Scene 3

I slid off the horse, which I found to be an amazing creature; at least half Arabian and thoroughbred, but maybe a little bit of stock horse in him. I scolded myself. I was using the horse as an excuse to be by this man with amazing grey eyes. I looked at him and quickly looked away. I couldn't bring myself to actually say anything to him except for thank you. I loved the fact that he was gentleman enough to help me dismount from the large beast. He seemed distracted, my eyes followed his gaze. I looked at the place I appeared in front of and it was all I could do to stand. It was huge, and very beautiful, but formidable. Kind of like an Emerald Tree Boa, my favorite kind of snake; gorgeous, yet intimidating, deadly. I snuggled closer to the horse, who tossed his head a bit. I heard the creak of leather, and the soft grinding of dirt. I clung even more tightly to the horse as I felt the man who rescued me at my back.

"Are you okay?" His voice was harsh in a way that I couldn't imagine. It described his past, his voice did. It made me weak at the knees.

"Umm... No, no. I mean, yes... I'm okay." I shut my eyes as his hand came to rest upon my shoulder. It wasn't that I didn't like the man, quite the opposite; I was terrified of how much I did like him.

A loud noise banged somewhere, startling us both, his hand dropped like lead weight as a blonde came out, followed by some red-haired woman. They both stopped, closely followed by a tall brunette man, a very light blonde haired guy that looked like a girl, and a black haired guy. They all looked this way, the silence and tension was strung out heavier than 1,000 pounds of water on my chest.

"Gwendal!" The red-haired woman yelled, sprinting like an Olympic. She began to slow down when she reached us. "Gwendal, who is this?" She started to walk around the half of me she could circle; I was hiding so far behind the horses head. "How come she can be this close to your horse? It bites and kicks at everyone else."

I looked at him in surprise, "Really?"

His eyes went to me, startled, as if he just noticed I was still there. "I didn't notice." His voice was a little strung out, sounding strained or nervous. But the sound was so slight, that if we hadn't been conversing for the last four hours, I would not have known. "What do you want, Anissina?"

Anissina? She was beautiful, I loved her eyes. They were so bright, she seemed very smart. I stood off to the side and watch the two interact, more her pestering him, but it was still an interaction that they had often... it made my heart clench, and I didn't know why. I looked away and towards the group further off. I was beginning to feel dejected, I mean, my day wasn't the best. Three hours in a stuffy bus that broke down, getting sucked into a weird dimension, getting a sword pointed at me, almost being raped. Not a good day so far. And now the guy I was inexplicably attracted to was flirting with some other girl.

I had to close my eyes and take a breath. When I opened them, there was the brown haired man in front of me, smiling. A few steps away were the blonde and black haired kids; younger than I in appearance, but I was never a good judge in age.

"I am Conrad." He smiled politely, "Can you understand me?"

"Yes." I snorted. Looking at the hand he offered. "I'm standing, so what's that for?"

He laughed, chuckled really. "Well, we call it manners."

I blushed. "I'm from America, men don't have manners."

He smiled a bit more softly, "Everyone here seems to... except for Wolfram."

"Hey!" The blond shouted, "Stupid human."

"That is Wolfram, the fiancé to the Maou. He's also blond, pretty, and cruel." Wolfram made a guttural noise of disapproval, "The black haired one is Yuri, our Maou, our King."

My jaw dropped, "He's the King?" I walked over to him, "How old are you?"

"I'm almost sixteen." His voice held a smile in it too. His eyes were black, I felt drawn into his eyes, as if they were demanding my attention. They held the balance of justice and love in them. It gave me goose bumps. I averted my gaze and had to back away. I was nervous and scared. I didn't know what to do.

"Come on." Yuri whispered, taking my hand in his, "We'll take you to meet Cheri, she knows what to do. I mean, it's not very often we get unsummoned people here… except for me, that is."

I looked behind me, Gwendal was watching us. Hope against hope I was wishing his eyes were following me, but he was still talking with Anissina. I sighed and averted my gaze to where I was going. The castle was made of the kind of brick you see in story books, the ivy growing over was greener than green, even for living in Northern California, where the rain never stops and if it is sunny, wait five minutes. The doors were wide open, made of a cheery colored wood. The inside of the castle was purely medieval, but had some touches of gorgeous tapestry, intricate chandeliers of crystal and glass. They led me down corridors and through rooms, Anissina and Gwendal finally catching up.

