Hello again. I`m back. After 5 month of waiting.
Thanks for the reviews.
I know Wufei is emotional, but there is a reason why. But I`m not going to tell you what this reason is, yet.
To the mistakes, wording and grammar. Well, I`m trying my best, really. The problem is I`m from Germany and I`m learning English since almost 9 years and the mistakes won`t leave me. (I could cry)
Enough of that. Enjoy the first chapter.
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The promise
byChoasJenny
Chapter One: (S)he didn`t know what (s)he is getting into...
The castle of Sanc was one of the safest ever. Not only since the day Rashid Kurama appeared at its gate ten years ago, but even before King Anton Peacecraft became the ruler of Sanc. None-the-less Rashid had some bearing on the kingdom. It could have been yesterday when he showed up and claimed to be the perfect training captain for Sanc. Well, if it hadn`t been for the king who came to the gate the moment Rashid submitted his proposal to the guards he wouldn`t have gotten into the castle.
But Anton Peacecraft seemed intrigued by what the stranger had in mind and let him fight against one of his best soldiers. The tall man with the broad shoulders, the brown hair and beard took the opportunity and proved within minutes that he was capable of what he had claimed. So that king Peacecraft let him take up the job as the training captain. Of course not instantly. First he just took the man into the castle to get to know him better, but when he found out that Rashid had been one of the elite soldiers of the famous Kingdom of Mibury Anton had no doubts that he had gotten the best trainig captain he could have.
He was practically the best thing happening to Sanc and the hardest, at least for its soldiers, guards and knights. He made sure that they learned to handle sword, bow and arrow properly albeit in a rough way. Never a day went by without him forgetting the little girl who was responsible for that he ever considered to become Sanc`s training captain. The brat who he took as an example to the soldiers of how weak they were, was also his weak point. His trainees knew that. Everytime one of them dared to tease him about the blue-haired bandit Rashid became furious and enjoined the teaser to do the worst jobs.
Guarding the gate was one of those jobs and maybe someone should have told Abdul and Auda that Rashid had been standing behind them when Auda had mentioned that Rashid wasn`t seeing pink elephants but little blue-haired bandits everywhere. Bursting out laughing they didn`t recognized the third voice which *laughed* with them. Though Rashid was laughing more over the punishment he had in mind for them. "I see another thing, too." He had told them with a treacherous smile. "I see Auda and Abdul guarding the gate for the whole week."
"That`s all your fault, Auda. Next time when you decide to make fun of Rashid make sure that he isn`t near you." Abdul griped. It was the fifth day the two stood guard and nothing had happened so far. It never happened anything at the gate. That was the reason why this kind of job was so unpopular.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." He heard Auda`s grumbled reply. With a sigh he raised his eyes to the sky. The sun hadn`t even reached the zenith and didn`t seem like it wanted to hurry. It was going to be a long day.
Abdul began to count the clouds moving past him when a shadow fell onto his face. Lowering his head he was face to face with a black horse. A young man sat on it, clad in brown trousers and a brown tunic. A long black cape was situated around his neck serving him as protection against rain. "I`m sir Eric Krushenada." He said with a slightly nervous voice. His blue eyes rested on Abdul.
"Ah, yes, the new knight!" Auda spoke as he recognized the name of the stranger. "The king has informed us you would arrive these days." He took a step forward to get a closer look on him. "You`re nervous, aren`t you?"
The eyes of the knight widened. "I`m...uhm...I..."
Abdul and Auda laughed. "There is no need to be nervous. Rashid isn`t that bad as long as you do what he says." Abdul told him and stepped aside. "Allright. Just ride to the stables and you will be taken care of."
Eric nooded his head, pricked his horse and rode into the court. When he was out of earshot Auda turned to Abdul. "'There is no need to be nervous. Rashid isn`t that bad as long as you do what he says.'" He imitated his friend. "Abdul! Are you blind? This guy has blue hair!"
"Yes I`ve seen this. So what?"
"What? I tell you what! Rashid`s damned bandit has blue hair, too. And what I`m trying to tell you is he is going to definitely dislike him because of the hair color. So don`t tell him about not being nervous. He should be a hell of nervous!"
Understanding slowly what Auda meant he nodded. He hadn`t thought about this. Hopefully this Eric guy knew what he was getting into.
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"Hmm, that`s tickling." She giggled as she felt his lips on her neck.
His lips curved into a smile. "Don`t tell me you don`t like it." His voice hold a seductively tone.
"But my lord. We can`t do this here. Someone might see us." The black-haired woman opened her brown eyes.
"Do you see anybody here?" He traced with his finger the edge of the collar of her violet dress, stopping in the middle of her decollete. "This place is one of the most deserted in this court. Trust me, no one will see us." He pulled the collar a bit and kissed her there.
Convinced that the man was right she closed her eyes and savored his caresses. Untill a new unknown voice attracted attention to itself.
"I beg your pardon for disturbing you..."
Her eyes flew open and in an instant she had pushed her lover away from her. Turning her head to the voice she looked at a blue-haired young man on a black horse. His jaw hung open as if he had just realized what the two were about to do. The woman narrowed her eyes and glared at the man who had convinced her a minute ago that no one would ever come to this place.
In response her lover started to glare, too. At the unknown rider. "Didn`t you see we were busy?" He shouted annoyed at him. Only he could ask such a question. Everyone else would be embarrassed about what they had been caught at and would try to make excuses. Everyone except sir Duo Maxwell. He stood there in a self-confident manner and waited for the stranger to answer him.
In spite of her lover`s self-confidence Lady Victoria of Windworth was embarrassed. She didn`t want to become the new topic of the rumors being afloat at the court. Sir Maxwell was a ladies´ man that was a well-known fact and almost every single woman of this court wanted nothing more than to spend a night with him.
Those women whom this wish had been fullfiled were in equal measure envied and admired. And primarily their names would resound throughout the land if it was found out. Therefore everybody tried to keep their affair dark. Victoria lowered her head, her affair had just been found out.
"I`m really sorry." The man started to apologize. "I`ve never intended to interrupt you two." A blush appeared on his face while he said this. "I`m new here and was searching for the stables. But I`ve got lost and I thought that maybe one of you could tell me where the stables are."
Victoria`s head shot up. He was new here? Perhaps there was hope that her affair wouldn`t be divulged. She turned to him and started to speak. "My lord, of course we will help you."
