Lucien stared in shock at his own sister who after several tries, clearly very

painful to her unused throat finally managed to rasp a word or more like

actual name…

The name he never expected to be used ever again…

A name addressed toward a stranger gaping at them in total confusion with

the young red-haired girl standing beside him hesitantly, glancing back and

forth between her companion and the gathered 'welcoming party'.

"Arena?!" the young king tried to suppress his rising elation, too afraid it might have been a dream or wishful thinking on his part "You…!" words were failing him as he glanced at the exotic woman for confirmation to this miracle.

"Arena…. He lost his memories, just as you lost your voice, he doesn't know

who you are, but nobody says he won't eventually regain his memory." Lena

murmured to the trembling princess, who now freely cried causing the advancing

pair to freeze in shock at such strong emotions "Meanwhile… why won't you

welcome him properly?" she nudged the Tamirian encouragingly.

"HOW? What on earth is happening?!" the young king grabbed Ley's arm in

agitation seeing how his own sister was slowly approaching the perplexed

stranger "She speaks! But… why would she use this name?" clearly his own

emotions were in quite a turmoil if he wasn't able to connect puzzles at the

moment.

The exotic woman gazed at the princess who run through the last few steps and lunged at bewildered Ian, apparently that was becoming one of her habits.

Fortunately the man managed to reflexively catch his balance and was

forced to hug the sobbing girl in process causing Lydia to frown in suspicion.

"Lucien…" the black eyes finally turned toward the monarch "You still don't get it? You can stop being so snarky, you found your lost family member…"

1

"…he is…?"

"…I really don't know her Lydia…"

"…lost younger brother?..."

"…she regained her voice!..."

"…Arena, I'm so happy you are healed, but we can't be sure he is our brother, after all he…"

"…Ian do you know these people?..."

"…I'm telling you Trey that I have no idea what they are talking about! Why don't you believe me?!.."

"…did someone go fetch the Wiseman? He should be present…"

"…but why are you here in Sevia? Something happened?..."

"ENOUGH!" Ian snapped and immediately zeroed his angry stare at the exotic

female who nonchalantly observed entire pandemonium while leaning on the

wall of the stables with her arms casually folded as if it wasn't she who created

this chaos in the first place "YOU!" he pointed his forefinger at slightly amused

Lena "Quit smirking and explain, dammit, what the hell is this all about, Ley!"

"Don't yell at sir Ley" Lydia scolded Ian causing him to frown for a chance at

her defending tone "And why this lady is hugging you so tightly all this time?

What did you do to make her cry?"

"I did no such a thing!"

Suddenly a confused silence filled the courtyard.

"…'SIR'?..." Wulf muttered a nagging question aloud while following with his

dumbfounded gaze from one face to another, noticing strange similarity between the arriving guest and the Child of the Prophecy.

Sharris blinked slowly and only now after welcoming Lydia with whom she

shared strange almost friendship after their last escapade, it occurred to her

that perhaps there still was some misunderstanding to clear up.

The archer looked at furiously blushing Ian who glanced guiltily at the confused

daughter of the count, and seeing that he probably didn't share this tiny detail with her, the petite blond cursed loudly under her nose causing everyone to look at her in shock.

1

"How can you be so sure he is my brother?" Lucien gestured at defiantly

yawing Ian who sprawled on the sofa, his arm protectively circling Lydia's

shoulders, who currently stared blankly in space after learning the truth

about Ley's gender. Arena petted her knee pityingly understanding very well

how girl felt at the moment, the memories from her own experience not so

long time ago all too vivid.

"I second that…" supposed 'Jamie' smirked challengingly "I have no idea how

this silly idea came to you. Me? His brother? As if!" strangely he was being

really adamant to not to admit any connection to the Tamirians.

"See?" the king pointed at the cheeky bastard who not only spoke rudely but also

didn't act like a respectful younger brother should.

"Let me get this straight…" Lena put her arms akimbo slightly irked that

once again her gender caused some considerable commotion "Both of you

have the same eyes, both of you are brunettes and share slightly similar

features" she started counting on her fingers "Both of you have strong

charisma be it as a king or leader of the hidden village, he has a certain scar

and a crooked tooth as your brother had" she folded her hands defiantly "And

if that's not enough for you, both of you imprisoned me the second we met

for the first time… quite a brotherly unanimity I would say…" she arched her

brow sardonically.

"Wait! Just wait a moment…" the protective dotting father loomed over the loud

Tamirians threateningly "My baby, what do you mean by being 'imprisoned'?"

Lucien frowned in confusion "Huh? And when the hell did I imprison you?"

Lena narrowed her eyes dangerously while tightening her folded arms to not

to clobber a certain apparently easily forgetting man "Ah~? You don't even

remember~?" she asked innocently "Not that I expected some fanfares once

I finally meet the annoying ruler whom I was supposed to help in order to return

to my country as a certain prophet advised me to, but I'll be damned if

I expected to be immediately thrown into deep dungeon the second I finally

found him…" she flashed him toothy smile readily serving him on a silver

platter for a certain overprotective parent to munch on – if he forgets so easily, he sure deserves it! "Imagine my frustration that without even being

heard out, even after showing a valid pass I found myself in a collective prison

cell filled with many dangerous people without anything to defend myself

with."

Hearing that Eric's head jerked zeroing on the younger monarch.

