Author's Note

Hi there people!

I got a little inspired last night and decided to do the next chapter. I hope you like it!

~Jade

My brain was fuzzy, all I could think about was the cold and heartless words of the man. 'Say goodbye to your precious kingdom princess...' Repeated itself in my head, over and over again. Precious kingdom? How did this man know who I was? and more importantly how did he know where to find me?

Dreams, no nightmares, filled my every sense with terror. My friends laid on the ground, slashed down with fear on their faces, each clutching their sword in their hand. Asuna was in the midst of a heavy battle, the men fighting her were pushing her into a tighter and tighter circle. She was defending herself more than attacking them. She was outnumbered, there was no possible way that she was going to win this.

I tried to scream out to her, but no sound. I tried to warn her about the man enclosing on her from her left, now her right, but still no sound came out. I couldn't move, the only thing I could do is watch as Asuna was hit in the back of the neck with the hilt of his sword. She collapsed to the ground, fear in her eyes as she gasped for air. 'Come on Asuna!' I yelled in my head. She fought to get up but them men kicked her back down every time.

They were laughing at her, calling a useless little girl that couldn't protect the princess. Asuna spat at one of the men and he slapped her across the face. She screamed as they started to kick her sides again.

"Pathetic, isn't she?" The man in the middle said as he walked away. I could see Asuna still trying to reach out, still trying to take ever ounce of the strength that she could possibly manage and use it to get off the ground and fight back, but it was useless now. The man was inches away from me now. He stopped and looked right at me. "This is only the beginning princess." He whispered in my ear. He turned his head towards his men. "Finish her..." He said to them slowly.

My eyes went wide as the sword came down on Asuna's now limp and helpless body. She was gone, he lifted his blade up and the blood dripped down onto the ground, I screamed and tried to move again, but nothing would work. The man in front of me pulled up his sword and pointed at me.

"And she was just the start." He whispered to me once more as the blade came down on my neck...

I sprang to life and jumped forwards, I was breathing heavily. My eyes darted around the new found scenery. There was a man sitting across from me. He was a tall man wearing glasses. His eyes were shut closed, and he was breathing quietly.

I was in a carriage with two rows of seats facing each other. The seats themselves were made out of a red plush material. I hadn't seen anything like it in the castle, or really anywhere for that matter. My father's castle was dark and depressing, no color at any corner, nothing at all but stone and materials that were harsh and scratchy against your skin. None of the demons had to worry about it though, their skin was hard and resistant to scratches, mine on the other hand was quite the opposite.

I couldn't even say a word to him, I just breathed in and out the best that I could without screaming at this man. I shut my lips closed and stared at the man in front of me. A tear started to fall down my face, I hoped that this entire thing was just another dream. I closed my eyes and counted to ten in my head and opened my eyes. The man was still there.

I went to reach out to him, but something restrained me. I looked down slowly and saw shackles around my feet. I struggled in silence for a few more minute, anger started to build inside me and I laughed. "Very funny." I said looking up at the man, whose eyes were now open and looking at her. "Did my father put you up to this?" I said fiercely to the man. I stared at him for a minute before he put a smile on his ugly mug of a face.

He opened his mouth for a minute before he leaned back crossing his arms over his chest and crossing his legs as well. He smiled again before he silenced himself for another few minutes, his eyes shut and his face wiped clean of any emotion.

"Well princess." He started off. His voice was cold, almost identical to the one from the man that had captured her. I growled at him, but felt that she should restrain herself so that I could get actual answers from this man. The man opened up his eyes once again, colder than before, unforgiving and broken up. I felt as if I should pity this man, but overall I'd rather not. He had taken me against my will and put me in the back of a carriage, shackled no less.

He stared at me for a few more minutes before he opened his mouth to speak again. His voice sent shivers down my back. My hair started to fall down out of the loose ponytail. "I offer you the warmest greeting to the Mahora Kingdom.

I thought about this for a few more minutes before I laughed at him. "Bring me home you pathetic servant." I said with a fierce intensity that makes most of the servants in the castle whimper away and cry. "My father will murder you once I tell him how horribly you've treated me." I said to him looking away from his cold unchanging face. I hate to play the whole 'My father will have your head.' card, but I hated this and I wanted nothing more than to go home.

