NOTES: I decided to to this at the begining this time :)

Tracy: blushing Thanks!

chava: I understand what you mean, but in part is why I'm keeping this in ffn and not in fictionpress, so I can do things against the cannon. And about Rafer, well, just wait and read.

 Natalie: I love Rafer too, especially since he is - physically - based in a hot dure I saw in the school caferia the other day  ;)

LindyLou78: Yes, Rafer is a bit of a slut... the woman in his room has not importance whatsoever. And yes, Rafer likes Marit but, as Merle says, Rafer likes anything that's young and female. Think of him as the guy who has had a lot of sex but never made love... uh, that sounds familiar... where did I said that before? mind goes blank for a sec okay, never mind...

Jammi: Thanks! Hey! and I promise a better teaser of next chapter soon in the MCBC (even when Sazzy says tht Teaser is spelled T-o-r-t-u-r-e :D )

Kat: Actually, think of Nathaniel as a fairy godfather. His role is yet to come ;)

Okay, I think that's it... On with the chapter

WIND WARRIORS

Chapter Four: Luck Be a Lady

Rafer

Oh yes! I was pushing it, but it was all Merle's fault. She goes to my room, kisses me like she means –granted, after a bit of coaxing – and then says kissing me was disgusting and repulsive. But I know she wasn't thinking either of those things when her tongue was rubbing and teasing mine. She was enjoying it, I could tell- a girl doesn't kiss you like she means it if she is not enjoying it. And yeah, maybe I did got a little carried away but, again, it was all her fault, Merle tasted like that chocolate she is always eating and she has gotten good at kissing too… not that I was going to let her know that but still.

Anyway, yes, I was pushing it. I wanted to annoy her and since I knew she as already vexed with the ball we were throwing to "welcome" Prince Blake; well I thought of just annoy her a little bit more. And the best part was that Mother totally went for it. There I was, telling mom how it wasn't proper for Merle to wear the knight's gala-uniform at the dance, and how she would never find a good suitor if she attended every dance in uniform and so on. And mom bought it. She was all:

"You're so totally right! And as her closest family – I mean, Donovan and Roger act like brothers, anyway – is our duty to make sure little Merle is introduced to good society. Did you know she didn't have a coming out ball? I know Marit had one, her grandmother threw one in Seaside for her, but Merle didn't have one." Mom rambled on. That was the thing about Queen Dana, she could talk water uphill. "Anyway," she said after ten minutes, "this ball is the perfect opportunity."

I was very pleased with myself, I knew Merle didn't like dresses, she hadn't wore one – to my knowledge at least – since her mother's funeral, I knew she only wore dresses to please her mother. And I was amusing myself thinking what kind of dress mother would pick for Merle – probably something outdated and pink – when I heard Merle call me...

"You little scum bag!" That was her favorite endearment for me.

I was about to go down the stairs to meet father and his council so I chose to wait for Merle to catch up with me. Father wouldn't be pleased if I was on time, he likes to think I'm a good for nothing.

As I waited for Merle I couldn't stop noticing what I had noticed the other night too: Merle still was everything she was while growing up: all hot temper and feisty belligerence, only that those qualities were now wrapped in a much softer, girly package. That night outside of my room, it had been impossible not to notice the second I saw her standing there in her summer nightgown. This new realization had made me kiss her; it had made me lose control.

"You called, dear?" I said when she stopped in front of me.

"How could you?"

"What? I haven't done a thing." Merle hated when I play innocent.

"You know what you did!" Your mother just convinced my father and yours that I shouldn't wear my uniform at the dance. I earned the right to wear that uniform! I've been working my butt off for the last three years serving the guard and this kingdom. I take pride in my uniform but now, thanks to you, I can't wear it."

"It's just an outfit," I said, "And mom really only wants to make sure you get a good suitor."

"You despicable rat!" Merle yelled while trying to punch me in the face, but I caught her hand.

"I believe the words were 'disgusting' and 'repulsive'. What can I say, honey? I'm just trying to live up to it."

That wasn't such a good idea since Merle freed her hand and turned, hitting me on the stomach with her elbow. "I hate you!" she said frustrated, storming down the stairs.