The woman loomed over the confused Tamirian "YOU were supposed to come back and question me afterwards since you couldn't believe that someone would

be able to cross the front line all the way from Rohim…" some recognition flickered suddenly in blue eyes "HA! A pity you never came…! Despite my

pleas to send you a message I was ignored by guards, after all many claim

to be innocent… I had to spend in tha smelly place a good few days before

Sims opened the prison because of the advancing forces of the Earl…"

The woman indeed can hold a grudge… Ian thought slightly amused by

the suddenly pale bossy bastard who was currently glancing worriedly at the huge threatening man claiming to be Ley's father.

"…Sims…?" Lucien asked weakly already remembering a strange cloaked silhouette pinned down to the ground in front of him.

"Indeed, SIMS…" Lena smiled at him serenely.

Ian sniggered seeing a panicked expression of apparently the King of Tamir, but

his smile was immediately wiped off of his face as Ley turned to him and

gifted him with the same wolfish smile "And you!" she lifted her chin and he

could see deep in her eyes she had no intention to spare him "You certainly

are the same as your brother… True, your imprisonment was far better than

his" she nodded in the direction of the Tamirian who tried to placate th silent

mountain of a man by smiling to him hesitantly "But you too refused to

release us, and instead, held us captives within your hidden village…"

The narrowed grey eyes turned swiftly to the fidgeting former thief and now Ian could understand just why that Lucien guy was so pale a moment ago.

Seeing how Ley was putting his supposedly both grandsons in place Lord

William chuckled "Are those the only reasons to your conclusion, Ley?"

The woman glanced at him and shrugged her shoulder slightly "Leaving jokes

aside, Ian suffered some serious head trauma and lost his memories, he was

found unconscious near the Forest of Evil as people call it, near Allem Castle

very close to the place where the tragedy of the royal family of Tamir occurred, he

bears strong resemblance to the lost brother from the characteristics Arena

mentioned to me."

"You never found the body or any traces of Jamie, and at the same time he

never looked for you, if we add amnesia to that it would be only logical WHY

despite surviving he wouldn't seek for you through all those years… Besides,

this Forest of Evil is a strange place, one moment you can easily find your

way and then suddenly you are like a child wandering aimlessly. Because of

that, the village was created there – to ensure safety of its inhabitants

despite the best efforts of the local governor to wipe them all out. It would be easy to hide an injured unconscious prince there, not to mention that it would be the

safest place in the current uncertain situation right after the murder of the previous king…"

Hearing this more detailed explanation everyone turned toward Ian who felt

like a deer chased by a pack of hunting dogs.

1

The Northlander toyed with his fork and asked a question in a deceivingly

uninterested voice "What do you mean he escaped?"

Peter lowered his head in shame "Unfortunately he managed to subdue two

guards and disappeared within the city, Sire…"

After a brief flash of irritation the Lord Regent cocked his head in interest "Huh?

So he is capable of something like that? Who would have thought he has

enough of this in him to pull it off completely… Do you think he will seek

revenge on me now?" he inquired in slightly sardonic if not eager tone.

"I do not know, My Lord… He acts ruled by his low instincts and desires,

mostly allowing his temper to get better of him… If I were to guess, now he is

probably still more focused on the coronation issue, but later? Who knows?"

The Northlander grimaced in disappointment "A pity then… I'd like to toy with

him more, especially now that I will be slightly bored before this enthronement…"

The faithful aide glanced at his master discreetly "If I may ask… What do you

intend to do now? We can't stay here for too long, you have Northland to rule

over, waiting for your return, Sire…"

The Regent sighed heavily "I know, I know… You don't have to remind me of

that." He sulked for a moment "That's precisely why I don't get it… judging

by the presence of the kings of Aran and Tamir and their cosy attitude here, it's a

wonder they can be so relaxed. King Lucien regained his country only recently, does he really have so much free time to stay here at his leisure? And Aran? Practically the entire main royal family came to Sevia, what about their own country? Well… them I can understand somehow since the future Queen of Kabul is related to them, but Tamir? He should go back to his homeland and sort-out the mess after the Earl's regime…" The Lord glanced at his frowning servant "I don't want to leave Sevia before I'll have a general picture of what is really happening here, after all I can't allow them to hinder my plans here..."

Peter sighed discreetly and eyed doubtfully his plotting master, wondering

briefly if the man even understood what he really wanted at the moment, but

wisely he refrained from voicing aloud this observation.

1

Hyun-min woke up and glared at the ceiling of the room he currently was

occupying. Why the hell THIS time he had to awaken on such an intriguing

crucial moment?

Because of the animosity he felt towards his family and his reluctance to even see

them, forget about hearing their constant empty apologies, he had rented a room

in an exclusive five-star hotel, though it was rather his father who demanded

that if he wanted to live alone he at least had to choose some decent place –

and nothing below five stars would satisfy that man.

Those days his dreams evolved slightly, now he felt as if he was submerged

under the water, gazing at the world above him from the bottom of some

river – judging at least by a strong current flowing around him. From his

position there wasn't much to see, and strangely he couldn't force his limbs

to work properly to at least reach the surface and look around. It was as if

he was detached from his body, only his sight working and allowing him to

observe his boring surroundings.

Though tonight something was different – different enough that he abruptly

woke up despite the fact that for a change he wanted to learn more.

