Here is chapter four! I hope you have been liking the story so far. As I mentioned in yesterday's author's note, I am posting two chapters today because I will be out of town tomorrow and will be unable to post. I'm sorry if any of the characters are coming across as OOC. Let me know what you think!

-owl

Ziva sat at her vanity table, brushing her hair, biding her time until most of the castle would be asleep. The ball had ended nearly an hour ago, and Ziva could barely wait until people would be out of the hallways. She had changed out of her purple dress and into a blue one with a cream underskirt. In case she would need to bribe any guards, she grabbed a handful of her gold coins. She also made sure her sword was with her.

Tony had swiped her golden necklace from her at the ball, which she was still impressed with. Then he had taunted her, knowing she would come after it. Ziva had a strong feeling that he was just doing it to see what she would do, not because he was a thief. He had told her the room he had been put in, so she knew where she would be going.

The clock struck midnight and Ziva grinned as she exited her room. The hallways were dark, and guards were only at a few of the corners. She didn't have many issues getting past the guards because they were too busy talking to each other. Once or twice one of the patrols would walk past her, but she almost always got past them without them knowing.

The guards that she did run into were the five that Tony had brought with him from home. Two stood at either end of the hallway, and three stood by his door; one one either side, and the last one right in front of it.

This might be harder than Ziva had originally thought. Oh well. At least she kept up with her training. She approached the area and the guard she was closest to turned to look at her.

"What are you doing here, Miss?" the guard asked, not recognizing her as one of the princesses.

She smiled sweetly. "I was hoping to speak to the prince. He has something of mine, and I would like it back. If you let me through, I will give you this," she said, opening her hand and showing them the coins.

He thought about it and nodded as he took the payment. "I guess I could let you through, but I don't know if the others will be as nice as me. Wait here a second," he said, and once Ziva had hidden herself in the shadows, he called out to the guard at the other end of the hall. "John, I think I saw someone, I'm going after him, I might need backup!"

The guard nodded and joined the first one as he rounded the corner and down the hall. The guard in the middle of the doors also followed. Their footsteps faded as they got further away.

Ziva moved again, towards Tony's door, still in the shadows. There were still two guards there, but they looked like they would cause too much noise if she were to try to enter through the hallway. Luckily, the room Gibbs had given Tony had a door out to the gardens. She would go out that way instead.

The nearest door to the gardens was only one hallway away from where Ziva was currently. There were no guards in her way, and once she was outside, she could move faster because her footsteps would not make as much noise. However, she was more visible in the bright moon light.

There were two guards stationed outside Tony's door when Ziva approached. The two guards didn't even look at her. They both had a sword, but they looked tired, so they probably wouldn't be too much of a challenge. Even so, Ziva did not really want to find out.

Drawing her sword, she snuck up on the guard closer to her and, when he turned to talk to the other, she knocked him over the head with the pommel of her sword. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Unfortunately, this allowed the final guard to see her, and he drew his sword as he approached.

They came to blows quickly, and Ziva was correct in her assumption that the guard had been tired. Their fight didn't last long, as she got a lucky hit pretty early in the match. He also fell to the floor, unconscious, and Ziva got away with only a tiny cut on her left arm.

Finally, she opened Tony's door and slipped into his room. There were three candles lit throughout the room, and Tony was sitting at the desk, leaning over a paper on it. He jumped in his seat when she closed the door.

He turned to see Ziva standing next to the door. "How did you get into my room?" he asked, a small note of panic in his voice.

Ziva chuckled as she wandered around the room. "I might have snuck past my father's guards, then bribed your weaker guards and knocked out the two outside."

"I don't even know what to say to that, Ziva. I suppose my next question should be why are you in my room?"

After running her hand across the table next to the couch, Ziva took a seat. "You have something of mine, Tony," she said, holding out her hand. "I would like it back."

Tony walked over to her, pulling the necklace out of his pants pocket. Only now did Ziva notice that, while Tony was still in his suit pants and dress shirt, his suit coat was laid on the bed. He looked younger now, less like a prince.

