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Martezia stared into the equally wide eyes of the man above her. Sasuke knelt on the bed, his right knee brushing Martezia's right hip through the silk sheet; the only barrier other than her pants between the skin of their lower bodies. His upper body hovered above the princess.

Martezia thanked her trained reflexes that had blocked Sasuke's descending arm and redirected the attack to the side. So it was that the blade embedded into the mattress having sliced into the tanned upper arm of the brown haired woman on its way down.

The pain her body felt had not yet registered to her mind as confusion and disbelief were all that she could feel.

"Sasuke?"

The dark haired man could hear all of Martezia's questions simply in the way she spoke his name.

"I'm sorry," was all he could say to the lover he had betrayed. The shame of failing his family would come soon enough. Right now, he was too relieved to feel much of anything else.

Before Martezia could verbalize her questions, the guards from the hallway had entered the room having been alerted by the unintentional yells of both of them.

Suddenly, Sasuke was being pulled away by the guards aimed shouts of accusation. The knife and blood had been spotted.

Martezia heard calls for the physician, Tsunade. She also heard another guard from the hall being sent to notify her father and prepare the executioner. Finally, she was shaken from her stupor.

Abruptly, she sat up and called out, "Wait!" stopping the guards who were dragging an unresisting Sasuke from her room. "Let him go."

Her personal guards, Devontae and Marlon, exchanged shocked and curious glances. They were unsure of how to deal with the distraught princess. Sasuke would not even look at her.

Devontae bowed his head and apologized. "Your highness, I'm sorry, but we cannot do that. We know that he was in your favor, but he tried to harm you. We have to take him to the dungeon to await interrogation. We have to follow the Emperor's laws." He did not like speaking against his princess, but if he didn't, he might find himself in front of the executioner.

What nobody said – but was understood by all – was that after any captured assassin was questioned they were always put to death. Martezia knew that. It was the best way to handle such threats. She wasn't naive; she knew that people in positions of power were always targets. She needed to find a way to delay them.

"Take him to this room and stay with him. Do not give him a chance to suicide." she noticed Sasuke flinch at that and wondered if that had been part of his plan. "I want to question him myself before Precious gets a hold of him."

Her men did not argue with her this time. It was obvious their beloved princess needed some answers and they would do what they could to help.

As Tsunade entered the room looking as though she had been dragged from her bed – which she had – Devontae and Marlon escorted Sasuke to his own chamber which was connected via an anteroom to Martezia's own. It was The Favorite's room. The rest of the harem, if one existed, was located further down the hall.

The blonde woman immediately went to Martezia with her medical kit. She saw the shock on her face and correctly assumed that she hadn't even noticed the blood sliding down her arm and staining the covers that had pooled in her lap. Not commenting on the sex she could clearly smell in the room, she got to work cleaning her wound and putting pressure to try to stop the bleeding. It didn't look deep enough to need more than stitches.

"Martezia." Getting no response, she tried again. "Martezia," gently she turned her by the chin so she could look into her eyes. It hurt her to see how glazed her eyes were. "I need you to tell me what happened. Can you do that?"

Finally, Big brown eyes focused on her own amber eyes. She gave her a smile, happy to see her coming back to her.

Martezia blinked and looked around taking in their lack of audience before focusing back on the palace physician whom she loved and had always considered family. Taking in a deep breath she answered her as best she could.

"I don't know why he did it. We, um, well, we were here," she cursed herself for blushing under the circumstances, "and then I fell asleep. When I woke up, there was Sasuke with a knife and I tried to block it. Next thing I know, the guys were dragging Sasuke away and you're here." Her eyes were still darting around; her mind was busy analyzing every moment of the last few hours because she didn't want to believe the conclusion she had already reached.

"I have to put stitches on this cut. Hold still for me." Now, Martezia looked down and noticed the amount of blood on her body and finally felt the pain her arm was in. Grimacing, she allowed Tsunade to care for her injury. It wasn't the first time she had been injured and this one was relatively minor. It wasn't long before Tsunade was wrapping a bandage over her stitched wound.

"At least it was your left arm. You know you need to be careful while you heal, I don't want you to rip your stitches. If you do, you can sew yourself back up." She looked sternly down at her princess whom she had known since she helped her mother give birth.

Martezia smiled up at her where she was standing over her. She appreciated that she wasn't asking about Sasuke. She could see that she was holding herself back from embracing her as if she was still a child. She felt the temptation to let her, to allow her to protect her from the pain, to not take responsibility for what had happened this night.

But she couldn't hide. She would not.

"Sorry for waking you up." Tsunade recognized both the thanks and the dismissal in her statement. She left her and closed the door behind her. Replacement guards were stationed outside both entrances to her chamber; from the hallway and from her anteroom.

Finally alone, she stood from her bed allowing the sheet to fall from her soiled body. Wetting a cloth from the ewer in the room for quick washing, she cleaned the blood and semen left over from their lovemaking.

She scoffed as she felt the discomfort in her arm. 'Lovemaking...right.'

Feeling water splash to the floor directed her attention to her fist that was squeezing the life out of the moist cloth. Releasing her victim, she stepped away from the mess and went to her closet to dress.

************************************

Clad in black tight pants and a black overcoat, she stood in front of the door to Sasuke's chamber. Her silver hued under-tunic provided a lovely contrast with the otherwise black apparel. The dagger used less than an hour ago to attack her was now back in its sheath at her belt.

Shoulders straight and head high, she entered the room like the princess she was. Her personal guards bowed their heads to her and indicated Sasuke who was sitting with his head down across the room.

"I want to talk to him alone."

"Your highness, we cannot leave you with him unbound." Devontae was getting worried. He wasn't following procedure and he was afraid he'd later regret it.

"I assume you've checked the room for weapons." The guards nodded. Thus assured that there was no danger, Martezia ordered, "Then leave us. I'll be fine."

A cold glare from icy Brown eyes stopped any further protest. With twin bows her guards left the room and stood sentinel outside the chamber providing privacy for the princess and her lover.

Her attacker.