Adrina opened her eyes slowly. She wasn't quite sure where she was, so she was very careful when she moved. The room she was in was dark, except for an oil lamp at the foot of the bed she was laying on. She could see someone sitting next to the oil lamp. He was wearing a dark cloak and facing the other way. Adrina turned her head slowly to the right and saw Van lying on a bed against that wall. As she watched, Van stirred and opened his eyes. The man at the foot of her bed began to whistle a tune that Adrina recognized. It was the song that Queen Varie used to sing to her children and sometimes Adrina and Merle when they were younger.
"Huh? Who's there?" Van demanded and sat up. Adrina thought it in her best interest to remain still. The man at the foot of the bed stood up and walked over to the other bed. When he turned around, Adrina saw his face. To her, he looked strangely familiar, but she didn't know why. By now she had figured out that they had been captured by Zaibach.
"How do you know that Fanelia song?" Van questioned. The man didn't answer. Adrina still didn't move, but continued to stare at their captor. He looked so familiar to her, but she couldn't think of anywhere she could've seen him before now.
Suddenly, Van rushed forward, past the man and drabbed his sword off of a table against the far wall. He pulled the sword out of it's sheath and held it in a combat stance.
"Okay," Van said, "How about leading me to my guymelef, NOW!"
"Heh," the man chuckled. He turned to face Van. "Do you think the Zaibach soldiers will give in to such threats." He paused, then continued, "You can not escape from this floating fortress, my brother."
Adrina didn't have time for that comment to sink in because Van reacted quickly, capturing all of her attention.
"If the only way to live is as one of your pawns then..." Van put his sword to his throat. Adrina sat up and was about to yell to Van when the man pulled out his own sword and smacked Van's away. Adrina sighed with relief and sank back onto the bed.
"Never throw your life away so easily," the man instructed. He reached up and unfastened his cloak. Adrina gasped as the cloak fell to the ground. Where the man's right arm should have been, there was nothing but pale bone that ended in a sort of clawed bone-hand. The man then took off his shirt.
As Adrina watched, two beautiful white wings spread out behind the man. The wings molted slightly in a wonderful cascade of white feathers.
"B-brother?" Van stuttered.
Adrina was in turmoil. She suddenly couldn't breathe, couldn't think, all she could do was stare. He, he couldn't be! This thought snapped her out of her trance-like state and she sat up. She gasped in pain and fell back against the wall, clutching her ribs. Apparently landing on and falling off of Escaflowne had taken a toll on her body. She took a deep breath to steady herself.
Folken's wings disappeared and he bent down to pick up his cloak and shirt. "It's good to see that you're awake as well, Adrina," Folken said as he put his shirt on.
At the sound of her name, Adrina shrunk back against the wall and just stared. She was so confused by what was going on that she said nothing.
Van, on the other hand, was quite talkative. He didn't acknowledge that Adrina was in the room with them. "We'd always believed that you, you hadn't run away from the right of succession, that you died fighting the dragon. That you didn't turn your back on it and had fought it to the very end." He paused, "but we were wrong! Why are you with Zaibach? Why did you burn Fanelia to the ground? Answer me brother!" Van reached up and grabbed Folken's shoulder, which drew a small chuckle from the older brother. "Don't laugh!"
Folken grabbed Van's shoulder with his right hand, if a hand is what you could call it. "Van, my brother," he started, "Come with me and serve Dornkirk, Emperor of all Zaibach. There, we will set the future back on course."
Van's eyes suddenly rolled up in his head and he passed out. Adrina saw Folken withdraw one of the bone claws on his right hand from Van's neck.
"Van!" Adrina shouted and ran to where he had fallen. She knelt down beside him to make sure he was all right.
"He'll be fine," Folken told her. At the sound of his voice, Adrina threw herself against the wall and stared up at him, fear in her eyes.
"Please," she said, "please don't..." she motioned to where Van lay unconscious on the floor, "I can't stand to have the back of my neck touched."
"I know," Folken told her, "I remember." He bent down and picked Van up, then put him back on the bed. He then scooped up Van's sword and returned it to it's sheath which he then put into his own belt. He held out his left hand to Adrina.
Adrina didn't respond at first, but instead stared at him with fear. She finally overcame her fear after convincing herself that he was Folken and that he wasn't going to hurt her and put her hand into his. He helped her up off of the floor.
