Back to the Prince's view. I apologise if the last three chapters have been overly realistic with them getting jobs and all but hopefully it'll get a little bit more adventurous now. Also, Iwouldn't mind if you gave me a review! :D

Chapter Nineteen: Stalker

Amalendu was waiting hand and foot on Shirin, apologising as often as he could to her and he was constantly taking food up for her to eat – most of which she took but after some serious persuasion according to Amalendu. On the few occasions I had a chance to talk to her she didn't seem angry or annoyed (although it was slightly my fault that she ended up being outside all night) in fact, she seemed very quiet and submissive. She hadn't told any of us how she had sustained the bruises that were dotted on her body and it didn't appear that she was going to do so any time soon. Although we had only been residing in this tavern for two days, I was already trying to think up ways of leaving and continuing our journey. I had questioned Ankur, the Cook, about his knowledge of the mountains north of India and he replied that it was very limited but he was aware of freezing cold conditions that surrounded the mountains. This was slightly off-putting, as I (and Farah and Shirin for that matter) wasn't really ammune to that harsher weather condition. I had requested that we be pained in gold and so far, we had about sixty gold, that wasn't really enough to buy us any supplies or anything that we required. I couldn't really ask for more pay because Amalendu had already made our rent quite low and had increased our pay a little. Since the first night here, I hadn't really trusted him but I saw now, with his face of total remorse that he was honestly sorry for Shirin and that he was too pure a person in mind to think of devious things, I felt sorry for him; for it was people like him that were easily corrupted, used and abused. I was getting something out of this experience – my culinary skills were getting better…and admittedly, I was finding that in the time me and Farah spent in the kitchen, I was getting closer to her, yes, I still wished to be with the old Farah, but I was beginning to like this Farah now and I was sure that she was beginning to like me too even without her memories! However, although plenty of good was coming out of this experience, one thing that did slightly worry me was that my skill in swordmanship hadn't been tested for quite some time…

To my surprise, Shirin emerged from the room later in the afternoon, looking tired and bleary eyed, but she seemed happy to be out and about even if it was only downstairs. I probably should have told her to go back upstairs and rest but I knew she didn't want to. Farah had prepared some shrikhand for her and I took it across to her. She was writing slowly, I could see she was thinking about the spellings of the word and trying to neaten up all the letters. I placed the bowl in front of her; she stared at it for a few seconds.

"I am not really hungry," she said slowly and quietly. The softness and docility in her voice was unusual.

"Well…you can eat it later, it should stay chilled for quite some time," I said and took a seat beside her. "What are you writing?" I asked. She slowly passed the piece of paper she was writing on over to me. Her wrist was wrapped up in white linen, the doctor wished her to not move it or use it excessively but she was the type of girl that rarely listened to anyone, seeing her like this…it made me feel bad for having shouted at her. I looked at her handwriting; it was…bad. It was written with a damaged wrist so it was understandable, I could understand the odd word but that was about it.

"Would you like me to read it out?" she asked. I nodded, I knew that was her way of simply saying 'I know you can't read it, I'll read it for you'. She took the note and began to read it; it was seemed to be some sort of poem.

"You know I would never hurt you, you know my feelings for you are true. I would never scream; I would never kick and hit. I want you to know this, know my feeling for you and know that they are true," she read. I blinked slightly at her, it was a good poem, it was only few lines but the meaning was clear…or at least that was what I thought. She stared at me with penetrating eyes, as if wanting me to understand something, something more, something that was between the lines.

"It's good, I like it, who's it for?" I said. She folded up the paper; maybe my compliment wasn't strong enough for her to have faith in the writing.

"It's not finished yet, I'll tell you when it is," she murmured, she was hanging her head, so her hair was arching and hiding her face. She looked slightly…broken, not physically, but…I hadn't yet seen a smile on her face…and that was something that just wasn't right, this was Shirin we were talking about. I stood.

