Angel of Light: AHHHHHHHHHH! I JUST SPENT TWO HOURS ON THIS CHAPTER AND MY STUPID COMPUTER DELETED IT!!!!!!!!!!ARGH!!!!!!! *takes deep breath* Okay……I'll try this again……..Thanks to all those who have reviewed, it's nice to have some support. I really appreciate you guys!

Hikari moped around the room. It was dark, dreary and musty, no place that royalty should ever have to stay. (By her standards anyways). She hated being confined to the small chamber, because of some stupid tradition.

The Princess sighed, and sat down on the window, that overlooked the town. She watched the men buzzing from booth to booth, like a bee in a field of flowers. Why weren't the women allowed to roam freely? Why were they thought of lower than men, and nothing more than slaves?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Slowly, she got up and sauntered over. The mood of the place didn't radiate much energy, so she went along with that.

She opened the door, and on the other side was a girl about her age. She had long lavender hair, and carried some buckets full of water and some blankets.

"Yes?" Hikari asked.

"Um, I-I'm here t-to clean up the room, and s-see if you need anything", the girl replied.

The Princess opened the door all the way. "Please, come in."

Cautiously, the girl entered. She placed the buckets down, and began to change the blankets, while Kari watched.

Intrigued, Hikari went over to the girl. "So, what's your name?"

This caught her off guard. "M-my name is Miyako."

"Miyako", she repeated, "That's a nice name. My name is Hikari, but you can call me Kari."

The girl nodded, and continued to work.

"You don't need to worry about cleaning. Please, sit down."

"But won't your master be mad?" Miyako asked.

"Master? Ha! That's a funny one. I bet he wishes he was my master. We're just travelling together. He doesn't own me, or control me. He's a big jerk too."

Miyako was horrified at the Princess' words. "If he ever found out what you said, he could kill you!"

"No, he couldn't. Like I said before, he is not my master. We come from a place where men do not rule women, and women do not rule men." Hikari explained.

"There are such places?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes. In fact, this is the only place where women are treated like this."

More shock spread over the girl's face. "But, we've always been told that women are always treated like this, wherever you go."

"Do not believe everything you hear. Those are lies."

Miyako looked down. "I wish I could go to such a place. I am owned here, so I do not have the right to leave. All women here are owned by men. They do not even consider us human."

"That's horrible……." Hikari said. A thought came to her, "We're leaving today. You could come with us!"

Miyako's face lit up, but then fell again. "My master would not let me go so easily. He paid too much for me to just let me go, or so he says."

"The I will pay for you. Of course, Takeru will be the one really paying, but it's all the same."

"Takeru?" she questioned.

"Oh, he's my…partner."

~*~

"Wha- How do you know?" Takeru asked, nervous.

"Like I said, I'm not a native to these parts. I've been around, and I've seen you before. You're Prince Takeru." the man replied.

Takeru became more uncomfortable.

The man smiled at his uneasiness. "I won't say anything, don't worry."

The Prince relaxed a little. "So, why do they hate royalty so much?"

"Oh, well, these people have their own set of rules. They believe that fighting is wrong, which isn't too bad, but they hate all those who engage in it. They believe that they are right, and that everyone else is wrong. Kind of sounds like a lot of people I know. It kind of makes sense, though. I mean, it's one of those unwritten rules of humanity. If someone is different than you in any way, you are supposed to hate them. I'm not saying I agree with that though."

Takeru nodded, letting his words soak in.

"By the way, my name is Daisuke."

Takeru only nodded again.

"So, what brings you here?" he asked the Prince, changing the subject.

"Our part of the country has been engaged in war, and we need reinforcements. We've been sent to get them."

"That's quite the Princess you've got there." Dai commented, switching subjects again.

"What? No! She's a pain in the butt, a thorn in my side. She's annoying and opinionated. Her only purpose is to get on my nerves."

Daisuke said nothing, only smiled.

"What brings you here?" Takeru asked, eager to get off the subject of the Princess.

"I'm one of many mercenaries. That" he said pointing, "is Ken. The one beside him is Iori."

"Oh", was all the Prince said.

