[A.N.] Hello! I'm so sorry for my long absence. I have just gotten a new job and returned from a long trip literally on the other side of the country to witness a friend's wedding! Anyway, I promise I will be posting more often! Without further ado, here is the next chapter!
~Serene
The morning dew was still thick on the foliage and the sun had just begun to rise over the horizon. The castle was beginning to wake up as fires were stoked, linens were cleaned and shaken and the servants bustled about in their daily shores. The stable hands saw him take the horse from its paddock but dared not say anything to try and stop him. It was the perfect time to sneak away and he was going to do exactly that.
Heero saddled his horse and loaded his quiver. He was going back to that strange forest. That white stag was just too good a prize to pass up. An animal that size would be more than enough of a meal for the local villages; but more than that, there was something almost mystic about it. No beast he'd ever seen had been that big or that smart showing almost a human intelligence. That whole forest was teeming with mystery and it was highly possible the whole place was enchanted. He was never one to let curiosity control him but there were too many unknowns and unanswered questions for him to leave it alone. On top of all that, there was that woman. There was something about that her; something familiar. He looped his bow into its saddle holster and tied his sword-belt around his waist. He had to know.
"Where do you think you're going, buddy?" Duo said, standing in front of the stable entrance.
"I'm going out hunting again."
"Oh no you're not, pally-boy! I had a hell of a time covering for you last time and I ain't doing it again, got it?" The braided man grabbed the other side of the horse's reigns.
"Then don't."
"Sheesh, some gratitude I get." The braided man walked closer and Heero did his best to ignore him. "Look bud, you've barely been back a week! You can't go out on another sudden mystery trip. J will kill me!"
"Then come with me. You're my body guard. He can't punish you for doing your job."
"Geeze, what happened out there? I know you hate it when your intended kill gets away, but it seems like there's more to it." Duo said, beginning to undo the saddle buckle.
"Mind your own business or come along with me and find out for yourself. I don't have time to try and justify myself to you." Heero took the buckle from his friend and began to lace up the belt again.
"Not so fast, you're highness." The voice of his mentor stopped him. The old man approached, the sound of his wooden leg and crutch rhythmically hitting as he did so. "You are not venturing off again any time soon."
"With all due respect, Prime Minister, I will do as I please."
"Oh really? Well, in all due respect, my boy, I highly doubt you know what you truly want to do."
"Your concern is noted."
"You are not in the right state of mind to be off on your own."
"You know nothing of my mind."
"You did not hear a noisy old man such as myself approach. Your mind is clouded by an unspoken issue. I thought I taught you better than that."
Heero paused. J had a point. J had been the father he had needed after his parents were stolen from him by death's icy hands. All that he had become, in most ways, he owed solely to this man. That being said, his mentor truly only had his best interests at heart. If he were to run off as he currently was, he might as well paste a target on his forehead for the man assassins that waited to claim the prize. Reluctantly, Heero removed his saddlebag and weapon and lead his horse back into its paddock.
"Please understand, Heero. Your parents entrusted me with your well-being and you have become the son I never had. I have worked long and hard to ensure not only that you can protect yourself, but that you can also protect your kingdom. You will one day soon be a great king but only if you live to see your coronation." Heero almost winced. There was no malice in this reprimand, but it did make him feel like a child again. J sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Come inside, eat, and we will discuss the coming annual ball." Heero felt himself stifle a groan. The annual ball was held as a way for the kingdoms to gather and celebrate their mutual peace agreements. This year it was to be held at his kingdom in honor of his coming of age for the coronation. Since the two events were scheduled so closely it was easier for the guests to arrive for the two at the same time.
As he followed the old man in, his braided friend fell in behind him.
"Sheesh buddy, the way you were acting I'd say someone bewitched you or something." Heero paused. Bewitched? Perhaps he had been. The girl had been rather strange, if she had existed at all. Still, his desire to confirm that last bit burned in his mind as hotly as it did in his chest.
The moonlit mist hung just above the clearing in a magically induced suspension. The ivory glow did little to raise the spirits of the various maidens; one in particular. Relena ran her fingers absentmindedly across the surface of the lake. Try as she might, she could not keep her heart from stirring with a glimmer of hope.
