Chapter Two- Arriving on Surlow Isaiah 65:15- "You will leave your name."

They arrived at Surlow and were given a landing bay at the main spaceport in Tersha, the capital city that was infamous for its success in attracting criminals from across the galaxy.

He was a criminal now too, Chayden reminded himself. No doubt he would be disowned from the Royal Family on Fareari and if he ever returned to Fareari would be tried for treason, not to mention blasphemy and heresy if they discovered that he now believed in Hidon's God.

All this for Tielle. But it was worth it.

"Tielle," he tapped her lightly on the shoulder, and she turned to face him. "We need to change our appearance so that no one recognizes us. You especially, your red hair and green eyes are just too distinct."

She sighed mournfully. "I guess I'll have to cut and dye it, won't I?" she said regretfully, then made an effort to smile and said, "How do you think I'll look as a brunette?"

Chayden grinned. "If as a brunette you're anywhere near as beautiful as you are a redhead, we won't be able to go anywhere unnoticed."

She blushed and laughed at him. "You charmer, you. C'mon; let's get off of this cell of a ship. It's been awhile since I've been able to walk freely, and I want to enjoy the privilege."

They left the ship, both wearing hoods to cover their conspicuous features. They blended well in with the general populace, however; over half of the people they saw were also somehow concealing their features.

Both Chayden and Tielle were armed with their lasers, but still Chayden made sure Tielle kept close to him. Her cloak hid her hair and eyes, but not her noticeably curvy and womanly form, nor her feminine lips and features. Many were eyeing her with interest, so Chayden draped an arm around her waist, making all on-lookers and fellow pedestrians think twice about approaching her.

They reached a commercial section of the city and entered a small store. No doubt looking ridiculous, they headed over to the hair dye section of the beauty section of the store and examined the hair coloring kits.

"I don't know anything about any of this," Chayden moaned, waving at the opposing boxes. "You pick them out."

"Oh, you think *I* know anything about this stuff?" Tielle countered. "You think *I've* ever dyed my hair?" She pulled two kits off the shelf and handed them to him. "Here, these two should be good."

" 'Captivating Russet and Deep Bronze'?" He read off the kits. "Who's the captivating russet and who's the deep bronze?"

"I'm the captivating russet, of course," Tielle sniffed pompously. "With my red eyebrows, a true brown would not look right. Hence the auburn."

"Oh, and a true brown would look good with *my* eyebrows?"

Tielle grinned. "Your eyebrows are too light. They can't be seen, so it doesn't matter. But if you want something closer to your natural color." she ran a finger over the kits and pulled one out. "Here. 'Dark Sand.' It's a kind of dirty-blond."

"Fine. Let's just get whatever we're getting and get out of here."

"As you wish." They went to pay, only to realize they didn't have any money.

"We don't have any money!" Tielle exclaimed remorsefully. "What are we going to do now?"

"It's okay, you can go and withdraw some from a Galactic Bank. Your family does have money in a Galactic Bank, don't they?"

"Of course they do," Tielle snapped impatiently. "But withdraws are traceable, you know, and to withdraw from my family's credit account, you have to prove that you are royalty and related to the king. It's a precaution, you see, to prevent someone from stealing our family's money, since Hidon is quite wealthy-"

"Honey, did ah hear you talkin' about Hidon?" an old lady with a strange accent interrupted, causing Chayden to glance sharply at Tielle. Had she also overheard the mention of royalty?

"Um, yes you did," Tielle replied carefully, obviously wondering the same thing.

"Well, honey, ah hate to tell you, but all of Hidon's assets are frozen. You can't withdraw or deposit a credit. It's inaccessible."

"What?" Tielle stared at the old, bent lady. "What do you mean?"

"Ah mean that since Fareari invaded-"

"Fareari invaded Hidon?" Tielle gasped, and Chayden slipped an arm around her waist to prevent her from collapsing.

"Great glory, where have you been? Yeah, Fareari invaded Hidon. Early this morning. And now it's frozen all Hidon's assets. You can't touch any of the money."

Tielle gaped at the woman.

Chayden was furiously considering their situation. Tielle couldn't get them any money; could he? Possibly, but like Tielle said, withdraws were traceable, and he didn't want anyone on Fareari knowing where he was..

They could sell their shuttle and everything in it, but then how would they get off this rock?

But the more Chayden thought about it, the more he liked the idea of selling their ship. If his father instigated a full-fledged search for him, the shuttle was all that he had to go on, and the sooner it was sold, the better. And on Surlow it would not be a problem selling a stolen shuttle without the proper papers.