Sir Maxwell was about to intervene but she shot him a warning glare. "Though I have to ask a favor of you. Please tell no one that you`ve seen us here." Almost nobody at this court would stay mum if they knew something like this. Nevertheless he didn`t seem to know anybody, so there was a change that he would keep this secret.
The blue-haired rider bowed his head. "My lady, your wish is my command."
"Thank you." Lady Victoria smiled and looked at Duo. "Sir Maxwell, would you tell him the way to the stables?"
Duo, still angered at the rider, regarded the man for a moment. He was about his age and smaller than him. In fact he was very small for a man. He didn´t look like he could carry a sword let alone handle one. 'How is such a guy able to become a knight?' The man with the long braid asked himself. That he was a knight he could see on the crest of his buckler which hung at the side of the horse.
"What`s your name?" His voice was harsh, after all he was talking to the person who kept him from becoming lucky with lady Victoria. None-the-less he was intrigued by the crest and needed to know who this guy was. He had seen the crest before somewhere, he just couldn`t remember where.
"Sir Eric Krushenada." He answered in an equal voice. From the niceness he had approached the woman with was nothing left.
Krushenada. Duo knew this name and now he was also remembering the crest. It was the family crest of Krushenada, a well-off family which had been very famous untill...
Sir Maxwell shook his head to clear his thouhgts. He didn`t want to remember that.
Clearing his throat he told Eric the way to the stables and sent him away.
"Well, my lady. Seems like I have to excuse myself, too." Duo took Victoria`s hand and bowed.
"Lord Maxwell, there is no need to excuse yourself. We still have plenty of time to finish what we have started." She smiled at him.
"I know my lady. But you`ve heard the name of the knight. Sir Eric Krushenada is the knight the king has been awaiting and I`m sure in less than a few minutes the trumpet will be sounded to convene the royal suite to welcome him. So I must be off, I`m afarid." Softly he placed a kiss on her hand and turned to leave for the castle.
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For the second time today Hilde breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn`t thought that it would become so diffcult for her. The moment the guard had mentioned she was nervous she was sure her cover had been blown. She didn`t know they assumed she was afraid of Rashid, the training captain. But that was her luck. If they hadn`t thought her nervousness was caused of the upcoming meeting with her new trainer about whom she, to be honest, had never heard before, she wouldn`t have had an idea what she should have told them. Then the whole thing would have been over before it had started at all.
And she couldn`t let this happen. After all she had promised it. She sighed. Ten years it had been since she made this promise and Wufei, her best friend had disappeared. She remembered the day like it had been yesterday. The pilferage of the fruit seller, her break-in into the castle, the meeting with Relena, the promise and the decision to become a knight and last but not least Wufei`s disappearance. When she woke up the next morning she knew something wasn`t right. She had had this weird dream in which Wufei had said goodbye to her and had kissed her on the forehead.
She snorted. Like he would ever do that. Mr. I-would-never-ever-become-weak-like-women-and-show-emotions had always told her that women shouldn`t touch swords and other weapons and had started a heated argument with her when she had told him that Treize would train her to become a knight. It was more than typical. Though that he had disappeared wasn`t.
Hilde had never found out the reason why. Treize had said her that Wufei had an important mission to accomplish and also that she would see him again.
She had been hoping on it up untill now. Looking forward to the day when he would return from wherever he had been she had been sitting nearly every free minute in the last ten years on his favorite tree watching out for the black hair and the usual rant about honour and weak women.
As one can guess neither of them had appeared. Hilde wasn`t happy about that. Most notably because henceforth she would be living in the castle and if Wufei came back now she would never find out about it. Because the moment Hilde had been introducing herself to the guards as Eric Krushenada all chances of meeting her friend again had died. It was inevitable.
Softly she stroked her horse`s neck to take her mind off her worries. The black stallion knew exactly what she was thinking and gave her an encouraging nicker while he troted to the stables. His midnight black fur was shining showing that he was well-tended.
Shadow, so his name, was very intelligent, too. He could understand what humans were talking about and knew who could be trusted and who not. Hilde was aware of this and seldom did something without asking Shadow`s advice. Even if she didn`t speak *horsish* she comprehended what he tried to tell her.
He was the only thing giving her some familiarness at this place where she knew nobody, except for Relena. Unless she had forgotten her.
That would only leave Shadow. He gave her security when she had sat on him in front of the gate. If he hadn`t been here she would have been much more nervous than she already was. It was due to him that she had made it through the gate at all.
And she was happy that she really had made it. Nevertheless after a few minutes of riding through the court she had realized that she hadn`t had the faintest idea of where the stables could be. So she had no choice but to ask the way which, of course, would have been easier if there had been people around her. Because she had ridden in what seemed to be a deserted place.
Not quite deserted she had to revise her thought when she had spotted a couple in the distance. Before she had even been near enough to see them clearly she had opened her mouth and spoke to them. The faster she had wanted to take the interruption bake as she noticed that she just had interrupted what some people called an amorous tête-a-tête.
That wasn`t even all. The man had been what caught her completely off guard. He was drop-dead gorgeous. Tall stature, broad shoulders and thick chestnut brown hair, braided down to his hips had stopped her heartbeat for a second. Untill he had opened his mouth. His annoyed attitude destroyed the picture of the man of her dreams and her mind came back as fast as it had left her when she first saw him.
The rudimentary developed feelings of envy for the black-haired lady by his side turned abruptly into pity and she had commiserated with her that she had to associate with such an idiot.
Unfortunately it seemed like that wouldn`t be the only encounter with him. If she had got his name right he was a sir Maxwell. The significant part of this name was the sir showing he had been given a knighthood and meaning he would train with her and every other knight at this court. 'Maybe he doesn`t belong to this court.'
"My lord?" Her hopeful thought was forgotten as a boy spoke to her. With sparkling grey eyes and messy brown hair with a few strands of hay in it he was without doubt a groom. "If you descend from your horse I can take care of him." A grin adorned his face.
Hilde raised her brows. "Him?"
The boy nodded. "Yes, him. I work with horses almost since I was born. Trust me, my lord. I know if a horse is a male or a female only by seeing it."
"Well, if you can identify a horse`s gender by seeing it, I`m sure my horse will be in good hands." She descended from Shadow and placed the reins into his hand. "By the way, his name is Shadow." He smiled a thank you and directed the horse into the stables.
