You guys are ever so kind. I love you all! Okay just got a little emotional there. I suppose it would help if I told you what I am so thankful for.

Flamingirl- okey dokey this is a long one so prepare yourself. Alright well Ricky is just a nickname that everyone decided to give to Derek. Well this isn't as long as I thought it would be. Hmm. Well I could put Colin in as an extra some more if you want. Ya nice observation! Well I love long reviews so keep it coming! I use dude a lot when I'm talking too!

Shadowed Ambience- It is kind of…empty as you said. At least for now. At the moment Paige and Kyle are the romance parts of the story. Kind of. Well you could give me a concussion so then I wouldn't be able to update! Lol! Gosh, I think of the stupidest things to say. I'll try. Oh and you do like my other story right. And here's a hint. My HP story will be updated probably two or three days before WUAS is so if you don't review I can postpone the updating for this story! Lol. No I won't…well maybe. Just don't take that chance! ;)

Jyska- I am such a dork. I was waiting for you to review before I updated but then I was just like screw it and updated anyways. Yea my family gets that way too. I sit here typing and they are yelling at me to get off. They don't understand how important it is to me to type for you guys. But my next couple of chapters will be a bit before coming out. I got so much d'mn homework and everything. They assign everything in this month I swear. And exams…ugh I barely have time to breathe! So yea. But this chapter I hope is coming out soon so that you guys aren't waiting super long to see the end of the (yea it's spelled this way) duel.

Ahhhh- Ahhh I am! I don't know what else to type to you so, just thanks for adding more reviews to my list!

Belle Quest- yea it was. I will get more into that in this chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

SnitchWitch123- Great. He is DEFINITELY an interesting installment. I wasn't originally going to have him in my story but I came up with this idea and pow it just hit me. I am getting way off of the title of my story though! Oh well I am not changing it now. 'Oh no! get a life saver!' 'Do you want cherry or lime?' 'There is no time for that, you idiot! Just get me whatever you've got!' 'Well I got a big huge one over there.' 'Well go get it! Stop standing there! We need it now!' Well there is a little dialogue for you. Kind of stupid but hey who cares! Yea check it out. I think it is pretty good.

Heather a.k.a. Shards of Dawn- yea I know. It was my brilliant plan my brain hatched. It is going to turn out cool. Every story has to have a villain don't you think? I won't say but mine will be coming up soon. Or clues to the villain will anyways. Thanks!

Spicy-eab- I am sooooooooooo happy you like it! I will try to update as soon as I can.

Kat- Don't worry I won't be adding any more guys. Maybe a girl or two but that's it. Sorry bout that. Just tell me parts where I should be less/more descriptive and I can go and change it. I really like doing those parts so I hope they are good! Thanks for the help!

Alright, well thanks for the reviews! I really do love them. So here is another chapter!

The Duel

Walt and Derek faced off and started to circle each other as before. They started to jab at each other. They never hit each other. Rain started to sprinkle down on us. Other groups of people began to leave to avoid getting wet but the two boys didn't seem to notice.

Derek looked to be panting slightly from the combined efforts of this fight and his previous one. Walt took this to his advantage and went around the circle faster. Soon Derek got so tired he began to slow up and Walt caught up to him. They soon began fighting awfully fast. Their swords clashed every two seconds and never let up. Soon the rain was pounding on our heads but no one gave any sign of leaving.

I was beginning to worry about them. They could accidentally slip in the mud and slice each other. I started to make a motion to stop them from fighting but Colin held me back and said no. "This is a fight for glory. Don't mess them up." He told me. So I held back.

Soon though Derek did slip on the mud and fell to the ground. Walt looked upon him laughingly.

"So, you can't even stand a little rain. How pathetic." He said and raised his sword. He had a maniac-like look in his eye and I couldn't hold back this impulse. I grabbed a sword. Colin tried to stop me but I slipped away.

I put the sword underneath of Walt's so that he couldn't hurt Derek. While I distracted Walt, Derek got up.

"I see you can't even fight your own battles. You have to have your little girlfriend do that for you huh? This is just disgusting." He spat and threw down his sword and turned to walk away. I looked after him but didn't follow.

