CHAPTER 4: MASQUERADE!

Himeno blinked when Pasha accidentally jabbed her eye with a make-up brush. Pasha gave her an apologetic smile and continued. "I cannot believe you have never once worn make-up," the Indian girl commented. "Do you realize how many heads will be turning when you enter the room?"

"Really?" Himeno asked, clutching her gloved hands tightly. Mawata had been right, the dress was gorgeous. A very pale blue that was strapless with a big skirt and lots of little crystals all over it. The necklace was a really intriquate choker that had all kinds of loops and twists to it and covered most of her throat and collar bone area. And it had been EXPENSIVE! It was fake, but it still cost almost two hundred dollars! The gloves were long and white and covered her arms all the way up. They kept slipping down, though, which was really annoying!

"Oh, yes! I would be surprised if even the Topaz Prince did not ask you to dance. But, then again, there is only one knight who's eye you are tryng to catch, correct?" Pasha's smile turned sly and Himeno blushed. They'd spent the last three hours getting ready together (or rather, Pasha getting ready and then helping Himeno do the same) and they had talked the whole time about their schools, their knights, everything.

"Well, what about you? You said yourself you liked Ravijot," Himeno said, trying to get the conversation somewhere else other than HER relationship.

Pasha's tanned skin turned a dusky rose color and she couldn't look Himeno in the eye. "That is different. You see, I have already been promised to someone else, so even if I do have feelings for him, anyway you look at it, it is forbidden."

"You're engaged? You're younger than me!"

"It is an arranged marriage. I have been promised since I was five."

Himeno blinked in surprise. An arranged marriage? "But...I thought those things went out a long time ago!"

Pasha laughed, swirling a large brush into some blush. "No, they are still very much practised! Don't worry, though. Amon has been my best friend since we were children. We are both happy that we were not promised to strangers." She held her hand out to show a very pretty ring. It didn't have any stones to it and was just a simple gold band of carved leaves with tiny flowers. "He liked the western idea of a ring so much he made it for me."

"Wow, he MADE this? It's so pretty!"

She nodded proudly before grabbing Himeno's chin and turning her face to the side. "Amon is very sweet and caring. And he knows about me being a Pretear, so it is good."

Himeno sighed and let her finish off her face. She was glad in a way that she didn't have to be engaged to marry someone she didn't choose. At least, as Pasha said, it was a friend she'd known her whole life. There was a knock on the door and Kei's voice drifted in. "Are you two done yet? We're going to be late!"

Himeno stood up, having to lift the skirt in front to walk in the low heels. Mawata had insisted she do low heels to keep from falling and because they were more comfortable for dancing all night in. She opened the door on Kei, now in a dress uniform that seemed to shimmer like sunshine, stumbling when Pasha ran into her on accident. "Hiya, sorry!"

Kei was gaping at her like he'd never seen her before. "Himeno...wow! You look stunning!"

She stuck her tongue out at him as Pasha laughed and said, "I told you they would be staring!"

Mannen, Hajime and Shin all came running up, all three dressed up and grinning. "Himeno, you're so pretty," Shin exclaimed, touching her skirt and laughing.

"Yeah, you look really pretty," Hajime agreed.

"Hey, just remember who said it first! I said it all the way down the hall," Mannen piped up.

Kei rolled his eyes and offered Himeno his arm. "Well, let's go. The others are waiting at the main staircase. Just remember to breath, relax, and let us lead in the dancing and you'll be fine."

"Speak for yourself," Himeno muttered. Kei had spent hours and hours for the last week trying to teach her how to dance. Blaise and the three younger knights had sat on the side laughing at her until Kei said they could be her partners next if they weren't careful. That had gotten them to shut up.

Two of Pasha's knights joined them, the one who seemed to be Ravijot's second giving her his arm. They all went down the hall and up a long flight of stairs to their right. The rest of their two groups were waiting for them up there. Blaise had actually dyed his hair back to its normal light brown color (which he claimed was too plain looking on him) and actually LOOKED like a knight for a change instead of a punk skater guy. Feryn had opted for a very deep crimson ensemble that made his golden hair and pale eyes stand out in startling contrast. And she secretly thought he looked a bit femmy.

