A/N- A thousand apologies for this delayed update. It is inexcusable but life got in the way for a bit...you know full time job, preparing for college graduation ceremony and what not. But I'm back on track and have many updates to follow. Thank you all who've reviewed before and those who've taken interest in this story while it's irresponsible author was away. Enjoy!

Chapter 9

Sally was beginning to feel irritated, she could feel Duo's nervousness and it intensified as he had perched himself on a stone bench a few feet from her for quite some time, something clearly on his mind. She was torn between asking him outright and continuing her inventory of herbs within her journal however he was chewing on the end of his braid nervously and it was becoming a distraction.

She brushed it off with a shake of her head and continued her writing. However when Duo started crunching gravel under his boot, she could handle no more and snapped her journal shut, earning a startled jump from him.

"You may as well be out with it now, you know. You've absolutely ruined my concentration."

Duo stared at her blankly and then grinned sheepishly. "My apologies," he said, looking down at his toe boot, "I am attempting to put my thoughts into words."

Standing up, Sally smoothed out her robes and went to sit beside him. She reopened her journal to her notes and reviewed them, her head bent, curls framing her face.

"Whenever you are ready," she said with a sideways glance and then returned to her reading.

Duo leaned back on his palms, one leg stretched out and lifted his head to the sky, his lips pursed in thought. Sally continued reading, patiently, slightly marveling at how quiet Duo could be when something seemingly serious was on his mind.

"Sally?" he finally said after a while.

"Hmm?" she intoned, now engrossed in her reviewal of her notes.

Duo rested his head on his shoulder, and looked at her reading form. "You've always wanted to be a physician, correct?"

"From since my mother's womb," she replied, her brow furrowed over a diagram she had hastily drawn.

"So, you're quite knowledgeable, right?"

Sally turned a page. "I would like to think so as I would have to question my position as head physician. "

Nodding his head slowly, Duo pursed his lips again. "I can trust you, right Sal?" he finally asked.

Sally raised her head to regard Duo in concern. "Of course you can, you are aware of this," she said, slightly scolding. "What is this really about?" she continued when he said nothing.

Duo leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs. "Something has been brought to my attention," he said carefully, his deep voice thoughtful. "Something I doubt would have occurred to me before..."

"Before?" Sally prodded.

"Well, alright. It is in regards to the Lady Relena," Duo said hesitantly.

She waited for him to continue, her curiosity peaked,

"There is something you must know. She and ah, Heero have a history," cobalt eyes searched her face for a reaction, in finding nothing he continued. "But, she possesses no memory of him, or of her life...as the princess of the Sanc Kingdom."

Sally's cornflower eyes widened as she shook her head in disbelief. "Well this is certainly a new development."

Duo looked down at his folded hands. He wasn't positive he knew how to voice what troubled him, as his limit of medical knowledge only went so far as bandaging cuts and bearing exceedingly painful injuries along with the occasional swig of ale. Sally could sense his struggle and placed her hand on his forearm.

"Whatever is on your mind, we will figure it out," she said kindly.

Duo looked up quickly. "Is there a possibility, that somehow, after the overthrow of the Sanc, she had no recollection of anything that happened before then?"

Sally thought this over. "There is a strong chance that could be so," she answered. "But how, is really the issue here."

"She said she was captured by slave masters but we're not positive how long they kept her before they brought her to the market."

Nodding, Sally retrieved her ink pot from the ground and quickly penned a few notes.

"There could be various reasons for her condition," she said as she wrote. "There could have been trauma, some sort of injury."

Duo peered at her notes. "And the other possibilities?"

Tapping the feathered quill on her small chin, Sally mused. "Aside from injury, which is physical. I believe there could be an emotional, a mental blockage as well."

Narrowing his eyes, Duo looked at her skeptically..

"Forgive me," he heard Sally say apologetically. "I am not too familiar with this area of study. However if you remember, Trowa had a similar experience. When he was in his fifteenth year, he was thrown from the horse in the mock joust with Heero."

Duo recalled the panic that consumed everyone as they rushed to Trowa's aid and the relief that coursed through them upon seeing that he was physically unharmed, aside from minor bruises on his left arm. He was taken to the infirmary where he rested and was deemed in satisfactory health. However days later they noticed an oddity.

