Quattro was going mad. It was now July- two months since the fire- and Rio was still unconscious. His wounds had healed, though there was now a cross-shaped scar over his right eye, but he didn't care about that. He wanted Rio to wake up. He wanted to see her smile, to hear her laugh, to feel her soft hand in his. He also wanted to be able to spend time with her again- and not just her silent, still form- because he was sure that if he did, the strange feelings he'd been having about her would also go away. Whenever he thought about the Barian girl, his heart would flutter or his stomach would begin to do flip-flops, and his face would begin to feel uncomfortably warm. It was aggravating, not being able to have control over his own emotions.

One time, he'd been visiting her in her room, and he'd thought how much he'd like to kiss her, now that she wasn't covered in so many bandages. He'd smacked himself upside the head for even considering it. He and Rio were friends, nothing more. Why would he want to ruin a perfectly good friendship with an icky thing like romance? What did real love feel like anyway? It was this question that drove him to track down Quinton one afternoon when it was too hot to go outside.

"Chris? Can I come in?" He asked, poking his head into his older brother's drawing room. The oldest Arclight brother closed the book he'd been reading and looked up at him with a tired smile.

"Sure, Thomas, come on in." Gratefully, the scarlet-eyes prince stepped inside, shutting the door behind him before going to join his brother on the settee in the middle of the room. "What's on your mind? Chris asked after Quattro's silence, in his opinion, had gone on for too long.

"Rio."

Chris sighed. "Thomas, we all wish she would wake up. You're just going to have to accept that there are some things out of your control."

"No, I mean, Rio's all I can think about. I keep wanting to…to kiss her. To hold her tight and never let her go. Chris, I…I think I'm in love with her."

Chris sat silently and stared off into space. What was he going to do now? He had known that Quattro's feelings for Rio were growing, but he'd hoped that the epiphany of love wouldn't come until later, or that, when it did come, Quattro would take it to their father. But no, his brother had to come to him, and now he was going to have to tell him the hard truth.

'Thomas," he said seriously, "You know you can't… have a relationship with her."

Quattro blinked. "What do you mean?"

"If you do love her, you should find something to distract yourself. Maybe leave for a while. Have parties to meet other girls."

"What?" Quattro demanded. "I came here for help to keep my relationship with Rio, Quinton, not bring it to an end."

"But if you have feelings for her, Thomas, it has to stop. You are a prince of Heartland. She is a Barian, and a slave. True, we hold no grudges against her, but the people of Arclight won't be so forgiving. They haven't forgotten the terror they used to live in, or the long list of missing family members and friends because of the Barian raids."

"But Rio's not responsible for any of that!"

"I know that, and you know that, and maybe we could even convince the people of that, but… they're not going to accept their future King having a relationship with- or marrying- a Barian slave girl."

"What does it matter what the people think? And no one mentioned marriage- we're not old enough for that."

"But you will be soon." Chris sighed and ran his hand through his long, silver hair. "And as king, you will have a duty to the people. You must lead them, but also not do anything to provoke them."

Quattro jumped up, his face livid. "If you weren't marrying Kari and leaving us to become Emperor of Tsukamo, I wouldn't have to be king!"

"Quattro, please," Quinton begged, "Don't cause yourself unnecessary pain by entering a relationship that's only going to be torn apart by force later."

For a moment Quattro stood there, his fists clenched, trembling with anger. Then, it dissipated, and he sank back down next to his brother, suddenly looking very tired. "It's not fair," he said, swiping at his eyes- not because he was crying, but because there was something in his eye, he insisted.

"Life is hardly ever fair," Quinton sighed. "Kari and I, we're falling in love slowly. Every day I find myself appreciating her more and more. But what who knows what would have happened to us if duty didn't call us to be together?"

"But what am I going to do?" Quattro asked him. "I can't just forget about her- not after everything we've been through." Not after everything she's trusted me with.

Quinton smiled a little sadly. "Distract yourself. Throw a few parties and invite some of the nobles' children that are around your own age."

Quattro wrestled with himself for a few minutes. Finally he said, "All right. I'll talk to Dad about it." As he headed out, he suddenly turned back and added, "You know, there's still hope. Maybe we can convince Michael to become a rebel and marry for love."

Next time on A Tale of Two Slaves: Vector and Shark receive an unwelcome visitor.