Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own cardcaptor sakura.

Chapter 3

Syaoran and Eriol slinked their way back into the ballroom after the banquet. This turned out to be a fairly difficult task, for the courtesans targeted the would-be-king as fresh meat. In a matter of minutes, Syaoran's fowl mood returned and Eriol was grinning from ear to ear. His amber eyes surveyed the room with distaste as the swarm of young ladies finally cornered them. He glared at them and ignored every single thing they said or did.

Eriol found this highly amusing, but refrained from comment. He was going to bide his time till he set the first part of his plan into action. The courtesans were actually helping as they annoyed Syaoran to such an extreme that it set the mood he wanted. As soon as he found the girl, Eriol would "rescue" his friend from the simpering young ladies. He found, however, that finding the girl was a harder task than he anticipated because the courtesans were crowding them too much and flirting with him, constantly. He was starting to get as annoyed as the prince after the tenth girl asked to dance.

Syaoran wasn't fairing any better and was beginning to lose his temper. How dumb could they get if they didn't take the hint by now that he wasn't interested? He grumbled slightly and scanned the room for an exit. "If you can't deal with them, running away is the next best-." He stopped on that thought when he caught sight of the sorceress. She was standing next to the princess, whom was surrounded by other women and their suitors. He shook his head to clear it. How is it that he could spot her anywhere in this ballroom? He could barely sense her magical aura, which meant he wasn't drawn to her because of her magic. Then why was he continuously searching her out?

Eriol glanced at his friend and found that his eyes were focused upon something beyond their current entourage. He shifted his glasses more firmly upon his nose before following Syaoran's gaze. He smiled when his blue eyes finally rested upon the auburn hair sorceress. "Excellent," he murmured. "Excuse me, ladies, but I see someone I know," he said aloud. He started making his way out of the crowd of girls.

Syaoran's gaze shifted to his friend that was now leaving him alone. "Where are you going, Eriol?"

Eriol turned back and smiled. "I'm going to say hello to a pretty brunette with emerald eyes." He winked and moved out of the crowd.

Syaoran sighed. "Of course Eriol was going to say hello to a girl. A brunette with em-" his thoughts ceased. "What?!" He practically shouted at his friend's back. The girls around him were slightly taken back, and even more so when he pushed his way through them following his friend.

~~ ~~

"Sakura-chan! You are so kawaii!" exclaimed a girl with short auburn hair, her matching eyes glittering with excitement. She wore a lavender dress, with her shoulders bare and a very low-neck line. Amethyst jewels adorned her throat, ears, and tiara. A man stood behind her, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist, wearing a dark blue suit.

"Thank you, Rika-chan!" replied Sakura, her cheeks tinted pink at the compliment.

"We came to wish you Happy Birthday, Princess Tomoyo," said the man, his kind brown eyes surveying the princess and her friend. "I'm glad that you were able to bring the Kinomoto-san out of her tower. Too much studying is not always good." The girls all sweat dropped at that comment, for the man was once their teacher.

"Thank you, Tereda-sensei," said Tomoyo, making a small curtsy. "Thank you, Rika-chan."

Rika smiled warmly. She was the first of their number to wed, and it had been quite a scandal to see their scholarly tutor of history and language to be the husband of the princess. Rika's parents had arranged the marriage two years ago when Rika turned fourteen. It had been quite a shock to see the high ranking princess wed the lesser noble, but the King and Queen thought that a scholarly husband would be a more fitting future king than an upper noble. Three months ago they officially exchanged vows at Lord Tereda's home. Both couldn't be more pleased with the arrangement, and their courtship for the last two years had been fairytale worthy. King Tiro and Queen Salvia had never been happier and neither had their daughter and her husband. Even now you could still see the sweet looks and warmth in their eyes towards each other, the warmth that would never leave until they both left this world.

"Happy Birthday, Tomoyo-chan," came another female voice.

Tomoyo turned to look at a girl with long brown hair, tied up in two twin braids and golden brown eyes. She wore a sea foam dress that opened up at the skirt to show off a dark green surcoat. Her sleeves were an almost ridiculous long length that opened up at her elbow to fan around her arms. A man's gloved hand held onto her green lace covered one. Tomoyo's personal knight, Takashi Yamazaki, was the one holding onto the girl's hand. He was dressed in the uniform of the Royal Guard, with a small insignia to show that he was the Princess's main guardian.

