Things didn't go exactly smoothly after my outburst. They stayed tense for a while after Prince Joshua and Prince Glenn returned.

It seemed though that, luckily for me, they were more anxious about the storm outside. It was possible they hadn't even heard half the things I'd said over the storm. I wasn't sure if that mattered to me... I'd heard every word I'd said in anger. I felt guilty.

Even though I'd accepted I'd been out of line with my little tantrum... the second Prince Joshua returned, I did feel some resentment return. Prince Glenn was close behind, clasped carefully, with their butlers apologetically muttering as loud as they could something about 'safer down here' over the wind.

If the storm wasn't hitting yet... they were probably right. Outside the barricaded living room several trees had already fallen over on the garden, the sound of the wind some kind of high pitched shriek outside that made even a falling tree whisper soft, rain belting against windows and building in sheet upon sheets of water.

I swallowed my pride, standing slowly, and bowed as low as possible while balancing on my good leg. "I'm sorry for my words."

No one spoke. I wondered if they'd heard me.

"Fine." Prince Joshua responded, voice still sharp, and he slumped down on the chair.

Prince Glenn nodded as I raised my head. He probably felt too awful to care. As I sat back down, he was settled back onto the couch, and I heard a soft sigh of relief come from him as he relaxed into the soft chair.

"Um." I muttered, awkward, trying to... be nice. "How are you... feeling?"

"I cannot complain." Prince Glenn probably could have, given how white he'd been while he was being carried, but he somehow managed to look pretty calm and unconcerned. "You were also wounded. Does it bother you"

"Well... I can't complain."

"Yes, you can. We all heard you." Roberto said cheerfully. "So go ahead. I bet it hurts."

I threw something at him, a reflex, and heard a soft chuckle from Wilifred nearby. It did hurt. Right up to the point where if I breathed too deep... it'd hurt. If I twitched... it hurt. If I tried to twist in another direction...

After my little tantrum a few hours before I was more than happy to stick to internal complaints. Yep. Enough for one day. Week. Month.

Before I could consciously recognise that I was hungry, something appeared in front of me, a bowl of that curry and the rice. It seemed ...different somehow. There seemed to be some kind of fresh vegetables inside and it almost seemed darker. It was the same one though- I could recognise the remains of Roberto's demolished onion still floating around inside.

Something clashed against the building, suddenly, and we all flinched. Alberto stood up straighter and frowned lightly.

"I believe we should all remain downstairs. Excuse me." With a quick bow he was heading upstairs. I supposed Claude might have been asleep still. He had looked pretty tired. Was Jan and Yu napping as well? I didn't see them.

Prince Joshua went to call something to Alberto. He caught my stare, hesitated, and scowled. I watched in amazement as he slid forward to pour himself a cup of tea from the teapot. Two sugar heaped up so high that they were probably closer to four sugars. Milk. Amazing.

Woah. Progress.

"Don't you usually prefer to be served?" Roberto's tease was probably a bit early, given how little time had passed, but he somehow got away with it. Even Prince Glenn seemed amused- though he hid it by twisting his head away from us and towards the window.

He slid back, face reddening, snapping, "I … I am far too thirsty to wait for your butler, Roberto."

"Yeah, and it has nothing to do with the fact that he's trying to prove he can do things for himself..." Roberto whispered in my ear with a soft giggle.

I relaxed, giggling myself, and apparently this little exchange didn't go unnoticed by Prince Joshua. He sat up straighter, tips of his ears a warm rosy pink against his dark purple hair, pretending to ignore us and drink. He lowered it quickly.

"There is something wrong with the sugar. It is too sweet." Prince Joshua slid his cup away.

"You just added too much. Is that the first time you've added sugar?" Roberto asked. His voice had gone very sweet, almost 'big brotherish', though I suspected Prince Joshua was probably a little older.

"No!" The poor Prince was starting to look really flustered. He stood up, striding towards the bookshelf, and stood there for a good two minutes as he stared at the titles instead of us.

I felt pretty grateful to Roberto though. Even Prince Glenn seemed to be enjoying it... and the tension over earlier was going quickly.

Or maybe we were more tense about the storm now.

I flinched again as something banged against the building, hands tightening on the couch, wondering about what we were suppose to do. Claude had said it was a cyclone. Those weren't normal storms.

"Um." I said softly. The wind and rain easily overpowered my voice so I tried again. "Uh- are we supposed to do something? For this storm?"

"Yeah. Stay indoors." Prince Glenn responded.

"I thought we were supposed to stay in a hallway or something. A small area that's stronger." I wasn't sure if that was right. Was that for a tornado or a cyclone? No one seemed to answer me at that.

We probably should have moved as far away from the water as possible. Going into the bush right now to escape wouldn't be a wise move at all.

I jumped again and wanted to get up. See what was happening. "What about the ...storm surge?"

"Uh..."