"Is this it?" he asked, a smile on his face that told Ziva he knew that it was what she was looking for.

The golden arrow spun in place, catching the little light that was in the room. Gibbs had given it to her for her 8th birthday, and she had worn it ever since. She shifted her hand, drawing Tony's attention, and he gently placed it in her palm, letting the chain pool on top of itself.

As soon as Tony had let go of it, Ziva put it on, clasping it behind her neck. "Thank you, Tony," she said, annoyance in her voice. "How did you know I would come looking for my necklace? For all you knew, it wasn't something I cared about."

Tony motioned for her to move over on the couch and when she did, he sat next to her. "Well, Ziva, it's as simple as me thinking that it was too simple for you to justify wearing it at such an important event—"

"Then you do not know me as well as you think you do, Tony." Ziva cut in.

He grinned, a sly, egoistic smile as she continued his thought, ignoring her words entirely. "—and that meant that there was an emotional connection to it. I also, from what we spoke about while dancing, knew that you would never let me get away with something like this. Am I right, Ziva?"

Ziva sighed angrily. The fact that he was right with both of his reasons annoyed her. What annoyed her even more, was that he had figured her out in just one evening. She was better than that. "I guess you are correct, Tony. Father gave it to me for my first birthday with him and my sisters."

"First birthday with the king?" Tony asked.

Ziva nodded. "I would have thought you would have heard about it. My mother married the king when I was seven. Abby and Kate are only my step sisters, and the king my step father."

"Oh," Tony said. "I'm sorry for asking."

She shook her head. "You did not know. I do not blame you for that. What is your family like?" she asked.

A grimace flashed across Tony's face so quickly that Ziva barely noticed it. "My mother died when I was little, and my father rarely speaks to me other than kingdom things."

"At least he speaks to you, Tony. When I was five, my father died, and he had only ever spoken to me once."

Tony's gaze filled with both surprise and pity. "I'm —"

"I do not need your pity," Ziva snapped, cutting him off.

Tony raised his hands in a placiting manner. "Why don't we talk about something else? Like, what is your favorite thing to do?"

"Archery," Ziva responded quickly. "Or sparring."

"I should have expected something like that," Tony remarked. "Considering how you snuck into my room."

She grinned. "What about you?"

"Theater, that's what I do when I have the time. My mother used to take me whenever we could."

Ziva smiled at Tony's enthusiasm, and they talked about everything and nothing; favorite things, skills, and other hobbies. Though they never spoke about Tony's family, or Ziva's father. Then there was a groan from one of the guards outside. At least one of them would wake soon, so Ziva had to leave now or get caught.

"I have to go," she said, standing up and walking to the garden door. "I will see you soon, I am sure." Then she was gone.

The guards outside were only just starting to stir, so Ziva was able to make her way past them without any issues. The easiest way to get back to her room would be to travel through the garden, however, the moon was still high in the sky, illuminating the garden and anyone in it. She would have to go through the castle.

She carefully opened the door she had used earlier and snuck through the halls. Tony's guards were back, but Ziva was able to stay in the shadows and avoid their notice. The hallways were empty, and Ziva only came across one guard at the entry to the hallway of her and her sisters' room.

In Ziva's room, the candle she had left burning had gone out, the flame drowned in the pool of wax. The room was as dark as the hallways, lit only by the moonlight from the windows. Her lady's maid, Emily, had been dismissed nearly as soon as Ziva had returned from the ball. As such, the purple dress she had been wearing earlier was still laying on top of her bed.

Ziva grabbed her night-dress from her wardrobe and hung up both the blue one she had worn to Tony's room and the purple one from the ball. Returning to the main part of her room, Ziva grabbed a ribbon from her vanity and, after braiding her hair, tied the end of it.

She fell asleep quickly, after placing the ornate dagger she had swiped from Tony's room on her bedside table. If he wanted to play, she would play.