Thanks for all your reviews guys! As always - sorry for and spelling and grammar mistakes in that chapter. I checked but as always I'm sure I missed a few. Here's one more little transition chapter but I promise the story will pick up again afterwards :-D. Hope you like it.

*Nasaf - 12 years ago*

"Hide!"

Keyla pressed herself down onto the roof of the stable she had been sitting on, following Dastan's order. They were both grinning at each other trying hard not to laugh. If they did, they would reveal their position and that wasn't a good idea right now. Keyla chuckled when she heard an angry voice right underneath the stable but Dastan - with an urgent gesture - told her to keep quite.

"Where are you? Get down here! Now!"

The one yelling at them was the 15 years old prince Garsiv and he was very angry with them. Given the fact that a couple of seeds from a pomegranate had just landed right on his head, it was no wonder he was angry. Keyla could hear the older boy pace up and down beneath them as if he still hoped for them to come out as he had ordered them to but of course she and Dastan stayed where she was. Right down beneath them, Garsiv was cursing.

"I will tell uncle about this!"

It was the one thing Garsiv always did when he felt he wasn't getting what he wanted and even though it had never even once worked with Dastan, Garsiv still tried. Keyla however bit her lip. She didn't want to get Dastan in trouble. If Garsiv would tell his uncle that she and Dastan had - for the utmost time - had their fun with Garsiv, getting him angry, she was sure Dastan would get an earful... But then again getting up now would mean that the brothers would fight... Garsiv was cursing again and then turned to leave, stomping off across the courtyard . Keyla sat up on the roof again, looking at Dastan.

"Won't you get into trouble?"

"No. My uncle doesn't side with people who can't solve their problems on their own. He'll send Garsiv away... Of course he'll only be more angry with me after that but I think I can handle that."

"The last time you handled it Garsiv ended up with a black eye and you with two broken fingers. I know Garsiv's an idiot but he's stronger than you. I don't want you to get hurt..."

"I won't get hurt. He will curse and yell and let out all of his anger but afterwards it'll be fine again. It's not always easy between us but Garsiv is my brother. We trust each other..."

Keyla had heard Dastan tell her all this before but she had a hard time believing it. She was biased though because she detested Garsiv with a passion. When she had first seen the Persian prince upon a visit to the palace, he had insulted her, had told her they didn't need another filthy street rat around here and when she had tried to attack him, letting her anger out, she had ended up on the ground with the sneering prince standing above her.

She couldn't understand how Dastan was able to come up with loyalty and trust towards Garsiv but she didn't need to understand. It was one of the main reasons why she still lived out on the streets of Nasaf and Dastan had decided to stay at the palace where the king had offered him a new life...

"I wouldn't trust this idiot if my life depended on it. And he's not your brother..."

"Don't start this again, Keyla."

She looked at him for a long moment and then nodded. He was right - arguing about this again would only cause them to be angry with each other and that was not what she had come here for. It wasn't that she didn't see the great chance that had presented itself to Dastan and maybe - had she been in the situation - she would have taken it. But this still felt like an act to her. He was not the king's son and the Persian princes were not his brothers no matter how many times he told her that. He didn't belong here... But it wasn't up to her to make that decision, she could only decide what was the best thing for her and she had decided not to be a part of this adopted palace life. Agreeing to disagree was the one thing they had done to keep them from fighting with each other and Keyla didn't plan on doing otherwise right now. However she felt she had caused Dastan quite enough trouble for one afternoon. She wanted to get up but was pulled back down when her friend grabbed her wrist and held onto it tightly.

"Maybe I should leave."

"No you won't. Garsiv will calm down eventually. I'll be fine. You came to spend some time with me AND Bis and he will be here any minute."

"I still don't get why you have to have weapon's training..."

Keyla said it with a lot of force, maybe more than would have been necessary to state her point. When dastan had first told her about that particular part of his new life she had been horrified. The new clothes, the good food, his own chamber, the maids and cooks and even the teachers that were now showing him things he hadn't even had any idea they existed before - those were good things. But the weapon's training... It was something Keyla was very suspicious about. She feared what would come of it once Dastan was older... Dastan however had never shared her worry.

"Because we are part of the royal Persian family now. Tus and Garsiv have the same kind of training as well."

"I still think it's wrong. Is that why the king brought you here? So that you could fight for him? Doesn't he have enough soldiers?"

