Blah. I'm bored. At least I got this done! On to the reviews!

Nightfall2525: More like 3 weeks. lol

Dark Magician Girl: Thank you!

Beginner150: Very interesting. You know, we should all go find Frost and slap him.

Willgirl: I'll try.

KaliAnn: Ah, thank you! ((gets all warm inside))

godoflight: Thanks!

Veronica: Domo Arigatou!

firevixen73: Thank you.

glorwen: Wow. Just, wow.

Slash Goddess Connla: YAY!

jix: Thanks.

Hollow Stare: Slap! Slap! hehe

manga girl234: Alrighty then!

Cat: Okie dokie!

witchlover: Working on it!

Hoshiko Megami: Thank you.

Chapter 5

Decisions and Attractions

The steady sound of steps made their way to their destination. Will's mind wandered away from the endless halls to other areas of the castle. Where were Vathek and Aldorn? Were they still in the dungeon or were they in the reestablished prison, the one that Elyon had once erased from existence? Were they even alive? If they were, what was Phobos planning to do to them? And why were all these people staring at her and giving her odd looks when they passed by!

Indeed, several times when they passed by anyone, be it a Whisperer, a Metamoorian, or a human, they would all glance at her for a moment, then do a double-take. If they were in groups of two or more, the small entourage would all start muttering to each other, looking at her and pointing in a not so unobvious way. It was starting to really irritate her.

When yet another person, this time a creature that looked like a blue gecko with orange spots and chartreuse eyes, looked back at her and pointedly stared for the umpteenth time, Will gave him a very annoyed glare. Lizard-man yelped and scurried away as fast as he could on his two short legs. Will sighed, satisfied.

"We're here," spoke Kaena, bringing the teenager out from her moment of glory. Surprised, she almost ran into Nasuun and looked up. Tall doors, the color of the setting sun, stretched up toward the vast ceiling. It was ornately decorated, with various carvings of the equine species: images of battles on horseback, stallions, mares, and foals dotted all around. Quite a few of them were in mock fight stances. All of them looked very real and would have galloped of the door if not for one little problem: the "horses" were engraved into the wood.

She whistled. "Wow," Will said, astonished.

Nonchalantly, Kaena lifted her hand up and pushed gently against the smooth timber. That one light push was all it took for the door to open up to a bustling yard of grooms, riders, and, of course, the horses. Neighs and voices combined into one rambunctious melody.

Mouth open, Will followed the two as they stepped out from the shadow of the doorway and into the light of day.

The sound of the large stable yard intensified to point where was comfortable for human ears to handle. Various horses, all of them different colors from black to bay, gray and chestnut, were the source of the "music" she was now listening to.

Out of nowhere, there was a shrill cry form one the horses just down the yard. It was familiar, as if it were-

"Phoenix!" she exclaimed, recognizing the buckskin body of her horse rearing back and charging out of a stall just up ahead. He had a leather halter on his head with a cotton lead attached. At the end of his rope (pun intended), there were about 3 grooms, all pulling and trying to get the massive horse out.

Off to the side was a Metamoorian with a black eye and his left foot was in a huge cast. In his hand he held a whip, which was being slapped against his other hand. In his eyes, the thirst for revenge was ravenous and he yelled to his buddies, "Hurry up and bring him out! We're burning daylight and he still needs to be broke!"

"Hey, leave him alone!" she shouted out impulsively. Sprinting, Will ran across the cobblestones in the direction of the group. Several faces turned and stared at the red-haired Guardian.

Phoenix heard her voice and wildly looked toward Will. Upon seeing her, he threw up his head and let out another piercing cry. Fighting, he reared up again and struck out at his captors, finally knocking them all down. With a swift buck, he pushed Cast-Man out of the way to get to her. Running at a flowing canter, the handsome stallion stopped just in time to not run over her. Will wrapped her arms around his long, sweaty neck and held tight to him, almost too afraid to let go.

"Oy! What do you think you're doing, Lady?" yelled one of the younger handlers. He looked somewhat human, with mango eyes and a thatch of curly hair the same color. He shouted again. "That horse is crazy!"

"He is not crazy! He's mine!" she shouted back, claiming Phoenix as her own.

"He belongs to the rebel leader! There is no way that he is…"

"What's going on here?" questioned a voice that came from the shadow of the doorway to the castle. Everyone, Nasuun and Kaena included, turned around to see who it was.

Phobos stepped forward into the sunlight that filled the stable yard. In the blink of an eye, everyone, excluding Will, knelt down and bowed to him. She, on the other hand, just stood and looked around with a puzzled expression on her visage. She had finally stopped clutching the majestic horse's neck in favor of standing next to him on his right, with one hand on his warm shoulder.

The king watched her and decided that the dress the Whisperers had chosen suited her very nicely. It was modest and tight, demure and revealing. Giveth and taketh away. And if he thought she looked beautiful when she had been dirty and in rags, there was without a doubt in his mind that now, Will looked as ethereal as a goddess or a nymph. She now certainly fit the role as the future Queen of Kandrakar.

Will almost stopped breathing as Phobos repeated his earlier question. "What's going on here?"

Cast-Man answered first. "This here is the rebel leader's horse, we were told, Your Highness. Then this…wench," Will's face darkened with rage at the word, "claims that this here crazy beast is hers!" he said.