One of the servants came and brought his food, along with the water. While he was eating, the two others that Daisuke had pointed out came over. Ken was around their age, and Iori was slightly younger. Though he wasn't as old as the others, Iori could put up a good fight. This is what had made him well known around those parts.

"This him?" Ken asked Daisuke.

"Yep." he replied.

Takeru didn't like the way things were going, and began to get suspicious.

Dai chuckled. "To tell you the truth, we've known you were coming. We've also been waiting for you. I was just testing you earlier to see how well you can pick up a lie."

"Not very well, obviously", Iori stated.

Takeru ignored this remark.

"You're leaving today, I take it?" Ken asked.

"Yeah. They'll kick us out if we don't."

He nodded.

Daisuke leaned back, "We're coming with you, by the way."

The Prince was a but uneasy about this. "How come?"

"Does it really matter?" Ken asked. "Besides, you should be glad that you have some extra warriors around."

Takeru didn't respond. He stood up, and grabbed some bread. "I'd better get his up to her, or she'll bite my head off."

"We'll be waiting by the front gait with the horses. Make haste." Dai said. The three mercenaries turned, and left.

Takeru headed up the stairs to the room. His mind was filled with many thoughts, as he opened the door. When he did, Miyako jumped up out of fright.

"It's alright", Hikari soothed.

"Who is this?" Takeru demanded.

"Does it matter? And by the way, she's coming with us. I don't care what you have to say about it. Here's the money. You're going to have to buy her from the innkeeper."

"Why are you going to waste the money on this?" he asked.

"LIKE I SAID, I DONO'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT. BESIDES, IT'S NOT EVEN YOUR MONEY." she said, voice raised.

He grabbed the money hastily, and went out the door. He stopped just outside. "Coming?" he said, rather annoyed.

Hikari followed, with Miyako closely in tow. She was still overwhelmed by the whole situation.

It took a bit of persuasion, but Takeru managed to convince the innkeeper to let Miyako go with them. He handed the gold to him, and they left to meet the others at the gate.

When they reached it, the three others noticed they had one more then expected.

"I thought there was only two of you." Dai stated.

"There was, but Kari decided that she wanted to bring a friend along." Takeru replied, still irritated.

Miyako was still nervous. She was unaccustomed to being an equal, more or less, to the men. She had been raised in this community, and all she's ever known was that men were superior to women.

"We'll need an extra horse then", Ken stated flatly.

"Leave that to me." Dai replied.

He walked over to the guard who had brought their horses, and began talking to him. Then guard then went to the stables, and immerged with a brown and white paint mare. Daisuke took it, and led it over to the others.

"We have to get out of here quick. This is the innkeeper's horse, and if we get caught, we're all dead." He explained.

"Then, how did you get it in the first place?" Kari asked him.

He smiled triumphantly, "Oh, my dear, I have my methods of persuasion."

The Princess nodded, and mounted her mare. Miyako had never ridden before, so se would have to be taught. Hikari gave her a few pointers, and they were off. The group went out the front, as to avoid the gaze of anyone who would recognize the horse. Ken and Iori rode in front, Takeru slightly behind them. Miyako was in the middle, and Daisuke and Hikari brought up the rear.

They finished their trek through the gloomy forest, and opened out onto more plains. This time, there were more rocks and trees than before.

The six of them rode until just after dusk, when they decided to make camp. The horses were tied to some trees, and they took shelter under some rocks.

Hikari was glad to have some company other than that of Takeru. She still didn't know why she hated him, but that wasn't significant in her life.

Takeru, on the other hand, was not as happy as she was. He hated to admit it, but he had liked it when it was just the two of them. He also noticed that one of the mercenaries, Daisuke, was spending a lot of time with the Princess. The Prince didn't know why, but it bothered him.

That night, Miyako and Hikari slept by the horses, and the men slept on the other side.

~*~

Once again, a shadow loomed above. It circled around the group, and landed by some rocks. Tallow and Erowin were the first to see this, but did nothing. They merely watched it curiously.

The other horses, however, were alarmed. They first pulled on the reins to get away, but that did nothing. They started to scream in fright. This woke the others. A panic was sent through the group, as they wondered what was going on.