Surely they knew about that? I felt kind of sick with worry all of a sudden. The storm would come with water. Lots of water. The house was a little way above the beach on a natural cliff, sure, but that didn't stop me from suddenly being anxious.

"It's all right." Wilifred's voice cut into my anxiety. "We're safe enough."

"Compared to being shot at or being in a forest of falling trees... yes." Prince Glenn agreed.

"Claude said the storm would likely cause more damage to plants than the building. It wasn't an overly strong one." Wilifred added. I felt his hand close over my hand and squeeze. It made my stomach flutter.

I made sure that stomach was settled quickly, eating the warmed rice, and decided it was probably better to just … not panic. Yep.

Feet came down the stairs, Claude and Alberto carrying bags down with them, and they vanished back up the stairs. We watched them take several trips. Pillows, blankets, mattresses...

"Sleepover?" Roberto called.

"It might be safer to remain close tonight." Claude bowed his head in response. "We intend on being gone early."

"Gone where?"

"Jan and Yu have gone to find us a boat." Prince Wilifred responded from my left.

What, in this? My head swung towards the crazy weather outside. Just as a patio chair went flying across the yard. "How?"

"In this weather there will be less surprise if a boat vanishes from its moorings. They'll get one, people won't think it's stolen, and we'll use it." Prince Joshua finally sat himself back down. He seemed relieved when a fresh cup of tea was offered. "They will wait till it calms and come to collect us from the beach."

"Okay..." Poor butlers. Out there in the ocean trying to keep a boat afloat. I supposed that it wasn't fair if I brought up the dangers of THAT. At least I had started to believe that maybe the Princes really did care about their Butlers a little.

Claude knelt in front of me, his eyes going smoothly over Wilifred's hand which still was sitting on top of mine, and Wilifred was quick to let go. Claude was more interested in the wound- sliding up my dress and carefully lifting the leg.

"It should be rested on the table. After the meal I'll prepare a cushion." He murmured quietly, fingers light as he checked, slowly peeling the bandage off in one corner. "It is bleeding at an appropriate rate."

"Would it not be wiser for her to lie down with it being positioned there?" Wilifred suggested.

Claude nodded, his head twisting in the direction of the couch Prince Glenn lay on. It wasn't just a regular three seater- it was a long corner couch, one half already taken up by Prince Glenn, and the other half where Prince Joshua and Robert sat. Claude tried, "Would you both mind-"

"Nope!" Roberto was up in a flash, tugging Prince Joshua up, who had only just started to relax. "Prince Joshua can have her chair. I'll sit on the ground."

"That's not necessary..." I muttered. Although I had to admit- lying down did sound nice right about now. I had been pretty paranoid about back of calf meeting chair leg as long as I'd been sitting here. "Besides, I have to..."

I hesitated. That was another thing I'd been paranoid about all morning. Luckily Claude seemed to get the meaning. His eyes widened for a moment before he suddenly stood.

"Come then. While you freshen yourself up, I'll find you some cushions to make you more comfortable."

Pain killers would also have been nice.

Once I was alone in the bathroom and 'relieved' myself. The issue of flushing toilets came up... but when I tried it, I noticed that it actually flushed.

Oh. Phew.

While sitting I noticed a brush there. Now that my hair was drying I supposed it didn't matter too much. Quickly I brushed the hair, sitting there, before hoisting myself up and trying to re-dress.

By the time Claude had come back- I'd rushed a bit- I'd obsessively made sure I was still clean,hair brushed, and was a little embarrassed when he seemed pleased that I'd finally groomed myself.

"Much nicer." He reached up to brush something down on my head. "Hairspray would keep it a little tamer-"

"I don't mind a bit of wild.' I retorted, ducking his hand, teasing him a little. "Dreadlocks have always been tempting."

For a few moments he appeared to take me seriously. Then Claude seemed to get what I was doing and relaxed, his face melting into a faint smile, responding with a mild, "If Madam says so."

"Uh huh. That's right."

Claude lifted me into his arms, not battering an eyelash as I went red again, and we started back down the stairs. This was going to be an issue later on.

"Is the wound bad inside?" I asked, suddenly, as we headed for the living room. The storm almost drowned out my words and I thought he hadn't heard- he seemed to not answer for a good few seconds.

"Well..." Claude started, after a moment, pausing in the staircase. There was a kind of tenseness returning to his face at that question. "I hadn't wished to cause worry when nothing could be done."

"Wait, how bad?"

"Nothing a skilled surgeon and the proper exercise cannot restore."

That was optimistic. He started down the stairs again, so graceful, and I stared at him. "So... it's to good."

"I am not qualified to tell. We were able to ensure it would not continue to bleed. You may need corrective surgery." Claude gazed down at me a moment, head tilting, adding, "And you need not worry about the expense. As I chose to leave you, it is naturally my duty to ensure you recover. You need not worry yourself, Miss Sophia, I have no intentions of doing less than hiring the best."