And then we were in the most elaborate room of them all. It had a chair made of pure gold with red velvet cushioning and elegant carvings. Sitting upon this throne was a woman who was more beautiful than I could describe. Her long hair was golden and curly in the perfect way normal humans could never manage. Her skin was flawless, her eyes a deep green. She had a small freckle on her face, large breasts, and small frame. I was entranced and disgusted, as most girls get when they know they've met someone who is always going to be better than them in appearance.

"Mother," Conrad walked up to her, grabbing her hand, "You can't sit in the throne anymore, remember?"

She laughed, "Of course I remember, but I was... reliving memories." She noticed me, "And who is this young lady?" She flew down the stairs, measuring me up. "You look very sexy. How does a woman like you end up smelling like my son?" I blushed deep red, like I do. "Hmm... Gwendal, why does she smell like you? And why is she so… disheveled?"

"She came from a different world, Mother." He was red too.

The room was silent as Cheri, or Cecile, as I was later told, seemed to be shocked and angry all at once. "I see. Well then, we need to get her into the bath, don't we?"

Anissina smiled deviously. I felt my insides melt, "What are we doing?" My voice was high-pitched with a nervous fear. I saw her grin, and I knew what Cheri had been implying.

"You are bathing; I need to talk to my boys here. Anissina will see to anything you need." Anissina smiled, taking my hand.

"Come, come, little traveler, we will get you pretty." She dragged me down the hall until I understood I had to follow her. "You have such pretty hair." Anissina smiled at me, "And your eyes are the oddest color... green or brown?"

"Both." I replied, dumbly wondering about Gwendal, and then cursing myself, he had to be at least thirty, if not in his older twenties. And he had someone as beautiful as Anissina…

"So... Gwendal seems to like you." I bristled. "He said something about you reminding him of a cat, or some other cute thing." She whispered to me as if we were not alone, "Cute things are his weakness. And he talked to you. I don't think you realize how out of character that is for him." She pushed open the doors to a huge heated pool. I gaped in shock.

"A bath? This is a flippin' sauna, spa, and indoor pool arena!" She smiled as I took off my clothes, as tattered and dirty as they were, and folded them, hesitantly handing them to Anissina. "Umm… am I supposed to wash 'em or...?"

She laughed, "No silly girl! We will get you new clothes." She eyed my torn shirt and 'inappropriate' shorts as I quickly dived into the bath. "We have maids who wash our dirty clothes for us... and I have this invention I need Gwendal or Gunter to try out."

"Who's Gunter?" I relaxed my head on my arms, feeling at peace within the warm water.

"He's the guy with a ridiculous 'Maou Complex', though I wish I could be that devoted to something... well, I guess I am." She laughed.

"Who?" I mumbled into my arms, a little angry at the answer I thought she would give, but much too tired to really show it.

"Not who, it's my inventions. I am a genius." She posed in a proud, dignified way.

It was my turn to laugh. "Sorry, sorry, I'm just tired..." Her eyes showed her disbelief. "I thought you were going to say something else."

Her countenance changed to the more jovial woman I had been introduced to. "Well then, let's get you clean."

She scrubbed my hair, massaged my shoulders. I really would have normally been uncomfortable with so much exposure of myself to another person, but this water was… heavenly.

When she decided I was done, I stepped out, surprised that my wounds were heal, as was my fatigue.

"This is magical water." She began to explain, "So long as you bathe in it, you won't age. It totally explains Conrad. He's fifty percent human, yet hasn't aged in… years!"

I smiled at her, still feeling out of place and unsure where I stood with everyone. She dragged me, barely wrapped in a towel, to her room. She slammed the door shut, smiling at my horrified, confused expression.

"I'm getting some clothes for you." Her voice was light and cheery, completely different from the mischievous glaze in her eye.

Before I knew it, she had me dressed in, what she called, the perfect outfit. When she saw me in it, she immediately led me outside and went to fetch everyone else.