"Sugar, what's your name?" The frail woman was asking Tielle gently, clearly feeling sympathy for this obvious Hidonian whose planet had just been invaded.

"My name?" Tielle stuttered. "My name is.ah.Ella."

"Ella? Such a plain name for one so beautiful," she muttered, then graciously said, "Ella, I can see that you are Hidonian and in hiding."

"Ella" started to protest, and Chayden felt a rush of annoyance that this woman had figured out so quickly what they were attempting to hide.

"Now, now," the woman quelled any arguments. "Your accent is obviously Hidonian, and that cloak shows me that you don't want to be recognized. Fair enough; heaven knows on Surlow we're all hiding from someone. And you can't access any money?"

Tielle shook her head.

"Come with me, then, you and your friend-" she shot a quick glance at Chayden "-and we'll get you something to eat."

Tielle immediately agreed, showing characteristic refusal to think before acting. But Chayden didn't mind; this woman seemed harmless.

"And what is your name?" Tielle asked the woman.

The old lady considered that. "You can call me Jenai."

**

Jenai led them to a shabby, ill-kept apartment, where she apparently lived alone. That in itself explained the poor condition of the dwelling; Jenai was old and seemed to be suffering from arthritis. Arthritis was highly curable, and most planets gave all citizens over a certain age a shot to prevent it, but Surlow was not the type of planet to do such a thing, and doctors cost money. Tielle didn't think that Jenai had much money.

She suddenly realized that she still had the two hair coloring kits in her hands. "Um, Jenai, we forgot to take these back." She held up the kits.

"Oh, forget it, honey. The storeowner's an old friend; I'll pay him tomorrow."

*Can you afford it?* Tielle thought dubiously.

"We might as well use them, then," Chayden said as he leaned closer to her. "We don't want her recognizing us when we take our hoods off."

Tielle nodded and asked where the washroom was. Jenai told her and then started banging around in the kitchen, attempting to make lunch.

They entered the washroom, and Tielle tried hard to ignore its filth. "Okay, here we go." She ripped the Captivating Russet open and dumped it in her hair, watching in the mirror as the color literally crept down her hair, some settling and expanding, and some continuing farther down until it reached the bottom of her hair. She gave her head a toss and was surprised that none of the color fell out.

"Well?" she raised an eyebrow at Chayden and looked at herself in the mirror. "I don't know. I think my natural color's better."

"I think you look irresistible. Simply captivating," Chayden teased, then lowered his head to give her a quick kiss.

Tielle pushed away. "As enjoyable as kissing you is, we still have to cut my hair and dye yours. Getting distracted and taking too long might make Jenai wonder."

"Oh, I see. You're worried that Jenai will walk in on us kissing, which would ruin your respectability."

"Well, yes I am. Even being seen with you is ruining my respectability. You're not a very respectable kind of guy."

"Nope, I'm not. I'm a regular scoundrel, that's what I am."

"And don't you forget it," Tielle laughed, enjoying their playful banter but ending it by finding a pair of incision-blades. "Here, take these," she handed them to Chayden, who looked at them and said, in a slightly panicked tone, "You want *me* to cut your hair?"

"That's the idea."

"Are you sure?"

"Come on Chayden. Don't be a wimp. Show some backbone."

"Hey, do you want to get a haircut or not?"

"Then do it. Less talk and more action, P'ashara."

He cut her hair far shorter than she could ever remember it being, but that was good, because if she couldn't remember it ever being that short, no one else would, right? But even that reasoning didn't stop her from feeling some sadness as she looked at her now-chin-length hair.

Chayden dyed his hair the sandy-brown color and they returned to the kitchen, where Jenai served them a pale mush that Tielle supposed was one of those quick-fix meals for those who couldn't cook.

Jenai hobbled over to her view-screen and turned it on, adjusting the frequencies until she got the right channel. "There," she said, satisfied, and in the dim light, Tielle strained to see it.

It was a news channel, and the focus was on Hidon's invasion. News updates kept coming in, and the somber anchor was reeling off more news than Tielle could absorb in her dazed state. Finally a mention of her father came, and she pushed her plate aside and intently listened.

"This just in from the palace on Hidon. we've just received news that Hidon's king, King Partini Satine, and his wife, Queen Shari, have been taken prisoner by Fareari troops." the anchor frowned. "And it seems that King Partini is ill and has fainted."