And Hayate...he was breath-taking. He still wore dark blue, but it was very formal compared to his uniform. He was staring at her, eyes soft and full of...it was more than love. It was like she could see into his soul...Kei clearing his throat made her snap out of her little daydream and realize she'd stopped in the middle of the stairs, holding up everyone behind her. She blushed and continued up the stairs until she was staring at Hayate's shirt, unable to look higher.

"Himeno...," He didn't finish, but she knew. He was going to tell her she looked beautiful.

She adjusted the little tiara in her hair and laughed shakily. "Yeah, you too," she whispered. His hand came into view and she thought for a second he was going to touch her cheek, which made her heart speed up. Instead, he paused, seemed to realize Ravijot's team was watching and instead took her hand and looped it around his arm.

Ravijot quirked a brow at them, eyes flicking over to Pasha who had to cover her mouth to keep from giggling. The look was more one of admiration than warning, which lead Himeno to think that maybe he felt the same way as Pasha felt about him. Hmm...Yayoi would be having a field day here with all the love connections! "Well, I think we have kept them all in suspense long enough. Diep, Kuda, flank left and right respectively."

The one who had escorted Pasha here and another took positions behind the two and the rest of the knights (all eleven of them) fell in behind, the youngest one being about Mannen's age. He stuck his tongue out at Mannen and the Knight of Ice answered the same. Hayate let out a long, slightly nervous breath and said softly, "Let's make this quick. When we go in, have fun but do not, I repeat, DO NOT mention anything about Himeno becoming the White Pretear. Understood?"

All of them, right down to Shin, nodded grimly. Himeno stopped Hayate from leading the way up. "Why is that so bad? I'm sure the other Pretears can do it, too."

Hayate, Kei and Feryn exchanged looks. Blaise took the hint and ushered the little ones up the stairs, all complaining loudly that they were sick of being kept out of the loop. When it was just the four of them, Hayate took both of Himeno's hands and said, "I wish we had more time to talk about this, but we don't. I honestly never thought we would be summoned here or that I would need to explain much more than you needed to know. The fact is, Himeno, the White Pretear is a very uncommon thing for us. Since the beginning of life, Leafenia has existed in some form or another. And in all that time, there have only been three White Pretears."

"Okay, I get that, but what would happen if they found out?"

Hayate didn't answer her. He looked...sad. So very sad!

Kei stepped in, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be taken from our group and kept here at court. The White Pretear is the strongest and most powerful of them all and should therefore pret with only the strongest and most powerful knights. That would be every knight in the Red Guard, and the Topaz Prince. Unless you want that life, don't mention it. And don't mention that you did it without preting either. As far as I know, that has never once been done by any of the other White Pretears. It will open a can of worms we don't really need right now."

Himeno couldn't breath. This...this was so much more than she had bargained for! She'd just thought they were coming to Leafenia for the summer, to have fun and relax a bit. And now it had become some political game that she didn't know the rules for. "How much more are you not telling me?" she asked pinning Hayate with a firm glare.

"That's it, I swear. As I said, I hadn't thought this was going to come up. I never thought you could become the White Pretear to begin with, and we weren't sure you could do it a second time either. You have, and that's changed the rules a little. I'm not trying to hide things from you." He risked hugging her, being careful of her hair. Himeno closed her eyes, the feel of him holding her making her relax again, brought back the excitement of the evening. She wrapped her arms around his waist slowly.

"The Brazilians are coming," Feryn whispered.

Hayate let her go quickly, stepping back a respectful distance. The new group swept passed them, the captain being the one who had spoken first at the meeting. His eyes swept over her in a not-so-transparent way of checking her out. EW! Hayate's hand brushed down her arm lightly, not to be noticed by the group now beyond them. "Just ignore it. You're going to be getting a lot of those tonight."

Smiling, Himeno took his arm again and they went up the stairs to the rest of their waiting team. Mannen's arms were crossed over his chest and he looked angry. He scowled at Hayate and said, "You're not keepin' more secrets from Himeno, are you?"

