A/N: I'm listening to Crossfade. Damn I love that band! At the moment it's 'so far away' next its 'cold'. I'm so an alternative rocker. yup. I love alternative rock. Well, here's the chappie. Bon appetite! Enjoy!
I am in pain. I've been doing volunteer work (all of it includes lifting, bending, etc). And my back hurts really bad. My sister is studying to be a nurse and she says it's my kidneys. Apparently, I'm not drinking enough water, so I'm losing weight and my kidneys are 'falling'. This happens to anorexic people. NO, I am NOT anorexic. Frankly, I love food. Me and food go well together, we meet several times a day. So I guess water's my problem. I suppose I'm tell you this so you understand if the chapters come out a bit slowly. I spend quite an amount of time just laying in bed cuz it hurts.
Disclaimer: I almost think its worth getting sued if i just did not have to write this every chapter! some of this belongs to me. But most of it is Tamora Pierce. GOT IT?
x..:..x
Layers of sleep started to peel away and Arra could barely feel the conscious world around her. Something warm surrounded her. Slowly, she vaguely remembered the covers over her head. With a jolt of awareness Arra's eyes burst open. Her head was underneath the cover so her whole body was warm but that wasn't the only thing that contributed to it. Her body molded into Liam's, his arm also snuggly wrapped around her
She sat up and immediately regretted it. The cold from outside hit her; it had been incredibly warm under her leather-fleece blanket. Liam groaned. Sitting up, she had pulled the covers off of him.
"Liam?"
He opened one eye. "You're awake."
"What do you mean I'm awake the surprise is you being awake." She said, exasperation in her voice apparent.
He shrugged slowly. "I woke up a while ago and saw you." He smirked lazily. "Couldn't stay away?"
Anger rose at his innuendo. "Next time your about to die. I'll let you." Arra said in a low tone. When she stood to storm away Liam's arm shot out and pulled her back down beside him. He hugged her around the shoulders.
"Thank you."
She just grumbled and tore away from his grasp mumbling something that sounded like 'should have let him die'. Liam laughed and tried to stand. A dizzy spell hit him and he almost fell back. Arra caught his arm. "Stay seated! We'll get everything ready and come get you."
True to what she had said everything was packed up again though the pages woke up a little afterwards. Liam was sitting in front of the dead fire which was now nothng but cinders and ash with Arra's leather-fleece blanket around hit shoulders. "Your highness, it is time to go."
"Back to the titles? Okay then."
"Here give me the blanket. I'll trade it for this." Arra had her traveling cloak in hand. Navy blue wool on the outside and light blue on the inside.
"How much do you keep in your packs?"
"Everything I need. This is what I usually carry around with me when I travel on my own. Now give me the blanket." She held out her hand for the blanket noticing he sounded just a bit disoriented.
He shook his head. "This is too warm."
Arra frowned. "That's my favorite travel blanket."
"I'll have to get one." Arra took the blanket forcefully and put the cloak on him.
"Well you can't have mine." She snapped the silver clasp on the cloak together. She frowned. If she had a Name the silver clasp would portray it to onlookers but alas it was simply blank. "There you are, if you get cold tell someone."
He smiled sincerely. "Thank you." She looked up. Their faces were closer than need be.
"We need to get you back to the palace healers." She stepped back to see if he could stand. He tried but when he swayed she helped him realizing now more than before how much taller than herself he was: three quarters of a head. Meaning the top of her head came to about his lips. I hate my height. So cursed short!
She helped Liam onto his mount then got on her own. Stifling a gasp as pain stabbed its way up and down her back. She could still feel the blade.
"I'm feeling kind of . . . sleepy." Liam tottered in his saddle. But Semrak was there on one side and Fianola took the other to make sure he stayed on. The prince grinned languidly. "Well since you've got that handled can I take a small nap?"
Arra shook her head. "No. You must stay awake."
"I'm too sleepy to care." He yawned.
To keep him awake Arra tried to find a topic quickly, she said the first thing in her mind. "So you are seventeen right?"
