A/N: MEEP!!!
Kioko: What?
Rhea: Meep!
Kioko: Okay…good for you.
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"K-Kaida!" he cried, an expression of pure joy on his face as he took me by the waist and spun around in the air, "Oh gods, Kaida is it really you?!" He exclaimed, holding me so tightly I was almost having a hard time breathing.
"Well I'll be d(beep)ed!" Said a familiar voice near us, and I turned to find Orzan standing there, staring at me as though he simply could not believe his eyes, "Kaida? It really is you? We're not all going crazy? But how, by heaven, did you get here so swiftly!? You're suppose to be in India!!!" he exclaimed.
"She's full of surprises Orzan!" Keilic called, and Orzan jumped and spun to stare at the rest of my little crew.
"Lord Keilic! Lord Keilic you too!? Ye gods, what are the odds?! And here I was thinking you'd done yourself in going after Kaida! I ought to box your ears for running off like that, but I'm too happy to see you alive." He said, leaning over the rail.
I laughed and turned back to the Prince, who was still holding me up with his arm hooked beneath my bottom and the other clutching me around my back. "So, Prince, are you going to kiss me now or are we just going to stand here and stare at each other for the rest of the day?" I asked him, grinning.
He grinned right back at me, "I think I'd just like to stare at you for a while." He answered.
"Oh for the love of—" I rolled my eyes at him and kissed him full on the mouth myself.
A round of cheers and whistles erupted as both ships shouted their approval, not that we paid much attention at first. Neither of us really wanted to break off the kiss, but as we were in public making it too long would just be embarrassing. So after a moment we broke apart, and we just smiled at each other. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, "I missed you so much." I murmured.
"I missed you more." He whispered.
"I think the lovers would like to be alone for a while, don't you captain?" Asked Orzan loudly, making the two of us laugh.
"Yes, I believe so." The captain said, as the Prince carried me towards the door down to the decks below.
"Yeah, and just so we're clear if we're disturbed there had better be a life-threatening emergency, otherwise there will be." I called out at them all.
"Yes ma'am!" Orzan said, saluting me and looking as though he were having the time of his life.
The prince carried me all the way into his room, which was much bigger, much nicer, and had far more furnishings than ours did, where he bolted the door shut and brought me over to the mattress bed. Only then did he lay me down, but he didn't let go of me, he kissed me, and I kissed him back.
There was no rush, we were in no hurry, we simply wanted to be together, to be with each other, to cherish and love each other. It was slow at first as clothing was shed, but then the heat became too much, and we allowed ourselves to fall pray to the rushing stream that was our passion, becoming intoxicated with one another, and becoming one another. We were two halves of a greater whole, and we were together at last.
It was the best we'd ever had, I could see it in his eyes as well. It had never been quite so incredible before. Even when we were saying goodbye that night when I had accepted his marriage proposal. Perhaps it was that we realized just how much we loved each other in that time apart, we realized how much we needed one another, and how hard it was to exist without the other. Perhaps our time apart could have been shorter, but I certainly can't say that it wasn't good for us, and for our relationship.
But I wasn't ever going to do that again unless I absolutely had to and he absolutely could not come with me.
I told him everything afterwards. I told him what Wemlast said to me, I told him about Zasalamel, about Farah, about the Order of the All-Seeing Eye, about Mychala, and about Tormal's death. I told him about Sabrielle, about how she had appeared. And I also told him…that I wanted to adopt Kassima, to make her our daughter, if that was alright with him.
"Of course it is." He said, kissing me lovingly, "Babylon may not particularly want her becoming heir to the throne, but that doesn't mean we can't adopt her as our own. And maybe they will accept her, maybe she'll grow up to be a strong woman, just like you, and a great ruler for our people."
"Thank you, thank you so much…" I murmured, clutching him tightly, tears of joy in my eyes.
The prince sighed in a slightly irritated manner and nuzzled my neck, "Guess who wants a turn." He grumbled.
"Do I have to?" I groaned, making him laugh.
"Oh come on!!! Didn't you miss me too?" the Dark Prince demanded.
"No, not really." I answered lightly, and the prince laughed even more.
"You are a cruel woman, you know that?" He said, though his tone wasn't quite as put out as you would expect.
"Yeah, and, let me guess, that's exactly why you want me for yourself, isn't it?" I asked, rolling my eyes.
"That and your unfaultable intelligence my dear." He answered silkily. "So, do I get a turn now?" He asked.
"…beg for it." I told him. The prince was now laughing so hard he'd rolled off me and was curling up, clutching his stomach.
"What!? I'm not going to beg woman! You're just as much mine as you are his, I don't have to beg for anything!" He exclaimed.
"News flash, buddy, you're just as much mine as I am yours, and I want to hear you beg for it." I told him.
"Why!?" He demanded.
"Because at the moment I am simply not in the mood to sleep with you, but having you at my feet and in my power begging me like a slave would get me in the mood." I answered.