Himeno ruffled his hair up and said, "Nope, he's not! Come on, let's go have some fun, okay?"

Mannen tried to scowl more over what she'd done to his hair, but it turned into a big grin. "Okay! I get to dance with Himeno first!"

Kei rolled his eyes and muttered, "That'll be entertaining! Maybe I won't be so bored tonight after all."

Hayate walked Himeno up the stairs, Kei and Feryn right behind them, followed by Blaise, Mannen, Hajime and Shin. Himeno blinked at the bright light illuminating the ballroom, shading her eyes with her hand. Then gasped when her eyes adjusted and she could actually see the room. The floor was polished to a shine so bright she could see the people reflected back on it. Pillars supported a series of white marble arches all around the room, covered in vines and hanging rose baskets, layers of thin gold and white silk. The light wasn't coming from candles or anything, but what appeared to be a giant sphere being held from floating free by a thin silver net attached to the pillars. It threw off silvery-white light like the moon, but it was perfectly smooth, more pearl like than the moon. Little tyipis fluttered through, staying clear of the dancers. Shin's pet flew free from his shoulder to join the others.

"Oh...my...it's so beautiful," she whispered. At the far end was a raised marble platform with a throne carved all over in flowers. plants and little pictures. The Topaz Prince sat on this throne, still all in white but with a golden mask this time. Two figures dressed all in red were behind him at perfect attention. Caias and that one knight from the meeting, Jikan. She almost tripped when Hayate lead her forward, skirting around the dance floor and brought her before the throne. She remembered to curtsy and not look at the Prince or speak to him.

"Pretear Himeno, Captain Hayate," The Topaz Prince said formally.

"Your Highness," Hayate answered back.

"Did you act on Erelah's advise or did Tasia challenge you?"

Himeno looked up, confused by the question.

The Topaz Prince motioned to her eye. "The black eye, Pretear Himeno."

"Oh, that," she said, laughing nervously. "Just an accident. Someone's elbow slipped."

Was it just her imagination or did it feel like he was smiling at her. "Enjoy the ball."

Hayate lead her away at the obvious dismissal and off to one side where there were seats set up. Some younger knights were in a corner playing around with little bits of leafe. Hajime and Shin ran over to join them. Mannen looked like he wanted to as well, but he was taking his job as one of the older knights very seriously now.

Kei leaned against one of the columns, fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket. "Well, that went very well. Quite frankly, I'm rather surprised."

"I as well," Feryn added, flicking his hair back. He smiled gallantly and held his hand out to Himeno. "Would you care to dance with me, Himeno?"

"Oh, uh...ahahaha! Um, sure?" She glanced over her shoulder at both Kei's and Hayate's shocked faces as she took his hand.

Feryn waited for the right time and swept her out onto the floor, laughing as she missed a step and tried to catch up. "You are not familiar with ballroom, me cherie?"

"Nope! Not in the least. Kei taught me how to waltz, but that's about it," she answered, grimacing as they almost collided with someone else. Luckily, it was the nice knight from Tasia's side, who smiled and shrugged as they whirled by. Tasia gave her a deadly glare.

"You are to move opposite me. It is like making love-,"

"WHAT!" She glanced around when she realized she'd said that a little loud.

Feryn laughed again, pulling her tighter to him. "We work together, but as opposites. I step back a gauche, you step back a droite. Do you see?"

She was glad she knew enough now to understand his directions. "Yeah, yeah I think I get it now. Just, ew to the making love comment!"

"If I were Hayate, you would be dancing like an angel."

Himeno blushed and stared very hard at his shoulder. "You're an insane pervert, you know!"

Laughing, Feryn did a little flick of his wrist and spun her around, making her squeal in surprise. "And you make such tres mignon noises when surprised!"

"Did you just call me a steak?" she asked when she was safely back in his arms. Wait...safely back in FERYN'S arms? What was wrong with that statement? A NUN wouldn't be safe in Feryn's arms!

"No, why would I call a beautiful woman a piece of dead cow?" He looked thoughtful for a second before he said, "It is like a puppy, or a kitten. It is...how do you say, fluffiness? Ah, lala, what is the word..."

