A/N:

Wow. You had me convinced on not changing Darrin's name after the first three reviews of this chapter. Not only that, but you got me feeling guilty for even thinking about changing Darrin's name.

And here's a message for CrimsonEnchantress: I've described the necklace, and I'm sorry to say that it's not a crystal pendant that changes colours. I hope you don't mind that I decided not to do that. It's a really good idea, but a crystal pendant is too fancy for Tania to wear. I'm so sorry! I hope you're not mad at me. I feel bad…

Okay, I have way more important things to say, but I'm going to say them at the end of this chapter, all right? Just read on for now.

Chapter Nine

Tania bounded down the stairs the next morning. She was in a cheerful mood, despite the fact that she was kidnapped and murdered last night. Thankfully, no one knew about that incident (she was able to sneak back into her room), save Weston and his followers, Darrin, and of course, herself. It would have been painful to go through another day of "Oh! Are you all right?" or "Thank goodness you're fine!" or "Be more careful next time!" from Georgia or Kylee. Tania greatly appreciated their concern for her safety of course, but they worried a tad too much.

It shall be kept a secret, she thought to herself as she silently crossed the foyer. She nodded at a nearby servant, who was mopping the floor. Suddenly…

BANG.

Tania felt her heart skip a beat. She turned and realized that it was the front door that made that noise, and underneath the door frame stood a scary-looking Weston with dishevelled hair and heavy eye bags. He was looking straight at Tania with a murderous glare, and he was breathing heavily, as if he was trying hard to control his anger.

"You should have killed me," he hissed. "Now, you are going to pay."

Tania looked at him coolly. "I thought my way was better."

Weston scoffed. "Your way?" He let out an amused laugh. "All your little friend did was knock me out. Didn't it occur to you that I was going to wake up sooner or later?"

Tania stared at him. What was he talking about?

Then it hit her. He doesn't know about the curse, she mused. A smile slowly crept up her face. Then she burst out laughing.

Weston did not expect this. He glared. "What are you so happy about?! Didn't you hear me? You are going to pay."

Tania wiped a tear from her eye. "Weston," she said in between soft chuckles, "clap three times."

Weston looked at her as if she had gone crazy. "What—"

He clapped. At this sudden action, his eyes widened. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!?!" he screamed. "YOU ARE—"

"Shut up," Tania said exasperatedly.

Weston instantly obeyed. His eyes widened again when he realized that he now couldn't speak.

"Now," Tania said calmly, "behave nicely and hear me out. I gave you the gift—actually, more like curse—of obedience." At this point, if Weston hadn't been ordered to behave nicely, he would have either spat at Tania or punch her right on the face. But, he couldn't, so he just stood there like a statue.

Tania smiled at this. She continued. "Unfortunately, I can't—or rather won't—undo it since I think you're a pathetic pig who deserves this curse. Good luck on breaking it. Oh, and you must go to bed and sleep. You look horrible."

At this order, Weston found himself heading towards the stairs. Tania laughed openly as she watched him go beet red in the face, as if he was trying to resist the order. When he was out of sight, she grinned and headed for the kitchen.

"Lady Tania?"

Tania turned to see a pretty servant around her age. She didn't recognize her at all. "Are you new? Did Weston hire you?" she asked, her face forming into a frown. Exactly how many new servants did Weston hire? He's supposed to be broke, for crying out loud!

The servant nodded. "Yes. My name is Pauline. I'm Charlotte's cousin. Have you met her?"

"Yes, I have," Tania replied, almost cautiously. Even though she knew that Weston was behind last night's incident, she was still suspicious of Charlotte. Besides, she was the one who brought her meal last night. She could have placed the drug in her water. It was highly possible that the woman was in league with Weston. Too bad she didn't have any proof. She sighed. "Well," she said wearily, "I really hope you enjoy being here, though I highly doubt it. Anyway, why are you here?"

