A Palace of Disaster

Chibi Tsuki

A/N: Like every author, I absolutely LOVE reading reviews, and I'd like to thank all those who've reviewed my stories, sticking by this story from the beginning of chapter one. Also those who've just recently discovered that this fic exists on ff.n, I'd like to say thank you to them too.

As for the spelling of Noin's first name, Lucretzia/Lucrezia/Lucrenzia, I think it's all the same. Although at first when I started following ZxN fics, I was usually annoyed (well it just disturbed me a little) when I read the name differently, but as time passed, I decided that it didn't really matter. I hope those who read this fic and my other GW fics won't mind how I spell it, but I thank the reviewer who pointed this out anyway. I appreciate comments, compliments and less positive remarks (basically flames). They help me think of a way to improve my writing. Erm… I just seemed to have blabbered on a bit… ^.^;; Please, do read on.

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Chapter 12

Deep Feelings of Love?

Once again, thunder cracked, the loud booming noise causing the birds to cry. It was followed by a distinct flash of lightning, the yellow-white streaks breaking apart the blackness of the sky then fading once again. Lu could barely see in the darkness, now all she could do was trust her horse's and falcon's animal instincts which were more useful than her own at the current moment. Although horses were sensitive to such sudden sounds and visuals, the stallion managed to stay calm, having been trained with battle horses in the same fashion. He took steady steps, using his keen senses to survey his surroundings. He snorted once and moved on, his hard diamond hooves stomping on the soft dirt-covered ground. As predicted, the drops of water came streaming down the sky and soon multiplied even faster than the infectious pests; the rats that carried plagues around. "We've been following this trail for twenty minutes at least, but I haven't seen the forked road at all." Lucretzia thought aloud as she glanced around, peering cautiously. Her hair was becoming gradually soaked with water, and she had to constantly wipe the water off her face, brushing off the drops of water that had caught onto her eyelashes. Her coat too was becoming saturated as the rain began to pour harder, but she wasn't worried about herself, but instead her horse. It wouldn't be good if he became ill because of the sweat and rain. Without proper grooming and cleaning there may also be other problems and if anything happened to him, she couldn't possibly forgive herself. 'Be brave', the horse seemed to say when he swung his head to look at her and snorted softly. Her lips curved into a slight smile.

An hour had gone by and now the area didn't seem familiar at all for the place was dense with trees; the trail they were on before had disappeared. The rain had completely gone through her coat and now it felt as if it were only dragging her down. Wisps of hair were glued to her skin. "We should find shelter, it's too dangerous to go on," Lucretzia yelled over the rain, pulling him towards the rockier side of the place. She dismounted and led Twister over the steep side, walking between the trees with great caution. A sharp cry from above revived a little of her spirit; Razer had discovered something ahead. "We're close to shelter boy, only a little further," she whispered to the great horse, taking another step forward. Suddenly she slipped on the wet rock and fell, crashing onto the surface, knocking her head against the ground. Warm, red, sticky substances flowed from her head and spilled onto the grass. She had gone unconscious and what was a horse and falcon to do about that? Cry for help…

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Milliardo hurried jumped off his horse and hurried to the meadow. Princess Lucretzia was nowhere to be found. He was certain that he hadn't passed her since he was on the original track the entire time, and yet there was no sign of her. "Lucretzia! Lucretzia, where are you!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to beat the abrupt thundering of rain, pelting at him harshly. Where can she be? Frustrated, he ran back to his horse, mounted and swung him around, following the trail he came from. There was one possibility; she had taken the wrong trail at the fork, and where it led to, he didn't know. By the time he had reached the barely visible fork in the road, the rain was pouring badly but luckily he had worn his oilskin coat, which protected his body against the rain. His hair wasn't as fortunate though, but he wasn't in the mood to care about such minuscule thing at such a time. He glanced at the ground, noticing fresh hoof prints, only made several minutes ago. The water had already filled up the prints and was washing them away rather quickly, and that meant that he only had little time left until his only clues were turned into soggy mud. Where are you Lu? We've only been together for a few days and I don't want us to be separated! What's this feeling? This jittery feeling in my body that makes me want to stare at her forever? A longing that makes me want to be beside her every minute and second. This time it's more than like; it may actually be love… He smiled warmly at his own thoughts. "Then let love guide me to her!" he roared, urging the stallion into a fast paced canter.

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A long time had gone by and Milliardo was still searching for his love, letting his instincts guide him through the thickening forest. The sky was completely black and only the moonlight led him through the trees. He was getting weary, his ride was exhausted and now that they were at a disadvantage it seemed impossible to find her. But Milliardo Peacecraft was determined. He had given her the ring and sworn to his vows; never to leave her side. Although he was hesitant at first, now he was serious about it and would do anything to find her. When all his efforts seemed to be in vain, hope struck him in the face. "Ahh," he groaned, in slight pain. A creature had literally hit him in the face. There were feathers, beaks, a shrieking cry and claws, causing chaos around his head. "Razer?" he asked but the creature continued to thrash about. Realising what it was demanding, Milliardo held out an arm and clenched his teeth as the falcon's sharp claws grasped onto his arm; piercing into his skin. But sacrificing a bit of blood for the bird's calmness was worth it. Razer had definitely stopped his flapping and instead starting pecking at his coat sleeve in a peculiar fashion. It then launched into the air again as if beckoning him to follow, which he did after dismounting his stallion and guiding him through the narrow trail that wasn't even a proper trail.

