A/N: And to think, this chapter was going to be dreadfully SHORT! And then BOOM inspiration hit and I wrote it down. Actually I was having trouble, yet again, putting the storyline down in words.

Disclaimer: Doesn't belong to me. If I knew how to speak other languages I'd tell that to you in those languages too.

x...:...x

"Zefra, I assure you it had to be done." Zedar said again.

"I still don't understand why. He didn't do anything to anybody!"

"First of all, you don't have to understand. Second of all, he needs a lesson badly. He's gone far too long unchecked." Zefra noticed he rubbed his wrist even after the healing.

"But, Zedar," She pleaded. "I don't think he deserves it! Please, don't."

"Its too late Zefra, I've given the order and I won't take it back." He smiled. "Developing yet another crush?"

"No! But—but. . ." She gave up and her shoulders sagged. Thin fingers lifted her chin up.

"You are too soft, sister. Believe me when I say this needs to be done." Zedar's eyes softened only a bit, the look only for his full sister. "Don't disagree. If you do I will be alone and I need you here."

He was her twin, her other half. It had to either be both of them or neither. She had always believed this but there were times when he scared even her, the one person he would never harm. He had used that line to bring exactly these thoughts up. "Alright, Zedar. I trust you and your decisions."

xXx

The fields were green and endless. It swayed ever so slightly. Looking to the front of her there was only one hill. And . . . and someone was standing in front of it. Arra squinted to try and get a better look at who it was. The person was beckoning to her. Not really knowing why she stood and walked over, and then she was jogging and somehow that grew into a run until she reached the person.

"Liam? Liam, what are you doing here?" Surprisingly she wasn't out of breath at all.

Liam only grinned, his black hair falling into his eyes. He put his forefinger over his lips and gave a small, "Shhh."

He grabbed her hand and led her up the hill. At the top, the view was breathtaking. It was a field of flowers. The colors were vivid and seemed to glow. Maybe it wasn't the flowers at all that were beautiful but the peacefulness, or maybe even the surreal feeling of it all.

"Liam, this is beautiful." She whispered. Liam nodded, the smile still on his face.

But then the smile fell. The smell of smoke reached her nose and she looked away from Liam to see the field of flowers was on fire. Or rather it had been and all that was left was embers and dark burnt dirt and ashes. Then she noticed the previously green field they were standing on was much the same.

"Liam, what's going on?" Arra ignored the fact that there seemed to be fear in her voice.

He sighed. "Our time here is running out." He turned and faced her squarely. "Dreams can only last so long."

Suddenly he grabbed her shoulders tightly. The place where his hazel eyes should have been turned into nothing but dark fathomless black pits. Arra bit back a scream as scars began to appear all over his face and for a moment she thought his face was melting off until she realized Liam's face was wrinkling.

At first the voice was still his, "Wake up!" Then it grew raspy,cracked, and familiar. Fate. "Wake up, girl! Wake up!"

Arra sat up gasping. She threw off the sweat-damp covers. She rested her head in her hands taking deep breaths. It was the overall feeling of the dream that stuck more than anything. Her heartbeat was slow and so hard she could feel it all the way down to her toes.

For a while she just sat there waiting for her body do feel normal again. She stepped out onto her balcony to take in some fresh air. Suddenly a loud yell reached her ears followed by a groan. Arra looked to where the sound came from, to her right, just in time to see two shadows slip around the corner. She looked a second more before realizing something there was still moving! Whatever it was, it was alive.

Quickly, Arra slipped on her boots and ran out the door. When she reached the scene she was surprised and saddened almost to tears at what was there.

"Andy? What happened?" She whispered. His hands and legs were bound. A dark spot of blood stained his lighter red hair. He looked up at her through the non-swollen eye.

"Forgive me, I tried not to wake you." His voice was hoarse with pain.

Arra pulled out a razor thin blade she kept in a hidden slip on the outside of her boot and cut his bindings. "Yes, because me getting an extra hour of sleep is definitely more important than any broken bone, especially yours." Arra said sarcastically. "What a stupid thought."