'Allright. And where do I go from here?' Takeing her horse to the stables as she had been told by the two guards, she now was standing in front of the stables without knowing where she should go to. She was about to go after the groom to ask him as female voice said her name.
"Sir Krushenada?"
Hilde turned around. A mysterious looking woman stood there. With cropped violett hair and dark purple colored eyes she looked like a princess or a noble woman. But dressed in a plain brown dress, the one which the women in the village always wore Hilde guessed she was a maid.
And she was. The woman who was a few years older than herself dropped a curtsy when she nodded her head in answer. "My lord, my name is Lucrezia Noin. I was assigned to be your maid." Her voice emphasized her mysteriousness perfect. "Please follow me, my lord. I`ll take you to the king. He is very eager to meet you." Lucrezia lifted her dress a bit and walked the way to the castle followed by Hilde.
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The east wing of the castle was the best place in the morning because only then the sun lit up the lounge in its beautiful yellow light. Relena loved this. She sat here almost every morning together with her lady`s companion Dorothy Catalonia just enjoying the warmth the sun emitted.
"Isn`t it beautiful, my dearest lady Dorothy?" Relena said and closed her eyes letting the sunrays warm her face. Her blond-haired head rested against the back of the velvet coated chair she sat in.
"Why, yes my princess, it is." Duchess Dorothy Catalonia was a woman with many abilities. She knew how the life at the royal court worked and how to use the influence and the power her position gave her. She had long light blond hair which reached down to her knees and ice-blue eyes giving her the capability to analyze every kind of situation. "Even the most beautiful picture can`t compare with the beauty of nature." The seventeen year old duchess considered Relena as one of her best friends and although she had an averseness to people who trusted blindly everybody, the kind-hearted princess was an exception. Were they both very lonely when they had met for the first time they decided to become very good friends.
"That sounds nice. Who has said it?" Relena opened her eyes and watched Dorothy who sat across from her on another chair. The silken light orange dress she wore suited her well.
A sad smile appeared on Dorothy`s face. "My cousin had said it." Her fingers played with the silver ring around her left middle finger.
Relena`s eyes widened. "Oh. Dorothy, I`m so sorry. I didn`t mean to..."
Her companion shook her head. "No. It`s allright. Treize is dead and it`s time that I get over it. Besides, your father is awaiting another Krushenada to arrive, so I have to get used to be remembered on him."
The princess didn`t speak. She knew of the pain her friend felt for the loss of her cousin. The arrival of this knight wouldn`t alleviate it.
As if there was a jinx on it the trumpets started to sound calling the royal suite to the throne room.
"Speaking of the devil." Dorothy said and stood up from her chair. It was clear why the trumpets were sounded. He had arrived.
"Lady Dorothy, you know you shouldn`t tell the demon`s name." Relena, too, stood up and adjusted her long-sleeved blue dress.
"My princess, there is so much one shouldn`t do, but I`m sure saying his name won`t kill me." Linking arms with each other they walked out of the lounge down the hallway to the big throne room.
The throne room was among the ballroom the most magnificent room in the whole castle. A floor made out of marble and yellow painted walls with livesize greek statues in front of them supported the gold decorated furniture and the long red carpet extending from the big double door to the throne.
Stepping into the room, Relena gave her parents a short nod who already sat in their rightful place and headed with Dorothy to the right of the throne to stand on their statutory spots. Opposite to her, on the left side stood her brother Milliardo who smiled at them and took a bow as a symbol of salution. In return he received a curtsy from the princess and the duchess.
Relena looked around. Everybody who needed to be here was here. Next to her brother stood Quinze the highest advisor of the king keeping a straight face while he waited. The prussian blue eyes of sir Heero Yuy, one of the five best knights of Sanc watched him closely. She knew he seldom trusted someone unlike sir Duo Maxwell who stood next to him with his arm laid around a red-haired woman, the countess Mary Sharron. When he caught the princess´ gaze he winked at her. She smiled and winked back letting her look wander along the line the royal suite drew at the carpet. Several dukes and duchesses, counts and countesses formed the left line till the door as well as the right line she and Dorothy stood in.
Next to Dorothy stood the remaining three elite knights sir Trowa Barton, sir Quatre Raberba Winner and sir Wufei Chang.
The double door was opened and a servant came in. Stopping he bowed to the King and the Queen and cleared his throat. "I may present, his lordship, sir Eric Krushenada!" As soon as he had finished the sentence he went away from the carpet and all eyes in the room turned to a blue-haired young man who walked down the red carpet. Behind him Relena could see how Lucrezia Noin came in and joined the people in the line.
Sir Krushenada knelt down in front of the throne and bowed his head. Silence filled the room and everybody waited for the king to say something.
"Sir Eric Krushenada, in the name of the Kingdom of Sanc I welcome you to our castle." Standing up from his throne the king went to the small man. "Stand up, my son."
Obeying the command, he stood up. Relena`s father put both of his hands on the knight`s shoulder. "It`s a pleasure to meet you, my son. It`s been a very long time since I have came across someone of the family of Krushenada."
He nodded his head. "I`m glad to meet you, too, sire." He answered him in a soft voice.
Anton Peacecraft smiled. He liked this guy. "Well then. Let me introduce our five best knights to you." He turned him to the left. "Those two are sir Heero Yuy and sir Duo Maxwell."
Heero ,as always, looked stony-faced at the knight, not giving away his thoughts. His eyes examined the knight of short stature and eventually his head moved to something what looked like to be a nod. Duo was, contrary to expectations, glaring daggers at him. The usually friendly man had his cobalt blue eyes narrowed to slits as if he was standing in front of the enemy.
Not really caring about the look, the king turned Eric around. "And those are sir Trowa Barton, sir Quatre Raberba Winner and sir Wufei Chang." When the last name was mentioned sir Krushenada`s cornflower blue eyes turned to the black-haired knight and widened for a few seconds. Wufei gave him a nod, like answering an unasked question.
'So, they know each other.' Dorothy thought as she watched the scene. 'Interesting. Very Interesting.'
Quatre gave him his normal obliging smile being the nice man he was and mouthed a silent welcome. Trowa, on the other hand, didn`t smile, what was natural, too. He, like Heero, looked at him for a moment and then nodded his head.
Sir Eric turned to the front. Queen Nancy Peacecraft stood up from her chair and spoke. "Sir Eric Krushenada, I, too, welcome you to our home. Please feel free to do whatever you want as long as you stand to the rules."
