Chapter Fourteen- Hiding Psalm 141:9- "Keep me from the snares they have laid for me."

"*Stop*!"

The word erupted from Tesian's mouth and spilled across the crowd. They all stared at her as she rushed forward, her daughter on her heels, to Chanh's side. "This is wrong," she sternly told the people, turning Chanh over onto his back. "He is not our enemy."

"No?" Entos sneered.

"No," Tesian firmly replied. "God has told me that we are to protect Chanh and the girl that was with him, not harm them."

"And since when has God taken to talking to you?" Entos sneered, and Tesian's husband, Viccaros, stiffened. "Are you insinuating that my wife is a liar?" he coolly asked, and Entos drooped, knowing Viccaros's influence in the colony. "No, not at all," he mumbled and melted into the crowd alongside Shaina.

Chanh stirred and blinked. "Wha- what happened?" he murmured thickly.

"You're okay now," Rashea soothed him, helping him sit up. "Mom," she said, "go get some water. And a rag, 'kay?"

Surprised at her daughter's commanding tone, Tesian nonetheless rose to her feet and went to carry out her daughter's order, stopping only to glare at the crowd and tell them to go away.

They disbanded, and when Tesian returned, were gone.

**

Chayden winced as he eased into a chair, holding the wet cloth to his bleeding head. "Ow," he mumbled, and Rashea was instantly by his side.

"Are you all right? Do you need some painkillers? Here, drink this," she commanded, shoving a glass into his hand.

He swallowed the cold liquid and closed his eyes. *God, what is going on here? What did I do wrong that I deserved such a beating?*

No answer came, and Chayden sighed and set the glass down. "You're probably wondering just who I am," he said to Rashea and Tesian, who had escorted him into his house.

They didn't reply, but Chayden felt obligated to tell them his story anyway. *Kind of dumb, really- I don't know if I can trust them, but I'm going to tell them nonetheless.*

"Well," Chayden began, "my name is Chayden Gian Tamsos P'ashara."

Rashea blurted out, a shocked expression on her face, "You're that Farearian prince!"

Chayden shook his head. "Not anymore. I've been disowned."

Rashea's eyes widened even more, if that was possible. "Why? I mean, really?" she amended after her mother shot her a look.

Chayden couldn't help but smile, even if his head hurt. "Yes, really, and I'll tell you why. But first, let me tell you who Ella is. Her name is Tielle Alaissyiss Nucona Satine."

Rashea dropped the glass she had been holding and it shattered on the floor, but no reprimand came from her mother. Tesian had turned pale and her jaw had fallen surprisingly far.

"I guess you have heard of her," Chayden understated. "Well, then you've probably heard of how she was kidnapped by Farearian forces and brought to a secret location in Hidon's forests. Well, I was there.."

Chayden proceeded to tell them his and Tielle's story right from the beginning. Tesian and Rashea listened, enraptured, never interrupting, always giving their full attention to Chayden. At times their faces were full of fear and anticipation of what was going to happen next; at other times, tears filled their eyes, and Rashea actually started to cry when Arilana died.

He told them everything, including the way he had stood by and watched as Tielle was tortured (although that was particularly hard for him to tell them), and how when Tielle had miraculously recovered he had become a believer, and how they had escaped together.

He told his audience of how he and Tielle had gone to Surlow and everything that had taken place until that morning, when Tielle had left.

"And we lied to you because we knew that we are wanted. Someone is trying to kill Tielle, as the assassins on Fareari showed, and I am now disowned and wanted by the royal family on Fareari for helping Tielle escape," he finished, and it took the women a moment to respond.

"It all makes sense now," Tesian said slowly, more to herself than anyone else. "I understand, God."

Chayden and Rashea looked at her, and she elaborated. "God told me that a family was coming, and they would deliver His people. It makes sense now, with Tielle going to Hidon." Tesian looked at Chayden. "She will succeed, Chayden. God told me so."

Those words relieved Chayden more than he would have ever believed possible.

**

Glancing out at the flat horizon, the man shifted his hover-car into the highest gear and checked his holomap to find Kansoth, where, after only a few hours' work, he had discovered the princess and ex-prince were living.

Grimly smiling to himself, he looked over his shoulder at the fleet of hover-cars. Those royals wouldn't stand a chance.

** Tielle stepped off the ship and onto the jungle planet of Malaar. Generally uninhabited except for primitive peoples living in tribes scattered over the planet and scientists conducting research and making medicines of the planet's exotic plants, it was understandable that Malaar's spaceport was not very impressive.

