everyone- hehe, yes, Aden's real name is Trinian. Don't worry, first thing this chapter Ria asks him about it :D AND you'll see Halia and Kit having some fun with Aden/Trinian. Halia is the sort of girl that is extremely frank and spares noone's feelings, so she feels comfortable enough to tease Aden after a day of their meeting. Kit, meanwhile, has known Aden for a long time: brother-sister relationship, here, since we really are…technically speaking :D The real romance(you guys know it already, it IS going to be Ria+Aden) will only happen in the last chapter- the ninth. Sorry about that!

icepixie- heehee, yeah. kit says things that I would say, Halia says things Molly should say. I don't have trouble with them- originally, I had trouble with Aden. He was SUPPOSED to be this silent, brooding, secretive guy who Ria always got exasperated with because he wouldn't talk a lot. And look how he turned out!! I can't control my characters either- although with Aden, it turned out for the better, don't you think? He definitely has enough personality to survive the three girls.

clarylissa – whole Aden/Trinian thing will be explained :D Ria's NOT going to let him get away with it!

TallemeraRane- yup, he's a loser! It's not very big of a secret, but yes, see above- he's not going to get away with it!

Chapter Seven

          They went to the tree to sit in its shade. Halia and Kit engaged in a discussion about daggers and glaives, and Ria took her chance. She turned to Aden, eyebrows raised in an exact imitation of his pose.

"Trinian?" she asked. "Where'd that come from?"

He looked surprised, then scowled. "That's my name," he said.

"Oh? Like mine is Ria?" she asked sweetly. "Or like mine is Annia and yours Aden? Or is supposed to be?"

"Truce," he said gruffly.

"Agreed," she said, hiding her relief. "Now what's with Trinian?"

"It's my first name. Every eldest boy in my family has that as their first name. I hate it. My middle name's Aden, so when I started traveling, I took Aden as my name."

"Hmm…I rather like Trinian."

He snorted. "You can call my pater that then. And my grandpater. And my great-grandpater, if he was still alive. I'm Aden now."

"Tell Kit that," Ria pointed out. "She doesn't know."

"Doesn't know what?" Kit turned.
"That Trinian's changed his name to Aden," Ria said. "Well, I've always known him as Aden because he never told me about Trinian."

Kit laughed. "Trinian! I mean- Aden! You're mad at her for not telling you she's the Princess when she's running away from a possible murderer, and you don't even tell her your first name??"

"That's fair stupid," Halia snorted.

Aden had the grace to look properly chagrined.

-0-0-0-

          It was a merry dinner that night, with Halia, Kit, Aden, and Ria becoming quick friends, and the grownups- Halia's father back from the market-  chattering about news and events. Eating Areida's good food, Ria felt content. Then she felt guilty, for enjoying excellent food and company while her mother and Mandy lived in fear at the castle. She picked at her food for the rest of dinner, then went upstairs and took a double dose of Tonic, swallowing it without complaint. She eagerly opened her book, seeing if she could find a letter or picture.

          She found a picture of Ella, at some large banquet. Sitting right next to Ober, she looked gorgeous in a black dress with silver-blue edging. She seemed to be smiling artificially, as Ober looked jovial. There was also a letter.

Sweet,

          Hmm, I never knew that the fairy book could send letters! That's quite impressive. Imagine my surprise when I entered my bedchambers this afternoon, to find a letter engraved into my desk. The maid hadn't seen it, obviously, and as soon as I read it, it vanished. You say that the ring is controlling Char? I'll try to figure out how to get it as soon as possible. Now I must go to Ober's banquet. The horrid things, he holds them almost every night. However, I notice that everyone else seems to enjoy them as much as I do.

-Ella

          Ria shut her book. Instead of making her happy, the letter had only made her more depressed. Slipping out of her room, she went downstairs. She could hear everyone cleaning up in the kitchen, and although she felt guilty for not helping, she went outside. Sitting under the tall tree, she looked up at the stars and wallowed in her self-misery. She was a dead princess; exiled, somewhat, and she was on an impossible quest to find an Order that was arrogant and invisible. And if she found it, she would have to convince them to get rid of Ober.