Andy tried to give a weak smile but ended up just hurting his bruised face.

"Can you walk?"

"I-I--" He sighed. "I don't think so."

He leaned his head against the wall in defeat. His good eye started to droop as if he was tired.

"Don't you dare go to sleep." Arra said. I need to go for a healer but then who will make sure he doesn't go to sleep? A sudden plan popped into her head. Biting her lip she thought about it. It could work but chances that it would weren't very high. I hope you don't have to be healer for this. "Do both your legs hurt?"

"I think one's broken." He replied. "But the other one hurts too."

"Which one hurts more?" She asked. He tapped his right leg lightly with one forefinger. Arra nodded and called forward her Gift. "I'm not sure if this will work." She warned.

Arra encased his right leg with her Gift. She tried to picture stints to hold the leg in place. The result was a crystal blue shield pressed against his skin. Arra crouched down beside him on the opposite side, her hope being the shield would protect the other leg from most of the pain so she could support the other side and therefore help both legs against most of the pain.

They took small steps, going slowly. Or, more like, Arra took steps and Andy sort of shuffled his feet forward.

"Does it hurt?" She didn't wait a moment before saying. "Of course it does. What I meant was, how is the shield working?"

Andy made the mistake of trying to smile again. "Ow. It hurts to move it but the general pain is kept at bay."

It seemed to take hours and hours to even get inside the palace again. Arra looked up the steps and groaned. "Whoever thought out this plan of putting the healer's upstairs wasn't very bright. How are injured people expected to climb stairs?" If I ever get the chance, I'll change this.

"Arra," Andy said weakly. She looked over to him noticing now that he was breathing hard and sweat had already formed in droplets on his forehead. "I'm . . . much too tired to make it up those steps."

Arra thought for a moment, biting her lip. He needed a healer immediately. It might take too long to reach the top of the stairs and might possibly make certain injuries worse. Arra thought about the wound on his head though; even she knew basics of head injuries. He should not be allowed to sleep for a certain amount of time without first seeing a trained healer who knew what they were doing.

Andy began to weigh down on her. "Set me down here and go on ahead," Still she hesitated. "Let it be marked down that you wanted to take my limping, half-dead self all the way up the steps," His head fell tiredly, "Please just . . . go."

His speech was starting to slow. Arra went against her instincts and set him down on the first stair. She patted his cheek and whispered quickly, "You're not half-dead."

Somehow she could tell he wanted to smile but knew the consequences after trying twice already. She tried to leave but he grabbed her hand with a grip she would not have expected. "Arra, watch out for . . ." He faltered a bit. "Z-Zedar. Don't just watch out for him b-but watch him. Come to your own conclusions before something happens, I cannot give all the answers."

Arra's mind screamed for her to fetch a healer. She put his message to the back of her mind for the moment but still easily accessible for later. Andy let go and she raced up the the stairs taking them two and three at a time. I hope the healer is an early riser!

When she reached the healer's room no one was there. She cursed and then whipped her head around when a strong female voice asked her something from down the corridor: "Are you looking for the healer?"

"Are you the healer?" Arra demanded, having no patience.

"I am."

"Then come QUICKLY!" Arra roared. Being a healer the woman understood urgency and sprinted down the hall.

Her breath was already fast when she reached Arra, "You don't look hurt to me."

"Your not done running yet," Arra said. She pulled the older, taller woman running as fast as she could.

"I can't run this fast!"

"Then I'll drag you!" She growled. Though the healer's legs were longer Arra knew how to move hers faster. She would have pulled her down the stairs when they reached them but at this the healer pulled away her hand and flew down the stairs deftly.

Andy's state on the stairs suggested he had fallen back from the upright sitting position Arra had left him in. "Andy, I told you not to fall asleep." Arra whispered.

The healer took an overview of his wounds and whispered a soft "oh my" when she saw the still bleeding head. She reached his leg and tried to touch it. She hissed and pulled away. "Would you take off the barrier?"

