Angel of Light: I'm still not getting the response I was hoping for this story. I'll keep it going, but I'm not sure for how long. I do appreciate those who have been reviewing me though, and I thank you for that. Anyways, here's the next chapter!

As they travelled through the mountains, the only sound that could be heard was the clip-clopping of hooves upon the stone pathway. No birds flew overhead, and no animals scurried across the ground. This land seemed to be dead and deserted, for an unknown reason. It looked as if something had been living here at one point, but whatever it was, it was long gone now.

The horses went on well, considering the circumstances. In reality, no horse could ever go through here. There was something different about the two, something almost magical. This was unknown to the riders.

The path went strait through the mountains, and then bent sharply around the corner. The trail was extremely narrow, one wrong placing of a hoof, and it would be over.

Hikari glanced over the cliff, to find herself thousands of feet in the air. Below, a raging river half a mile wide gushed through the ravine, and plummeted over a waterfall. To the riders above, it only looked like a trickling brook, only a few feet across. Even along the river's edge, there was no sign of life, neither plant nor animal.

"Are you coming or not?" Takeru spat at Hikari who was lagging behind.

"You'd just love to go on without me, wouldn't you?" she said, not answering his question.

Takeru rolled his eyes, and urged the stallion forward. Hikari had no choice but to do the same.

At last, the path steered away from the cliff, and began to slope gently downwards. There was still no evidence of life.

As the day grew old, they came to yet another cliff. This time, it looked out over the land. Below them, there was an endless sea of trees, in in the midst of it, there was a small town, surrounded by stone walls. The pair, or rather, Takeru decided that they should head for it. Hikari, of course, refused.

"What makes you the leader all of a sudden?" she demanded.

"I'm just making a suggestion, and last time I checked, you didn't have any." he replied curtly.

"Well, I think we should avoid it. We don't know anything about them." Though she had a point, Takeru was stubborn and went with his initial decision.

"Still, they could be of some help to us. If you don't want to come, that's fine with me."

The Princess sighed, "Alright, but if anything happens to me, my father will have you hung in the gallows."

"I'm sure he would find it a blessing to get rid of you." The Prince shot back.

Hikari glared daggers at him, and doubled back down to the mountain path.

Prince Takeru followed bitterly.

For the rest of the day and well into the night, they travelled. Once they had made it far enough down the mountain, the pair busted into a gallop. The path was still treacherous, but the horses chose their footing well.

Once they entered the forest, they realized that the village was a lot farther than they had first perceived, however, they were not about to stop in the forest. This one was more eerie than the last, and there was something that was not quite right about it. The trees seemed to be more alive than one would like them to be. It was almost as if they were purposely putting their roots in the pathway, and reaching out to grab any traveller with bony fingers.

Tired, they pressed on. They went on as fast as possible, as the forest, just like any other at night, was no welcoming place. Though she hated him more than anything in this world, Kari stuck close to Takeru. He, for some reason unknown to her, didn't object to this as she thought he might.

Just as the night was dying and dawn was breaking, they caught a glimpse of the stony walls. This lifted their spirits, and they rode towards them.

The pair found, when they reached it, that the walls were heavily guarded, and there was only one way out, which was the iron gate that only opened on command.

"Who goes there?" A guard shouted from above.

"We're uh, travellers!" Prince Takeru shouted back.

"State your business!"

"We only seek rest, then to move on tomorrow." Takeru explained.

The guard talked to another, then asked one more question. "Who are you loyal to?"

Hikari stepped in on this one "Whoever will pay the most!"

The guard had not realized that she was a woman, for she wore a hood. "Who is that? She your woman?"

Kari scowled at that remark, not liking it one bit.

Hesitantly, the Prince nodded his head. The guard looked at the other once more, exchanged a few words, then came back with a reply.

"Dismount your horses, and we will bring them to our stables. We will take care of them there. You can spend the night in the inn, then set off tomorrow as you have said you will. If you cause any trouble, you will be severely punished. Is that understood?"

"Yes, very." Takeru yelled back. Obviously these were very sceptical people, and didn't trust outsiders.

