Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or names of the places and monsters. They are owned by Clamp and Gravity respectively.

Chapter 3 - Sorceress of Geffenia

The night before the ball, when everyone in the palace was fast asleep, a lone stranger on horseback came knocking at the iron gates. Luckily, the one who was standing guard at the gates was none other than Jimmy, the young page. Jimmy was standing in for one of the palace's royal guards, but because he wasn't used to staying up so late, he is currently sleeping. The cloaked stranger seeing Jimmy in such fitful sleep with drool on one side of his face couldn't help but let out a chuckle before putting their hand softly on Jimmy's shoulder and shaking him gently. Jimmy slightly aroused from sleep, "Wha-?"

The stranger smiled. "I request an audience with your King." The stranger's voice was feminine and serene. Jimmy squinted at the stranger in the dark. It was indeed a girl, though he couldn't see her face very clearly in the dark. She spoke again. "Will you take me to you King?" She was courteous and sincere. Even though they had just met a few seconds before, he couldn't help but like her. But remember his duty once more, he asked her, "What is your business with the King?"

"It is urgent. Please hurry."

Jimmy's curiosity stirred. "You came to marry our Prince?"

The stranger laughed and her laughter was definitely music to his ears. Without waiting for an answer from her, he opened the gates and led her inside. He told her to wait in the waiting room so that he could go and get the King and left her without another word. Once out of her sight, Jimmy ran like he never did before through the stone corridors. When he got there, he threw open the doors to the King's bedroom and loudly exclaimed to the King that he had a visitor. The King, having been woken up from a very delicious dream of eating candy canes was angry at first, but it had subsided as quickly as it came when he heard that the visitor is here to marry the Prince. Thinking that his son had purposely hid this from him, he told Jimmy to wake up the Prince and join him in the grand hall to meet her. Jimmy left in a hurry to carry out his orders while the King quickly threw on his royal garb. In his haste, he had forgotten to replace his nightcap with the crown. When he got there, Jimmy was already there standing beside the Prince. Syaoran grinned when he saw his father's nightcap, faked a coughed and pointed to his head. Feeling slightly embarrassed at such a mistake, he quickly got up from the throne, and produced a substitute from underneath the chair. "Jimmy, summon the girl."

"Glad to see you can make it, son. I knew you were fooling us when you said you haven't found anybody yet." He grinned a very wide grin. The Prince said nothing. The truth was that he really hasn't found a girl to marry. He was curious about this girl though. From what he heard when he questioned Jimmy was that she came to marry him, he had no doubt that she came for something else.

After a short while, Jimmy came through the doors of the marble hall, holding one of the doors open for the stranger. "Announcing, the..." He paused, remembering that he had forgotten to ask for her name. "Sakura." She came to his rescue with impeccable timing. "Sakura Kinomoto, Sorceress of Geffenia."

"Geffenia?" muttered the Prince. He had heard legends about that place. It goes back to the times when Glast Heim was still a flourishing kingdom about a thousand years ago. The war between God, humans and monsters had left Midgard devastated. It left Glast Heim in ruins overrun by monsters and the magical Kingdom of Geffenia lay forgotten. The city of Geffen was rumored to be built on top of it but no one knows for sure. Nobody ever found its entrance.

The stranger in front of them finally took down her hood. Her flowing brown hair and wide green eyes were captivating. He pinched himself. It was the only thing he could do to stop himself from staring. Her smile was so alluring, that he found it hard to get over her looks. In that minute, he had decided that she was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever saw and that was saying quite a lot.

Prince Syaoran didn't travel these three years for nothing. Besides all the battles and all the wars that he had fought, he had never once forgotten his ultimate goal: to bring home a wife. He had travelled far and wide just for this alone and yet wherever he went, he found the girls strangely lacking. What were they missing? It a question he never could find the answer for. So whenever he was in the presence of a girl, his heart would tell him to stay away but as he is in Sakura's presence, it stays silent.

Finally able to put a stopper on his thoughts, he asked her what she came here for. Her face changed into one of anguish and fear. Walking up to the throne, she saluted the traditional way, with one knee of the soft red carpet and her right hand clenched in a fist over her heart. She told them her worries.

"Our Kingdom, Geffen, is in grave danger. I am here to plead for your help. A great evil has unleashed Arc Angelings and its minions outside our city. We do not have enough skilled forces to fight it. I beg of you, please help us!"

"Of course, my dear." The King got up and helped her to her feet. King Tristam III has lived up to his name yet once again in being the kindest King in all of Midgard. "Tell us exactly the situation Geffen is in."

