Thankyou everyone who reads this fic! Of course, special thanks go to my loyal reviewers and readers *sobs* I love you all! And also my sister for beta-ing and my friend RGNN for encouragement!

Oh, and congratulations KiGaMi, for guessing one of the bad guys! You get four real cyber cookies! *gasp!* (if you want to check, it's on the reviews page…)

Now stopping my blabbering…

I think I dozed off. It would have been highly possible, since I was getting more and more tired with every passing day.

'Wind-sama, Wind-sama, you are called to attend the royal lunch banquet to celebrate your return.'

I groaned, and woke up fully. Immediately, it seemed like ten-thousand huge jock muscle men with sledgehammers were trying to kill my brain.

Ugh, that hurts.

'I'm coming, please tell them that I may be a little late.'

'Of course, Wind-sama.' I then heard light footsteps patter away. I smiled, glad that I had done something right and sat up fully. Immediately, another ten-thousand sledgehammers slammed into my brain.

I grimaced and pulled my pack closer and rummaged in it. There was so much random crap, there should be something that was useful...

I gave up on rummaging inside the pack and just tipped it all out. I gaped. Either Jeb added stuff inside again, or there was a weird four-dimensional hole in my bag somewhere because I don't remember having this much in my bag.

Trusty old F.R.O.G was there of course, with some random pieces of paper. My sketchbook and pencils were there, with some pebbles, a stick, two hats, a pair of shoes (huh? I had tonnes of shoes here…), socks, a packet of cheap looking lollies, a bracelet, and three pens. And of course, the medical kit.

I didn't dare touch any of the other stuff except F.R.O.G and the pencils, sketchpad and medical kit. Who knew what their special abilities were? I scooted back (ignoring the hot pokers prodding my arms and legs) far far away from them.

Who knew I would be so scared of a stick?

Then I looked into the medical kit. And to my (absolute) delight, there was a tiny note (kinda burnt note) saying

"Here's another two painkiller shots for you! They refill like the other one, so enjoy!" I squealed in delight (or at least I would've if squealing didn't make me feel like my brain had become a punching bag) and carefully got one out and stuck it into my arm.

Instant relief.

Ha… I sat like I was bloated.

Until I remembered the feast. I scrambled up to my feet.

Gaaaah, I'm so late! Noooo!'

I ran, grabbing my staff on the way (the jock musclemen with the sledgehammers in my brain had been temporarily sedated) I checked the blue-print in my brain.

The dining hall is near the kitchen so that the people don't need to wheel the food too far…

I reached the kitchen and turned right, then right again. Then I reached an elaborate door. A scared looking page scurried out of a small side door.

'Quickly, hime-sama!' I twitched. It was getting annoying being called hime-sama all the time. 'The queen looks really pissed off!'

That meant she didn't actually care about the feast… Or maybe she really is hungry and is pissed off because she needed to wait for me to start eating because this was a feast started in my honour.

I went to the door and pushed at it. Then I strode in, trying to look confident. I think it worked.

I sat down at the high table. 'Where were you?' the queen drawled out. 'I was getting hungry.' Her eyes held an evil glint. I gulped and shifted a couple of millimetres away from her.

'I was taking care of some personal matters.' The queen let out an hmph! And started the toast in a bored voice.

'Today, we celebrate the coming back of our imperial princess, heir to the throne, Windfarest Sani. Please welcome her.' Everyone clapped politely. 'Now all the things done, let's eat.'

Then she sat down and started eating with gusto. I smiled and sweat-dropped. But still ate of course. Some people were muttering about 'disrespect to the princess' but I was happy that it was short.

Wow, Kumo really outdid himself this time… this food is great!

I chomped happily and found that inside my dessert, there secretly was some pineapple in it. Everyone else had apple. A little note stuck on the edge of the plate caught my eye. The server winked.

Wind-sama, never said I was happy that you have come back! Here's some pineapple for you, Kumo.

I grinned at the silly picture and although I was quite full I still finished the dessert. I mean, I can't let Kumo's thought go to waste right? And it's bad to waste pineapple…

The King stood up this time, after everyone was sighing happily, being bloated.

'Umm… Subjects, I am g-g-glad to…' he rubbed his hands nervously. His speech was nearly all stutter, but I could hear the good feeling under it. He smiled shakily at me and sat down fast after the speech.

