It's been soooooo long since I updated, I know. Been on vacation.. Niagara Falls ... and band camp, of course. This chapter was tricky to write, and I've had a lot of help from my beta-reader, PaperbagPrincezz from 'Beta Readers R US'. It's pretty long, in my standards. Hope you guys like it.

Chapter 11 – Family Bonds

The sky was darkening into a frozen shade, and the snow continued to pour down as he carried her limply in his arms. He stepped knee-deep into the snow, grimacing as waves of pain shot up his legs. They were both drenched, their clothing sticking to their skin like a newly formed layer of ice.

Ethel called for his stallion in a croaky voice. In the seconds which he had jumped after Solita, the horse seemed to have eagerly abandoned him and the princess to return back to the palace, carrying with it extra cloaks and blankets. Cursing violently under his breath, he started walking through the woods, only vaguely aware of where his feet were taking him.

In the back of his mind, Ethel mused at what would happen had both of them died in the snow, stranded in the woods. His mother would have lamented for a while, showing off her tears to the kingdom to prove that they were not artificial... while inwardly rejoicing at the disposal of her threats. The queen was not yet past the age of childbearing, was she? A few more years in reign would not displease her...

Ethel's thoughts rang in his own mind, while another part of him cursed him for thinking so ill of his own mother. It was for his own good that she wanted to rid of Solita, was it not?

His bandaged arm was bleeding furiously through his cloak, staining Solita's shoulder with scarlet blood. Suddenly violently triggered images began to flash by in his bloodshot, emerald eyes...

He was staggering through the dust, a mixture of blood and sweat trickling down his head, and grasping a javelin tightly in his bloody hands. A gust of wind blew his way, throwing dust into his eyes. He tripped over something, and fought to keep from colliding onto the floor.

The dust cleared, as Ethel looked down to find that the thing he had tripped over was the head of a decapitated soldier. Its eyes were wide open, fixing a haunting stare at him. Blood trickled from its raw, open flesh onto the ground, forming a small pool of crimson. Ethel gritted his teeth and clutched the javelin tighter in his hands, keeping his ears open for any sound of life...

"Your highness!" It took him a while to realize the voice was not a part of his war memories. He shook off a bit of snow stuck to his face, and breathed heavily, while looking up to see three of the royal guards mounted upon horses, with one of them holding the reins of Ethel's stallion.

A guard helped him into a cloak, while another bowed and said, "I will take her highness, Prince Ethel."

Ethel's arms stiffened slightly. "No. I can do it myself," he said, shivering slightly. They waited while Solita was snugly leaning against the horse, and the stallion set off into the distant glow of the castle.

Solita slowly opened her eyes later in the night, dimly aware of three figures towering over her, their murmurs entangling quietly within her mind. On her left side, Chandi was holding on to her hand, her touch cool to Solita's hot, prickly skin. The other two figures had the solemn, self-assured tones of royal physicians... but in the shadows, there seemed to be yet another person... Through her heavy, drooping eyelids Solita gazed at him, while through his bloodshot eyes he stared back... ... ...

When she awoke again she was alone in her chambers, and the pale daylight had appeared. She sat up in her bed, feeling shaky yet her mood quite serene. By her bedside was a single red flower, which she immediately recognized as one of the raezels. Solita reached over to pick it up gingerly in her palm, looking steadily at it. She then quietly put it back, her heart tightening.

Solita wondered what had made him come after her. Why not let her die, so that he could claim the throne? It would have been the ideal death, and they wouldn't even have had a part in it... the princess, mad with grief, wandered into the woods during a snowstorm and drowned in the river... It was purely accidental.

She doubted Queen Napea would have ordered him to save her. Ethel was the only one who saw her leave, yet did the castle not know of her disappearance before he set out? If she were meant to be saved, if someone other than the queen wished to look for her, wouldn't they have sent the royal guards along with Ethel?

It must have only been Ethel, then. Ethel alone, who knew that it was unlikely for Solita to return, and wanted to rescue her. But why?

Did he do it to gain her trust?

The thought stirred in her mind, and at the same moment, Chandi appeared and approached her with a smile and a basket of food.

"My lady, you are finally awake." She sat down on the chair beside her bed and held both of Solita's hands tightly.

"How long have I been asleep?" Solita asked.

Chandi stirred a hot glass of herbal tea, and said grimly, "It has been two days."

"We feared that the cold had weakened you too much, and that you would not survive the night..." she trailed off sadly, handing Solita the glass. "You strayed very far from us, coming too close to death."

She took a sip, and her insides flooded with warmth.

Chandi continued, "I was quite startled when I saw his highness Prince Ethel carrying you inside the palace, with snow still on his shoulders and in his hair. It was quite noble of him."

Solita took another drink, and said frostily, "Yes, it was indeed... noble of him..."

"...But he will never be like his brother... my brother," she said.

Chandi looked at her intently with warm brown eyes. "My lady, Prince Alaric will always be watching out for you. But, I'm sure it would do you well to befriend Prince Ethel."

"Was it him who picked the raezel?" Solita asked, a cold gleam in her irises.

"No, my lady. It was I. Prince Ethel had ordered many more of these flowers to be planted in the West Gardens, and there seemed to be plenty to be spared. I had heard from an herb lady that the presence of raezels would be spirit-lifting to the ill, healing their sicknesses. Do you not like them, my lady?"

Solita smiled slightly, inwardly knowing that Chandi had no idea about the incident with Alaric and his raezels.

"I do." she said.

Queen Napea looked coldly down at her son. He was kneeling, his eyes set downward on the floor and his jaw in a determined fix.

