Summary: The trio arrives in Lassenia, where Allen and Hitomi receive a few surprises...

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The landscape gave way from plains to mountains as the trio continued to ride through the early afternoon. Still the grass was green, but it didn't grow as lushly, and seemed crisp as heavy hooves stepped upon it. The majestic mountains were snow-capped and almost seem to shimmer with a light of their own against the blue skies in the midday sun.

Soon enough, a beautiful white city came into view, tucked securely against the side of one of the mountains, and on the other side rested a deep blue lake.

"Welcome to Lassenia," Saria spoke over her should with a slight grin as they rose up to and passed through the gates of the city at a relaxed trot. By sight, it was very much similar to Asturia's capital city; marketplaces, white buildings, and a beautiful castle in the distance; but somehow the atmosphere was different.

Hitomi noted that it was far more tranquil here, as she took in a deep breath of the crisp mountain air. The people of the city were relaxed, not crowding through the marketplace as she had grown so accustomed to. She smiled; this could be a place she could grow to love.

"We'll go to the castle...quietly, if you don't mind," Saria said, slowing her horse down to walk side-by-side with Allen and Hitomi's, "I'd like to not be seen."

"Why not?" Hitomi asked, confused.

"I've got my reasons," the raven-haired girl responded, a rather solemn look in her eyes. Knowing not to pry at this point, Hitomi only nodded. "I know a back way in," she continued, "So let's go there."

"Should we really be breaking into the castle?" Allen asked with a slight edge to his voice, seeming to reflect a mild distrust in Saria and her motives.

Saria looked at the blonde man defiantly, looking almost insulted. "Didn't I say I had my reasons? We're not 'breaking in'. We're just making a quiet entrance."

"What place do you have in the castle at all?" he continued, not backing down. If he was going to ever trust her, he wanted to know the full story.

"Fine," she said with a frown, "Don't trust me, even though I saved your girlfriend's life. We'll go through the front, and you'll get your answers...at my expense." With that final comment made in extreme distaste, as though she were imagining some scene that lay in store for her, she urged her horse forward faster, not giving Allen the opportunity to retort.

For a moment, he regretted his short temper, but a soft squeeze from Hitomi's arms around his waist reassured him that he hadn't been out of line. With a light kick to the steed's flank, he followed Saria up to the main gates of the castle.

Standing on patrol were two helmeted guards, one on either side of the gate. As Saria rode up, the one on the right took a step forward, and a chuckle began to emanate from within the helmet from the hidden face. With a heavy sigh, Saria shook her head and muttered, "I was hoping you weren't on duty today..."

The amused guard reached up and removed the helmet, letting a thick mass of long, vermilion hair to tumble down along the shoulders, and framing the delicate yet angular, milky white, feminine face. Both Allen and Hitomi were surprised; neither of them had met a female guard!

"Just your luck, isn't it, Saria," the red-haired beauty proclaimed with an amused smirk, her laser-blue eyes cast up at Saria. She spoke with a slight accent, one that Hitomi would have pinned as vaguely British, had they been on Earth... "May I ask," she continued with a quick glance at the other pair before reverting her gaze to Saria, "What have you been doing gone for so long, Princess?"

Allen and Hitomi, receiving their second surprise of the day, turned to look at Saria in surprise. "Princess?" Hitomi said, "You're the princess of this country?"

"Don't rub it in," Saria said dryly, glaring at the red-haired guard in annoyance, "Cut the crap, Kara, we're going in."

"Of course," the red-haired woman, Kara, replied sarcastically as she stepped aside, "I would never stand in your way, Princess. Your mother, however, may feel differently." The smirk that went along with those words bordered on malicious. "You've kept your guest waiting."

"Van is here? Good. Come on, you two," Saria said briskly, dismounting and unceremoniously shoving the reins of the horse into Kara's hands, saying coldly, "Take care of this, Mistral."

Laser-blue eyes burned into emerald green as Kara stared wordlessly and just as coldly back at Saria. Nervously, Hitomi quickly dismounted and walked over to them, though keeping a pace or two away. "Saria," she said quickly, "Shouldn't we get inside?"

After a moment, Saria pulled her hateful gaze from Kara, and relaxed slightly as she looked at Hitomi with a nod. "Yes, let's go. Follow me," she said, brushing past Kara without so much as another glance.

Smirking again, Kara came around and took the reins of the other horse as Allen dismounted as well. He seemed as though he had something to say, but she cut him off as she turned her back and began to lead the steeds away, calling over her shoulder, "You'd better hurry, prettyboy, or you'll get left behind."

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Saria lead Allen and Hitomi through several amazingly beautiful halls in the castle, though for the most part, her gaze stayed pinned to the floor, as though something was troubling her.

"Is something wrong Sar--er, I mean, your Highness?" Hitomi fumbled the words awkwardly for a moment, not sure what was appropriate with her now.

The raven-haired princess chuckled derisively, shaking her head. "Please," she said, "Just call me Saria. I hate the formalities. Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"All right," Hitomi replied in a way that said she didn't really believe that was true.

"When we get to the throne room, wait outside for a couple of minutes," she continued, either not noticing or choosing to ignore Hitomi's uncertain tone, "I need to speak with my mother. After that, we'll find Van and we'll figure all of this out."

"Did you run away?" Allen spoke up, trying to sort through the recent events, "Is that why you didn't want to come through the main entrance?"

"Sort of," Saria admitted with a sigh, "But I didn't run away, exactly. I just...was out for a bit. My mother doesn't understand...I feel trapped. I need to get away from here sometimes..." She sighed again, deeper this time, and shook her head slightly. "There's a lot more to it than that, but I'm not going to get into it. Let's just leave it at, in case she asks, I left to find you two."

Before long, they reached the throne room, and Saria excused herself to go speak with her mother, the Queen Arianna of Lassenia. Alone in the hallway, Allen and Hitomi spoke to each other of their concerns surrounding the entire situation, and attempted to somehow sort through everything that had happened in such a short period of time, to little avail.

Almost silently, a figure passed across the perpendicular hallway; only a flash of red in Hitomi's peripheral vision made her turn to see where the motion came from. It was Kara, Hitomi knew, as she recognized the woman's face, but now she was out of uniform and wearing a black sleeveless jumpsuit. Rather than thinking that her attire seemed odd and out of place in a grand palace, Hitomi's attention was drawn to a large tattoo, a symbol she somehow recognized, on Kara's toned upper arm. Just as the red-haired woman passed out of Hitomi's sight, she gasped, suddenly remembering where she had seen that symbol before.

"Hitomi?" Allen asked, raising an eyebrow, as he had watched Kara pass by as well, "What is it?"

"Zaibach," she whispered, "She used to work for Zaibach."

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Author's Notes: Okay, longer chapter this time! XD And I promise, I'm done with the bringing in of new characters, at least for a while. ^^;; These two will serve -much- purpose in this story, I promise you that. And the next chapter, as fair warning Ð it's going to be goofy. And probably laden with innuendo. I do have the PG-13 rating for a reason. XD

Sakura Shinguji-Albatou - It actually wasn't Zelda I got the name Saria from. ^^; I am a Zelda fan, however, yes. XD