As usual he grumbled morosely at monotony of this place when something

flickered in his peripheral vision, if he even had one that is. When he focused some more on that particular place he noticed two tiny shining orbs dancing merrily in the water, that halted in their tracks once, apparently, noticing him for a chance. After a slight moment of hesitation 'they' came a little bit closer to him.

He was mesmerized by how beautiful those strange things shone, it was as if he was looking at two little suns emanating with some kind of light despite of the liquid surrounding them. Then one of the orbs started glowing stronger, soon followed by the other one, and as Hyun-min regained his vision, before him floated a tiny boy with long hair fluttering around his face with a shy girl with a mass of curls surrounding her head like a halo. Both of them evaluated him curiously keeping safe distance, and he would probably freak out by that time if not for the fact that they both were almost transparent, a warm glow obscuring details of their features and colouring.

Then the current became stronger for a second, and suddenly the man was able to see their eyes.

…the almond-shaped eyes…

…the Asian eyes…

The innocent curious eyes which were looking at him slightly amused from the two faces identical to each other.

Twins?

Hyun-min gazed at them in return and noticed that they had strange clothes, just as shining as their owners, but suspiciously similar to those

European from the Middle Ages.

The clothes similar to what Lena was wearing during their last meeting…

He tried to force himself to move closer to those creatures, but as usual

nothing seemed to work the way he wanted. Seeing his futile efforts the boy

cocked his head and grinned mischievously, then he abruptly appeared bare

inches from the man's face and stared some more at him, this time even more

intensively, a slight thoughtful line appearing between his brows just under

a strange shining jewel in the middle of his forehead.

Wait a minute?! A jewel?!

A tiny hand reached to Hyun-min's face hesitantly and to his utter shock he

could feel the warm touch of the little finger tracing squinted corner of his eye

experimentally.

He could feel that ethereal palm!

Before he could muster any question, already forgetting he couldn't speak here, the two glowing children turned abruptly as if something alarmed them.

Then as if scolded, they guiltily glanced at each other and reluctantly waved him

a goodbye.

In a strong outburst of light not only he was alone, but also once again in

his own damn room.

He yanked his duvet angrily and stomped to the bathroom. He strongly

turned the tap and after filling his joined hands with cold water he abruptly

splashed his face with it. As he braced his palms on the edge of the washbasin

he glared at his own reflection seriously pissed off with his imagination.

Suddenly he froze, his eyes widening in shock. As he neared his face, his nose practically plastering to the mirror he traced delicately with the trembling forefinger a tiny shining fingerprint in the corner of his right eye, which was already slowly fading…

1

Gideon glanced from his book at the young man who was pacing through his

room in agitation "Ian… I've already dressed this small wound of yours and yet,

you're still here… What for?"

The young leader shot the prophet an evil eye without stopping his angry stride "You tended to my wounds just a room next to the man who, from what Ley claims, is my brother, why didn't you tell me anything?"

The Leone sighed in exasperation and closed his book with resignation "And how

was I supposed to know that?"

"You have this strange ability of yours!" Ian waved his hands in agitation

"You should know such things!"

Gideon scowled at the young man "If I didn't know you better, I would have

thought you're purposely looking for a confrontation of some sorts…" he eyed the man appraisingly from head to toe "First of all, stop pacing before you create a

huge crater in my room, second – I can sometimes see glimpses of the FUTURE –

not the past. How was I supposed to know it? I only knew you were a friend of Ley

from the Forest of Evil, I'd never heard about your memory loss."

"Haven't you saw this meeting?" Ian finally flopped on the armchair.

The Leone shrugged "I have not predicted it if you're asking me about that… Almost everything that is happening around Ley is far too hazy for me, besides it's not like I can provoke some vision on my own…" he cocked his head in puzzlement "You were searching for your real identity, shouldn't you be happy to find your family instead of growling at everyone? Why is that?"

"He is worried" a childish slightly uninterested voice filled the room reminding the men that they had company.

"And why is that, Maria?" The prophet asked in an intrigued tone after a brief pregnant pause.

The little girl adjusted the clothes of her new doll – the gift from Arena, which had suspiciously long black hair and wore male clothes "He likes the red-haired lady whose daddy killed his daddy and mommy, if he is a brother of that princess with beautiful long golden hair" the child critically gazed at her handiwork not paying much attention to the adults.

Ian groaned in desperation and hid his head in his palms, his elbows resting on his bent knees "Am I so transparent that even little children can easily read me now?!"

Gideon cleared his throat a little uncomfortably, slightly disturbed by

the perceptiveness of his daughter and petted the bent back of the depressed man pityingly "Well… I wouldn't say that… but you know… Ley always says that we are not responsible for our parents, that we're separate beings. If Brenna and Sharris could easily accept Lydia after what they had gone through because of the Earl, I don't see any reason why the Tamirians would be any less understanding…"

The former thief glanced between his fingers in sudden hope, but then abruptly

grimaced and closed his eyes while leaning back his head tiredly "I don't even know those people, and apparently it's the first time this lady spoke in years! They speak of things I have no recollection of! They're complete strangers to me, how am I supposed to suddenly treat them as my family, huh?"

Maria looked down her nose at the whining man as if he was an idiot which was quite an achievement from sitting on her place down on the carpet. Then she pointed a hand of her doll at Ian imperiously and commented while hiding behind a toy "And why won't you get to know them better, so they won't be strangers anymore?" she expertly mimicked the tone of a certain exotic female…

1

Lena was exhausted, during a few last nights she was barely able to get some rest, mostly because of the annoying as hell shadowy creature plaguing her dreams despite the Leone sword and other lucky charms.