"Come with me," Folken ordered.
"What about Van?" Adrina asked.
"He'll be alright," Folken assured, "He's just asleep."
"Where are we going?" Adrina inquired as Folken led her to the door and unlocked it.
"The bridge," Folken answered and offered no more explanation. He walked out the door and Adrina followed. As soon as she was out, Folken shut the door and locked it. He walked down the hallway, followed closely by Adrina. After a minute they were met by a white-haired soldier of about Adrina's age.
"Where are you going, Folken?" the white haired man, Dilandau inquired.
"To the bridge," Folken answered, "Why? Is there a problem with that?"
"No," Dilandau looked past Folken, "Isn't that one of the prisoners?" He motioned toward Adrina.
"Yes," Folken nodded.
"Well?!" Dilandau started, "Why isn't she locked up?"
"She is none of your concern," Folken told him. He turned to Adrina, "Come on." Folken started down the hallway, again and Adrina followed. Soon, they reached a door. They went through and Adrina found herself in the control room of the floating fortress.
Folken walked onto a platform that overlooked the entire bridge and out the huge windows in the front of the fortress. Adrina, however, walked over to the huge windows. She was awestruck by the view. Apparently the floating fortress was anchored in the place where the wandering earth collects, because outside the giant windows were several large levi-stones. The scene was so unreal that Adrina could hardly believe it.
"Wow," Adrina breathed.
"Adrina," Folken called.
Adrina turned around quickly. "Oh, sorry," She said and walked onto the platform to stand next to Folken. He said nothing more to her, so she stared out the window again. Suddenly, a thought came to her. She looked up at Folken and was about to ask him, then stopped. He looked like he was deep in thought and she didn't want to bother him. She was about to turn away when he turned his head and looked down at her.
"Is something wrong?" Folken asked her.
"No," Adrina answered, "I just wanted to ask you something." She paused for a second. "What are you going to do with Van and I?"
"I'm going to turn you over to Emperor Dornkirk," Folken informed, looking back out the window.
"Oh," Adrina acknowledged, "What will Emperor Dornkirk do with us?"
"I don't know," Folken admitted.
"You wouldn't let him kill us, would you?"
Before Folken could answer her question, an explosion rocked the floating fortress. Adrina pitched forward, but caught herself on the railing of the platform.
"What just happened?" Folken demanded.
"There was an explosion in the hangar," one of the Zaibach soldiers informed, "cause unknown."
Folken turned to Adrina, who was still holding on to the railing, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Adrina assured, "I'm fine."
"We're under attack!" another soldier shouted.
"What?!"
Another impact shook the ship, followed by a scraping on the outside of the ship. Adrina clung to the railing for dear life.
"It's an Asturian levi-ship!" the first soldier relayed.
"Probably from the outpost we attacked," the second soldier added.
"They've boarded the fortress," a third soldier informed.
"Dispatch the soldiers," Folken ordered, "NOW!"
"Yes sir!" The men addressed and hurried out of the room.
"They must be here to rescue you and Van," Folken assumed. He started to walk off, but Adrina grabbed his left hand.
"Wait!" Adrina yelled, "let them save him!"
"What?" Folken asked.
"Please!" Adrina begged, "Let him go! If you let him go now, I'll stay. He'll come back for me and you can capture him then. Please Folken! Van can't stay here now, he needs to protect the people of Fanelia from the war. I'm begging you Folken. The people need him, Merle needs him. Don't keep him hear just yet."
Folken thought for a minute, then sighed. "I can't believe I'm going to listen to you. "Alright, but the second he leaves this fortress, there is nothing I can do to stop him from being recaptured. And if you try to escape, I'll personally go out and bring Van back."
"Oh, thank you Folken!" Adrina exclaimed and hugged him. She pulled back quickly, embarrassed by what she had done. "Sorry."
He said nothing, instead he began to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"To give Van back his sword," Folken told her.
"How do I know you aren't going to make sure he doesn't get away?" Adrina challenged.
"You'll just have to trust me." He left the room. A few seconds later, the door opened and the soldiers returned.
"Where is Lord Folken?" one of them asked.
"Uh, I don't know," Adrina lied. After a few minutes, Folken still hadn't returned. What is taking him so long? Adrina wondered. She was about to see if she could sneak away and find him when he returned.
