Rim: Hello to all my wonderful reviewers that have been waiting for a while. Just blame school and the fact that I've had to study nonstop trying to bring my grade in Algebra from a low C to this B I'm going to pass with.

Brooklyn: It's your own fault for not taking the class so seriously. (Rim glares at him) Don't look at me like that. Anyway, we would like to thank the reviewers and hope you enjoy this next chapter.

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"Prince Tyson, Prince Kenny, this is my older brother, Tala," Kai said with a short smile that barely reached the corners of his mouth. Then he turned to the young man that just entered the dining room. Tyson and Kenny got out of their seats as Kai began introducing them. "Tala, these are our guests."

"I see," the older teen said with boredom in his voice while he continued to belt his pants up from who knows what he was doing. Once he was done, he shifted his eyes to the two Japanese princes. "Nice to meet you."

"It's an honor to meet you," Tyson said, feeling a little slighted by the way the older of the Russian princes were taking their visit to Russia. As if they were the least of his importance and he could care less if this was a trip to bring better alliance between the Russian and Japanese kingdoms. "I am Prince Tyson."

"And I'm Prince Kenny," the brunette bowed. From behind his hair, Kenny found that the older of the two princes was very handsome maybe even better looking than Kai. And his eyes were like bright blue crystals that sparkled under the light of the sun. Kenny was sure that both must have tons of women wanting to marry them. He hoped he was able to make friends with both he didn't want to disappoint his brother.

"Now that I think we've gotten introductions out of the way, I think we should get started with dinner now," Kai said as Tyson and Kenny reseated themselves. "And to answer your question brother, yes I would have started dinner without you."

"Don't you think that's a rude thing to do, little brother?" Prince Tala inquired, seating himself at the table on the end where Kai was, but not directly beside him. Kai turned his auburn eyes towards his older brother, a smile finally reaching the ends of his mouth.

"Forgive me Tala, but every time I want to start dinner, you tend to get yourself distracted by something and then I never know when you will get bored and come down for dinner. It's unfair to let me starve while you occupy yourself with things," Kai said in a light manner. "I'm sure you would feel the same way if I were to do that."

The red head thought on the subject for a moment, then nodded. "I probably wouldn't hesitate in eating without you. Okay, so that's fair enough then." Picking up his fork once the servants placed food on his plate, he looked across the table at the two Japanese princes who were eating. Well, Tyson was shoveling food in his mouth, minding to remember his manners while he was away from his own homeland.

Kenny on the other hand was hardly eating his thoughts a little elsewhere on how he was gong to get along with the two princes. His brother wouldn't have a problem making friends with the two because he was already so outgoing that no one who met Tyson ever hated him. Everyone tended to flock to Tyson easier than they did to him. Kenny probably had one other friend besides his brother. A young aristocrat by the name of Max who always joked with him that he shouldn't be afraid to talk to people because he had a great personality.

Of course Max was also outgoing like Tyson and had no problem making friends. Kenny would have no problem relaxing as long as Tyson was around. But when his brother wasn't around, he had no idea what he was going to do without the older teen. He didn't want to disappoint his brother, but he knew that he would not be able to get over his fear and try to be as outgoing as his brother was.

"Prince Kenny," Prince Tala said, continuing to study the quiet boy across the table. He watched the younger of the two Japanese princes look up startled, for a moment giving Tala a glimpse of blue eyes behind the silky hair.

"Yes…sire?" Kenny's heart pounded with anxiety.

"You don't have to be so formal," Tala flashed a short smile. "You can call me Tala, if I may call you Kenny."

"Yes sire—I mean Tala," Kenny said with a short flush to his cheeks. He heard the other chuckle, but when he looked up, all he saw was warmth in those deep eyes that someone could get lost in. "I'm sorry."

"That's all right," Tala said. "Are you enjoying the meal?"

"It's nice, thank you for asking," Kenny said, looking down at his food.

"It would seem your brother definitely enjoys it," Kai chuckled, sitting back drinking his ale. Tyson took a break from eating to breathe, or at least give his stomach time to adjust to the load shoved into it.

"Wow this is great, I could eat like this every day," Tyson chimed with a huge grin on his face.

"You do eat like this every day, big brother," Kenny smiled quietly, going back to his food. Tyson turned a huge grin on to his younger brother, with a teasing scold mixed in.

"Are you teasing your big brother again? Shame on you, Kenny, you know that I can't help how much I love food. I am still a growing boy, and so are you, so you need to eat up."