"There's someone here to see you. He's waiting at the front door." Suddenly, a loud fit of giggles escaped her mouth, startling—and scaring—Tania. "Oh, my lady!" she exclaimed breathlessly, her eyes shining. "Where in this world did you meet him?"

Tania stared at her. "Huh?"

"Your visitor! He is sooooo handsome! Beautiful golden hair that I just want to run my fingers through, the deepest blue eyes, and those muscles—"

"That would be enough," Tania said wryly. Ew, ew, ew…this girl is practically drooling over Darrin! From the copper sink, she heard Kylee try to suppress a snort and fail miserably. Tania bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.

Of course she knew it was Darrin. The girl's description was pretty—er—detailed. Besides, she didn't know any other handsome blond-haired guys.

After hanging a rag on one of the pegs, Tania headed out the kitchen, forcing herself not to roll her eyes as she passed the servant girl, who now wore a dreamy look on her face and was staring at something with glazed, unblinking eyes.

Tania shook her head as she headed for the front door. Some girls just can't control themselves, she thought with disgust. I would never act like that just because of some guy.

When she opened the front door, she found Darrin leaning against the stone wall with his hands in his pockets. His head turned when he heard the door open.

He smiled at Tania. "Good morning," he greeted.

Tania looked at him warily. "Good morning…" she said slowly. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Just wanted to know if you got home all right."

"Well, since I'm still here in one piece, then yes. Is that it?"

"Nope," he replied. "I also wanted to know how Weston is doing. I saw him earlier this morning, muttering to himself. He didn't look too good."

Tania smirked. "He never does," she replied, "but he's fine. I made him go to sleep. I don't think he will be able to bother anyone now. When he wakes up, I'm going to give him orders that will make him behave right."

Darrin smiled. "That's good to hear."

Tania nodded in agreement. "So," she said, "was that all you came here for?"

He shrugged. "I guess…" He paused. "Actually, no…"

Tania just looked confusedly at him. What does he want? she thought. It was odd seeing Darrin like that. He looked so unsure of himself. He was usually so confident.

"What is it, Darrin?" Tania asked.

He cleared his throat. "You know," he said thoughtfully, "you need to know how to defend yourself."

Tania was surprised at this. "What do you mean?"

He rolled his eyes. "What do you think? You need to know how to use weapons and fight with an empty hand. In case you've forgotten, you died two times already."

"Oh, yes. My two deaths have definitely slipped my mind," Tania said sarcastically.

Darrin sighed. "Tania—"

"But you're right," Tania cut in. "I do need to know how to fight. Thanks for the suggestio—"

"Yes," Darrin interrupted. He took one step forward, somewhat closing the gap between them. "What you need is someone who knows how to fight. Someone who can do pretty much any type of combat." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Tania wondered why Darrin wanted to be that someone. Honestly, he was a good bodyguard, but he wasn't anymore, so why still cling on? It was almost scary. Flattering, but scary.

"I know, I know," Tania said patiently, "and I thank you for suggesting that I take lessons. I will find someone, don't worry. Maybe even someone who worked directly for the king himself." She smiled. "Good day."

"You're cruel, you know that?" Darrin almostwhined.

Tania chuckled. "I was just kidding," she said. She smiled at him and said, "Will you teach me how to fight?"

He grinned roguishly. "Glad to."

"So," Darrin said, "ever held a sword before?"

Darrin, Tania, and Kylee were at the back of the manor, where there was an open field of uneven grasses. Tania, not wanting be alone in this, had asked Kylee earlier to join. Kylee readily accepted since she found fighting quite an interesting sport. It was also a way to get out of her chores.

"I never really liked sword fighting," Tania replied. "What I prefer more is fighting with no weapons. I think I'm better at that than sword fighting."

"But have you used a sword?"

"I had a few lessons when I was around thirteen," Tania admitted, "but Mother deemed it unladylike after a couple of months, so I was forced to stop, even though I didn't want to. I remember that my instructor was disappointed. He said I had potential." A wry grin crossed her face. "A little liar, I must say. I bet he just wanted to keep his job and the money."