Oh yeah. Somehow I'd forgiven him already about that.

"Don't worry about it."

Claude's only answer was a slight tilt of his head. We were already in the living room by now and I was helped down onto my stomach, pretending I didn't want to pant in sheer pain as the wound killed my entire sense of 'normality', and it was only when I was lying on my side, a pillow propping the leg safely up on top of the other, and a blanket covering everything but below my knees, did I manage to find a way to talk again.

By then Roberto had already tried to talk to me for a good five minutes. At least.

"Give her a rest, Roberto, these wounds hurt." Prince Glenn complained, finally, as Roberto knelt beside my head. Prince Glenn was almost less than a foot away from me now- our heads pointing into the corner so that the injured part of our body was exposed to watchful helpers. It was cosy enough.

Roberto stood and moved over to Prince Joshua and Prince Wilifred, sitting between them, seemingly content to divert his attention to his other friends.

"You doing okay?" I asked as I gazed the small gap towards him. He blinked as if he wasn't expecting any kind of concern from me.

...well, okay. I hadn't really talked to him much. Or been that nice.

"I am doing … fine. But it is ...a little more difficult than I expected." Prince Glenn admitted. We stared at one another for a few long moments.

The reminder that we were relatives drifted across my head. It wasn't something you'd guess by appearance and it clearly didn't change much but …. it was strange none the less. I had relatives that weren't my Father's family. Royal ones.

"So... um." I said, quietly. "Is it true that we're..."

"It seems so. I intend on verifying it when I return." Prince Glenn gazed forward once again.

"You know," I said quickly, suddenly paranoid, as his face seemed to harden somewhat, "It doesn't matter. If it is true. I don't expect anything from you."

"I don't expect anything from you either."

"Good. That's agreed." I tried to smile but... I felt kind of sad by that. I supposed it was because some part of me did want a family still. I snuggled my head into the soft pillow, breathing out, glad that the pain in my leg was now turning into a dull roar. "I never thought these wounds hurt this much."

"Nor did I." Prince Glenn muttered softly. He was still pretty pale faced, maybe a little red in his face, and I was suddenly a little worried that maybe he had an infection of some kind. I reached out to grasp his arm. It was a little warm. He gazed down at my hand.

"Sorry." I muttered and withdrew it. "You feel warm."

"I am able to fight off infections." He muttered. Something like pride flashed across his face at my statement. "There's no need to worry."

I was a little worried though. I was sure that problem was pretty serious. And... what was the word for his face? ...peaky? Maybe. There was movement behind Prince Glenn and I saw Claude there, the ever-spooky 'I know what you're thinking' butler, with his eyes on the back of Prince Glenn's head.

When he met my eyes, he nodded a fraction, holding a finger to his lips, and I could only assume that what he was trying to say was 'We know'.

Course the butlers knew. They knew everything.

Prince Glenn rested his head down on a pillow propped up against the armrest, breathing out, as if just holding his head up was some kind of effort. Immediately Claude was there with a glass of something, juice or something, and a small pill.

"I imagine it's safe to have another painkiller." He offered.

I frowned. Where was mine? Claude didn't seem to miss a beat there- within three steps I got the same offer. Small pill. Sweet juice. I smiled a thanks and accepted both before turning to watch Roberto with his friends.

"It's like watching brothers." I mumbled to myself. He was literally behaving like they were his brothers in some sitcom- endlessly teasing them, openly adoring them, and for all their grumble, Prince Joshua and Prince Wilifred clearly liked Roberto.

"Hm" Prince Glenn opened his eyes. His face softened at that sight and I saw something that was probably closer to the real him at that moment. "It is like having brothers."

"It's nice. I wouldn't have thought of you all as being like this."

He shrugged, winced, and flopped against the pillow once again. "How else does one behave with those they've known all their lives?"

"I guess so." I hadn't thought about it. It must have made sense. They sort of had this bond between them. I yawned, starting to feel comfortable, warm and drowsy, relaxing.

"Do you not have siblings?"

"I have my half brothers. I guess they weren't pleased to find out their inheritance was going to be divided because of me... we're not really close. Not like normal siblings. Mum didn't have any other children than me. Father seemed to only have himself and his children. I suppose... if there are others, I didn't know about them."

"I recall hearing that he was an only child. My interest in him wasn't so great before his betrayal, however." It was a pretty strong word from Prince Glenn. He wasn't happy. "He was a well respected figure that didn't touch on what I had to do."

"Yeah. Sorry. For what he's done. For what it's worth."

"It's a shame you didn't alert authorities before it happened."

He was right. I felt a little more guilty again at that. "Sorry." I ...don't know why I didn't. Fear? Disbelief? Who knew what the reasons had been. What if I had though? Or had I been too afraid to admit up to it? "I'm trying now."