It was as if they weren't able to fend off the creature anymore.

To make things even more complicated not only Sir Wulf returned to his annoying version, pestering her with constant questions about almost everything, but she had also sulking Lucien and Ian on her hands, who strangely had a hard time accepting each other. They even quarrelled about mostly unimportant topics…

Once Lydia overcame her shock and confronted Ian, just why he never told her the truth when this all ended, he reluctantly admitted of being jealous of Ley. At first the daughter of the Earl was angry at him for being kept in the dark,

but later she found his reluctance even cute to his embarrassed grimace. When she saw Lena training with the mixed group in the gardens, she remembered her faithful maid, who too knew how to protect herself and her young lady.

Perhaps because of this memory she decided to join the trainees, to Ley's intensified headache and to Arena's elation, who now wasn't the only one female beside Sharris. As opposed to Lucien's many objections, Ian thought it was quite a good idea and tagged along slightly intrigued. After being thrown to the ground by Sharris, with renewed determination he decided to learn a trick or two and then test them on unsuspecting Trey during their usual sparring time.

Once he learnt about Lucien's silly conditions he couldn't help himself, and burst with laughter right into the face of the Tamirian King, summarising him as a great material for a dotting parent, which wasn't too well received by the monarch himself. The only one who seemed the most peaceful these days was Arena.

The princess still rarely spoke, and her voice most of the time was rather hushed,

but even this little was a miracle to her older brother who from time to time glanced speculatively at the Child of the Prophecy whenever he thought she didn't notice.

Palatial and Jegger kids joined forces and managed to corner Ley one day.

Truth be told she almost hugged little brats thankful to have an excuse to get away from the apparently tireless old knight. In the end, more people from the inner circle slightly intrigued followed them and somehow it became an unofficial 'tournament'.

Lena forbade adults to take part explaining that kids should sort out their issues freely between themselves. She hired Cid as other referee and both of them had a hard time while overseeing entire undertaking. Shine nearly choked on his muffin handed to him by smiling Marry when his own respectable father cheered loudly hand in hand with agitated Aaron, who for the first time had an opportunity to see the final effect of his strange order me had received from the 'lad'.

Without much surprise Ian became as obsessed with this game as Hyun-min, and soon after learning basic rules he even nearly took over Ley's job. Though most present women only looked at excited men with slight amusement, they too tried to cheer equally for all children.

To Lena's utmost relief this time, the match truly ended with a draw, without any complications.

Perhaps for anyone observing from afar they would look like a group of complete lunatics, but the exotic woman suspected they really needed this.

Somehow the happy atmosphere managed to clear up the previous heavy one…

1

Eric glanced at his children and noticed with slight surprise that even Freya joined them on this strange picnic, though she didn't participate too openly.

As it seemed the only one missing from this family gathering was Zara… Truth

be told, after learning that kids managed to pick up a date for a rematch, there was nothing on this earth which would be able to turn his sons' attention elsewhere. That was probably true for the Tamirian and the four companions of his baby girl too. Because of the wall-to-wall loud kids full of enthusiasm, the news about the new game spread quite widely among normal inhabitants of the palace, and only thanks to Bisal, the little rascals still treated uninvited guests as targets of their 'mission', so fortunately not many of them noticed the reparations for today's escapade.

The Aran King didn't expect the Patriarch to join them, and judging by the wide eyes of the man's son and his heavy cough while desperately trying to not to choke on food, apparently Eric wasn't the only one surprised. Right now the children freely passed the ball to each other already too tired to play another match but not wanting the day to end yet. Little Jane curled comfortably on the monarch's lap and was admiring Maria's doll, glancing from time to time at Arena pleadingly, probably hoping for one for herself.

His Lena was lecturing boys to cooperate more, so in the future they wouldn't even need to voice their instructions, making it even harder for their opponents to score. Finally she flopped tiredly on the blanket beside him and accepted a sweet bun from Geralt, a little distracted.

"Your friend…" Eric nodded at Ian "I don't know what to think of him… at first glance from afar I would say he is more similar to you than to the Tamirian, only later, after seeing his features closer and those eyes… Just what on earth is happening?" Deeply the Aran was glad that the newcomer was obviously courting Lady Lydia, otherwise he wasn't so sure he'd be able to chase him away like the other men around his baby girl, not when he resembled his Zara so much.

"At first I too mistook him for someone else… and believe me, Sire, this experience was beyond eerie…" the woman commented without elaborating more, clearly wanting the topic to be dropped.

"They seem to enjoy this game…" the king murmured to her while eyeing the young men who joined the boys, the object of their conversation and this strange Rob included.

The exotic woman nodded slightly "I was wondering what to do with this awful amphitheatre' of Eleanor's. If it depending only on me I'd gladly raze it to the ground, but then… all that money it had to cost, all those bloody sacrifices put on the altar of the Queen's cruelty, not to mention the work of builders – all that would be wasted, leaving a huge empty space within the city… from what I understand people need their games to escape daily routine, perhaps instead of a gory tournament, it could be used for a normal sport like this one?"

she mused aloud.

The King glanced at her in surprise "You were thinking that far?"