"No."
"Keep him talking, Arra." Edmund whispered.
"Well then how old are you?" Arra continued.
"Eighteen."
"And why aren't you a knight yet? Did Lord Padraig make you repeat a year as I hear the last training master did?"
"No, when I turned ten I came down with a terrible illness--" His sentence broke with a yawn. "--and even when I recovered it took months for me to return to my former healthy state. But must we talk of this now? Of all times?"
"Yes, if you keep talking you won't fall asleep." She said simply. So that's what they did. They talked. And when one topic was retired they quicky lifted another one. After a while even the pages joined in. And it wasn't just Arra asking questions anymore, Liam asked questions too as well as Semrak, Edmund, and Fianola. Despite the hunger in their bellies because of the lack of breakfast they didn't even stop for lunch just ate, yet again, leftover jerky.
Arra tried to follow the same trail of questions but her mind skipped back to the one she'd first thought when she saw Liam riding up to their company. "Why did you come on this pages outing? It makes no sense."
"And how does it not make sense?" Liam asked only slightly curious as to the suddenness in her question.
"For so many reasons. Where is your knightmaster? Why aren't you with him? And even if you can come up with an answer for that why go with the pages? And . . . the healer's hut! Why would they let their Prince of all people take some unimportant Shang with only a few pages for company? No sense." Arra almost got through it all with one breath but came up short therefore only managing 'no sense' and not able to fit in 'makes'.
"You thought a lot about that haven't you?"
Arra shrugged and tapped her head. "My mind can't understand."
Liam rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "My knightmaster came down with some sort of sickness. They didn't tell me anything other than that. But his orders were for me to come here. Something about he wanted me to be doing something other than fetching the healer."
"And he told you this directly?" Arra wondered aloud.
"No, someone else told me. But the message was from him."
"I see. And why did Lord Padraig send you?" Arra moved on to her next question.
"I volunteered. And they volunteered to come with me when he asked." Arra sighed at his inability not to see that something was wrong with that. Why let their prince go? Even with pages? And even if he isn't the Crown Prince, so what? No, it's not that they don't care. It's just the Fate's doing. Pushing us together as many ways as possible. She growled to herself.
They continued at a steady pace until Liam started to speak nonsesne. Saying random phrases such as. "Are there any more?" and "Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Arra decided to pick up the pace considerably. It was nightfall when they finally reached the castle in desperate need of food. They hadn't stopped for the good of their prince.
Arra dismissed the pages to go eat. Though where they should eat they were confused about, seeing as how the pages eating room would be empty but they didn't say anything on the matter. They took all of the horses with them as Arra guided the delirious prince into the palace. He leaned heavily on her and swayed a bit, reminding her of a drunken man.
He set his head atop her own. "You're beautiful you know."
Arra rolled her eyes. "And your delirious." She said spotting Selma. "Selma! Get Duke Baird!" Selma must've heard because she ran off but returned shortly with the Duke himself.
Arra handed the second born prince to the Chief healer. He immediately put Liam under a Gift-induced slumber and with surprising strength lifted him up and carried him to a room Arra had never seen before. Like that's such an amazing thing, I haven't seen most of the rooms in the castle. Except my own.
"Selma, would you mind informing their Majesties of their son's condition?" Selma nodded at Duke Baird's polite request and left. He turned to Arra. "You may want to stay here. They might want to know what happened."
Arra nodded in understanding and took a seat inside the room. In the minutes Arra waited she listened to the Duke Baird's mumbling. He would say things such as, "Poisoned, wound in left forearm." She listened so closely she almost missed The royal entrance. Arra stood quickly and bowed though they ingored it.
"How is he?" Thayet asked.
"Will he be okay?" Jonathan added. Arra noticed that their voices were calm but with the unmistakable undercurrent of worry.
Duke Baird assured them Liam was going to live. He turned back to the Prince when Alanna swept into the room and he repeated to her he would indeed live. When that was finished all eyes turned to Arra for what happened. She sighed. Where am I supposed to start?