The young knight smiled and bowed. "Thank you, my Queen."
He looked to prince Milliardo and bowed again. "My prince."
"Welcome, sir Krushenada." He said.
Now it was her turn. Relena hold her breath. Normally, she was used to the formality of welcome and had often done it before, but today was different. It was the knight. Something about him she couldn`t place.
He stepped up to her and knelt down. Taking her hand in his, he placed a soft kiss on it without that his eyes lost contact with hers. "It`s a pleasure to meet you my princess."
His voice was familiar? Relena didn`t know. Did she know this man? Had she seen him before? His eyes. She knew this eyes. She just couldn`t remember. Laying a question into her eyes she saw how a disappointed look flashed through his face.
'Watch him princess. Watch him. He is trying to tell you something.' Dorothy had that most likely yelled at her wouldn`t she be a well-educated lady. 'And he is taking a great risk with it.' She added when she saw the glares sir Yuy and prince Milliardo were boring into Eric`s back.
Whoever this sir Eric was he was definitely having a few secrets.
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"I want to go home!" That was the only thing on her mind as Hilde slipped down the trunk of the big oak tree. She had had many imaginations how the meeting with the royal suite would be, though the way as the meeting had been, had been far from them.
Not only that this braided idiot had to be one of the best knights of the kingdom, no, Wufei, her best friend Wufei was one of them, too. What was he doing here?
However, to top it all off Relena had forgotten her. It was... It was... She didn`t know what it was, she just wanted to go home. Back to the hideout in the forest. Back to uncle Treize and aunt Une. Back to her bed in her hut.
"Say sir Maxwell, where are you leading me to?" The high voice of woman drifted to her ear.
"That, my lady, is a secret untill we`ve arrived." A male voice answered.
Hilde looked in the direction the two voices came from and saw as two figures, one with blond hair and the other with a long braid, disappeared into the small wood which surrounded her.
'So, now he has one with blond hair.' She thought and put her hands behind her head. "Black, red, blond, and now is just missing the brunette and he has every hair color through."
"You forgot the blue-haired ones." Someone above her said.
Hilde didn`t need to look up to know who this someone was. "I see you`re still sitting on trees." She answered him.
"And I see you`re still putting your insane ideas into action."
Snorting she rolled her eyes. "Care to tell me what you`re doing here?"
"That`s none of your business."
This answer brought Hilde to the end of her tether. "None of my business? None of my business? Excuse me? What exactly had you been thinking you when left us at a moment`s notice without even saying goodbye to me. Do you know how long I had waited for you to come back? I`ve waited the whole last ten years and now that I see you again the only answer I get to my question is it`s none of my business? Oh yes, thank you very much!" Angered, she folded her arms and stared up at him.
His onyx black eyes locked with her blue ones. "I give you a good advice." He said. His voice as unaffected as always. "Next time when you decide to have one of your outburst of fury as only just, you better do this in the voice of a man, or else your cover will be blown faster than one can do a blink of an eye." Jumping down from the tree Wufei looked around. "You`re lucky that no one has heard that." He told her and walked away.
"Idiot!" Hilde shouted after him, but this time making sure she used her male voice. "He hasn`t changed one bit." He said to herself and looked into the sky.
What on earth should she do now? She wasn`t allowed to leave. Treize had explained it to her. When a knight was in ordinary of the king he had to be there for the rest of his live. There was no turning back.
"Sir Krushenada?"
Hilde turned to the voice. Relena was in front of her. "My princess." She was about to stand up, but the princess shook her head.
"Please, stay down." She said and sat herself into the grass. "I need to ask you something. It may sound a bit weird." She was rubbing her hands together. "My lord, is it possible that we know each other?" Her aquamarine eyes looked at her.
Hilde sighed. "You don`t remember, do you?" She asked her. Maybe she could make Relena remember by using her real voice. Nevertheless would that be too much of a risk. She shook her head. "Guess my maid-of-honour has forgotten her knight."
That sentence was ringing a bell in Relena. Only one person had asked her to be the maid-of-honour and that was... "H-"
Hilde put a finger to her lips. "Don`t say it."
"You are it, aren`t you?"
Smiling, she nodded. "Yes."
Tears appeared in Relena`s eyes. Bending forward she embraced the smilling knight. "I`ve always hoped to see you again. I`ve missed you so much."
"I`ve promised to come back, haven`t I. I`m sorry it took that long." She said and embraced the princess, too.
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"Maid-of-honour?!"
Sir Heero Yuy and prince Milliardo Peacecraft looked at each other.
"Be quiet, you two. You don`t want them to hear us, do you?" Sir Duo Maxwell hissed at them.
Nodding their heads in agreement they turned back to the princess and sir Eric Krushenada who were embracing each other.
Milliardo and Heero had followed Relena when they had seen her excusing herself from lady Dorothy and asking a guard where the new knight was.
Duo had been just emerging from the wood when he noticed the two noblemen cowering before a bush. Looking at what they were observing he viewed sir Eric and Relena sitting under the tree.
"I`ve promised to come back, haven`t I." Heero clenched his fist as they embraced.
"Who is this guy? And why has my sister never told me about him?" Milliardo whispered, his brotherly protector instincts kicked in.
"So what do you say to our five best knights?" They heard Relena ask him.
"Well, I don`t know them, yet. I`ve only met sir Maxwell through a coincidence when I arrived here, and to tell you the thruth I think he is a womanizer." The man answered her.
"A Wh-Hmpf" Two hands shot out the prevent Duo from shouting. Struggling to get free from Heero`s and Miiliardo`s grip to go over there and give the guy a piece of his mind, the two man had a hard time to calm their long-haired friend down.
"Quiet! If they find out that we are spying on them all hell will break loose. So swallow your hurt pride and be quiet!" Milliardo hissed at him and they loosed their hold on him.
"We have to find out who this man is and what he wants from my sister."
"What if he is the womanizer?" Duo whispered.
"That`s what we have to find out." The prince answered never letting his eyes drift away from the two people under the oak.
"And how?"
'Yes, how?' Heero asked himself and turned his head to the two knights beside him. 'We would have to catch him red-handed.' Heero started to smile inwardly. Yes, he knew how he could do this.
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Allright. That`s it for now. Please send me a review. I love to hear from you.