Phobos' eyes danced with mirth. He started chuckle, amused that they didn't know who the former Guardian is, was, and will be.

"Roco…Do you know who this 'wench', as you so kindly put it, is?"

So Cast-Man has a name, thought Will.

"Uh, no, Your Majesty," answered Roco, bowing his rather fat head with respect and a fear that was poorly hidden. Funny – that same fear seemed to be on all their faces.

"She is the rebel leader. And in the past, Will was one of the Guardians of the Veil. In fact, she holds the Heart of Kandrakar in her body."

Will blushed as several faces twisted in her direction and were beginning to stare at her openmouthed, apparently no believing what they were seeing. It was a strange thing for them, for they had been raised in a world where woman were inferior to men (with an exception for the former Queens of Meridian). To see that the famed leader of the rebellion was a girl shocked them. Yet if you took into account that she was a former Guardian, they weren't surprised.

Phobos continued to watch Will from the corner of a blue eye that looked like it had been chiseled from ice. He watched has elegant hands brushed along the buckskin's shoulder in a kind, but firm fashion. He observed as she tried to ignore the skeptical looks she was receiving. He also noticed the gentle movements of her body, strong and feminine, the markings of a true queen.

A stray thought flitted across his mind.

What would it be like to possess such a creature like her?

Something clicked in his head with an idea that could solve the current problem of deciding what to do with the rebels. And it would bring more power to him since she was to be Kandrakar's ruler. Besides all that, Phobos always had appreciated fine items and Will was most certainly a thing of beauty, from her sunset hair to her deep brown eyes, her buff arms to her toned legs and everything else in between. Why not claim as his own?

Will was fidgeting under Phobos' odd and intense gaze, which was starting to make her feel very self-conscious right about now. Add in all the other annoying looks and you would say that you were beginning to feel creeped out, too. Instead, Will began to busy herself with Phoenix's obsidian mane, ignoring the whispers all around her.

"You are all dismissed," commanded Phobos with a wave of his hand.

All the grooms scattered like rats, quickly putting away any horses that were still out and cleaning up the stable yard in record time. In two minutes, all that were left were the two Whisperers, Phobos, Phoenix, and herself. Occasionally, there was a neigh from a steed in one of the stalls, but besides that there was silence.

"Kaena. Nasuun. Leave," Phobos spoke curtly to the contrasting duo. In turn, they both nodded respectively and identically, turned around, and left the two of them and the horse alone.

Will wanted to yell to their retreating backs, "Don't leave me!" but she kept quiet, afraid to invoke any rage from the man in front of her. That man also just happened to be of a land that had once been ruled solely by queens.

Queen…

Why did that word sound so familiar? Just the thought of it made her feel a little faint. She tried to remember something that was just out of her mental reach. The ghosts of memories taunted and jeered at her like phantoms intent on frustrating her. They would dart away and when she tried to grab at them, they vanished into wisps of time. Nothing was clear to her anymore.

Phobos' words broke her from her erratic thoughts and jolted her back down to Metamoor. She was surprised to find that he was standing right next to her and looked to be observing and assessing Phoenix, judging him on his quality, conformation, and strength.

"What can you tell me about this horse?" he questioned her, turning his head slightly to face her. Will gulped.

"Well, um, his name is Phoenix and, uh, he is about five years old." Taking a quick breath to calm her nervous energy, which coursed through her body at a very rapid pace, Will continued. "He came to me a couple of years ago. Vathek had found him wounded – he had been cut along hi shoulder and there was blood seeping out of it at a constant rate. Being the big softie that he is, as well as the fact that he can't stand the sight of blood, he brought him to me. From then on, I took care of him," she finished.

"He's a fine stallion. Strong." He began to circle around the gold-colored stallion. "Loyal. Unusual coloring." Phoenix snapped at him and Will held her breath. Phobos' eyes flashed for only a moment, then it was replaced with what looked to be satisfaction. "And temperamental," he said with smirk.

Will studied him as he repeated his circle to examine the buckskin equine.

He was of muscular stature, though not too much that he looked bulky and such. He wore his usual blue and white garb, which accentuated his broad shoulders and tall stance. His face looked to be a gift of the gods, finely chiseled features masking his true nature (at least the nature she knew). His irises were light sapphires, shining with azure rays and a unfamiliar sort of knowledge. Sand blonde hair hung down his back like a banner, the color of amber. Now, after three years, Phobos no longer had the vine-like braids that had once fanned out. His hair was shorter then before, though it was still considerably long and it had his trademark duo of plaits at the front (A/N).

On his head, Phobos wore a crown that had a triangle made of turquoise. It met between his slightly-almond shaped eyes and formed an imposing point.

Will mentally slapped herself. Was she actually checking out Phobos, the man that had absorbed his sister's power and who just happened to be the cause of so much pain? He was her enemy!

Even if he is a bit handsome, went a treacherous voice that echoed through Will's head and made her freeze.

Was she, if only just so small of an amount, be attracted to him? No, not a snowball's chance in hell!

Could she?

Cliff hangers! Don't you just love them?

A/N: Think of the TV version. For some reason, I like his hair in it better.

Read and Review!