"Asturian skiff climbing!" a soldier announced as the Crusade appeared outside the giant windows, "they're getting away."
"Energist power isn't coming back online," A second soldier reported, "Engine output is zero."
Folken said nothing. He remained still and stared out the windows. Adrina wanted to ask him if Van had gotten away all right, but she was afraid to say anything in front of the Zaibach soldiers.
A couple of minutes later, a young Zaibach soldier came into the control room.
"Lord Folken," he called and rushed over to him.
"What is it?" Folken asked.
"Lord Dilandau wishes to speak with you right away," the soldier informed then hurried back out the door.
"Come on." Folken led Adrina down the hallway and stopped outside a door. Two more young soldiers were stationed outside the door, which was open. A high-pitched scream suddenly sounded in the room, drawing Adrina's attention. She looked past Folken and into the room.
Inside the room was a large group of young soldiers, all standing around a bed. On the bed was Dilandau, with another older man leaning over him. Adrina assumed this man was a doctor. The doctor wiped a cloth across Dilandau's right cheek, which boasted a long cut. Dilandau screamed again and tried to get away. He was held down by some of the men in the room.
"I can't bandage it if you won't hold still," the doctor told him.
Back out in the hallway, Folken addressed one of the soldiers. "What happened to him?" he motioned to Dilandau.
"Apparently the prison that escaped and Lord Dilandau got into a sword fight," one of the soldiers informed.
Without thinking, Adrina pushed passed Folken, "Was the prisoner hurt?"
"Um...no," the soldier answered, caught off guard by her question, "the only injury was Lord Dilandau's."
"Oh," Adrina breathed a sigh of relief, then added, "serves him right for attacking Van."
"What?!" Adrina looked back into the room to see Dilandau standing in the doorway, a bandage on his cheek. "Do you see what he did to my beautiful face?" Dilandau took a step toward Adrina and she instinctively took a step back.
"I...I didn't mean..." Adrina was obviously scared. She took another step back, this time running into someone. She turned her head and saw it was Folken she had run into.
Without a word he grabbed her left hand with his own and guided her behind him. Dilandau, seeing him standing there, stopped in his tracks.
"Folken," Dilandau said, a hint of fear in his voice.
"You wanted to see me?" Folken offered.
"Oh," Dilandau started, "Yeah. I want him captured and brought to me so I can kill him for what he did to my face."
"Emperor Dornkirk wants him alive," Folken reminded.
"As long as he's no longer a threat, Emperor Dornkirk will be pleased," Dilandau countered.
"He is to be kept alive," Folken ordered sternly. Dilandau started to argue, then stopped. Adrina couldn't help but smile. Ha ha she thought, Folken won. Unfortunately Dilandau saw her smile.
"What are you smiling about?" he demanded.
"None of your business," Adrina retorted, feeling braver with Folken in between the two of them.
"Don't talk to me like that!" Dilandau yelled, "You're nothing but a prisoner!"
"Enough," Folken said, silencing both of them, "Stop acting like such a child, Dilandau." Folken turned to Adrina. "Come, I have things to do."
He led her down a series of long corridors, finally stopping in front of a door. "This will be your room." He pushed open the door, "I will send someone for you when dinner is served." He turned to go.
"Wait!" Adrina called. Folken turned back around. "Where are you going?"
"I have things to do," Folken repeated and walked off. Adrina sighed and walked into her room.
The room was average sized and sparsely decorated. The wall opposite the door contained a closet. Against the wall was a full-length mirror. Against the wall with the door was a large dresser. Against the adjacent wall was a queen-sized bed. On each side of the bed were nightstands, each with an oil lamp on them. A lone chair rested against the wall opposite the bed.
Adrina walked over and sat on the chair. "What am I supposed to do now?" she asked aloud. After mulling over this thought in her mind for a few minutes, she decided to investigate the room. She went to the closet first and slid the door open. The closet was full of dresses in all different colors and styles. On the floor of the closet were different color shoes.
Adrina pulled one of the dressed out of the closet and walked over to the mirror. She held the dress in front of her and admired it in the mirror. It looked like it was just her size. She walked back over to the closet and started to hand the dress back up, then stopped. She looked down at the dress. Well, she thought, it won't hurt to just try it on. She changed into the dress quickly and looked in the mirror. She nodded, then got another dress.