          Her father was under a spell, like her mother when she was younger, and he wasn't even capable of recognizing his own daughter. Her mother was miles away, trying to save her love, and Mandy was too busy to think of her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" a voice came from behind. Ria jumped, and turned to find Kit standing there.

"Oh," she said  petulantly. "Nothing."

"Mmm-hmm," Kit said, flopping down on the grass. "That sounds like a fat lie."

"It is," Ria admitted. "Just feeling sorry for myself."

"Everyone does that," Kit said. "I do it often enough."

"Yeah," Ria said. "Just indulge in feeling like you're the worst off person in the world."

"Nah, you're not," Kit said reassuringly. Then she laughed. "I am!" They laughed.

"Tomorrow I've got to go find that Order," Ria sighed.

"What Order?" Ria hadn't told Kit.

          Ria explained the whole quest. Kit's eyes lit up.

"I think I know what you're talking about!" Kit exclaimed. She thought to herself, then giggled. "Yeah, I passed it on my way here, but I thought it was just a prank. But…I think it's the real thing!"

"Really?" Ria asked, brightening up.

"Yeah," Kit laughed. "You'll see it. It's actually pretty funny."

-0-0-0-

          The next morning, they set out with lunch on their backs, and armed with their own special weapons. Kit had her sword, which she said was stolen from her parents' armory.
"They never used it anyway," she shrugged. "So I thought I would just take it." It was a gorgeous thing, with a sharp steel blade, and an ebony hilt with a small garnet.

          Aden had his three daggers, along with five more that were hidden somewhere along his body. He showed them all to Ria, Kit, and Halia. There were two on his arms, one in his boot, and another in an inside pocket of his shirt.

"You can never be too prepared," he grinned.

          Halia had her glaive. Although she didn't know how to use more common weapons, as she was a girl in Ayortha, she did know how to use the traditional glaive extremely well. A staff with a blade on the top, she wielded it with the ease of years of practice.

          And of course, Ria had her bow and arrows. With a lunch Areida packed, and their horses, they set off following Kit and her horse Quicksilver, a pretty white-gray mare. Halia had her dependable Charley, a dark buckskin horse.

          After about an hour of steady riding, they reached a grove of large sequoia trees. Aden looked up, whistling.

"These things are pretty tall," he joked. "Please don't tell me that the office is at the top of them."

Kit rolled her eyes. "No," she said, and then grinned, having some mysterious joke she kept to herself. "It's more puzzling than that."

          She dismounted, and went into the sparse forest. Looking around for something, she talked.

"I came through here about three days ago. I stopped for lunch, and I found this. I thought it was just some joke for travelers, but when Ria told me about the Fairy Order, I remembered it."

"What?" Halia asked, exasperated.

"Aha!" Kit said. "Here it is!" She pointed to an especially thick trunk, an immense old tree. They clustered around and looked at where she pointed. There was a silver plaque on the tree, and a few words were engraved on it.

THE FAIRY ORDER – ESTABLISHED WHEN THEY DIDN'T RECORD YEARS

WE'RE HAPPY YOU MADE IT. NOW DO YOU KNOW HOW TO GET IN?

WALK INS WELCOME.

"What does that mean?" Halia asked. "Walk-ins? Well, where do we go?"

"I'm stumped," Aden joked. Kit groaned and rolled her eyes.

"That was a really bad pun," Halia said, grinning despite herself.

          Meanwhile, Ria puzzled over it. There was no office; she didn't really expect one. She walked around the trunk, at least eight feet across. The tree was enormous.

          Now what did Mandy say? They liked illusions? But what illusion could there be? Was there an office right next to the tree, that was hidden? That didn't sound right. Something was nagging at her as she walked around the trunk. The tree was huge, it could easily fit ten people in the trunk. She gasped. That was it!!

"What?" Aden asked, noticing the look on her face. Ria whooped, and hugged him. He looked surprised, as did Kit and Halia.