"Oh this is going to be good." The prince said with a sort of vindictive pleasure as he grinned over at me questioningly. I nodded, and he transformed himself into the Dark Prince, who looked very sour.
"I'm not begging you for anything, woman." He told me, rolling over and pinning me down on the bed by my wrists.
I just smirked at him, and teleported myself to the other side of the room where I leaned nonchalantly against the wall, looking at my nails, "Oh well, I guess you don't want it then, you can let the prince take control now." I said airily.
"What tha—alright now, that's cheating." He said, but there was a playful smirk on his face as he pounced after me. I, however, jumped over him, making him practically slam into the wall.
"Oh, yes, like trying to play fair with you is going to get me anywhere." I snorted, "On your knees, Kage." I ordered, smirking.
"What did you just call me?" He asked, "Kag? Isn't that part of the name for one of your devils?"
"It's pronounced kah-geh." I corrected, "And you mean Kagero? Yes, but the two words mean entirely different things. Kagero means mayfly, while Kage, on its own, means 'shadow'. I think it suites you." I told him.
"It has a sort of ring to it. But I prefer that other name you gave me, Dark Prince. It fits me quite well, don't you think?" He purred, slinking over to me. His eyes trailed to the ring on my finger, and I smirked at him.
"Perhaps." I said, "Kage's easier though, and it ends in a vowel so it'll be easier to yell at you using it. Oh, I'm sorry, is this annoying you?" I asked, waving the hand with the ring in front of him. He snatched the hand and attempted to take the ring off himself, but once more I teleported, only this time over to the bed, "You want it, Kage?" I asked playfully.
"YESSSSSS!" He hissed, pouncing on me and throwing me down so he could grab my hand and try again.
Not wanting it to get lost, I banished the right directly to the Manor and then, as a sand creature, pulled him down and kissed him. He chuckled in satisfaction and deepened the kiss.
It was a long time before me, the prince, or the newly-named Kage left that room.
XD
"Mommy!!!" Kassima called from the other boat as the two of us walked out on deck. Orzan had managed to get over onto our ship and was now talking to both Keilic and Alzik, while Farah had come over to this ship, and Aizira was standing at the edge of the other with Kassima on her shoulders. The ships were sailing at a close proximity to one another, but as one of them was being controlled completely by Sabrielle, this wasn't a problem even though the crewmen seemed to feel a bit nervous about the smaller ship. So jumping from one ship to another was a piece of cake for the prince and me.
"Hello Kassima." I said, taking her from Aizira's shoulders and hugging her tightly. "Guess who this is!" I said, turning her so she could see the Prince.
"Daddy!" She exclaimed, reaching out for him. I busted out laughing, not because of how swiftly she caught on, but because of the look on the prince's face when she said this, a look that continued when he awkwardly took her from me and she hugged him tightly around the neck.
A big goofy grin spread across his face as he hugged her back, and I was just watching him melt into a pill of putty. Kassima wasn't even the daughter of his flesh, but she had somehow adopted the both of us as her parents, and had just wrapped her new daddy right around her little finger.
"Awwwwwww, that's just so cuuuuuuute!!!" Aizira squealed, and I laughed.
"Cuddly, isn't she?" I asked him.
"Now that's the sort of thing that turns hard battle-worn warriors into a bunch of buffoons." Orzan said, coming over to us and snickering. "I see the child has taken you prisoner, my Prince, I'd offer to free you, but I'm afraid I am no match for the likes of her."
"That's right! My daddy, you can't have him!" Kassima declared, turning around so she could blow her tongue at Orzan, something that made us all laugh. It was just so adorable.
"Awwww, how cute, I just want to throw up." Kage said, but we ignored him.
"Okay, okay, my turn!" I said, trying to get Kassima from the prince, but he held her back.
"No way! You had her for how long?! She's mine now! Back off!" He said, pulling his knee up to stop me.
"I saw her first!" I exclaimed.
"No! Mine! Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine!" He said, practically dancing away and holding Kassima, who was thoroughly enjoying herself and giggling so much she was having a hard time breathing, away from me.
"Daddy you sound just like Deskor!" Kassima exclaimed.
The two of us froze in shock as we stared at her, still giggling by our reactions, and we looked at each other. "The sea-gull thing?" He asked.
"The sea-gull thing." I answered, and the two of us busted out laughing.
"I just missed something, didn't I?" Orzan asked because the others were also laughing. "Who is Deskor?"
"Uh, no one of importance!" Aizira said swiftly, smiling a bit nervously.
"Hey Kassima, are you ticklish?" The prince asked with an evil glint in his eye.
"Um, no!" She exclaimed.
"Oh really?" He grinned, and the next moment Kassima was giggling like mad and squirming hard in his arms, but he wasn't letting her go just like that.
"EEEEE!!! Stop it! Stop it I'm not ticklish!!!" She squealed.
"I think you're lying!" The prince said, and he started laughing when she managed to twist out of his arms and run across the deck. He went right after her though, and Aizira let out another 'awwwwwww'.
"Are you sure you're engaged?" She moaned tragically at me.