The woman shrugged and bit down her goodie while observing the exercising group, she groaned seeing that Sigfrid was showing off once again in front of ladies with his skills. She nearly snorted, the bite working very hard to come out through her nose, when she saw how easily Sean snatched the ball and stuck a tongue at the Aran quickly running the other way to escape his wrath. After all nobody likes when somebody is stealing your splendour…

Eric smirked and petted her back quickly "Be careful…" he chuckled "But why this game?" the king picked up the previous topic Once Lena regained her breathing she observed "I needed a team game to force the brats to cooperate" she glanced at him from under her fringe "Besides look at them" Ley pointed with her chin at the kids "They are working together, they formed true teams and picked their leaders, in the future because of this experience it would be much easier for them to get used to divisions and orders. Through what they eagerly learnt while playing, they could use it later as soldiers. In the army it's important to trust each other, especially the one leading you…"

A slight crease appeared on the man's forehead "You are speaking as if you are already preparing to a war…" he commented worriedly "Is there something I'm not aware of? Some kind of a threat?"

Lena looked at him, her face calm and composed "Isn't peace a mere interval between wars? Violence is in a human nature, I suppose. We can only ensure that a regime filled with it will be as long as possible. There is an old saying in the world of mine: Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. In free translation it is something like: Let him who wishes for peace prepare for war. I think it's quite fitting. If your country is weak, sooner or later your neighbours will be tempted to gain something for themselves from it. If you make sure your country is strong, well-protected and forming united front, they will think twice before attacking."

Eric's frown deepened but then he smiled at her fondly "And you were so worried if you are fit to be a queen… you already think like one, my child."

Hearing this complement Ley blinked in surprise and then fell silent consumed by her own thoughts.

1

The next day Lena sneaked out of the Palace and headed towards the gardens with a heavy bucket of oats. She will be damned if she would let Freya see that and laugh at her. Shine's comment was hard to ignore, and even more so when it was hard to not to notice a steed this big roaming freely through the gardens and probably cadging everyone for some food like some starved puppy.

Either way the exotic woman had to do something with her 'gift'.

She wondered just where she should put the damn bucket and finally decided to head straight towards the apple tree. Once she noticed that the gardener was nowhere to be seen, she discreetly put her load deeper in the bushes out of sight of a random passer-by.

After looking around just to be sure, she casually clasped her hands behind her back and nonchalantly strolled back towards the palatial complex.

1

"My Lady, you have to make a choice… who will it be? Bishop Andrew or Bishop David?"

"Sir Wulf… how many times do I have to tell you that I don't even know them, so how am I even supposed to make a reasonable decision? Based on what? Rock-paper-scissors?"

The Kabul knight scowled at her "I really wouldn't want for you to trivialise it like this… after all, one of them will be putting a crown on your temples, that is if

you'd finally chose one…" he muttered tartly.

Lena shot him an evil eye "And why it should be one of them? Where were they when Eleanor murdered people freely? Where were they back then, I'm asking? Hiding safely within their temples, while turning a blind eye at her horrific deeds… And for YEARS?!" the woman shook her head in disgust "Only now they suddenly regained their voices, ha! What a miracle! You know what? I made my decision! NONE of them. Satisfied?" she batted her eyelashes sweetly at him.

Wulf felt an infamous tic under his right eye "My Lady…" he tried to stay as patient as possible "If none of them, then WHO?" he arched his brow challengingly already seeing she didn't think that this far.

After a brief pause Lena suddenly grinned causing him to frown already a little

panicked.

"Who?" woman stood up and crept to unaware Gideon who was so bored with their constant quarrelling that he allowed himself to be immersed in his reading.

Apparently a grave mistake on his part…

Suddenly she placed her hands on both shoulders of the prophet from behind startling him, and as he blinked in surprise like an awakened owl, completely unaware of what all this discussion was about, she smiled serenely at the Kabul knight "Who would be more fitting than the prophet affiliated with Kabul for years, who actually foretold the advent of the Child Of The Prophecy, hmmm?"

Shocked Gideon looked back and forth between them, his book slipping from his lifeless fingers and falling on his knees as he saw that both of them were not joking but instead had thoughtful expressions written all over their faces…

1

Miriam glanced worriedly at Ley, the woman was obviously exhausted, she

had once again dark circles under her eyes, she seemed paler and strangely

absent-minded as if she couldn't focus on what was in front of her, clearly

distracted by something.

And the most obvious sign that something was wrong with her was the fact that she no longer tried to escape from the bossy Kabul Knight who took full advantage of the lack of strength of the exotic female.

As the former courtesan looked with the corner of her eye she saw, she wasn't the

only one who noticed that something was wrong with Ley, only Wulf seemed completely blinded by this golden opportunity and pushed one case after another.

Finally King Eric snapped "Sir Wulf, I think that's it for today, tomorrow there is a day too, I want to spend some time with my daughter, so if you'd be so nice, please give us some privacy." The sharp glint in his grey eyes spoke volumes that there will be no other choice for the old lord, but to obey.

At first Wulf's jaw sagged a little as he was so abruptly interrupted in a midsentence, but soon he shut it and only now, following worried gaze of the old monarch he noticed that the Child of The Prophecy wasn't probably even listening to him, her unseeing eyes fixed somewhere on the view behind the window.

The Aran slowly approached his baby girl and delicately touched her face, raising

her chin so she'd finally meet his eyes. He asked gently, as if not to startle her

"My baby… why are you so apathetic? What's wrong?"

