Meaningless Conversation:

Guess it's written on my face

God I get so sick of this place

I gotta get up, Get out and get a life

The days run long, the nights too short

Not much time for me no more

And I'm well overdue

So Now I'm Going to...

Thea paused in her song when she saw a flash of color out of the corner of her eye. Prince Jason was standing by the stall door. Shadow looked at him with what looked like annoyance, her grooming and musical had been disturbed.

"Sorry. Um don't let me disturb you, keep singing, or else I think your mare will try and attack me."

"Shadow is harmless" Thea replied while caressing her beloved horse with the soft bristles of the brush. "And I was just about finished up anyway", she straightened up, collected the grooming brushes, and walked out of the stall, where the annoyed mare was establishing dominance over the bucket of oats.

There was an uncomfortable silence as she put away the brushes and shut the stall door. The Prince walked in step with her as she left the stables through the main entrance. It wasn't until they were out of the stables that the prince spoke.

"Was it true? What you were singing about?"

"I never speak a lie let alone sing one, it's a bad habit" Thea replied, the tension was broken and she smiled and continued "I do have to get out of here someday. I can't stay here forever, but for some reason I have not been able to get myself to stray to far. This has been the a refuge for me since I got here and I guess if I leave and come back that feeling would not be that same"

Thea realized what she had just done. She came close to opening up to him! The only person she had ever been open to was Pete. 'I don't even know him' she thought to herself, 'he seems like someone I can talk to, that's why, I'll have to be careful around him, how do I know if I can trust him?' But as much as she wanted to open up to him, she resisted the strange new urge and changed the subject before he could say anything else about her.

"So how do you like my humble home?" The Prince recognized the abrupt change in her and wondered why. He also noticed the way she had been talking about this place, like she was hiding from something, but he decided not to say anything about it yet, and play by her rules. He knew that she was not very comfortable around him, so he turned his thoughts to her question.

"Its very peaceful here, I like it I really do, it's like a symbol of love and hard work and it's most definitely not like other places. So who are all the villagers, I mean not every one would just walk into the forbidden forest, where did you find such brave people?"

Thea walked in silence for a moment, pondering the question. "They where just people from all over that needed love and could handle hard work" she replied using some of his own words to form a statement that wasn't a lie but also didn't give anything away. Or at least she thought she hadn't given anything away.

"They were bandits weren't they?"

Thea stopped in mid step, her eyes gray with surprise. "How did you know?"

"I guessed, don't worry I don't think anyone else has caught on...yet." Thea stared at him, her eyes made another drastic change to an aqua of confusion. The prince answered her silent question as shivers went up his spine at seeing the change. "You didn't strike me as the greedy, think about yourself type of girl, so when you where made that we were intruding upon your lovely home, it didn't take me long to figure out it was the people you didn't want us to meet, so I kind of just guessed."

Thea nodded, her eyes returning to their neutral gold and she started back towards the manor. Then she thought of something. "What makes you think I'm not the 'greedy think of myself' type of girl?"

"Well a couple of reasons actually. First you saved my family the first day we where here, even though you hate strangers and dreaded are coming" Thea lifted an eyebrow at this, the prince smiled. "When you had gone to get shadow from the Goddesses temple, Pete told us"

"So he's telling people my secrets, I'll have to confront him about that, but anyway continue, I believe you were explaining my lack of self want and greed."

"Oh yes, then continue I will. Second you jumped out of a flaming building by busting through a big window, not protecting yourself but a baby, who, if you where only thinking of yourself, you would have left the baby and walked out the door before it was overwhelmed by flames"

"So it looks like you got me all figured out doesn't it? And yet I hardly no you at all, now why is that?" But before he could answer they came upon the Manor where the prince's party was getting ready to leave. The two of them walked up to the small gathering just in time to hear Pete tell the king that he and Thea would be go to town tomorrow morning. Thea walked up to Pete, "We are? Since when?"

Pete just stared at her as if she was supposed to know, but after a moment he sighed and replied "Since you told the Baron you'd sing after dinner for the guests, even if you did so reluctantly and with a little persuasion from me, you should still remember."

"Persuasion my ass, you tricked me into doing it."

"Yap, well life's tough isn't?" Thea just playfully glared at him, remembering how he had said that he hadn't played a particular card game that Thea had learned from the townsmen it a long while, but he ended up being real good at the game, therefore she lost the bet and had to sing for the Baron and his guests.

"I still don't know why you want me to sing there, there is no reason to, there are other singers in that town you know, I should know, I taught a lot of them."

"I have my reasons" Thea sighed, having heard this many times before, but never understanding his reasons, at least not at the time.

"Oh, well I guess I'll see you all tomorrow then, goodbye you're majesty, your highness, lioness and all you other important people. I'm hungry some I'm leaving now" At that She turned and walked towards the Manor's back doors that, sure enough, lead to the kitchens.

Pete bowed respectfully to the nobles and apologized "I'm sorry for her rudeness, but the only time I tried to teach her to bow, she tricked me into bowing again and again until I was in the right position for her to kick me in the face. After that I never bothered, she's to stubborn for her own good, but I love her anyway." These statements caused chuckles from the small group as the mounted their mounts and said their own goodbyes.

In all the noise, no one notice the man standing in the shadows, staring in wonder, with a mischievous smile upon his thin lips, causing his face to look inhumanly ugly and evil.

A/N:

heeheehahoo and rainmage much thanks for the reviews keep them coming