After a few more changes, she found one she really liked. She figured it would be okay to wear it for a little while. She then decided to look through the dresser. It was full of clean bed cloths and such. She then moved on to the nightstands.
She didn't know how long she had been exploring, but while she was going through the second nightstand, a knock sounded at the door. Adrina got up and opened it. Standing there was a servant girl of about her age.
"Lord Folken requests your presence at the dinner table," the girl told her.
"Oh, okay," Adrina said and shut the door. She followed the servant to the dining room. The dinner table was long, big enough to seat about thirty people. Folken was sitting at the head of the table and Dilandau was at the other end. Seated near Dilandau were four or five of the young soldiers that worked for Dilandau.
Folken stood as she entered and pulled out the chair closest to him. She sat down and he pushed the chair in. He sat back down.
"I see you found your new clothes," he commented.
Adrina's eyes widened and she looked down at her outfit. She had forgotten to change back into her own dress. "I...I'm sorry," she stuttered, "I was just trying them on..."
"It's alright," Folken assured, " they're yours."
Adrina smiled awkwardly and looked down at her plate. A few seconds later, a serving girl filled her plate with food. She began to eat.
"Folken," Dilandau called from the other end of the table, "First you let the prisoner follow you around like a lost dog, then you let her eat dinner with us. Why don't you just give her a guymelef and let her go out on her own."
"I told you she's none of your concern," Folken reminded. Dilandau snorted in disgust, but said nothing further. They ate the rest of their meal in silence.
After dinner, everyone retired to their rooms. Adrina had hoped someone would show her the way back to hers, but no one did. She wandered around for half an hour looking for her room, but all the hallways looked the same. Finally, she decided to ask someone, but it seemed as if everyone had disappeared. After a few more minutes of searching, she came to an opened door.
"Um...hello?" Adrina called from the doorway, "I don't mean to bother you, but I can't find my room. I was wondering..." She trailed off as an oil lamp flared to life next to the bed and she saw whose chamber she had entered.
"Oh, Folken," Adrina exclaimed, "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to bother you..." She was cut off by his words.
"It's okay," he told her. He grabbed his cloak off a chair and wrapped it around his bare shoulders. He stood up and walled out of the room and down the hallway. Adrina followed quickly.
After a few turns, they arrived at Adrina's room.
"I'm really sorry," She apologized again, then turned her eyes to the ground.
"If you ever get lost again," Folken started, "the hallways are color coordinated. That should help you find your way."
Adrina thought Folken was making fun of her, but when she looked up she was surprised to see a slight smile on his face. For a brief moment Adrina was reminded of the old Folken, the Folken who would sit under the tree and read her, Van and Merle stories all afternoon. Then his smile faded and he was once again Folken, follower of Zaibach, destroyer of Fanelia and captor of herself.
She tore her gaze away from him and looked at the wall. A purple stripe the width of her hand ran down the length of it. She cursed herself for not seeing it before.
"Well, goodnight," Folken said and started down the hallway. He stopped halfway down, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I will be going to Palas tomorrow. I'll be gone most of the day."
"Take me with you," Adrina said without thinking, "Please! They have the most wonderful bizarre in Palas!"
"It is not a social outing," Folken informed, "I have important business to attend to."
"Oh, alright. Well, I promise not to bug you. Just please take me with you!" She begged, "I'll go crazy if you leave me here! And what if that scary white-haired guy...what's his name?"
"Dilandau," Folken answered.
"Yeah, Dilandau! What if he decides to kill me or something while you're gone?" she inquired, "Then you won't have anyone to lure Van back here."
"Alright," he agreed, "I'll take you with me, but you must obey me at all times."
"Thank you!" she exclaimed. Adrina started to hug him, but stopped. "That's twice," she laughed embarrassedly, "well, goodnight!" She hurried into her room.
After changing into a nightgown, she lay down on the bed, but didn't fall asleep. The fact that Folken had betrayed them all hurt her more than she let on. She supposed it was because she'd had a crush on Folken when she was little. While Merle was chasing after Van, Adrina had been pining over Folken. Of course, their age difference had made him seem untouchable, but now that she was almost grown, the seven years between them didn't seem so unreasonable. She shook her head quickly. What does that have to do with anything? She thought. Why did he betray us and join Zaibach? That's what I should be thinking about. She sighed and assumed figuring it all out wouldn't make everything right again, so she turned off her oil lamp and went to sleep.