"What else is new, sweetheart?" I asked, speaking pass the pain in my abdomen, for such a little thing – the top of her head barely reached around my chin -she could hit pretty hard.

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Merle

Rafer thought wearing a dress would upset me and he was right, though no for the reasons I guess he had guessed. In general, I don't mind dresses; I'm comfortable with them, for the most part at least. The thing was that I had worked hard to belong – first to the guard and later to be made a knight. It took me forever to get the rest of the knights to take me seriously without parading around in a dress, set aside by my gender.

And there was the added plus of Blake –the royal idiot. Blake with his feral grins and the insolent looks he shot me whenever I caught him looking at my breasts, something he did fairly often. He had even pinched my butt once, claiming that my ass looked 'fine' in my raiding trousers and he hadn't been able to contain himself. Blake was the kind of man who treated women like pieces of meat… and most women let him. But I wasn't most women.

I was determinate to look hideous for the dance. I'm no dog, I look fairly decent when I clean up bit and make an effort but I was willing to do anything to avoid Blake looking my way. But that didn't work as planned because: a) Queen Dana provided the dress I was to wear, it was of a deep red-wine color – the same color of the jackets of the uniform knight wore – made in silk, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever owned. And b) Marit insisting of making me look beautiful so I could find a good suitor.

Everyone seemed obsessed, suddenly, with finding me a husband. Why? I did not know.

Beautiful I did not felt. The heel shoes were too uncomfortable compared to my riding boots; my hair was pulled back and up so tight that I couldn't even frown without giving myself serious pain and I'm sure Marit was trying to dig a hole in my skull with the hairpins she had used to do my hair.

But as I stepped into the ballroom, walking in procession with the rest of the knights, I tried to appear confident, not letting show how much I hated my shoes or how mad I was at Rafer and that I wanted to kill Blake when I caught him staring at my cleavage.

As the night progressed, I was doing a good job staying away from Blake's reach; hanging with Mike and John and Enya and Amber. When my companions went to dance with each other, I sat there, content with just watching.

"Hey, Mer!" A friendly voice called.

"Oh, hi Josh!" I said happy. Joshua Kiada was the youngest prince of the Fireland Royal Family, he resided in the Windam Palace, he's main job as little prince was escort shipments and merchants back and forth through Fireland's territory, making sure they passed safely through the many guardian dragons of the land – who would not harm people born in Fireland but would only obey an order from a royal. The dragons were growing restless and wary lately… they claimed the "natural equilibrium" of things was at stake, but wouldn't say what that meant.

Anyhow, Could City was the middle point in the trading route between Fireland and Seaside, as such, Josh lived in the Windam's palace, going to Fireland and coming back every other week; he wasn't even considered a guest anymore.

"How are you faring?" He asked politely.

"Drop the formality, Joshie. But I'm fine, thank you. Though I know you aren't concerned about me but about certain lady with blond hair and… what was the word you used? Oh, yes, 'bewitching' golden eyes."

"So, where is she?" Josh asked hopefully, his whole face lighting up just with the mention of Amber. He was so far gone that he didn't even try to deny it.

"She is with Mike, but don't worry, I know for a fact that he hasn't got any kind of intentions towards her."

I saw Josh mood go down a bit… and I knew I had to play matchmaker or Amber and Josh would just never get over their shyness and actually speak to the other. "Come, dance this one with me." I said when a new piece of music started and I saw Amber stop by the refreshments table. I had just cooked up a plan.

Though reluctantly, Josh agreed. We hadn't been waltzing for more than two minutes when we passed by Amber's side and I cried: "Oh! My foot!" coming to an abrupt stop.

"What's wrong?" Amber asked coming closer to Josh and me.

"I think I hurt my ankle-thingy or something; new shoes you know. But I'll be fine, just do me a favor and be a sweet and dance with Josh here, please?" I was talking so fast I didn't even have time to stop for breath, "You will? Thanks!" and with that I gently pushed her in Josh direction.

"Uh… Wou- would you like to dance?" Josh asked, overcoming his shock over my little scheme and speaking slowly, trying not to stumble with his words, something he did sometimes out of nervousness when he was around Amber.