"It may be too late if my brother di-" Prince Glenn went quiet, then, and then started, "You must excuse me. I am tired and speaking thoughts that shouldn't be spoken."

Di...?

It took me a moment to get it. Guilt went up another three levels. He was still thinking about that plane crash. I sighed, a deep sigh from my lungs, and wished I knew what to say. So I said, "Then maybe a nap isn't a bad idea," and wished I had more intelligence to know what to say in difficult situations like this.

"I might indulge. Just this once."

He was asleep pretty quickly, from the sound of his breathing, and I lay there listening to the storm.

I also fell asleep after a while, while watching the storm outside, and I woke to find the cyclone in full swing around us outside. Now the windows were completely covered, bags inside the couch, all doors shut around us, until we were contained in the living room and protected. More or less.

Of course my own sleep didn't last long. Sleeping in this kind of weather was impossible... unless you were Prince Glenn who barely budged... as the wind shrieked, screamed and threw itself as hard as it could against every surface of the building. I swore I saw the awnings outside trying to shake themselves free of the house. My eyes met Roberto's, as he turned back from where he stood against a wall, he looked a little pale himself.

Roberto came to sit with me and, as odd as it may seem later, I wasn't at all embarrassed when he relaxed on the ground next to my head, leaning against the corner of the couch cushions, the candle behind his head sending warm flickering light through his warm hair.

"Hey, Phia. You hungry?"

"Depends."

"Tada!" Roberto held a small bowl up. Strawberries that were only half ripe? "Alberto found some things in the garden earlier."

I heard movement and saw Prince Wilifred was coming across as well. He knelt on the ground beside Roberto, between the coffee table and the couch, and accepted one as Roberto offered it.

"You ever been in a storm like this?" I had to raise my voice to ask and flinched as something smacked hard against the glass windows. Another chair? Or was that a tree? It'd been too fast too tell.

"Nope."

"No." Prince Wilifred's gaze was so calm, his face devoid of any emotion, which was surprisingly comforting given that Roberto looked a little pale himself. "Such a storm would mean we'd evacuate earlier to a safer location."

"Joshy!" Roberto yelled over the storm. "Strawberries!"

Prince Joshua scowled. His eyes landed on the strawberries and he moved across, reluctantly, sitting between the coffee table and Prince Glenn's couch.

It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps the three of them were a bit frightened. They'd wedged themselves low down, the couches and furniture sheltering them, and a strange thought came across me. Mum had done it for me once when I'd been frightened during a thunder storm. And as my eyes went across Prince Joshua, his own meeting me, I had this strange sense of … innocence.

That shouldn't have made any sense. But I thought about it. They must have been sheltered big time from day one if their upbringings were like how Wilifred had described it. And maybe, if Prince Joshua really had been cut off from everything 'normal', even parents, he might have been the most innocent of them all. A grown man with a big inner child who was still waiting for cuddles, bedtime stories, and strawberry milk when there was a scary storm.

The butlers were great. Sure. But they weren't the right kind of 'carers' right now... and if everyone was as scared as I was... I was going to take care of them. Yep. That'd be how I repaid them for what I'd said earlier. I'd become Mamma Sophia for a few hours.

"Okay. I'm taking over this." I decided. "Roberto? You brave enough to carry me around for a few minutes?"

He was up instantly, curious, and we ignored Claude's angry call of 'Put her back down!' as I was lifted carefully up into his arms. It felt crazy- so natural here- and I felt his heart pound against my stomach. Was it faster because of fear? My own was going pretty fast all of a sudden as well … because his face was just inches from mine.

We stared at each other a moment before he smiled, suddenly, and asked, "My Lady, how can I serve you? I'm your butler for this afternoon. Without the lectures or tracking devices. Promise."

We ignored Prince Joshua muttering something about 'demeaning to Princes'. Shesh.

"Trac..." No, that wasn't the point. I relaxed my hands around his neck, fingers brushing against the hair, and tried to concentrate on what my earlier plan had been. I was suddenly so self-concious of the other Princes staring at us like we'd grown two heads. What? What was wrong with this? We were friends. ...and anyway, I promised that I'd stop behaving like this when he went home. "Okay. Um. Can you push the coffee table out of the way? Just against that... careful of the candle!"

Prince Wilifred was quick to blow it out just in time and grab it as it nearly tipped. I was relived to see it wasn't the wax kind.

Roberto shoved it aside with one foot, effortlessly, his arms holding me carefully against him. "Right! Now what?"

"Okay. Now. Kitchen."

I directed him around, kind of amused, collecting long life milk from the pantry and stuffing it in a bag in my lap. I supposed I could have asked him to do it from the couch but I wanted it to be a secret... so this would do. Alberto buzzed around, looking faintly concerned, and seemed relieved when I asked him to carry the bag for u.