I stood out in some sort of clearing, garden area. I had on black boots that were slightly too big, I was in a pair of dark brown breeches, a black belt around my lower hips, accenting my curves. It was fitted for a sword, but I have never handled a sword, didn't know how to walk with one, so Anissina had put it aside for me. She had towel dried my hair, and though I hated it, I was grateful to be able to leave my hair down and not drench my shirt. My shirt was a pale grey with green and black throughout it.

I was rather pleased with my appearance. My hair, about two summers ago, was above my shoulders, I had cut off ten inches to donate back in my home town, a small company called Tangles helped me donate what they cut off. This year it was well below my shoulders, almost to my waist. Honey blonde with brighter blond and darker brown throughout. Framing my face and cut to go into a circled point in the back. I heard a gasp and spun around.

"Cecile?"

Much to my dismay, she was almost crying, which dramatically enhanced her beauty.

"You are so beautiful!" I blushed, cringing from the compliment.

"I tried to tell her that." Anissina sighed, leading the guys, "but she wouldn't listen to me. Silly, right Gwendal?" Her facial expressions went sly.

I looked from Cecile to Gwendal to Anissina. Gwendal was just looking, making me nervous. Did I look bad? Wait- what do I care? I'm not here to impress anyone! Not here to impress, not even here by choice!

I caught myself thinking that and shrugged off their opinions. Cecile was smiling broadly at Gwendal, who was trying not to look at me, Conrad was smiling, Yuri was rushing down to talk to me, Anissina looked a little sad, and Wolfram just looked pissed.

"What's up with him?" I asked Yuri as he caught up with me.

"I dunno." Yuri grinned, "You look good in those clothes. They fit a lot better than our clothes do, right?"

I laughed, nodding. "Yes, yes they do. And they're comfortable, too. Kinda like jeans, but they breathe better. How weird, is it magic?"

He shrugged, and I saw some of what they must see in him. "So... do you like Gwendal?"

I was startled by the question, "What?" I was much louder than I intended, everyone was looking our way.

"Yuri!" I heard Wolfram yell, "You cheater!" He was down with us in a flash.

"Don't worry Wolfram." I smiled, trying to disarm him, "He's too young for me."

He glared at me, "So you're too good for the Maou?"

I looked at him, tilting my head, sizing him up; his pretty blonde tresses, his longer lashes and his green eyes. He was almost exactly like his mother. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you are not hitting on him!" He was getting really angry.

"You're talking circles around yourself, Wolfram." Conrad smiled, interfering with our one sided "debate".

Then the man in white, with really long hair came down the stairs. "Maou!! Maou, Maou, Maou!! You left me behind again!" he tackled Yuri, hugging him like there would be no tomorrow.

Anissina smiled, "That's what I meant about the sick complex of his." I smiled, nodding, stepping away from the scene that was getting worse. Wolfram decided to join in and take his frustrations out on Gunter.

I looked at Gwendal, smiled, unsure of what to do with this emotion towards him. It was building, frustrating, it was wiping me out. Suddenly, I turned my attention to Conrad. "Where is my room?"

Today was exhausting.

He smiled and grabbed my hand, "I was wondering when you would ask. It's this way." He led me up the stairs, right past Gwendal, who smelled wonderful, and looked wonderful with his full uniform on. Some how, Conrad managed to stop so I was right beside him. I looked at Gwendal, who looked at me.

"So where is Conrad taking you?"

"To bed. I'm really tired and need to sleep..." I shuffled my feet, looking sideways at Conrad, who was smiling, watching our interaction. "Is there some reason why everyone seems to be tiptoeing around us?"

Gwendal glared at Conrad, "I have no idea. But if it bothers you, I can make them stop." Conrad led me away at that point. As confused as I was, I didn't bother to inquire about the incident.

When we got to a rather easy hallway to find, well lit and brightly painted, we stopped.

"Your room," he motioned "is right over there, on the left third door."

"Am I staying in there all by myself?" I began to move closer to the door.

"Yes." I heard the reassuring tone in his voice. "But if you need either of us, Gwendal is right across the hall, the door closest to your right."

