All Grown Up

Post by **Emora Deen** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 10:10 pm

Rai sat in a dark corner with her legs drawn to her chest. It had been two days and she still felt that same strange feeling of wrong and right. Though, the feeling had faded more to nothing than anything. Now she just felt the strange loneliness of being cooped up in a room with no one to talk to except the maids that came in and out to bring her necessities.

The only thought that would seem to stay in her mind was the undying desire to shed the Prince of Arken’s blood. It was such a strong desire that she often found her hands going for the weapons on the wall that were old and rusty and only meant for decorations.

She had to call back her hand, not wanting to risk Steel’s life with something that would probably get her killed anyway. The image of him and the way he moved when fighting those assassins came to her mind every time. She was skilled in fighting, but Edan was skilled in magic, something she knew nothing of… Except healing…

Healing came naturally though, she just felt it and thought it and said it… and it happened. Magic seemed like something so much more complicated than feeling and thinking and saying. But, in the end that’s all it really was.

She couldn’t stand just sitting and pondering… She couldn’t stand what he had done to her, making her feel things she shouldn’t. Rai pulled on her hair slightly, but stopped herself as she felt it was a foolish act.

She stood up, pacing now at a wild speed. She could try to kill him, there wasn’t any harm in trying. Chances were that he felt such strong feelings he wouldn’t harm her… So maybe he would just stand there and let her kill him. Maybe he would think she wouldn’t really do it…

There was only one way to find out…

About the time her hand had reached up for the set of rusty, yet still sharp daggers over he mantle the door opened. Rai quickly switched into a position as if she was leaning on the mantle with one hand. The maid came in bringing a tray of food with her, which she sat on a table. She was just about to leave Rai alone when the young half-elf spoke.

“Where is the princes room?” she asked the maid softly, just realizing she had no idea how to get there.

The maid blinked several times as if she didn’t quite understand the question, and just encase she was suspicious Rai began to play if off skillfully, just as skillful as she had been as a child.

“You see, I was hoping to surprise him… Because well,” Rai looked down, the anger rushing blood to her face that made it look as if she were blushing from embarrassment.

The maid, an older woman with graying hair, smirked slightly. “Its just down the hall from here… it’s the door at the end with the two gargoyle heads,” the maid told her and then left the room.

The door at the end of the hall? Why hadn’t she noticed it?”

Rai grabbed the dagger off the wall and through it on the bed. She went to her wardrobe and pulled both the doors open at once, almost knocking them off the hinges.

She had to find something to wear that could conceal her… and distract the prince for a bit… But, nothing that made her feel uncomfortable like the rest of Arken nobles garb.

Everything seemed to be something like what Shea would wear, except far more decent. It still seemed to revealing for Rai’s taste, who had grown up in Arken where clothing covered most of the body.

She finally chose a black dress that would help her hide in the shadows. She preferred pants but it seemed all she had was dresses. The dress was the most modest on of all, it was held together along the side until it got to the hips, where it was fabric the rest of the way, with gold chains. The chains were small and thin, which maid Rai uncomfortable. Every time she moved she felt as if one would break. The dress hooked around the neck and left her back open. She really hated Arken’s clothing…

When she was dressed and grabbed the dagger and tried to find some place on the clothing to hide it… there wasn’t really a place to do that so she decided to pull on a jacket and hold it up in her sleeve.

She left the room, and no one was in the hall so it was very easy to walk down the very… dark… extremely creepy hall way.

It wasn’t a wonder that she had never seen the door to Edan’s room, since it was so far down the hall that it had always just looked like a black dead end. But, the door was there and unlocked, so she slipped in when she heard footsteps coming down the hall.

No one seemed to see her, because after a while no one opened the door. She walked backwards into the room, bumping into a table. At the moment she did a sharp pain went up her arm and she looked down to find a strange creature made of stone on the table. He had beady black eyes that had stone eyelids that slid sideways over them every now and then.

Rai gasped slightly stepping back and looking at the small bite mark on her arm. The pudgy stone creature seemed to have a grin on him and he tilted his head from side to side every now and then looking at her. A strange purring sound came from him, as if he approved and then he curled up on the table. A sigh escaped the half-elf and she turned around, walking into the dark corner to hide.

It seemed like she waited forever before Edan came into the room, and when he did she watched him cautiously as he stopped to pet the creature that was so ugly it was cute.

He didn’t look around the room for anyone that might be in it. She figured he would because of how many people that would love to kill him. He walked towards a chair in front of a dark fire place. He took a seat and just as he did the fireplace came alive with fire.

Rai moved closer, her bare feet not making a single sound as she did so. Edan slipped his robe from his shoulders, revealing his bare back to Rai. It disgusted her just as much as it made her curious.

She was almost behind him, almost there. The daggers rusty blade coming from inside her thin silk jacket sleeve. She held it level with Edan’s neck, wanting to give him a slow death… Let him die gasping and bleeding…

When she was close enough she pulled her hand back… and pushed forward with all her strength…

Post by **Emora Deen** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:27 pm

It was to good to be true, that first millisecond that she thought she was going to be free and have revenge for what he did to her... For making her feel feelings that were not her own. But, then the feeling of winning came crashing down as Edan’s had wrapped around hers and pulled her around into his lap.

He held her hand, which held the dagger, that was now pressed against her neck. His free arm was holding her around the waist tightly.

“That was rude,” he said calmly, staring down at her bright blue gray eyes.

Rai squirmed, but stopped with the blade pressed a bit closer. It was to dull to do damage unless he stabbed it into her. However, she didn’t take her chances. She said nothing and he said nothing… They just were there looking at each other.

“You almost had me,” he complimented…

“A shame that I didn’t make it…” she told him as he pushed her from his lap and she fell to the floor before him.

Edan sat there in the chair leaning against one arm of it with a bland look on his face. He then smiled that usual smile that Rai hated so much. “I was wondering when I would find you in my room.” He leaned forward towards her. “Though I didn’t think it would be this soon…”

Rai pushed herself off the floor and walked to the door, but the creature on the table jumped down onto the ground in front of the door, growling. She stopped for a moment, but the creature was so small what harm could it do?

She stepped forward and the thing bit her on the leg, making her jump back.

“Call off your thing,” she told Edan.

“No,” Edan said, not paying any attention to her, his eyes staring at the fire.

“What point is in keeping me here?” she asked him, annoyed as the little creature began to purr again.

“There is no point in it, and there doesn’t have to be,” Edan told her.

Rai tried to get passed the tiny creature, but it didn’t let her, trying to bite her again.

“Call the damn thing off!”

“Its not me who is making you stay, he’s doing it,” Edan told her. “He likes you apparently and doesn’t want you to leave… Guess your stuck.”

“Tell him he doesn’t want to like me because I’m going to kill his master one day…” she told him.

Edan finally turned his head in the direction of the door with a grin. “That’s why he likes you.”

Post by **Emora Deen** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:23 pm

Rai looked at Edan confused. That didn’t make any sense unless the creature wanted her to kill Edan. She was confused about that. Why keep a creature in your room if it wanted you dead. She looked back done at the stone thing.