The guard signalled someone below him, and the massive iron gate was opened. Once they were through, it was closed again. Two other guards took the horses, leaving them to wander the town.

The settlement was small, but like the forest, there was something that wasn't quite right about it. To look at it, it looked like any normal town, it had and inn, a market, houses, but you had to go deeper than that. The newcomers just shrugged off this feeling, thinking it was just that they were uneasy in new surroundings.

Takeru was rather fascinated with the sight of it all. He lagged behind the Princess, taking in everything. He loved to walk through the villages of his own kingdom, sometimes in his royal clothes, sometimes not. It amused him to see the different reactions he got from people. The Prince stopped to watch and elderly man haggling with a merchant.

This made the Princess rather annoyed with him. She was tired and irritable, and it didn't help much that she hated him.

"What are you doing Takeru? We're supposed to be finding the inn, not standing around or sight-seeing!" she scolded.

Right when she had finished, what seemed to be the whole area stopped and stared. They all had looks of horror and shock on their faces.

Nervously, Hikari looked around. It was then she noticed the thing that gave her the uneasy feeling, and the answer to why the guard had made such a snide remark about her. There were no women about, only men.

The two were now in the attention of every person, who happened to all be male. One man, the elderly one who had been talking to the merchant, stepped out.

"Does your woman always speak to you like this?" he asked.

Hikari wanted to punch the man out cold. She did not like being spoken about in this manner, but she calmed herself down.

"Uh, she was just joking……she does that sometimes…..funny girl, isn't she…." Takeru said.

The man just looked at him sceptically, and walked over to him.

"Keep her under control', he whispered, "you never know what she'll do to you."

"Th-thanks f-for the tip." He stammered.

The man smiled, and went back to discussing business with the salesman, and everyone else went back to doing what they were doing before.

Takeru quickly ran and caught up to Hikari. He grabbed her hand, for show, and dragged her further down the street. Finally, they found the place marked 'inn'. He pulled her in.

When they entered, yet another man greeted them. This time, however, there were women in the vicinity, though they were not treated very well. They were treated as slaves, and even worse. They were cleaning the floors, and fulfilling any request that any of the men might pose, even if it were against her wishes. Hikari was horrified at the sight.

"So, she good for you?" The man had a strange accent.

Takeru smiled, and placed his arm around her waist. "Yes." He had no clue what the guy meant, but decided it best to play along.

When he did this, Kari felt something strange go through her. It was something she'd never felt before, and it sent chills down her spine. She didn't know what it was, and she didn't like it. It made her uncomfortable. Then, it hit her. She knew what it was, sort of. It kindled the resentment that she had for him, and she hated him even more.

The two finally finished chatting, and they were led to a room on the second floor. Once they were inside, Takeru spoke.

"You're not to leave the room until it is time to leave", he informed her, enjoying this.

"What?!" She exclaimed.

"Hey, not my rules, it's theirs. Anyways, I'm hungry, so I'm going down to the tavern to get some food. If there's any leftover's, maybe I'll bring you some." Without giving her a chance to reply, he left the room. Hikari was seriously considering leaving, and having him killed for not 'keeping his woman under control'.

~*~

In the tavern, Takeru found a seat at an empty table. He ordered a bowl of stew, and some water. He waited patiently.

While he was there, a man came over and sat across from him. Takeru looked up, confused.

"Who're you?" he asked the man.

"My name is of no importance here. I take it you're not from around here."

The Prince was taken aback by this, but answered anyways, "No, just travelling."

"To tell you the truth, I'm not a native to these parts either. I'll admit, I found their unusual customs odd too, but I got used to them. Can't say the same for my sister."

"What?"

"This place is nice, if you're a man. You've no rights here is you're a woman." he stated.

"Why's that?" Asked Takeru.

"Just what they believe. Women are only good for being slaves, and coming to the needs of men, even foreigners. They believe that women are only on this planet to bear children, cook and clean." the man explained.

"Oh."

The an leaned in closer, "And they don't like royals, either."

The Prince looked at the man, shocked. How did he know? Was this a good thing, or a bad thing?