A/N: so so sorry for the long delay in updating. I promise that the next one should be up soon :D
Also, thanks for the kind reviews :D

PRINCESS

THE MOON

A soft knock on the door drew Siris out of her reverie. For a fleeting moment she wondered if it were Mallory, come to redeem himself; to set into motion their real escape plot. The knock came again. Her hopes were dashed; Mallory didn't need her acknowledgement to enter the room. She stood slowly and approached the door; on the third gentle knock she opened it slightly.

Siris stood back in surprise. "What do you want?" she hissed. The person on the other side shushed her and slowly crept into the room. The door clicked closed behind him and he held out his arm in a gesture of surrender. "I'm not finished with dinner. In fact, I don't want it!"

"Please listen to me, Siris," he started. "I mean you no harm, I just need to talk to you," he paused to gauge her reaction. Siris narrowed her eyes and scrutinised him.

"What do you have to say to me, Anaru?" He let out a sigh of relief.

"I know what Scarlett is planning," he whispered. Siris gave him a look which clearly meant for him to continue. "This 'Ceiran' business, I know all about it."

"So do I," Siris said easily. She could feel his turmoil, but his slow explanation was bothering her. He shook his head at her and she stopped whatever she was about to say next to listen to him once more.

"She thinks I'm loyal, I know the entire ritual," Siris' ears pricked up, she could feel a curiosity building inside of her. "She will need more sacrifices than just Mallory, when the time comes."

"Is she going to use humans? That's one of the reasons they outlawed the ritual, you know." Anaru shook his head.

"She wants Ceiran to be the most powerful witch ever to walk on this earth. They're using witch sacrifices." Siris was shocked.

"But, what, no, who is going to let her – how is she going to do it? It's unstable, it's unheard of."

"She has already chosen four sacrifices and she knows that we will add to Ceiran's power."

"Then run."

"Do you think it's that easy?" he sneered. "You were the most powerful person here and you couldn't get away. We can't run. I can't run. She will kill the others. She already holds them in the palm of her hand." Siris looked at him inquisitively. Anaru's face had darkened over and there was a slight sheen to his eyes that Siris did not want to explore further.

"Where are they?"

"She's holding them in a cell somewhere, I can feel them." Siris focused more adamantly on his face.

"What do you mean, 'you can feel them'? Are the four of you psychics?" Anaru's lips quirked slightly upward.

"Siris, if the four of us were psychics, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you."

"Then how do you know they're still here?"

"We have a very close link," he peered at her meaningfully, but Siris could not fathom what he meant. "Soulmates,' he finally said. Siris blinked.

"But two pairs of powerful witch souls could be catastrophic –" Siris halted in the middle of her train of thought. "How did she find two pairs in circle midnight?"

"My sister, Celia, found Antony first. She was talking to me about leaving Midnight. I was upset with her, I told Scarlett – I didn't know what to do. Scarlett told me that they just needed time to adjust; she'd send them away for a little while. I believed her; I thought that they would be fine. In the first few weeks Celia even sent me letters – well, at first I believed that they were from her."

Siris took Anaru's hand and willed him to look at her. He had a faraway look in his eyes that worried her. Gently, she prodded his mind with hers, and he focussed again on their surroundings.

"My Morgan," he began slowly, "she overwhelmed me. I knew she didn't belong in Midnight the moment I laid eyes on her, but she wouldn't leave – and believe me, I tried to make her go. But at the end of it, she knew more than me, even Scarlett knew more than I did about our situation."

"What happened?"

"She just disappeared one night; I felt so empty. Scarlett confronted me; she said it was for the best. She played me so well. But something even Scarlett had not anticipated happened; our link grew stronger. I've known for a while now that they're all still here; I just can't find them," Anaru looked purposefully at Siris. "You see why I need your help?"

"You're in trouble, suddenly, Scarlett's plans affect your life directly and you no longer want to be involved," it came out bitterly. Anaru's eyes widened a fraction in disbelief, but he managed to rally himself for a retort.

"Not all of us can follow her blindly into oblivion, or whatever she has planned for Midnight. Not all the witches here are evil, no matter what you think!" Anaru hissed the words and turned briskly to leave; Siris stilled him with a hand on his elbow.

"I'll help you, but I don't know how, I can't exactly leave, you know."

Anaru produced a needle from his pocket, Siris looked at him sceptically. He moved toward the sleeping goat and gently blew some warm air over the soft patch of shaved skin. The goat stirred but did not wake. He carefully inserted the needle and injected its contents into the dozing creature.

"Wait a short while for it to cycle through the system and break down the other drug and then it should be fine to drink from it. I'll be back in a few minutes." Siris nodded as Anaru left her alone in her room.

She stood there, in the centre of her room, waiting a short length of time. Outside, she could hear Anaru's soft footfalls falling further away from her door. A little further off she could hear less benign footsteps heading her way. Siris eyed the goat quickly and hoped that whatever Anaru had fixed it with had done its trick. Siris moved quickly over to the docile creature and inhaled its scent once before she let her elongated teeth pierce its fine skin.

As she finished up, there was a brisk knock on the door. Siris shot on to the bed as quickly and silently as she could and pretended to be awakening just as the door opened. It was Anaru again, but behind him stood Scarlett and three unfriendly looking witches. Anaru entered and untethered the goat from the end of her bed, leading the unsteady creature outside as the other four entered.

"I see you've had some rest, my dear," Scarlett simpered. "That's very good, you'll be needing your strength tonight, especially for what we've got planned."

The three guards approached her and Siris gave into their demands. She stood without a struggle and followed them out of the room into the hall. Scarlett walked casually alongside her.

"Have you seen the moon out tonight?" Siris glared at her and Scarlett giggled girlishly. "Of course not, there aren't any windows in your room – how silly of me. But you didn't miss anything; there's nothing to see tonight. No bothersome goddess of the moon making distinctions between the living and the dead. Nope, none at all, the perfect night to be communicating with the dead, if I do say so myself." She smiled again at Siris, who said nothing to her as they continued walking through the building.

When they reached their destination, Siris didn't need the guard to open the door to know what lied beyond it. She could smell the effluvia of the blood creeping through every gap in the door. Never in her life had she smelt blood and felt as repulsed as she did that very moment.

What will happen when Mallory and Siris meet the next time?

A/N: Argh, this chapter was weird, hopefully the next chapter will get back into the proper flow of the story. As usual, all reviews are appreciated :D