Chapter Fourteen

Venus had chosen a simple, light blue dress to wear to dinner. They had some regional specialties, and for dessert a dish that was native to her own planet. After dinner, as she was on her way out and back to her room, Kunzite grabbed her hand and placed a glass of wine in it.

"Come join me."

Venus was tired but, couldn't resist his smiling face. She nodded with agreement and followed him down a flight of stairs and into the oasis in the center of his palace. They sat down near a pool of water on a bench.

"Cheers?" Kunzite held his glass out.

"To?" she held her glass out, but did not touch his.

He paused. "To being persistent enough to get you here?"

She smiled and touched her glass to his. "I suppose that does deserve a toast." She smiled. "To being stubborn!"

They both laughed a bit, and after a moment Venus broke the silence. "Your home really is beautiful."

"Thank you."

"And the room is way more than I need, but I appreciate the thought."

"You are not just any visitor. And it's not even that you are the lady of Venus." He leaned over and brushed a few strands of hair from her face. "You are my lady of Venus, and you deserve only the best."

"Stop, you'll make me blush."

"Too late."

She playfully pushed him away and they both laughed. Enjoying the company of one another.

The following morning, Venus woke early and made her way back to her troops. They presented her with plans to send forces into the areas of interest to collect intel and help police. After looking them over, she agreed, then they gave her a hoorah, and began to dispatch themselves. Venus was ready to do something herself, but knew they needed to collect some more information first. She soon found her host, who was also busing himself in that area of the castle.

"Give me something to do."

Kunzite looked up from what he was doing and smirked. "Can't sit still, can you?"

"If I don't have anything here to do, I need to go back to the Palace and help with preparations for the ball."

"Hrm." He stepped away from the field map he was looking over. "Well, I can't have that. How about, I take you on a tour?"

"Of?" She thought he must be joking. Her impression from the day prior didn't lead her to believe there was much in the area, let alone enough for a tour.

"Of... the area. If you are to be helping, perhaps you should know the terrain?"

"There is only until the end of this next week until the ball. If there is honestly nothing for me to do here, I would like to go take care of those matters."

Kunzite sighed. He was disappointed that after getting her down her finally, she was already wanting to run off. Part of him expected it, but the other part of him really had hoped this would be a nice break from reality. It was nice to see her in more than passing. "Well. Promise me this then, when you get back from handling what you feel you must, let me take you on a tour."

Venus gave him a sincere nod. "I can do that."

She left and returned three days later, after taking care of some matters. Artemis begged her to stay a few days longer, not understanding why she needed to rush off so soon, but she declined, explaining that she needed to check on the status of her troops. Begrudgingly, he nodded and wished her farewell. Back at Kunzite's castle, she had just gotten herself settled back in when there was a knock at her door. It was Kunzite, who was eager to take her on the tour he'd been planning out.

"I just got here. Surely it can wait. I can't even change?"

"Nope." He smiled and took her hand. "Let us be off!"

With that, he whisked her off to the front gates, where a pair of black Arabian mares were waiting for them. Kunzite was about to ask if she had ridden before or needed help, but before the words could come out of his mouth, his blonde companion had mounted and was looking down at him smiling. "You coming?" she asked. He grinned and climbed on top of his horse.

They took off into a gallop, through the small town outside the castle and he led them out into the hot sand, which was cooling off, as the sun had just began to set. It didn't take long before a rock formation could be made out in front of them. When they arrived, he jumped off his horse and took the reins to hers so she could easily dismount. He tied the horses off on a palm nearby, and led her to the top of the rocks. From the top, a city could be seen in the distance, and a mountain range beyond that. For being such a barren looking place, Venus couldn't help but notice how pretty it was.

"That," he started, "Is the second largest city in this region."

"It looks bigger than where we were just at?" It seemed odd to her that he did not live in the largest city.

"That is true. The largest city is south, on the coast. Far too busy for me. I go when I'm needed, but only then."

Venus chuckled. "Mind reader."

"No no," he laughed. "I just assumed that is what you were getting at. We are not always what we seem."

She nodded. "Very true. So, what's beyond that mountain range?"

"Darkness." His tone was solemn.

"Wait, I though the threat was further east."

"Their numbers are growing rapidly. For every group we contain, another sect emerges. The situation is getting out of hand. We sent a team yesterday to hopefully get us closer to who is behind this. I don't think it will end until we do."

Goosebumps rose on Venus' arms, and as she went to rub her skin, she felt Kunzite wrap his cloak around her. "Thank you."

"We should probably head back. It'll be dark soon, and far too cold to be out in, well, you aren't quite dressed for it." He chuckled and motioned for her to follow him back down to the horses.