The Queen and King's advisor came up to address the audience. I frowned. I hadn't even sensed him! And only the King and Queen were supposed to address the audience unless they gave permission to!

'The hall is dismissed.' Everyone was rose, but didn't leave. I realised the King and Queen had stood up. I jumped up as well.

Oops, I nearly forgot that the royal party needs to leave before they could.

I walked behind the King and Queen, looking curiously at the nobles. I haven't seen them in real life yet.

They looked at me and smiled politely, unlike the palace staff, who would smile and wave at me (at the very end of the room). There was one exception, and it was old Vaun who waved enthusiastically. I smiled and nodded my head to him too.

Then the boy next to Vaun pulled his hand down and whispered something fiercely to him. Vaun blushed and rubbed the back of his head, as if he was saying sorry.

And to my surprise, that was Rami. I chuckled a bit inside my head. They had really become good friends after all, true to Vaun's prediction.

Aah, the bonds forged from fighting…

When the door had closed after us, I heard the advisor intoning that the higher court can rise. I frowned. Something wasn't right here. The King should be saying that stuff.

I bowed to the King and Queen and raced back to my rooms and just stopped thinking.

Phew, stupid formal stuff.

I squealed happily as I ran and jumped onto the bed. It bounded me up a few times and the settled. I clambered under the covers and fell asleep.

I didn't wake up until the dinner knock.

Killua's view…

At the "welcome back" lunch fest thing, we made friends with some of the servants. We had drifted down from the higher, more "respectable" tables because it was obvious from their actions towards us (as in Gon, Kurapika, Leorio, and I) that they were being nice just to get good points with Wind.

Gon didn't notice of course. I chuckled and nodded when a page (the same age as us) told a joke. We chatted a bit until suddenly, the whole hall stood up. The page (whose name was Henry) pulled us up too.

'Da royal party's leaving. Gotta get your arses off da bench.' I watched as the king, the queen and Wind left the hall. It was so strange to realise that she was miles apart from us in social standing. I looked at her walk out the door distantly and felt a pang in my chest.

I rubbed it. What the hell was happening to me? Henry pulled me down a bit and pointed to the man on the royal podium.

'Dat's the royal advisor. 'e's a bad one, mark me words. The assembly's supposed ta be dismissed by da King, but 'e somehow wormed his way up dere'

I paused. Dere? Maybe he meant there. Henry continued. 'and now 'e's ordering people around ta do wot 'e wants. No-one in da staff likes 'im.'

I puzzled it out in my brain.

'So why is he doing it?'

'Dunno. Mebbe cos them royals thinks we like 'im. Da queen's actually very nice.' I looked at Henry. I opened my mouth to say something, but all the servants started to move out the door. Henry also left, saying something about work.

I grinned and went back to talking to Gon.

'Gon!'

'Killua!' he turned around and smiled at me. I casually walked over, my hands in my pockets.

'So, are you having fun?'

'Yeah! There was a maid who told really funny stories! We were hard pressed not to laugh really loudly!'

I nodded and smiled. 'That's good. So, want to walk back to our rooms together?'

'Ok! Let's play something back there.' I nodded.

'Race you back.' I started running.

'Hey!' Gon yelled as he raced to catch up. 'You said we were walking!' I grinned back at him and turned a few corners. Then I was at the door.

'Tag!' Gon caught up and panted next to me.

'Cheater!' He stuck his tongue out to me. I just kept grinning and opened the door. It was a mess. Our eyes widened.

'Who did this?' Gon whispered. I frowned. Somehow, a person ransacked our room when we were at the feast.

'Check if anything's missing Gon.' He nodded and we started picking up our stuff and putting it back again. After awhile, we finished.

'Everything's here Killua.' I nodded.

'Me too. And I found something very interesting.'

'What?' Gon asked. He peered over my shoulder. I held up the medal to him.

'I don't think lots of people have a medal like this. This person must have been in a hurry, to ransack our room so obviously and leave a trace behind.' Gon brightened.

'Then we can ask around to see who owns it!' I shook my head.

'That doesn't work. If we do, and found who did this, maybe they would con us that we stole it or something. And it would also attract too much attention. We must wait, Gon.'

'Oh.' He nodded solemnly.

'Don't tell anyone about this except for Wind, and maybe Chiiyo. Actually, don't even tell Chiiyo. We don't know if she can be trusted.' Gon just nodded. I suddenly stretched.