He laughed at my words. "I'm the pathetic one?" He stared off, "Your the one sitting in chains, thinking that your precious father set up this entire thing." He laughed out. What did he mean, of course my father set up this entire thing right? I glared at him once more.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I spit out at him. I clenched my teeth shut and struggled in my shackles again. "Release me!" I yelled out. He leaned forward in his chair and grabbed the shackles that held my hands together. He pulled me forward and my head rocked. He pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked my hands.

"There you go." He said leaning back in his chair. I looked astonishingly at him. I rolled my wrists around for a few seconds.

"Thanks." I whispered to him. I took almost of the will power in my possession to not lean forward and punch him square in the jaw. I looked out the carriage window and saw the woods rushing by. "Where are we going." I whispered, to him. None of this was looking familiar to her and she had spent months roaming around in the woods with Asuna.

"I already told you Princess, this is the Mahora Kingdom." He said smoothly as he leaned forward again and unlocked my feet chains. I looked at him again, everything was in pain. I put my hands to my head and wiped my forehead. There was nothing there except an excess of sweat.

The carriage had come to a sudden stop and I rushed forward again. I settled myself back in the chair and rubbed my head. "Ugh." I groaned slowly. I closed my eyes for a few minutes as the door next to me opened up.

"Your highness." said a quite voice outside the door. I opened my eyes slowly, outside was bright out. How long had they been traveling? It was dark when I was captured.

"What do you.." I started to say before I was interrupted by the man in front of me. His eyes were still unchanged and his face looked just as cold as before.

"Hello, Kaede." He said as he got up from his chair and walked out of the door. The supposed Kaede reached out for my hand. Reluctant as I was to grab it, I did.

"Thank you." I said to the women. She was tall and very busty, her hair was neatly cut into a bowl cut, fringed outwards on the end. Her eyes didn't look open at all and she didn't smile at all. She was wearing loose fitting jeans, tight at the waist and baggy at the thighs. She was wearing a black tang top under a black mesh shirt with an assortment of knives attached to a sash that was across her chest.

"My pleasure princess. Please follow me this way." She said as she gestured towards the enormous castle in front of us. The castle was white with blue and black trimmings. There were towers here and there, nothing like the towers on fathers castle. This for sure wasn't fathers castle.

I hesitated before walking forward with Kaede. I started to let the tears stream down my face. I was never going to see any of my friends again all because I was careless chasing that man off alone into the woods. Maybe if I had practiced more, or maybe if I had sparred more with Asuna, then maybe I could have defended myself better.

The realization of just how much danger I'm in hit me at that moment. I was in a foreign land with possibly no way to get home, my friends could be injured, or worse off. My father would have no idea where I would be, I was going to die here. Kaede grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me forward slightly, a concerned look on her face. Apparently I had stopped walking.

"Are you ok princess? Do I need to call the doctor?" She said in a whisper once I again. I sparred her a slight smile.

"No, no. I assure you I'm perfectly fine, I'm just worried about my friends that's all." I said with confidence. Surely she didn't want me here like the man did. He didn't seem to care about my emotions one bit. She on the other hand seemed to care.

She smiled slowly. "King Eishun isn't a bad man.." She said quietly. King? Was that the man that she had just met in the carriage? I gave her a confused look and she nodded her head. "Yes, that was him." She said before looking away and towards the castle. I seriously had my doubts that he had any sense of good in his brain, he was vile that's what he was. I blow my hand at her.

"Your right." I stated simply at her. "He's not a bad man, he's a monster. And I know what a monster is, I've spent my entire life living with monsters." I said in spite. If this man was really a king why would he spend so much energy in capturing a defenseless princess.

I walked the rest of the way to the castle in silence. When we arrived I saw the king talking to a young man. He was dressed fancier than Kaede was, which wasn't saying much. We were catching the end of the conversation just as we walked up. "...Yes father." said the man as he walked away. The prince.

His voice sounded very familiar to me, it cause a shiver to run down my back. I watched the man disappear behind a pair of very fancy looking white doors that were opened by servants waiting out front. King Eishun turned to me and smiled.

"Welcome again princess." He started before he turned towards the castle door, gesturing slightly for the servants to open the door, which they did instantly. He waved both Kaede and I to follow him. Kaede walked forward at once, but I stood my ground, unmoving.

"I want answers." I said loudly enough for the servants to jump slightly. The king turned around and sighed at me.

'Why yes, of course." He stated simply, which caused anger to flare up in me. I clenched my teeth together for a moment before I opened up my mouth and walked forward to him, my fists clenched.