Arra pulled her Gift away from Andy's leg praying to any god listening that Andy would be alright. The tall woman, Arra found, was also surprisingly strong. She lifted Andy very carefully from the stairs with a small grunt. "Would you mind making sure his head is supported?"

The back of her eyes stung all the way to the infirmary as she cradled Andy's head. The left side of his head now almost completely dark crimson.

"There we are." The healer said softly placing him on the white bed. She didn't look up but said, "I am Ilandere the healer, I go by Ilan."

"Arra, call me Arra." She said without thinking. Ilandere's head snapped up.

"Princess?"

"Yes." She answered emotionlessly.

Ilan turned back to Andy immediately. Pink fire came to her fingertips as she examined him closer. She took off his shirt. The healer glanced up at her. "You can wait over there."

"Can't I help? In anyway?"

Ilan looked like she wanted to refuse. But Arra guessed she must have seen something, perhaps the fear in her eyes for him, and she put her immediately to work. For the next hour Arra was sent to and fro gathering clean bandages and getting more warm water. Despite the work that was supposed to be keeping Arra busy she could not help but notice that even when Ilan prodded his worst bruises he didn't so much as twitch.

Arra came back one last time with clean rags and stopped dead. Ilan was sitting on the bed across from the one Andy was on.

"What? What is it?"

She sighed and looked to Arra. "I've done all I can. The rest is up to him."

Arra almost dropped the rags. "As in he needs time to rest? H-he'll be fine?"

"Yes and no." The healer replied. Arra was stuck somewhere between wanting to scream and no sound wanting to come out of her throat. "He'll live. It is out of my hands, however, as to when, if at all, he'll come into consciousness."

Arra walked over to stand beside his bed numbly. Ilan had brought down most of his swellings, cleaned up small cuts, and helped heal bruises from dark blue and purple to a healing yellow or brown. She put her hand on his cheek softly and tears sprung to her eyes.

When had he become a friend? Why did she have to care whether he was alright or not? A sudden feeling hit her. She felt stripped of something, some extra layer. It was like a wound open to infection or taking off a jacket against blistering winds. I don't feel safe.

The tears threatened to spill but she held them back. It did not seem fair that this man should be in this comatose state. Why had it happened? To him of all people? He had been kind. What am I thinking? I didn't really know him at all. Arra thought angrily trying to shake herself from the near breaking point in her nerve.

She felt cool hands on her shoulders. Ilan pulled her away slowly, calmly and told her she could come back later. As Arra walked out of the infirmary she could have sworn that she heard Ilan whisper, "This is the part I hate most of Zedar's dealings." And then the door closed.

If she had caught those words right, what had Ilan meant by them? Zedar's dealings?

Arra's mind worked furiously as she walked down the long halls. As she walked on she grew aware of the shadows, of the darkness that loomed over the entire castle like a scent in the air you can only faintly pick up. It sent shivers up her spine.

Not for the first time she asked herself, what exactly was going on here?

Watch out for Zedar.

That's what Andy had said. He wouldn't have warned me if it had nothing to do with me right? So was her life in danger? Or perhaps the kingdom and he was relying on her?

The thought of a threat against her life reminded her of the time back in Tortall, before her illness, someone had tried to kill her there too. Remembering it triggered the memory:

"They'll be angry. Gods, they'll be angry." He rambled.

"Who were you trying to get?"

"They never told us you were a Shang."

Arra cursed at her nonexistent progress. Liam intervened. "Why did you take our pages?"

"Feran, will tell them. You didn't get him. We were only after one person. "

"Me," Arra whispered, finishing the memory. Feran.

It couldn't be? Could it? The same man? But Feran didn't seem like the kind to take orders from anyone. He was even commander of the army! Perhaps it was him who was at the head of this?

Watch out for Zedar. Watch him.

Andy's words pressed more insistently on the inside of her skull.

Arra thought of it from that kind of perspective. If Zedar was at the head of . . . whatever was going on—NO! She stopped herself. That was a far scarier thought. A thirteen year old boy in the lead of this? Surely not! Another shiver ran down her spine. But if it were true . . . how powerful was he? How intelligent was he? Exactly how much influence did he have over Feran, over the army, over . . . over all the inhabitants of the castle?