"Huh? Who's there?" Van demanded and sat up. Adrina thought it in her best interest to remain still. The man at the foot of the bed stood up and walked over to the other bed. When he turned around, Adrina saw his face. To her, he looked strangely familiar, but she didn't know why. By now she had figured out that they had been captured by Zaibach.
"How do you know that Fanelia song?" Van questioned. The man didn't answer. Adrina still didn't move, but continued to stare at their captor. He looked so familiar to her, but she couldn't think of anywhere she could've seen him before now.
Suddenly, Van rushed forward, past the man and drabbed his sword off of a table against the far wall. He pulled the sword out of it's sheath and held it in a combat stance.
"Okay," Van said, "How about leading me to my guymelef, NOW!"
"Heh," the man chuckled. He turned to face Van. "Do you think the Zaibach soldiers will give in to such threats." He paused, then continued, "You can not escape from this floating fortress, my brother."
Adrina didn't have time for that comment to sink in because Van reacted quickly, capturing all of her attention.
"If the only way to live is as one of your pawns then..." Van put his sword to his throat. Adrina sat up and was about to yell to Van when the man pulled out his own sword and smacked Van's away. Adrina sighed with relief and sank back onto the bed.
"Never throw your life away so easily," the man instructed. He reached up and unfastened his cloak. Adrina gasped as the cloak fell to the ground. Where the man's right arm should have been, there was nothing but pale bone that ended in a sort of clawed bone-hand. The man then took off his shirt.
As Adrina watched, two beautiful white wings spread out behind the man. The wings molted slightly in a wonderful cascade of white feathers.
"B-brother?" Van stuttered.
Adrina was in turmoil. She suddenly couldn't breathe, couldn't think, all she could do was stare. He, he couldn't be! This thought snapped her out of her trance-like state and she sat up. She gasped in pain and fell back against the wall, clutching her ribs. Apparently landing on and falling off of Escaflowne had taken a toll on her body. She took a deep breath to steady herself.
Folken's wings disappeared and he bent down to pick up his cloak and shirt. "It's good to see that you're awake as well, Adrina," Folken said as he put his shirt on.
At the sound of her name, Adrina shrunk back against the wall and just stared. She was so confused by what was going on that she said nothing.
Van, on the other hand, was quite talkative. He didn't acknowledge that Adrina was in the room with them. "We'd always believed that you, you hadn't run away from the right of succession, that you died fighting the dragon. That you didn't turn your back on it and had fought it to the very end." He paused, "but we were wrong! Why are you with Zaibach? Why did you burn Fanelia to the ground? Answer me brother!" Van reached up and grabbed Folken's shoulder, which drew a small chuckle from the older brother. "Don't laugh!"
Folken grabbed Van's shoulder with his right hand, if a hand is what you could call it. "Van, my brother," he started, "Come with me and serve Dornkirk, Emperor of all Zaibach. There, we will set the future back on course."
Van's eyes suddenly rolled up in his head and he passed out. Adrina saw Folken withdraw one of the bone claws on his right hand from Van's neck.
"Van!" Adrina shouted and ran to where he had fallen. She knelt down beside him to make sure he was all right.
"He'll be fine," Folken told her. At the sound of his voice, Adrina threw herself against the wall and stared up at him, fear in her eyes.
"Please," she said, "please don't..." she motioned to where Van lay unconscious on the floor, "I can't stand to have the back of my neck touched."
"I know," Folken told her, "I remember." He bent down and picked Van up, then put him back on the bed. He then scooped up Van's sword and returned it to it's sheath which he then put into his own belt. He held out his left hand to Adrina.
Adrina didn't respond at first, but instead stared at him with fear. She finally overcame her fear after convincing herself that he was Folken and that he wasn't going to hurt her and put her hand into his. He helped her up off of the floor.
"Come with me," Folken ordered.
"What about Van?" Adrina asked.
"He'll be alright," Folken assured, "He's just asleep."
"Where are we going?" Adrina inquired as Folken led her to the door and unlocked it.