"Psh, you think he was that way to begin with? Heck no! I have him trained, and yes, we are engaged, you may be my sister substitute but you're not running away with all my hard work!" I told her, causing the others to laugh hard.
"Why is it that I get the feeling you're not entirely joking?" Asked Kailic with a slightly nervous smile that made us laugh even harder. A shriek of laughter told us that the prince had gotten his hands on Kassima again, and we looked over to see him lying down on the deck wrestling with her. And all the while I could hear his dark side yelling at him about how undignified his position was and how no one was going to have any respect for him, especially not Kassima, after this, which just made me laugh harder. Unfortunately I laughed in such a way it gave the impression that there was something else I was giggling at, so I had to explain about how utterly different having the prince act this way with Kassima was to how he acted when we first met.
XD
"So tell me all of what's been going on so far." I said when we settled down in a private room on their ship. Our boat was being manned by some of the crew from this one. It didn't need to be, but allowing it to drift beside us like that without anyone on it would spook the crew of this one, with good reason, and now it was just my crew, with Kassima locked up securely in the prince's room (probably playing with Deskor right now) as well as the Prince and Orzan around the table. Candles kept the room lit up well enough to see, and the crew had orders neither to disturb us, nor to listen at the door.
"I know that the reason you're headed for Egypt is because the prince got caught with India's treasure," I went on, "But I'm not sure how, why, or who. Check that, I know exactly who, but I'd like to hear your accounts of that." I said.
"How…how do you know that?" Asked Orzan slowly, staring at me with wide eyes.
"She's full of surprises." Keilic said.
"Yes, she is, speaking of the Dagger." The prince said, and he took something from his belt, opened it, and out came none other than the Dagger of Time, illuminating the table much more adequately than the candles, though with a soft, beautiful blue glow. He gave it to me, "I think this rightfully belongs to you." He told me.
"What? But I thought it belonged to India." Orzan asked, frowning in confusion.
"No," Said Farah, "We were given the Dagger of Time to protect. It was India's most prized treasure, because we were trusted to hold it for when the Empress of Time arrived." She told him, "And Kaida is the Empress of Time."
"Second generation, but yeah." I added to Orzan's stunned, disbelieving face.
"My Prince, did you know of this?!" He asked.
"Are you kidding? I was there when she became the Empress of Time." He answered.
"That's one of the reasons why you could never defeat me, Orzan." I said, smirking at him, "I am the Empress of Time, I know your every move, even before you do." I told him, using an accent like Kaileena.
The prince stared at me, "Okay, that's freaky. You sounded exactly like Kaileena. Don't do that." He told me.
"Kaileena?" Orzan questioned.
"She was Empress before me. I became Empress so that she could return to her own world. Trust me, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I did it." I told him. "Yeah, did you know? I have followers!" I said in a falsely cheerful voice, "A whole range of cultists that have been practically worshiping me for who knows how long that I didn't even know about until Farah told me about them!" I said. "And now they're gathering up all the different sects devoted to the Empress of Time and are going to make themselves into an army so they can help me fight against Zasalamel."
"Zasalamel? Who is he?" Asked Orzan.
"Oh boy…this is going to take a while." I sighed, laying my head down on my crossed arms.
Eventually everything (or almost everything) was explained, and the questions that all the others had were, also, answered. As I pretty much knew the most about what was going on, I got to do a lot of the explaining. Unfortunately when Orzan began to press the issue of how I had escaped from Zasalamel when he was a stronger fighter than I was, and somehow seemed to realize that I wasn't being entirely truthful when I told him I just teleported Farah and me away, I found myself put in a very sticky spot.
"Orzan, there are some things about Kaida that she doesn't want the entire world knowing." The prince said in an undertone.
But Orzan frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, "Forgive me for being so forward, but I somehow get the feeling that there is something that everyone in this room but I am aware of, and which all of you are hiding from me." He said. "But perhaps I am being forward, perhaps the lady Kaida does not trust me enough with this secret. If that be the case, then I shall press no further." He was trying to be polite and respectful about it, but there was hurt in his tone, and his expression became a stony mask of indifference that I hated more than the look of outrage I was expecting.
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "Alright, Orzan, but I'm warning you now," I said in a severe voice, "Once you understand it all, you may wish you'd simply stayed ignorant." I told him.
The candlelight flickered, and out from the shadows, I called them, as many of them as I thought would adequately fit in the room without crowding it too much. And they emerged from all around, Orzan's eyes were wide, but he was the only one surprised. The others were, understandably, a bit nervous, but they knew that there was nothing any of these creatures could do to them. Orzan, however, was not so secure in this knowledge, if he even understood what was going on. He was looking at me with an expression of fear and misunderstanding on his face. But if he was looking at me for reassurance, he didn't get it. Kagero was wrapped around me, and looking at him with his eyes in an amused position at my shoulder.
"Well, don't be rude." I told him, "Say hello."
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Rhea: No time for FAQ today! I do have a job, unfortunately…XP R&R Peoples!