Bye
ChaosJenny
Thanks for the reviews.
I know Wufei is emotional, but there is a reason why. But I`m not going to tell you what this reason is, yet.
To the mistakes, wording and grammar. Well, I`m trying my best, really. The problem is I`m from Germany and I`m learning English since almost 9 years and the mistakes won`t leave me. (I could cry)
Enough of that. Enjoy the first chapter.
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The promise
byChoasJenny
Chapter One: (S)he didn`t know what (s)he is getting into...
The castle of Sanc was one of the safest ever. Not only since the day Rashid Kurama appeared at its gate ten years ago, but even before King Anton Peacecraft became the ruler of Sanc. None-the-less Rashid had some bearing on the kingdom. It could have been yesterday when he showed up and claimed to be the perfect training captain for Sanc. Well, if it hadn`t been for the king who came to the gate the moment Rashid submitted his proposal to the guards he wouldn`t have gotten into the castle.
But Anton Peacecraft seemed intrigued by what the stranger had in mind and let him fight against one of his best soldiers. The tall man with the broad shoulders, the brown hair and beard took the opportunity and proved within minutes that he was capable of what he had claimed. So that king Peacecraft let him take up the job as the training captain. Of course not instantly. First he just took the man into the castle to get to know him better, but when he found out that Rashid had been one of the elite soldiers of the famous Kingdom of Mibury Anton had no doubts that he had gotten the best trainig captain he could have.
He was practically the best thing happening to Sanc and the hardest, at least for its soldiers, guards and knights. He made sure that they learned to handle sword, bow and arrow properly albeit in a rough way. Never a day went by without him forgetting the little girl who was responsible for that he ever considered to become Sanc`s training captain. The brat who he took as an example to the soldiers of how weak they were, was also his weak point. His trainees knew that. Everytime one of them dared to tease him about the blue-haired bandit Rashid became furious and enjoined the teaser to do the worst jobs.
Guarding the gate was one of those jobs and maybe someone should have told Abdul and Auda that Rashid had been standing behind them when Auda had mentioned that Rashid wasn`t seeing pink elephants but little blue-haired bandits everywhere. Bursting out laughing they didn`t recognized the third voice which *laughed* with them. Though Rashid was laughing more over the punishment he had in mind for them. "I see another thing, too." He had told them with a treacherous smile. "I see Auda and Abdul guarding the gate for the whole week."
"That`s all your fault, Auda. Next time when you decide to make fun of Rashid make sure that he isn`t near you." Abdul griped. It was the fifth day the two stood guard and nothing had happened so far. It never happened anything at the gate. That was the reason why this kind of job was so unpopular.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." He heard Auda`s grumbled reply. With a sigh he raised his eyes to the sky. The sun hadn`t even reached the zenith and didn`t seem like it wanted to hurry. It was going to be a long day.
Abdul began to count the clouds moving past him when a shadow fell onto his face. Lowering his head he was face to face with a black horse. A young man sat on it, clad in brown trousers and a brown tunic. A long black cape was situated around his neck serving him as protection against rain. "I`m sir Eric Krushenada." He said with a slightly nervous voice. His blue eyes rested on Abdul.
"Ah, yes, the new knight!" Auda spoke as he recognized the name of the stranger. "The king has informed us you would arrive these days." He took a step forward to get a closer look on him. "You`re nervous, aren`t you?"
The eyes of the knight widened. "I`m...uhm...I..."
Abdul and Auda laughed. "There is no need to be nervous. Rashid isn`t that bad as long as you do what he says." Abdul told him and stepped aside. "Allright. Just ride to the stables and you will be taken care of."
Eric nooded his head, pricked his horse and rode into the court. When he was out of earshot Auda turned to Abdul. "'There is no need to be nervous. Rashid isn`t that bad as long as you do what he says.'" He imitated his friend. "Abdul! Are you blind? This guy has blue hair!"
"Yes I`ve seen this. So what?"
"What? I tell you what! Rashid`s damned bandit has blue hair, too. And what I`m trying to tell you is he is going to definitely dislike him because of the hair color. So don`t tell him about not being nervous. He should be a hell of nervous!"
Understanding slowly what Auda meant he nodded. He hadn`t thought about this. Hopefully this Eric guy knew what he was getting into.
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"Hmm, that`s tickling." She giggled as she felt his lips on her neck.
His lips curved into a smile. "Don`t tell me you don`t like it." His voice hold a seductively tone.
"But my lord. We can`t do this here. Someone might see us." The black-haired woman opened her brown eyes.
"Do you see anybody here?" He traced with his finger the edge of the collar of her violet dress, stopping in the middle of her decollete. "This place is one of the most deserted in this court. Trust me, no one will see us." He pulled the collar a bit and kissed her there.
Convinced that the man was right she closed her eyes and savored his caresses. Untill a new unknown voice attracted attention to itself.
"I beg your pardon for disturbing you..."
Her eyes flew open and in an instant she had pushed her lover away from her. Turning her head to the voice she looked at a blue-haired young man on a black horse. His jaw hung open as if he had just realized what the two were about to do. The woman narrowed her eyes and glared at the man who had convinced her a minute ago that no one would ever come to this place.
In response her lover started to glare, too. At the unknown rider. "Didn`t you see we were busy?" He shouted annoyed at him. Only he could ask such a question. Everyone else would be embarrassed about what they had been caught at and would try to make excuses. Everyone except sir Duo Maxwell. He stood there in a self-confident manner and waited for the stranger to answer him.
In spite of her lover`s self-confidence Lady Victoria of Windworth was embarrassed. She didn`t want to become the new topic of the rumors being afloat at the court. Sir Maxwell was a ladies´ man that was a well-known fact and almost every single woman of this court wanted nothing more than to spend a night with him.
Those women whom this wish had been fullfiled were in equal measure envied and admired. And primarily their names would resound throughout the land if it was found out. Therefore everybody tried to keep their affair dark. Victoria lowered her head, her affair had just been found out.
"I`m really sorry." The man started to apologize. "I`ve never intended to interrupt you two." A blush appeared on his face while he said this. "I`m new here and was searching for the stables. But I`ve got lost and I thought that maybe one of you could tell me where the stables are."
Victoria`s head shot up. He was new here? Perhaps there was hope that her affair wouldn`t be divulged. She turned to him and started to speak. "My lord, of course we will help you."