"Why. Am. I. Here." I said strongly at him. He looked down at me his face stern and rough. He put on an evil smile and turned around and to the door on the far left of the grand stair case in the middle. Right before he entered the door he uttered the words that would stick in my head for quite some time.

"You'll see in due time." He said calmly. At that moment I wanted to unleash my wings and launch myself at him at kill him. The only answer in the world that could have pissed me off and he just happened to use it. A warm wave of heat ran over me, as I saw a girl walking down the staircase.

Kaede jumped straight down into a bow. "Hello Princess Konoka." She said hastily. Konoka? What a pretty name, well befitting of this girl. She was not that much taller than I was. She had chocolate brown hair that matched her brown eyes. She looked very uninterested in Kaede, but instead she turned her attention on me.

She walked forward until she was right in front of me. She started to walk around me, examining me. I shifted uncomfortably back and forth. What did she want with me? I looked down at the ground for a few seconds before she stopped in front of me and placed a finger under my chin, bringing it up slowly, looking into my eyes. I felt my face start to heat up, I looked away from her and she released her finger turning to Kaede.

"Take her to her room Kaede, prepare her for tonight." She said simply before turning on her heel and walking back up the stairs. I started to stare at her as she was walking away, continuing to do so until she was out of my sight. Kaede got up from her bow and looked at me and nodded forwards.

I followed her up the same stairs that Konoka had gone up, the only difference is that we turned right instead of left. Kaede led me down a series of hallways not uttering a single word. She seemed oddly stiff. She opened a door at the end of the hallway and moved aside for me to walk inside.

"This will be your room while you stay here. Your clothes are in the wardrobe, the guards will be here to collect you for dinner at five thirty sharp, please be ready. King Eishun does not like to wait." She said slowly before she closed the door and walked off.

It was three now, that meant that I had two and a half hours before I had to be ready. The room was huge, large window that let in ample amounts of light. I walked over to them slowly, taking notice of the king sized bed and the large bookshelves placed and probably bolted to the wall. I opened up the window and the breeze came in almost immediately.

I sighed contently. At least I wasn't in a dungeon. This whole arrangement could have gone worse. I enjoyed the breeze for a few more minutes before I walked over to the wardrobe across from the bookshelves, and opened up the wooden doors. Inside laid one of the prettiest outfits I had ever seen. Yes I had been forced to wear dresses before, when I myself preferred much more comfortable clothes like that of what Kaede was wearing.

She pulled out the black dress and laid it carefully on the bed. It was a strapless black dress that was designed to make your bust look bigger and your stomach look smaller. I smiled slightly before I grabbed the dress and hung it back up in the wardrobe. I looked around the room again and noticed another door next the night stand.

Walking over cautiously I turned the doorknob and walked in. It was a room almost the same size as the bedroom. It was my own private bathroom. I started to strip, throwing my clothes carelessly off to some part of the bathroom. I turned on the water in the shower and adjusted it to the right temperature before I decided to go in.

I sighed as soon as I had felt the warm water hit my back. I started to wash the grim and dirt out of my hair, but before long I started to cry and I fell to my knees, hitting the hard ceramic of the shower floor. I put my face into my hands and cried for a while. I was completely lost in a foreign place with no way of knowing whether or not my friends were ok, no way to no if the were alive or dead.

"Oh, Asuna..." I said through the tears and gasping for air. "Please forgive me." I said again. "I'm so sorry, I never meant for any of that to happen." The water start to grow colder on my back. "If I hadn't forced you to spar with me..." I said through more tears. The memory of the attack was all too present in my mind. It made me cry for easily another hour before I had finally run out of tears. I shut off the water and started to dry off my now cold skin.

I returned into the bedroom and looked at the clock. Five o'clock. That would give me the perfect amount of time to get changed and leave. I opened up the wardrobe once more and grabbed the dress, slipping into it silently. I went and looked at the mirror on the inside of the door. I grabbed the hair band out of my hair and let my hair fall down to my side's.

I looked at my reflection for a few more minutes before I started to comb my hair back slightly. I grabbed my hair and started to mold it into my usual side ponytail. That was it, I was done now the only thing to do was sit and wait for the guards to pick me up from my prison cell. I sat down on the bed and watch the clock for a few minutes before I heard a knock on the door.

"Princess Setsuna, it's time for dinner." said a husky voice on the other side of the door. I sighed when I got up and made my way over to the door snapping it open. Both of the guards flinched backwards and I started at them.

"Alright, let's go." I said walking forward to the worst dinner party in my existence.