CHAPTER 3

"Is that her?" Yugi asked pointing to the girl who just stepped out of the jet.

"I believe so," his Grandpa answered as he strained his eyes to look. The plane landed in darkness so it was hard to see the exiting passengers. As the girl, and who he assumed to be a bodyguard, approached he smiled. She looked so much like her mother; regal posture, honey blonde hair, and fragile angelic features.

"Hello Mr. Motou," she stated as she stopped in front of the two, "I'm Iolite." The girl extended her hand to him as she smiled. The girl was truly breath taking.

"Hello Iolite," her handshake was warm and soft, "this is my grandson Yugi."

"Hello Yugi," she smiled at him as well and shook his hand.

"So," Motou searched her face, this was not going to be an easy woman to hide, "I think we should get you away from the airport and into a safe place."

They all climbed into Motou's car and drove back to the card shop/house. Iolite curled up on the backseat next to Raine. He slid an arm around her shoulders and she was, for once, glad at the fatherly gesture. It was taking every ounce of her self-control to not run back to the plane and demand to be taken home. It was a long, quiet car ride through the dark and exotic city.

"We're back," Yugi called out as the now foursome entered the house. Everyone got up from around the television to meet the visitor.

"This is Iolite, Princess of Valkaria," Yugi introduced her to all of his friends. She smiled warmly at them; she could tell they were all very close.

"Don't worry Princess," Joey chirped, "your secret is safe with us."

"Then you shouldn't call me Princess Joey. Please call me Iolite. I've never been one to use my title, in fact truth be told, it's a burden most of the time. I would much rather just be plain old Iolite." She noticed Mai and Tea's faces dropped at her confession. If they only knew the being royal was highly overrated. "I see neither of you have ever been chased by the press, befriended for your status or had the cruelest stories made up about you."

"But being a Princess comes with so many wonderful perks," Mai smiled, "the clothes, the traveling, the Princes..."

"I would give anything to have such an amazing life," Tea whispered. Tea and Mai turned to each other and sighed.

Iolite crossed the room and plopped on the couch. She started toying with the end of her very long French braid. They all turned to look at her, Tristan and Mokuba stood silent in awe of how beautiful she was. Not a stitch of make up on and in jeans and a t-shirt, neither boy had ever seen a more beautiful woman.

"I would much rather keep my job than ascend the throne," she sighed while she flipped the braid over her shoulder. "In fact," she smiled the softest smile, "if either of you want the job of princess it's yours."

"You'd give up being a princess just like that?" Tea asked in amazement.

"I was born a princess Tea, I didn't ask for it, it was heaped on me. All my life I've been this accolade, and at almost every turn I have regretted it like you can't imagine. I can hardly breath without an armed guard," she smiled weakly at Raine, "No offense."

"None taken," he smile back, she really had no idea how proud he was of her. Most royalty used their status to intimidate and ridicule, she saw it as a curse. She never used her authority as a weapon; in fact she had used it for a lot of good in Valkaria. She was now a beautiful almost woman who was trying desperately to find a place in society where she could prove she could stand on her own.

She eyed her watchers and giggled, "Can we please talk about something else or do something that has nothing to do with my HRH ness?!"

Mokuba walked over to her and blushed, "do you like movies or games or music?"

"Yes, yes and yes," she visibly relaxed and mentally thanked the boy for changing a bad subject for her. "What do you want to do...watch, play or listen?"

"Do you know how to play Duel Monsters?" He asked with eyes wide and full of anticipation. "That happens to be the favorite thing to do around here. Maybe if you want to learn how to play we can all give you some pointers?"

She raised an eyebrow and smirked, "teach me a few things will you?"

"Sure, I can play pretty good now, my big brother has been teaching me and he always has something new to show me. He just gave me a new monster card that I'm dying to try out."