She noticed her breath quicken as she walked on and not from the exercise of it either. Trying to calm herself she thought, That is a lot of 'ifs'. I'm working off of nothing! Nothing at all! But the thought was unhelpful. Somehow, in her bones, she could feel that she had, in the least, come close to it. It being what she knew had been in the castle from the beginning. Looking back to the first few days she realized she had felt something.

Arra finally reached her room. She opened it and stepped in quickly. She leaned against the door still breathing quickly and feeling only slightly more safe.

She did not like this feeling at all. Not one bit.

She had been born into a world like this but she hadn't grown up in it! This was not what she was used to! Arra was used to fighting. In the fighting world she could be ready for anything. She knew how to be; she had been trained to know. But here, in the world of nobles, dancing and dresses she was unprepared. People were sneaky, they always had schemes within schemes within schemes!

Slowly, she slid to the ground still leaning against the thick wooden door only to jump up suddenly and run to a desk on the opposite side of the room. She pulled out paper and something to write with. She began a letter to the first person who came to her mind, one she knew she could trust.

Liam.

She didn't write a long letter for she had a hard time putting everything she wanted to tell him into words. If she had bothered to read over it she might have noticed it would make almost no sense to him but she hadn't. Instead she grabbed some string and walked out of the door beside her bed to the balcony and whistled. Immediately, a shriek of a falcon answered her.

When Cobalt reached her, Arra tied the note to his leg. He seemed puzzled by it at first but didn't try to take it off. Arra made sure it wouldn't fall off then looked at Cobalt straight in his dark, intelligent, beady eyes. "I need to you take this to Liam. I know its a long way away but . . . please." Cobalt had no qualms and took flight. "Remember to eat!" Arra yelled as an afterthought.

What am I doing? The craziness of what she had done hit her. She sighed. It wasn't too late to call Cobalt back, but she found she didn't really want to.

A bit later, Arra decided to walk down to the stables. She found Ghost's stall and went inside of it. Then she just sat down in one of the corners while Ghost pressed her face against Arra's trying to comfort her. Arra just didn't feel like being inside the palace at the moment. Now more than ever she wished she was off on her own adventure possibly being shot at by bandits or something. It seemed less stressful.

Would life here always be like this? She would just have to be on her guard.

oOo

Weeks stacked upon weeks and Arra didn't bother to keep count, though she was vaguely aware a month might have already passed. None of it passed her by comfortably. She stood on end every moment she was on palace grounds and even more so in the presence of Zedar.

Her classes had started and they were not as horrible as Arra thought they would be.

Etiquette was easy only because of her Shang training. The many dances her teachers forced her to practice she memorized easily because she thought of them as the steps of a fighting dance. The bows she could keep steady perfectly because of Shang discipline and steadiness. Balance wasn't an issue. She also learned a few other various things such as what a princess should and should not say.

The classes for the history of her gift were taught by her very own father and tended to be interesting in her opinion. Those classes gave her control of her Gift that Lindhall couldn't have given her even if he had wanted to.

Presently though she stood where she had been for the past hour or so in fittings for a dress. This particular one wasn't for the ball coming soon but for the dress they would use to work off of to make her more. This one was a cream color and, thankfully, they were almost done. They'd finished the over-vest and were working on the under part of it.

Arra sighed for probably the one millionth time until she heard a shriek fill the air. For a moment it meant nothing. Then her breath stopped. Cobalt. He was finally back. Arra gave up her pose and jumped off the pedestal she was on. The dressmakers seemed unhappy about that but Arra gave them a hasty, "Finish it later!" and continued on.

Cobalt perched outside on the balcony. On his leg he carried a message.:

Meet me at the Green Crown Inn.

Liam

Her heart stopped for a second. Then her body moved completely void of thought. She just ran outside, took Ghost and rode away completely forgetting she was wearing a dress.

x...:...x

A/N: I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas (or any other holiday you celebrate!). Mine was fun.

Next chapter . . . well I'm sure you can guess, right?

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