"Cute?" Himeno offered up.

"Oui! Very cute noises!" He did his impression of her squeal which had her laughing so hard they couldn't dance.

Kei came up and tapped Feryn's shoulder. "Hayate's busy talking with Kondhae and sent me over to make sure you're not trying to steal her or anything," he said.

Feryn kissed her gloved hand dramatically and bowed aside for Kei to step in. "And so I reach for the rose only to be attacked by the gardener's tool," he commented.

"You better not be suggesting I'm a tool," Kei commented before whisking Himeno away from the laughing Frenchman. He shook his head, smiling. "Damned fool! He knew very well Hayate was glaring daggers into his back."

Himeno smiled, trying to find Hayate in the crowd. She thought she saw him talking to the captain of the South American team but she couldn't be sure. She gasped when Kei yanked her in hard. "Hey, what gives?"

Kei was glaring over her shoulder. "Sorry, someone's elbow was coming too close to your other side. Again," he commented angrily.

Himeno followed his gaze and saw Erelah smirking at them, twirling around with...Tasia? Well, she couldn't fault either one for their taste. They deserved each other! "What's his problem?"

"Erelah has always been very jealous of Hayate. He feels he should have his position."

"But, he's already a captain. What more does he want?"

Kei smiled a little and raised a brow. "He wants to be named a candidate for succession."

Himeno frowned and thought about it. When it dawned on her, her jaw dropped and she stared at Kei. "You mean, Hayate...but I thought he didn't..."

"He doesn't. It was all politics. The Topaz Prince always thinks someone is out to get him. Since the only two at court who chould challenge him in a duel and win are Hayate and Caias, he's decided to make it impossible for them to challenge him without it being treason. He's made it very publically known that if he should step down, one of them will take the throne, thus tying their hands. If it's known he favors them and they challenge him, it looks like treason. It's actually a very clever plan."

Himeno shook her head, looking over at the masked person on the throne. "What about that Jikan?"

Kei followed her gaze and frowned thoughtfully. "He's very new. No one knows where he's from exactly. He's the Knight of Time, which means he can freeze it, speed it up, slow it down. He hasn't been beaten in a challenge yet that I'm aware of."

Wow, so he wasn't all just looks! He was smart AND strong, too. "So how come he's in the Red Guard and not one of the captains?"

Kei shrugged. "From what I've heard, he asked to be put there. He would make an excellent captain though, wouldn't he?"

Himeno almost stopped dead in her tracks when she say Hayate making his way through the dancers to them. Their eyes locked and it was like the breath was sucked right out of her lungs. Kei kissing her cheek made her jump. "You two play nice now. I'm going to go pay Sete back for the emotional turmoil she put me through." He wove his way through the crowds over to the Knight of Healing, who was wearing a black and dark green dress that showed a lot of long leg. She smiled when Kei came over, pushing away from the wall.

Hayate stood before her, just the faintest of smiles on his lips. "I think we're holding up everyone," he said softly.

Himeno blushed at the slightly annoyed looks being thrown to them. Then darker when his hand slid low around her waist to hold her tight to him, his other hand taking hers. The first step was...on his toes. She didn't think she could blush any more, but she did.

He laughed, squeezing her hand and continued to maneuver her around the floor. "It's alright, Kei already told me you were a rotten dancer."

"Hey, is that any way to talk to your- Pretear," she quickly corrected. She'd forgotten the no-dating-the-knights rule.

His eyes darkend a little, but it was with that same look she'd seen before, the one that had no words to describe it. "Is my Pretear offended?" he teased, playing along.

Himeno smiled, pulling his arm a little more snugly around her waist. "Not really. Just make sure you put your toes on ice tonight, or they're gonna be bruised, okay?"

Hayate smiled and she answered back as they continued to dance in silence. She wasn't doing as badly as she'd thought. Feryn's words poked through her thoughts and she couldn't look at Hayate for a long time. It's like making love..."Hayate?"

"Yes?" he asked. He had that look like he was about to kiss her. Her eyes dropped to his mouth and her heart pounded faster.