Sir Maxwell was about to intervene but she shot him a warning glare. "Though I have to ask a favor of you. Please tell no one that you`ve seen us here." Almost nobody at this court would stay mum if they knew something like this. Nevertheless he didn`t seem to know anybody, so there was a change that he would keep this secret.
The blue-haired rider bowed his head. "My lady, your wish is my command."
"Thank you." Lady Victoria smiled and looked at Duo. "Sir Maxwell, would you tell him the way to the stables?"
Duo, still angered at the rider, regarded the man for a moment. He was about his age and smaller than him. In fact he was very small for a man. He didn´t look like he could carry a sword let alone handle one. 'How is such a guy able to become a knight?' The man with the long braid asked himself. That he was a knight he could see on the crest of his buckler which hung at the side of the horse.
"What`s your name?" His voice was harsh, after all he was talking to the person who kept him from becoming lucky with lady Victoria. None-the-less he was intrigued by the crest and needed to know who this guy was. He had seen the crest before somewhere, he just couldn`t remember where.
"Sir Eric Krushenada." He answered in an equal voice. From the niceness he had approached the woman with was nothing left.
Krushenada. Duo knew this name and now he was also remembering the crest. It was the family crest of Krushenada, a well-off family which had been very famous untill...
Sir Maxwell shook his head to clear his thouhgts. He didn`t want to remember that.
Clearing his throat he told Eric the way to the stables and sent him away.
"Well, my lady. Seems like I have to excuse myself, too." Duo took Victoria`s hand and bowed.
"Lord Maxwell, there is no need to excuse yourself. We still have plenty of time to finish what we have started." She smiled at him.
"I know my lady. But you`ve heard the name of the knight. Sir Eric Krushenada is the knight the king has been awaiting and I`m sure in less than a few minutes the trumpet will be sounded to convene the royal suite to welcome him. So I must be off, I`m afarid." Softly he placed a kiss on her hand and turned to leave for the castle.
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For the second time today Hilde breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn`t thought that it would become so diffcult for her. The moment the guard had mentioned she was nervous she was sure her cover had been blown. She didn`t know they assumed she was afraid of Rashid, the training captain. But that was her luck. If they hadn`t thought her nervousness was caused of the upcoming meeting with her new trainer about whom she, to be honest, had never heard before, she wouldn`t have had an idea what she should have told them. Then the whole thing would have been over before it had started at all.
And she couldn`t let this happen. After all she had promised it. She sighed. Ten years it had been since she made this promise and Wufei, her best friend had disappeared. She remembered the day like it had been yesterday. The pilferage of the fruit seller, her break-in into the castle, the meeting with Relena, the promise and the decision to become a knight and last but not least Wufei`s disappearance. When she woke up the next morning she knew something wasn`t right. She had had this weird dream in which Wufei had said goodbye to her and had kissed her on the forehead.
She snorted. Like he would ever do that. Mr. I-would-never-ever-become-weak-like-women-and-show-emotions had always told her that women shouldn`t touch swords and other weapons and had started a heated argument with her when she had told him that Treize would train her to become a knight. It was more than typical. Though that he had disappeared wasn`t.
Hilde had never found out the reason why. Treize had said her that Wufei had an important mission to accomplish and also that she would see him again.
She had been hoping on it up untill now. Looking forward to the day when he would return from wherever he had been she had been sitting nearly every free minute in the last ten years on his favorite tree watching out for the black hair and the usual rant about honour and weak women.
As one can guess neither of them had appeared. Hilde wasn`t happy about that. Most notably because henceforth she would be living in the castle and if Wufei came back now she would never find out about it. Because the moment Hilde had been introducing herself to the guards as Eric Krushenada all chances of meeting her friend again had died. It was inevitable.
Softly she stroked her horse`s neck to take her mind off her worries. The black stallion knew exactly what she was thinking and gave her an encouraging nicker while he troted to the stables. His midnight black fur was shining showing that he was well-tended.
Shadow, so his name, was very intelligent, too. He could understand what humans were talking about and knew who could be trusted and who not. Hilde was aware of this and seldom did something without asking Shadow`s advice. Even if she didn`t speak *horsish* she comprehended what he tried to tell her.
He was the only thing giving her some familiarness at this place where she knew nobody, except for Relena. Unless she had forgotten her.
That would only leave Shadow. He gave her security when she had sat on him in front of the gate. If he hadn`t been here she would have been much more nervous than she already was. It was due to him that she had made it through the gate at all.
And she was happy that she really had made it. Nevertheless after a few minutes of riding through the court she had realized that she hadn`t had the faintest idea of where the stables could be. So she had no choice but to ask the way which, of course, would have been easier if there had been people around her. Because she had ridden in what seemed to be a deserted place.
Not quite deserted she had to revise her thought when she had spotted a couple in the distance. Before she had even been near enough to see them clearly she had opened her mouth and spoke to them. The faster she had wanted to take the interruption bake as she noticed that she just had interrupted what some people called an amorous tête-a-tête.
That wasn`t even all. The man had been what caught her completely off guard. He was drop-dead gorgeous. Tall stature, broad shoulders and thick chestnut brown hair, braided down to his hips had stopped her heartbeat for a second. Untill he had opened his mouth. His annoyed attitude destroyed the picture of the man of her dreams and her mind came back as fast as it had left her when she first saw him.
The rudimentary developed feelings of envy for the black-haired lady by his side turned abruptly into pity and she had commiserated with her that she had to associate with such an idiot.
Unfortunately it seemed like that wouldn`t be the only encounter with him. If she had got his name right he was a sir Maxwell. The significant part of this name was the sir showing he had been given a knighthood and meaning he would train with her and every other knight at this court. 'Maybe he doesn`t belong to this court.'
"My lord?" Her hopeful thought was forgotten as a boy spoke to her. With sparkling grey eyes and messy brown hair with a few strands of hay in it he was without doubt a groom. "If you descend from your horse I can take care of him." A grin adorned his face.
Hilde raised her brows. "Him?"
The boy nodded. "Yes, him. I work with horses almost since I was born. Trust me, my lord. I know if a horse is a male or a female only by seeing it."
"Well, if you can identify a horse`s gender by seeing it, I`m sure my horse will be in good hands." She descended from Shadow and placed the reins into his hand. "By the way, his name is Shadow." He smiled a thank you and directed the horse into the stables.