"Or maybe you really did have potential," Kylee interjected. "I saw you fight. You were really good."

Tania snorted. "Yeah, okay," she said. She rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," Darrin said impatiently, "we'll start with the basics—the basic attacks, to be exact. Watch." He nodded at them and held up his double-handed sword. Then he began to sway it around with a rapid speed and continuous pattern. He did tricks with it that looked impossible to the eye.

Tania watched his every move with her jaw dropped. When he finished, he looked at him with a lot of respect. "Wow," she said breathlessly, "those were the basic attacks?! You are out of your mind! I can't do that!"

Darrin cleared his throat. "Actually, that was for exhibition," he said.

"Exhibition?" Kylee echoed. "What the hell does that mean?"

He suddenly looked sheepish. "Well…uh…it means that it's only done to impress people. Those moves that you just saw won't help you in battle."

Kylee groaned while Tania glared at him.

"That was pretty pointless," she said. "I asked you to teach me how to defend myself…not how to be impressed with your stupid exhibition."

"Okay, okay," Darrin gave in. "You two have no sense of humour."

He received a glare from both girls.

"Just teach us the important stuff," Kylee said exasperatedly.

Darrin sighed. "All right," he said. He cleared his throat. "The first basic attack is called the vertical cut. What you do is, you raise your sword and aim straight for the crown of your opponent's head." He did a perfect demonstration of this move. "This is the most common attack."

Kylee and Tania tried the attack with their own swords while Darrin watched them with a wary, observing look.

"All right, I guess," he said with a shrug. "We'll perfect that attack later."

Kylee and Tania exchanged looks.

"The next attack is called the horizontal cut. What you do is, you raise your sword parallel to the ground and aim for your opponent's either left or right shoulder." Again, he did a graceful demonstration of this.

Kylee and Tania copied his move.

"Uh…we'll also perfect that later," he said. "The next attack is called the downward swinging cut. With this attack, you aim for either the left leg or right leg. An angle of 45 degrees has to be used with the sword glancing down, is that clear?" He raised his eyebrow and gave them a stern, questioning look.

Tania mock saluted him. "Yes, sir!"

Kylee sniggered.

"Very funny," Darrin said dryly. "For your information, I was taught this way. My instructor was even stricter than I am with you two."

Two hours later…

"I said 45 degrees!" Darrin cried out in exasperation. They had just returned to the attacks after learning the blocks. Fortunately for Darrin, he didn't have much trouble teaching the blocks, compared to the attacks.

"That was freakin' 45 degrees!" Tania screamed.

"No, it wasn't! That was 47degrees!"

"Oh, for the love of my own life that is begging to be ended because of you! That's two degrees difference!"

"That can decide whether you live or die!"

"Stop exaggerating!"

"I am not!"

"Are to!"

"Am not!"

"Are to!"

"Am not!"

"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

That was from Kylee. Tania and Darrin immediately shut their mouths but did not stop glaring at each other. Tania only reached Darrin's shoulders, but she refused to let that discourage her. No…she was not going to lose a verbal battle to some…some…annoying and despicable jerk!

Kylee rubbed her temples. "You two are acting like children," she said. "Please act your age. I'm getting a headache."

"Darrin started it," Tania hissed.

Darrin eyes widened. "Little liar. I should—"

"STOP!" Kylee screamed.

They stopped. Tania tore her eyes away from Darrin and gave Kylee an apologetic look. Kylee just shrugged.

"I have to go now," she said, "uh…good luck." She turned, about to leave.

"Wait!" Darrin shouted.

Kylee turned and gave him a puzzled look. "Huh?"

Darrin smiled. "How about we spar once? I think you caught on well with what I have taught you over the two hours. I'm impressed, and that's the truth." He shot Tania a discreet, cheeky look, which Tania conveniently missed.

Kylee's eyes lit up. "Really? You think so?"

Darrin nodded.

"Great!" Kylee held up her sword and approached him. "Let's do this."

