Chapter 14: MEN!

"Ouch that's how you greet me after all we've been through," Richard said with a cocky grin. May's eyes iced over practically as she gazed at him. She turned on her heels and stalked away. "Wow there Princess calm down." Richard called as he caught up to her.

"What in world are you doing here," she hissed at him?

"I came to see how you were doing."

"Liar! Go away! I don't want to see your face."

Richard grabbed her arm before she could leave. "We need to talk."

"No we do not. Leave me alone."

"May, I need to talk to you."

"Whatever it is I don't care. I already told you to go away! I told you I never wanted to see you again! Now get out of my sight!" May wrenched her arm free and almost sprinted down the hall.

"We have to get married." Richard called after her and regretted it the second he let it slip out of his mouth. May spun, her face full of pure fury and hatred.

"WHAT!" She screamed, making him flinch.

"It's an arranged marriage. My parents told me that your father arranged it a few years ago. I was just told about the whole thing. We have to get married before the seasons end."

He could feel her icy gaze from you. "I'd rather die than marry you." May turned and stalked off with this.

Iliane was in the music room, playing the piano. Her voice slowly mixed in with the music. She had a low, sweet voice that would make everyone stop to listen. Iliane was a shy one and didn't really like to sing. The only person who ever heard her sing was Laci. All of them were close in their own way. Slowly her voice faded and she just played the piano. Her hands worked quickly and she stopped paying attention to what was going on around her.

Tears slipped down her cheeks as she continued on through the song. (A: N/ The song is depressing, I am not much of a song writer so I can't really put one in here, sorry) Her tears came so quickly that she finally had to stop what she was doing. Her mind raced back to past memories.

Thoughts that still continued to haunt her even to this day. She had never told anyone how badly they tortured her. It was hard for her to open up after that day and she felt slightly guilty for never telling her sisters the truth. Everyone had secrets, so why shouldn't she? She thought to herself.

"Iliane?" She looked up quickly and gasped.

"R-Randall?" she muttered, as if not sure what she was seeing.

He gave her a small smile. He brushed back the blonde hair that feel into his blue eyes. "It's been too long," he muttered quietly. Iliane could see the tears in his eyes.

"It's been eight years, they told…told me you…you…." Her voice broke off.

"They lied, I was fine, well after about a week of resting that is." Randall took a step towards her.

"But why?" she questioned.

"They held a grudge against your family but I didn't care. I couldn't leave till I was eighteen so I came to see you. Your father said you were all staying up here and I am sad to say I missed your sister's weddings."

"I've missed you so much, I thought I would never see you again," Iliane said quietly.

"You're my best friend Iliane, I couldn't leave you alone." Randall commented as he moved to kneel in front of her.

"You're my best friend too Randall." She hugged him tightly and cried into his shoulder. He held her close, not really wanting to let her go. It took almost twenty minutes before she had calmed down enough to talk again.

"Now what were you crying about?" He whispered to her, not willing to let her go just yet.

"You actually. I've missed you so much, I had no idea what I was going to do. I guess I just realized how my family was starting to go off in their separate ways and how I couldn't get on without them. Ever since that night…." She trailed off again.

"I was shocked that night too."

"Iliane? Randall?" Sara questioned a bit stunned. The two turned to face five of her sisters. Rian stood beside Sara. Nora, Tallie, and Gira stood behind them.

"Randall? We all thought…." Rian dropped off, not sure what to say.

"I am sorry you all thought that."

"Iliane! You've been crying!" Tallie cried as she went to her older sister's side. Iliane let her sister hug her tightly. "What in the world is going on? First Arthur returns and Laci has a break down. We just saw May storm off in a fury and we saw Richard. Now you are here, practically back from the dead!"

Sara and Rian exchanged glances. "What were you crying about Iliane?" Sara asked softly as she knelt beside her sister.

"I was just remembering the night that I thought Randall was gone," she said in a weak voice.

"What happened that night?" Sara demanded of Randall.

With a sigh Randall told what happened. "You all know that Iliane and I had decided to head into town. We were going to spend the day just having some fun. We never really thought anything would happen. It was about four hours after we left that it happened. Iliane and I were sitting outside the town when we heard the screams. Running back into town we got caught up in the huge commotion. Apparently some of the rogue fighters were storming through town. I did my best to try and get her out of town.

