That was a much longer break than I originally intended, sorry guys! Like I said… blame college! It's evil lol

Also, I'm sorry for all of the grammatical errors in the previous chapters! I'll do my best to fix those and future ones as well ^^; But I obviously can't promise ALL of them will be gone.

Disclaimer: I do not own Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. It belongs to the wonderful Hayao Miyazaki and to Studio Ghibli.

Whistle Against the Wind

Chapter 4 – Suspicions

Asbel made his way down the stairs that led out of the garden once he was sure Nausicaä and Prince Cáel were a safe distance away. He quietly walked to his chambers where he sat on his bed with a sigh, still holding his hat tightly to his chest.

Of all the problems he imagined facing when he returned, this one had not even entered into his mind. Nausicaä was about to marry a man no one seemed to know anything about. The only thing Asbel was sure of was that Prince Cáel seemed intent on making sure Nausicaä married him. He was almost obsessive about it.

Was there more to this betrothal than everyone thought?

He wasn't sure, but he knew he had to find out. And soon.

Nausicaä watched as Prince Cáel made his way through the library. The library was one of Nausicaä's favorite places in the entire castle. She could remember going there with her father when she was younger. He would sit in the tall chair near the fireplace and read her fascinating stories of princesses, heroes, monsters, and magical lands. She slowly made her way towards the chair, subconsciously running her fingers over the chair's intricate designs.

"Princess, is everything alright?" Nausicaä quickly snapped back into the present. Prince Cáel stood about 20 feet away from her next to the bookshelf that stored the many history books.

"Oh, yes, I was just… reminiscing…" Prince Cáel immediately seemed bored. Nausicaä found herself getting nervous again. "So… do you like history?" The prince raised his eyebrows in confusion at this sudden question.

"What?"

"I just noticed you were standing near the history books." Prince Cáel glanced around and noticed what she was talking about.

"Oh… I didn't even realize where I was. No, history, I find, is rather dull." Nausicaä immediately was a little taken aback by the statement.

"Surely you don't mean that… History is what defines the world we live in today! Without it, well, we wouldn't exist." Prince Cál seemed unmoved by her statement.

"Ah, well, I've just never had a passion for it."

"I see…" Nausicaä looked down at the ground unsure of what else to say. "So what subjects do you like to read about?"

Prince Cáel turned and looked around the library, making sure he stood perfectly straight as he did so, as if he was telling the library who was better. "Actually, I don't like to read."

Okay, that was it. What was wrong with this guy? Of all the people she had to be betrothed to, it had to be a strange one who didn't even like to read. "Why couldn't they have just betrothed me to someone like Asbel? At least I know he likes to read!"

Nausicaä immediately blushed bright red when she realized what she had just said. All the while, Prince Cáel was just standing there, staring at the princess, as she seemed to continue more conversation on with her own mind than him.

"Oh, uh, Prince Cáel, why don't we head on down to the dining hall? I believe it is about the time we are to be served dinner." Nausicaä was glad she was able to think of something to get them out of the library. She mentally punished herself for even bringing the prince here in the first place. But then again… how was she supposed to know he didn't like to read?

"Why, that would be wonderful." Prince Cáel made his way over to princess, once again putting on that seemingly flawless charm, and held out his arm for her to take. "Shall we?"

Nausicaä (reluctantly) took hold of his arm, feeling a slightly nauseous turn in her stomach as she did so.

Asbel could tell by the setting sun that dinner was probably being served right about now. As much as he wanted to see Nausicaä, he knew he had more important things to do than sit and chat with the princess and her fiancé. "Perhaps now would be the perfect opportunity to sneak into the prince's room and see if he's hiding anything…" He knew that if he didn't want to get caught, he'd have to act fast.

Asbel made his way down the hallway only to realize he had no idea where the prince was staying. He flinched as he heard the approaching voices of a man and a woman. Nausicaä and Prince Cáel maybe? No… the voices were getting louder and they definitely belonged to…

"Mito! Zela! How nice to run into you two." Asbel's cheerfulness was no lie. He was indeed cheerful, as his best chance of figuring out where the prince was staying rested with these two.

Zela gave Mito a nervous glance, unsure of why Asbel seemed so glad to see them. Asbel noticed this and quickly continued on.

"I was just on my way to talk with Prince Cáel, but, silly me, I've forgotten where he's staying!" Asbel dramatically slapped himself on the forehead at his "forgetfulness." "Could you perhaps point me in the right direction?"

"Oh, uh…" Zela tried to speak but was cut off by Mito.

"Well, I'm sorry but even if I pointed you in the right direction, you would not find Prince Cáel in his room. He is currently eating dinner with the princess. We could escort you the dining hall to speak with him, if you like." Well that was a snag Asbel forgot to work around.

"Oh, I uh, well… I would like to speak with him in private and if you could just let me know where he is staying, I shall wait for his arrival outside his chambers." "Good thinking, Asbel."

