"I'm so sorry.…" Serena stifled out, despite her abrupt loss of voice. Darien seemed to shift behind her, and she thought she heard Luna, who was in between them, start to purr. Everything was hushed for a very long time, Serena was starting to feel unnerving. Out of nowhere Darien stopped the horse, and strained to hear. "What is it?" Serena asked, but he only shushed her, and leapt down, waking the slumbering cat. He walked a little ways to the bushes and was attacked by a tall and well-built man. They were thrown to the ground due to the force of impact, and swayed around, each trying to grasp each other. Serena wailed and jumped down from the horse. She couldn't think of a way to save the soldier, so she started to pull the attacker's hair as hard as she could. "Ach! Darien please get your lass off of me!" He howled and Serena swore she heard subdued giggling coming from both men wrapped up below her. She jumped back as they sat up, laughing until tears streamed down their face.

"I'm sorry, lass, but see, this is my best friend, Sir Andrew" Darien clarified after noting Serena's less than happy expression at the exhibit in front of her. Andrew stood up, soaring over her, and smiled, hugging her. "Aye, lass" When he let go and grinned, Serena took in all she could from him. Dusty blonde hair, and sparking eyes, Serena trembled, this was getting to be a fairy tale of some sort.

Andrew fetched his horse out from the bushes and rode along with them for the rest of the way back to Ebina in Scotland. He insisted on the lady riding with him, and Serena didn't dispute. After a few hours of riding, and Serena slowly drifting off to slumber and being woken up again, Darien let out a gasp of some sort. In front of them was a vast dark castle and many a houses. "Where are we?" Serena asked blearily. "Home…" Darien replied, delight showing through his mask of severity.

He rushed through the open gates, and looked around in consternation. Everything was vacant. The modest houses were only partway habitable and the area looked forsaken. "After six years… I should only have predicted this" Darien murmured, his smile sagging into a frown. As he turned to walk out, few people started budding from under the wreckage, seemingly what Serena read in her history books as the 'peasants' "Lord Darien, is it you?" One middle aged lady came over and took his face in her hand, looking at him skeptically. "Aye, Karena" He spoke softly to her. As his words filled the area, many more came up. Men, women, and children all, crowding around him, welcoming him back, hugging him. Serena noticed that there were only four men, and six women. It's as if this diminutive kingdom had suffered from something, but what?

One lady slapped Andrew on his shoulder as she seen tiny Serena standing next to him. "Gone and hooked ye another maiden, now have ye?" She cackled, but Darien snatched Serena into his arms, astounding her, and everyone else around them. "Nay, this lady is mine."

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Author's Scribbles
Sorry that took so long! I just got out of school and I had exams and other stuff haunting me. * So, part 5 MIGHT be out soon. Imma workin on a new story. ^_^