Shine knitted his brows slightly alarmed and stood next to the royal "Ley,

can you hear me?"

The exotic woman blinked in slow motion and finally nodded "I hear you…"

she sighed tiredly, her eyes already losing its focus, becoming distant and

uninterested, as if clouded with some haze.

Cid frowned down at her "You are somehow lethargic, it's so not like you… You are aware that you docilely nodded at everything the Lord said? Do you even know what he was talking about?"

"He was talking about the most suitable place to hold the coronation, he wondered if it should be a arch-see…" she shrugged slightly, her gaze already returning towards the window as if she couldn't stop herself.

"So you did hear him…" her friend was somehow relieved.

Shine glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the window wondering what was so interesting there that she couldn't muster any interest in the issues concerning her own future. The only thing he saw, was the greenery of the garden, the distant grey stone wall surrounding them and further only the blue band of the Yucca River, slightly glittering in the sunlight.

Nothing interesting enough to cause this strange behaviour, so uncommon for her.

A single crease appeared between the brows of the Aran monarch, but soon it smoothed away as he folded his arms over his chest and arched his brow while announcing imperiously "I want to go sightsee."

This last comment was surprising and so out of place that Lena blinked in surprise and glanced at him, her gaze more similar to her usual one "Pardon?" she mumbled in a stunned voice.

"I said I want to sightsee, I want to see the country my child will be ruling over." He pointed with his finger at Michael "You! I'm told you are the most familiar with Sevia and its surroundings, you will show us some interesting things which are the nearest from here, and you…" he pointed at Lena "You, my daughter, should be curious of your new home even more than me…" he nodded in satisfaction "It's decided then!" he waved his hands as if he was herding them to the door "Up you go! We have a city to see!"

1

Eric was adamant that the party shouldn't be too big, and under no circumstances he wanted to be surrounded by Bisal's aides – perhaps that's why he made sure the head of his security never learnt about this little excursion in the first place.

He invited Lena's friends and Miriam to force her out of her shell a little, and besides, Michael was supposed to be their guide of sorts anyway. Just to be sure, he nodded at the Patriarch's son since he suspected that if the strange apathy of his Lena was artificial in a way, the presence of the Leone might be useful.

He didn't count the two personal bodyguards of his baby, they would have followed her either way and for instance he was glad for that. Naturally, the Tamirian had to tag along, but today Eric was far too worried about his daughter's condition to really care about the younger royal and his intentions. This group was already bigger than he thought it was suitable for an 'incognito' tour, so in order to avoid the other, this time uninvited participants they left Sir Wulf with the task of informing others about their plans for the day in case they become worried by their sudden absence.

Eric was determined to shake his baby girl out of this unnerving state at any

cost, they picked their horses and headed out of the Palace through the smaller

rear gates withthe intention of avoiding guards at the main entrance.

As they were leaving, the Aran King felt as if they were observed, trusting his

honed warrior instincts he glanced discreetly around and finally noticed with

the corner of his eye a dark silhouette of a dirty stallion hiding between the trees.

The monarch blinked in surprise, he didn't expect THAT...

In the end he shrugged his shoulders and decided to focus on more important

things at hand than at the eccentric cross-grained horse.

1

Hyun-min was gunning though the sleeping city on his Yamaha gaining more and more speed, the city lights were the only source of light since tonight the sky was clouded – just like his frustrated mind.

He was at his wits end, during the few last days he constantly tried to force himself to fall asleep and get back to the strange bottom of the river. The place where the child touched him didn't shine anymore, but even now it tingled

with warmth. In order to provoke this dream once again, he even tried sleeping pills, but soon he found out that they provided only a sleep without any dreams at all, so he tossed them aside after the first fiasco.

He decided to ignore the possibility he had gone mad and focused instead on a tiny hope, that perhaps, as crazy as it may seem, there was more to his dreams than he thought at first. AND…. If that's true… if traces of the last encounter somehow affected his body once he woked up…

That opened more possibilities

His father naturally tried to spy on him, and even found out about the pills.

Because of that, a little panicked that his son was trying to return to the state

of coma on his own, he appointed bodyguards to him.

The bodyguards Hyun-min was currently trying to lose.

He turned sharply in a narrow one-way street riding upstream and cursed

under his breath his own stupidity.

He was running out of time!

He should have obtained those bloody medicine other way, without revealing

his true identity. The only excuse he had was that it simply never occurred

to him that his father would go to such lengths with the invigilation.

As he crossed the bridge and noticed he's finally alone, he nearly snorted

derisively at his own foolishness. If only his respectable father knew about

his dreams, he'd probably put on him a more strict surveillance or, and in

the worst case scenario, Hyun-min could end up in the hospital once again, this

time in another 'capacity'…

At this notion the young man barked with humourless laughter and speeded up

even more.

What should he do now?

He made his decision – it's time to check the cards lying in front of him.

With a screech of tyres he abruptly doubled back and headed straight west.

Where a certain old factory at the river bank resided…

1

Lena knew she was worrying her companions but try as she may, she couldn't shake off her current state of mind. It was as if almost everything was constantly distracting her, every tiny thing could make her mind wander even further away.

During those last nights the nagging feeling of someone's presence knocking at her consciousness intensified tenfold, it was as if you wanted to sneeze or yawn and in the most crucial time when you almost did it to your utmost relief, it was snatched away – namely, by your waking up.