"You might wanna move out of the way." That was from Darrin, to Tania.

Tania glared at him, but obeyed. She backed away from the pair. Though she knew it was impossible, she wished for Kylee to beat him up to a pulp.

Darrin gave Kylee a questioning look. "Ready?"

Kylee gulped. Then she nodded.

"Go!"

Darrin jumped forward and began to attack Kylee, who nervously blocked his attacks. Tania, with her arms crossed, stared at Darrin, observing his every move. It didn't take a genius to notice that he wasn't putting any effort at all. His movements were slow and gentle, allowing Kylee to keep up.

Then Tania observed her best friend. Kylee was in deep concentration with her eyebrows knitted. Sweat was pouring down her forehead and neck. Even at this state, she still looked really pretty, much to Tania's amusement. Her blocks were uncertain and a bit hesitant, but she was still doing well.

Everything shifted and Kylee was now attacking. This time, she had more confidence in herself, giving attack after attack, which Darrin blocked easily. Finally, after a few more seconds, Darrin did a clever trick with his sword, sending Kylee's sword flying in the air.

He caught it easily with his free hand. Their sparring was over. Darrin, grinning from ear to ear, gave the sword back to Kylee, who suddenly became shy.

"Thanks," she said softly. "Now, I really have to go. Good luck, you two." She was gone before Tania could mouth a protest.

Then there was silence, followed by a clearing of throat by Darrin. He looked at Tania with an arrogant smile.

"So…" he said.

"I have to go," Tania said abruptly. Stupid pompous, she thought. She gave him a curt nod and proceeded to walk away.

But Darrin wouldn't have it. Before Tania realized what was happening, she found herself enveloped by two strong arms.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DONIG?!?!" she hollered. She began to lash about to set her arms free, but to no avail.

Darrin held on tight. "You said you were good at this kind of fighting," he said firmly, "show me."

Tania stopped struggling for a while. She craned her neck to meet his eyes. "Huh?" she asked stupidly.

"Fight with all you've got," Darrin said with startling patience. "Don't worry about hurting me. Pretend that I'm a criminal."

"When I said fighting with no weapons, I meant an organized type of fighting…not street fighting, as I call this." (A/N: What Tania meant by organized fighting is karate, judo, and all that.) She felt Darrin shrug.

"Doesn't matter," he said. "It's the same thing."

Tania rolled her eyes. "Uh…you do realize that I can just use my powers, right?"

"I know…but that would be a cowardly thing to do."

He had her trapped now. Tania peered at him through narrowed slits. Then, surprisingly, her face broke into a grin. "Are you sure?" she asked. This is going to be so fun.

"Positive."

Tania's grin turned into a devilish smile. "Ooookaaay," she sang. "Don't cry when I hurt you."

Darrin smirked. "You mean if you hurt me. You can try."

The nerve of him! With an angry scowl, she began to thrash about like some wild man. She didn't care if she looked stupid. She wanted to hurt him bad.

But Darrin's grip was strong. He held on.

"It's that all you've got?" he jeered in her ear, tickling her with his warm breath.

Scoundrel! Tania let out a war cry, not caring if she sounded incredibly stupid, and bending her right leg, she found Darrin's kneecap in a split second…

And kicked back with all her might.

Darrin grunted and tumbled to the ground. Unfortunately, he brought Tania along with him. She landed on top of him. And, because she had a heart (riiiight), she stopped fighting.

"Are you all right?" she asked worriedly.

Darrin gave her a look. "Tania," he said gently, "I've been part of the worst fights you can ever imagine. That attack was a good one, but I can still hurt you, you know. I told you not to worry about me getting hurt. Your fight isn't over."

Tania glared at him. "You do realize that we look stupid right now?"

"It will help you know how to protect yourself. Now, fight."

