’s still addled from that rock ya brained ‘im with," one of 
the men called out, and her eyes narrowed. So he was the bloody rock thrower, 
huh? Just wait ‘till she got free...

Another sharp pain in her side made her yelp again, and she was hard-pressed 
to keep from leaping at him...not that she could’ve moved, anyway, even if 
she could’ve seen who she was attacking. The bully was kicking her! If she 
ever got herself free she was going to go and gnaw his kneecap off! 

"Don’t go damaging the merchandise, ya ahou!" a new voice exclaimed 
irritably, and Rei abruptly froze, her eyes going wide with shock. 

That voice...
Someone was suddenly behind her, carefully lifting her into a sitting 
position, and her head spun with the movement. She squeezed her eyes shut 
until the dizziness passed, while whoever was holding her began to lift the 
musty sack from her head. As he did so, the hood of the cloak she wore...
which had still been up over her head...finally fell back, revealing her face 
to the bandits for the first time, along with the length of braided black 
hair that encircled her head like a crown.

There was complete and utter silence.

Uh oh... 

Well, it looked like her secret had just been found out. The only thing she 
could do now was sit there and do her best to look innocent. At least, she 
realized, Miaka appeared to have gotten away. There was some hope of rescue, 
at any rate.

"Holy crap!" one of the bandits finally managed to croak. "Th-that ain’t no 
prince!"

"You don’t say," Rei deadpanned. "No, really. Your powers of observation are 
simply astounding."

"Shaddup!" he snarled amid the snickers of his companions.

"You stupid ahous!" that familiar voice suddenly yelled from directly behind 
Rei. He released the princess and stepped around her, his entire body 
radiating fury. "Ya were supposed ta capture the crown prince! The prince! 
Does she look like a prince to ya?!" he bellowed, his amber eyes blazing 
almost as brightly as his fiery hair.

"YOU!" Rei screeched furiously as soon as he took a breath. She would have 
lunged for him then and there, except that he hadn’t untied her. She could 
only sit there, quaking with fury as she glared up into Tasuki’s eyes. "You 
were behind this?! You were the one who set this up?! Why? What did my family 
ever do to you?" she yelled. "How dare you! You...you traitor!"

He seemed to wince, looking almost contrite, but then squared his shoulders 
and glared down at her. "Ya weren’t supposed ta be outta the castle!" he 
yelled back. "Ya weren’t the one we wanted! It was yer brother we were after! 
Ya woulda been safe if ya’d just stayed put like ya were supposed to!"

"Oh, and that’s supposed to make me feel better?" she snarled, managing to 
struggle to her feet so as to better face the obnoxious bandit. "You don’t 
want me! You only want to kidnap the crown prince! You only want to send an 
entire country into panic, that’s all! You only want to start a bloody war!"

"Calm down!" Tasuki snapped.

"Make me!" she retorted.

"If you insist," a third voice suddenly chimed in.

She barely had time to turn before the sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed 
throughout the tiny hovel of a room. Her head snapped to one side from the 
force of the back-handed slap, and she cried out and stumbled back into 
Tasuki’s arms, pain exploding on the other side of her face. A shaking 
hand...not her own...rose to cup her bruised cheek as Tasuki stared at the 
one who had dared to hit the princess. Brilliant blue eyes, as hard as chips 
of ice, stared imperviously back at them from beneath a fringe of soft, 
golden bangs. The hand that struck her was still raised, knuckles reddened 
slightly from the blow, and displeasure seemed to radiate from his entire 
body.

"Well. This is an...unexpected surprise." King Ayurhu’s deep, enigmatic voice 
simply dripped with venom, causing a shiver of pure terror to run up the 
princess’s spine. "I expected to be greeting Crown Prince Endymion, not my 
lovely fiancé." His gaze flickered from one man to the next, and they all 
cringed beneath it, knowing that retribution would be extracted from them 
later on. Only Tasuki stood firm beneath the glare of the king, too furious 
at the other’s callous treatment of the woman he held to be afraid. Even he 
would never stoop so low as to backhand a girl, no matter how big a mouth she 
had! He’d never claimed to like the king very much. He was simply "The Boss", 
the one who put money in his pocket to feed those he cared for. He had, 
however, admired the Elithian king’s sharp mind and strength in leading his 
kingdom. But now, seeing him so heartlessly beating on some poor woman, who 
wasn’t even able to defend herself...it made him seem like less of a man in 
the bandit’s eyes. It made him seem less intimidating.

"Well." Ayurhu’s lips twisted into some semblance of a smile as he gazed into 
Rei’s frightened eyes. "Now that you’re here, my dear, it is my duty to make 
sure you’re made comfortable." He gestured briefly, and a man silently 
stepped forward from the shadows, bowing slightly to the king.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I’m afraid our plans have been slightly...delayed," Ayurhu stated, with low 
menace lacing every word. "Please escort our lovely guest to more pleasant 
accommodations until I decide what to do with her...and see to it that her 
wounds are treated." His smile broadened slightly, and Rei couldn’t help but 
feel that if reptiles could smile, it couldn’t be more terrible a thing to 
witness than this. "We can’t have any scars marring that lovely face, after 
all, now can we?" Ayurhu abruptly turned, his midnight cloak sweeping the 
floor behind him as he strode away, leaving Rei in the company of the 
bandits. She suddenly realized that Tasuki still held her, and struggled out 
of his grasp. She supposed she should have been frightened of being there 
with them, but after having witnessed Ayurhu in all his glory...the bandits 
suddenly didn’t seem so worrisome anymore. Muttering started up among the men 
as they all drifted to their perspective quarters; no doubt they were all 
wondering what was going to happen to them next.

Tasuki, in the meantime, had slipped a knife between Rei’s bonds and cut her 
loose, before looking up at her through apologetic eyes. "I’m sorry, 
Princess. Ya weren’t ever supposed ta be involved in this," he told her, his 
voice barely above a murmur as he tucked the dagger back into the waistline 
of his pants. His head lowered slightly, fiery hair shading his eyes as 
though he was ashamed to look at her. Then, with shoulders slightly slumped, 
he turned and crept away into the shadows. Rei watched him go, brow furrowed 
in confusion as she rubbed the rawness from her wrists. She didn’t think 
she’d ever understand that man.

"If you’re quite ready, Princess, you’ll kindly follow me," a deep, cultured 
voice suddenly commanded, breaking her from her musings. Blinking, she turned 
her angry gaze toward the servant (she’d nearly forgotten he was there), 
fully intending to tell him where to get off...and abruptly found the retort 
freezing in her throat as a pair of deep, midnight-colored eyes locked with 
her own. She opened and closed her mouth several times, hope warring with 
utter disbelief, before a single name managed to squeeze past the knot in her 
throat, echoing in the nearly-empty room.

"Endymion!?"



To be continued...