“It likes you because you have power…”

Rai shook her head, that was ridicules. Her only power was healing. Did the little stone creature like healing?

“It thinks you have evil in you,” Edan told her.

“That’s stupid,” Rai told the thing.

“He’s not stupid, he’s right…”

Rai looked back at Edan and shook her head. “I don’t have evil in me,” she told him. “I can’t.”

Edan laughed slightly. “But you do,” he told her. “At least somewhere in you. It’s the only reason I can think of why you have my mothers healing ability.”

“Its just a healing ability,” Rai said, turning away from the door.

“My mother gets the pain of those she heals… because it’s a good deed she’s doing… And you get the same pain of those you heal…” Edan implied…

“That doesn’t mean anything,” the half-elf argued.

“It means a lot,” Edan told her. “It means a whole lot… and you didn’t know you parents long enough to find out if it was inherited. Even if it was it still doesn’t disqualify the fact you have evil in you.”

It just wasn’t getting across to Rai at all. She was completely refusing to believe she had evil in her. For all Edan knew it could have meant that his mother had good in her, she thought. Rai skipped around the creature to the door and excused herself.

She turned around after closing the door and found Edan in front of her, his hands pressed against the door on either side of her head. He leaned in and Rai instinctively pressed herself against the door. “I was hoping you would stay,” Edan said with a strange glint in his eyes.

Rai looked into his piercing green orbs and said nothing for a moment. His face inches from hers made her feel very uncomfortable. “I don’t want to stay,” she told him simply, though her voice shook on the last word. She didn’t want what happened between them to happen again.

“I think you do,” he said and leaned in to kiss her. Rai wasn’t thinking about the consequences, she was just thinking about how much she didn’t want to be a whore… She lifted her knee rather hard between his legs sending his hands off the wall as he hit his knees at her feet.

She moved around him to where he couldn’t catch her if he felt like taking revenge out on her and watched him as she backed down the hall.

He sat kneeling on the floor for some time, time enough for him to disappear slightly in the darkness of the hall as she continued to back her way down the hall until she couldn’t see him any longer… and until she backed into a firm form.

She was thrown into a wall, with hard hands on her shoulder. One slipped from her shoulder to her neck and squeezed tightly, lifting her off her small feet. Her hands grabbed at the one around her thin neck, which was being crushed in Edan’s firm grip.

“That,” he told her, his eyes a bit darker than usual. “Was a wrong move.”

Rai clawed at his hand to let her go, unable to take in any air. The grip tightened and her vision blurred as her eyes began to water and black dots came into the corners of her vision. Edan’s eyes were all she could see. She opened her mouth to tell him to stop, but nothing came out but a strained sound. The black corners were accompanied by dots and soon the dots covered her vision and she could see nothing but black. Her hands stopped there attack on his arm and the fell limp by her side.

When Edan snapped out of her vengeful trance he seemed surprised, though he had known full well what he was doing. He let his hand go of her, before he killed her. He knew that he had only rendered her unconscious and if he would have held on any longer then he would have killed her. She fell with a thud to the floor at his feet.

Post by **Emora Deen** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 5:35 pm

Rai blinked and coughed, it felt as if she had swallowed nails. Her throat was so sore that she could barely talk when she tired just to see how it would work. She coughed to try and see if that would help, but it didn’t.

She blinked several times and pushed herself off the cushioned lounge chair she was seated laid out on. It was in front of a large window with two window doors that opened up to the balcony. Rai didn’t recognize the room from the view she had at the moment, but when her head turned away from window she noticed the large bed, and the large fire place… but most of all the tiny creature that was on the table.

He was curled up and making purring sounds that sound odd coming from a creature made from stone.

Rai wondered why Edan had taken her to his room…

The fire was dead, only embers were left at the bottom along with ash. It gave a dull glow to a bit of the room, but not enough to truly see by. The moon cast most of the glow into the room allowing her to see the lump on the bed that was Edan. Rai figured while he was sleeping would be the perfect time to kill him…

She stood up and began to walk forward, but her feet didn’t go far before one was snatched back when she tried to step forward. Her head spun towards what it could have been so fast that her hair covered her eyes for a moment. She brushed it away and looked down at her ankle to find a shackle around it and a chain leading to the wall beside the window.

The only good thing out of this was the beast hadn’t decided to shackle her to his bed… Maybe he had some decency…

Rai knelt down on the floor and began to pull at it, but the chain was strong and so was the shackle and she couldn’t seem to break either. What was the point of all this? Why did he bother her so?

Could it be true… Could the reason he bothered her be because she had evil in her and he was fascinated by that? Rai didn’t think she did… In truth she didn’t want to believe she did.

She was tired of sitting on the stone floor so she sat back on the lounge chair that was long and flat except for once side that was raised slightly. She sat down with her back to Edan’s bed and looked out the window. She wondered how Steel was doing and if he was alright… How could she be expected to withstand nine more years of this?!

What if Edan got tired of the fact she wouldn’t sleep with him and he began forcing her to… which technically he did the first time… Well, at least she thought he did the first time. In truth Rai didn’t understand what made her sleep with him that first time. She just knew that she had this strange urge that made her want him… and then she gave into the urge and once she did that everything else just faded away and didn’t exist to her anymore.

She absolutely refused to let that happen again.

Rai was so tired of having to run for her life, to fight for her life, to almost die for her life. She knew it would never end until the evil in the world was gone. That meant destroying Shea and Edan and every ruler like them. But, she didn’t have the power to do that. She was nothing but a girl that was adopted and given a lovely home and a family who protected her after Shea stole her family.

She remembered the night still, even if it had been long ago when her mother had told her to run. Demons had come for her because Shea needed her to die on a table so that an ancient demon could be resurrected from his prison in Mount May’em.

She had run away after her mother told her to. She thought her mother was coming, but after a while she realized no one was behind her. A demon tried to attack her, but a black wolf came out of no where and saved her.

The image of the first time she met Soran Nightblade and Mizuki came to her mind. She had stumbled upon them when they were in the middle of a fight with a man named Luc. A woman named Tora was lying in the street with both arms broken and both legs.

The little girl she used to be ran all over to try and find a doctor. Eventually she ended up healing that night, though by accident. She didn’t think that they would want to keep her with them and help her find her parents, since at the time Soran had been a very closed off person. She seemed to like him anyway nevertheless.

They kept her with them and so began Rai’s adventures. The first person she ever killed was when she was six, just after meeting the group Mizuki was kidnapped and raped. She became with child and the man who had raped her claimed that both Mizuki and Rai were reincarnates of his wife and child. The man was a Dark Angel named Gabriel, who looked almost identical to Soran. He tried to force Mizuki to marry him. Rai didn’t mean to kill him, she just stabbed him in the lower back to stall or keep him away from Mizuki… but he died.

It had devastated the child she had been. What child killed?