"He brought us here because... I'm not sure why he did. He said he saw something in me that touched him... I'm not sure I fully understand but he said he would explain one day when I'm a little older. He's having us trained to live up to what we are now. He's training me to be prepared to be the prince he made me now... and weapon's training is a part of that."

"I can't picture you fighting with the Persian army. You could get killed..."

"I'm 12, Keyla. I don't think there will be any fighting soon."

Dastan was grinning at her but Keyla knew for a fact it was only to calm her down. She could tell from the look in his eyes that she had managed to get him thinking and she knew why. Garsiv - the awful teen Dastan so proudly referred to as his brother - had done nothing but prance around the courtyard of the palace all morning, showing off with the new uniform he had been gifted from his father and the sword that had come with it.

It was the uniform of a commanding officer of the Persian army and young Garsiv seemed eager to finally get a chance to prove himself in battle. Garsiv however had just about reached the age of 15 and he was still a child in her eyes. War - if it was truly necessary - was nothing children should be involved in but it seemed the Persian king was of a different opinion. It was her main reason for being suspicion about the weapon's training dastan attended. She feared what the king would ask of him in a couple of years when he himself had reached the age Garsiv was at now... She could not bear the thought of losing her friend... and she wanted him to know that she was worried about him.

"Your oldest brother - as you refer to them - is with the Persian army at some bordering city fighting right now and Garsiv can't wait to get his first command either. So how long until the king sends you off to invade some foreign city for the empire? Three years? Four, maybe five?"

"Keyla..."

"Do you want that?"

Dastan took a deep breath. The question wasn't easy to answer. He had never really thought about what all this training would be good for once he was a little older. The Persian empire was always at war with some city or warlord or country and as a son to the king it would probably be part of his responsibility to be a part of any kind of war party that would be send out by his king to defend the empire...

He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He wasn't afraid but he wasn't as eager as his brother Garsiv to prove himself in battle. He could understand that Keyla was worried. None of the troupes heading out of the city for battle ever came back completely. People died - that was what war was about. But being a prince to the empire Dastan was sure he would always have the luxury of not leading a troupe into battle head on... His oldest brother had always returned back home - scraped, bruised and bandaged at times, but he had always made his way back to his family... To Dastan that meant it would be the same for him. And he did want to do whatever his king and father demanded of him. He owed him this... and Keyla should have known that.

"I owe the king this life, this second chance. I will always be loyal to him, Keyla... And if he thinks it's right..."

"Than you will blindly follow his orders..."

She was glaring at him, her voice harsh now and Dastan knew if he found the wrong words now, they would be fighting again. But it didn't happen. They were interrupted when Bis appeared on the courtyard and frowned seeing them sitting up on the stable. He waved and hurried closer, yelling up at them when he reached them, a happy smile on his face upon seeing his friends.

"There you are! I was looking all over for you. What are you doing here?"

"Hiding from Garsiv."

Bis chuckled hearing Keyla's answer. He could clearly hear the mischief in her voice and he knew she and Dastan had managed to get on the older prince's nerves again, probably making him very angry with them. Keyla especially enjoyed those little pranks but Bis knew she hatred prince Garsiv with a passion. The feeling was pretty much mutual though, he knew that as well... He would have wished his friend's would have waited for them. He had been training with some of the other young recruits at the palace and it had been dull but exhausting. Training the same routine in the burning sun over and over and over again had been very tiresome.

He had taken a quick moment to splash some water into his face to freshen up before he had hurried to meet his friends. It seemed all the fun they had wanted to have spending some time together had already passed and he hadn't even been close to witness any of it. As good as deciding to come with Dastan and live a life at the palace had been for him, his responsibilities sometimes weighed down on that...

"You did have your fun irritating him again, didn't you? Couldn't you have waited for me."

"Sorry."

Bis grinned at them letting them know he wasn't angry in any way. He had known responsibility would be the down side of the decision. It was the very same thing for Dastan. Ever since they had come here, things had changed so rapidly and they had learned so much... It meant a lot more pressure on them, a lot more time that was planned for learning and studying and less time for their friend and living the life as freely as they had when still alone in the streets of Nasaf. But here they were save and they had everything they needed. The positive outweighed the negative by a longshot...

Actually Bis had something to tell his friends, something he was a little surprised they hadn't checked on for themselves until now. But if they had been forced to hide from prince Garsiv it wasn't that much of a surprise. He waved for them to come down to the courtyard and meet with him, grinning at them when they had climbed down and the little group was now standing together.

"I went by the kitchen when I came here. Laya is making pastries..."

"What are we doing still standing here then. Come on."

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