"The bridge," Folken answered and offered no more explanation. He walked out the door and Adrina followed. As soon as she was out, Folken shut the door and locked it. He walked down the hallway, followed closely by Adrina. After a minute they were met by a white-haired soldier of about Adrina's age.
"Where are you going, Folken?" the white haired man, Dilandau inquired.
"To the bridge," Folken answered, "Why? Is there a problem with that?"
"No," Dilandau looked past Folken, "Isn't that one of the prisoners?" He motioned toward Adrina.
"Yes," Folken nodded.
"Well?!" Dilandau started, "Why isn't she locked up?"
"She is none of your concern," Folken told him. He turned to Adrina, "Come on." Folken started down the hallway, again and Adrina followed. Soon, they reached a door. They went through and Adrina found herself in the control room of the floating fortress.
Folken walked onto a platform that overlooked the entire bridge and out the huge windows in the front of the fortress. Adrina, however, walked over to the huge windows. She was awestruck by the view. Apparently the floating fortress was anchored in the place where the wandering earth collects, because outside the giant windows were several large levi-stones. The scene was so unreal that Adrina could hardly believe it.
"Wow," Adrina breathed.
"Adrina," Folken called.
Adrina turned around quickly. "Oh, sorry," She said and walked onto the platform to stand next to Folken. He said nothing more to her, so she stared out the window again. Suddenly, a thought came to her. She looked up at Folken and was about to ask him, then stopped. He looked like he was deep in thought and she didn't want to bother him. She was about to turn away when he turned his head and looked down at her.
"Is something wrong?" Folken asked her.
"No," Adrina answered, "I just wanted to ask you something." She paused for a second. "What are you going to do with Van and I?"
"I'm going to turn you over to Emperor Dornkirk," Folken informed, looking back out the window.
"Oh," Adrina acknowledged, "What will Emperor Dornkirk do with us?"
"I don't know," Folken admitted.
"You wouldn't let him kill us, would you?"
Before Folken could answer her question, an explosion rocked the floating fortress. Adrina pitched forward, but caught herself on the railing of the platform.
"What just happened?" Folken demanded.
"There was an explosion in the hangar," one of the Zaibach soldiers informed, "cause unknown."
Folken turned to Adrina, who was still holding on to the railing, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Adrina assured, "I'm fine."
"We're under attack!" another soldier shouted.
"What?!"
Another impact shook the ship, followed by a scraping on the outside of the ship. Adrina clung to the railing for dear life.
"It's an Asturian levi-ship!" the first soldier relayed.
"Probably from the outpost we attacked," the second soldier added.
"They've boarded the fortress," a third soldier informed.
"Dispatch the soldiers," Folken ordered, "NOW!"
"Yes sir!" The men addressed and hurried out of the room.
"They must be here to rescue you and Van," Folken assumed. He started to walk off, but Adrina grabbed his left hand.
"Wait!" Adrina yelled, "let them save him!"
"What?" Folken asked.
"Please!" Adrina begged, "Let him go! If you let him go now, I'll stay. He'll come back for me and you can capture him then. Please Folken! Van can't stay here now, he needs to protect the people of Fanelia from the war. I'm begging you Folken. The people need him, Merle needs him. Don't keep him hear just yet."
Folken thought for a minute, then sighed. "I can't believe I'm going to listen to you. "Alright, but the second he leaves this fortress, there is nothing I can do to stop him from being recaptured. And if you try to escape, I'll personally go out and bring Van back."
"Oh, thank you Folken!" Adrina exclaimed and hugged him. She pulled back quickly, embarrassed by what she had done. "Sorry."
He said nothing, instead he began to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"To give Van back his sword," Folken told her.
"How do I know you aren't going to make sure he doesn't get away?" Adrina challenged.
"You'll just have to trust me." He left the room. A few seconds later, the door opened and the soldiers returned.
"Where is Lord Folken?" one of them asked.
"Uh, I don't know," Adrina lied. After a few minutes, Folken still hadn't returned. What is taking him so long? Adrina wondered. She was about to see if she could sneak away and find him when he returned.
"Asturian skiff climbing!" a soldier announced as the Crusade appeared outside the giant windows, "they're getting away."
"Energist power isn't coming back online," A second soldier reported, "Engine output is zero."
