A/N: Here's the next segment for ya! Hope you like it! Anyway… I'm finally done with the play, so I'll have an extra hour, which means more chapters more quickly… if you guys keep reviewing… And I will be working on something else (something a little more innocent… hehe…) as a supplement to this… It'll take place a hundred years or so before TP's books, maybe I'll even make it earlier, back when Immortals were still around… dunno… I don't even know if I'll post it for a while…

Quick Review Responses:

Veralidaine: Thanks, I'll keep updating :)

Keita: Thanks for all of your reviews… yeah, you made me think… keep doing that, it's good for me…And it gets more bloody… well, there are more references to blood… I made up the title because of, well… Kendria, and what I planned to do with her, but I'm glad I kept it, because there are a lot more references to blood than I thought there'd be… Lythii, Lewen, Rithal… all kinds of people you don't know yet :)

Later, she felt immensely guilty for leaving him alone, but she got the feeling he didn't mind. She wore a lovely yellow Tortallan-style gown, a color that clashed perfectly with her mood. From across the room, she spotted a handsome young man, with dirty-blond hair and hazel eyes. His nose a bit large, and his forehead a tad too prominent, but when he smiled, oh Gods, when he smiled it made her melt inside. He wore a coronet on his head, and she was sure that he must be a prince from Tyra or Galla or some such country. She was about to approach him when Nate swept her away and onto the dance floor. She felt intensely uncomfortable in his arms, she got the feeling that he wanted something from her and that she wasn't going to give. She managed to get herself quickly but politely from his grasp and made her way to the other side of the room. She approached the foreign prince, and as it was against etiquette to introduce herself before he indicated she should, she simply began chatting with a nearby courtier. As she expected, he approached her within a few minutes.

"Good evening Princess. I am Prince Althier, and these two are Sir Bors of Aval Pines and Sir Lorne of Dautiea."

So he thought he was so important that she should know who he was. He did not announce himself by country, province, or family name. Well, he would learn. In Tortall, it was more valued that the Princes and Princesses knew how to protect themselves and how to rule a country, not the names of every minor Prince in every country. However, He had mentioned the fiefs of his companions, which showed that he did not consider himself so important that everyone would know him. His friends were from West Tyra, which meant that he was probably third or fourth in line. She treated him accordingly, being third in line herself.

"I'm assuming that you must start training earlier in Tyra. I, myself, am fifteen, and I am only a first year Squire, and you seem not more than two years older than me, and yet, your friends are already full Knights, as I assume you are."

"Yes, actually. We start at the age of seven, not ten or eleven…"

She let him drone on. She already knew it all, her mother had drilled her in it. Thayet had figure that Sinta would end up talking about her training at some point or other, and it would be useful to know about the techniques used in other countries. She was so wrapped up in thoughts of Kendi and the day's events that she almost missed his words.

"Excuse me?"

"I said that you must surely already know all of this, and you seem strangely quiet. Is something worrying you Princess?"

She heard the husky, heavy-tongued accent underneath those words. He was a remarkably good speaker of Common. She was sure that most of the other Princes from that area had had heavier accents. She wanted to break down in his arms, but she kept up her façade and let him lead her out to the garden. He dismissed his companions, then sat her on a bench.

"Now, what's wrong?"

"My best friend, she fainted today." Sinta bit her lip to keep from saying more, then continued, "something's wrong with her, I'm sure, but I don't know what, and neither do the Healers. My brother is with her now, but I don't know how she is doing. I'm so worried." She realized tears were slipping down her cheeks, and she quickly wiped them away.

"I had noticed the absence of your brother. I hope that your friend recovers. I can see she means much to you."

Sinta rose from the bench, feeling better. She entered the ballroom to see her grandfather crumpling and Thayet, who had always been strong, fainting. Sinta found herself hitching up her skirts and running at full speed across the ballroom. She faintly remembered yelling some instructions to a servant to go get Jasson and thinking that she was glad she had worn breeches underneath her gown. As she approached her grandfather, she found her grandmother, parents, uncle Liam and his wife all kneeling or standing beside her grandfather's prone body. She approached and nodded to her father, then approached the King's head. Her specialty was in Healing, as Kendi's was, and although she did not have enough expertise to Heal a special case, such as Kendi, who was taking unicorn blood, she could at least diagnose the problem. She felt through the tangled lines of Jon's magic and moved to the center of the problem.

"It's heart failure, I need Duke Neal, now! I can't Heal this, but he can!"

"I'm here. Sinta, Liam, I'll need your Healing Gifts to support me, Sinta, keep his heart going and his blood going, I know you can, alright? Liam, link hands with me and we'll combine Gifts. He's very far along. He shouldn't live through this, but we'll make him!"

They managed to save him, but it was clear that he would have a long recovery. Thayet gave over right as Regent in his absence to Roald, and left with Jon and Alanna. Sinta realized how late it was and went to go visit her brother and Kendi. She found Kendi still asleep, and Jasson seemed happy to just stay with her. Sinta, exhausted, went to her rooms promising to relieve him the next morning.

* * *

Kendi slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to the side, finding Jasson's face hovering in her vision. She smiled, and all of her muscles felt heavy and bruised. She felt like she just wanted to lay there and not move.

"Jasson…" Was that her voice? Is seemed so worn and harsh.

"Yes, my love?"

"Why are you here?"

"Because I couldn't leave my love unwatched and vulnerable, could I?"

"You really do love me, don't you?"

"Of course. Now, I want the straight truth. Why did you faint?"

"I..I can't tell you. Another time, perhaps, but not now. I promise I'll tell you when I'm ready."

"I suppose that's the best I can hope for."

He kissed her cheek and brought her some food and water, then settled down to wait for his sister.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kendi's three sisters were sitting in their parents' apartments, having breakfast. Nera was teasing Tia, who had absent from her apartments the past two nights.

"Tia, you naughty thing, you've been spending your nights away from your rooms. I wonder whom with? Perhaps the young Biltor?"

"Stop it! It's not what you think. I mean I sleep with him, but it's only sleeping, nothing more. He won't doing anything more, he has a skewed perception of morality."

Nera laughed, and winked knowingly. "Don't they all?"

The three sisters laughed together as they hadn't for quite a while.

* * *

A/N: I was only going to post this for a while, because I was missing a chunk in the next part, but I got half of the chunk done, and then decided that I didn't want anything else in the chunk, so I linked it together… I think it's really good, but because I did something I hadn't been planning on, I have to go add in more stuff in other parts… aaaahhhhh!!!! Anyway, I might post the next chapter tomorrow, who knows? Or maybe later tonight, if I'm bored… For the next chapter: You meet Lewen and Asela (more people to confuse you! Yay!) Kendi's back, and more references to blood... Fun stuff!