A Palace Of Disaster

Chibi Tsuki

A/N: Woah, I was pretty surprised when I checked the reviews the next day, talk about updated! I'm so happy, I finally managed to write the YYH fic I've thought about in my head for quite a while. If anyone likes Kurama… (*drool*) Yes I know you do Diamondflame, then please go ahead and read ^.^ 

Chapter 7

Battle: Lost or Won?

Sally gripped onto her sword tightly, moisture caused her hands to loosen her grip which she adjusted several times. Approaching were the raiders, their contented and greasy smile flickering from smirk to hideous grin. Slowly she glanced at her friend who was settled in her saddle like her but slightly more confident. She was a good pretender but after knowing her for so long, Sally knew that they weren't in a positively stable condition. "Leave Sally," Lucretzia ordered firmly, her bold features still supported a confident smile. "I'll handle this easily. With you in the way it may be more dangerous."

"I'm not leaving!" she yelled in refusal while continuing to face their foes.

"Go!" the courageous princess slapped her friend's horse in the rump, scaring the mare into a galloping retreat. Before the honey blonde girl realised what Noin had done, she had caught the silent signal, she had turned her wrist up and down twice, flashing the short silver chain that was attached to her assorted coloured glove that had finger holes in which the fingers showed. Quatre gulped, unsure of what this girl was doing but there was this feeling that made him trust her and that what she was doing was right. "Hold on Quatre," her soft quiet feminine voice sounded into his eardrum. Following her advise, he held on stiffly onto the stallion's mane, gripping the dry mane that once would've felt slightly silky but now it was just dust left. Obviously this horse had had much better times than to be involved in battles.

Lu tugged onto the reins lightly, pulling it downwards with one hand while whirling the blade him her hand. Front hooves lifted upwards wildly, supplemented with a loud forceful neigh and the stomping of hooves. The large Thoroughbred towered over the now not-so-tall ruffians, his smaller rider held onto him with slight difficulty. But Lucretzia Noin now felt taller and more powerful as Twister leapt at his enemies using his muscular image to scare them before they could defend. He landed on the quickly cleared area, kicking with his back legs while Lu tried to control the front line of offenders. The pair had managed to keep away the raiders so far without as much as a scratch. Soon the gang had reduced to half its men, will the help of Quatre who swung his twisted jacket around like a rope, smashing as many enemies as they could.

Breathing deeply, Sally Po tried to regain her breath whilst hoping that Noin had been able to fend off the raiders until she reappeared. She was to surprise them unexpectedly so that they would take the blow and fall, but not harshly enough to kill them. If she concentrated enough, she could merely hear her friend's war cries and the merchant boy's weapon assault when it scored a hit. She guided the mare around in one circle before charging off again, this time ready pumped and alert.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"They haven't returned yet!" Milliardo yelled as he ran towards his horse and remounted.

Treize paused, "What do you mean they haven't returned yet?" His face was frustrated and angry, not to mention worried at the same time. He whipped his rein around and jerked on the horse's mouth, ordering a fast-paced gallop. Milliardo followed suit, cursing himself inwardly for being stupid and say that the two would be alright.

The three riders dismounted, grinning from ear to ear with pure satisfaction. Sally's sword tip traced the scar marks on the arm of the one who had claimed to be their 'formidable' leader. Now he was no so formidable after all. Standing beside her, the dark-haired girl shook her head with a sigh, ushering her friend to leave. "Come on Sally, let's go. Our parents are waiting for us," she tugged at her friend's sleeve who simply rolled her eyes, then staring into the man's scared, timid eyes which pleaded for release.

"Fearless no more, eh?" Sally grinned contentedly as she showed some of her own power. "Noin, what do we do with bullies who turn out to be cowards?" Waving a hand, Noin dismissed the questions and approached the stallion that was becoming rather impatient, his hoof digging into the track, causing a hole. Finally Sally felt that she had had enough excitement for one day and stepped back away from the raider, his remaining men were too weak to remove themselves from the floor of a frequently used latrine for animals.

Suddenly, they heard the galloping of hooves coming towards them. Instantly, Sally, Noin and Quatre lifted up their weapons, ready to fend off the coming people if they were to be enemies like the raiders.  But Lu's lips formed a smile when she recognised the horses but when her eyes glanced at the riders, she felt rather disappointed. "Oh, it's Duke Kushrenada and Prince Milliardo. Do make way for these two young gentleman," she said sarcastically and beckoned for Quatre to mount the horse before she did.

"Are they really the characters you speak of?" Quatre's face lit with excitement, his heart abruptly pounded madly. He made a quick bow after Noin had confirmed this fact with a nod of her head. "Quick, dear saviour, you'd better bow before these two like I. If not they would deem it impolite and disrespectful to them." By the time he had spoken, Milliardo was already walking towards them on foot, leading his horse towards them. Lu hid a cheeky grin behind her hand and bowed at the approaching gentlemen.