I opened the door and gazed at the room in awe. The bed was huge, large enough for three. Burgandy and gold decorations, with hints of sage green, massive shelves full of books and odds and ends. A table and a few paintings, a tapestry of a scene between an old man and a unicorn, there were candles throughout the room, adding a rustic feel. A quill on a table. I was awed.

"Conrad... It's so... beautiful." I ran my hands along the fireplace hearth, "Surely it's too good for me. I can live with a smaller room..."

"Nonsense, you are a guest."

I grunted, stunned.

"I'll leave you to sleep."

"Wait!" I began to move towards him. "What if I can't sleep?"

He shrugged, "Explore."

After Conrad had left, I curled up on the bed for a while, willing sleep to overtake me, but to no avail. Exasperated, I sat on the bed, a little bored but more amazed and awed.

Where am I? I glanced out my window. The blissful greens and yellows assaulted my eyes. I flopped down on the overly cushioned bed, itching to explore, but too overwhelmed to feel the need.

Conrad seems nice. He reminded me of the older brother I never had. His brown eyes and hair, I wonder if he's married... My thoughts idly drifted back to Gwendal, which was almost immediately connected with Anissina. Her beautiful red hair, her eyes, the figure of her body, everything about her was perfect, why would Gwendal need someone like me? I stood, shaking my head, getting angry.

"Don't be stupid!" I whispered to myself, loosening the collar of my shirt, determined, striding to the door bare foot. "He could be your father!" I swung open the door and walked into the hall, quickly loosing my fire with the grandeur of the hall.

Not only did this place make me feel small, but it was beautiful. I was swallowed by it. I turned towards the opposite end of the hall, avoiding Gwendal's door intentionally. The padding of my bare feet on the cold floor made barely any sound as I walked towards the large window. Curious I opened it, marveled by the way it swung easily. "Is everything here graceful?"

I peeked over the ledge, assaulted suddenly by a crisp wind. The cold was such a blessing against the heat, I sighed in relief, hoisting my body onto the ledge, swinging my legs over the side. The wind buffeted my hair and body, but it felt so good in this weather, in these clothes, I took off the intricate over shirt, now in something much more like my tank top. I looked down, leaning my body over myself. Below I saw Gwendal, with his back to me, talking with Conrad, interested I leaned further over. Wish I could hear them... I sighed, when Conrad caught my eye. He waved, though I couldn't tell if he was saying something or not, and Gwendal turned to face me. I waved back; to assure Conrad I was fine, when this skull popped in front of me.

I screamed, of course, and was so startled I lost my grip on the window ledge and began to fall. Quickly I reached for the actual window frame, clinging onto the side of it tightly as I could. Then the skeleton thing, to my amazement, grabbed onto my hands and hoisted me back to the window, setting me inside of the building. Startled and dazed I turned towards it as it clicked its bones expectantly.

"Th-thank you?" It seemed to nod its head and fly away. I stood there, stunned, looking to where it flew off to. After a while of dazed curiosity, I faintly heard the footsteps behind me.

"Are you alright?" Conrad forced me around to look at him.

"I must be insane." I whispered, "I just got rescued by a flying corpse."

He laughed, "no no no!" I snapped back to attention. "Those are faithful servants to the Maou, we all here are demons... well, except me... I take after my human father, but I have sided with the demons."

Gwendal sighed and my eyes flicked to him, "You are explaining it wrong, Conrad." He walked closer, though he seemed to be afraid to be near me. "You see, the humans and the demons that are faithful to the Maou are warring against those who have decided they don't want a ruler who can bring this land to peace due to them wanting a peace that they can hold, though their peace would be through will power and force instead of love and kindness."

"Which Yuri is perfectly capable of." Conrad added, smiling. He always was smiling, it unnerved me. He scrutinized me, my body, and I was aware of the fact that my bra was currently being washed and this shirt wasn't the thickest. "You're hurt."

"I am?" I crossed my arms in front of me defensively, "where?"

"Conrad!" A voice echoed from down the hall.

I could just make out Wolfram's golden hair glinting down the hall. "I can't take care of you," he smiled, "But Gwendal is a great help with wounds, he can stitch it together."

He walked away, I looked at Gwendal fearfully, "Stitches?"