"Walk-ins welcome!" she exclaimed. "Do you get it? You just…walk in!"

          They all still looked confused. Ria grinned.
 "I'll show you," she said, and walked straight at the tree. When she was an inch before the trunk she cringed, half-expecting to slam into the bark, doubting her hypothesis. She shut her eyes. However, the impact she waited for never happened. She opened her eyes to find herself in a white room, rounded, with a sign. She was inside!

          Outside, Aden stared at the trunk in disbelief, then without a word, plunged after Ria.[a/n: aww!] Halia and Kit looked at each other.

"I hate it when she does that," Halia said, at the same time Kit remarked "I hate it when he does that." They laughed, then walked towards the tree together.

-0-0-0-

The sign read, Please wait for elevator. Brace for impact.

"What's an elevator?" Halia asked.

"To elevate you?" Ria guessed.

"Oh, great," Kit groaned. "They're going to just whoosh us up into the tree."

"Probably without warning too," Aden said.
"I hope not, I get really quea-" Ria was cut off, as their floor started moving up at a rapid pace. All of them clutched at the wall and at each other as the room rocketed upward, Ria felt like throwing up, and swallowed convulsively.

          As  abruptly as it started, the ride stopped. They flew upward about a foot as it stopped, then came crashing down. They lay in a pile on the floor, disentangling their limbs and cursing.
"I do not like fairies right now," Kit muttered, rubbing her arm.

"Me neither," Halia declared sourly.

          A door none of them had seen in the wall slowly opened. Scrambling to their feet, all of them groped for their weapons. Halia uncapped the steel point of her glaive, and Kit unsheathed her sword with surprising quickness.

          It was all for naught, or so it appeared. The door opened all the way to reveal an old stooped lady, bending on a crane. With wizened wrinkles creasing her face, she looked like an ancient grandmother. She looked at them without a word, then nodded slowly.

"Which one of you figured out the riddle?" she asked in a crackly voice. Ria raised her hand tentatively. She raised her eyebrows. "Good job. Follow me."

          She turned and started walking forward at a surprising quickness. Looking around, Ria realized that they were on a wooden platform high in the tree. Looking down, she inched closer to the trunk for comfort. They were so high up that their horses, standing complacently below, were mere specks. The started climbing a flight of stairs that wound around the tree, panting to follow the amazingly agile woman.

          They finished the climb to appear on yet another platform. However, this one was like a huge box, with a floor and walls, yet no ceiling. The sun poured in today, but Ria wondered what they did when it rained. A huge teak table stood at the end. Seven fairies much like their guide sat there, a sheaf of papers in front of each of them. Ria quickly counted three ladies, and four men. All of them wore glasses and looked like Mandy- old and grizzled.

"Lucinda's demanding that the rules of small magic be rewritten," one of the men grumbled. "She believes that making herself look young is small magic, not big."

"Vain little git," an old woman cackled. "Don't reply."

          They noticed the four people at the end of the room. One of them took of his glasses, polished them, then put them on again and peered curiously at them.

"Why, we have visitors!" he said. "This hasn't happened for a century!"

"No comments," Kit said warningly to Aden, who looked like he had a good joke to tell. He looked annoyed, but complied.

"Sit down," cackled one. "Marmi, refreshments."

          Their guide nodded and went back down the stairs. Ria bravely approached the table, the other three following them. Chairs appeared where there had been nothing earlier. Ria swallowed, and sat down.

"So, my dearies, it's not often we get guests," the speaker was the woman on the far left. "Why are you four young'uns here?"

"We came here to discuss a fairy," Ria said. "My name's Ria, and these people here are Aden, Kit, and Halia."

"Two Ayorthaians," said a man, staring at them piercingly. "One Kyrrian, of the Noble blood, and one Gypsy."

Ria nodded. "I'm Princess Ria."

"Daria?" asked a small woman on the right.

"No, no," said another that looked slightly less ancient than the others. "That was last generation. We must keep up with the times- this is Princess Celia! Sister of Char, I presume."