Folken said nothing. He remained still and stared out the windows. Adrina wanted to ask him if Van had gotten away all right, but she was afraid to say anything in front of the Zaibach soldiers.
A couple of minutes later, a young Zaibach soldier came into the control room.
"Lord Folken," he called and rushed over to him.
"What is it?" Folken asked.
"Lord Dilandau wishes to speak with you right away," the soldier informed then hurried back out the door.
"Come on." Folken led Adrina down the hallway and stopped outside a door. Two more young soldiers were stationed outside the door, which was open. A high-pitched scream suddenly sounded in the room, drawing Adrina's attention. She looked past Folken and into the room.
Inside the room was a large group of young soldiers, all standing around a bed. On the bed was Dilandau, with another older man leaning over him. Adrina assumed this man was a doctor. The doctor wiped a cloth across Dilandau's right cheek, which boasted a long cut. Dilandau screamed again and tried to get away. He was held down by some of the men in the room.
"I can't bandage it if you won't hold still," the doctor told him.
Back out in the hallway, Folken addressed one of the soldiers. "What happened to him?" he motioned to Dilandau.
"Apparently the prison that escaped and Lord Dilandau got into a sword fight," one of the soldiers informed.
Without thinking, Adrina pushed passed Folken, "Was the prisoner hurt?"
"Um...no," the soldier answered, caught off guard by her question, "the only injury was Lord Dilandau's."
"Oh," Adrina breathed a sigh of relief, then added, "serves him right for attacking Van."
"What?!" Adrina looked back into the room to see Dilandau standing in the doorway, a bandage on his cheek. "Do you see what he did to my beautiful face?" Dilandau took a step toward Adrina and she instinctively took a step back.
"I...I didn't mean..." Adrina was obviously scared. She took another step back, this time running into someone. She turned her head and saw it was Folken she had run into.
Without a word he grabbed her left hand with his own and guided her behind him. Dilandau, seeing him standing there, stopped in his tracks.
"Folken," Dilandau said, a hint of fear in his voice.
"You wanted to see me?" Folken offered.
"Oh," Dilandau started, "Yeah. I want him captured and brought to me so I can kill him for what he did to my face."
"Emperor Dornkirk wants him alive," Folken reminded.
"As long as he's no longer a threat, Emperor Dornkirk will be pleased," Dilandau countered.
"He is to be kept alive," Folken ordered sternly. Dilandau started to argue, then stopped. Adrina couldn't help but smile. Ha ha she thought, Folken won. Unfortunately Dilandau saw her smile.
"What are you smiling about?" he demanded.
"None of your business," Adrina retorted, feeling braver with Folken in between the two of them.
"Don't talk to me like that!" Dilandau yelled, "You're nothing but a prisoner!"
"Enough," Folken said, silencing both of them, "Stop acting like such a child, Dilandau." Folken turned to Adrina. "Come, I have things to do."
He led her down a series of long corridors, finally stopping in front of a door. "This will be your room." He pushed open the door, "I will send someone for you when dinner is served." He turned to go.
"Wait!" Adrina called. Folken turned back around. "Where are you going?"
"I have things to do," Folken repeated and walked off. Adrina sighed and walked into her room.
The room was average sized and sparsely decorated. The wall opposite the door contained a closet. Against the wall was a full-length mirror. Against the wall with the door was a large dresser. Against the adjacent wall was a queen-sized bed. On each side of the bed were nightstands, each with an oil lamp on them. A lone chair rested against the wall opposite the bed.
Adrina walked over and sat on the chair. "What am I supposed to do now?" she asked aloud. After mulling over this thought in her mind for a few minutes, she decided to investigate the room. She went to the closet first and slid the door open. The closet was full of dresses in all different colors and styles. On the floor of the closet were different color shoes.
Adrina pulled one of the dressed out of the closet and walked over to the mirror. She held the dress in front of her and admired it in the mirror. It looked like it was just her size. She walked back over to the closet and started to hand the dress back up, then stopped. She looked down at the dress. Well, she thought, it won't hurt to just try it on. She changed into the dress quickly and looked in the mirror. She nodded, then got another dress.
After a few more changes, she found one she really liked. She figured it would be okay to wear it for a little while. She then decided to look through the dresser. It was full of clean bed cloths and such. She then moved on to the nightstands.