"He could not remember who he was," Sally said, thinking back.

"And he referred to himself as "no-name" for quite some time. Cathy was hysterical," Duo mused as well. "Could there be a relation between his situation and Relena's?"

"I will have to examine her and ask her a few questions, but just why the strong curiosity?"

Duo gave her a mischievous smile then. "I cannot divulge anything more at the moment. Let me in on the information you find and I will do the same. I do not wish to involve the others."

Sally's eyes lowered to half lid as she knew quite well what that grin entailed. "You are planning to meddle in his personal affairs again, I assume."

Duo only laughed impishly.

Sally sighed and she shook her head, a tiny smile forming. "I will do my best."

.

Trowa, to say the least, was having a difficult time figuring Heero out. Had he not been so in control of his own reactions, he would have stared at the prince in open-mouthed surprise. But he kept his casual expression in place despite the questions that burned on his tongue.

He did not expect his conference with Heero to go as smoothly as it did. He caught Heero walking to the main door from the kitchen area and caught up with him to inform him of his prior engagement at the missionary and the man merely brushed it off with a distracted nod of acknowledgement.

"However, that means I will not be able to escort the lady to the country limits," Trowa called out after him, hesitantly, not certain if Heero understood just what his absence would mean.

Heero continued walking and Trowa followed quietly behind him. "I will take care of it."

"So, she will still be leaving," Trowa said as if to clarify, hiding the disappointment from his tone.

"Hn," Heero answered, with little conviction. "We will see."

Trowa ceased his trailing, the catch in Heero's response giving him faint relief. He bowed to Heero's retreating back and went to prepare for the ride into the village.

.

Earlier in the morning, Meiran had seated herself in front the dresser mirror, combing her short, silky black hair with a jade comb. She's made her usual low ponytail, patted few drops of jasmine scented water on her neck and smoothed out her immaculate day dress. She was never one to admire herself, finding it futile as she felt herself to be very plain in comparison to the other girls. Today she decided on a simple dark red gown, with gold brocade along the waist that braided itself down the middle of her skirt. She critically looked back at her hair in the mirror and pulled out the hair tong, letting her short hair lay about her face freely. It was a subtle change from her normal comely style and had hoped Wufei would notice. However he was one who believed fretting over personal appearances was a frivolous activity and doubted he would even care. She looked at her jade comb laying on the white lace fabric atop the dresser and stifled a sigh. She did not want Wufei to think she were brooding again. She would be lectured on using that energy for more useful engagements, such as sword training or intellectual pursuits.

Lately she felt the distance between them and while he was never one to coddle her, he had never been unkind. He treated her as more a sister than a lover and while he believed women should remain in their place he wasn't tender with her, or as gentle when he spoke to her as he would to Lady Sally in particular. Meiran kept these observations to herself knowing her complaints would fall onto deaf ears if she brought them to his attention. Also aware that he would scold her for being so idle that she would delude herself into believing these fabrications her mind thought up of him. She wanted to tell herself it was nothing but she felt this way for quite some time. He hadn't bedded her in months and before when he was in the mood for it, she felt no warmth from him. But still, she kept this to herself, not wanting to trouble anyone with her misery.

Having heard the door open behind her, she turned and stood. Wufei briefly glanced at her before walking past her to retrieve his sword that lay on it's scabbard on his work table. Meiran's face fell slightly as she watched him. Wufei spared her no second look but instead packed scrolls and other necessaries into a travel sack.

He had finally turned to her. "Heero and I will be heading to the Duke of Counterberry's estate soon. We will be gone for most of the day," he said simply.

Meiran picked up his cloak from it's place on the bed and handed it to him. "Will you return in time for the picnic?" she asked hesitantly.

"Possibly," he replied briskly. "Although I have more pressing things to do than attend a picnic. I presume you will be going?"

Meiran had nodded, slightly let down at his disapproving tone. She knew he wished for her to adopt his ideals and mannerisms and oftentimes she didn't join the girls in their trivial outings or gatherings but couldn't help feeling alienated as she watched them enjoy themselves.

