Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters therein

~The palace gate~

     Lani made her way to the carriage that was just pulling up in front of the palace. She was a little nervous. She had figured that the princess had been informed that she would have an Egyptian servant but she wasn't totally sure. She stopped right in front of the door to the carriage and watched as a man helped the princess out.
     Princess Serenity was truly beautiful. She had long brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. A blond man escorted her out of the carriage.
     "Thank you, brother Jounouchi," Princess Serenity said to the blond.
     "My pleasure, of course," he replied. He caught sight of Lani then and asked, "Who are you, young maiden?"
     "I am Lani, your highness," she said to Jounouchi, knowing that he would be the prince of Canaan if the princess was his sister. "I am to serve her highness, the princess, as a servant."
     "Really?" Prince Jounouchi asked, doubtfully. "Do you have any proof of this?"
     "Well," Lani didn't know what to say.  
     "You don't have any proof?" Prince Jounouchi asked, unbelievably.

     Ryou Bakura stepped up to the carriage then and said, "This is the servant that Lord Kaiba has sent you.  Mark my word.  I was told to bring her here to you and so here is your servant."
     "And how do I know this is true?" the princess' brother challenged.
     Ryou Bakura showed Prince Jounouchi the two symbols on his arm.  One was a palace, the mark of Queen Anzu, and the other was a mysterious eye, the mark of Lord Kaiba.
     "How do I know that this is the mark of the so-called Lord Kaiba?" Jounouchi questioned.

     For the first time the Princess Serenity spoke up.  "Brother, that is the mark that was on this scroll here," she gave him a scroll that was in her hand and continued, "The scroll from Lord Kaiba."

     "Okay then," Jounouchi said. He turned to Lani. "Come along," he said to her.
     The gate to the palace opened and Lani followed the prince and princess of Canaan into the palace, leaving the cold Ryou Bakura at the gate. They were led around the palace by two guards. The guards first showed them where Jounouchi's room was and then took Lani and Princess Serenity to two bedrooms that were right next to each other. The guards then left them and went back to their duty of guarding the north gate of the palace.
     Lani had no idea of how to be a servant but figured she should ask what the princess wanted. "My princess, is there anything I can get for you?"
     The princess gave Lani a warm smile and said, "No, I just need some rest after the long journey from Canaan."
     "I shall get you some bed sheets then," Lani said. She went to the closet in the princess' room and looked in it. Lani sighed with relief when she saw sheets there. "Princess, what color sheets would you like?"
     "I do not care," the princess answered. "Your name is Lani?" she then asked tentatively.
     "Yes, your highness," Lani said as she got down some lavender sheets from the closet and started putting them on the bed.
     "Oh please, I'll do my own sheets," the princess broke in. She grabbed an edge of the sheets and started doing it herself.
     "Nay, princess!" Lani cried. "You mustn't do that! I shall be in trouble if someone caught the princess doing her own sheets."
     "I do not like the fact that you are doing all this for me," Princess Serenity said but she let go of the sheet. "Things are so different here in Egypt than in Canaan."
     "What is Canaan like?" Lani asked, finishing with the sheets.
     "Canaan is wonderful," the princess said and sighed wistfully. "I miss my father but I am glad that my brother was able to come here with me. I don't think I would've had the courage to do this without my brother. I did not have servants in Canaan though. I did everything for myself. It is strange here where I am treated like some kind of god when I really am not."
     "Nay, you are not a god, highness," Lani agreed. "But you are royalty and this is how royalty is treated in Egypt. You must get used to this if you are to marry the prince."
     "But what if the prince does not want to marry me?" Princess Serenity asked.
     "Of course he'll want to marry you," Lani replied. "You should get some sleep right now though. When you wake up, you'll have much happier thoughts about the prince." Lani fluffed the pillows that were on the bed and headed for her room that was right next door. "If you need me, your highness, just call," she said as she walked out the door and got her own bed ready. Canaan must be a strange land, Lani thought to herself as she dozed off to sleep.


~I hope you like the story so far. I'm sorry it took a while to put this chapter up.  Final exams are coming up and a bunch of projects are due.  So, what do you think of this chapter?  I've been using some of the Japanese names and some English names and I'm sorry for that.  Some of the Japanese names I just don't know.  However, I do know that Serenity's Japanese name is Shizuka; I like the name Serenity better.  Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent (as my geometry teacher would say).  Please review.  I would like at least one review before I continue~