Mito looked over at the still nervous Zela. "Well, I guess that would be fine." Mito quickly pointed Asbel in the right direction and Asbel sped off, thanking the two as he made his way out of sight.

After several flights of stairs, Asbel was on the right floor. He quickly made his way down the hall, only to turn around and run back the way he came. "Guards! Of course! Stupid me! Of course a crazy prince with a plot to take over the kingdom and kill all who opposed him would have guards to guard his secret!" Asbel was rather proud of the devious scheme he just gave the prince in his mind. But back to the matter at hand… how was he supposed to get in there now with those guards? He noticed that there weren't many rooms on the floor and, checking the door, walked casually inside the room adjacent to the prince's, as if that was his intention the entire time.

Asbel closed the door to the room, only to be disappointed at the lack of light. The hallways were lit with candles but it seemed the only light this storage room got was from the sun coming in from the small window. Unfortunately, for him, the sun had pretty much set. Deterred but not completely at a loss, Asbel began to search along the wall for a possible secret doorway that led to the adjacent one. Of course, Asbel was not surprised when no such doorway existed. He frowned at what that immediately implied: the window.

"Well, Nausicaä, that was a wonderful meal." Nausicaä may not have cooked the meal herself, but she was flattered that the prince gave her or her people a compliment, especially after he had acted so strangely earlier. She immediately felt a blush rising and tried her best to fight it off.

"Thank you, Prince Cáel, I am glad you enjoyed your dinner. I'm sorry to say that I am rather tired and would like to retire to my chambers." She immediately noticed that Prince Cáel was immediately thinking about something. "Um… maybe you would like to retire as well? I know you've had an awfully long day with Mito in the valley." She hoped her suggestion would win him over. She was exhausted and babysitting the prince in her castle was the last thing on her list of what she would like to do tonight.

"Why, that is a rather good idea, princess. I am tired from my trip today and I would like to be well rested for tomorrow."

Nausicaä was rather confused. "Is there something going on tomorrow?"

Once again, the prince's face harbored an unpleasant smile. "We are to begin planning the wedding! Good night, princess."

Prince Cáel walked away lightly, that victorious smile still on his face. Nausicaä, unfortunately, was completely frozen to her chair.

"Of all the places to put small windows, they have to put them in storage rooms located conveniently next to the chambers of a possibly evil prince from a foreign land bent on destruction!" Once Asbel started thinking of crazy ideas about the prince, he just couldn't stop.

Or were they crazy?

Asbel squeezed himself through the storage room window only to notice the ledge outside was barely the width of one of his feet. "Great…" Asbel slowly sidled along the outside wall, hoping that no one could see him in the dark, making his way to the window of Prince Cáel's chambers. Once he reached the window he peeked inside. "Good! Empty."

He hadn't even started putting one leg through the window when he heard the creaking of the door being opened. Asbel immediately ducked out of sight, a hard thing to do on such a tiny ledge… so high up… "Don't look down… just… don't look down…"

"I'm telling you, Grafton, everything is working out perfectly. The princess is completely fooled. We'll be wed in no time… which means the sooner I can—"

The prince stopped short, not moving.

"Is the something the matter, my prince?" Grafton asked of Prince Cáel's sudden actions.

Prince Cáel simply put his index finger to his lips, motioning for him to be quiet.

Asbel, still on the ledge, immediately began to sweat profusely. Unfortunately, all the sweat in the world couldn't keep Prince Cáel from finding a nice surprise sitting outside his chamber window.

"Well, well, Grafton. We have a visitor. And it's the princess's best friend, of all people!" Every word the prince seemed to utter dripped with sarcasm. Asbel made a move to escape to who-knows-where but the strong guard picked the young prince up with ease and threw him to the chamber floor, right in front of Prince Cáel.

"So, Prince Asbel. You decided to pay us a visit without telling us? Now, that is not very good manners, is it?" Without warning, Prince Cáel kicked Asbel square in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain.

"Wha-what are you going to do… to Nausicaä?" Asbel barely managed. Prince Cáel simply smirked at his defeated opponent.

"I wouldn't be worrying about that. No… you'll have more things to worry about sitting in your dungeon cell for a long, long time."

"You're… going to lock me up? In Na-Nausicaä's own castle?" Asbel was still rathered winded from the blow to his gut.

"I'm sure the princess doesn't even know the dungeons exist. Besides, with all the wedding planning and the news of your sudden disappearance into the toxic jungle, I'm sure it won't even cross her precious little mind. Take him."

Before Asbel could realize what was happening, Grafton and another large man took hold of his arms and began dragging him out of Prince Cáel's chambers.

"You… You can't win! Nausicaä will find out and then your whole plan will be—" Grafton silenced Asbel with a punch to the stomach, causing Asbel to almost pass out from the pain.

Prince Cáel smiled as Asbel and the guards disappeared down the nearby stairs. "Now that the pest is out of the way, things will go a lot smoother…"

Sorry if that was a tad short, but hey! I'm updating!

Until next time,

-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)