Chapter 3
" Folken, what's wrong with her? I have power, money, and looks! Why hasn't she just swooned???" Folken tried to hide a grin unsuccessfully as Dillandu ranted. It was a rare case indeed that he didn't get what he wanted right away.
" Well, in that case, Dillandu, why do even bother yourself with her? She's just a prisoner. Poor, obviously ran away because she did something...I don't know what you see in her." Folken grinned as Dillandu got a dreamy look on his face.
" Good looks, fiery, strong fighter, weak minded...easily tamed. Who could want anything else in a woman?" Dillandu smirked.
" I noticed you mentioned good looks? Surely you must be mistaken." Folken knew that if he could get Dillandu's mind off of her, she'd be out of danger.
" Sure. You'd be blind if you hadn't noticed her yourself Folken. Those long legs, brown hair, ocean blue eyes, curvy figure, obviously a marriageable age." Dillandu got a dreamy look on his face again. Folken slowly clenched and unclenched his hands under his cloak.
" Yes, well, while you dream about a girl that obviously doesn't like you, I have to go."
" What do you mean? She'll come around soon enough." Dillandu grinned. As Folken walked out he rolled his eyes. He had to get out of there before he personally strangled Dillandu. After a few minutes of wandering around, he found himself at the prison door. Folken sighed and slapped his forehead.
" What's with this place? Why do I keep coming here?" A dry voice inside his mind made a suggestion. Maybe you're just trying to keep a blind girl company. After all, she is the only prisoner here at the moment. Folken sighed, then opened the door. The place was now devoid of all guards, many of which had been thrown against a wall at least once. He grinned.
As he reached her cell, he realized that she was sleeping. Her back was facing the cell door, so he couldn't see her face. As he turned to go, she rolled over. He stopped and took a look at her. A few strands of her brown hair had fallen across her face. He had never really noticed what she was wearing before. A full skirt, with leg room for running and kicking, and a loose blouse for arm movement. Both had a one or two flowers printed on the fabric. Nothing too fancy. Just then she sighed and moved slightly. Well, maybe Dillandu was right about some things...Folken shook his head. Something in the air was making his head go fuzzy. He wasn't able to concentrate. Actually, now that he thought about it, his head went fuzzy whenever he was around her. Probably her perfume, but she never wore any...strange. Folken shrugged and turned to go. Just as he reached the door, a voice called out.
" Who's there?" Damn, he'd woke her up. He sighed, and turned around.
" Sorry if I woke you up. Dillandu was getting on my case so I just wandered around."
" Oh really? What was buggin ya so much?" Folken looked to the side.
" Um, he was talking about you." Folken said it so quietly that she asked him to say it again.
" Nothing. I'm ok now." He turned around and sat down on a chair that was in front of her cell.
" So, for something to talk about, got any tragic love stories or anything juicy or something?" I leaned forward on my cot, eager for talk.
" Uh, not really." I sighed.
" What's your name, anyway? I've been here for like, 4 days and I don't even know your name.
" It's Lord Folken." I sat frozen in shock. Folken...but then, Folken turned into such a popular name after Folken de Fanel, my boyfriend, was born, I was bound to hear it sometime or another.
" Something the matter?" I shook my head.
" No, no. I'm fine. I just knew someone by the name of Folken. For a moment I thought that he was you. Nevermind." I shook my head. I got off of the cot.
" How about you, Miaka? If that IS your real name." I was furious at myself, because I was blushing. He laughed softly.
" Yeah. But, it's sorta embarrassing." I looked down at the floor.
" Do tell. Promise I won't laugh." I sighed, and told him my story. I didn't tell him about the necklace or Folken's name, so it basically came out like this.
" Well, this guy and I were in love, obviously, and he had to go. When he came back he promised that we'd get married, but he never did come back." I was probably so red that I looked like a tomato.
" Ah, well, I could see why it's such a tragic tale." I swear, if I could see him, he'd be rolling his eyes at me.
" Well, it was at the time. I really did love him." I frowned sadly.
" Sorry. I do have a story, very similar to yours. It happens to everyone at some point in their lives." He sounded like he was pitying me. I hate it when people pity me.
" Yeah, well, it doesn't make it feel any better." I snapped at him, suddenly angry. What right did he have to patronize me? I went back to my cot and lay down.
" Whatever. You've scared off the guards in this area, you know."
" I know." I had my back to the wall. I just couldn't let him see me cry again, because that was exactly what I was doing.
" Well, when you've calmed down, call a guard or something. You do need to eat again, you know."
" Fine." I sighed. I seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. I heard steps fading away.
I turned around in cot, and got up. Time to do some dancing to release the tension. I walked around the perimeter of my cell to see how much room I had. Just enough. Humming to myself, I started to do a simple celebration dance. Luckily my skirt had a lot of room for leg kicking. Soon I had moved into harder, more complicated dancing. Turning and swirling, going entirely by feel with my feet, I started breathing hard. Now into the most complicated dance I knew. Concentrating hard, I did the kick that had to go up to my nose. Yes! I pulled it off! Continue the dance. My hair was whipping my face as I spun. The energy it took to do this seemed to feed me, making me go even faster.
On his way out of the prison, Folken heard footsteps, then a song. Curious, he sneaked back to see what Miaka was doing. If she was singing, he didn't want her to hear him. What he saw surprised him. She was starting to dance. Starting slowly at first, then getting more and more complicated until he couldn't even see her. All that there was to see was a blur of color now and then. She was amazing. The concentration on her face, when he could see it, was tremendous. She must have large amounts of energy. He grinned, turned, and went to his room to look at his pearl. He wished that he could see that girl with the necklace again. He yawned. It had been a while since he'd slept. Maybe he'd do that and contemplate the pearl later.