"I didn't think you'd come at all," Lu laughed.

Celurious Noin lifted his eyebrows while he waited for an explanation from the four teenagers, they had been late back home in a mess, missed dinner and brought back a young merchant boy. "Milliardo, Treize, you two can leave. Lucretzia, Sally, I want a word with you two," he stated, and then his eyes fell upon Quatre. "Child, you can leave with them." Quatre bowed politely and left with the older teenagers, his knees weakened by fear and a surge of happiness. They shut the door quietly, leaving the two young ladies in their lecture session. The broad shouldered man seated himself behind the desk, papers stacked neatly on one side. The room was decorated plainly but effectively, a family portrait hung near the doorway next to a old wooden grandfather clock. Only entering this room for the fifth time in her entire life, Lucretzia continued to admire her father's comfortable room until he broke the silence. "Lucretzia, Sally, why are you four so late in returning home? Did I not mention that you had to be back by dinner?" he demanded in his low charming voice.

"Well by the time we returned to the closest village, the sky was already darkening and we thought that you would've had dinner already and so we decided to stay at the inn for dinner," Lucretzia replied, forcing herself to think normally and a step ahead of her father.

Raising his bushy eyebrows, Celurious shifted positions. "What did you have for dinner Lady Sally?"

Sally gulped subtly and spoke, "It was chicken and mushroom with bread, I believe, Your Highness."

"Are you sure Lady Sally? If I recall, the chickens have contracted a disease and it's been killing them."

Sweat slid down her forehead but she took no notice of it and tried to relax. "Your Highness, I'm positive it was chicken, although I must say the disease was several months ago." Celurious gestured for them to leave the room which they did so gladly.

"That was a close call," Lu muttered once they were quite a distance away from the room. "Trust my Father to test us."

Sally breathed out, regaining some courage. "But it's not the first time."

"True." A grumble from their stomachs reminded them that they hadn't eaten since lunch and it was already well past eight. "I wonder where Quatre and the others are. Let's go get some food from the kitchen first."

Sally grabbed onto her shoulder before she headed down the stairs. "Wait, we 'did' have dinner you know. What if your father finds out that we were lying?" Lucretzia paused and sighed. "So I guess we'll just have to wait until midnight." Lu slapped her forehead at Sally's comment and trudged down the stairs anyway, her feet slapping the floor. "Where are we going?" Her friend shrugged, leaving Sally to follow aimlessly behind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Quatre, having slept in one of the guest rooms appeared in the dining room early in the morning, helping the servants arrange the table. At first everyone suspected him to be of great wealth and rather dignified but he turned out to be a charming, polite boy who did he share of work, something which they least expected. The first person notice Quatre helping out was a half-awake Hilde, who kept asking the blonde about his origins. "So where you from and why are you here? When are you going to leave?"

The blonde-haired child happily replied. "I'm from Saudi Arabia, south-east of here, Italy. It's very beautiful there, the skies are usually light blue but there's desert. My father is a sort of lord in Saudi Arabia, one of the King's advisors I suppose. But I don't know how I'm going to contact my family though. You see, I wasn't meant to come here in the first place and now I've been separated from my people." His voice had lowered to a soft whisper.

The girl leapt onto the wooden chair, full of vigour and high spirits, Hilde stated boldly, "No problem Quatre, you're my sister's friend so that makes you my friend. We'll help you until you get home! And you know what?" Quatre glanced up at Hilde through his cleaned bangs. "It's nice having more friends my age around here, it gets rather boring here without someone to play with. The more the merrier!"

"Get down here Hilde Noin!"

The pair looked towards the speaker and instantly Quatre heard a gulp and then the hurried actions of his new friend. The speaker was a beautiful, no astonishing woman in her early thirties, with twirling amber hair and a gracious smile. She approached them, a smile directed at Quatre and an unhappy scowl at Hilde. "Sorry Ma," Hilde muttered and curtseyed respectfully at her mother. Quatre quickly bowed, finally realising that this was definitely someone well respected.

"Master Winner, how did you end up here all the way in Italy?" Hilde's mother asked in her soft friendly voice.

Dumbfounded, the young Arabian looked into the lady's beautiful brown eyes. "How do you know my last name, Your Highness?"

"Let's just say we've met before, many years ago. Does your father know that you're here?"

"Yes, he probably realised that I left with Rashid but I was separated from them when some people raided us, Your Highness."

"Stay with us for a while Master Winner," Adelie, Hilde's mother suggested, "since it'll be a while until your father comes to pick you up."

 Quatre accepted the kind offer without any reluctance and asked the lady whether they could search for Rashid and the other travellers.