"Team Milo and Otis! Al's the turtle." Roberto laughed.

"Would you like me to carry her, Your Highness?"

"Nope! I'm enjoying this." He squeezed my legs and torso. "I feel like a real Prince. What next?"

I couldn't find strawberry … but I did find chocolate milk powder. That'd do. Chips. Cookies. That was odd- I was sure I'd seen more packets. Roberto leaned in, whispering, "I hid a few around the place as well."

Oh. That made sense.

Once that was collected I hung onto the bag and watched as Alberto followed my whispered instructions. Two heavy armchairs were positioned perfectly to form corners, a blanket chest and a small heavy desk formed two 'walls', cushions and blankets arranged inside the square of furniture. And for the icing on the cake... er... blanket fort...

The blankets and sheets were tucked in carefully, as tight as they could possibly get them, and weighed down with heavy objects behind the walls. With a nice Japanese screen holding it up high in the middle, instead of the coffee table, it made for a pretty awesome looking blanket fort.

"What is it?" Roberto seemed in awe as he gazed at it. We flinched again as something slammed against the windows, his arms drawing me hard against him as if that'd help, and he bent down as he carefully carried me back inside.

I had to laugh as we found ourselves face to face with two very confused, very befuddled looking Princes sitting in the middle of some creation that'd been formed around them. They hadn't moved once. Now they sat there, gazing up, and even Prince Glenn seemed to be awake now, his eyes going up.

"I wanted a fort." I explained. I cringed as I was lowered down onto a mattress on the floor. Prince Glenn was helped down as well- there was another soft mattress, and Alberto crawled awkwardly in with several battery powered lanterns that'd been sitting around.

It was amazingly cosy inside, blankets dulling the cold light from the outside storm into something closer to a soft glow, and the gusts of winds pushing through the cracks in the windows or house blowing in every half minute or so. Now with the lanterns it created a warm glow that only added to the sense of 'safety' that these places seemed to always give me. I yanked off a necklace I wore, just a simple quartz point, and dangled it from a blanket tassel for added effect.

"You should join us, Al..." Roberto teased. Poor Alberto looked out of his depth here.

"I believe, Your Highness, Claude and I would be better of use keeping watch for dangers outside and finishing Miss Sophia's request for a meal."

He was gone pretty fast.

I relaxed back as the pain dulled down in my calf, readjusted on a pillow down on the ground, and laid out the last part of my plan.

The picnic.

"Why?" Prince Joshua snapped. He didn't seem to have the same bite to his voice though.

"Why did I want it? Because... this is a commoner's wisdom. When there's a bad storm... my mum would create a safe place." I responded. I waited for him to make fun of that- commoner's wisdom- but he seemed so stunned by the whole thing that he just watched blankly as I arranged a tablecloth on the ground. Mugs were placed down, the chocolate milk power, spoons in one mug, marshmallows, and the long life milk.

"Okay." I said, trying to sound as cheerful as I remembered my mum doing, voice raised up above the horrific shriek of the storm outside. "So. Two spoonfuls of powder, a little bit of milk, mix the milk and powder till it's dissolved, and then add more milk and a marshmallow."

"I know how to make a drink!" Prince Joshua seemed to snap out of it suddenly. "And... You do know that such a ...design... would have no effect on a storm should a window break." Prince Joshua was trying again but his eyes were on Roberto as he followed my instructions with the milk.

"And I'm not a child." Prince Glenn muttered. "If this was for..."

"It was for me." I cut in. I might have felt bad any other time but right now I was pretending they were ALL children. Including me. Sometimes life was easier to face when you pretended you were a five year old facing it. Five year olds tended to see the world in a whole different beautiful way.

"And for me. I like it." Roberto sat nearby, legs crossed, a childish look of concentration on his face as he started to work on his own milk.

"Would you like me to-" We heard Alberto's voice before we saw him, a head popping in, as if he'd gotten some psychic message that Roberto was about to do something silly.

"No! Just a little milk at first?"

"Yeah, and stir it slowly. It makes it dissolve faster."

I saw Prince Joshua was reluctantly trying it as well, his face warming as our eyes met, and he snapped, "I know how to do this!"

"Oh. Of course, your highness." I tried. Okay. I needed a different approach. He looked so embarrassed that it was … kind of funny. "Of course. I was merely concerned that Prince Roberto wouldn't know. He doesn't seem to know some things and it is of great concern to me."

"Hey!" It was easier to tease Roberto. He laughed, nudging me gently, and then once he'd prepared it, I was surprised when he offered me the drink. When I went to grab it he yanked it back. "Not after that! Make your own."

"Fine. No cookies for you." I grabbed the packet of cookies and shoved them behind me. When he made a grab for my arm I added, quickly, "Ow! I'm so wounded!"

"Not on your arm!"

"I might have bruised it!"

"You might have one if I don't get one of those cookies!"

