Hey readers! Since no one has read my stories, I'm thinking about removing all of them. I'm planning to touch base with an old friend in the next few days and see if she'll review my stories. She was my editor before I completely forgot about for about a year and didn't update for forever. So, here is chapter eight with review answers.

To queenofdakittys::bows:: Thank you. Though, I must lay all of the credit with you for pointing this out to me. So thank you very, very much.

To TheRhythmOfLife::sob:: I want your sword!! WAHHHH!

To Wingedrider: Thanks!

To HyperLittleCat: Whoa. What is a beta? I have no computer smarts, besides the basics, so please clue me in here. I'm going to say that, in accordance with your suggested character pairing, I don't think that that will work out. Mia and Rick are too close for a relationship beyond best friends, right Mia and Rick?

Mia+Rick::nodnod::

I mean, you two have known each other since the diaper age right??

Mia+Rick::nodnod::

Molly: Yeah and here's a picture of the two of them taking a bath together at age three::holds up picture::

Mia: Ack! Where'd you find that!?

Rick: I thought we burned all of those!

Molly: The internet is an amazing place. ::evil grin::

Mia+Rick::chases Molly:

Anyway…

To Batya: Molly is currently being chased, but she would like to thank you for your kindness.

To Celestial Secrets: Yes ma'am. ::salutes::

To Trebondmage: Awesome! A new reviewer! Yay!! Thank you for your review.

I hope you all enjoy this next installment.

Last Time: Dom was relieved to see that Mia and her friends weren't wearing the outlandish clothing that they had come in anymore. Now, their clothes looked normal, if not very fancy. Mia was dressed in a long, pale purple dress, with a darker purple cloak. Her friend, the girl, was wearing similar garb, except her dress was forest green, and her cloak was emerald. The boy wore tan breeches, a white shirt and a dark red vest. All three had swords at their hips. He was shocked to see four horses, one pulling a cart piled with trunks and other items. Each person has a small bag on their backs. Mia looked around.

"Wow." She said.

"Double wow." Molly put in, looking down at her dress.

Molly took the bag off of her back and opened it. She examined the contents carefully. Mia and Rick followed suit. Mia pulled a note out of a pocket on the side of her bag. She scanned it carefully before reading it out loud to her friends.

"To Mia, Molly, and Rick,

The contents of the bags on your backs are for your Gift. Please talk to Numair when you get to the city. He will be able to help you each in turn with your abilities. Mia will specialize in animals, Molly will specialize in healing, and Rick will specialize in magic similar to Numair's. You will also be further instructed in how to fight as a solider. We will fix the time problem and will be in touch again soon. Good luck."

As soon as she had finished, the letter disappeared in a puff of smoke. Coughing and waving her hand in front of her face, Molly walked over to the cart. She opened the lid of the first trunk and examined the contents. She closed the lid and turned to her friends.

"There are clothes in this trunk."

"Really?"

Mia went over to the trunk and lifted the lid. Sure enough, dresses of every color were neatly folded inside the trunk. She closed the lid and went back to her friends.

"They really do plan for us to stay a really long time, don't they?" Rick said as he assessed the cart and horses.

"That must be their thinking." Mia said with a nod.

She walked over to the first horse, a black one, and slung herself into the saddle. Molly and Rick followed suit, Rick taking the white horse, and Molly taking the brown one. They smiled at each other and started riding towards town. Kel and Dom got on to their horses and followed.

When they got into town, everyone stopped what they were doing to watch the three friends ride by. The noise died away, even the animals went still in their cages. The three friends averted their eyes and continued. They headed towards the castle.

When they reached the entrance gate, Rick shaded his eyes and looked up. He whistled.

"When I read the Lioness quartet, the books didn't describe the castle to be this amazing." He said, his eyes on the flags that flapped in the breeze.

Molly followed his gaze.

"Me either and I bet it's even more amazing on the inside." Mia said to her friends.

They requested entrance with the guard on the top of the gate.

"Why should I let you in? How do I know that you aren't an assassin?" He asked.

Mia opened her mouth to retort to this, but words flowed out of their own accord.

"We are royalty from another land seeking shelter in your castle. We wish to meet with the king and discuss these new beasts that have recently appeared. We want to make an alliance."

The guard disappeared from the wall. Molly and Rick stared in shock at Mia.

"You really sounded like a princess." Molly said in awe.

Mia did the best imitation of a bow that one can make on a horse.

"Thank you. But that was not me talking. I think I owe my thanks to a certain goddess." She said with a grin.

Suddenly, with a large amount of noise, the gates began to rise. Mia went first, with Molly on her right and Rick on her left. They rode up to the long flight of stair that lead up to the entrance of the castle and dismounted. Their horses were taken by a groom. As the horses were lead away, the king and queen walked out onto the top most stairs.

The king spread his arms and said

"Welcome to our kingdom. My name is Jonathan, and this is my queen, Thayet. Won't you please join us for dinner?"

This time it was Molly's turn to sound like royalty.

"We accept your gracious offer. We apologize for coming without notice, but the matters at hand are of utmost importance."

Thayet nodded.

"Yes, these new creatures are very disturbing. We shall discuss this over dinner."

"Yes, we would like that very much. We also bring other important matters with us from our kingdom. We are new to this business of ruling, and we seek your advice." Rick said.

"How exactly did you come to rule this kingdom?" Thayet asked.

"Our father spent the last years of his life uniting our country together. Sadly, he did not live long enough to see the last agreements were signed." Mia said sadly. With a wicked grin, she continued "My brother Richard," she gestured towards Rick "is the new king of our realm. And his betrothed, Molly," she gestured to Molly, who glared at her. "Will help him. I, his twin, and younger sister, will also co-rule. This was our father's dying wish." She said and wiped a small tear from her right eye.

At this point, Rick was holding Molly back by her cloak. Mia unknowingly connected with her mentally and said

"CALM DOWN!"

Molly was a little frightened by this but answered hotly,

"Why couldn't YOU have been his betrothed?"

"You don't look like his sister."

"Neither do you!"

"Yeah, but I'm closer than you are. Anyway, you need to ask him out."

With one final glare at Mia, Molly broke the connection. Rick, who had felt the connection, but hadn't heard the conversation broadcasted to his two friends.

"Since when could we do that?" He asked.

"Since the gods and goddesses took interest in us. I suspect we will learn many new tricks like this one." Mia answered

"I hope they save any other surprises for tomorrow. I don't think I can handle any more today." Molly said anxiously.

Well, I've been grounded from using the computer until school lets out. So this may be it for a while. But fear not, for there is a miracle called study halls! I will attempt to have a new chapter up in about two weeks.