"I'm surprised, you would think by the way he eats he would have sprouted," Tala said, drinking his ale too. Tyson, hearing that turned his eyes to stare directly at Tala.

"Don't you start too, your brother has already commented on my height which I still do not appreciate," Tyson said, crossing his arms.

"Kai?" Tala raised a brow to his brother.

"I told him for being a year younger than me that he looks like he's thirteen," Kai shrugged.

"He's not thirteen?" Tala asked, fully surprised.

"No I am not thirteen," Tyson said. "I just haven't had my growth spurt yet! Just because you two are like giants, that doesn't mean that the rest of the world is like you two."

"That's absolutely true," Tala smirked. "I think that there only needs to be one of each of us, what do you think Kai?"

"Is it just me, or do you both tend to smile at my brother and smirk at me?" Tyson questioned.

"Maybe it's just you," Kai agreed.

"Funny," Tyson said with a roll of his eyes. "So, how about you tell me and my brother about yourselves?"

"It would be rude if we didn't ask that of our guests first," Kai said. "Why don't you go first since you have so much to say, Prince Tyson? What are your interests?" Kai sat back, his eyes completely on the blue haired prince. Tyson was interesting him of all the princes he's met so far, Tyson would have to be the most rambunctious. Kai liked that quality, because Tyson wasn't going to submit his way of living to anyone.

"Well, let's see, I like hunting, sleeping, and eating the most. I also like just sitting around and enjoying myself," Tyson grinned. "There are not a lot of things I hate."

"That's interesting to know," Tala said in a bored fashion, his attention left Tyson immediately, looking over at Kenny who was focusing on his food. "And what about you, Kenny, what are your likes and dislikes?"

"Me? Well…" Kenny bit his bottom lip, looking over at Tyson who was giving him a supportive smile. "I…I guess I could say I'm almost opposite to my brother. I tend to write and read a lot."

"The mind of a scholar, nothing wrong with that," Kai smiled. "I think a lot of people are happy you aren't like Tyson. The world only needs one Tyson in any life time anyway." The remark called all of Tyson attention to the younger of the Russian princes with a short stare.

"You know…something tells me that I'm going to have to kill you before I leave Russia if you keep making remarks like that," Tyson stated.

"You wouldn't want to harm me," Kai remarked.

"Who says I wouldn't want to?" Tyson asked.

"You know, I'm sure that you wouldn't. You're harmless, isn't that right Kenny?" Kai turned his eyes on the brunette who only blushed.

"Don't say a word Kenny," Tyson said.

"I have nothing to say," Kenny smiled softly.

"Now we don't have anything to incriminate Tyson with," Kai said to Kenny, bringing another smile out of the younger. Kai smiled inwardly to this. Even though Tyson was up his alley when it came to personality, there was something about the young brunette that could not be overlooked. He wondered if Tala had noticed it also. More than likely, it did not go unnoticed.

"Leave my little brother alone and stop trying to incriminate me," Tyson said, pointing at Kai. "You keep this up, and I will go through with what I was talking about."

"Do you even know what that word means?" Tala was the one to ask, turning his attention on Tyson. He watched the blue haired teen's face lit up.

"Of course I know I'm not stupid!" Tyson said through clenched teeth.

"Oh."

"Oh? Is that all you have to say?"

"Of course, should I have said more?" Tala said, going back to his meal.

"I see I'm going to have to kill you also," Tyson glowered. Kenny covered his smile by raising his cup to his lips, but he was certain Kai might have seen it because Kai gave him a crooked grin. Maybe staying in Russia wouldn't be so bad after all. Both Kai and Tala seemed very nice and were making it easy for Kenny to get along with them both. Even now he felt less homesick than he had before.

As dinner continued, Kenny continued to find himself more at peace around the two Russian princes that in a way were becoming older brothers to him also. Especially Kai who asked a lot of questions and was generally interested in everything he learned. Every now and then Tala questioned him, or they would go back to getting on Tyson's nerves, starting another round of banter.

The final round came at the end of dinner with Kai standing up from his seat and bowing to the two princes saying he was going to retire to his room for the evening. Not to long afterwards, when Tyson figured he had his fill of Russian cuisine for the evening, he pushed himself away from the table.

"I doubt that I could eat another bite," Tyson sighed contently.

"Interesting, there's not as much to dispose of. Tell me are you human or a cow?" Tala said, finishing his last cup of ale for the night and standing up from the table. That of course set Tyson off yet again.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Tyson shouted.