Amber blushed a bit but said: "Okay." In that shy little voice of hers, taking Josh's hand.

I smiled at my triumph, thinking that, if everything else failed, I could take over Lady Morton's job as the town's matchmaker.

But one thing that I had not considerate in my cunning plan was that without Amber and Josh, I was all alone, which provided perfect opportunity for Blake to come and start chatting with me...

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Nobody

Rafer didn't quite know how he had ended in that particular weapon's drill with Blake, but he was fairly sure it had been all Merle's fault. She had been with Blake, though for her expression it was easy to tell she'll rather be eating nails than with Blake. So he, Rafer, had approached just to hear that Blake was trying to convince her to have a swordfight with him and if he won then Merle would kiss him.

"Excuse me, your highness, but I'm not much of a swordfighter… so I won't dare to take up the challenge." Merle was saying politely but she was clearly annoyed. Well, it was clear to Rafer that she was annoyed… other people, namely Blake, seemed obvious.

"Oh, what a shame." Blake said. "I fancied testing your skill."

Rafer had been around the block enough to know that Blake wasn't talking about Merle's sword fighting skills. And, before he knew what he was doing or why, Rafer caught himself saying: "Don't be so sad, Blake." Since they had the same title Rafer didn't need to refer to him as 'Prince' or 'Your Highness' "If you want to engage in a friendly match, I'm all yours. Though I rather not have to kiss her," Rafer nodded towards Merle, "when I win."

"So sure you are?" Blake asked. "So much you trust your luck?"

"I've never needed luck, Blake; I've always depended on skill. Now, what do you say? A little sword-fighting to open the appetite before diner?"

Of course, Blake took the challenge.

While everyone was watching the two princes fight – and clearly it wasn't all that 'friendly' a match – King Roger took the opportunity to discuss with Donovan Raleigh something that had been in his mind all day… he thought it was a stroke of genius.

"I think it's perfect, Donovan." King Roger said in a hushed, conspirational tone; trying to convince his friend.

"I don't know, Roger." Donovan finally answered to Roger's last statement. "I mean, they fight all the time. Do you think that would change just because they marry? I don't thing so."

"But it would be perfect for the kingdom. My people adore Merle; she would make a great queen for Rafer. She has all the qualities Rafer has not and that are essential to rule a country. I don't expect Rafer to show much interest in ruling when he becomes king and that would be the ruin of my people unless they have a capable queen. Merle is perfect for that. The natural choice."

"Roger, you have been my best friend all of my life, this is why I will be blunt. For one you don't give Rafer enough credit. And for two, I won't marry my daughter off to someone she doesn't love just so you can secure your kingdom's well being. I won't give her up like that."

"You wouldn't be giving her up. Think about it, Donovan. Your daughter could be queen, what else can you possibly want for her?"

Donovan sighed; Roger had spoken like what he was: a man that had married for politics. Sure, Roger had come to love Dana but it wasn't quite the same; and Donovan knew it, having felt once before the unbearable pain and debasing joy of falling in love. "I don't know." Donovan admitted. "But whatever that is, it will be her choice, I won't push her to marriage. Not to your son or to anyone."

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Rafer

"Heels are a Bitch!" I heard a familiar voice coming from the maze in the middle of the palace interior garden. I was in the fountain, located in the center of said maze, with my boots and socks off, dipping my feet in the cold water. "Oh!" Merle said with surprise when she saw me, "I didn't know there was someone in here."

"New shoes?" I asked; pointing at the pair of high heeled shoes she was carrying in one of her hands.

She nodded and I noticed her hair wasn't in the elaborated style it had been before, now it was messy and some of the hairpins that had been keeping her hair in place were missing. "What about you? New boots?"

I nodded and patting the space next to me in the rim of the fountain I said: "Come, the water feels good. I guess that's why you came here."

"Yep." She said moving closer but then stopped as if she had suddenly remembered something. "Why are you being nice to me?"

I shrugged. "Call it a truce. We are bonding over sore feet."