She opened her mouth several times only to close it before actually finding a good place to start. "Apparently, I was in some sort of comatose because they couldn't wake me. All I know is I woke up in a different setting in which I fell asleep."
"And your dream?" Alanna asked.
"Pardon?" Arra was taken a bit by surprise.
"Your dream. What happened?" The red-head repeated, the slightest hint of irritation in her voice.
I can't tell them! "I . . . don't remember." The Shang answered finally. The rest of the telling went fairly smooth. Arra skipped over the little fact that she'd shared Liam's bedroll and might have been stingy in details about the fight with the theives. Or whoever they were. Why did they want me . . .? Arra stood to leave until King Jonathan's voice stopped her.
"You're bleeding."
With the adrenaline pumping through her veins for worry of Prince Liam she'd forgotten about the pain. She placed three fingers gently on the wound and was met with a sharp pain. "I think I may have gotten it on the chair. I apologize."
Thayet waved it away. "Get yourself healed."
Arra smiled and held up her hands. "No, no, I'm fine."
"Even Shang let healers work on them." Alanna said, a purple light already glowing around her fingertips.
She had nothing against healers, or Gifted (considering she herself was one), but at the moment her top priority was to leave and go to sleep. The quickest way now I suppose is to let them work. . . why am I being so stubborn about this? "Fine, fine." Arra agreed and since The Duke was still busy Alanna saw to it. It was then they both realized they were very close to the same height, though technically speaking Arra was taller.
Arra decided to fill the silence. "Ah, changes. My teacher was one of those who believed 'that which does not kill you only makes you stronger.'"
"Your teacher? I don't thinkyou've said who he is." Jonathan said. Arra could tell they were trying to make conversation. I don't have to tell them my whole life story. But telling them something can't hurt.
"Damien the Shang Pheonix." Arra smiled in memory of him. "Gods, I miss them."
"Them?" Alanna asked, still working on her back.
Arra nodded and winced because of Alanna's work. "My friend Joel and I were both apprentices to him." She looked down at Joel's name. "He's the Shang Hawk now and I . . . well . . ."
Thayet changed the subject. Though, Arra admited to herself, not a better one. "So you grew up around two men? Didn't that get . . . akward?"
A red shade tinged her cheeks. "Ah . . . yes."
Alanna smiled though it was out of Arra's range of sight. Thayet hid a smile behind their hand while Jonathan looked a bit confused. An odd look on his handsome, usually knowledgeable, face. The Duke looked unaffected until he spoke. "Liam will most definitely be alright. He may even be awake in a few days. But what's most peculiar is that this was the same type poison used on Arra. Not exactly the same though. And as it was only a graze not a complete shot through," He looked pointedly at Arra, "The damage was slower."
Alanna finished up and said Arra should be fine. "I'm surprised you were walking without any kind of limp. A major muscle in your back was skimmed though you were lucky nothing hit your ribs. What exactly happened?"
"Stabbed in the back with a dagger." She said nonchalantly. "Which reminds me I never got my dagger out of his back. . ." She grinned. Then a sudden thought hit her, she bowed. "If you don't mind I never got to properly see to my mount."
"Of course." The King said. With that Arra left. When the door closed and the group was sure she wouldn't hear they spoke again.
"She's . . ." Thayet began.
"Odd." Alanna finished. "But I like her."
"Alanna, if I recognize that look in your eye, and I do, I'd say you were planning on challenging her." Jon said to her.
Alanna shrugged. "Shang are interesting and make spars more exiting."
"You've fought Shang before." He pointed out.
"With wounds afterward." Duke Baird interjected.
She blushed. "So? I haven't yet fought the Nameless Shang. If the rumors are to be believed she would've had an immortal name."
"You used the excuse 'I haven't fought the--' before. To be exact you said that about the Shang Horse when he first got here and the Shang owl. The Shang --" Thayet would've gone on but she was cut off by Alanna.
"I get it!"
