Title: Snake Singer

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, but the plot belongs to me.

The following day was beautiful; the sun hung high in the sky and shadowed the land lightly in a golden glow. The Disa's doctor arrived promptly in the morning hours and examined me thoroughly and found that beyond the bruises and sore muscles I would be fine. The Disa herself accompanied the doctor into Zane and mines chamber and after he had left she sent for some of her handmaidens and with them they brought a host of new gowns that all resembled the Disa's from last night and were in an assortment of colors.

I chose the peach gown for this summer day. The fabric flowed like waves against the shore of my body with an exquisite train that dangled several feet behind me and sleeves that they themselves went to the floor. One of the handmaidens who whispered that her name was Sasha pulled my hair back in the Mistari style. Tight in the front and lose in the back with extended braids and buns placed in to make my hair seem thicker and fuller. Sasha took a wet wash cloth to my face and wiped gently at my skin and then placed a cold liquid across my skin that made the shade of flesh glow as though I were and angel.

After I was completely done up Zane took hold of my hand and said that there was something that he wanted to show me. I smiled and followed him as he led me through the long passageways and corridors of the Mistari palace. He never once faltered and I guessed that he had traveled these halls several times in his life.

"This is my favorite place here." He said opening one final door and revealing a host of small gardens beyond the palace gates that led into the woods beyond. I couldn't believe my eyes, the vivid red and white roses that lined against the green ferns and tall hydrangeas, and above everything a tall fence stood that was lined with wisteria, its long vines flowing down with small violet flowers at the tips.

"How do you know about this place?" I asked, brushing my fingers against the top of a red rose, its voluptuous petals curling their silky matter under my touch.

"The Dio and I were once good friends and I often found myself playing as a child within these halls and one day I stumbled upon it. It is an ancient place of peace. In the Mistari legends it says that all who walk amongst this place will know peace and love all the days of their life." He kissed me, realizing himself that this place might have changed him as a child and chased him to hunt after peace and not war like all before him. I left his side and went to travel through the garden on my own, breathing in the thick scent of herbs and letting my fingertips glide along the tops of the many flowers and substantial bushes that lined the land like a painting of abstract lines.

As I pasted near one of the corners of the garden I heard a rustling from the leaves of a reddish bush. I stopped and waited to see what it was that was climbing through the lavish vegetation. Finally a plump orange cat emerged, its hanging stomach wobbling as it approached me and brushed up against the hem of my dress as if it wanted me to pick it up. I reached down for it and curled it within my arms. "What's your name?" I whispered, searching the cat's neck for some kind of caller or identification. I found none, but scratched the thick hair on its head softly. The cat purred and leaned into my touch and I felt Zane's hand brush across my lower back and then curl under my waist until he was holding me tightly and with the cat still in my arms he leaned in and kissed me softly. His warm lips pressing to mine, holding the body of my mouth within an inflamed embrace; I longed to stay in this embrace forever.

The unexpected sound of the door that we had come through to find this beautiful place hitting the wall as it opened took us both away from this embrace. From behind the tiny door came the handmaiden Sasha who had done my hair earlier that morning. Both Zane and I looked at her; the plump orange cat still curled within my arms. Sasha held tightly to the door handle and her chest rose and fell harshly as she tried to catch her breath, the look of fear on her face was apparent. "Sasha what is it?" I asked, letting the cat jump from my arms and taking a step toward her, Zane grabbed hold of my hand was barely a breath behind me.

"Malady Danica" she said hoarsely, her lips peeling slightly from the dryness that surrounded them. "You and Master Zane must come; The Dio and Disa demand it!" Her eyebrows furrowed and her posture slumped slightly as her knuckles began to turn white from holding the doorknob so tightly.

"What is it Sasha? What's happened?" I asked, my eyes turning to face Zane but he too had no idea what all of this was about.

"The devil has come to the palace."

I turned again to face Zane, still having no idea what she could be talking about and what it could mean. Zane facial expressions had changed dramatically within the few seconds that I had turned from him and now turned back. His mouth hung slightly open and his eyes widened. He looked distant, as if he were standing across the world instead of right next to me. "Zane was is it?" He turned to me, his eyes still distant. He held up his hand and brushed my cheek with the back end of his fingertips, then let out a long sigh:

"Come, we must go!"

I followed Zane without saying a word; desperately trying to search his face and body language for some kind of clue as to what was going on. He walked tall and straight, taller and straighter then I had ever known him to walk, his head almost a pillar of silence that belonged atop a statue of a heroic figure and not the living breathing man in front of me. He walked ahead of me, but only a few steps and held tightly to my hand, his fingers squeezing mine several times on the long journey to the Disa and Dio's thrown room.

Sasha, lead us the entire way into the thrown room, through Zane, I'm sure could have found this place with his eyes closed. She opened the narrow doors and led us into the large vaulted ceiling room. The floors and walls shined in a dark Amber color as if they were made out of gold and several murals and paintings hung across the entire wall and went so high that I could barely make out the designs on the top ones. Toward the middle of the room, and in the very back were the Disa and Dio's thrown, which were completely different from the towns that Zane and I were used to sitting on. The great chairs, which the royalty sat on, were several steps higher then the floor and like the floor were, died a deep Amber color.

Zane and I approached the thrown, stopping only when Sasha stopped. She got half way across the room when she halted and curled one leg, bowing to the Disa and Dio who sat like statues. After she had bowed she turned with her eyes lowered and left the room through the same way that she had come. "Zane, Danica" said the Dio after the great doors had closed. "Please come!"

Zane and I obeyed and my mind was spinning with what was happening, had we done something wrong? Was this because we had gone into the garden? Zane quickly walked up the stairs and stopped only when we stood face to face with them. "Zane... I am sorry!" Said the Dio, he reached his arm out and grabbed the side of his arms.

"You're sorry for what; I don't understand what is going on?" I searched the faces of The Dio and Disa both but found no answers then I turned to Zane, hoping and praying that the answers that I was looking for would be there, but they were not.

As I searched Zane's face the doors to the thrown room opened again, and I heard the creak of the movement sharply through the walls as the foundations shook slightly. I turned, and watched as to long, lean, and clocked figures approached us.