He closed his eyes, heaving a sigh, "I'm not sure, go to my room, I'll be in there in a moment."

I walked stiffly to his room, opening the door insecurely. Was this really alright? I wondered, stepping into his room anyway. I sat on the edge of the bed, clutching it tightly. It smelled like Gwendal everywhere. I looked to my left, startled to see stuffed animals. Curiously I stood and walked over to the shelf, picking up something that closely resembled a pig. I picked it up, the stitches were sloppy, as if made by someone with unpracticed hands. "How cute." I set it down and delved further into the shelf, looking for other animals. Some were pretty accurate, and then there were those that I couldn't tell what they were supposed to be at all, each one was of the same quality as the last, and they all posed the same question: Who gave these to Gwendal? A daughter, Anissina, his Mother?

I moved on to the next shelf, picking up a dolphin with cute little eyes, and one that looked like it was supposed to be a dinosaur-ish creature, and then a kitty. It was so cute I had to cuddle it. It had bright green buttons and grey fur with lighter grey stripes. "Ah!" I smiled, cuddling it tightly.

"If you do that, you might rip it." A deep voice came form the doorway.

Startled I put it back, "Sorry! It just reminded me of the stuffdie that I have at home...Umm... where am I hurt?" I still couldn't feel it.

He sat me down, handing me a blanket to wrap about myself. I blushed; I had forgotten my over-shirt at the opposite end of the hall. "So... where were you?" I tried to start a light conversation as he poked at my shoulder. I winced, so there's where I was hurt.

"I was speaking to Mother and Conrad." His voice was distant, he was concentrating. There was an awkward silence until he stood and looked down at me, "You're going to need stitches." he looked around and then picked up the kitty, "Here, hold this until I am done."

I nodded, taking the toy from him, squeezing it before he had even started, I imagined him smiling, but his back was to me before I could be sure. When he turned back around his face was solemn and he had a needle and thread. I gasped, "You made these?"

He blushed a little, "yes." By the defensive tone I could tell he was a bit embarrassed.

"They're so cute!" I smiled, absently stroking the kitty. His face twisted a little and I thought I said the wrong thing, "I mean... umm... they're...uhh they..." He knelt beside me and I shut up.

"I need you shoulder." He stated simply, dismissing my fumbled comment.

I slid the blanket down, painfully aware of my body and how close he was, and of how sensual this encounter could be. Mostly because I wasn't the most sexually active, and I had a big time crush on this man. I clutched the kitty to my chest as he slipped my shirt down over my shoulder, exposing the skin. I bit back a gasp as his fingers ran over my skin. I felt the calluses on his fingers, now aware of why the stitching wasn't the best. His fingers met my wound and the pain and pleasure combined to send a chill down my spine that shook my body.

"Are you okay?" He asked, pausing.

I nodded, "It just hurts worse than I thought." I whispered, being halfway truthful. He grunted.

"This is going to be painful, then. I'm sorry, grit your teeth and squeeze the stuffed animal." his fingers prodded and poked the area, sometimes straying away just a little. It may have been my imagination, but I thought that he was touching me more than he really had to. "I'm going to start now." he stated, warning me. I nodded closing my eyes.

I braced myself, and still wasn't prepared for the pain. It didn't hurt at first, but the tugging and rethreading on the painful and swollen skin was more than I could bear. I was biting my bottom lip and clutching the stuffdie so tight my knuckles were white.

"Ten stitches." He snapped the thread and tied it quickly, moving around to face me. I was busy moving my body and letting loose the tension. And then, before I knew it, his face was right in front of mine. I turned bright red as he placed his hand on my forehead and mumbled some words I could not understand.

"That will help you heal faster..." My breath was coming rapidly as his face inched closer and closer, his hand had slipped to my cheek, down my throat. My head was becoming fuzzy as it filled with desire for this man, and the door banged open, distracting us both. We pulled away, averting our gaze, we were both red.

"So, that will help you heal better." he cleared his throat and I stood.

"Umm..." I held the kitty out, "Here you go, thank you."

"Keep it." he shrugged, "It's just a stuffed animal, I can make another one."