She got over it, but there were only more horrors to come. Shea managed to get her hands on Rai and Soran along with a Dark Angel Siren and another one of Mizuki’s old boyfriends came to her rescue. It didn’t save Rai from witnessing the death of her parents, Shea slit there throats right in front of her.

Rai remembered that she had wanted to die so bad after that that when she looked at Soran it must have read in her eyes as well as her features. He asked her never to make that face again. Soran sacrificed his own leg when Shea tried to use her magic to control him into stabbing Rai and sacrificing her to the demon.

That was only a piece of her strange, and dangerous childhood, a childhood that one child should never have to go through. Soon Mizuki had taken the place of her mother, and Soran had become her father. She even managed to gain a little brother in it all...

Post by **Emora Deen** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 11:22 pm

It wasn’t hard to find shadows in Arroes to hide in. They were every wear… Odoff was an big strong man, a man more likely to lead a prisoner into the palace. He led Cyrus out of the shadows and towards the gate where two guards were standing. Cyrus’s hands were bound behind his back and Odoff shoved him around roughly. Though, growing up with Odoff meant you were used to getting shoved around.

“You think creeps would learn to pay their taxes,” Odoff said, pushing his cloak off his shoulders to reveal the Arken armor. It wasn’t that hard to get one of the Guards armor, they usually walked around Arroes drunk.

“Heh,” one of the guards said and smirked. “Take him on down… there in need of fresh meet.”

Odoff gave a fake grin and walked into the dark corridor. When they were far enough in Odoff unbound his brother. “Do you know where they might be keeping her?”

“I would say in a room some where,” Cyrus said calmly, though he didn’t tell Odoff how he knew this. It wasn’t the time or place for them to argue about what is and what isn’t black magic.

“Well, that should be easy. I mean how many rooms could a palace have?” Odoff and Cyrus headed up a set of steps that curved around the large room they came to at the end of the corridor. It led into a hallway at the top.

“it’s the middle of the night, most of the guards are out getting drunk, sleeping with whores, or sleeping period…” Cyrus commented noting the fact that so far they had only run into two. “This might be easier than I thought.” However, Cyrus kept glancing up at the arches they walked under.

Odoff followed his brothers gaze but found nothing, he felt his brother was acting a bit peculiar. “What do you keep looking at?” he asked him cautiously.

“Its not what I’m looking at, its what I’m looking for,” Cyrus commented testily. “You don’t just leave a palace unguarded… And I’ve heard of gargoyle statues coming to life to protect the place.”

“Was that when you were here? For Alley?” Odoff asked, his voice cracking a moment.

“I wasn’t in the castle very long,” Cyrus said. “I don’t know. I saw the gargoyles, but I didn’t see them move.”

They heard feet coming down the hall and Cyrus pulled his brother down an even darker corridor. Though, it was lit with small glowing orbs instead of torches.

The group of guards walked by, not even looking down where Cyrus and his brother were standing.

Post by **Emora Deen** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:57 pm

Edan rolled over in his sleep. Growing aware of his surroundings, he woke and saw Rai sitting up in the chair, staring out the window and rubbing her sore neck. His piercing green eyes looked her over, she looked so sad. It made him smile. He slowly, and soundlessly got out of bed, creeping across the floor towards her.

Rai jumped when she felt hands touch her shoulders and slide down her arms. She jumped up and turned around, almost falling through the glass when she did so. She turned around, the chair between her and Edan.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” he said, though the sound of his voice made it sarcastic.

“Sure you are,” she said hoarsely, coughing to clear her throat. She could barely be understood.

“What was that? Your hungry?” Edan asked, and smiled. “Well I’ll see what I can do… Why don’t you just lie back and get comfortable…”

Post by **Emora Deen** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:58 pm

“So how do we find her?” Odoff asked. So far this was the twelfth time the big broad shouldered man asked that question.

Cyrus’s cold crystal gaze moved towards his brother. “Well, I know one way I could find her, but I don’t feel like listening to you chew me out, though I guarantee you’ll be doing that before the night is up.”

Odoff muttered something under his breath that Cyrus couldn’t hear, but he was sure that it had something to do with “black magic. Odoff’s hate of magic was spawned from Edan’s foul treatment of his sister and when Cyrus though he could eat Edan if he himself learned that magic. To Odoff magic was a plague to his family.

“So what are you now? I thought you only dealt with fire. But, that snow in that town…”

“I moved up, I’m a World Mage, instead of just one element I know a lot more forms of magic…” Though it doesn’t mean I’m good in them yet, thought Cyrus sourly.

Cyrus moved through the shadows much easier and more graceful than his brother, his feet could barely be heard as he moved across the stone flooring. His eyes were narrowed in deep concentration as he could hear the sound of light footsteps coming down the hall as they neared the corner.

“Play along,” Cyrus said to his brother, who only nodded.

Cyrus turned the corner quickly and bumped into a young female, wearing tattered clothes and an apron. The bucket of water she was carrying crashed to the ground and sent the sudsy water everywhere.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, not even bothering to look at Cyrus to see who he was. She curtsied and knelt on the floor to mop up the water.

“Its fine, I was going to fast anyway,” Cyrus said politely, though it had a edge of usual coldness to it. He was acting… he had to act nice to her so she would tell him what he needed to know.

The girl looked up, her eyes surprised by his kind words. Cyrus continued quickly. “Well, since I’ve ran into you would you be so kind as to tell me where the Lady is? I mean to say the lady that our prince has taken such a fancy to… I’m supposed to take a message for her.”

Odoff had to hide the shock on his face by pretending to be fascinated by a painting on the wall. Cyrus sounded completely different from the person he had been a moment before. “Would you be so kind”? The Cyrus I know would be demanding to know where the girl was.
Then again what person in there right mind would go around demanding in Shea’s palace unless it was a noble. Both Odoff and Cyrus were dressed nothing like nobles.

“Uh… I don’t know…” the girl said and looked around. “I heard that she was staying in the a room just down the hall I came from… I could show you the room, but I don’t know if she is there…”

The girl stopped what she was doing and led both Cyrus and Odoff down the hall to a doubled door room. “This is it,” she said gently and smiled.

Cyrus and Odoff walked into the room just as the door at the very end of the hall opened and a tall man with long crimson hair came strolling down the hall.

Edan didn’t see Cyrus or Odoff, by the time he came out they were already standing in Rai’s room.

“She’s not in there,” Edan’s voice said.

Cyrus’s head turned towards the door as the deep familiar sound filled his ears. He turned to the door to see the girl standing there, but he couldn’t see who she was talking to. He could only here the voice.

“Oh,” the girl said, but before she could finished Edan interrupted. He seemed to be in a hurry.

“She’s in my room, bring some food up for her…”

“But, your highness there are-”

“Just do as I say and I promise I won’t have you whipped,” Edan growled, storming past her in a black and crimson blur.

For a moment Cyrus thought he caught a glimpse of Edan’s evil piercing green eyes. But, the demon didn’t stop, he just continued walking.

The girl stood there at a lost for words. She then looked back into the room. “I must go,” she said. “She’s down that hall at the very end. You can’t miss it.”