Aden choked back a laugh, and Ria, Kit, and Halia all glared at him. He muttered something like "Girls", then subsided.
"No," Ria said patiently. "I'm Char's daughter, Rianna."

"How can Char have a daughter? He's only a baby himself!" exclaimed one of them.

"No, he's the King of Kyrria now, and I'm his daughter. He married Ella, who has some Fairy blood in her. Do you know the line of Eleanor?"

"He married an Eleanor?" whistled a man. "The Prince's wiser than I knew. Then why aren't you an Eleanor, child?"

"My mother, Eleanor- Ella for short- got sick of all the Eleanors, so she made that my middle name. I'm Rianna Eleanor," Ria replied.

"Oh, getting modern," said a man who looked half-asleep.

"Anyway, I'm here to talk about a man you may know," Ria said, patience wearing thin. "I was sent by Mandy, the fairy cook."

"Ahh, Mandy. Good lass," remarked a lady. "I loved her carrot soup." This time Ria stifled a grin. Mandy, called a lass? The two didn't go together.

"Mmm, I always loved her cooking," said another. All the fairies nodded.

"What I wouldn't do for her quail eggs right now," said the half-asleep man, wistfully.

"Well, she's the cook in the palace now," Ria continued.

"Ah, that Char-boy has good sense then."

          Halia glared at Ria, who could sense her frustration. Would they keep interjecting comments?

"Anyway, as I was saying, he appointed a man to be his advisor, who was a fairy. He corrupted Char, and now he's taken over Kyrria. His name's Ober- I hope you know him. He's doing ill to Kyrria, as well as keeping Char under a spell. Mandy was hoping you could deal with him."

"Ober?" asked a confused lady. "That evil fairy?"

"Yes, him," Ria said, clenching her hands. "He's in Kyrria now."

"Kyrria? Eh?" said the half-asleep man, perking up a little. "I thought we imprisoned him in Ayortha."

"The time limit probably let up," the other, more awake, man said. "So we must do something."

"That Ober," murmured one. "I always warned you about him. Sly and sneaky, he was."

"Could you please imprison him?" Ria asked.

"Ah, but this is a important matter," said one. "After discussion, we will act."
"And how long is discussion going to take?" asked a fed-up Halia.

"It depends. Perhaps a week."

"We can't wait that long!" Ria burst out. Aden looked thoughtful.
"Ria," he whispered. "Bribe them."

"What?" she whispered back.

          The fairies were talking about imprisonment techniques, ignoring the four of them. Halia and Kit leaned in to join the conversation.

"Bribe them," he repeated.

"We can't do that! It's immoral, and- "

"He's right," Halia chimed in. "It's not immoral, it's getting them to move faster. What can you give them that they want?"

"But-" Ria protested. Bribing went against all of the morals she had learned.

"I have to agree with Halia and Aden," Kit said. "My father always was quick to take bribes." She rolled her eyes. "It's against the law, but still, we need time more than caring about the law."

"Plus," Aden put in, "It's not like anyone will know. Or," he grinned "your pater can punish you. You are the Princess, after all."

Ria sighed. "What should we bribe them with?"

"What do they like? Fairies, I mean," Halia asked.

"I don't know," Ria said. "Mandy never really told me."

"A cream for wrinkles?" Aden suggested, grinning. "My pater can take care of that."

"Quail eggs!" Kit cried. They all stared blankly at her. She grinned, enjoying the spotlight "Remember? They all said they loved Mandy's cooking!"
"Yes! Just tell them that Mandy's cooking a feast for tomorrow, and if they can vanquish Ober tonight, then the food will be hot for them!" Halia said, catching on.

          Ria sighed, and turned to speak with the fairies. Within five minutes, all seven of them were standing up hurriedly and trying to find their canes. Ria bit back a laugh. "We're going to Frell!" she told the other three.

"Mere won't be too happy. She told me that I had to be back to do dishes," sighed Halia. Then she brightened up. "But Aunt Ella can probably cover for me!"

-Alqualyne