We laughed, kidding around, and I was glad to see that Wilifred was starting to relax and smile as well, his eyes going from myself to Roberto as if he had some secret that he was enjoying keeping to himself. Prince Glenn seemed to avoid the marshmallow- he looked a little embarrassed himself- but while he thought we weren't looking I saw his hand sneak out and grasp a couple.

There was a kind of warmth in there. It was difficult to explain how or why- it was JUST blankets over furniture- but maybe my idea hadn't been a bad one. Even as the storm grew louder, so loud that we could barely hear each other, we seemed more interested in the food inside, dozing or napping, and it was slightly easier to wait.

I couldn't deny that I thought about Jan and Yu though. Why had they gone for a boat in this weather? That was mad. No one should have been outside right now.

Roberto appeared with something after leaving for a little while and offered it to me, sliding close enough so that we could hear one another, asking, "Was this you?"

"Huh? You shouldn't snoop around, you know..." I stared at the box he'd found as I pushed the lid off.

Photos of me and Mum.

There had to be a few hundred of them. I felt my warmth fade as I stared at them, pushing photos aside on the ground in front of me, grief and anger rising. I wasn't sure why I felt angry. Maybe anger was easier to deal with than other things. It was me. "It is..."

"You're cute.."

Normally those word might have had an effect on me. I was too shocked right now to think about that. There was about twenty or so photos in an envelope on the top. They were a mixture of familiar ones from my childhood, all of them in mum or her friends had taken of me at sporting events, at plays, at the beach, at home, right up till I was a teenager. I'd seen them all before at home from Mum's constant need to photograph me... she'd loved it. They seemed to go by years. There was one of me as a newborn, all pinched faced and red, then one when I was about one, two, and so on, the last being the school photo taken when I was sixteen.

The strange thing was that at least a third of the photos looked like the kind of creepy surveillance photos a private investigator would take.

"Look at you." Roberto lifted the one when I was sixteen, gazing at me, grinning. "School girl uniform!"

I snatched at it half heartedly. Only half heartedly. Had my father been spying on us my entire life? There was other things in the box. A DNA test confirming who I was back in the year I was born. So he hadn't believed Mum right away. But a second one, about ten years later, and I couldn't remember that test being done on me. I supposed it wasn't difficult to do... I might have mistaken it for a normal doctor's appointment.

Roberto seemed to give up teasing me as he watched. I somehow didn't mind that he saw this but … I did mind when Prince Joshua tried to peek.

"Secret, Joshy, we'll tell you later." Roberto yanked a pillow over and propped it up between us. Wilifred seemed to get the picture, even if he hadn't heard Roberto over the screeching winds, and he quickly distracted Prince Joshua somehow. "You really didn't know him, did you?"

"Is it the DNA tests or the private instigator photos that tell you that?" I wasn't really asking. The warmth was kind of fading away all of a sudden. He'd collected all of this in a shoebox. Hidden it away in a house he rarely liked to use. Maybe he'd tried to hide my existence for a long time. "I ..."

I got my answer seconds later. There were professional letters, neatly flattened and sorted into A4 folders, and when I went to open them I found copies with 'verified copy' stamps from each investigator that had trailed us.

It looked like they'd investigated into everything. Mum, her way of life, her friends, her secrets, and … from what they were saying, searching for reasons a child court might accept for pushing for sole custody. They said all kinds of nasty stuff about Mum here- accusing her of potentially working as a prostitute, one that highly recommended that Father do another DNA test- that explained the second test- and even, to my horror and embarrassment, completely evaluations of my IQ and potential. And he, or someone, had highlighted each nasty word so that it flashed up into my face over and over. Prostitution. Loose morals. Drug use. Unhealthy lifestyle and diet. Unfit. They were lies. I couldn't... I wouldn't … believe any of it.

The fact that they evaluated me as a child with high potential to be moulded into a heir, to follow in his footsteps, that wasn't what bugged me. What bugged me was that each evaluation kept suggesting that if he didn't separate my mother from me before I was an adult, I would no longer be of a 'moldable age' or of any use to him. Sixteen. Sixteen was the age that they said was the time limit.

Sixteen was when mum had died.

I shuddered, cold now, feeling sick to my stomach. It had to be a coincidence. Right? Still, I felt weird, and a little confused.

Something warm ran across my back, suddenly, and I gazed up to see Roberto's face serious now as he stared down. His hand was stroking my back slowly, no trace of laughter or teasing remaining, completely sharing in my disbelief and anger.

Wow. He was frozen.

"I swear... Mum wasn't..."

Roberto nodded, distracted, frowning down at the work. Did he dislike me now? Did he believe it? "We could find out."

"Huh?"

"I don't think any person who raised you would be like that. So... let's find out who said these lies and make them rewrite the letters with the truth. When I get home I promise I'll have Al find out so much information that we could write a book. Okay?" He smiled at me, gazing down at me, the two of us staring at one another a long moment. "We'll take all of this and I'll make sure you get a revised letter for everyone here."