Then the girl was gone and it left Cyrus and Odoff to there own devices. They exited the empty room and headed down the hall towards the double doors at the end.

“This is it,” Odoff said, looking at his brother.

Who knew what horrors they would find in Edan’s room…

Post by **Emora Deen** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:23 pm

Rai sighed as she heard the click of the door opening. Was he back already? Her eyes looked out the window still, every muscle in her body tensing as she felt the presence of someone behind her. At the moment she didn’t want to turn around and acknowledge the fact he had returned, maybe he would leave her alone if she did that.

Cyrus motioned for Odoff to close the door. His eyes followed across the room to make sure there wasn’t anything in there that could attack him. His eyes fell on the slim figure of the girl in front of the window. She was just sitting there, did she not here them come in.

“Are you Rai?” he asked curtly, wondering for a moment if the girl was deaf.

Rai blinked, turning her head slightly. The voice didn’t belong to Edan… Had he sent someone to get her? Or was it someone from dungeons come to pay there revenge.

Rai turned around quickly, almost tripping over the chain around her ankle. “Who wants to know?” she asked, backing up slightly.

Cyrus looked upon the face he had seen in his vision. The girl wasn’t crying this time, she looked somewhat determined about something. “We’ve come to rescue you,” Cyrus said, though the tone in his voice made it sound as if he was forced into saying it and the way it sounded on his tongue made the notion rather corny.

“Rescue me?” she asked him, arching an eyebrow.

Two men against Edan and his army, she’d rather take her chances staying where she was. Although the flash back of what Edan made her do came to her mind and she had to shake it free. She would take her chances with these two men… If they were actually there to save her. But, what about Steel! She couldn’t leave or he would be killed…

“Well,” Cyrus said testily, looking at her.

“Who sent you?” Rai asked cautiously.

“What does it matter who sent us, we’re here aren’t we,” Odoff said quickly. “Come on, if we’re going to do this we have to do it now. Edan will be coming back any time now.”

“I can’t go!” Rai said. “You wouldn’t understand, but I can’t go. If I go someone I care for will die.”

“He’s already dead,” Cyrus said, not seeming to care how the news took her. Not seeming to care whether or not he put it too bluntly.

At first it didn’t even register in her mind. She just stared at the figure in the shadows, the slimmer one that had told her Steel was dead. Rai just stood there as the figure emerged from the shadows and came towards her quickly. At first Rai though he was going to attack her, the way he moved gave that impression… and also because he was drawing his weapon.

Rai thought quickly. She kicked the lounge out, slamming it into his shin and almost tripping him.

“What the hell was that for,” Cyrus growled, the sound of Odoff’s laughter behind him.

“I thought you were trying to kill me!” Rai growled back, her eyes narrowing, but her voice cracked slightly. Steel was dead? No… Edan would have told her right? That meant the deal would have been broken and she could have…

“Bastard!” Rai screamed and Cyrus’s head came up quickly staring at the girl with a peculiar expression.

“No, I knew my father,” Cyrus said, raising his sword and bringing it down on the chain that was attached to her ankle. It broke with sparks flying. Cyrus sheathed his sword.

Rai stared at the broken chain her vision blurring in front of her. He was dead… He was dead… Rai’s jaw set, clenching her teeth together. She blinked her eyes a few times to try and keep them from getting to water, to make it seem like she wasn’t crying or about to. She took a deep breath, it came out shaky.

“Are you just going to stand there? I could leave you here if you really want to stay. I didn’t want to come for you anyway… Ah!!” Cyrus bit his lip after a sharp pain jabbed into his leg. He looked down to see this small stone creature looking up at him and blinking in an innocent manner with his sharp stone teeth biting into Cyrus’s leg.

Odoff went to pull the creature off when Rai clambered over the lounge and reached out. As soon as her hands touched the creature he let go of Cyrus’s leg and made a purring sound.

“What the hell is that?!” Odoff asked.

“I don’t know,” Rai said holding it in her arms. “But, I seem to be the only one it likes.” The creature purred and his head turned towards Cyrus, growling at him.

“We haven’t got time for this,” Cyrus said, his eyes looking up at her. “Are you coming or not?”

Rai looked up and at Cyrus, she could already tell that they weren’t going to get along.

“Yes,” she said hollowly. “I’m coming.”

“Good…” Cyrus turned to the door just as he heard the click of it opening. It might be the maid that was supposed to bring her food, so he didn’t immediately draw his sword.

If only it had been the maid. It seemed that had stayed too long. Edan’s piercing gaze found him in an instant, standing in front of Rai, Odoff at his side. For a moment all just stood there staring at each other.

Edan made the first move raising his hand.

“Hold on to me,” Cyrus said quickly, not even waiting to check and see if she had done it. He pushed himself backwards, falling and tripping over the lounge chair, he grabbed Odoff and pulled him with him as he and Rai fell through the window, Edan’s blast of energy flying over there heads. Rai screaming all the way.

Cyrus looked at the moon as time slowed for him, only for him could time slow long enough to find the right moment for him to open the Gate. He closed his eyes just as they were about to make impact with the earth. Something resembling a door under them opened and they fell through it.

The door closed and Rai’s scream was cut off.

Post by **Emora Deen** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 8:45 pm

It was a rough landing that Rai didn't expect at first. Her body thudded into the ground, Cyrus on top of hers, squishing the small stone creature in between them both. It knocked the wind out of Rai and for a long moment she just laid there staring at the blue sky with her mouth open, but no breath going in or out.

"Will you please... get... off of me!" Rai said hoarsely.

Cyrus didn't say anything. He pushed himself off the ground and for a moment stood on wobbly legs. Odoff had done better than both of them, after all he was a much larger and more muscled man. He watched as his brother stood up and, looking dazed, tried to keep his balance. Cyrus's blue eyes were half open and as soon as he took a step forward he fell completely backwards and slammed to the ground, going still immediately.

Rai shot up and Odoff crawled towards his brother quickly. Neither knew the cause of Cyrus's sudden faint, and Odoff was worried that it might have had something to do with what Edan had tried before they fell out the window. Or maybe it was caused by what Cyrus did to save them from the fall.

"What’s wrong with him?" Rai asked, her voice still very hoarse from Edan's strong grasp around her slim neck.

"I don't know," Odoff said shortly, taking his brothers head and turning it straight forward. He felt his brothers pulse, found it strong as ever. Maybe it just took a lot out of him to save them from that fall.

Rai took the moment to check there surroundings. They were in the middle of an open field... the grass was high and almost made them concealed from any sight. The field was surrounded by forest, and a small road went along the edge of it. A broken down barn was at the edge of the road going into the forest and it seemed to be abandoned.

She was guessing they were in Ighten, for it was dark in Arken and it was light here. It was either that or hey were in Ongoreth... Maybe in the outer lands? No... it was too hard to figure out where they were with out the man telling them.

Rai's blue-gray eyes found the young man looking rather peaceful, and not as brutish and rude as he had looked in Edan's room. He actually looked quite handsome... Rai looked to the man looking over him as if he were his father.