Heero had found her. He was alive. This revelation, however, proved more of a problem than a solution. Part of her wished to run to him; to try and get him to remember the friendship they once had and ask for his aid in defeating Dermail. However, logic told her that the folly of such a thought process would most likely result in abysmal failure and- most probably- Heero's death. She didn't care what Dermail did to her; if he wanted her dead she'd gladly prefer that to the alternative. However, she refused to let her enchanted incarceration result in anyone's demise but her own.
"Well, Miss Relena, you have been many things, but a daydreamer was hardly one of them." The voice from behind her was as soft as velvet-covered steel and just as misleading.
"What do you want, Dorothy?"
"Such a tone, Relena. Are we not friends?"
"You know full well the answer to that." Relena stood and brushed the grass off of her dress.
"Oh, come now. After all this time and all the care I have given you and your feathered flock, you act so scornful?"
"Get to the point of your visit, Dorothy. I am in no mood for your games." The older woman's face fell into a mock pout.
"Miss Relena, you wound me." She laughed and fluffed her long pale hair out with her hand. Relena offered only a glare in response. "Very well," She began again. "My grandfather has decided I shall become his own personal watch dog over his precious pets. You'll be seeing far much more of me from now on."
"Oh joy." Relena heard Hilde say.
"Oh, come now! This will give us time to do some actual bonding! We can do each other's hair and gossip about boys!" She paused. "Well. I can gossip about boys. You'll just have to listen of course." Relena rolled her eyes and tried again to walk away.
"Leave her alone, Dorothy. Honestly, don't you have anything else you can be doing besides harassing her?" Catherine snapped at their unwanted visitor.
"What's a bit of pestering between friends?"
"Since when are you her friend?" Sally quipped.
"Oh, now that's just mean. Honestly, I don't know why you resent me so." Dorothy fake-pouted.
"Gee, let me think, could it be because you helped your twisted grandfather lure us here and sat back and watched while he ruined our lives? Or maybe it's the fact that you attempt to heard us like sheep while your dear old grandfather is away?"
"I rather thought I was helping you by keeping watch over you. After all, who else would be able to keep you safe from the outside world?"
Hilde lurched forward as if to strangle the older woman, but Relena placed a calming hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop.
"What is it you really want, Dorothy?"
"Well, so much for idle chit-chat." She waved her hand and a comfortable chair appeared behind her. She smoothed out her skirt and sat down, crossed her ankles and smiled. "The warning charms on the forest were broken by an intruder last night the other day and for some reason the victim neither died as they should have, nor revealed themselves to me when I tried to invoke the image." She paused, eyes cold as steel and just as grey locked with Relena's. "What I want to know is: who was he and why can I not find out by my own devices?" Relena held her gaze and stood her ground. She refused to be intimidated.
"He was a hunter who lost his way. He did not die because he merely grazed the charmed barrier. He left soon after, none the wiser." She answered with all the power and authority of a true queen.
"That still doesn't answer my other question. Why can I not see him?" The staring contest continued.
"Perhaps your magic isn't as strong as you would wish it to be." A storm evolved inside the grey depths of the older girl's eyes. She made a small move as if to retaliate to the underhanded insult, but paused and just as quickly, composed herself.
"You are fortunate my grandfather sees such value in you, Miss Relena. It is the reason I still relentlessly hope that you and I can one day become good friends." With those words, she disappeared in a cloud of swirling smoke.
"Wow, Lena! You really ruffled her feathers!" Hilde laughed.
"Indeed, well done!" Catherine cheered.
"I'm glad for your support but this is serious. Dorothy won't stop until she finds out what exactly happened out here. I know we have neither seen the last of her nor heard the last of this." Her comment was received with silence. Dorothy was not one to be trifled with. Her power rivaled that of her grandfather and if angered she could make their lives even more miserable. And, should she choose to tell Dermail about their visitor, things could become truly troublesome.
"Yeah, you're right." Sally agreed.
"Why do you suppose she couldn't see who it was?" Relena paused. She truly had no idea. Only a powerful magic could have protected Heero from the sight spell. It was possible that his court sorcerer had figured out how to protect him from such things but the likelihood was lim. Whatever the case, Dorothy would be back.
"I don't know, Cathy, but we must make sure she never finds out an answer to either of her questions. For his sake as much as ours."