"Nothing," Tala smirked. "I should retire to my room. You can walk around the castle as much as you want, just don't get lost; I'm not coming to find you. Good night."

"Good riddance," Tyson scoffed as the oldest Russian prince walked off.

"I think they enjoyed teasing you big brother," Kenny laughed a little.

"Enjoyed making me want to kill them is all that was," Tyson huffed. "Want to go for a walk or go back to the rooms?"

"I think I feel a little sleepy, I think I should go to bed," Kenny said.

"I'll walk with you to your room, then," Tyson yawned. "I think I feel a little sleepy too. I think the first day here wasn't so bad, what do you think little brother." Tyson shifted his eyes to his little brother who nodded.

"I think I could get use to staying here for a little while," Kenny admitted. "Prince Kai and Tala aren't as I expected of them. What about you, big brother?"

"Well, I suppose if that's the worst to them, then I doubt that I will want to leave right away. I want to see more of the country and castle. This is our first trip away from home, we should enjoy it." Kenny nodded with agreement.

Meanwhile, as the two Japanese princes headed back to their rooms, two other siblings were having a conversation of their own. Kai sat on the windowsill in his brother's room while Tala was seated on the edge of the bed. Kai stared out the window, enjoying the cold winter air swirling around him. The moonlight illuminated him in a silhouette of light, as if an angel watching over the world.

For a long minute, neither one of them said a word they just sat there in the silence of the room with the oil lamps burning. On the walls shadows danced and twirled, rising and falling in their night time motion. In the darkness of the shadows, Tala was like a devil. Mysterious and lurking, waiting for his victims then striking when they least expect it; a complete and ironic contrast to Kai's current portrayal. Even if in truth, the two were an angel and devil in mortal form. Or as much of that analogy as one could make of the two princes.

"So, what do you think," Kai finally said after the long span of silence between them. He didn't turn his eyes towards his brother; he continued to stare out the window over the city which stood below.

"The oldest one is loud, he could be annoying, but entertaining," Tala smirked. "I think it would be fun to break that strong willed nature he holds onto."

"I knew you would say that," Kai chuckled. "But indeed there is something about him that would be fun to break. What do you think of the younger one?" For this reply, he turned an eye to his brother, seeing the teen's eyes flicker as he thought.

"He's not my type," Tala frowned. "He's a year younger than the older, right?"

"That's what I understand from things. He's dependent on Tyson," Kai said. "It looks to me that their close to each other and Kenny doesn't make a move unless Tyson says so."

"Is that so…" Kai could hear the change of tone in his brother's voice, and had a feeling he had already made up his mind. "You can have Tyson, I want the younger one. This gives me a little more challenge into making him break away from those lines."

"Try not to kill him like you did the last one," Kai suggested. "Father still has big plans for at least one of them, but we still don't know which one yet. He said he would send word once everything in Japan has been settled."

"Who cares about what father wants we all know who he really has his eye on. After all, the heir to Bakuten throne is more important to him since he will come to the throne when his bed-ridden father finally dies. He doesn't have any use for the younger, so I'm making him my slave to do with however I want," Tala voiced.

"I suppose if that's how you feel, then I won't stop you, just make sure that you don't kill him, Tyson may look like a push over, but I'm certain if anything happens to Kenny, he would not hesitate to try to kill us both, then we may not have any choice to kill him," Kai advised. "Not a wise decision because you know what father would do to us both for that error."

Tala was silent, glancing to a dark corner of the room. "Then I suppose we shall play this game out like always?"

"Of course, we'll allow them a few days to get use to us then we will show them our true selves," Kai nodded with a slow smirk that made him seem like a devil in the disguise of an angel. "And since you let me have Tyson…I think this game will be even more interesting."

"It sounds as if someone has already taking a liking to the boy," Tala said.

"I suppose so, but that won't get in the way of what father has planned. And if it is really the heir of the Bakuten Empire that he needs, I will seduce the boy into giving us the throne as planned. Then once we have the throne in our hands, I suppose that he'll spend the rest of his hours in my bed until I grow weary of him," Kai grinned wickedly.

"And sometimes they wonder whose worst between the two of us," Tala laughed. "All right, tomorrow, the games will begin then."

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Rim: Seems Kai and Tala have something up their sleeves. (grins) Wondering what will happen next? I have loads of things planned for the next two chapters and chapter seven will pick up where the prologue left off, so be prepared!

Brooklyn: Didn't that get you in trouble with reviewers last time? (reviewers start throwing books at Rim again) Well, I suppose we will see everyone next chapter if she isn't killed first.