"How much satisfaction would you be able to get if you beat a seventeen year old anyways?" Her king continued.
"I'd know that in my old age I havent' become rusty." Alanna stated. "And when have you all cared who I challenged before?"
Jonathan just shook his head. "You're impossible."
xXx
Why didn't I tell them those people were after me? It would've been easy to bring up. I know it would have. Then why didn't I?
A voice floated through her mind. "Because you think you are invinceble. That you can handle anything. And you think if you tell them, it would be like asking for help in some way."
That is crazy. Even I know I'm not invinceble.
"Welcome to how your subconscious thinks."
Liam would tell them sooner or later.
"You don't know the relationship between son and parents."
Arra stopped for a second. Why was she being so difficult with herself? Why was she contradicting every other thought that passed through her head? With this happening she found no easy way to put herself at ease.
For all I know he is very close with his parents.
"True."
I know nothing. No definites. I don't even know who's after me. I don't know if it was some small group that wants me dead for reasons unknown.
"Don't be dense. The man said 'they'll be mad'. He was terrified. That means there was somebody in a higher power over him. Who could hold that much power over someone else?"
Arra sighed. "That's just it. I don't know. I just . . . don't know."
She walked to her room, just as she was about to open the door she decided against it. With everything that had happened she wasn't tired. Not in the least. So she turned in direction of the practice courts. Suddenly her scalp felt itchy, she reached up her hand calmly to scratch it when with sudden frustration she used both hands messing up her hair till it was nothing but a mass of tangles. "I don't know!"
A single tear rolled down her cheek. "Gods, I'm so confused."
Arra decided to work on her bow skills. She chose one out of the practice bows and grabbed a quiver of arrows. When she got to the shooting range she loosed each one. One right after the other one. To her it was all just a rhythm. Slip the arrow to the bow, place fingers, pull, loose. It is not enough to be one with your weapon, you'll hit the mark every time when you can feel the pull from the target also. That's what Damien said. She touched the last arrow gently. She held it to her face. Studying it looking at every nook, every scratch, the color, every fiber of it. With unbelievable speed it was sent almost immediately from her fingers to the target.
"That was some good shooting."
Arra was just about ready to curse. If it isn't one person it's another. Can't someone get privacy!
"You came to the wrong place for privacy."
Shut up!
Arra found who the voice belonged to. Buriram Tourakom. The former Commander for one of the Queen's Riders' groups. Though since her marriage to the Knight Commander, Raoul, she'd given up the spot.
She shrugged and headed to fetch her arrows for another round. She'd had to cut out a couple but eventually she got them all. Standing back at her starting position, she looked at the target. Too close, too easy. Arra stepped back until there was at least twenty more feet between her and the target. Starting with the first one she loosed. Taking another step backward she shot the next one. Still moving back in a smooth motion she loosed the next, and the next. Arra reached for another and found they were gone. Sighing she swept her crystal blue orbs over the land in front of her. Where's Buriram?
She shrugged. Not my problem. She retrieved the arrows once again and started over. In a blind rage, for reasons that eluded even her, Arra didn't notice the small group forming to see the Shang shoot after nighfall.
xXx
"Why do you think she's doing it?" Buri asked Raoul.
"I wouldn't know. But she never misses the mark even in this light."
"You can see something in her eyes." Onua remarked. "Some sort of spark."
"What's everyone looking at at this time?" Came the voice of the Lioness.
Raoul spun. "Oh, Alanna. We were just watching the Shang, what was her name again?"
"Arra. What is she doing?"
"From what any of us can tell she's just shooting."
As soon as the words left his mouth Arra returned from yet another retrieval of arrows walking away, out of sight of the group.
"Think she's finally done?" Onua asked.
Raoul peeked around the corner to find her coming back with a sword in hand. "Nope, not a chance."