"Tell me, why?" The weight of the word echoed through the chambers like a boulder in a pond.

Ethel did not answer, yet kept his gaze set on the floor.

"You are dishonoring your father's name. You are a disappointment to me. How – "

" - By letting her die of grief, I am dishonoring my brother's name,"he said in a dead, empty voice.

"Your brother!" spat Queen Napea in shock. "His death was for the best,"she muttered in a low voice, as if talking to herself. "Alaric got in the way of things too much ..."

Ethel froze. The ugly black battle scar on his face seemed to jump with his vein.

"Ethel." Queen Napea said in a suddenly hypnotic, dangerous tone."There is something extremely important I must show you. You will meet me at midnight in the sanctum. You will avoid being seen."

He bowed his head slightly, and nodded. "Yes." He stood up, and slid away from his mother's lair. As he walked through the ringing hallways, images began to fill his mind, taking up every space of his thoughts.

Ethel felt the sudden slicing open of his skin, the hot, stinging blood dripping from the new gash that appeared on the back of his neck. He turned around to find more soldiers advancing on him from behind. Ethel summoned all of his anger and what was left of his strength, and in a few swift moves killed three of the enemy soldiers. Alaric was a few yards away from him, fighting off his own battle. As Ethel clanged swords with another soldier, he saw Alaric and his opponents slowly moving towards him.

Ethel gave an inhale of shock as an arrow flew through his fractured armor, and into his chest. He staggered, still trying to fight off his opponent. He jerked as two more arrows pierced into his flesh, blood spilling continuously.

He bent over, his sword hanging loosely by his side. Two opponent soldiers gave jeers of satisfaction, and raised both their blades for the final blow as Ethel's back was turned.

Ethel turned just in time to see the enemy soldiers'jeers fade, and their bodies collapsing on the dust. Thin knives emerged from their backs.

"Alaric..." Ethel gasped, as his brother knelt by him. He looked around, finding naught but bodies sprawled across the dust.

"Are you alright?" Alaric said concernedly. Ethel turned around as Alaric gripped the arrows firmly and pulled them out.

"Yes.." said Ethel as Alaric helped him stand. Blood trickled down his forehead steadily.

"Thank you." Ethel said quietly.

"We are brothers. Family look out for each other," he said simply. "Come, we must go meet the other - "

He stopped short, and suddenly leaned forward on Ethel's wounded shoulder. "Alaric? What - "

Ethel's face froze in horror as he saw a jewel encrusted handle of a knife sticking out of Alaric's back. He took his sword and ragingly sought the attacker, but he was no where to be found. The battlegrounds were silent, there was no sign of life under the hot sun.

"Coward! Is that how you fight? Attack, and then hide?" Ethel's voice broke.

Alaric watched him through half closed eyes with a sad smile on his face.

"Come with me," Ethel said in a trembling voice as he tried to pull his brother up to his feet. "...we must see the physician immediately. You will be alright."

Alaric simply looked at him, and fell silent. His gaze was solid, piercing into Ethel's eyes. Ethel was aware of the pool of blood he was standing in, the blood of his only brother. Alaric's eyes did not move from his face. It did not move again.

Family look out for each other. Alaric's voice rang in his head. I did not do what he did for me.

Ethel gritted his teeth, shaking his head while breathing in slowly and deeply. The memory of Alaric's intense gaze will haunt him forever. Those empty, hollow blue eyes, never moving. He stopped walking as he approached the elegant silver gates of the West Gardens. Ethel pushed open the doors, and stepped in.

Solita skimmed her pale fingers through the clear blue waters of the fountain. She shivered slightly, aware of the chilling air moving in about her. The kingdom had not spoken a word of her getting lost in the woods. It seemed that they had managed to keep it all repressed, just like they had with the incident of Sir Leo. So be it.

The wind whistled suddenly, blowing against her onyx black hair. Solita glanced at the snow blossoms, expecting to find them in buds. Instead, they were blooming beautifully, with the pure white petals glowing like the moon.

Solita looked down, cursing the fact that they had not bloomed in time for Alaric. Suddenly a reflection of a face appeared beside hers. She stopped skimming the water, and waited for it to become still. His reflection was unmistakable.

"You do not need to thank me," Ethel said in an unfeeling voice, before Solita had opened her mouth.

"I wish to," she said coolly, turning around to look at him. "Thank you."

His face had become more gaunt, his hair without its usual luster and flirtatious waves. The wide, crude scar was just an inch beneath his darkened eyes. Solita's gaze flicked down to a thin, long gash on one side of his neck. It disappeared under his thick robes, and seem to stretch for quite a bit. He turned away.

"I didn't do it for you." Ethel said quietly. Solita turned back to the fountain, staying silent.

Ethel draped a cloak around her, muttering stiffly, "You will catch a cold if you stay out here too long." Solita held on to the cloak with trembling hands, and turned around slowly to watch him slide out of the West Gardens.


I must say, there are many different ways to interpret this chapter. The next one should be interesting, I think. I will have that one up hopefully in a few days.

Mollusk: Happy to get a new reviewer!... About how Solita and Alaric leaned more towards "love-love"... Well, what can I say, I tried. But it shouldn't matternow, as he's dead. Blunt, but true. Thanks for the opinion, though.

rainkisser: Yes, everyone loves getting reviews! You don't have to, though. Just having you read my story is good enough. I'm very pleased that you enjoyedthis retelling.

Gabi Web: Yep. But it's suppose to be a secret.Shhhh... Anyway, he's not that bad. You'll see.

Sorry, too tired to write replies to everyone of my wonderful reviewers, hope to see you again after this chapter :)