"I can do that," Merle said, smiling for real. She sat down next to me and dipped her own feet in the water of the fountain, the hem of her dress getting wet. After sighing contently, she started to remove the hairpins of her hair. "I think Marit was trying to dig a hole in my skull with these things." She said conversationally, feeling around for a couple of pins she hadn't find and were still holding the hair back from her face. "Could you-" she started to say but I was already reaching out and pulling the hairpins out of her hair.

This time I smiled, I had never seen such expression of utter bliss on a woman's face like the one that was on Merle's face. Okay, I had… but it had involved a lot more than the removal of hair accessories… "Thanks." Merle's voice pulled me out of my train of thought.

We stayed in silence for a while; she was playing with the blue stripe of silk that crossed her chest and back, the Windam's monogram was embroiled on it, every knight of the kingdom got a band like that when they were awarded the rank. It was what they had to show for their status. I, as a Windam, was wearing a band very much like Merle's only that mine was made on silk of the same color of her dress.

"You really like being a knight, don't you?" I asked.

In the silence I had started to notice things like how nice her hair had felt beneath my hands, the shade of purple her eyes took under the moonlight… that kind of things, things I had no business thinking. So I spoke just to distract myself from those thoughts.

"Yes." Merle said but did not elaborate.

"You must really like the adventure of it all." I pressed on the topic, it worked.

"You think I do this for adventure?" she snapped.

"If not for adventure, why do you do it?"

Merle remained quiet for a while and just when I thought she wasn't going to answer she did. "Do you remember that my mom was sick for a long time before she died?" She asked but didn't give me time to answer. "I saw my mom fight for weeks and months against a disease a battle she couldn't win. I watched helpless, without being able to do anything to help her, to make it go away… to just make it stop hurting. It scared the hell out of me… it made me feel so powerless…useless."

"You were nine; there was nothing you could have done." I assured her.

Merle looked down at her hands. "Maybe." She whispered. "When I joined the Guard, I didn't do it for adventure. I did it because I wanted to convince myself I wasn't so useless… that I could do something, anything… that there were monsters I could kill."

"I always thought you just liked the trips." I confessed, trying to match her honesty.

"No, I hate the trips." she said laughing a little. "Whenever I'm away from here all I can think of is the Valley," Merle closed her eyes, breathing deeply. "I think of the way dawn breaks over Cloud City, the story tellers in the market, the murmur of Romney Forest when the wind moves between the trees, carrying messages from one to the other… and jumping head first into the river in the hot days… I hate being away from here."

"I know what you mean. The second I set foot beyond the borders I felt like I was living part of me behind. Each moment I spent in Seaside was torture…" I had been sent to Seaside as and ambassador, that's what father had said anyway, he just wanted to keep me away from mother- he thinks she spoils me –so I learned to be a 'man', whatever that meant. And so his Majesty King Roger sent me away for two full years.

"I bet you heard it too."

"What?"

"The Wind." She said. "You heard the wind call out your name, claiming your spirit."

"How do you know?" I asked. That was a pretty accurate definition of what I had felt; what I feel each time I'm not within the borders of the Windam Valley.

"I feel it too. Is like a pull on your pit of your stomach telling you something is not right… that you're not where you are meant to be... where you belong."

"I thought I was crazy." I said shaking my head.

"You are, I'm pretty sure you're crazy but not for that."

I laughed. After a while Merle said: "I better get going. I have to find Marit and dad so I can go home." And stood, stepping out of the fountain. "About this truce thing…it was nice" she said before starting to walk away from me, "But don't go thinking that I like you or anything like that." I knew by her tone she was not trying to offend me, in fact, I was beginning to think Merle didn't hate me half as much as she claimed…

"I wouldn't dare to think such thing." I said fake-shocked and she grinned. I should have let her go like that, but something beyond me made me reach out and catch her arm. "What? Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" I asked innocently.

"Well, I guess I do owe you something for saving me from kissing Blake." She sighed and leaned into me, brushing her lips against mine.

As far as kisses went it shouldn't have even counted. It was an innocent little kiss. But it lasted long enough to leave the taste of her in my lips: chocolate and the promise of something sweeter…something that, if I wasn't careful, I just might end up wanting.

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End of Chapter Four

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