Anniya

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" Milord. Their aware that we're coming," a messenger told Count Frederick Di Fallon, sweeping a bow formal enough for a King. The thought made his mustache twitch as he smiled.

After all, he would be king in a few short months.

" Good. I trust you remember the plan," he told the messenger cooly as he took a pawn with one of his knights. The Count often played chess with himself; it made chess the most excruciating game in the world. The messenger gave a curt nod.

" A quarter of us will go to the bridge, and the rest of us will await them near the Cavern river, were they will almost certainly go. There, we are to kill the girl, but leave the man alive," the messenger repeated slowly as if his life depended on it. Which it did, of course. The Count couldn't afford to have forgetful hands, even if they were hirelings. His knight took another pawn.

" Correct. You may inform Captain Vanclasu that he may carry out the plans." With a wave of his hand, the messenger exited the elaborate tent, leaving the Count to ponder about recent events.

He took a sip of wine. It was sweet. Almost as sweet as claiming the throne would be. Ah yes, he had long fantasized of what would happen on the night of the crown Prince's homecoming balls. Queen Daria had thought them a fabulous idea when the Count had suggested them to her.

The memory of the foolish woman's pathetic joy only widened his smile. How the hideous woman had ever become Queen was beyond his understanding, and even more so the reason the King had never taken on the concept of concubines. All of the Court worshiped the ground she walked because, in the words of one of his former knights, ' she had the most caring heart in the world'. Quite possibly also the most naive. But what was King Jerrold's loss was Frederick's gain. He had succeeded in arranging the ball at which the Crown Prince and the Princess would die.

Count Frederick had been planning this for fifteen years. He had lied his way into the highest powers of the Kyrrian Court , slipped poison to anyone who gave a hint of suspicion, and won over countless women in his younger days. He had hardly had to dispose of many people that were suspicious, mainly because their were none. To the naked eye, he knew how he appeared-- caring, chivalrous, and honest. There had only been one time, one time he had killed and regretted it. he didn't regret the man he had killed--------Count Frederick regretted who had seen him kill that man. If she had only not come so early..........................he was sure that she would of understood, Count Frederick told himself.

'No, she would not of. She loved her aunt, however disgusting you may think the Queen, and she loved you, until she saw what really lay beneath your good intentions' a voice of the past echoed.

The Count pushed it away by taking another drink of the wine, and closed his eyes for a moment. No, it had been she who was the fool. She could of been Queen, but she ran off with that poor substitute for a man. The foolish whore had brought on her own demise.

The sudden, frightened neighing of the horses snapped him back to his senses. A soldier tapped on the tent twice, then stepped in.

" Milord, TSSal of the Ogre tribe Mniqa wishes to speak to you," the soldier said calmly. A sly grin spread over the Count's face once again. His vassals had worked so often with ogres, the coming of them no longer seemed like a terrifying thing. His next though only made the Count's smile widen and his moustache twitch. What would take all of Jerrold's piddling reign, if any, to accomplish, had taken him a mere fifteen years. It seemed a lot, but if you compared it Ogre's loyalty, fifteen years was something only a genius mine could accomplish. Something he possessed. At that moment, TSSal of Mniqa glided in, accompanied by the stench of human flesh.

By Ogre standards, TSSal was ruggedly handsome. At ten feet, he weighed near the weight of a horse, and had enough muscular capacity to crush one with his bare hands as well. His beady, dangerous ebony eyes were hideously terrifying to any creature but an Ogre if TSSal was not attempting to be persuasive. His green-blue skin was caked in dirt, and both his fingernails and incisor teeth had dried blood on them. Completed with Coarse black hair, he was the image of every child's nightmare and Count Frederick's image of victory.

He had partnered with this Ogre for at least twenty years, back when TSSal had been a headstrong a teenager, and he had barely been in his thirties. His lips once again curled into a smile. Jerrold had been incredibly proud as well as the sniveling hordes of peasants, especially since TSSal was the young leader of the Ogre tribe. It had been ridiculously easy to sneak into the dungeon and cut TSSal's ropes. Count Frederick had made the perfect deal for both of them: If TSSal and his tribe could help him usurp the throne, he would allow the tribe to run free, with the guarantee that no one would harm them as long as they didn't raid villages more then once a week. It seemed to the Count that he was receiving the better end of the deal. He would have the support of one of the largest Ogre tribes, and would also get a chance to free the land of some of it's disgusting peasants. As long as they paid their taxes, peasants lives were naught to him. The Count turned back to TSSal, who had to bend down because of his size.

" TSSal of Mniqa, welcome. I have not heard from you in some time."

TSSal smirked, revealing incisors that could cut through the bone first bite.

" Di Fallon. It is charming to see you as well............," he purred.

" Where have you and your clan's whereabouts been," Count Frederick asked him, studying him carefully as the creature's death colored eyes glittered.

" Many, many places. As one of my people have already informed you, the man with the papers has gone to Banlieu with....a girl. The Arcadian princeling is on a hunting trip. He is surrounded with knights though. We do not know where the other Prince is............," TSSal slurred, then paused. The Count didn't rush him. TSSal was keeping a large piece of information from him, and no doubt debating whether or not to tell him.

" There is something else. A girl. The one with the man who has the papers. Many I have sent parties with the permission to devour her, but she disappeared before our eyes. Others went and began to burn when they came near. She is unaware of our presence entirely, so it is beyond our knowledge what happens. I approached her while she slept, and I felt myself being torn apart."

