Chapter 4

The second sun was just rising in the sky when Raven slowly began to wake.

She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to fully wake up. She was still exhausted from teleporting all four of them and their horses, and therefore reluctant to leave the warmth of slumber.

She noticed that her back was especially warm. It was probably that one of the rising suns was in the sky behind her, or something. She was really too comfortable to wonder about it too much.

In her sleepy half-awake state, she could tell that some of the others were up. She could hear voices talking in hushed tones, but wasn't alert enough to tell whom they belonged to.

"Do you think we should wake them up?"

"I dunno, I think this might just be too funny to not let them figure out for themselves."

"You realize that's just… evil, right?"

"Of course."

"All right, just making sure."

Curiosity pushing away her drowsiness, Raven slowly opened her eyes. Once her eyes were used to the sun light, she turned her head to look at whatever the others were so interested in.

And found herself face-to-ear with Garfield.

At some point in the night, the green man must have moved closer to Raven- for heat, she quickly assured herself. Somehow, that had resulted in him pressing his body quite close against Raven's back, and nuzzling his face into the back of her neck.

With a small yelp, Raven rolled away and clumsily stood up, trying to untangle herself from her blankets.

Beast Boy didn't seem to notice anything, and simply rolled over onto his stomach. To her right, Raven could hear snickering. Fixing a glare on her face, the sorceress turned to look at Victor and Robin, who immediately became silent.

"We never mention this EVER again," Raven informed them threateningly. "Is that clear?"

The two boys nodded nervously, but Raven knew that on some level they still found the situation quite funny. Rolling her eyes, Raven ignored them and started to roll up her blanket as if nothing had happened.

-

Terra wearily lifted herself out of bed. Looking around the room, she sighed. She was used to waking up in a room filled with sunlight. It just didn't seem like a new day without golden streams of light shining through open windows, accompanied by the cheerful sound of birds.

Somehow, though she didn't even have a clock to tell her what time it was, she knew it must be morning by now.

Shivering, she walked over to her wardrobe. Malchior had told her the other day that all she had to do was think of the dress she wished for and it would appear inside the wooden wardrobe.

Standing in front of the closed doors, Terra closed her eyes and pictured one of the many dresses she was used to wearing everyday. She opened the door and was only slightly surprised to see the dress hung up as if waiting for her.

She reached out for it, but stopped as her hands grazed one of the silk ribbons adorning it. All her life, she had worn dresses made of expensive silks and brocades, laces and beads, ribbons and jewels. She had never liked any of them. Sure, they were pretty, but she just didn't feel comfortable in them. She always felt as though, while wearing these dresses, she was on display.

Pulling her hand away from the frilly gown, Terra closed the door of the wardrobe and pictured a different dress. When she opened it again, the original dress was gone. In its place hung a plain brown dress.

Terra pulled it out of the closet for closer inspection. The sleeves and neckline ended around her collarbone and elbows, and were trimmed with plain off-white lace. A black bodice, trimmed with yellow piping, was wrapped around the waist. She tilted her head, considering the dress, and finally smiled and dressed herself.

She examined herself in front of the mirror. It was plainer than her usual apparel, but she found it suited her better. In a strange way, it was slightly more flattering on her than the bejeweled gowns she usually wore.

Giving an approving nod to her reflection, Terra turned away from her mirror and walked over to the door.

She paused in front of the door, hesitantly. Malchior had carried her off against her will, and was making her stay in this windowless room. She was a prisoner, wasn't she?

On the other hand, he had offered her a tour of his castle the other day. And he had been referring to her as his guest since she had arrived. You don't lock guests into their rooms, right?

Gripping the gleaming bronze door handle, Terra shut her eyes and twisted it. Her eyes shot open in surprise when the door opened with little resistance.

Smiling, she stepped out into the hall. Torches were lined up against the wall every few feet, illuminating the corridor enough to see. Taking a deep breath, Terra quietly made her way down the hall.

Her heels clicked on the cold marble floor, and she found it strange that nothing lined any of the stone walls, except the torches. She took several turns before she reached the thing she had unknowingly been longing to see since she woke up in Malchior's castle.

A window. A window with sunlight streaming through it merrily. A blissful smile crossed her features as she walked up to the window and looked out.

Terra gasped as she looked at the beautiful landscape stretched out in front of her. She had expected the sorcerer's home to be as dark and foreboding as he was, but she found that it was even more beautiful and peaceful looking than her own Kingdom of Caldweilla.

Below the window was a crystal clear stream-like moat and a stone wall surrounding a garden, filled with flowers of every color. On the other side of the wall were miles of green fields, long grass swaying in the wind. Further off was a great forest that stretched as far as the eye could see.

She stared out the window in wonder for several minutes before she finally decided to turn around and walk away.

As she continued on her way, she noticed that more windows seemed to appear the further she went. Each time, she looked out quickly and then proceeded to walk through the castle corridors.

She walked down a few sets of stairs and eventually found herself in a large dining room. A large table sat in the middle of the cavernous room, and giant windows were lined up against two of the four walls. The other two walls were adorned with large tapestries depicting different scenes.

One showed a couple holding each other, oblivious to the city burning behind them. Frowning, Terra carefully studied the man. She was strangely happy to see that he looked nothing like Malchior.