'Man! I'm hungry after all that work! What do you say about giving Kumo a visit?' Gon had visited Kumo after the garlic bread. He had liked Kumo too, as they kicked off nearly instantly. I looked out the window and realised it was nearly dark.

'Yeah! Its dinner time anyway!' Gon regained his natural happiness and bounded towards the door.

'Let's lock the door this time!'

'Yeah.'

And so, we had another race to the kitchens. I let Gon win this time, since I really did cheat last time. Soon, we were in front of the door of the kitchen.

'WHERE'S THE BEEF? THIS IS THE THIRD CALL!'

'I NEED SOME PINEAPPLE FOR WIND-SAMA! AND DON'T TELL ME SHE STOLE IT AGAIN!'

'WHERE ARE THE TRAYS?'

'CLEAN FASTER, OR YOU WON'T GO HOME TONIGHT!' someone roared.

'Killua and Gon at the door!' said Breezy. We had learned his name last time. The door burst open. Kumo stood there in his big, jolly glory.

'Aah, you're here! You young ones are always hungry! Come in, come in, what do you want to have? What about steak, with a side-dish of our special fried rice?'

'Can I have orange juice?' Gon piped up. The big man beamed.

'Sure! And do you want hot-chocolate, Killua-san?' I nodded and we were hustled to the little table in the corner.

'YOU HEARD THE ORDER BOYS. CHUP CHUP!' A few minutes later, our meals were set in front of us. We started eating greedily. As we started to finish, we slowed down to talk to some of the passing kitchen staff, and each other.

We clicked our utensils onto the table. I rubbed my stomach, my eyes closed happily.

'Aah, that was the best meal I've ever tasted!' Kumo was suddenly at our side.

'Thank you, thank you. Now, you better go to bed, you young people need your sleep. He hustled us out gently. The kitchen was starting to slow down too. A hooded person picked up a tray and passed Kumo.

'Dinner for Wind-sama.' He muttered. Kumo nodded and smiled happily. I suddenly had a question. But Gon asked it first, to my surprise.

'Hey Kumo-san, when did you know Wind-chan?' Kumo stroked his chin.

'Well, since the time she knew how to run away.'

I blinked. Huh?

'She stole pineapple from the pantry, see.' A laugh came from the kitchen behind us.

'Yeah, led us on many goose-chases too!' Kumo laughed good-naturedly.

'I lost many a calorie then! I was actually kind of fit!' he winked at us. We laughed too. 'We're all friends of Wind-sama, the palace staff. So we all try to serve her the best we can!'

I grinned. It seemed like Wind had a lot of good loyal allies. I clapped Gon on the back and he grinned at me.

We left the kitchen in good spirits. We walked slowly up the stairs, talking all the way and into our room. Then we locked it.

'Wind-chan has a lot of good friends.' Gon said happily. I nodded and went to my bed.

'Good night, Gon.'

'Good night…' and we dozed off.

I wouldn't have slept so peacefully if I knew what was going to happen next.

Wind's view…

I looked at my dinner and started to put my spoon closer to it until I saw this weird leaf. I rung a bell with Chiiyo coming up soon after.

'What is it, Windy?' she asked. I held up the leaf.

'What's this?' she took a step closer and blanched.

'That's poison, Windy! That's deadly poison! Where did you find it?'

'In my food.' Chiiyo immediately rang a bell and talked to a person on the other end. In a few minutes, the room was swarming with the royal guards, with Dusky in the lead.

'We will identify the poison milady, and try to track the person who did this act. The royal advisor is questioning the cooks. You better go down there.' A guard said with dark eyes. 'The royal advisor is not very thorough sometimes.' He said darkly, as if he was trying to get through to me. I nodded and went down the stairs towards the kitchen, with Dusky and a few guards following me.

I heard voices before I knew what was happening.

'Kumorin Bendforth, I now arrest you on the…' I raced down the next few steps and stood in the hallway where the kitchen was situated. I held my staff in my hand and lit the crystal ball on top to make some light.

Of course, it looked good as well.

'What is the problem here?' I hissed as I walked slowly down the hallway. Dusky and the other guys stalked behind me in a triangle formation.

If it wasn't so serious, I would have laughed at what the anime-effects were doing. My dress actually billowed. Hello? It was, how much? More than two tonnes or something. I went back to the situation at hand. I glared at the royal advisor.