'Allright. And where do I go from here?' Takeing her horse to the stables as she had been told by the two guards, she now was standing in front of the stables without knowing where she should go to. She was about to go after the groom to ask him as female voice said her name.
"Sir Krushenada?"
Hilde turned around. A mysterious looking woman stood there. With cropped violett hair and dark purple colored eyes she looked like a princess or a noble woman. But dressed in a plain brown dress, the one which the women in the village always wore Hilde guessed she was a maid.
And she was. The woman who was a few years older than herself dropped a curtsy when she nodded her head in answer. "My lord, my name is Lucrezia Noin. I was assigned to be your maid." Her voice emphasized her mysteriousness perfect. "Please follow me, my lord. I`ll take you to the king. He is very eager to meet you." Lucrezia lifted her dress a bit and walked the way to the castle followed by Hilde.
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The east wing of the castle was the best place in the morning because only then the sun lit up the lounge in its beautiful yellow light. Relena loved this. She sat here almost every morning together with her lady`s companion Dorothy Catalonia just enjoying the warmth the sun emitted.
"Isn`t it beautiful, my dearest lady Dorothy?" Relena said and closed her eyes letting the sunrays warm her face. Her blond-haired head rested against the back of the velvet coated chair she sat in.
"Why, yes my princess, it is." Duchess Dorothy Catalonia was a woman with many abilities. She knew how the life at the royal court worked and how to use the influence and the power her position gave her. She had long light blond hair which reached down to her knees and ice-blue eyes giving her the capability to analyze every kind of situation. "Even the most beautiful picture can`t compare with the beauty of nature." The seventeen year old duchess considered Relena as one of her best friends and although she had an averseness to people who trusted blindly everybody, the kind-hearted princess was an exception. Were they both very lonely when they had met for the first time they decided to become very good friends.
"That sounds nice. Who has said it?" Relena opened her eyes and watched Dorothy who sat across from her on another chair. The silken light orange dress she wore suited her well.
A sad smile appeared on Dorothy`s face. "My cousin had said it." Her fingers played with the silver ring around her left middle finger.
Relena`s eyes widened. "Oh. Dorothy, I`m so sorry. I didn`t mean to..."
Her companion shook her head. "No. It`s allright. Treize is dead and it`s time that I get over it. Besides, your father is awaiting another Krushenada to arrive, so I have to get used to be remembered on him."
The princess didn`t speak. She knew of the pain her friend felt for the loss of her cousin. The arrival of this knight wouldn`t alleviate it.
As if there was a jinx on it the trumpets started to sound calling the royal suite to the throne room.
"Speaking of the devil." Dorothy said and stood up from her chair. It was clear why the trumpets were sounded. He had arrived.
"Lady Dorothy, you know you shouldn`t tell the demon`s name." Relena, too, stood up and adjusted her long-sleeved blue dress.
"My princess, there is so much one shouldn`t do, but I`m sure saying his name won`t kill me." Linking arms with each other they walked out of the lounge down the hallway to the big throne room.
The throne room was among the ballroom the most magnificent room in the whole castle. A floor made out of marble and yellow painted walls with livesize greek statues in front of them supported the gold decorated furniture and the long red carpet extending from the big double door to the throne.
Stepping into the room, Relena gave her parents a short nod who already sat in their rightful place and headed with Dorothy to the right of the throne to stand on their statutory spots. Opposite to her, on the left side stood her brother Milliardo who smiled at them and took a bow as a symbol of salution. In return he received a curtsy from the princess and the duchess.
Relena looked around. Everybody who needed to be here was here. Next to her brother stood Quinze the highest advisor of the king keeping a straight face while he waited. The prussian blue eyes of sir Heero Yuy, one of the five best knights of Sanc watched him closely. She knew he seldom trusted someone unlike sir Duo Maxwell who stood next to him with his arm laid around a red-haired woman, the countess Mary Sharron. When he caught the princess´ gaze he winked at her. She smiled and winked back letting her look wander along the line the royal suite drew at the carpet. Several dukes and duchesses, counts and countesses formed the left line till the door as well as the right line she and Dorothy stood in.
Next to Dorothy stood the remaining three elite knights sir Trowa Barton, sir Quatre Raberba Winner and sir Wufei Chang.
The double door was opened and a servant came in. Stopping he bowed to the King and the Queen and cleared his throat. "I may present, his lordship, sir Eric Krushenada!" As soon as he had finished the sentence he went away from the carpet and all eyes in the room turned to a blue-haired young man who walked down the red carpet. Behind him Relena could see how Lucrezia Noin came in and joined the people in the line.
Sir Krushenada knelt down in front of the throne and bowed his head. Silence filled the room and everybody waited for the king to say something.
"Sir Eric Krushenada, in the name of the Kingdom of Sanc I welcome you to our castle." Standing up from his throne the king went to the small man. "Stand up, my son."
Obeying the command, he stood up. Relena`s father put both of his hands on the knight`s shoulder. "It`s a pleasure to meet you, my son. It`s been a very long time since I have came across someone of the family of Krushenada."
He nodded his head. "I`m glad to meet you, too, sire." He answered him in a soft voice.
Anton Peacecraft smiled. He liked this guy. "Well then. Let me introduce our five best knights to you." He turned him to the left. "Those two are sir Heero Yuy and sir Duo Maxwell."
Heero ,as always, looked stony-faced at the knight, not giving away his thoughts. His eyes examined the knight of short stature and eventually his head moved to something what looked like to be a nod. Duo was, contrary to expectations, glaring daggers at him. The usually friendly man had his cobalt blue eyes narrowed to slits as if he was standing in front of the enemy.
Not really caring about the look, the king turned Eric around. "And those are sir Trowa Barton, sir Quatre Raberba Winner and sir Wufei Chang." When the last name was mentioned sir Krushenada`s cornflower blue eyes turned to the black-haired knight and widened for a few seconds. Wufei gave him a nod, like answering an unasked question.
'So, they know each other.' Dorothy thought as she watched the scene. 'Interesting. Very Interesting.'
Quatre gave him his normal obliging smile being the nice man he was and mouthed a silent welcome. Trowa, on the other hand, didn`t smile, what was natural, too. He, like Heero, looked at him for a moment and then nodded his head.
Sir Eric turned to the front. Queen Nancy Peacecraft stood up from her chair and spoke. "Sir Eric Krushenada, I, too, welcome you to our home. Please feel free to do whatever you want as long as you stand to the rules."