"Who are you two?" she asked softly, her voice cracking.

"I am Odoff," Odoff explained and looked back at the young man lying unconscious next to him. "And he is my brother Cyrus."

Rai looked at Odoff. "Maybe we should get your brother some place out of the open... Just encase we're in a dangerous place."

Odoff nodded and through Cyrus over his shoulders in a gentle... but quick manner. He carried him to the barn with Rai following behind, feeling slightly uncomfortable in the dress she wore. It was a warm, almost extremely hot summer day and the sun beat down on them as they made there way across the feild.

Odoff kicked the barn door open, almost breaking the rotten thing off its hinges. He stepped into the dusty atmosphere and put Cyrus down on a stack of hay that sent a cloud of dust into the air.

Ria looked around, trying to keep her mouth shut at the oversized spider in the corner. It sent chills down her spine. Even to this day she didn't like spiders. Never did when she was little and didn't now. They just gave her the creeps.

Rai looked around as the sun shown through the cracks in the barn, making the dust particles shimmer like glitter falling through the air. She felt out of place, out of it totally. For a moment she thought she might be dreaming. Or maybe this was some strange plain you were on when you died, and Edan did her in with his choking. Then again she thought that the dream thing was more liable than anything else.... That would explain these people showing up out of know where claiming to her that Steel was dead.

Steel couldn't possibly be dead. He was to strong and to skilled to just die. It was to impossible for Rai to believe. She swallowed hard and blinked several times to keep the water from her eyes. She couldn’t cry, not now… not yet. Not until she knew the truth. Until she knew for sure he was dead.

The only reason she agreed to come with these to was to escape Edan. She couldn’t bare the thought of him touching her again. Though, she didn’t know how much better it would be with these two strange people.

Rai had forgotten she was holding the strange rock creature. He was curled up sleeping in her arms in an uncomfortable fashion so Rai laid him on a blanket of hay. She sat down next to it, rubbing her neck softly as she stared at the ground.

Post by **Emora Deen** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 2:51 pm

Sometime that night, as a fire burned controlled by the pile of rocks around it, Cyrus woke to the smell of dust and smoke. He blinked several times as he glanced around wildly, trying to recall the events that happened before the blankness enveloped him.

He sat up slowly, feeling a rush of pent up energy flow through his limbs. He heard soft voices, and he blinked his eyes again to clear his vision and his head turned in the direction of the crackling fire.

Odoff sat with his legs crossed around him, poking and prodding at the fire with a stick. The girl sat a little to the left, her knees drawn up to her chest and her eyes resting on the fire that burned from sticks and hay.

“Was he in pain?” the girl asked softly, her words barely above a whisper.

“No… he held on long enough to ask us to save you… and then he let go,” Odoff explained, trying to make it sound as close to the truth as possible. “Besides we had a bit of pay back for the Prince anyway.” Odoff caught the movement of his brother out of the corner of his eye and noticed he was awake. “About time.”

Cyrus just stared, pushing himself to his feet and walking towards the warmth of the fire.

Rai looked up at him with her grayish-blue eyes. They were watery and sparkled diamonds. She must be upset over her friend, and his expression must have told her that he noticed her tear filled eyes, because she looked away quickly.

So he was dead, Rai thought sadly. And these two rescued me because he asked them too…

“What grudge do you have against Edan,” she asked, her voice cracking. Nothing was said and Rai had to look up to understand why. Now both men were staring at the fire. “If I can ask…”

Odoff was the first to speak, “He took our sister.”

“And seduced her, corrupted her, then when he was finished with his fun, threw her from the top of his palace,” Cyrus growled, tossing a handful of hay into the fire, sending it up higher.

The crickets could be heard louder than ever as the uncomfortable silence sat in.

Rai looked back and for at them, feeling uncomfortable now more than ever. She didn’t know what to say or how to respond. She could believe that Edan would have done something like that… Would he have done that to her? Threw her from the top of the tower? Yes… he was cruel, inhuman… he would have gladly thrown her from the top…
“Thank you,” Rai finally said with a hesitant tone. “For saving me…” She stood up. “I need to get to Steel’s family… well try and find them to tell them what has happened…”

“Edan will come looking for you,” Cyrus said.

“I’ll be with my family, they will protect me,” Rai told him.

Cyrus’s cold eyes looked at her. “Then go, I’ve done my part,” he said rather coldly.

“Cyrus we can’t let her go alone,” Odoff told him.

“Why not? All the fool asked us to do was rescue her from the palace, that’s all…” His words were cut short be a hard hit to the side of his face. The girl had come clean across to him in one fluent movement and the palm of her hand slammed into the side of his face.

“Call him a fool again and a sting in your face won’t be the only thing wrong with you,” she spat at him, standing up and fleeing to the outside of the barn. The fabric of the thin dress flowing behind her.

Post by **Emora Deen** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:38 pm

If Edan had been more like his mother he might have lost a good deal of servants that night. Edan, however, was to much like his father, so instead of blowing people up for useless reasons he sat in a dark corner with his legs propped up on a table. Yes, he might have killed a good many Masters of Pain in his dungeons, but that was because they had attacked his prize.

He sat brooding, but not really brooding, more like contemplating in a very angry fashion. He kept playing the event over and over in his head, memorizing ever feature on there faces… noting that Rai’s face seemed surprised, even shocked at what they were doing… and sad… Was she sad to leave him?

No, that seemed a bit out of reality to him. After all she tried to kill him… Maybe she was unsure of her feelings for him…

Edan growled. That had to be the half that was his mother talking, for his father would think nothing like that…

He hated having that weakness in him that craved for feeling. Many times he tried purging it from his body, but he still had found no way of totally getting rid of it with out killing himself.

That was most definitely not an option.

There was a knock at the door and for a moment Edan thought to ignore it, but instead he gave permission for the fool to come in. It was a soldier dressed in black armor with a rather sour expression.

“Is there anything I can do for you my lord?” he asked.

Edan looked up for a moment, about to send him away or kill him on. Finally he decided that sending one patrol out to look for her wouldn’t be so bad…

“Take a few men… Look around the outskirts of the city. I doubt she’s there… But, it will make you people leave me alone long enough to complete a spell…”

Post by **Emora Deen** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 9:00 pm

Rai walked out of the dusty barn and under the night sky. She turned her head upwards to look at the pretty sparkling stars… She couldn’t stop thinking about Steel being dead. She was so angry at the moment at the man who dared to call Steel a fool. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest and her eyes narrowed angrily at the stars.

“Jackass…” she muttered in the most unladylike fashion.

“Yea,” she heard a voice say. “I tend to have that name directed at me a lot.”

“Maybe if you wouldn’t act like one no one would have a reason to call you that,” she said, not looking at him. She focused all her attention on the stars.

Cyrus said nothing. He just came up beside her, a great distance, away and stood there. He looked up at the stars, trying to understand what she could possibly be looking at that seemed so interesting.

“What do you want?” she asked softly, finally turning her face towards him.