The royal advisor smiled silkily at me. I looked at Kumo. He was standing there like a solid mountain, with his arms crossed in front of all the other cooks that were standing behind him, holding various saucepans and other kitchen utensils.

'Because after finding that your food was poisoned…' a gasp went through the kitchen staff. '…I came down here to arrest the cook who made the food on behalf of you.' I looked frostily at him.

'You did not start an investigation to get evidence that the cook in question did it before you started the arrest procedure?'

He smiled at me, like he was coddling a child.

'Of course not, Windfarest.' I snapped at him.

'Call me by my royal title. How dare you use my name.' His eyebrow visibly twitched, but his smile never faded.

'Imperial Princess, if the poison was in your food, it is correct to assume that the cook who made the food did it. But Kumorin here did not allow the cook to be arrested.'

A voice interrupted the conversation.

'No one in my kitchen will ever poison hime-sama!' Kumo said, glaring at the royal advisor with hate. All the other cooks nodded. The royal advisor smiled icily at him.

'You still seem not to know your place. Guards, seize him, so that he may not interrupt my conversation with our Imperial Princess.'

The guards started to move.

'Stop.' The guards stopped at my command. The royal advisor looked at me, his icy smile changing.

'Why did you do that for, Imperial Princess?' I looked at him like he was less than a fly.

'I do not believe that Kumorin Bendforth would ever let a cook that will poison me inside his kitchen.' Kumo looked at me with wide eyes.

'Wind-sama…' All the cooks looked at me. The normal guards were looking uncomfortable. The royal advisor's expression suddenly changed, and he glared at me. Dusky immediately stepped in front of me, and the other royal guards did so too, taking a defensive position.

'Seize all of the kitchen staff and send them to the dungeon.' He glared at the guards until they started to shuffle reluctantly towards the cooks. The cooks looked dejected.

'Stop.' They stopped immediately. The royal advisor was starting to shake. He spat at my feet. A bit landed on my shoe. Dusky and the royal guards immediately took an offensive stance in front of me, their eyes narrowed at the man. The cooks looked outraged.

'Oh, I'm sorry, our Imperial Princess, I had something in my mouth, and I just spat it out. Please do not take offense.' He smiled oily at me. I smiled back, though it was a bit forced.

'I do not take offense at your action.' He smiled at me like I was a child needing protection again.

'You should take more care about your station, Imperial Princess.' he said to me. 'Lowering yourself to make friends with servants is not the way a fitting princess should act.'

The cooks went berserk.

'Don't insult hime-sama!'

'She's better than you by heaps!'

'You stupid dung-face!' I couldn't help but smile. Dung-face? Kumo was still standing stock still, his face set in stone and his arms still crossed tightly. I held up a hand to calm them down. They stopped yelling.

'What makes you think you have the right to tell me what is fitting or not?' I asked him. Then I stepped closer to him, but still behind Dusky and the others. 'Do not forget, advisor, I am still above your station.' I hissed at him. I held my shining staff closer to his face. He flinched. 'And when I tell you to stop, you stop'. A shout interrupted my moment.

'Woohoo!'

'That's our hime-sama!'

'Show him what you got!' They cheered. I glared at them.

'You're not helping.' In a dead-panned voice. They all simultaneously grinned at me.

'We know!' They chorused, shamelessly smiling at me. I flashed a quick grin at them and I looked at the royal advisor.

He gritted his teeth.

Oops. He looked royally pissed off. Actually, he looked like he had constipation...

'Of course, hime-sama. But I am still arresting the whole kitchen,' he said, regaining composure.

'Did you hear what I just said?' I asked him glaring. What a persistent fellow…

'One of the cooks hit me,' he said smoothly. 'And Kumorin and the other cooks defended him. So I have right to take legal action and arrest all of them.' I stared at him.

'May I have permission to see the bruise?'

'I'm sorry, our Imperial Princess, but unfortunately, it is not a place where a decent woman would want to look.'

The cooks started to mutter. Was he implying that hime-sama wasn't decent? I quickly started talking again, not wanting them to start yelling insults again. They were muttering enough of them as it was...

'Then may I ask if my guards can look?' The guards in front of me shifted.

'I will not lower myself to present my private parts to mere guards.' He smiled, like he had just won.

'Then I will take the situation as having no evidence, and Kumorin and the rest of the kitchen staff may be free to go back to their respective households.' The cooks and all the guards looked at me in relief and cheered. I rolled my eyes at them.