Wufei adjusted his sword around his waist, disinterested, picked up his travel sack and walked out of the room without a word of goodbye. She was accustomed to his gruff manner, his unaffected air and his Spartan outlook on life. Yet after all this time she never learned to tune it out and his coldness towards her still brought down her mood and still made her heart heavy. Wufei did not want the company of sniveling women, and she only lasted as long as she did because she quickly learned his likes and dislikes, simple man as he was. She'd never admit it outright as Wufei wasn't an affectionate man, but she loved him and only sought to please, to at least garner the same esteem from him that he possessed for Lady Sally.

A knock at the door brought her out of her thoughts of her aggravating counterpart and she looked up to see Hilde's smiling face.

"Good day!" Hilde had greeted. "What are you standing about for? I'm on my way down to prepare for the picnic."

Meiran moved to stand by the window and look out. "Ah, I believe I will pass on going Hilde," she said, looking down to the stables and watched as Wufei tethered his horse. "I'm a bit unwell today."

"What? Nonsense, you're perfectly able. I shan't accept excuses, you are coming with me."

"No really," Meiran said firmly. "I will stay here."

Folding her arms, Hilde raised an eyebrow. "Wufei's being a doltish ass again, isn't he?"

Meiran's shoulders stiffened however she continued to gaze out the window, knowing Hilde would notice the unhappiness she couldn't hide from her face.

"No," the petite girl replied quietly. "I just have more important things to do today."

Hilde strode into the room, promptly grabbed Meiran by the arm and despite the girl's protests dragged her out with more force than she thought she'd need but she had forgotten how strong Meiran was.

"As your friend, it is my duty to not have you moping piteously in your empty room for an entire day," Hilde quipped, leading them down the stairs. "Surely your slave-driver of a lord wouldn't disapprove of a relaxing outing with friends?"

"Of course he would," Meiran snorted, "he'd think me idle."

"Well you are anything but so shall we enjoy this? I've packed your favorite strawberry jam," Hilde said, winking.

Meiran managed a cheeky smile. "Well you should have mentioned this sooner, I doubt I would've put up such a fuss."

Hilde rolled her eyes. "You really do love food possibly more than the average woman should." Laughing, both girls had entered the kitchen to prepare.

.

Relena timidly peered into the kitchen, walked in quietly and rested her back against the wooden door. Hilde and Meiran ceased their chatter and greeted her with smiles. Augustina was roasting a leg of lamb over the spacious spitfire, Ruth placed more loaves of bread into the oven for baking and Helen was ringing her hands . Relena then noticed Hilde brandishing a rather large butcher knife clumsily attempting to cut a massive portion of ham into thin slices. Loaves of bread, various fruits and goblets were strewn across the center table alongside three picnic baskets.

"Lady Hilde, please you're going to injure yourself and Lord Duo's going to have my head," Helen implored, nervously trying to pry the knife away from Hilde's small hands

"Don't be ridiculous," Hilde sniffed. "I know what I am doing."

Glancing over at Relena again, Hilde smiled. "You've arrived in time to help," she said, continuing her poor attempts at slicing. "Meiran's doing more babbling than packing."

Meiran reached over and confiscated a slice of ham, grinning wildly. Relena laughed and walked over to a basin of fresh water to rinse her hands.

"Did yer sleep well Miss Relena?" Ruth inquired, her kind brown eyes crinkling as she smiled.

"Oh yes, I did, thank you," Relena returned, drying her hands on a towel. "If I had known you were preparing for an outing, I would have arisen sooner. Well actually I did but seemed to have lost my way."

Meiran wrapped chunks of cheese in soft cloth and carefully packed crackers into one of the baskets.

"The layout of this place will certainly take you getting used to," she said, reaching to fill a water pitcher. "Did one of the servants help you?"

"Actually," Relena said thoughtfully, "His Highness was generous enough to assist me."

Surprised faces greeted her all around. "It wasn't exactly how I imagined meeting him but he was kind enough," she offered.

"Ah," Augustina said, turning the spit over slowly. "You must have wandered into his corridors."

"I did actually," Relena admitted, sheepishly. "While he was in the middle of a bath."

Hilde laughed loudly. "That must've put his breeches into a bunch."