“I wanted to apologize…” he said, but his voice gave a hint of annoyance. “Actually, Odoff wanted me to apologize.”

“At least he has some manners,” she spat.

“Look I don’t even have to apologize!”

“I don’t care and I don’t need one from you!”

“I love how you show gratitude for being saved!”

“I said thank you!”

They were facing each other now in a heated battle of words. Odoff stood leaning against the barn wall watching the two fight like little children. Cyrus could be unemotional at times, but right now he was shocked at how cold he was being. He was probably being that way because of the girl. He usually did that to people he thought he might get close to.

“We’ll take you to your family,” Cyrus finally said.

“What if I don’t want you to?” Rai asked, her bluish gray eyes sparkling in the moon light.

“Odoff, she doesn’t want us to. Guess we’re off the hook!” Cyrus said, but his voice sounded strangely disappointed to Odoff’s ears. He knew very well that Cyrus didn’t want to leave the girl alone in Arken with half of Edan’s army looking for her.

“Lady,” Odoff said. “You can’t get rid of us that easily…”

“Oh great, stalkers…” Rai muttered, though a hint of amusement was in her voice.

“Just to your home,” Cyrus said, his eyes actually kind for a split second. “That’s it.”

Post by **Emora Deen** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:01 pm

As if there luck couldn’t get any better it rained. It rained for days it seemed. The clouds were thick and black covering up the sun and moon when they were out. It was so dreary and Rai’s mood was already sour… Cyrus seemed to have lightened up dramatically. It was strange since the weather made everything look so sad. Maybe he hadn’t lightened up? Maybe the mood of the weather was just worst than his usual mood.

Rai glanced at the sky. It was dark and black and no stars could be seen. The rain fell lightly, only a sprinkle now, but her clothes had long since been soaked through. The dress Edan had given her to wear wasn’t the thickest, but it had been far better than the other things in that closet she had to choose from.

Cyrus had been kind enough, surprisingly, to give her his cloak to wear so she wouldn’t freeze. He was just hoping to get to a town soon to figure out where exactly they were… They had yet to reach anything to find out if it was in Arken or Ighten or Onogoreth even. The only thing they could decipher was the face that it was daylight the normal amount of time…

Odoff could see something up a head. It didn’t look inhabited and it didn’t look very big, but at least it might keep the water off them for a little while.

“I think we can stay there tonight,” he said, pointing towards the small shack.

“What Odoff? Don’t enjoy sleeping in the rain?” Rai asked, a smile coming to her lips.

Cyrus smiled too, though no one could see since he was walking a head of them. He had to admit, he did find her comments to them amusing… Cyrus shook his head unconsciously. There were things he didn’t need to think about. A girl was one of them. He had a promise to keep and couldn’t let anything get in the way of that promise…

Cyrus peeked in through the window to see if there was anyone on the inside. It was too dark for him to tell, so they would have to find out the hard way. He stood away from the door and kicked it open, not so hard as it would break the door, but it would snap the wooden lock.

He held out his hand and whispered a short and silent word. A small flame kindled in his hand and lit up the small room. He saw a wood burning stove in the corner and a small stack of wood that wouldn’t last them through the night, but it would have to do for the moment.

He threw the little flame at the wood burning stove and it roared to life, filling the small shack with light. Rai came in and took a seat on a moldy mattress in the corner. Her eyes immediately scanned the room for spiders with her spider detection system built into her. It seemed she had a knack for finding spiders, even in the cleanest place.

The smell in the air wasn’t the best… it smelled of mildew and another strange odor that she couldn’t place. She put a finger to her nose, trying to stifle the smell.

“What’s wrong princess, not enjoying the shelter?” Cyrus asked and looked at her with a smirk.

“It’s fine,” she said and looked at Cyrus with a strange expression. “I’m not a princess.”

“Lovely weather,” Odoff said absentmindedly.

Both Rai and Cyrus looked at Odoff for a moment wondering why he would say something so out of place to the moment.

“What?”

For the first time Rai heard Cyrus make some sound other than the usual silence. He chuckled lightly, feeding the wood into the stove. He continued this until the fire was roaring.

Cyrus looked back at Rai and then back at the fire. “Get some rest,” he told her.

Rai glanced down at the bed, finding that she would rather do many other things than lay her head down on that dirty blanket. Things might find there way into her ear or something! She wasn’t usually like this, except for when it came to bugs. She found that as she got older she grew more and more fearful of bugs! Why bugs, she didn’t know. She could go up against the most fearsome of demons, but couldn’t stand still with a bug around.

“Eh, I’m really not tired…” she confessed to him gently.

“Well, you have to take watch sometime tonight, might as well rest up for it…” Odoff said to her with a smile.

Rai groaned inwardly and laid down on the very tiny bed made of stray and a tattered cloth. She didn’t realize how tired she really was until her head hit the sack pillow and moments later she was being woken up by Odoff for her to take his watch.

Rai rose up slowly, pushing her curly hair from her face and sitting up. She gave a soft and tired nod to him as she maneuvered out of his way, trying not to trip over Cyrus who was curled up on the floor.

She sat down against the wall, trying her best to keep her eyes open. So she tried to find something interesting to concentrate on so she wouldn’t fall a sleep. She thought of Soran and wondered how he was doing… and how Mizuki was doing. She thought of Blade and wondered what sort of trouble he was getting into with the ladies. She smiled and almost laughed. She wondered if Siren was doing good… Then her thoughts turned to something sad. Steel.

She never had loved him they way he wanted her too. She couldn’t. For Rai there had never been that spark that she knew had to be there to love someone. Yes. Steel had kissed her once, when they were even thinking of trying out a relationship. Rai had felt nothing at all. Not a single spark or flame or feeling except for the fact that it was sweet. She never felt anything more and never had the desire to pursue something that wasn’t there.

Rai was sad to say that maybe she should have. Steel had died loving, but never being loved back. She felt horrible for that. Yes, she would have gladly died for Steel, but she didn’t love him in the way he did. He loved her like Soran and Mizuki loved each other… and for Rai it just wasn’t there… But, maybe if she would have tried harder it would have been there?

Cyrus stirred in his sleep and this caught her attention. She glanced over in his direction to find his face placid and gentle. She smiled. He didn’t look near as mean as he did awake. Then again he was only mean looking when he was upset or mad she guessed. Because, he hadn’t been mean looking at all when he had laughed.

Rai came to awareness when his eyes flashed open to catch her staring at him. She could feel her cheeks grow red and hot so she averted her eyes guiltily and quickly away. Staring now at the wood burning stove as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

She could fell him staring at her, but she didn’t want to let him know that. Finally his eyes stopped boring a hole through her and he fell a sleep once more. When the sun was coming up she decided to take care of her business before the other two was up. She quietly left them, closing the door behind her with silent grace and turning to the sun.

Rai yawned, stretching her arms above her head. She felt the warm glow of the sun on her face and her body and it just made her want to lie in the middle of a grassy field and go to sleep. She knew that would have to come later.