"You will be alright won't you Shirin?" I asked. She nodded. I saw her eyes move across the room; she looked over at a woman sitting on a secluded table. She was a darkened woman and wore very neatly done make-up, her lips were heavily red and her eyes were outlined in black, magnifying their whiteness, the iris was a dull brown but her nose was narrow, long and sharp. Her face was a sharp oval with bone-straight black hair that flicked up slightly at the ends; it was longish but not as long as Shirin's or Farah's. I sensed a certain darkness around this woman, almost as if I saw a slight aura around her. She was dressed in black with a long flowing coat and I saw that on her feat she was wearing leather flexible boots. She suddenly turned her head so her eyes met exactly with mine. Numb. I went totally numb. I felt like I knew her…but I didn't so why was I filled with this feeling of disconnection? I suddenly heard my name being called faintly and then I seemed to have my senses restored and I was back in the room. She turned her eyes away from me. I stumbled back and quickly walked into the kitchen. Farah had been calling me; I beckoned her close so I could talk with her without the Cook taking much notice. "Have you noticed that women in the dinning area?" I asked quietly. She looked blankly at me.

"What does she look like?" she questioned.

"Taller than you, dark, just over shoulder-length black hair," I described. Farah went over to the kitchen's door and scanned the room for the woman. "Her, in the corner with the red lips," I said, I couldn't point her out, it would make things to obvious. Farah suddenly focused on her.

"Oh yes, I see her, what about her?" Farah asked.

"Doesn't she…scare you slightly?" I asked, she turned around and raised an eyebrow sceptically at me.

"No and we can't be gathering any more enemies so stop staring at her, according to you we have plenty of people after us. Firstly, there is my father and yours, then that person you mentioned before, Visha, then there is Durjaya and his brother and now the whole of India knows you're missing and are on the lookout for you!" she whispered. I thought about what she said.

"You know, those twins and Visha, they were after Shirin…maybe this woman is also after her. It appears that her sand-creature like qualities are seen by some, she looks like the weird 'demon-catching' type as well, maybe we should get Shirin to take us out of the city tonight and get the heck out of here," I suggested. Farah continued to stare at me.

"You know Shirin is far too weak to take all three of us, even if she was well she couldn't do it. You can't keep on asking her to do stuff like that, she is only just seventeen and is practically still a child, she is suppose to be taking life easy," warned Farah. I looked back at Shirin.

"You should tell her that…she didn't really like you when you first met, I can't think why. I don't try and use her as a friend, I do seriously care for her, I just don't want anything bad to happen to her," I said. Farah stood with folded arms.

"I can think of a reason why she mayn't like me. One prince, one female-thief, together, in the middle of nowhere, sharing a tent, suddenly a princess turns up," said Farah. I blinked blankly at her.

"Um, I'm not sure what you're getting at," I said.

"Okay yet me rephrase this. One good-looking prince, one good-looking female-thief! Both in their prime and aware of a lot of things and being put in a lot of situations where emotions aimed at each other but then that is all ruined when a princess that that the prince has always had feeling for turns up and the prince pays a lot of attention on her and they try get a relationship together by making the princess recall things she's long since forgotten!" said Farah slowing and clearly. I still looked blank.

"Now is this some sort of story or what because you've really lost me here…" I said. She clasped her head in her hand.

"Oh you really don't get this do you?" she muttered darkly, she raised her head. "Okay. Boy meets Girl. Boy explains sad situation to Girl. Girl knows she can help Boy. Girl goes on long journey with Boy. Girl likes Boy. Boy has friendly feelings for Girl but Boy really likes Other Girl. Boy gets Other Girl but this make Girl angry with both Other Girl and Boy. Now Cheveme, replace Boy with Prince, Girl with Shirin and Other Girl with Farah," she said slowly. I began doing so and suddenly realised what she meant and what she had previously meant.

"Oh. Well…Shirin doesn't like me that much, she is just a friend and my feelings towards her are the same as what she feels to me," I murmured, I saw Farah raise an eyebrow and then walk away and continue her work. 'Beware of new friends'…that couldn't mean Shirin…I trusted her, I liked her, she would never do wrong against me. I peered with my head back at the table the woman had been sitting at, it was empty she must have left, I was glad, her presence put to many undecided and unusual feelings inside of me. I felt something being pushed into hands and I felt a small sharp scratch on my finger. I had received a paper cut as Ankur gave me a small list.

"You used the rest of the almonds in Shirin's shrikhand so I'll need you to get some more and while you're at the market you can be some more saffron, mangoes, tomatoes and some more malsalas, you'll find it all on the list, get back quickly because we really need those ingredients," he said and gave me a little shove so I was in the dinning area. Shirin saw me and got up quickly.