Joey rolled his eyes at the mention of a 'big brother' and Iolite didn't fail to catch it. "Why don't you guys duel," she offered, "I'd love to watch. If you want to know the truth I do have my own deck, but it's packed right now and going through all my luggage is the last thing on my mind. I'd love to see you all play, maybe I can start getting some tips from you."

Joey smiled, "Sure thing Princess...ah Iolite...Mokuba and I can duel and you can watch." They pulled out a duel board and started shuffling their decks. "It feels weird to use a board and not the holograms. It's been so long since we've dueled this way."

"We could always go to Kaiba Land and play there," Mokuba offered.

"Not tonight I'm afraid," Yugi admonished, "Iolite has been traveling forever and I'm sure she would rather just relax here instead of running around the city to see duel monsters played in an arena."

Iolite was grateful Yugi had stepped in, she didn't have the heart to reject Mokuba. The game was now setting up on the coffee table and she watched while they cut one another's decks. She kicked off her shoes and slid on to the floor next to Mokuba. Silently and gently she began taking out the braid in her hair while the two boys started dueling. She recognized a few monsters, a few traps, but her deck was so different from both of theirs. She had a deck that was a special gift from Pegasus, before he turned evil. Her cards were hers alone and she hadn't lost yet. These two battled for every move and held nothing back.

"This is a friendly game right guys?" she finally asked a little taken aback at their fierceness, "it's not like you're dueling to save your own lives is it?"

Mokuba and Joey looked at each other, remembering the shadow realm and the evil it all held. Honestly, neither realized how vicious their play was. They both laughed. "Sorry Iolite," Mokuba giggled, "you have no idea what dueling around here can mean sometimes." He winked at Joey. "Yeah, things here can get a bit insane when it comes to dueling," sorry if we frightened you.

"No problem guys, you didn't scare me, just don't be so intense when you're playing a friendly game. If you take it so seriously how can you enjoy it?" Her hair was now free of its braid and she looked even more amazing. Tristan, Joey and Mokuba stared at her. "What?!" she asked a bit annoyed.

"You have beautiful hair," Tristan finally broke the silence. He blushed and then mumbled something about having to call Serenity immediately as he left the room.

"It's hair guys get a grip and keep playing, remember you're both suppose to be giving me tips to help improve my game."

They both apologized to Iolite and continued playing. Tea and Mai rolled their eyes and flipped on the television. Anything was better than watching the two boys try to impress Iolite. Neither girl blamed her, from what they saw she didn't have a clue as to how stunning she was. What girl would wear no make up, kick off her shoes and sit on the floor like that...she was a most unusual princess. Mai did notice how Joey watched Iolite, she knew his heart belonged to her, but she knew once the game was over she would have to remind him.

The game continued, both boys explaining things to Iolite. The girl listened intensely, most of her friends at home had an interest in the game but none could hold a candle to her. The two of them seemed to be on a different level and she could hardly wait to duel against them herself.

A loud knock on the door startled the lot of them. Raine swiftly walked over to the door and waited for Yugi. With a nod of his head Yugi opened the door.

"Kaiba," Yugi sighed in relief, "come on in. Is it 11 o'clock already?"

Kaiba pushed his way in surveying the room.

"Well, hello Mr. Sunshine," Joey smiled at Kaiba.

Iolite noticed how Kaiba didn't acknowledge Joey at all. Her gaze became hard, something about him disturbed her. It wasn't his air of confidence; she looked him over as he stood in the room with his arms folded across his chest. She could tell he had an ego that wouldn't quit and a coldness that was unsettling.

"Big brother," Mokuba stood up and raced towards Kaiba, "Can I stay a bit longer? I'm dueling Joey and we're almost done. I think I can beat him in a few more moves, besides Iolite should see how it all ends...please....please?!"

Kaiba heard the new name and rolled his eyes...yet another geek to be added to the squad? He just couldn't imagine what fascination this group held for his little brother.

"I have to introduce you to her," Mokuba dragged Kaiba over to the coffee table. "Iolite this is my big brother Seto Kaiba."