The landing pads were outside instead of inside as most in the galaxy were, and so Tielle breathed in the hot, humid air of Malaar, taking in the scent of foliage and heat. She had come to learn that each planet had its own unique scent; Fareari's was one of pine or salty ocean, depending on whether on was by the ocean or in its forests; Surlow's air was like artificial cleanliness in the more high-class areas and was more like garbage and cheap beer in the less respectable sections; Diresh smelled like wholesome crops; and Hidon's scent was of clear, fresh, crisp air that Tielle was looking forward to experiencing soon after what seemed like eons away.

Tielle entered the small spaceport and headed for the nearest information portal, checking the departure time of her flight to Faeari. She compared the time to the chronometer hanging on the wall and sighed. She might as well get comfortable- she had a four-hour wait.

** The familiar buzzing of a hover-car steadily grew louder, and Tesian and Rashea looked at each other in confusion. "Who could that be?" Tesian wondered aloud, and Rashea shrugged. "All the colonists are here- none are in Paeona today."

Tesian rose. "I'll go see what's happening. Rashea, keep an eye on our invalid here."

"Sure thing, Mom," Rashea grinned at Chayden as Tesian stepped outside. She, too, stood up and started cleaning up the shattered glass that lay on the floor from the glass she had dropped. "I still can't believe this! *Ella* is a princess? Of *Hidon*, of all places?" She shook her head. "It's so unbelievable. Who would ever think that royalty would ever come to *Diresh*?"

Chayden sighed. "I'm afraid it's not all that glamorous or fun, Rashea. In fact, my presence here is probably endangering you."

"Why didn't you go with El- I mean, Princess Tielle, then, Chan- I mean, Prince Chayden?"

Chayden groaned as he shifted slightly. "Hey, just Chayden. I'm not a prince anymore. And I think you can drop the 'Princess' from Tielle too. You were her friend, and I don't think she'd require you to call her 'Princess'." He sipped his glass of water.



"So why didn't you go with her?" Rashea pressed, and Chayden was saved from answering when Tesian burst back into the house.

"There are many hover-cars out there," she gasped, "probably about fifteen or so. Never seen so many come to Kansoth, and no one else can come up with an explanation why they're here."

Chayden felt his heart sink. He bet he could come up with a reason.

Tesian looked at him. "I think we'd better move you to a safer place."

Rashea and Tesian took him out the back of the house to their home, where they took him into the master bedroom. The two women pushed the bed aside, revealing a floorboard that they lifted off. "It's quite roomy down there," Tesian said, glancing over her shoulder to the window. "And there's food and water, as well as an electric light. It's fully stocked with everything you might need."

Chayden looked down the hole in disbelief. "You just keep something like this handy?" he said as he gingerly jumped down.

"In case any bounty hunters ever come after us," Tesian explained, helping him down. "We'll come and get you when it's safe."

The floorboard was snapped into place over Chayden's head, and he could hear the bed being dragged back into place.

And then footsteps faded away, and he was alone.

** Just like to share something with y'all- God spoke to me! I didn't hear a booming voice from heaven or anything, but through a dream and strange feelings and urges and then half an hour of prayer, God revealed His will to me. It's an amazing feeling and I just wanted to share it with you- God does care about us down here and He does guide us! And to lilyofthevalley: thanks for the review- it's the first one I've gotten in a long time ( and I was getting worried that my most loyal reviewer had deserted me! Glad to see you haven't!

Sorry about how long this took to get posted. I've been really busy lately, and then I was having some technical difficulties, which are always interesting. But it's up now, and I've also started another story, posted in the Originals and under Fantasy. If you liked Halo of Glory and are enjoying this one, you'll probably like it. It's the first in a series I've titled "Dark Storm Clouds" and the first installment is called "The Azure Pool". It's an action/adventure and romance and I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but it's about a last-resort sort of quest against this tyrant king who wants to take this continent over. Seven men set out to try and find what could be the key to defeating him, and along the way meet a mysterious girl who doesn't speak of her past but ultimately determines whether or not they will succeed..

If you've read my profile, you know I love The Lord of the Rings, and the story was born when I saw the movie and was like, "What if there was a girl in the Fellowship?" That sort of describes the plot, but it's not a LOTR knockoff or anything. I'd be way too scared to even attempt to touch LOTR- JRR Tolkien did way too good a job for me to dare to try and change it.

I should also mention that it's not religious. It started out from a religious standpoint, but I wanted to reach a larger audience and so it's not, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still conform to Christian morals. I'm still a Christian, and so I wouldn't even consider doing something that I consider immoral.

Anyway, go check it out and please review this story. I love getting reviews!