Disclaimer: Do not own Ninja Storm!

---

The green ranger walked through the halls as he approached the celebration. Tonight he would have to be especially careful about keeping his identity secret, especially with the fact that he had been making out with Prince Hunter earlier that day. He had been particularly careful of covering up any signs of their encounter, namely the light finger shaped bruises on his shoulders. Not that his outfit wouldn't have covered them anyway, but Cam was self conscious about anything that could give him away.

—

Nearing the height of the evening's festivities, Crown Prince Hunter Bradley found himself under the distinct impression that the mysterious Samurai was avoiding him. It was not anything deliberate, no ninja worth his salt would do something like leaving a conversation because a certain person entered it, no, it was more that the Samurai had left the conversation before Hunter had taken it into his head to enter it. In fact the Samurai was pretty adept at interpreting his moves, that is, if the Samurai was avoiding him. Quite possibly Hunter was just paranoid. The Samurai seemed to be pretty good at ignoring all of his glaring too.

"Prince Hunter! All alone?" A jovial voice called out to him and Hunter turned to find himself faced with the smiling and round-faced visage of Duke Lothor. "Or were you merely taking a breather?"

"Every once in a while you just have to step back and watch people mingle." Hunter's mind was still partially focused on the Samurai so when the man tensed Hunter noticed. However, after a quick scan of the room, Hunter could not find anything wrong or even much different besides the Duke opening up a conversation with him. As he mindlessly chattered with the cheerful older man Hunter wondered if it really was the Duke talking to Hunter that freaked the Samurai out. He had his suspicions confirmed when the masked man approached him for the first time that night.

"Your highness, Duke Lothor." Cam greeted the two men calmly and really tried hard to hide his urge to slink off into the nearest dark corner. He had managed to avoid Hunter all night so of course his Uncle would take tonight to talk to him.

"Ah, Samurai. Tell me, you look like you're about the marriageable age, aren't you? Out of all the women in the room who do you think is most suited to Prince Hunter?" Lothor set the trap skillfully and if Cam had not known the man's plans he might have walked right into it.

"Well, there are your two daughter's, Duke Lothor." The green samurai stated calmly and Hunter hid a wince. So that was Lothor's aim, he wanted Hunter to marry his daughters, who were really annoying from Hunter's viewpoint. "But then again the Lady Kelly was recently widowed, wasn't she? A little older then Prince Hunter, true, but marriageable still. And Princess Leanne has yet to be married too, it would help cement Prince Hunter's place as Crown Prince." Lothor had preened at the first statement from the samurai's mouth and then hid a bad scowl at the rest. Of course the man had to notice the only other women in the kingdom for the Prince. "Then again, there are ladies from outside the kingdom. I hear that the Dino Country has some fine women among their court."

"Ah, but what if my interests are men? I might want a male consort instead of a wife." Hunter's tone was joking and his eyes sparkling. Lothor's scowl deepened at this statement, if the Prince wanted a male consort his plans might all be in vain.

"There are more choices if you chose that direction, your highness. Count Dustin and Lord Shane, for example, though their lines would not do you much good in the realm of politics." Hunter's eyes narrowed at this, only Dustin's friends called him that everyone else at court called him Count Waldo. That meant the ranger had to know Dustin a little... "Then again, there are the lords of the Dino Country." Cam stated placidly and ignored the strong glares he was getting from both men. Inside of his head the amulet had decided to break her silence.

Hey! You forgot yourself. C'mon! Say "and then there's the lost Lord Cameron!"

"And then there's the lost Lord Cameron." Cam's eyes widened, that hadn't been him. Indeed it had been Prince Hunter who was glaring steadily at Lothor now. "Your missing nephew." Lothor bristled and Cam could practically see his ears steam. Oh, was he in for it tomorrow, that was for sure.

"There is a reason he is the lost Lord Cameron, Prince Hunter." Cam stated smoothly and hoped he wasn't sweating, that would probably give it away. "There must be a reason he is missing."

"Of course there is! And my dear nephew is an intelligent young man, I'm sure if it was too much trouble he would have come to me for help." Lothor stated and Cam watched as Hunter's glare hardened. If the Prince went on like this, Lothor was definitely going to suspect something. Which would not be good for Cam's health, or his plan to reveal Lothor. True, having the prince on his side would be helpful in the long run, but Cam's plans weren't at the point where he could unveil them yet.

"I'm sure he would." Hunter stated grimly. If what Hunter suspected was true, then Cameron was working as a servant in Lothor's household, such a helpful Uncle indeed. Then, both the green samurai ranger and Duke Lothor calmly excused themselves and walked away, telling Hunter that his glare had probably gotten a little too forceful. As the samurai strode off, Hunter turned his glare on him. The man was someone who knew Dustin, and someone who knew court politics enough to have kept up on the marriageable women. He was not from the Dino country, as they had their own set of Rangers, and was someone who no one else recognized.

Miko Watanabe had been the last person known to carry the amulet, correct? Then it was possible...

Hunter broke off his glare as he watched the way the samurai moved. More then possible, especially considering the way the samurai had acted when the Duke had approached him.

Cam Watanabe could be the Green Samurai Ranger.

---

Cam hit the floor hard as his Uncle threw him back into the small closet that he called a room. Apparently he had decided that the best thing to do upon getting back from the ball was to take out his anger on his nephew. "And you'll stay in here until I let you out!" Lothor declared and after he slammed the door shut Cam could hear the distinctive click of the lock. Hauling himself up onto his small sleeping cot he groaned.

Well apparently he hits as hard as I remember. The amulet stated.

"You've fought him?" Cam asked as he stripped his shirt off to take a look at his bruises.

Your mother used to have practice matches with him, and I watched Lothor spar with Kanoi occasionally. He is strong, without the dark ninja powers you may have been able to beat him, Ranger or no ranger, but with his powers... He's too strong for you right now.

"Gee, thanks for the pep talk." Cam muttered as he dragged out a medical kit and began tending to his aches and pains.

---

Hunter looked for Cam the next day but was unable to find the servant anywhere. He was half tempted to ask if Dustin had seen the other man, but figured the Count would not be any help in this manner. It was however, the nattering of Lothor's daughters that he overheard which made the young man see red.

"The little dweeb deserved it." The shrill one, Kapri, said as she sat in the courtyard. Beside her Marah wore a confused expression.

"But it wasn't Cousin's fault that Prince Hunter brought him up!" Kapri through her sister a disgusted look.

"Of course it was! He must have done something while Uncle let him wander around. There's no other reason for the Prince to be asking about the geek!"

"But I still think Uncle was really mean to beat him up!" Marah complained loudly and Hunter froze. Apparently he was right, Cam really was Cameron Watanabe and obviously under Duke Lothor's thumb. There had been no obvious reason for him to stay there though, at least not till now. Abuse victims often had a rather warped view of the world, it might provide a reason for Cam to stay.

And that just made him angrier.