"I'm sorry. I should have let you fight. You must be ashamed now. But when I saw he was going to hurt you I…couldn't stop myself." I choked out quietly. The rain muffled my words but he still heard them.

He gave me a weak smile. "That's alright. At least I know…" and he trailed off. I didn't notice. I had knelt down to pick up the sword that he dropped. I looked at it. It was very detailed. Derek's name was there and blue gems were on it.

"Why are there so many blue gems here?" I asked.

"Oh, that stands for the month of my birthday. I was born in September." He said and began to help me from the ground. But I, being as klutzy as I am, fell when I was reaching for his hand that I got my dress all muddy. I looked at him and burst out laughing. He sat down next to me laughing too.

"Derek! Now you are muddy too!" I said to him in a fake scolding voice.

"I am sorry milady. I was simply trying to help you get up." He said and lifted me out of the mud with his arms underneath me legs and my back. I looked around and saw that the grounds were almost deserted. But since it was still raining hard, I couldn't be sure. Then I noticed why I was in the air and began to blush. I felt Derek's toned body through his soaked clothes. I shivered and jumped down from his arms.

"I am sorry. You must be freezing." Derek said. I realized that he felt me shiver and I didn't want to hurt him by telling him the real reason why I shivered, so I said yea.

I took off my shoes and stockings to feel the mud squished in between my toes. "I will race you to the castle." I challenged him.

"Are you sure? You don't want to hurt…I mean, that is if you are up to the challenge of losing." He said arrogantly.

"I think that will be more of a challenge for you Derek." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Are you ready?" he asked.

"I was born ready." I said before taking off.

"Hey!" Derek yelled and soon was following me.

I kept running and looking behind me to see that he wasn't gaining on me when I stepped on a twig. It punctured into my foot and really hurt.

"Ow! Stupid twig!" I yelled while falling to the ground. Derek caught up and stopped beside me.

"Be a gentleman and help me up!" I barked to him. He jumped into action.

"Better take you to Mandy to make sure you are alright." He said and he lifted me up and put my arm around his neck and he put his arm around my waist to help me walk inside.

"Won't we be quite a site when we walk in there." I said to him looking at our mud stained clothes and my bleeding foot.

"Oh don't worry. At the next ball people will probably show up with dirt on their clothes as a sign that they are up-to-date with the new look worn by royals." I laughed at that.

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Mandy wrapped my foot and said I would be alright if I didn't pressure it too much. Turns out that I sprained my ankle slightly when I fell. Lately I have just been injuring myself. Even Mandy said jokingly that she would have to get a room for me alone in her servant's quarter so she will be able to fix me up right away.

At dinner that evening everyone made me their business by asking how I was and questioning me on my other previous injuries. Derek eventually made them leave me to eat my meal in peace.

Walt sat as far away from us as possible. Kyle and Paige sat across from me and were playing footsies all night. I know because Kyle accidentally nudged my foot at the beginning of dinner.

I looked around but I didn't see Lord Stephan. I was trying to find out more about him, so that I would have some clue to what it meant when I saw him in my journal. I asked Derek where he was.

"Um, Lord Stephan? I have never heard of him." He said with a confused look. He must be from another area. I will find out more about him soon.

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May 29,

I have had a very exciting day. Derek and I went out to the training grounds this morning and he and Walt got into a duel. Walt was about to win but I prevented him from doing that. Walt got mad and walked off. Derek and I had fun afterwards until I hurt my foot. Well I guess my day wasn't THAT exciting but it was fun, for a while. I will write soon.

I was about to go to bed when there was a knock on the door. It was a letter from mum and dad.

Dear Ria,

This is so unexpected, but we need you to come home right away. We think your mum is going into an early labor and we want you here when the baby is born. We will tell you the details when you get here.

Love,

Dad

Oh my!

I know. Dumb cliffhanger. My next chapters will be shorter than usual for a while. Alright and Ria's mum conceived in March and now it is nearly June so I think she could go into labor early couldn't she? If not she is now. So as I have said in my other story I won't be updating except on Sundays since that is the only free day for doing w/e you gave up for lent. I will try to update my HP story for those of you who are reading it, but I might not get a chance to. So there is my big ole speech and I hope you guys understand.

Very Faithful,

whiskeygirl

p.s. I know this was really short as well and I am very sorry about that.