He paused once again, then continued.

There is something different about her. She is not of your blood, nor is she of any mortal race. The blood which flows through her veins is that of immortality. We believe that the girl has draconic blood within her."

The Count snorted a laugh, and TSSal's eyes flashed. " You doubt me? I have seen the dragon she commands, the same color as her emerald eyes. You can see magic in the depths of their eyes," TSSal hissed as he leaned forward, growing dangerous by the moment. But the Count was now taking him seriously. Several things were clearing up now. Such as who might have the papers.

" The girl's dragon? An emerald one? And she was the one seen with our dear bandit, correct." TSSal stared at the Count for a moment. He froze- he detested when this creature evaluated his secrets. Then a smile spread over TSSal's face. The Count found it repulsive, although others had said that their smiles were identical. The Count spoke again.

" Thank you.........for your advice, TSSal. But don't trouble yourself over the girl. I will have her dealt with," the Count told TSSal reassuringly. After all this time, even a whore of a girl couldn't stop him. That much Count Frederick Di Fallon knew.

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West cringed as Anniya let out an ear piercing whistle. They were half a mile away from the Cavern river, and Anniya was pretty sure that she was the only one who knew about it. Right now they were searching for Gleex before entering. Anniya grinned at West's grimace, and did it again, merely to spite him. He shifted his position on Diobla. Anniya sat directly in front of him, so it was nearly impossible to escape the window shattering noise.

" That was subtle. Perhaps you ought to do that again, I'm not sure someone halfway across the world heard you properly," West said sardonically. Anniya shot him a glare, but it no longer had an effect now that West was so used to it.

" Gleex will come if I whistle. However, if you want to go tramp through Ogre infested woods for the next half of the day, Robert, then I'll be-."

" What did you call me?," West said abruptly. His pale green eyes studied her emerald ones intensely. Anniya looked at him quizzically. There was a bit of a sharp edge to his tone, and they had just been joking, hadn't they? It took Anniya another moment to realize what she had called him.

Robert.

" Oh, I'm sorry. You two just look so alike, and I was just thinking of Robert," Anniya began, cringing with every word. This wasn't coming out the way it was suppose to. " For god's sake West, everything's fine."

He studied her for a moment longer, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and turned away.

As he turned away, images exploded in her head.

An image of a coach and a company of guards burst into Anniya's head, causing her to flinch violently. Something seemed to be searching for.......was it her? The thought of the Count and the Cavern river flashed as soon as she recovered from the shock of the first image. At last, an image of Esperanza and Robert going into a familiar shop....Anniya realized it had been one in Banlieu. This one was so strong and so urgent, Anniya gasped for breath.

West felt her body shudder, and released his grip on her arm. He swung off Diobla.

" What's wrong," he asked, his eyes suddenly flickering with concern. Anniya's eyes flew open. She couldn't see anything threatening at the moment, but she knew what was about to come. Anniya lunged for Diobla's reins.

" We need to get back to Banlieu! It's a trap! They knew we were going to find out that he was coming to town, he knew that we were going to go to this Cavern instead of the river," she said urgently. There was no need to say who 'he' was.

Despite his previous rants, West didn't question her. He had been in life-and-death situations plenty of times before, and could sense this what yet another one. Anniya felt herself being swung onto Diobla, and without another moments hesitation, they turned back for Banlieu.

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************ Author's note**********



Arghhhhhhhhhh! Another pathetic, short chapter. I didn't mean to have such a lame ending for this chapter, but it was a bit necessary to end it there because otherwise it would of turned into a 7 pager, and of course there is the tiny fact I have a Biology test tomorrow. Sorry it took me so long to get a chapter up. I had a bit of a temporary writer's block. Alright, I have a few things to say:

(1) I AM AT 300 REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE REACHED THE BIG 3-0-0!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN DIE A HAPPY WOMAN!!!!!!!!!!Alright, now that my over inflated ego has shrunk a bit, I'd like to thank every single person out there that ha s reviewed this story. I'd like to list all your names, but err...that take a awhile. I'll list everyone's name in one of these chapters towards the end. But anyway, I'm thrilled to death with all the reviews, even if you divide it by 25 and it turns out to about 12 reviews per chapter or so.......(not that I'm complaining!). Thanks again guys. Keep on reviews and I'll keep on the story.



(2) This is just sort of a wondering question that's really annoying me-----what is a

Medieval-ish word for teenager? I keep on having to use that word and it's annoying the crap out of me.

(3) What's coming up--------- The original gang meets up again: Anniya, Robert, and West, plus Esperanza. Yep, their finally all together again. next chapter will probably be a bit more romantic conflict-ish then most, but will have a good share of action too. I'm not giving it a due date, but hopefully it will come very quickly. I'm starting it tomorrow.



(4) Ah, Yes----- the ever going Robert vs. West battle. What's happening??? one chapter with West, and half of the Robert-ers( I don't know what's up with me and hyphens today) have jumped over to the West side of the boat. Almost everyone's ready to ship him off to Indonesia-------but what if West does something that's cruel????? What if Robert was right, and West's idea of love lasts as long as chocolate does when I'm around( read: I inhale chocolate). Hehe, yes I know, I'm doing my best to make everyone paranoid. Or am I.......?



Hehe, alright, I'll go now. Keep on reviewing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Faerie_gurl