"Thank you, Chiharu-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"Hi, Sakura-chan," continued Chiharu. "You look pretty. Did Tomoyo-chan make it?"

Sakura nodded.

"Did you know that in the age of Koran, three thousand years ago, women weren't allowed to make their dresses?" Takashi stated. "In fact, it was the men that had to make them."

"Hoe?" Sakura said, believing.

Tomoyo smiled, while Chiharu pulled on Takashi's arm and started dragging him away to the dance floor.

"The dresses were so horrible that it was said that the women revolted-"

"Hai, hai," stated Chiharu.

"Did they really?" asked Sakura.

The group all sighed and shook their heads. Sakura was incredibly gullible sometimes. One would think that after so many years of listening to Yamazaki, she would stop believing in those lies.

"I'm sure you have heard this a lot, but Happy Birthday, Tomoyo-chan," said a pretty brunette with large glasses framing her chocolate brown eyes. She wore the most conservative dress of the group, a creamy off-white cashmere with a high collar and long downy sleeves.

"Thank you, Naoko-chan." More words would have been exchanged, but a young knight had asked to dance with Naoko. She smiled and drifted off with the young man. Rika and Tereda took their leave as well, leaving the young princess and sorceress alone again. "You and your father did so well, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo stated, breaking the silence that had formed. "It really is like a fantasy world."

Sakura blushed, more flowers decorating her hair. "Thank you, Tomoyo-chan."

"I can't wait to see what you have planned for tomorrow's festivities! You must come, Sakura-chan! I even have a dress all ready for you."

Sakura sweated and was about to comment that she was busy tomorrow, when another voice interrupted.

"Good evening, Princess," came a surprisingly deep male voice.

"Hoe?!" Sakura jumped in surprise, for the voice had come from behind her. She latched onto Tomoyo's arm in fear, before taking a look at the man who had given her the scare.

Tomoyo was unfazed by the new comer's approached and smiled warmly, her lavender eyes surveying the man with great interest. His blue hair was unusual, but his eyes, hiding behind glass, captured her, leaving her, for once, tongue-tied. His black suit and golden adornments symbolized him as a high-ranking knight. He was not one of her own because she never forgot a face. Her hand practically itched for she wanted to draw the man. It was a challenge she was willing to take, even if she only was able to stare at his mysterious laced eyes.

"My friend and I," he motioned behind him to another boy, this one with chestnut brown hair and fierce amber eyes. He wore a very expensive looking green tunic with velvet and gold chains linked here and there. He had a very domineering presence that radiated from him like light rays from the sun. "Came to wish you a Happy Birthday," he finished.

Sakura looked at the man standing behind the other and immediately flushed. Her emerald eyes sought the ground and remained there, her head slightly bowed downward. She had no wish to confront the man who had helped her through the dinner. He probably thought she was extremely stupid to not know which utensils to use during a meal. Either that or he thought she was purposely doing it to gain favor. She didn't like either of those thoughts and forced herself to remain silent and humble. After all, she probably broke a half dozen court etiquette rules by looking at him during the dinner.

She only realized after the dinner that she should have never even looked in that direction. He was at the high table, which meant he was most likely a prince. "Then again," thought Sakura. "You are friends with Rika and other upper nobles, so does it really make that big a difference." Her thoughts paused. "Yes," she concluded. "There's a big difference because I should have known better and he's a foreign prince. He wouldn't have known anything about my position, whatever that position is." Her thoughts warred on, barely registering anything going on around her.

"Thank you very much, kind Sir," replied Tomoyo, bowing her head slightly to the blue hair man. What she would give to spend an hour with this young man! Her thoughts were cut off short as she spotted movement far to her right. She shifted her lavender eyes to the movement and her eyes suddenly clouded over. She quickly swung her gaze to Sakura, still hugging her arm and appeared to be out of it at the moment. Her eyes then flickered over in the direction of Sakura's brother, a frown forming on her face. Touya and Yukito were currently swamped by several women and would not make it to them in time.

"My name is Hiiragazawa, Eriol, Princess," The man started, his eyes noticing the entire exchange. "And I was wondering if you and your friend would like to dance?" He motioned to himself and to the man behind him, who scowled darkly. Eriol smiled brightly, ignoring the murderous glare focused on him.

