Nixiesocean: Well, here is another chapter. Not much else to say… Other than I'm really sorry that I backed myself into a corner… But I fixed it.

Exclamationgirl: That was the idea. The plot twists so much that you never know what will happen next. Bwhahahahaha!

Plus, in my world, Magic is rare, but present. Mostly, twins have magic due to the fact of dual-births (in 99.999 of history, twins were seen as special and had special powers.) Ditri has a mysterious power, cuz she does. : )

Chapter 8: Poems for the Helpless Romantic

"Tristan!" The queen- his mother- yelled as she entered his hospital-style bedroom. "You need to come quick!"

"Wha-" Tristan asked, rubbing his eyes. Was it morning already?

"It's the princess!" His mother screamed. That got him out of bed. What was wrong with Ditri? They ran to her rooms and found two or three servants (they kept running in and out) tending her. A doctor entered he spoke to Tristan.

"Sire, the princess may not live." He said sadly. "She was attacked by a stronger foe." Time seemed to stop. Ditri couldn't die! They had a happy ending to complete. It seemed like he was watching himself from the outside, that this wasn't his life. He was just watching some other poor soul's troubles.

"Who?" He asked monotonously.

The doctor looked uncomfortable. Tristan motioned for the doctor to continue. "We, the medical staff, believe that when the prince was told he was not the Crown Prince and when he found out the his, er, valet was to marry the princess, something sort of, snapped."

Breathing deeply, the queen spoke. "And this means?"

"Prince Perhin is insane." The queen fainted.

-----------------------------------------------Three Days Later---------------------------------------

"-Floating among the stars.

Flying freely through the clouds.

Painless, yet sorrowful.

Joyful, yet distressing.

Soaring in the sky,

Bathing in the rivers.

She was beautiful.

She was mine.

-Gomain, 13th King from House Fineain" Tristan stopped speaking. Ditri's tired face looked at him. "Did you like it, lovely?" She nodded. "Good. I'm going to get some lunch." He kissed her on the forehead. He left the door, shutting it silently behind him. The nurses and doctors shooed him out of the Medical Ward telling him to go get some lunch. He just smiled and let himself be shut out of the Medical Ward.

He entered the kitchen and asked for a simple lunch. Something light. The cooks and servants complied. They knew how sad the Crown Prince had been lately. He took the lunch to the dining area, not the Great Room, but another. His mother entered.

"Let me go!" Perhin's all-too-familiar mind-voice called. "I demand to be realsed!"

"Tristan dear?" He nodded in acknowledgement. "I think you should know that… well, the guards caught Perhin." A tear leaked out her eyes. "But, you know as well as I do the punishment for attacking a royal." She took his arm. "Please, Tristan, don't let him die!" He breathed deeply and stood.

"It's not my choice." He said, walking out. As he closed the door, he heard her say something.

"LET ME GO!"

"He's in Traitor's Tower." Then, he heard crying.

Walking back to the Medical Ward, he stopped to look at the lone passage that led to Traitor's Tower. He wanted to go tell the guards that Perhin wouldn't be sentenced to death, but that was the victim's choice, not his. Shaking his head, Tristan kept walking. He swerved right to head to the Medical Ward, stopping only to get a small flower, a Fuschia he was told, for Ditri. He was stopped at the door.

"I'm sorry, Prince Tristan, but you are not allowed to enter." The assistant-doctor said.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, TO CONFINE A PRINCE?"

"And why not?" He peevishly. "I have the right to, my fiancée is in there."

Another doctor came over, after hearing the debate. "Carl, open the door. This man has every right to come in." Carl didn't budge. "Carl," he said carefully. "This man has watched the princess for three days straight, let him in." Reluctantly, Carl opened the door. "I'm sorry, he's new. Come in." He handed Tristan a hot towel to clean his hands.

"Status?" Tristan asked, worry plain on his face.

"I AM A PRINCE!"

"Her bruises are healing well. Though she is shaken mentally. I believe your presence around her is dimming the mental-instability. It should be less than a few hours before she is released from the Ward. I strongly suggest, since I cannot order you, that you not let her out of your sight until she is totally healed." They arrived at her door. "Here you are, lord." The doctor left.

"I COMMAND TO BE RELEASED!"

"Thank you." He called down the hall. Tristan opened the door, entered and closed it softly behind him. "Sweet?" He asked. "You awake?" She was sleeping peacefully, just as he had left her. He blocked the mind-link with Perhin. He set the delicate pink and purple flower in a small vase with water he had brought with him the first time he had visited. She awoke.

"I'm awake, Tris." She said, using her pet name for him, "Thank you for the flower."

He kissed her forehead. "You're welcome, lovely." He sat and opened Poems for the Helpless Romantic and flipped to the page he had been at before he went to eat.

"Tris?" He turned back to her. "I want to hear some of your poems." Her eyes told him she truly wanted to hear his poems, not other people.

"Alright, sweet one." He gave in. He spent the afternoon composing love poems for Ditri. After all, she was the hurt one, not him. He had healed after a two days (secretly, he was still a little hurt, but never told anyone. He just used his twin-power to cover it up) and she was still in bed after three days. She was healing rapidly. He saw no signs of 'mental-instability' as the doctor had so generously put it.

"Ditri?" He asked. "The guards caught Perhin." She looked away when he said his brother's name. "He's in Traitor's Tower." She pulled the blankets up. "Ditri, my mother wants you to not sentence him to death." She rolled over to face him.

"He can die for all I care." She said savagely. "He attacked me, Tristan. He can rot in that tower. He can die from a guillotine; I never want to see his honor-less face again."

"Ditri, please. My mother doesn't want death. Just say you release your claim on his punishment." He pleaded.

"I don't, Tristan. He almost raped me. Do you hear me?" Ditri said with vengeance.

"Yes. I do."

"Then speak no more about this. I cannot, nor will not, relinquish my claim. I would say he almost took my maidenhood, but you have already."

"Now-" He started.

"I'm not saying I did it involuntarily, sweetie." She smiled for the first tme in days.

"Tell Perhin he will rot in Traitor's Tower for the rest of his worthless life." She decided. Tristan reluctantly passed on the condemnation.

"Brother, Ditri has decided that you have a life-sentence."

"Tell her that she is a-" Tristan blocked the rest of the message.

"He has been informed, lady dearest." He kissed her on the cheek. She rolled her face to kiss him on the lips.