"Mum..." I tried again, "Mum wasn't perfect but she wasn't..."

Roberto snatched up the files and shoved them back in the box along with most of the photos. He only left the envelope out of the ones Mum must have sent Father. He held up one photo, just one of me and mum together when I was about eleven, plus the one when I'd been sixteen. "Your mum was beautiful. I like this collection the best. Let's just look at them. Look. You're camping, right? I want to try it!"

Somehow he managed to distract me, getting me to tell him the memory behind any photo he lifted up, even if I'd been too young. It took a while to relax. I was so grateful right now for a friend. I'd miss him when ...well, when he had to go home and I had to go back to 'Your Highness' and 'Prince' and all that.

The shrieking and wailing, battering of objects on the building, the smell of water and dirt and whatever else, it continued for hours and hours. Food, napping, reading, talking... well, yelling... and Roberto found a boardgames that we could all play with, and time started to blur away.

It was so dark outside during the day that by the time we realised it was evening, the second the eye of the storm slammed silence into our little blanket fort, it was already late. The silence scared all of us, even Prince Glenn who snapped awake, his face looking openly feverish by now.

"What was that?"

"Eye of the storm." I guessed.

I yelped in pain as Roberto hoisted me up, suddenly excited, nearly knocking over the milk as he charged for one of the doors. He shoved a mattress out of the way and went outside before Alberto could stop him.

"Prince Roberto!"

"Wow."

We gazed up at the stars, rain still falling on our heads, staring at the destruction on the garden and the trees... but mostly at the great circle of clear air above us.

"This is not safe." Alberto grasped Roberto's shoulder, his face tense, not even bothering to hide from me his concern. "The winds when it will start again will be harder..."

"But it's so pretty." Roberto gazed up, grinning at me a moment, and then back up. "I wish I could take a photo of it."

"You have two minutes while I search for some food … before I drag you both inside! Two!" Alberto vanished into the garden, suddenly, a bag in hand, and we were left there, standing on the plant-strewn porch, watching as more and more stars in the night sky were exposed.

When the moon appeared and bathed everything in light it only added to the effect- only now, we could see the entire cyclone eye, rotating and dancing around us. It also exposed Alberto with his little flash light, jumping over things in his suit, trying to find branches or food that hadn't been blown to bits.

It really was beautiful. So beautiful that I decided to forgive Roberto for yanking my leg around like that.

"What do you plan on doing when this is all over?" Roberto's voice was soft, suddenly, his eyes fixed on the sky.

"I … I suppose I looked forward to going home. Back overseas." I'd been yearning for that, yearning for my own country, my own home, my own familiar neighbourhood for years now, and yet as soon as I admitted this out loud... I just felt sad. Lonely. My heart sank and it refused to remember how much I'd wanted it once. Why? What was it that made me want to... stick around?

When Roberto stared at me I felt it increase. He seemed kind of saddened too and muttered, "yeah. Home. You did want to, didn't you? We'll get you there on a private jet as fast as we can."

The sadness kind of hung over us suddenly, the air heavy, and I sighed. I didn't want to be sad. It should have been the moment I was excited about. Returning home! Independence Yay!

"I ..." I said, quietly, the words almost forming themselves, "I suppose I'll have to deal with Father's court case."

He blinked and nodded, something in his face lightening as I continued to speak.

"Plus if they're really going to give it all to me I... I might have to deal with a lawyer in Oriens, won't I? And I... I don't know if I want it, so I'd have to be around a few more weeks to sort it out, who to give it all to. Right?"

"Right! The closer you are to Oriens the better." Roberto agreed. His voice had gotten far more cheerful all of a sudden. "You want to give it away?"

"I wonder if I can? Just give it to an orphanage or something. Disaster relief. Funded by my share of Father's estate."

"You could build heaps of orphanages with that. I could see you doing that."

I kind of liked that idea and I nodded, relaxing, smiling somewhat. "Yeah. I'd like that."

"Well... you'd need to stay close to Oriens in order to sort it all out. They might want you for questioning too. So... you're staying with me."

"I can't do that. You're in … a castle, for crying out loud."

Roberto shook his head. We heard a distant screech from the far side of the eye, as he did, and he gazed at the approaching edge. "No, you should stay close for a few weeks, just in case. Prince Glenn will probably need to stay too. We can all hang out and I'll show you my country. Don't worry. No one will mind. Al!" His voice rang out, and we saw Al's head pop up from behind a fallen coconut tree, his face flustered. "When we get back you're to prepare a room for Phia!"

Alberto bowed his head and vanished again in the garden.

"Let's enjoy the storm, kay?" He squeezed me close suddenly, prodding my shoulder with his forehead, the stupid childish headbutt sending shockwaves through me as Roberto grinned at me. "We'll remember this for the rest of our lives, you know. So enjoy it."