When she was done with doing what was needed she came back around the other side of the shack to find Cyrus standing in the open sunlight with his arms above his head as well. He seemed to enjoy the suns rays just as much as her…

“Good morning,” she said to him as she came up behind him.

His hands slowly fell to his sides as he turned around to face her. His chestnut colored hair shielded his eyes slightly, but he didn’t seem bothered by it. His crystal gaze met hers as she walked up to him.

“Morning,” he said to her.
“Is Odoff still sleeping?” she asked, not able to think of anything more to say to him but that.

“No,” his gruff voice said from behind her. He was standing in the door way with a sour expression. “That damn bed was too small…”

Rai grinned and folded her arms. “Funny, I thought it was comfortable…”

Odoff just narrowed his eyes on her before he stepped out of the shack and directly past them. “I’ll be back…”

Rai and Cyrus watched him disappear into the thickness of the woods and it left them in an awkward silence. Cyrus didn’t seem to mind it all that much, but to Rai, silence was death!

“I’m glad it stopped raining,” she said absentmindedly.

Cyrus didn’t say anything back immediately, and at first Rai wasn’t sure he even heard her at all. Finally he broke the silence before she could ask if he had heard her. “Yeah.”

‘Yeah?’ Rai thought, ‘That’s all he can say?’ She felt that his communication skills were on the level of Soran’s. Well, at least his level when he has just met someone. Well, if the person he just met hasn’t harmed anyone he loves…

“Okay, stay close to me…” Cyrus said, a sound of annoyance in his voice.

Rai looked up from her thoughts, confused on why all the sudden he would proclaim that she needed to stay close to him. She saw four men coming down the road towards them. They had a hard time taking there eyes of Rai and Cyrus it appeared, because not for a second did they look away.

“Bunch of trespassers,” one said, all to cooly.

“Trespassers?” Rai asked calmly to him, not understanding how all three of them could possibly live in the little abandoned shack.

“Aye,” he said.

“No one lives here,” Cyrus told him.

“Just because we don’t live here doesn’t mean we don’t own it,” the middle one said.

“Excuse us,” Rai tried to act more diplomatically than Cyrus. “We didn’t know that anyone owned it and we needed shelter from the rain.”

“Well, then I guess you could pay us something for borrowing our property for the night,” the last one said.

“Pay you?” Cyrus growled.

“Yes.”

Rai took a step forward. “We don’t have any money on us I’m sorry…” she tried to sound as meek and innocent as possible, but apparently they didn’t care.

“Well, then, that’s just too bad…”

“Too bad…” the other two chimed in.

“Guess we’re going to need some other payment…”

Rai could already see what was coming. ‘Ahh… crap!’ she growled inside her head.

Post by **Emora Deen** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 7:53 pm

The group moved towards her and she was ready to attack, but instead of going after her, they went straight for Cyrus and grabbed him up quickly. Cyrus was a bit thrown off. For one he had expected the men to go for Rai, because she was female and they seemed to want that sort of payment. He figured he had enough time to kill them since they would be distracted by her.

“Aren’t we lucky!” one said as he grabbed a hold of one of Cyrus’s arms. “A nice looking man coming along like this…”

Rai turned around, narrowing her eyes and staring in confusion.

“What the hell!” Cyrus yelled jerking from side to side to try and get loose. “Get our damn hands off me!” Cyrus growled.

Rai ran forward and pulled on the middle one, who seemed fond of playing with Cyrus’s hair… She grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, planting her fist in his face. He fell back into one of his buddies. All three, including Cyrus, fell to the ground.

Rai picked up a rock and through it at the head of the one left standing and hit him right between the eyes. He sort of shook his head when she hit him and at first she didn’t think she had done any damage. But, after a second his eyes rolled back and he fell backwards onto the ground.

Cyrus managed to get up before the other two and kicked one in the stomach and the other in the face. He then stepped away from them dusting himself off.

“Does this sort of thing happen often to you?” Rai asked, almost laughing. She couldn’t believe that they want Cyrus as there payment… that was just too funny.

Cyrus drew his sword and put it to one of the men’s necks while he stood on the other one. He through an annoyed glance towards Rai as she came up to check on the other one that was sprawled out on the ground with a knot coming up on his forehead.

“Well, what do we do with them?” she asked him casually, poking the knot with a smile.

“Kill them I guess,” Cyrus growled and poked the neck of one of the assailants quite hard.

“You just want to kill them because they were going to force themselves on you,” Rai said, unable to control herself.

“Oh and you wouldn’t?” he asked darkly.

Rai thought about lying for a moment, but in truth she would have killed the men as well if they would have attacked her for the purposes they had attacked Cyrus for.

“Well, yes,” she finally said.

“Then why can’t I?” Cyrus stated.

“You can,” she said and smirked. “I never said you couldn’t…”

There was a rustling in the bushes and when she looked up she saw Odoff immerging from the woods. He stopped short, blinking in surprise and then smirking. “Someone try and attack the little lady?” he asked, assuming that at first glance.

Rai laughed and put a hand to her mouth quickly. “Uh, not exactly…” she said softly. “It seemed that they were more interested in Cyrus then me…”

“Will you stop!” Cyrus growled harshly. “Its not like this sort of thing needs to be spread to the whole world!” He looked terribly disheveled at the moment and more strands of his chestnut hair had fallen in front of his blue eyes.

“Well, its not like they succeeded!” Rai snapped back.

“So! Would you want me to talk about you and Edan constantly?!” It was then that Cyrus realized he had overstepped his boundaries. He knew immediately that he had pressed the wrong buttons, even if he had done it subconsciously. Those words that came out of his mouth came unexpectedly and he didn’t mean for them to happen at all.

He saw her face fall from amused agitation to complete hurt. She just stared at him shell-shocked for a split second before her eyes closed tightly and she jerked her head away. It seemed as if she were trying to fight off some horrible memory that had willed itself to the surface at her words.

“No,” she whispered to him and her blue-gray eyes shot dangerously in his direction. She clenched her fists and walked past them both, heading down the path alone.

Odoff folded his arms and gave his brother a cold look. “You know,” he said softly. “I would think that after some time you might grow a heart.”

“I couldn’t help it… I didn’t mean to…” he said in his own defense.

“But, you did Cyrus!” Odoff yelled. “You did.”

Cyrus didn’t know really what to say about it. He knew that deep down inside her picking with him about the men trying to force themselves on him had been humorous and alright… But, his old habits acted up and he had gotten the strong urge to defend his pride and it had hurt the girl very deeply.

“Looks like you messed up cutie…” the one at the end of his sword said.

“Shut up!” Cyrus growled and pushed harder with his sword. “If you follow us we’ll kill you.”

It was the last thing he said to him. Both Cyrus and Odoff turned and followed slowly after Rai who was further up a head on the path. Cyrus stared at her with guarded eyes. He really felt bad what he had said. He should have never said it.

However, Cyrus was not the type to apologize and last time it had to be forced out of him practically. But, this time it would actually come from him. This time he would actually apologize without have anyone force him into it. He just had to figure out when was the right time.