The room held no interest for Kaiba; he lazily turned his head in the direction of the introduction and gazed upon the girl. Iolite quickly stood, not desiring this man to look down on her. He was taller than her, but at 5'7 she was quite impressive. Kaiba noticed her eyes, aloof and disconcerting, he felt a shiver race down his spine, as if someone walked on his grave. He noted her long tumbling hair and her bare feet. She clearly didn't belong with this group of people. "Who is she Mokuba?" Kiaba asked his smiling brother.

"I am Iolite, and I am in the room so if you have more questions please address them to me." Her back was straight and her chin was up, she all but sneered at him. Insolent, he thought to himself, this girl is challenging me.

"Well?" she asked.

"I've never seen you before, how did you end up," he looked around in disgust, "here?" His eyes settled on hers again, it was almost like a staring contest between the two of them. Everyone else in the room seemed to disappear.

"Yugi and his Grandfather are friends of my family. I'm staying here until things reconcile themselves at my home." He raised an eyebrow at this. "Where is home?"

"Valkaria," one of her hands snaked behind her and she started twisting a curl around her finger absently.

The small ministration wasn't missed on Kaiba, she did put up an amazing front of coolness, but she was afraid of him just like every other girl. "What's wrong at your home?"

"Nothing you should concern yourself with," she quipped.

"I'm not concerned, I just want to know how long you'll be around my brother. I like to keep track of all the people he's in contact with." She was quite beautiful, her features were so fragile, delicate but her eyes were sharp and quite intelligent. He liked the fact that she wasn't swooning over him. "I have to keep Mokuba protected and if you're having problems at home I don't want him involved. I won't let him get hurt. You do know who I am...or don't you?"

She was furious with him, she had no idea why. He was mocking her and elevating himself. 'Do you know who I am?' Of course she did, Ryan and her had been hacking into his computers' mainframe for months. Unfortunately he owned far too much in his company to allow a raid. She now wished she could have a go at her laptop and figure out a company weakness to bring this arrogant ass down.

"Seto Kaiba," she said with such coolness that again she caused a flutter in him. "I know all about Kaiba Corp and all of your holdings. I know about the gaming and other interests you have. I've just never had a face to match to your spread sheets...now I do." With that she sat down and blatantly began to ignore his presence. She felt his eyes on her.

"It seems you have me at a disadvantage," he hissed, "I haven't researched you...yet." Her head snapped up at that comment, her eyes on fire.

Mokuba stood there watching the two throw daggers at one another until his brother made that last comment. "Seto you shouldn't speak to her like that."

"Why not Mokuba...what's so special about her?"

"She's a Princess Seto." All eyes turned on Mokuba, how could he tell Seto after swearing to secrecy?!
"A princess?" Seto practically spat out, "she hardly resembles royalty to me." However, in the back of his mind he did see it all too clear, her looks, her confidence, her defiance, even his coldest stare had simply sent her to play with her hair. He hardly got a reaction from this creature who sat barefoot before him.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone Seto, she's in a lot of trouble and if you tell anyone you could put her in danger." Mokuba pulled on his brother's arm in terror.

"I won't tell anyone," Kaiba sneered, "your secret is safe with me Highness. Now Mokuba get your things together and lets go I have wasted enough time here already."

Kaiba noticed the warm smile she gave to his brother, and the hug that followed. "You have to come visit me again Mokuba. Remember you promised to duel me." The boy smiled at her in wonder. She had seemed so vile to Seto and yet she was sugar to him. "I would love to see you again Princess...uh...Iolite." She kissed his cheek and he nearly fell over the coffee table. Kaiba noticed Mokuba's crush, he also noticed that this 'princess' had no idea that she was having an effect on his brother. Hell, he noted, she is affecting me too, my blood pressure is sky high.

The brothers walked to the door. Iolite watched Seto's back; she wondered if she could take him in a fight, she could take Ryan easily despite his size. Seto was going to be a menace. He spared her one last glance, "Sleep well Highness." He closed the door and was gone.