A/n: Probably one of my favorite chapters so far. Read and review, baby!

Chapter Eight

I followed them out the door and outside, where the air was balmy and pleasant; I wasn't too cold or too hot. We walked to the center of the meadow, where the fire was blazing against the night sky. The Habblah were sitting in a large group, and Amneris was in front of them, gesturing to a nearby Sam. My stomach knotted. What's she telling them? I'm not his bride!

"Ah, and here she is now!" she suddenly said.

I cowered backwards as all the heads of the Habblah turned to look at me. Sam turned around too, but he couldn't see me, because someone had tied a scarf around his eyes. Everyone stood up and lined up in two rows, and Amneris led Sam to the back of the human tunnel. I moved to follow, but Jocelyn grabbed my elbow.

"No," she whispered. "You wait here until he calls for you," she explained.

"But I really need to talk to him!" I replied, pulling away.

"Nora," Sam called, embellishing his voice to sound husky and erotic. "Nora?"

I walked towards him, eager to remove his blindfold and take him aside and ask him what in the Lady's name was going on. When I reached him, one of his friends reached behind his head and the blindfold fell to the ground. Sam looked up at me brazenly. I raised an eyebrow. He looked me up and down, and began to laugh. Then he wrapped me in a hug.

"I'll explain this to you later," he whispered. "But now, we dance!"

I pulled away and looked around. The Habblah had created a circle around us, and someone had begun to play a fiddle, bang on a drum, and shake a tambourine. The music was sultry and fast paced, like nothing I'd ever felt before. I knew how to dance, though, so I placed my hand on Sam's shoulder and clasped his hand in mine.

He began to laugh. "What are you doing?" he asked. "That's not dancing. That's structured movement to music."

I stepped back and placed my hands on my hips. "Then how do you do it?" I asked indignantly.

Sam walked towards me and lifted my right and to meet his, palm to palm. We began walking around each other awkwardly. The music suddenly got louder and Sam put his hands on my hips and lifted me into the air, then spun me around. Placing me back down, we did it again. Then the music got faster, and everyone began cheering. Sam put his right hand on the small of my back and pulled me closer to him, entwining his other hand around mine.

He looked me in the eye. "Don't break eye contact," he muttered. "This is the wedding dance, we've got to seduce each other. Pretend we're… we're… doing-you know."

I raised an eyebrow again. "Well, isn't this a first!" I whispered back. "Sam, are you at a loss for words?"

He squeezed my hand. "You wish, my primrose," he replied, letting go of my hand and dipping me alluringly.

We continued to dance for a good part of the night. There was something about the music that was invigorating and energetic, and made me want to move. We did sit down to eat, where Sam and I sat in the place of honor and given the oldest wine the tribe possessed. I immediately felt guilty that these honors where being bestowed upon me. After all, the Habblah were fawning over me, showing me with gifts and praise, and for what? I wasn't Sam's wife. Although I certainly liked Sam, I'd only known him for a few days. I wouldn't marry him! But of course, they knew none of this.

"Sam," I whispered to him at dinner, "when are you going to tell them that we're not married?"

He turned to me, a smile on his lips. "Am I not a fitting husband?" he replied. "Have I done something to displease you, wife?"

I laughed. "No, no, of course not!" I exclaimed. "I just feel like we're betraying them by lying like this."

"It's their fault," he explained. "They assumed. Just play along, okay? For me? Please?"

I sighed. "Okay," I replied. "It is somewhat fun."

As it got later and later into the night, the music got louder and the air got hotter. The dancing became faster and more seductive. I was enjoying it, although I was sticky with sweat. I tied my hair up with the scarf to keep it from sticking to my back. Sam was no better, his small ponytail was falling out and sticking all over his face.

"You know," Sam said, "you look really attractive in Jocelyn's clothes."

I smiled. "Thank you, Sam," I replied. "I must admit, it's a lot more comfortable than the dresses I typically have to wear."

"Are you considering taking up a gypsy lifestyle, Nora?" he asked.

I laughed. "No, no," I said, distracted. "I've got more important things to do."

"Like what?" Sam asked.

I grinned. "Nothing," I replied.

The night wore on and Sam and I were both growing tired. We began to trudge towards the house, hand in hand, when Sam's friends ran over to us, grinning at him, and started slapping him on the back and punch his shoulders. They began to drag him away from me, as I stood there dumbly, confused.

"Save your energy, Sam," one of them said. "The night is young!"

I paused, unaware of what they were talking about. We can go sleep whenever we want…oh. I was suddenly filled with dread. He didn't think I'd… I mean, he didn't assume we'd… do what people do on their wedding night. Which I was most definitely not going to do with Sam.

Amneris suddenly pounced on me. "Oh, dear Nora!" she cried. "We should go prepare for tonight, no?"

Jocelyn appeared again. "Come on, Nora Rose!" she said, excited. "Come on!"

"No- no, this is- this is a mistake," I replied, trying to pull away from them.

Amneris laughed. "I understand, you're nervous dear. There's nothing to worry about," she said soothingly.

I sighed, remembering what Sam said. "Okay," I replied. "Let's go."

We walked into the house and to a bedroom I'd never seen before. I assumed it was Sam's. Once inside, they closed the door and assaulted me, pulling off the beautiful clothing they'd dressed me in earlier. Pushing me, almost naked, behind a screen, they tossed a nightgown over the top. It was pure white and simple. I reluctantly put it on.

"Good!" Amneris exclaimed when she saw me. "Now, your hair. Virgins should always have their hair down."

I blushed. "Yes, yes of course," I replied softly.