"I would be honored, Sir Hiiragazawa," Tomoyo replied, her frown thrown away for the moment. She gently pulled her arm away from Sakura's grasp and took the offered hand of Eriol's.

Sakura finally registered that Tomoyo was leaving her alone, when she felt Tomoyo's arm slip away. Sakura looked up slightly to see her friend holding the man's extend arm. Sakura tried to remain calm with her support leaving her, but she her hands were shaking nervously. She didn't want to be left alone.

Eriol turned his gaze back at the other, Syaoran. "I suggest you take her to dance, before the other one coming claims her," he said, his voice heard only by Syaoran. Then Eriol led Tomoyo onto the dance floor, leaving the two behind.

Syaoran's eyes widened at the comment Eriol had given him. He scanned the room, quickly focusing on a man who appeared to make a beeline straight for Sakura. His amber eyes narrowed slightly at recognition of the man. He remembered the slight exchange between Sakura and the man, and he was disgusted with him. That man was filth and even a poor sorceress didn't deserve that thing. He turned his gaze to the sorceress, who had her head down again and was playing with her hands. He really didn't want to dance, but he was decent enough to not leave her to the slug. He grumbled slightly and extended his hand to her in invitation.

Sakura saw the hand come towards her, palm up, through her bangs. She raised her head slightly trying to gauge what he was thinking. His eyes, however, were not on her but on something else. She turned her green eyes in his direction to see Baron Taitsu heading her way. Without a second thought she took Syaoran's extended hand.

He glanced down at her, the emerald eyes fixed on him. He had seen her look in the direction of the man, and the look of loathing was all he needed to know that the sorceress did not want to be left alone to that man. His warm hand clasped securely around Sakura's cold one, and led her onto the dance floor, leaving behind a fuming baron.

~~ ~~

Queen Yelan was about to give up on her son, when she saw Eriol "lure" Syaoran off to the Princess Daidouji. "Interesting," she muttered. Her black-brown eyes surveyed the scene with mild curiosity. It was clear that Syaoran didn't want to be there, but what was Eriol getting at? Her eyebrows shot into her hair when she noticed that Xiao Lang was asking, more like demanding, a dance from the girl who had been clinging to the Princess.

This was an event in history! No matter how hard she pushed to get her son, he never asked any female to dance before. He was typically the one forced to dance by either her or the courtesans themselves. She studied the girl carefully, trying to decide what had caught her son's eye. She was pretty, but the prettiest girls in the entire kingdom never mattered to her son. The young girl had a warring of emotions that flashed in her stroll with her son. She seemed determined and relieved to be lead away from her spot on the sidelines but she also seemed very reluctant to want to actually dance.

The young girl tilted her head towards her son's direction and she finally was able to see the girl's face more clearly. "Emerald eyes?" Yelan sighed. It finally made some sense why Syaoran would pick that girl. Green was his favorite color, after all, and it tended to sway his opinion very readily. However, a small sparkling glint caught her interest far more than the girl's rare eye color. The young girl was a sorceress. If the eyes hadn't won over her son, the star pendant certainly would have. So the girl was the presence she had felt continuously at the palace since she arrived. She could barely make out the faint pink aura that surrounded the young girl, which must have been suppressed greatly to make such a low frequency. One would have missed the aura if they weren't looking for it specifically on her.

Yelan pulled her gaze from the sorceress, absently smoothing the folds of her blue silk dress. She really did not like these corset clothing, but Queen Sonomi was one all about fashion. She was thankful that after tonight, she could wear the more traditional robes of her people. The night is young, however, and Yelan willed time to speed up faster so that she could get out of this annoying outfit.

"Yelan, dear?" The soft voice of Sonomi called to her friend and ally.

Yelan smiled and faced the other queen. "Yes?"

"I would like you to meet my vizier, Kinomoto, Fujitaka." Sonomi, wearing a bright royal red dress, motioned a hand to a man standing over her shoulder. The man wore black robes and a star pendant was held on a chain around his neck.

"A pleasure to meet you, Queen Yelan," came the soft voice. His brown eyes and hair were just as soft as his voice. A shimmery brown aura surrounded the man, which confirmed her earlier assessments. He was a very powerful illusionary mage. She also felt the strong tug of the Earth around him as well.

Yelan nodded her head graciously to the man as he kissed her hand and bowed elegantly. "A mutual accepted meeting, I assure you, Kinomoto-sensei."