"We were almost out when they caught us. There were two of them, two large men. They started saying some very obscene things and I made sure Iliane was behind me. It all happened so fast. I woke up in my room back home. My parents were sitting near my bed. When I woke up I started asking about Iliane but my parents refused to let me go see her or speak to her again. They blamed her for what happened. I woke up with a deep gash on my back and my chest. I almost died from blood loss."

Sometime during his speech Iliane had freed herself from Tallie and moved to Randall. He held her tightly to him. "I watched them attack him to protect me. I just remembered screaming for someone to help him, they came but when they did I blacked out. When I asked about what happened to him they just said they think he didn't make it. After that was a bit of a blur. I remember breaking down and crying to Ellie. She told me to write and see what happened but I never got a response from his family."

"Ellie knows?" Rian asked amazed. Iliane nodded her head.

"She was the one who brought me home that day. Apparently she had been in town that day for some reason and found me. I was so scared and in shock I didn't do anything."

"Wow, she really is everywhere," Rian mumbled under her breath.

Randall stroked her hair, calming her down. "We are glad to see you are well and alive Randall. It's been too long," Sara whispered. With that she ushered her sisters out of the room. Iliane curled more into him.

"I'm sorry Iliane."

"For what?"

"Leaving you like I did, I never meant that too happen to you."

She turned bright blue eyes on him. "It's not your fault Randall. I am just glad to know you are alright. I've missed you so much," her voice cracked and she hid her face in his chest again.

It had been years since she was last with him. She hated his family for what they did. What did her family do to them? She didn't understand it. It not only been the fact that he was her best friend but that she had started to love him. At ten it may have seemed like it was impossible but it wasn't to her. When that happened it was like her life was gone.

There were so many times when her father or sister's poked and prodded at her to go dance with the men, who all seemed to think she was very beautiful but to her none of that mattered. Ellie had been supportive of her and was always there when she needed her. She remembered last year when she had gone through this Ellie had found her trapped away in her tower. It had been the day of his birthday and she had remembered everything.

It was probably the worst day of her life but she had gotten through it. Her sisters wouldn't be able to understand what she had gone through, the nightmares she continued to have for two years after the incident. Her room had been adjacent to Ellie's. Ellie would always come in and soothe her till she fell back into a deep, dreamless sleep.

She had missed him so much, the feeling of being in his arms again was almost overwhelming. Randall really couldn't say anything to her, it was so hard for him. After eight years of wondering and pain he had learned the truth. It was two days before his birthday and he had been furious. His parents had called to talk to him. They wanted to discuss marriage with him.

He remembered sitting with them in the small study. "Randall you will be eighteen soon, you do realize what that means?" his father had asked him.

"It means I have to get married soon, so that way I can produce an heir and continue on the family line."

"Precisely, I was hoping you would have realized this." His father had replied calmly. "You do realize Lady Ilora is very fond of you."

"I have noticed," he had to suppress the anger in his voice. Truth be told, the closer it came to his birthday the more he longed to see Iliane, even if for a moment. He had expected letters from her but when they never came he began to give up hope.

"Well I hate to hold you up, you have to meet with a few advisors."

"Good day Father," he said quietly as he left the room. He headed down the halls and was surprised to run into the head councilmen.

"Ah just the man I was looking for. I need you to sign a few papers for me."

"Of course my Lord," he had said as he followed him. "What will you have me sign?" He had asked when he entered the room.

"Well we are here to make sure you sign the paper to prove the arranged marriage will now be in void."

"What arranged marriage?"

"Between yourself and Lady Iliane, Lord Richard's daughter of course." Randall blinked a few times and picked up the paper. His eyes scanned it and he let out a strangled cry. He stormed out of the room and went to see his parents. He threw open the door and startled his parents. They had been talking to a few Lords and Ladies.

"How dare you! You never told me about my arranged marriage to Iliane! Is this why you have been keeping me from her?" He had practically screamed.

"If you will excuse us for a-"

"Answer me!" He snapped furiously at his parents. His father stopped talking and glared at his oldest son.

"Of course that is why we have been keeping you from her. Do you think we would allow you to marry into that family?" His father had laughed then, making his anger increase. "That girl was nothing compared to the other women you could and would have."

"We had to hide all of her letters that she sent you so you would think she hated you. It was so easy, you were so easy to get to believe," his mother sneered.