She didn't know how long she had been exploring, but while she was going through the second nightstand, a knock sounded at the door. Adrina got up and opened it. Standing there was a servant girl of about her age.
"Lord Folken requests your presence at the dinner table," the girl told her.
"Oh, okay," Adrina said and shut the door. She followed the servant to the dining room. The dinner table was long, big enough to seat about thirty people. Folken was sitting at the head of the table and Dilandau was at the other end. Seated near Dilandau were four or five of the young soldiers that worked for Dilandau.
Folken stood as she entered and pulled out the chair closest to him. She sat down and he pushed the chair in. He sat back down.
"I see you found your new clothes," he commented.
Adrina's eyes widened and she looked down at her outfit. She had forgotten to change back into her own dress. "I...I'm sorry," she stuttered, "I was just trying them on..."
"It's alright," Folken assured, " they're yours."
Adrina smiled awkwardly and looked down at her plate. A few seconds later, a serving girl filled her plate with food. She began to eat.
"Folken," Dilandau called from the other end of the table, "First you let the prisoner follow you around like a lost dog, then you let her eat dinner with us. Why don't you just give her a guymelef and let her go out on her own."
"I told you she's none of your concern," Folken reminded. Dilandau snorted in disgust, but said nothing further. They ate the rest of their meal in silence.
After dinner, everyone retired to their rooms. Adrina had hoped someone would show her the way back to hers, but no one did. She wandered around for half an hour looking for her room, but all the hallways looked the same. Finally, she decided to ask someone, but it seemed as if everyone had disappeared. After a few more minutes of searching, she came to an opened door.
"Um...hello?" Adrina called from the doorway, "I don't mean to bother you, but I can't find my room. I was wondering..." She trailed off as an oil lamp flared to life next to the bed and she saw whose chamber she had entered.
"Oh, Folken," Adrina exclaimed, "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to bother you..." She was cut off by his words.
"It's okay," he told her. He grabbed his cloak off a chair and wrapped it around his bare shoulders. He stood up and walled out of the room and down the hallway. Adrina followed quickly.
After a few turns, they arrived at Adrina's room.
"I'm really sorry," She apologized again, then turned her eyes to the ground.
"If you ever get lost again," Folken started, "the hallways are color coordinated. That should help you find your way."
Adrina thought Folken was making fun of her, but when she looked up she was surprised to see a slight smile on his face. For a brief moment Adrina was reminded of the old Folken, the Folken who would sit under the tree and read her, Van and Merle stories all afternoon. Then his smile faded and he was once again Folken, follower of Zaibach, destroyer of Fanelia and captor of herself.
She tore her gaze away from him and looked at the wall. A purple stripe the width of her hand ran down the length of it. She cursed herself for not seeing it before.
"Well, goodnight," Folken said and started down the hallway. He stopped halfway down, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I will be going to Palas tomorrow. I'll be gone most of the day."
"Take me with you," Adrina said without thinking, "Please! They have the most wonderful bizarre in Palas!"
"It is not a social outing," Folken informed, "I have important business to attend to."
"Oh, alright. Well, I promise not to bug you. Just please take me with you!" She begged, "I'll go crazy if you leave me here! And what if that scary white-haired guy...what's his name?"
"Dilandau," Folken answered.
"Yeah, Dilandau! What if he decides to kill me or something while you're gone?" she inquired, "Then you won't have anyone to lure Van back here."
"Alright," he agreed, "I'll take you with me, but you must obey me at all times."
"Thank you!" she exclaimed. Adrina started to hug him, but stopped. "That's twice," she laughed embarrassedly, "well, goodnight!" She hurried into her room.
After changing into a nightgown, she lay down on the bed, but didn't fall asleep. The fact that Folken had betrayed them all hurt her more than she let on. She supposed it was because she'd had a crush on Folken when she was little. While Merle was chasing after Van, Adrina had been pining over Folken. Of course, their age difference had made him seem untouchable, but now that she was almost grown, the seven years between them didn't seem so unreasonable. She shook her head quickly. What does that have to do with anything? She thought. Why did he betray us and join Zaibach? That's what I should be thinking about. She sighed and assumed figuring it all out wouldn't make everything right again, so she turned off her oil lamp and went to sleep.