The royal advisor gritted his teeth.

'That may not be wise, Imperial Princess. They are all assassination suspects.' I kept my face blank.

'Did you not hear the last time? I stated that I believe Kumorin Bendforth will never allow a cook that will poison me into his kitchen.'

'But that is just your belief, Imperial Princess.' I stared at him emotionlessly and shifted my staff, which was one of the indications that I was Imperial Princess. His eyes darted to it.

'Leave and stop your foolish and questionable actions at once. I am tired of you.' I intoned. The royal advisor gritted his teeth and his eyes flicked behind me. What was he looking at? I looked back over my shoulder and realised that, when I had been talking to the advisor, a crowd of palace staff had drifted behind me to give me additional support.

I gave them a quick smile and the women curtsied and the men bowed. They straightened and smiled at me. Then stared at the advisor in (subtle) defiance.

'Yes, Imperial Princess.' The royal advisor stalked away in a flurry of cape and swishy clothes. The normal guards smiled gratefully at me and bowed to me once, clicked their shoes before following the advisor. Dusky and the other royal guards relaxed. Then Dusky smiled at me and clapped me on the back.

'What, I leave you for a few minutes and you nearly get assassinated!' I chuckled at her.

'Hey, it was fun verbally abusing that guy that just left.' The cooks cheered again.

'I knew it! Hime-sama is the greatest!' I blushed and scratched the back of my head.

'Haha, don't joke, you guys.' The normal palace staff behind me clapped me on the back and left. The cooks also went back into the kitchen to finish cleaning up for the day. Kumo was the only one that didn't smile.

'Hime-sama, I found something bad in the castle. I will write something out in the night and give it to you tomorrow. I hope you can change it. It is not safe to talk about it now.' He looked around furtively. 'It's too public. Good night, and sleep well. Be careful.' He offered me a smile and hurried back into the kitchen. I looked on, puzzled at Kumo's behaviour.

I went back to my rooms, talked a little with Dusky and slept again, my dreams haunted by the sound of swishy robes and the royal advisor's emotionless, icy eyes.

I woke up to the alarm bells ringing. I groaned and stood up. Then I rummaged in the medical kit until I found the other syringe of pain-killer. I hid it in my sleeve, just in case I needed it in an emergency.

'Kumo's been poisoned! Get the Doctor immediately!' I shot out of bed. What? I raced towards the door, brushing my hair with my fingers in my hurry. Of all the times for my hair to be messy…

I went to the door and raced down to the kitchen. I saw Kumo panting on the kitchen floor, and Doctor Creed and Killua kneeling over him. I saw him whisper something into Killua's ear and give him a piece of paper.

Then Doctor Creed ushered everyone out of the kitchen, and I was swept out of the kitchen. I stole back into there though. I approached softly.

'Is Kumo alright?' Doctor Creed looked up at me and then down at Kumo again.

'He's a tough old fellow, he won't be killed so easily.' He started injecting something into Kumo's arm. Then I realise something was tugging on my dress.

It was Kumo's other arm, trying to tug me down. I kneeled down and talked to him.

'Yes?' I asked softly, in the tone which people used when they were talking to sick people.

'Zo–…' He was straining to talk to me. I put my ear next to his mouth.

'Say it again please, Kumo?'

'Go to Killua-san…' he panted out in a weak voice. 'He will have what I want you… to have. It explains about the… group–' he became unconscious. This was like my worst anime nightmare...

'That'll be the drugs that I injected into him. I need to get a blood transfusion immediately. Get some guards into here and put him onto a stretcher back to my rooms!' Doctor Creed yelled to the crowed outside. The door was still open, and the people outside heard what he said.

Nearly immediately, a big stretcher came and they put Kumo on it and hefted it away.

I stood up, determined to find out what was happening that was making everything so different than what normal protocol suggested.

And who in their right mind would ever poison Kumo? He was a cook for heaven's sake!

I looked to where I had seen Killua last. He wasn't there. I cursed in my brain.

Where was he when I needed him?

So, did everyone like it? Was it confusing? =_= I'm afraid of it being confusing! I hope you all review and have a lovely day, I mean, week until the next chapter comes up!

^^ And thank you for continuing to read my fic! (I know, I thank every single time… But I can't get over it! Thank you! Again!)

Tell me if you like the chapter or not? Because it's going to get darker, and I don't know if people would want darker chapters or not…