I smiled, kissed the stuffdies head, and squealed, "Thank you so much!! I owe you one."

"Why?" Wolfram spat.

"I can't sleep without my stuffdie." I inched past the cocky, arrogant, mean boy and went into my room, setting the stuffdie on my bed. Curious I touched my shoulder, aware that I still had Gwendal's blanket. I hurried across the hall, not wanting to interrupt the two during their conversation, hoping I had caught them just as they were settling into it. I walked up to the door and was about to knock when I heard Wolfram yelling.

Startled I backed up to my door; the whole hall could hear him.

"She's a dirty human, Gwendal! How could you do this to us?! She is not worthy and she never will be."

"You have always been prejudice against human, Wolfram, people like you are the reason there is an uprising against our king! You need to calm down and give her a chance!"

"Why?" Wolfram reasoned, "What is she to you that I have to be nice?"

"You know exactly what she is to us." He accented the 'us'. "Mother told you about what she did…"

I heard Wolfram laughed sharply, more of a bark that cut Gwendal off. "So, you're going to bang her and then be done with it?"

There was silence all through the hall as I saw Conrad march towards the door, catching my eye. He wasn't smiling.

He threw the door open, "Wolfram." His voice was flat, silent, still. But underneath the stillness was anger stronger than any storm I had lived through. "You need to leave, now."

The air was still and heavy as the seriousness of what had happened settled in. Wolfram backed out of the bedroom, turning to walk away, more ashamed then anything else, when he caught me standing there. I could just imagine what I looked like in his eyes, and I was ugly and couldn't look at him. Tears were welling in my eyes. Never had anyone hated me for so little a reason than what I was born into. His boot steps quickly faded away.

I felt Conrad's hand on me, faintly he asked me a question, and I almost registered it. I looked at him blankly. "What did you want?" He asked again.

That simple question brought my tears, and I sank to my knees, covering my face as my body shook. There is no reason for this. I hissed at myself. You're over reacting, stand up, wipe your tears, be a woman, be strong. But I couldn't do it, there was just too much to swallow for one day. I got my first stitches, I'm in love with a man I don't know, I almost fell form a window, but got saved from a flying skeleton that clicked and chattered to be understood, almost got raped, transported to a different dimension by being swallowed by dirt, and a couple other things that were now insignificant.

Before I realized what had happened a sharp sting was at my cheek. I looked up, startled out of my sobbing. "Anissina?"

She stood over me, her eyes understanding. Then I realized she just slapped me. "Yes, Anissina." She offered me her hand. I grabbed onto it and stood, handing the blanket to Gwendal., "Now, let's get you some medicine for your... Oh, wow. Gwendal… you-?"

He silenced her with a look before she could say anything more. I guess she understood because no more was said as she led me into my room.

"Are you okay?" She whispered after sitting me down.

"Why are you whispering?" I sighed, irritated and tired; my head was beginning to pound from crying.

She straightened, "Okay then, what is your name?"

"M-my name?" I laughed a little, "Honestly, I don't think I can remember my name...hold on, let me think."

Anissina smiled, "You know, when Gwendal killed his first man, he acted like this." her eyes slid to me, "He likes you, you know."

I flashed back to the scene where it seemed he had almost kissed me, but I wasn't easily convinced. "Yeah, I guess... but Wolfram said-"

She laughed, "Don't worry about Wolfram, he'll get used to you, just like he got used to Yuri. It just takes him some time." She looked away again, "Now, your name, please?"

"My name is Calliste." I shrugged, "my mom really liked the Greek Goddess, so she decided I should have the name of her follower."

"Greek Goddess?" Anissina seemed to not know what I was talking about, "What is she the Goddess of?"

"She's the Goddess of the Hunt, along with a few other tributes, but I really like the hunt part. Umm... I'm hungry." I said, looking at how the sun, casting its last rays, made my room seem aglow.

"Of course." She smiled, standing, "We'll get your clothes and-"

"Umm... I-I just need my bra. I wouldn't feel so conscious if I had that." I could feel my blush.

"A bra?" She smiled, "So what is that contraption for anyway?"

I smiled as we walked down the hall to prepare for dinner and Anissina quizzed me on the more modern inventions for women, by women.