Tania rolled her eyes and began to struggle once more. Darrin was holding one of her wrists, so she used her free hand to attack his face with a powerful palm strike. Unfortunately, Darrin was able to block that in time. He was holding both wrists now, and he wasn't letting go. Because of this, Tania went back to lashing about like a wild man, trying to overcome his strong grasps. Sadly for her, that kind of fighting was based on strength, and it was obvious on who was the stronger one. Finally, it struck her.

I can use my legs!! She shook her head at how stupid she had been earlier. Calming herself down, she bent her leg and hesitantly kneed him…where it usually hurt for males.

Darrin groaned. "Good one," he said with a pained voice and shut eyes. At the same time, he unconsciously loosened his grip on Tania's wrists. Tania used this to her advantage. She pulled her wrists away from his grasp. Finally, she elbowed him in the stomach with all her strength, and forced herself up.

"Done!" Tania said jubilantly. She placed one foot on his chest for added effect.

Darrin opened his eyes to see her foot on his chest. He stared at it and raised an eyebrow. "Is this necessary?"

"Yup," Tania replied.

Darrin rolled his eyes and brushed her foot off. Then he sat up, and Tania surprised herself and him by offering a hand.

"Thanks," he said, taking it. Tania pulled and he rose from the ground.

Tania observed him as he dusted his clothes. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied with a shrug. "A bit pained, but I've had worse pains before."

"I told you I was going to hurt you."

He smiled. "Yeah…good job on that. At least you're good at one form of combat. No offence, but you're horrible with sword fighting."

"None taken," Tania replied. "I was the one who won the last fight anyway."

He shrugged. "You did, but you do realize that there was one thing I was not doing during the fight?"

Tania frowned. "What?"

"Hitting back. I never punched you or hit you."

"Oh…that's true…" Tania said slowly. "Well," she burst out, glaring, "why didn't you?"

Darrin let out a laugh. "Yeah, like I'd hit you. We're talking about you here."

"Should I take that as a compliment or insult?"

"Compliment. I don't think I would be alive right now if I had hit you back. You would have gone insanely mad, which is never good…or safe. Anyway," he said with a good-natured grin, "shall we end today's lesson?"

Tania's blood froze at the word "today's." "You mean there's going to be another day of this?" she whined.

A mischievous grin appeared on Darrin's face. "Of course," he said breezily. "This is only the beginning."

A/N:

I know that this is a boring chap, so I'm sorry about that. Things seem to be dragging on (which I really, really hate), but if I rush to the good parts, things won't make sense, you know? Anyway, here's an important question for you: Do you think Tania is going to end up with Darrin? Because here's the thing: I'm afraid that some of you have forgotten about Cowen. Remember him? Ella's son who I introduced in the prologue?

When I started this story, I planned to have Tania end up with Ella's son in the end. But I get this feeling that some of you are really attached to Darrin. So to those who are, don't expect them to end up together, unless I decided near the end to change things. I don't know yet, all right?

And here's another thing: I want to change Cowen's name. At first, I thought it was a nice name, but then say this out loud to yourself: King Cowen. Doesn't that sound like "King Kong?" Anyway, ever since I found that out, I wanted to change the name. And after a lot of heavy research (I'm just exaggerating) here are the choices:

Jayden or Jaeden (Prince Jayden/King Jayden)

Caiden (Prince Caiden/King Caiden)

Damien (Prince Damien/King Damien)

I'm itching towards Damien, but Darrin and Damien? That's one too many D names. And here's a hint on what's going to happen in my story: both guys are going to be in the same scenes, so it would be confusing, I think. Anyway, I hope you vote or review to help me. The vote will go on until I introduce him. Trust me, you'll love him! Even more than you love Darrin, I hope (really hope). I mean, come on! He's a prince of Kyrria and Ella's son! What's not to love?

Last part of my message is for bushyhair: I did not write Snow of Ayortha. Icepixie is the sole owner of that story. And I have not read Tamora Pierce's Lioness Rampant. But now you got me really curious. To those of you who have read it, is this story a lot like that? Because I don't want it to be! Now I want to read that book and see for myself…