Chapter nine! I think. :P Well, let's peek into what Karla and the new couple are up to, shall we?

Raine: Do we really have to?

Duh. There are people out there who are following your story, deary-kins.

Raine: Yes, but--wait. What did you just call me?

Uhmmm...Heh...heh...Onward! -Runs away-

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"You know, you people can really be nuisances."

Raine looked up as an irritated-looking Karla stormed into the room. She made no verbal reply, sitting on the couch next to Regal. They had been pondering through plans of escape before this intrusion, but obviously, all talk of fleeing was halted at the woman's arrival.

"That girl from Mizuho. She's suspicious of something," continued Karla, evidently not really needing nor desiring an invitation to do so.

Sheena? Did the Summoner know something about their predicament? Raine could see the same question in Regal's eyes. "Why do you say that?" asked the Half-Elf, cocking an eyebrow. She tried to make it sound casual, so that Karla wouldn't see the hopes she had behing the inquiery.

"Because she chased me," replied Karla, with a flat edge to her voice. "I don't think she knows who I am - not yet. But it's still a problem. David!" she called, her tone leaving no room for dawdling.

In an instant, David seemed to have simply appeared by her side. "Yes?" he asked lightly.

"I want you to find that girl. The ninja girl, and get her out of the way. I don't care how you do it, but I don't want her interfering, these plans are too valuable to have ruined." Karla scowled at him, and Raine and Regal shared somewhat alarmed glances.

They could not let Sheena get involved like that. If anyone else was hurt because of them..."No," said the healer, pushing off the couch and to her feet. "You won't harm her."

David and Karla both turned toward her, with identical looks that clearly said, "Since when have we listened to you?" But she held her ground, glaring at them. "If Sheena gets involved, it will very likely raise the others' suspicions as well. You will not have smothered the beginning flames of rebellion - you will fanned them into an inferno. One that could very well bring down everything you've worked for, and send you to prison right along with your new friends.

"How ironic, that the last two remaining members of your line will share the same fate. Is that what you want, Karla? To die just like Deryn, alone, in a cell?" Raine glowered at them both, until David crossed in the blink of an eye, and had pinned her against the wall. Regal was up in a flash, but the first man ignored him for the moment.

"You will not. Talk about Deryn. Like that," he growled, almost in a whisper, his eyes full of an anger she hadn't known he was capable of. From what she had seen, it was Eric who wore his thoughts and emotions right out there on his sleeves. But David...she'd never seen him act this way.

"I will talk...about...anyone...that I...facy talking...about," she managed, through the tight hold he had on her throat. This had happened once before...the first time she'd been kidnapped by Deryn and her little possy. She couldn't breathe, but that didn't mean she couldn't stand up against someone she didn't like.

His grip tightened around her airway, but his other hand clenched too, so she figured it was purely because people tend to tightly ball their hands into fists when angered. Unfortunately, her throat was caught in the middle of one. She coughed once, twice, unable to get any oxygen through his strangling hold.

"Unhand her. Now," she heard Regal demand, his own voice bearing an edge so sharp, it alone might have cut through David's grasp.

"Or you'll what?" asked the latter, in a very mocking fashion. "Kick me? I don't think so. I have the power to determine your beloved wife's fate. I hold her future in my hands right now, quite literally. You won't do anything to place her in jeapordy."

"She is already 'in jeapordy,'" retorted the Duke, apparently refusing to play the game David seemed to want to take them through. "Let her go, now."

She felt light-headed, the edges of her vision going fuzzy and darkening. She was suffocating, and she knew it. Whatever the men were going to do, she prayed they do it quickly. This disorientation was not a pleasant feeling.

"Let her go, David," sighed Karla, very carelessly as she walked toward them. "If she dies, Mister President over here retaliates to every extent, and we risk losing them both prematurely. Don't suffocate the woman."

With a growl, and one last lingering glower at Raine, David released his hold. Raine collapsed to her knees, coughing ruggedly and gasping for breath. She could not allow herself to hyperventilate, however. In this situation, it was not smart, and not safe.

Regal had knelt by her side, and now he turned her face, which she knew was somewhat paled, to his own. "Raine?" he prodded. "Say something."

She turned away again, continuing the rough coughing. "I'm-alright," she gasped.

"For now. You know you should thank me, I just saved that pretty head of yours," remarked Karla, cocking an eyebrow. She turned away, beginning to pace. "But she is right, David. If we do anything to that ninja, it could bring down everything we've already done..." The brunette slowed to a halt. "But there is a way."

Raine and Regal looked at eachother again, and she knew he felt the same as she. She did not like the sound of that at all.

"If they, themselves...were to end their friends suspicions." The trademarked Salri Grin surfaced again.

They themselves? Now she really didn't like where it was going. Regal assisted her in standing, very gently, and they both stared at Karla, anxiously.

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Hmmm. What is she talking about?

Raine: Nothing pleasant, I'm sure. With you as an author, we're probably about to go and publicly pretend to blow ourseleves up so everyone thinks we're dead and no one would think it was Karla's fault. Right?

...No. O.o That would totally be re-using an event idea I had in MTMTE. Been there, done that, Raine-si-poo.

Raine: What is it with you and strange names today...?

I'onno. I like 'em. Anyway. The couple's nervous, Karla's grinning maniacally, and Raine's presumption about that explosion isn't correct! Stay tuned.