"If you have been to the city, you would know that there were four gates in which you can enter the city with. Each gate is located on the walls facing north, east, south and west respectively. At first, the arc angelings and their minions just hung around the east gate. We have sent many troops out to fight it, but that was no use, one was hard enough but four." She let her voice trail off. Letting all the information she had just relayed sink in. Then taking a deep breath, she began again. This time the pain in her voice increased.

"Our troops got smaller and smaller each day, while the numbers of minions increased. What's more they have separated and are found in front of all our gates. Our forces are no more. We do not even have the power to take care of one arc angeling. The situation is now is dire. Nobody can come out and nobody can get in. Our food and supplies are dwindling each day. All our forces have withered, they have no more will left in them. The walls of Geffen will not stand much longer, we must go to their aid at once."

"Calm down, my child." The King's kind eyes had some effect. "That's right," Prince Syaoran was also more than willing to help. "You must rest now. There isn't anything more you can do today. We will send scouts to examine the current situation. Just leave it to us." Hearing Prince Syaoran's voice, she walked over to him and saluted him as well. "Prince Syaoran. Your name far precedes you in the land of Midgard. There isn't a child who has not heard of your name or of your great feats. Our princess wishes for you to lead the troops into battle, she believes that only you can save us now." She hesitated but decided to go on. "Our princess has also said that if you were to save us from this crisis, you will be welcome to choose any maiden take to home with you to be your bride. Herself included." Hearing these words, the King jumped with joy. There was no need to worry anymore. The Princess of Geffen is a real beauty if the rumors prove to be true. His son will not be able to resist her. Feeling tired all of a sudden, he decided to leave the two people to work out the details themselves. If his son was taking care of the matter, there was no need for him to be worried.

Once the King left however, the situation took another turn. Now that only the two of them are left, the Prince let his thoughts overtake him once more. He found himself distrusting this beautiful night traveller the more he thought. Geffenia? That was not possible. Nobody has found the entrance after the Great War for the past thousand years. Why would she announce herself with such a name? It was bound to arouse suspicion. Then he paused. Did I just think she was beautiful?

Suddenly, he realized that she was staring at him and for some strange reason, it made him blush. He quickly averted his eyes, not knowing what to think. Wait a second. He took another look at her face. She was looking at him quizzically. Have I seen her somewhere before?

"Erm, your highness?" she said it with such a sweet voice that Syaoran thought it could lull bees to make more honey. "If you do not need me anymore, I should very much like to go to sleep."

Not wanting her to leave just yet, he asked her the first question that came to mind.

"So you're from Geffenia?"

"Yes."

"How is that possible?"

"Excuse me? What do you mean?"

"Everyone knows that Geffenia is a lost city underneath Geffen. Nobody has found the entrance to it for the last thousand years. It that not true?"

"Do you not believe me?"

"Its not that I don't believe you, I just want to know the truth."

"I am telling you the truth."

"No, you have not!" This was definitely not the sort of conversation he had in mind but he was heated enough to continue it. "Who are you?"

"I told you the truth!"

"That's not good enough. I know for a fact that you couldn't have come from there. I've been there and seen it for myself. There is no way in. For all I know, you could be an assassin trying to kill my father!"

"If I was, I would have done that when he was here!" she retorted

At those words, Prince Syaoran yanked her towards him and shook her hard. "Don't you dare hurt my father." He said silently but vehemently. His senses were being overwhelmed by his emotions that he did not even realize how much strength he was using.

Sakura squirmed in his grip.

"You're hurting me!"

He instantly let go of her.

"Sorry," he muttered. But it was already too late; the damage was done.

Sakura, rubbing the bruises on her arms, shuddered. She had never been so scared in her entire life. She wanted to just run out of here and never set foot in this damned place ever again. But the thought of the kingdom, her home, in peril was more important than her fear. With tears waiting to burst, she had to ask one final question. Looking at the Prince, she asked, "So will you come to our rescue?"

The shock of seeing her about to cry had humbled Syaoran a bit. "I never," he said coarsely, "neglect those in need. You may depend on it."

This little episode had left both Syaoran and Sakura quite disconcerted. She had run out of the hall at once after hearing his answer, feeling degraded and offended. He, on the other hand, felt very guilty. He could still feel her slender arms in his grip after she had left, not letting him get any rest that night.

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AN: Well here is the next bit. Thanks for those reviews. I really appreciate it.