It was as if your brain was so itchy, that you had the urge to open up your skull and scratch it.

Clearly something was wrong with her…

She thought that with the Leone's 'charms' she somehow regained control over

her dreams, but last events proved her that previous 'knocking' on her

strained mind became a loud agitated 'banging'…

And somehow, despite the fact she was well aware that it wasn't normal and

probably connected somehow with the strange shadowy creature, at first she

didn't mention anything to anyone, not wanting to worry them when so many important things were happening, and later she simply didn't have any strength left to do so. It was only thanks to Miriam's training that she managed to keep up a mask of calmness and not to grimace constantly, but all that consumed the little of her attention she was left with.

Clearly her plan to not to worry others failed miserably…

Through entire day they wandered after Michael on the outskirts of Sevia, but no matter how many interesting things he told them, strangely she couldn't focus on his words at all. The moment she thought she managed this feat, the banging on her mind abruptly intensified, and she had to focus all her strength on not grimacing or otherwise showing her rapidly growing discomfort.

As they finally were returning towards the city, the Yucca River lying in front of them, the banging sounded more like a drum roll and she had to bit her lower lip to prevent a loud painful groan.

Damn… and they wonder why I can't pay any attention to my surroundings…

They should try doing that with a crazy percussionist drumming an entire frigging

aria on their heads!

1

Hyun-min was sitting on the ground, his back leaning on his motorcycle despite the fact he knew that soon his 'tail' will catch up with him. He was aware that it was his only opportunity to do as he pleased and yet he hesitated…

Well, maybe that just proved he wasn't all that crazy as it appeared? Clearly in those circumstances a normal person would think at least twice before taking on such a gamble.

Finally, he reluctantly took off his helmet, his unruly hair tickling his neck, through all this time it never occurred to him that they grew this long. He tiredly stood up. He had to do this right now, before he changed his mind and chickened out in the last moment.

Slowly he petted his favourite Yamaha affectionately and decisively put the helmet on the black leather saddle. Suddenly he heard a roar of a familiar engine, as he glanced over his shoulder his gaze flickered over an old building of a long abandoned factory. He saw his 'tail'. His lips curled in an amused smile as he saw men in suits jogging in his direction, clearly their attire didn't make it any easier for them.

Then as if he had the time of entire world he strolled towards the high river bank which resembled more some kind of a cliff in this dark night.

He stood there in his riding leather gear and admired the scenery unfolding in front of him. He closed his eyes and allowed a warm wind to envelope his entire frame before his dark squinted eyes snapped open and he made one last step forward, into the dark abyss below him.

As he was falling in the place Lena supposedly died, his last thought was…

To hell with it… you only die once…

1

Lena led her gelding to the river bank seeing it was clearly thirsty, as she petted it on its brown mane she froze.

For one second the constant drumming in her head completely stopped, the

silence unnervingly eerie, and then it boomed in her eardrums with so much

force she doubled over with a painful muffled scream and fell to her knees.

She wasn't aware of her surrounding or agitated shouts of her companions

as they run to her, the only thing she could do was to clutch at her ears in

a futile effort to make this horrendous noise stop.

Lena briefly noticed the hazy, contorted in fear face of Eric when suddenly a sharp pain sent her to the ground and only thanks to the Aran King she didn't end up in the water at her feet. As he cradled her in his arms while kneeling, he shouted something to pale Shine.

And then the exotic woman screamed loudly, though she couldn't even hear that

at the moment and once her lifeless palm touched the surface of the Yucca River

something else happened…

Abruptly the pain lessened and she could see more clearly while panting labouredly, her back snug to the wide chest providing an illusory safety.

But that didn't help her at all.

Before her the surface of the water rippled suddenly as if it was lava, and a huge bubble in the size of a soccer ball appeared, then with a loud plop it separated from the river and floated in the air in front of her face, the myriad of tiny ripples

and bubbles inside dancing constantly as if to some kind of music.

As she was frowning far too exhausted to muster any shocked gasp as the man behind her did, she glanced at it a little annoyed that it was so unclear. As if it heard her inner complaint the 'bubble' twisted and for a moment she thought with her hazy mind that she saw something flickering inside.

She could hear a panicked neigh of her horse as Cid tried to grab it, but the tiny glimpse within the orb was far more important than that, she could feel it with every fibre of her being.

With a herculean effort she forced herself to stay focused and reached her slightly trembling hand toward it despite a loud collective objection. In a sudden flash of light the sphere bulged, and then, when they could see once more, some kind of a huge window floated in the place of it.

The clear window showing a panorama of the city she knew all too well…

"…Korea…" she whispered in a stunned silence.

Suddenly the picture rippled and it was as if watching something on TV in a fast-forward mode, the lights of the city becoming shining ribbons, until once again the scene froze showing a lone dark figure standing on the edge above a dark abyss. As the view zoomed even more she recognized the place.

And then in a brief second as the wind blew, she recognized the familiar silhouette and the face of a man right before he jumped into this darkness near an old forgotten factory.

"Jesus Christ!" Lena pushed away reaching with her hands and tried to stand

up on her unsteady legs "Don't!" she whispered with her hoarse throat, and

before anyone could stop her she lunged in the frame floating before her…

1

Lucien saw it all as if in slow motion, one moment they were allowing their

steeds a little rest and a second later he heard a pained female scream.