Arra threw the sword into the air. It fell, spinning hilt over blade though all that could be seen was the moonlight falling over the blade in flashes. Her fingers expertly grasped the handle in mid-air. The hidden group watched, transfixed. If they had seen that by any other Shang it might not have seemed so impressive. But at that exact moment it did. Perhaps it was the moonlight. Or possibly even the seriousness in the seventeen year old's face. Her usual smiling lips held in a straight line that looked as steady as stone. Her eyes were fully concentrated, though whether on the weapon before her or on personal thoughts they would never know.
Carefully, she placed the blade on the ground. Wasn't she planning on using it? So why was she putting it down? They soon knew the answer when she went into stretches. She stood perfectly still until she bent over backward, creating an arc with her body. She lifted one of her legs over and the other one followed until she completely flipped and stood upright again. After that her stretches became jumping, reaching, and flipping. Arra stopped seemingly suddenly, her breath only came a little harder. Picking up the sword they all watched as she fell into a series of swings, arcs, and slashes. Though they could only watch for an amount of time for after a while she was nothing more than a blur.
Arra stopped on her right foot. The dust fell away and created small twisters with her sudden stop. The group watched intently, her face stared into nothingness. She held her body still with a trained amount of effort. No ones eyes were on the sword until the moonlight flickered of the blunt silver blade just as no one was ready for the motion she made next. Though no one actually noticed the movement, all they knew is within the blink of an eye her arm was suddenly outstretched and the sword end was dug into a nearby tree.
She'd thrown it.
They watched as, almost in slow motion, Arra fell to her knees. Her heands seemed to clasp the side of her head as if she wanted to tear herself free from her flesh encasement. At first all they could hear was mumbling. Murmurs and whispers of almost words. Arra steadily became louder. Until finally they could hear the words.
"I DON'T KNOW!" She cursed and said a little quieter. "Why?"
It was finally then when they were snapped out of their near-trance. Arra suddenly looked very weak and childlike. Her arms slipped from her head and wrapped themselves around her. Now they noticed her pale appearance and the slight shine of sweat on her forehead. Tears streamed down her cheeks falling to the groud and making dark spots in the dirt.
Arra stared at her hands. She stood slowly from her knees, from this the silent watchers saw her body looked weary. She pulled the sword free sending bits of bark to the ground. Her arm hung with the sword in hand as if it were nothing more than a stick. So much more different than only moments before when it had become an extension of her arm.
The practice weapon slipped from her grasp. A Shang trained grasp. It fell to the ground. Arra looked at it dully. Then her eyes rolled into the back of her head, falling into the dirt next to the sword which gleamed in the moonlight.
x..:..x
A/N: And that's a wrap. Wasn't that fun? And what's the matter with Arra? Is she just losing her mind? Dun, dun, dun! Find out but before you do please report to the purple-blue button down below to REVIEW! (though most of you are probably smart enough to figure out what happened) And thank you. I still find it amazing how the beginning can be soooo different from the end. Lol. I'm crazy-stupid.
If the story seems to be going too fast, sorry. I'll write the same thing I put in my RK fic. I have trouble turning a ten second idea into a one hundred chapter story. (though I actually did spend a while thinking up the plot). So this is just a warning.
PLEASE READ: Okay, well, I'm working on a story for fiction press. Blah blah, it's another romance thing. (I myself am a hopeless romantic). Well, I want some opinions before I even think of posting it. So I was wondering if anyone would like to read the chapters of it I have written? If you don't mind, of course. If you would like to either send your answer in your review or e-mail me at (still review if you send e-mail please.)I would like to have two or three people if at all possible. If you guys are too busy I understand, I just thought I'd ask. Please, please, please. All I want is just a little bit of feedback. Thank you. Though, just a warning, I think I'd rate it mature (no I do not write lemons but there is mention, nothing more, of rape.)
(Don't worry I'll tell you what it's about.)
Marriage means peace and usually not much else. Betrothed from birth to settle anything from family feuds or possibly just to combine families. The lucky ones fall in love. But the others . . . Vashti is a lucky one. But she doesn't care what people say, she hates her husband. But on her journey of finding all about her people's past and their enemies, how many people will have to die before she realizes she might care for him?