She pulled my hair from the scarf and arranged it around my shoulders elegantly. Then she called to Jocelyn "Come dear," she said. "We must leave the bride to Sam."

They left the room and shut the door, giggling. I sat on the bed huffily. They'd left the scarf on the floor. I immediately picked it and twisted it back into my hair. Then I began looking around the room for my clothes. Damn it, I thought. They've taken them. Boy, was this an awkward situation.

The door suddenly creaked open, and Sam peered in. "Well, well!" he exclaimed. "What have we here?"

I crossed my arms. "Samuel Havanara, this has gone too far," I said. "We need to tell them."

He walked over to me and sat on the bed next to me. "But why?" he asked. "Didn't you think this was fun?"

I nodded. "Yes, I had a wonderful time tonight," I replied. "But pretending we're married…won't your mother be mad when we tell her?"

"Yes, I suppose she will," Sam replied. "But they assumed we were, right? It's not our fault."

"But why'd they presume that? What made them think we were married?" I asked.

Sam laughed again. "Remember when you sat on my horse and I got flustered and almost told you that you couldn't sit like that? In front of me? Between my legs?" Sam asked.

I nodded. "Yes," I said.

"Well, that's a position only man and wife are supposed to sit in," he explained. "Or so the Habblah think. And someone must have seen us riding like that."

"Oh…" I replied. "Oh, dear Lady above, how am I to get out of this situation?"

Sam laughed. "Why do you want to get out of it?" he asked, leaning towards me.

"I'm not your wife, Sam," I said, laughing. "So let's just go to sleep, shall we? Then we'll start off to Jenn tomorrow."

He nodded. "Okay," he replied.

I laid down and snuggled under the covers, my back to him. I felt Sam do the same, and then I heard him sit up again. "Nora?" he said. "I've something to tell you."

"What?" I asked, sitting up.

"I…I haven't been completely honest with you," he said. "There's something you-you should know about me. There's a reason I agreed to take you to Jenn tomorrow."

I smiled. "Okay," I said. "Go ahead."

"You remember when…when I told you that my mother and father had been rival clans? And that they'd fallen in love, and had me?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "You told me that yesterday."

"Well…" Sam said, "that wasn't entirely true. You see my mother… she-she was the daughter of a very famous gypsy king. The king of an island off the coast of Kyrria. It wasn't it's own country, it belonged to Kyrria, but he called himself a king. Anyway, my father was a spy from a rival isle on the Aqueous Sea."

"That's okay, Sam," I replied. "That's not a big deal… you didn't really lie, you just didn't tell the whole truth. And anyway, it doesn't really matter."

"No, Nora Rose," he said. "I'm not finished. After they'd split, I spent time between the two isles, learning how to rule both the Donhash and the Habblah people. That's why I've been to Ayortha and Gitano. My parents thought it'd be best if I learned how to rule the island."

"Sam, it's fine!" I said. "You needn't feel sorry for this."

"No, wait," he replied. "My mother's island was being attacked by pirates on it's coast. So King Charmont sent his knights to protect us. They were called-"

"-the Oderians. They took a bribe from the pirates and allowed the island to be plundered," I finished, awed. "That was your mother's island?"

He nodded. "Yes," he said. "The pirates killed my grandfather."

"I'm sorry," I replied.

"It's okay," he explained. "I just had to tell you… I felt something from you in the woods when we captured you. I felt like…like someone was telling me that you could…help me in some way. I want to avenge the death of my grandfather. And when you said you had to travel to Jenn, I knew it was a way for me to escape my father and find the Oderians."

I sighed. "Sam…there was a reason you felt like that in the woods," I replied. "You see, um, I'm cursed. I've been cursed since I was three months old. My parents are King Charmont and Queen Eleanor. On my sixteenth birthday, I'm supposed to prick my finger on a spinning wheel and go into an eternal sleep until I'm awaken by true love's first kiss."

"What does this have to do with me?" Sam asked.

"I'm getting there!" I cried. "The fairy who cursed me, Lucinda, has recently joined with the Oderians to dethrone and kill Char and Ella. My aunts.. well, they're really my fairy godmothers… they think that if I warn them of the Oderians, it may affect my curse, in a good way. So I'm going to Frell with Sidney, the Ayorthaian prince, and Ophelia, who's a medium. She can talk to the Lady. The three of us, we're going to alert Frell of the Oderians."

"You!" he cried. "You're… you're the lost Kyrrian Princess!"

I nodded. "I know," I replied.

Sam closed his eyes. "Let me get this straight. You're traveling to Frell with an Ayorthaian prince and a medium to save the kingdom of Kyrria and defeat the Oderians?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "And you're going to Frell to defeat the Oderians to avenge the death of your grandfather?"

He jumped off the bed and beckoned for me to do so as well. I walked to the foot of the bed, where Sam set me up, standing. Then he bowed down in front of me. "Princess Eleanor, majesty," he said. "Please allow me to accompany you on your journey to Frell. I promise to provide safety and loyalty to my king and queen, as well as you, their wonderful daughter, in the name of the Goddess."

I smiled. "Arise, Sir Samuel Havanera of Kyrria," I replied. "I, as the Princess and sworn daughter of King Charmont, Queen Eleanor, and the Lady herself, thank you generously for your offer and gladly accept."

Sam stood up and kissed my hand. "Thank you, princess," he said.

"Please, Sam," I replied. "Call me Nora. It's obvious that I'm no princess."

A/n: Pretty exciting chapter. It was fun to write too. Anyway, I'll have the next one up in a few days… REVIEW!!