At this point he slammed his fist hard into the desk, almost breaking his hand. "How dare you do this to me! How dare you call yourselves my parents after doing something like this! You had no right to take her away from me!" Randall screamed defiance at his parents.

"She is worthless! Her whole family is worthless! How they managed to arrange Ellie to the Crown Prince shall be a mystery to me," his father snapped. "You should be grateful we spared you from that."

Randall's fist connected with his father's jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground. His mother screamed and knelt beside him. "You bastard!" Randall ripped the paper into pieces as he stormed out of the room.

"Randall!" Iliane said a bit louder.

"Oh sorry what?" Randall asked as he looked down at her.

"Are you alright? You started shaking."

"I am fine, I was just reminiscing."

"About what?"

"When I found out the truth. I broke my father's jaw when I hit him."

Her eyes widened on hearing this. "You didn't!"

He nodded his head slowly. "I was so furious. They just kept on insulting you and they told me they had taken your letters away that you had sent me. I couldn't control my temper. All those years I thought you hated me," his voice cracked in the end.

"I could never hate you, I loved you too much for that to happen. I thought I had lost you, I thought you were gone."

Randall looked down at her, her eyes meeting his. He tilted her head up and kissed her softly. Her body tensed up but soon relaxed. It was a short kiss but that didn't seem to matter much. He cradled her body to his, never wanting to let go. "All this time…I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe they had taken you away from me. My parents tried to make me write the arranged marriage in void but I couldn't do it."

"Arranged marriage?" She squeaked, pulling back from him.

"Y-You don't know?" He asked shocked.

"I've not heard anything about an arranged marriage!"

Randall was a bit shocked by this news but not more of a shock then to Iliane.

"Yes well, Ellie hasn't quite informed the whole family on the current situation of their arranged marriages." Sara said, making them turn to look at her and Rian.

"You knew?" Iliane said shocked.

"I overheard Daniel and Jason speaking about it and Ellie had no choice but to tell us the truth. Father has arranged all of us to marry someone," Rian said slowly.

Iliane just looked at them all for a long moment, unsure of what to say. "Well I can't say its not that bad but when do you plan to tell the others?"

"Well Ellie was going to before she left but things got a little complicated. Actually while they are gone on their honeymoon the rest of them are supposed to show up." Sara recalled. She frowned for a moment then shrugged.

"Oh this is going to be a wonderful two weeks."

Randall nodded his head.

Nora sat in the kitchen talking to Laya when Erick walked in. He sat down beside her and dropped his head onto the counter. The two women exchanged looks.

"What's wrong?" Laya asked her son.

"Father is crazy! He wants me to come help him in the blacksmith shops. I didn't spend eight years training to become a knight to change to a blacksmith!"

"You are our only son what did you expect of him."

"I like blacksmiths, they are really good people. Well the most of them. My father let me go work in one, that was about a year ago…" Nora said quietly, trying to remember.

"Really?" They both asked a bit stunned.

"Of course, actually Ellie was the one who took me, she's better at it then all of us. Actually she is pretty good with anything that has to deal with a blade. She's talented, like her mother is. For some reason she always seems to know when and where to be."

"That's a good trait for a queen." Laya said with a smile.

"I sure hope it is."

"It is," Erick and Laya said at once.

"Would you like to come with me?" Erick asked.

"That would be great. I haven't been in one in ages! Father banned us from town after the accident. I wonder…" Nora dropped off for a moment. "That would be great, when can I go?"

"How about tomorrow? I'll come get you in the morning?"

"Thank you! Oh I better go see if my other sisters have gotten into trouble again. Bye! I'll see you tomorrow!" With that Nora headed down the halls.

"Now what is really wrong?" Laya asked her son.

"Father says I am to wed and it's Nora."

"Oh that's spectacular! I can't believe it! This is most wonderful news. She is such a sweet girl and why didn't she tell me?"

"They don't know, its supposed to be a large announcement when Ellie gets back."

"Oh dear." Laya said quietly. Unknowingly a figure crept out of the kitchen. They hurried out of the castle and into the city.

"It's all set, she's leaving," the figure said into the shadows of a small Inn.

"Wonderful, we strike tomorrow."

A:N/ Dun, dun, dun! The fun begins! Well now things are going to get a little more fun and thanks again to my two reviewers! You two really helped me finish up the rest of this chapter. The next will be a bit more exciting. Well thanks again I hope you keep reading!

Seritha