They walked for hours and hours it seemed and not once did the girl look back at them to see if they were following her. She didn’t even seem to care where they were going. She seemed lost in thought really, and he had half a mind to run up to her and apologize then, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

At night Odoff called for her to stop and come back so they could set up came somewhere in the woods. She reluctantly stopped and came back to them.

Cyrus eyes immediately found her face. Though, she wasn’t looking at him. It seemed she had been crying. Her eyes were red and watery, but she had no tears on her cheeks. Her eyes flashed in his direction, but he averted his carefully so she wouldn’t think he was staring at her.

That night they camped under three large oaks with long low branches that you could actually sit on comfortably. Rai was laid back on a curved one that looked very much like a strange cradle.

Her legs were crossed at the ankles and her arms folded across her chest. The fire light cast a soft glow on the clearing, but left it hard to see in the darkness beyond. She was too busy occupying herself with staring at a bird that was sleeping peacefully in its nest above her feet.

Cyrus still hadn’t apologized, but what could she expect from him. He didn’t have manners or a conscience for that matter. What should she expect from a mean bastard like him?

“Rai?” a voice said close to her, startling her to the point that she jumped. She felt herself falling sideways out of the limb when a hand grabbed her arm to steady her.

She turned her head towards the person who so gently pulled her back onto the limb. It was to her surprise Cyrus, though she should have been able to tell by the sound of his voice.
She almost jerked away, but strangely didn’t. He let her arm go when he felt she wasn’t about to fall out of the limb and he leaned against the tree limb casually. He seemed to be thinking as he folded his arms and opened his mouth, but closed it back quickly. He did this several times until he was hit in the head with an acorn.

Cyrus jerked his head towards Odoff who sat innocently on the other side of the clearing. Then he glanced back at Rai who was watching him with a rather confused expression. Now he felt really like a fool, but he couldn’t back down now.

“I,” he said and paused. “I wanted to apologize to you.” It was plain and simple and nothing more than that to him. He felt that was all he needed to say. Well, that was until he looked into her eyes. He saw those same eyes he had seen that night in the alley… When he used that locating spell. “I’m sorry for what I said… I shouldn’t have said it.”

Rai looked away for a moment, clenching her jaw tight. She wasn’t mad, she just wanted to say something without her voice cracking even slightly. Finally she took a deep breath and opened her mouth, “Thank you.” Her voice was soft and gentle.

Cyrus felt relieved. It actually didn’t feel as if someone had shot him. He didn’t die because he apologized out of his own free will… He sighed out of relief and turned away to go back to the fire.

Post by **Emora Deen** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:44 pm

The worst job in the castle had to be the one of the prince’s “friend.” A friend to the prince meant that you had been his servant since he was child and rather his “play thing” that he called a friend. It was someone who had new spells tested on him or got the lovely privilege of hearing the prince rant and rave about nonsense.

Today for Ser it seemed that the prince was ranting and raving over something that Ser really didn’t care to listen too. The prince had spent the last two days completely isolated from the world in one of the dark libraries in his palace. He went through record after record of history. Most of the history he went through was on the sacrificial sort. He went through them, searching for her name.

Yes, Ser had heard quite a lot about “her”, the young girl that the prince seemed completely infatuated with. It was hard to believe that the prince had actually found someone he could be so taken with that he would go through history book after history book looking for some record of her parents were and why they were sacrificed.

Finally, a day later after bringing the prince his food and watching him read the night away he stood up early that morning without any sign of weariness and proclaimed he had found it. But, that book only led him to find more and more books.

“So her parents weren’t the sacrifice… she was… But, that’s impossible since she isn’t of pure innocent blood…” he said, putting a finger to his temple as he ran his hands across the cover of dusty books.

“But, m’lord, she was a child, pure and innocent,” Ser said, trying to add some reason to his apparent madness over the girl.

“She was a child, yes, but that doesn’t have anything to do with blood…” he said fading off as he floated up to a book that was too high for him to retrieve standing on the floor. Across the side cover the imprint read, Richtievaxz

“Well, that names a mouth full,” commented Edan with boredom clear in his voice.

“Lord,” Ser said. “Must we peruse this to all hours of the night and morning? The girl escaped, can we leave it at that.”

“She did not ‘escape’,” Edan countered with acid in his voice. “She was taken.”

“Taken…” Ser corrected himself.

The young prince sat with his feet propped up on the table in the middle of the library and the dusty book open in his lap. He flipped through the pages with boredom until he found something interesting about the demon’s history.

It said something about how the demon could be brought back to life, but he already knew that. He had to be brought back using the blood of an innocent descendent of Laertes Sunstorm… But, how could that be… Then he found it at in the first sentence of the second paragraph.

“Ah ha!!” Edan said with a proud smirk, then he began to read out loud. “Laertes Sunstorm had two sons, one from his half-demon wife, Ranola Sunstorm and one from his affair with a servant girl whose name is unknown… My mother must be the stupidest woman in the world!”

“M’lord, do you feel that it is… smart… to call your mother stupid?” Ser asked, wondering when she would come flying in to scold him.

“Like I’m scared of her,” he muttered angrily. “I have more power in my fingers than she has in her whole body.”

“Sire…” he protested, fearful of his Queen’s wrath.

“Stop whining, fool,” Edan growled. Sometimes he wondered why he kept the idiot around? He remembered then. It was because Ser was a well educated man and one that feared him beyond spreading anything to anyone. He handled some of Edan’s records, what little ones he kept. He was useful, but expendable.

“Yes, m’lord,” Ser whispered and bowed his head.

“My mother, being the act first and think later person she is… must have thought that just because the girl had the name Sunstorm and because she was a child she was the right one…” Edan mused to himself. His mother was truly a foolish woman, how his father ever came to stand her was beyond him.

“Where would the other child be?”

“I don’t know,” Edan growled. “There isn’t a name, but all that matters is that Rai does have evil blood in her.”

“So the sacrifice would have never worked?” Ser asked.

“No, and my mother probably would have been humiliated… No, she wouldn’t be. She has no feelings like that, nothing makes her humiliated…” Edan said simply. “But, still it would have all been a waste of perfectly good woman…” Edan glanced at the book and seemed to stare there as if there were images on the book that pleased him, when really he was reliving memories of her.

No, there was no way she would run away from him. Not after how he treated her and how he made her feel. He remembered that night more than any night he had ever spent with a woman in his arms. He remembered her scent and the way her soft skin felt. He remembered her voice…

“It was all for a reason,” he whispered. Usually he wasn’t the type of man to believe in things “happening for a reason”, but this was clear and in his face. She escaped and now she was here, for him… “I was meant to meet her… She was destined to be mine…”

Ser almost rolled his eyes, but then again the prince had a point. Was it coincidence that she happened to appear after all these years? Was it luck? Or was it truly meant to be.

“Tell the guard to look everywhere for her… Everywhere. Send messages to spies in Ighten and Ongoreth. Not to all of them, since most have more important things,” he told Ser.

“Yes, my prince,” Ser replied, standing and looking at Edan before he left the prince to his happy memories.