"Are you going out? Take this, I think I will just leave it like this," she said and pushed the piece of paper back into my hand, I opened it and began to read it in my head as I went upstairs. You know I would never hurt you, you know my feelings for you are true. I would never scream; I would never kick and hit. I want you to know this, know my feeling for you and know that they are true…

"I never put up a defence against you, I see it only as sense. I care about you and would never leave you. In dark times, I'll be there and I won't follow corrupt minds. I only follow you, you whom I trust, you that only speaks words that are true. Whenever I am lost, you are always there and the burdens that I carry, you will always bear for me. I will never hurt you, but if I did, then I am sorry, all I wanted was to be with you," I read quietly to myself. I was wrapped up in the cloak Zenda had given me; I wondered briefly about how she was. I had learnt that her name meant sacred and Sarosh meant prayer, it made me wonder whether it were her real name, maybe mothers could sense whether their child was of unnatural importance. I wondered what Shirin's mother had thought about her. I had my swords on my back; an essence of insecurity was always in my mind and I always felt better with my swords. I turned into a small alley; it was a short cut that would cut out the crowds. I read the poem again. Shirin had written the second part in capitals maybe so I could understand it more but it could have been to emphasise the words more. I suddenly heard a voice that I naturally knew whom it belonged to.

"It is a touching poem isn't it?" said a voice being me. I froze. It was a woman's voice that showed more maturity than Shirin's young voice or Farah's and it seemed slightly dark. I immediately drew my swords and spun round, ready to slice whoever it was in half, but she drew her own sword and blocked my attack. It was who I thought it was, it was the woman that I had seen earlier. She was obviously waiting for me. She had one sword that she was holding now; it had obviously just been sharpened, she also had two small daggers that were at the side of her thighs, a black axe that was on her back (I could only see the half-moon blade) and two more daggers (but these were bigger than the ones on the side of her thighs) that were attached to her abdomen area at the front. I knew women liked to take extras so they were prepared for anything – but this was juts ridiculous! She was wearing totally black underneath her cloak and wore clothes similar to that of Shirin's but this woman hadn't any sleeves on her black top. She smiled slightly.

"It is always more polite…" she started, she stepped back and because of the pressure from swords against hers, I naturally stumbled forward but with a black flash she disappeared. I quickly picked myself up and turned around, she was behind me. "To bow in greeting when you first meet someone," she said. She had teleported, like Shirin. She must have been from the same origin as Shirin, and I'm not talking about Persia!

"Who are you?" I demanded. She frowned slightly.

"You would expect a Prince to have manners," she said. She knew I was a prince!

"How do you know who I am?" I cried.

"I know a lot about you, Prince, I know that you have taken Princess Farah and you're going to the Fountain of Sight with a thief called Shirin," she said lightly. She knew far too much about me now.

"Stop following me." I said tightening my grip on my swords.

"Who said I was following you? You really are becoming paranoid, aren't you, Prince? Before you know it, you're going to start thinking that everyone is after you and that one day you're going to find your little Farah dead," said the women teasingly. I tried to race towards her and attack her, but she disappeared again. I looked around for her. I suddenly felt her fall on me, I looked up at her; she was smiling deviously.

"It doesn't really help to attack the one person that could help you," she said and then suddenly disappeared again. Who the heck was she? How could she do all that stuff? How did she know about me? I quickly stood and ran back to the tavern.

I kicked the door to the tavern open (I had to be careful for it was an old door and it would probably come off at any second).

"Is she here?" I asked Farah who had temporarily become a waitress. She looked at me blankly. I looked frantically around and saw she wasn't around but a number of bewildered customers were. I saw Amalendu quickly come out of his room; he probably heard the door being kicked in. I looked at him quickly.

"Amalendu, don't let a woman with black hair, brown eyes and an axe in here," I ordered.

"Okay, why not though?" asked Amalendu, I didn't answer his question as I hastily turned to Farah.

"Where's Sh- Dipesh?" I asked.

"She's in the kitchen," said Farah, I quickly grabbed Farah's arm and pulled into the kitchen. "Cheveme! What's going on?" she cried. Shirin looked at me, she was sitting down but I quickly pulled her up and pulled her close so I didn't have to talk at normal speaking level but at a low whisper. Ankur appeared annoyed at me for I hadn't got his things but that was the last thing on my mind.

"Listen, you two aren't allowed out of my sight, understand?" I ordered.

"Why?" asked Shirin.

"Because some weird woman that must have been stalking us knows everything and she can do a whole load of sand-creature stuff," I explained desperately.

"What? How?" Shirin and Farah said, actually together. I replied.

"I don't know how, but one thing is for sure, we're not safe anywhere, not now,"