When his head swirled in the direction of this familiar voice his blood froze when

he saw a strange phenomenon floating in front of pale Ley, cradled in Eric's

arms, both of them slightly submerged in the water as they fell on their knees where they stood a moment before.

Before he knew what he was doing his legs were already running towards the pair, he was so completely focused on the ashen face of the exotic woman that he didn't pay much attention to that strange orb. The only thing ringing in his panicked mind was a conclusion – I have to take her away from it…!

He nearly collided with Shine but before any of them was able to reach the pair, Ley's eyes flashed with some recognition and she lunged at the watery frame.

In another flash of light he saw that she was slowly going through that 'door' or whatever it was, and with the last spurt of strength he lunged at her from the

side and snagged her around her waist sending the three of them straight into the water, in the last moment he tried to turn slightly and take full burn force of impact but then…

Wait a bloody moment!...'THREE' of them?! Lucien thought while spluttering

water from his mouth, his relief overwhelming as he felt a warm slim figure

sitting neatly on top of him.

As he looked down from under his long wet curls plastered to his face he saw

some dark figure laying on Ley's lap facedown, one hand firmly squeezing

her slim wrist.

"Take that thing away from her!" he yelled to shocked Michael.

The features of the Sevian hardened and without second thought he yanked the creature away from the woman despite her protest and suddenly he had his hands full of some dark-haired man in weird slippery garb who shouted something in a language he didn't understand.

Finally Lena overcame her weakness and tried to free herself from the determined king "Let go of him! He won't hurt me! I know this person!"

The man in black leather froze hearing the language she used and huffed at his

hair to see more clearly since both his hands were twisted behind his back by

some asshole.

Michael frowned hearing Ley's demand and glanced down only to gape openly his jaw sagging as he mumbled in a shocked voice "IAN?!"

Taking advantage of the fact that the hold on his limbs faltered for a second Hyun-min twisted in one of long practiced moves they banged into his head to use in case of kidnapping. Once freed he sprinted toward Lena, who too managed to shake off other man.

They froze hesitantly few steps from each other, a clear elation mixed with disbelief marring their faces. Lena wasn't even aware that the strange bubble already disappeared or that tears were freely rolling down her face. Both of them stood there, to their knees in the river, vaguely aware of the pandemonium surrounding them, neither of them was able to move even a step further in fear it was some kind of illusion.

Finally, they made one step in unison, then another, both of them reaching

for the face of each other with slightly trembling fingers already expecting that

the other party would disappear.

Lena leaned her cheek in the man's palm and traced his features with her both

hands, her voice failing her. Then she whispered his name and suddenly fell into his arms, her back trembling with suppressed sobs. The young man delicately hugged her back as if she was made of glass and murmured soothing words in Korean.

As he raised his face drenched with tears, while stroking her long hair and

inhaling her tantalizing scent, he noticed a group of foreigners who gaped not

at him, but more at clearly emotional Lena. Sooner than he could process

his conclusions, almost every present male glared at him, their faces pale

and promising unforgettable pain and some even strode toward them.

Hyun-min saw in their eyes that they have every intention to separate him

from Lena, his hold on her tightened protectively. Once woman felt the flexing of

his muscles and their hardening, which clearly announced he was preparing

himself for a battle, she delicately pushed at his chest and turned towards

the advancing men.

"Ley! What the hell is that thing?! Is this some doppelganger?!"

"My child, step aside from this creature! We don't know what its Intentions are!"

The exotic female brushed her cheek with her palm and tried to open her mouth

to explain things, but once again it seemed as if her abused throat refused to cooperate with the rest of her body, her mind in particular.

"Who on earth is this man?!"

Hyun-min looked from one angry and frightened face to another, his eyes

narrowed as he saw that some of those men seemed to have more personal

reasons to separate him from Lena. He knew very well that certain look in

their eyes, after all he could see it in his own mirror whenever he thought

about her. They wore some strange medieval garbs and spoke weirdly accented English. The more he listened the less he liked their commanding

tone, clear emotional attachment to Lena and the fact they considered him some

kind of 'creature' and not another human being.

"I asked who is this man to you Ley…." One bastard seemed the most agitated or more like he had an aura of a man who got what he wanted around him, the clear anger in his voice irked Hyun-min to no end. Who the fuck does he think he is to question Lena in this demanding tone as if she already belonged to him?!

Lena cleared her throat slightly embarrassed with her emotional outburst and was already opening her mouth to answer when suddenly Hyun-min sneaked an arm around her waist and tugged backwards until her back fitted snugly to his chest, his other arm circling her from the other side, his palm firmly plastered to her stomach.

"Get the hell away from her!" a strangely pale man with gold long as most of present men hair yelled, his eyes promising a painful death.

"And who do you think you are to order me around?!" The exotic man growled in

English in a menacing tone while leaning over the woman's shoulder.

"Who are YOU?! That I'd like to know, you fake!" growled back the man with slightly curly dark hair as he slowly stood up and advanced threateningly.

"Who are you to this woman to hold her like that with your filthy hands?!

Get away while I'm still asking or I'll separate you with my bare hands!"

"Who am I to her?" Hyun-min's eyes became hard and challenging, then he smiled nastily, lowered his head even more and kissed a side of Lena's bared neck provocatively "I'm her bo–"

And that's when the exotic woman snapped…