The falcon kept waiting for him, sometimes perched on a branch and returning to the air once he'd caught up. This kept on for ten minutes at least until they came to a slippery area where he took great caution when leading the grey stallion and himself. Ahead he noticed the faint outline of a stallion. It was Lu's stallion Twister which meant that Lu had to be nearby. He approached Twister with relief until the horse had threatened to bite him, jerking its head high with its ears lying flat against its skull. The horse didn't seem happy and that was definitely not good. Milliardo was safe ten steps away without being snapped at by the creature which never left its position, holding its ground on that small slope with rocks that were glimmering wet. "Whoa boy, there's no need to be afraid," he murmured softly while trying to close the distance between them. "Calm boy, calm." Again Twister aimed at Milliardo's outstretched hand, barely missing if it weren't for the man's fast reflexes.

Suddenly Razer pecked at the stallion's ear; enough to hurt. The stallion flung his head at the bird but luckily wasn't able to score a hit. Milliardo walked forward again and this time the stallion seemed to have no intention of hurting him. His ears were perked forward again, being sensitive to his surroundings and surprisingly backed away when he came; revealing an unconscious figure lying on the ground while the rain constantly poured. A realisation came to him and he immediately picked up the limp body. It was too dark for him to see but he knew that she was wounded. He could feel the sticky liquid on his fingertips, and the smell gave it away as to what it was. Shelter, I must find shelter and light a fire!

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He had followed bird and horse to a dry cave that was no deeper than three or four metres. Actually it was more like an indent in the rock that may have been from previous beginnings of trying to mine the area for whatever minerals. But the hole was as tall as three metres, tall enough to allow the horses in although both creatures preferred to stay under the shelter of trees instead. Milliardo had released them the pain of having the saddles on the back and they lay dumped at the back of cave as backrests after being wiped dry with the inside of the waterproof saddlebags. Luckily Lucretzia had offered to take the leftover food and wrapped them tightly in a cloth. There were several uneaten apples, three and a half slices of bread, two scones and two halves of a salad sandwich, and after rummaging through his own saddlebags he had realised that someone had packed into his, several carrots and a flask of fresh water; filled to the rim.  

Lucretzia had been soaked through to the last layer of her clothes, constantly shivering. He had peeled off her layers of clothing and let them dry by the fire while she wore his oilskin coat. Her wound was a different matter; it wasn't too deep and the blood had been blocked from flowing a short while after she was injured. But there was always a possibility that it was infected. Her arm too had been grazed but it was a minor compared to the head injury.

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"My head hurts," she moaned as she clumsily tried to sit up.

"Slow down Lu," Milliardo said as he immediately came to support her, and that was when she opened her eyes to survey her surroundings. "You should lie down and rest longer. Your clothes are still drying beside the fire." He gestured towards her clothes.

Lucretzia immediately blushed and stammered in saying her gratitude. She had realised what he had done but chose not to say anything about it, knowing that it would just take them into a more embarrassing situation. If he hadn't wrapped her in her coat she would've been stark naked, but she trusted him to be the gentleman he was. Had she been looking at him, she would've seen the furious red blush that had boarded his manly facial features. Slowly she brought a hand to her head and noticed a cloth wrapped tightly around her head with her bangs covering most of it.

"You fell and hit yourself on the head. I found you unconscious a short while after and brought you to this place. We'll been heading back to the palace once the sun rises so you should catch up on some sleep," he suggested as he returned to waving her damp clothes over the fire. "Unless you're hungry." He directed a comforting smile towards her and picked up the salad sandwich he had deliberately left for her. "There's some bread land scones left if you're still hungry."

"What about you?"

"I had an apple."

"Have a half of this sandwich Milliardo, you must be starving."

The young gentleman shook his head while keeping that smile of his all the time.

"If you don't then I won't eat until you do."

He was speechless. Lucretzia sure knew how to manipulate him and he was definitely grateful that he was on her side. Obediently he gobbled down the half of the sandwich, and once she was satisfied, she too nibbled on her sandwich. There was a long silence for quite a while until Milliardo spoke. "I like you this way Lu. I like you being who you are, not who you pretend to be in order to reach your parents' expectations." Say it now Milliardo, be brave!  "I-"

Her giggles interrupted him and she muttered, "I never would've expected you of all people to say that. You don't seem to be the one to express yourself."

"I don't?" She nodded and leaned over to peck him softly on the cheek and stroked the recent scratch on his forehead with the tips of her fingers before snuggling in for some sleep. "Good night Lu," he whispered, still staring at her back until he tore his eyes away and looked into the fire, his fingers touching the place where she kissed him. This time she had meant to kiss him.  

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A/N: I'm sorry for the late update. I didn't mean to be a whole month late but I've been pretty busy ever since the start of school. We're beginning to get homework everyday so I don't get to go online for more than an hour a day, usually less. I can't promise the next update to be really soon but as I've said, I will continue this fic to the very end! Arigatou mina-san!