"Well, I was thinking maybe..." Her voice trailed off when a hand came into view and tapped Hayate's shoulder.

Erelah smiled icily at them. "I believe that was the signal for me to cut in, non?"

Hayate stepped aside grudgingly. Himeno tensed up when Erelah's hand went to her waist and he took her other hand. "Shall we?"

Himeno glanced over at Hayate, who watched them dance away, hands clenched angrily.

"You are not what I expected, Himeno," Erelah said, tightening his grip on her hand to get her attention.

"Neither are you," she answered. What the hell was this guy's problem? It was obvious what he was trying to do. "So, how long are you gonna keep trying to bait Hayate before you give up?"

Erelah laughed like she'd said the funniest thing in the world. "Ma cherie, I will not stop until I am spitting on Hayate's body. When he is dead, I will be allowed to take over his team. And you will be my Pretear."

Himeno tried to jerk her hand away but his grip tightend almost painfully. "Like hell! There's no way I'll ever pret with you! Now lemme go, I'm done dancing!"

"You dare to order me around?" he growled in her ear. "You do not understand a thing about being a Pretear. You are a living weapon, one that serves the knights. You do not have a say in the matter. Shall I prove this to you here?"

"What? NO!" Himeno gasped when she felt the familiar sensation of a knight merging with her. Except this time it burned, like red hot needles digging into her skin. She hissed, dropping to her knees, her hand still held tightly in Erelah's. She could feel him trying to beat his way into her mind. It was...it was like he was trying to rape her mentally! And she wasn't about to let that happen! "LEAVE ME ALONE!" She used everything she had and blocked him from preting, slamming him backward onto the ground.

"Himeno!" Hayate was helping her to her feet, Blaise, Feryn and Kei standing between them and Erelah. "Himeno, what happened?"

"H-He was trying to force me into preting," she said shakily, burying her face into his shoulder and crying. His arms were around her, holding her to him and whispering reassuring words.

"You bloody wanker! What the hell is your problem!" Blaise shouted angrily.

"That's out of line, even for you Erelah," Kei added in a snarl.

"What IS she?" Erelah asked from the floor, staring not at the three fuming knights in front of him but between them at Himeno.

"She is our Pretear," Feryn said firmly. Mannen, Hajime and Shin had all come up by then, Shin and Hajime running to Himeno and hugging her legs through the poofy skirt. Mannen took a spot next to Blaise, fingers twitching in anticipation.

"She is not just a Pretear! She...She forced me out! She would not ALLOW me to pret with her. How could she do that?"

"Himeno's very strong willed," Kei said, his voice very carefully controled. "If she didn't want you to pret with her, she would naturally fight back. And what reason do you have for preting with her in the middle of a ball, I might ask? I don't sense any danger here."

"Yeah, just you stay away from Himeno," Mannen added.

Hayate left her hugging Hajime and Shin. Erelah was quick to get to his feet, his eyes flashing in...triumph? Hayate got very close to him and if it wasn't for how silent the court had gotten no one would have heard the cold whisper. "If you touch her again, you're mine. I don't take lightly to threats made to my team or my Pretear, and I've warned you once before about this. I won't be warning you again!"

"Then why not settle this here and now?" Erelah breathed, a little smirk creeping to his lips.

"I have my reasons. Stay away from Himeno, Erelah." He turned and began to walk away. He put a hand to Himeno's back and lead them out, Blaise turning around to flick the French captain off.

"Hayate!"

They were almost to the door. Himeno turned with him, and it was like that moment in a horror movie when you know the monster is right behind the victim and all you can do is wait for it to pounce and bite her head off. "Hayate, no," she whispered, trying to get him to keep walking.

But he didn't. He turned back. And it was then she knew he was aware of what was coming next.

"Hayate, I challenge you to a duel! Winner gets Himeno as their Pretear. The loser...well, let us say he shall not be seeing the sun rise again!"

Himeno felt the tears on her cheeks. The minute he touched her arm, rubbing gently, she began to sob. "I accept, Erelah. It's time we get this done and over with."