Lu's eyes widened when she heard of Quatre's background, "Gee Quatre, you've got a fancy family there. Imagine all those sisters and not a single brother, I would've left the hustle and bustle a lot sooner than you did. One sister's already enough sisters for me."

"Thanks a lot," Hilde growled, poking her sister harshly in the ribs. "What about Andre?" She pointed her finger towards her quiet brother who was enjoying himself by playing fetch with one of the hounds.

"What about Andre? He's not a pest unlike some," Lu grinned while the others watched the pair of sisters squabbling and then at the quietest one of all.

"My older sister does influence me quite a bit and that makes me, me."

Sally chuckled, her plaits jiggling up and down as she laughed. "She does have a point Lu." They continued to stay seated for a while, until they heard the growling and fierce barking of Andre's hound. Walking towards them was a boy with messy brown hair and baggy clothes.

"Princess Lucretzia," the Page muttered, "His Highness wishes to speak with us right now."

"Kievet…" Lu could see the strangeness in his actions, his slow disordered pace and his sorrowful eyes. "I'm sorry we forgot about you yesterday. We were in a rush and I forgot to call you. Please forgive me."

The boy looked up at her, everyone could see that he was trying very hard to suppress his emotions. "It's not that. You'll understand once you talk to your father, he's going to explain everything. Now please, go!" Scarlet with fury, Kievet raced off, back the way he came, tears struggling to stay where they belonged.

Lu called after him, perplexed and uncertain, unlike before. Without another word spoken, she headed towards the palace, the heels of her shoes digging into the ground. What's wrong with Kievet, why's he acting this way? She entered the great building through the kitchen in such a hurry, it startled the cooks and servants as they tried to avoid spilling drinks and pots. Her skirt's long length nearly tripped her over several times when she was running and her light-coloured blouse flapped slightly on the mid-length sleeves. When she saw her father at the room where he served his guests, Lucretzia slowed to a walk and fixed her clothes while regaining her breath. What was to happen? She suddenly noticed the tension in herself but dared not to wonder why she was feeling like this, was it Kievet's impact on her? The way he spoke to her? Several familiar voices rang through her ears and she remembered them as the King of the Sanc Kingdom's, then she heard another voice; Milliardo's voice. She didn't delay another further and ventured into room, curtseying politely at the guests. Beside her father stood her mother, looking as stunning as ever and opposite him were King Naolan and his son, looking strikingly alike.

"Lucretzia dear, you've come at last. We were just discussing about your marriage," Adelie informed, beckoning for her daughter to sit next to her on the grand sofa. Realising what was going to happen she breathed deeply and tried to relax; this was coming all too soon. They seemed to be trying to get rid of her, at the earlier balls, the recent one and any other social functions, their parents were trying to find her a partner. But she refused to let her feelings power over her.

"This charming young prince is going to take your hand in marriage and you two will make an excellent pair," Celurious grinned happily. "So Naolan, when shall the wedding be? When does it suit you?"

The delighted man seated opposite Celurious chuckled too and thought deeply. "In two days time they shall wed."

"Sounds good, two days, young Princess, two days until you become a bride." Lu felt rather unwanted and dejected while the adults decided to leave Milliardo and Lucretzia to spend some time together, alone. Milliardo lifted his eyes and looked at her, his pale icy blue eyes showed signs of sympathy, but he said nothing, afraid of hurting the girl more.

"Why does it have to be like this?" she whispered, tears willing to flow. Barely able to make out what she said, Milliardo stepped closer to her. He understood that she wasn't crying because of the one she was to marry but because she was stripped of the freedom she had so well loved. Bringing out a pale handkerchief, he handed it to her and wiped her wet cheeks with it. She sniffed and rubbed her reddened eyes.

"Are you ok Princess Lucretzia?" he questioned, stroking her back gently. The girl nodded in reply and wiped away the last evidence that she had cried, now she knew part of the reason that had made Kievet so angry, but why? Why was as angry as he was? Was it… jealousy? She didn't dare think it was.

She sighed and fell onto the sofa, her skirt crumpled and creased but she didn't care. White as it was, the ceiling showed no sign of relieving her couped up spirits. "You don't have to stay around if you don't want to Prince Milliardo, I'll be fine." He glanced at her, and shook his head gently.

"I'm not bored, I'll stay with you unless you don't want my company." She suddenly noticed his deep soothing voice and his delicate face with fine light-coloured silky hair covering his eyebrows and ears. A blush crept onto her cheeks as she turned away to hide it.

A/N: So how was this chapter? Although I must admit the battle is rather short, but that doesn't matter. Yowch, I got a blister on my thumb from trying to beat my brother in Pocket Fighter on the PS and then from typing this. I hope you're glad! Review! Review! By the way, I was very surprised and rather happy that everyone reviewed so quickly! Until next chapter/story, Ja ne!