She looked at the other tapestries. All were beautiful and different in their own ways, but she always returned to the first one.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" a silky voice asked. Terra turned around to see Malchior standing behind her, also studying the tapestry. "A love so strong that not even a powerful city burning to the ground behind them can turn their attention from each other. Instead choosing to hold the other close while their home turns to ashes."

Terra licked her lips, hoping to add to Malchior's portrayal of the tapestry, but found that she couldn't find the words to do so. She looked over at the man standing next to her, and wondered how an evil sorcerer like Malchior could speak of the power of love in such a tender way.

Despite herself, Terrianna felt a blush beginning to work its way to her cheeks. She turned so he couldn't see it.

Silence filled to room for a brief second as Malchior continued to gaze at the scene and Terra forced her blush down.

"Would you care for something to eat?" Malchior offered as she turned around. "We are already in the dining hall, after all."

"Yes, thank you," Terra replied, walking over to the table. With a flourish of his hand, Malchior magically set the table with plates, cutlery and food.

Just as he had the other day, he pulled out the princess's chair before sitting down himself.

Once she had filled her plate, Terra dug in excitedly. Though she had only eaten two other meals in Malchior's castle, she already knew to expect that everything would taste exceptional.

As they ate in silence, Terra began to mull over the thoughts that had been running through her head since the other day. Unconsciously, she looked up at Malchior while she did so, as he was the reason for her thoughts.

She found herself wondering how someone with such a reputation as his could be so… charming. He had been nothing but polite to her since she awoke in the windowless room. She had almost forgotten the fact that he had intruded her real bedchamber and stolen her the night before last.

Realizing she was staring, she quickly averted her gaze, instead choosing to look out one of the windows.

The window gave a good view of the garden, and indicated that they were on the ground level. Brightly colored butterflies flitted around the garden, paling in comparison to the exotic flowers they stopped at to sip nectar. Birds sang lilting tunes that Terra had never heard before, but loved instantly.

"Would you care to take a stroll around the garden?" Malchior offered, startling Terra from her thoughts. "I am sure you would enjoy it, princess."

Smiling lightly, Terrianna nodded. Standing up, Malchior magically cleared the table and walked over to Terra's chair. Politely, he pulled it away from the table and offered her his arm.

She accepted it, somewhat hesitantly, and he led her out of the room and through a couple halls. It wasn't long before he stopped in front of a door. Taking a quick look at Terrianna from the corner of his eyes, he opened the door and they entered the garden.

The perfume of thousands of flowers overwhelmed Terra's senses as soon as they stepped out of the castle. Once she had grown used the all the scents, she smiled. Seeing her grin, Malchior smiled as well, and wasted no time in leading her further into the garden.

Pale, smooth stones crunched underfoot as Terra walked with Malchior. The air around them was perfect, in Terra's opinion. It wasn't too hot, but it wasn't cold.

Closing her eyes, Terrianna turned her attention to the birds singing beautiful melodies in the trees towering high above them. One bird song in particular caught the blonde girl's ear and she focused on it. The bird's chirps grew higher and lower as it crooned a song that seemed almost human. Except much more beautiful.

Emotions flowed through Terra as she listened to every note of the bird's song, and slowly, it was as though there were scenes of emotions playing in her mind's eye.

First was a flash of Happiness, dancing merrily to the bird's song. However, soon the song became more somber, turning the emotion into Sorrow, hanging her head to hide tears. Slowly, Sorrow grew quieter as a new emotion played in the background. It was Compassion, steadily growing stronger, turning Sorrow into Elation. Then the song ended.

Terra opened her eyes and looked up, searching the nearby trees for a sign of the bird that had sung. A flash of gold sparkled in one of the trees ahead. Without hesitation, Terrianna let go of her escort's arm and ran ahead to get a closer look. Malchior followed behind her, smiling lightly in amusement.

Stopping under the tree she had spotted something in, the princess craned her head to gaze upward. She frowned as she looked at the empty branches, realizing it had already left. She turned over to Malchior with a questioning look on her face.

The sorcerer chuckled, tucking his hands into the pockets of his pale blue robe. Spotting something on the ground, he bent over and picked up something shining in the grass below the tree. He held out his hand for her to see. In his palm was a soft, golden colored feather.

"You are a very lucky girl, you know. That was the golden songbird. Only the people it deems worthy are capable of hearing its song."

"Have you ever heard it?" Terra asked curiously, taking the feather from his hand to inspect it more closely.

Malchior's face grew serious as he looked away from her, seemingly remembering something.

"Once, long ago," he replied quietly. "When I was younger, and just learning the full extent of my power, I would hear it everyday. It was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. I came out here everyday, just to hear that bird sing. And then one day, I couldn't hear it anymore."

Falling into silence Malchior stared intently at the ground. Unsure of what to say, Terrianna just looked down at the feather, blowing lightly in a breeze she couldn't feel.

With a sigh, Malchior looked up. "I apologize," he told her with a weak smile. "I have ruined the cheerful mood. I hope you will accept my most humble apology and smile again, Princess Terrianna."

The princess remained silent for a second, simply looking back at the sorcerer. After a moment, she smiled again.

"Please, call me Terra," she insisted. He smiled, and her own grin grew. What could she say? She had always liked bad boys.

Heh, raise your hand if you're getting impatient to see Starfire. Fear not. Our favorite Tameranian princess shall be making her appearance in the next chapter!

I know there are still some things that need to be explained. I'm working on it, I promise.
Thanks to everyone that's reviewed. :D

Tammy Tamborine