"I found him to be...pleasant," Relena said lightly. "A bit gruff at first but not at all frightening."

Helen grinned. "Our young master is not as intimidating as he wishes to be when he is fond of you. While he is reserved in his own right, he has a good heart."

"Got it from his father," Ruth said. "Kind Odin was a kind man."

Relena was interested and wanted to learn more. Holding down the basket for Meiran to place utensils inside she asked politely, "And what has become of his parents?"

"His mother died when he was only in his twelfth year from a fierce," Augustina said softly, gazing into the flames of the hearth. "His honorable father followed soon after."

Relena expressed softened. "Oh," she said quietly. "That must've been so difficult for him."

"Indeed," Hilde answered, relinquishing the butcher knife much tot he relief of Helen. "His advisors raised him, prepared him for his coming of age and taught him all he needed to know to assume the position of King."

"But he still carries the title of Prince."

"There is a stipulation," Meiran said, looking at Relena. "In order for Heero to ascend the throne as King he must be marry a woman of equal rank or status, in other words a princess and only a princess."

Relena's face twisted in confusion. "But why?"

Hilde shrugged. "Possibly to ensure a strong lineage? To secure a powerful ally? King Odin rarely made decisions without some kind of weighty reason behind them."

"Ah, I see. So then he is unable to take an attendant?"

Relena thought back to the stoic man and was hesitant to believe he would actually wish to have one.

"No, he is allowed to. In his seventeenth year he took one, a Lady Sylvia Noventa, the granddaughter of a late influential marshall. But she turned out to be real troublesome, threatening to kill him when she found out the Prince had an accidental part to play in the assassination of her grandfather," Meiran explained.

Relena's aqua eyes widened in extreme surprise. "What do you mean by accidental?"

Hilde sighed and rolled her eyes as if the story had been blown out of proportion too many times in the past. "I'm not knowledgeable of the specific details but it seems the advisors and ours lords were mislead into believing a group of enemies that were funded by a rival Duke were meeting at Edwardington castle plotting to overthrow the Prince for his throne. But that was false information from an informant who pretended to be an ally and Marshall Noventa was mistakenly murdered in battle when our forces stormed the establishment."

"It really was a regrettable accident," Meiran said, a sad tint to her voice, "but Lady Sylvia took the loss extremely hard and one night attempted to stab the Prince as they slept. She was dismissed soon after."

Bringing her hand up to her collarbone, Relena processed this information. "What...what were his feelings for her?"

Hilde lifted two of the baskets and walked towards the back door, leading out to a path closest to the stables.

"I suppose he liked her well enough," she replied, "certainly by no means in love with her. But seeing as he made her his attendant I suppose he thought she was of somewhat importance to him."

"Once a woman becomes an attendant to the Prince, she is unable to become Queen," Meiran offered.

It was certainly an odd practice because why bother with an attendant when you are left to search for a Queen as well? Relena could not understand what the point of it all was.

"I know what you're thinking," Hilde said, as they bid farewell to the three cooks and made their way to the stables. "He assigned her as attendant partially for political and personal reasons, but she was not who he was looking for in a Queen."

Relena nodded her head in understanding. She supposed that was sound reasoning.

"He seems to more prone to being by himself," Relena said thoughtfully, "when do you suppose he will be open to looking for a Queen?"

"Who knows," Meiran answered airily. "Perhaps what he's been waiting for was something that needed to come to him instead." Hilde gave her friend a curious glance but quickly smiled at Relena's confused expression.

"Oh don't mind her. She's become as dramatic as Wufei and you hardly ever know what they're going on about."

Meiran huffed playfully. "You shall see, little ones, you shall see."

They laughed as they awaited Duo, who was to accompany them to the recreation field where they would wait for Quatre and Trowa and possibly Heero and Wufei to join them afterwards. Relena mulled over the information she gained this morning and her interest in these people increased. She decided it was enough to accept their hospitality, after all where else could she go?

Lifting her eyes to view the broad expanse of the castle grounds, she wondered just what would come if she remained with them. The issue of regaining her memories was still ever present in her mind however she believed they could help her and did not rule out the possibility of remaining with them permanently should they offer the choice.