The young knight smiled and bowed. "Thank you, my Queen."
He looked to prince Milliardo and bowed again. "My prince."
"Welcome, sir Krushenada." He said.
Now it was her turn. Relena hold her breath. Normally, she was used to the formality of welcome and had often done it before, but today was different. It was the knight. Something about him she couldn`t place.
He stepped up to her and knelt down. Taking her hand in his, he placed a soft kiss on it without that his eyes lost contact with hers. "It`s a pleasure to meet you my princess."
His voice was familiar? Relena didn`t know. Did she know this man? Had she seen him before? His eyes. She knew this eyes. She just couldn`t remember. Laying a question into her eyes she saw how a disappointed look flashed through his face.
'Watch him princess. Watch him. He is trying to tell you something.' Dorothy had that most likely yelled at her wouldn`t she be a well-educated lady. 'And he is taking a great risk with it.' She added when she saw the glares sir Yuy and prince Milliardo were boring into Eric`s back.
Whoever this sir Eric was he was definitely having a few secrets.
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"I want to go home!" That was the only thing on her mind as Hilde slipped down the trunk of the big oak tree. She had had many imaginations how the meeting with the royal suite would be, though the way as the meeting had been, had been far from them.
Not only that this braided idiot had to be one of the best knights of the kingdom, no, Wufei, her best friend Wufei was one of them, too. What was he doing here?
However, to top it all off Relena had forgotten her. It was... It was... She didn`t know what it was, she just wanted to go home. Back to the hideout in the forest. Back to uncle Treize and aunt Une. Back to her bed in her hut.
"Say sir Maxwell, where are you leading me to?" The high voice of woman drifted to her ear.
"That, my lady, is a secret untill we`ve arrived." A male voice answered.
Hilde looked in the direction the two voices came from and saw as two figures, one with blond hair and the other with a long braid, disappeared into the small wood which surrounded her.
'So, now he has one with blond hair.' She thought and put her hands behind her head. "Black, red, blond, and now is just missing the brunette and he has every hair color through."
"You forgot the blue-haired ones." Someone above her said.
Hilde didn`t need to look up to know who this someone was. "I see you`re still sitting on trees." She answered him.
"And I see you`re still putting your insane ideas into action."
Snorting she rolled her eyes. "Care to tell me what you`re doing here?"
"That`s none of your business."
This answer brought Hilde to the end of her tether. "None of my business? None of my business? Excuse me? What exactly had you been thinking you when left us at a moment`s notice without even saying goodbye to me. Do you know how long I had waited for you to come back? I`ve waited the whole last ten years and now that I see you again the only answer I get to my question is it`s none of my business? Oh yes, thank you very much!" Angered, she folded her arms and stared up at him.
His onyx black eyes locked with her blue ones. "I give you a good advice." He said. His voice as unaffected as always. "Next time when you decide to have one of your outburst of fury as only just, you better do this in the voice of a man, or else your cover will be blown faster than one can do a blink of an eye." Jumping down from the tree Wufei looked around. "You`re lucky that no one has heard that." He told her and walked away.
"Idiot!" Hilde shouted after him, but this time making sure she used her male voice. "He hasn`t changed one bit." He said to herself and looked into the sky.
What on earth should she do now? She wasn`t allowed to leave. Treize had explained it to her. When a knight was in ordinary of the king he had to be there for the rest of his live. There was no turning back.
"Sir Krushenada?"
Hilde turned to the voice. Relena was in front of her. "My princess." She was about to stand up, but the princess shook her head.
"Please, stay down." She said and sat herself into the grass. "I need to ask you something. It may sound a bit weird." She was rubbing her hands together. "My lord, is it possible that we know each other?" Her aquamarine eyes looked at her.
Hilde sighed. "You don`t remember, do you?" She asked her. Maybe she could make Relena remember by using her real voice. Nevertheless would that be too much of a risk. She shook her head. "Guess my maid-of-honour has forgotten her knight."
That sentence was ringing a bell in Relena. Only one person had asked her to be the maid-of-honour and that was... "H-"
Hilde put a finger to her lips. "Don`t say it."
"You are it, aren`t you?"
Smiling, she nodded. "Yes."
Tears appeared in Relena`s eyes. Bending forward she embraced the smilling knight. "I`ve always hoped to see you again. I`ve missed you so much."
"I`ve promised to come back, haven`t I. I`m sorry it took that long." She said and embraced the princess, too.
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"Maid-of-honour?!"
Sir Heero Yuy and prince Milliardo Peacecraft looked at each other.
"Be quiet, you two. You don`t want them to hear us, do you?" Sir Duo Maxwell hissed at them.
Nodding their heads in agreement they turned back to the princess and sir Eric Krushenada who were embracing each other.
Milliardo and Heero had followed Relena when they had seen her excusing herself from lady Dorothy and asking a guard where the new knight was.
Duo had been just emerging from the wood when he noticed the two noblemen cowering before a bush. Looking at what they were observing he viewed sir Eric and Relena sitting under the tree.
"I`ve promised to come back, haven`t I." Heero clenched his fist as they embraced.
"Who is this guy? And why has my sister never told me about him?" Milliardo whispered, his brotherly protector instincts kicked in.
"So what do you say to our five best knights?" They heard Relena ask him.
"Well, I don`t know them, yet. I`ve only met sir Maxwell through a coincidence when I arrived here, and to tell you the thruth I think he is a womanizer." The man answered her.
"A Wh-Hmpf" Two hands shot out the prevent Duo from shouting. Struggling to get free from Heero`s and Miiliardo`s grip to go over there and give the guy a piece of his mind, the two man had a hard time to calm their long-haired friend down.
"Quiet! If they find out that we are spying on them all hell will break loose. So swallow your hurt pride and be quiet!" Milliardo hissed at him and they loosed their hold on him.
"We have to find out who this man is and what he wants from my sister."
"What if he is the womanizer?" Duo whispered.
"That`s what we have to find out." The prince answered never letting his eyes drift away from the two people under the oak.
"And how?"
'Yes, how?' Heero asked himself and turned his head to the two knights beside him. 'We would have to catch him red-handed.' Heero started to smile inwardly. Yes, he knew how he could do this.
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Allright. That`s it for now. Please send me a review. I love to hear from you.
Bye
ChaosJenny