"Fine. I'll stay. Now... s...top distracting me." I shoved his head away and gazed back up. It was suddenly difficult to focus on the sky or the mesmerising effect of the cyclone eye's swirling. I was too aware of everything closer by.

"Woah." Roberto turned, suddenly, and stared at the ocean. When I followed his gaze I froze.

The waves were huge, white capped, and the tide so high that it was almost halfway up the building. I was suddenly glad that the living room was on the garden side of the building... but it showed how dangerous it was, given that the ocean was usually about ten metres lower down.

"That's really scary." I said, quietly, and felt a squeeze of arms around me.

"I know."

Roberto shuddered as a wave crashed against the building. That kind of explained the earlier shaking and quakes. "I wish I hadn't seen that."

"It's got to be as high as it can get. I heard … high tides... are higher when the moon is full."

Both our eyes went up to the cyclone eye and to the full moon. It didn't seem as magical now. And the other side was closer than I'd have liked to see.

Just I thought this Alberto returned, bag with various bits of things he'd found, pushing us. He didn't meet much resistance.

As painful as it was to be helped back down again... I was very relieved all of a sudden to be in the blanket fort right now. I noticed that the box was shoved under a pillow as Roberto sat down beside me.

"What did you see?" Prince Glenn asked, quiet.

We exchanged a look. I had to assume it was 'don't mention the ocean'. Roberto said, shrugging, "Lots of garden blown everywhere... and an eye."

"I'd look at it if I could." Prince Glenn muttered and shut his eyes. "I hope the damage isn't too extensive- it's always my people who struggle the hardest to rebuild."

"It looks like it just knocked around a lot of garden." I muttered. "Trees can be replanted."

"Or fall on homes." Prince Glenn tried to sit up, slowly, his breath hissing lowly as the motion clearly pained him deeply. "I should be in charge of recovery. Your Father would have no experience in adjusting budget and disaster recovery funds."

"You do that?"

He flushed somewhat. "I assist the Ministers and we give what we can to increase the funding. It's what we can do for our people."

His concern was actually a little touching. He didn't even want to see it for the fascination of the storm... but because he was worried for his people? "I guess. But... we can't help it right now." I felt bad again. Was it his job? That was kind of surprising. Once again I was getting an insight into their duties... and it didn't sound as easy as I'd thought it'd be.

"We are helping it." Wilifred cut in, softly, his voice easily heard now that the winds had softened. "Each of us will ensure you return to your place, Glenn, and until then your people will be fine. The storm could be far worse, I believe."

"Three categories worse." Claude's voice chimed in from outside. Creepy butler. I was starting to warm to them though. "This is simply a category two storm."

You wouldn't have thought it when the other side of the eye slammed against the building suddenly, causing the whole building to shake, and we were suddenly caught in the violent shrieking winds once again. I lay there on my stomach as Claude inspected my wound and redressed it- it'd bled through the bandage by now- listening nervously to the storm and feeling my anxiety rise about that stupid high tide.

I wasn't even sure if it was the high tide. I hoped that it was.

A hand grasped mine, Roberto gazing upwards, and when our eyes met, he smiled suddenly and let go of my hand.

This time the butlers joined us in the blanket fort, bringing with them bottles of beer- only two per person- and food, and soda for Prince Glenn. They were probably trying to cheer us up. Alberto had found various pieces of bruised and battered fruit but had turned it into a fancy looking fruit salad. Claude poured us each a drink, drugged me up a little again, and they remained at the entrance to the blanket fort like a couple of guards.

It gave me time to think though, to think over my reluctance to leave, wondering if it really was related at all to the legal battle or whatever else. Seriously. Was it because I had a friend now? I glanced at Roberto, feeling warmth spread in my chest as I caught sight of him half asleep on a pillow chewing on a marshmallow, his eyes meeting mine and a grin answering my stare, wondering. I supposed I had been surrounded by people who had seen Father's long lost daughter... and had been nice to me because of it. Fake people.

That had been what had bothered me so much about Claude's reasons for taking care of me. I saw the logic in it, sure, but …

When I'd told Roberto I wanted to give it all away I hadn't been kidding. The idea of creating charities or funding them with it seemed to make much more sense than continuing to live that lifestyle. I could still have a small amount- IF Claude had been right- that would ensure I could rent a good little house or something... maybe an equal amount of inheritance to the amount mum had left me. Pay for University. Get a horse. Maybe even buy a house and a new car. Get a new haircut and some new clothes. I wasn't trying to be a saint- I just felt deep inside that I no longer wanted whatever Father was trying to offer me.

I'd have loved to buy a cinema. That would have been so cool. Running a cinema. Private screenings for friends, real genuine friends, maybe events targeting kids, and if I was helping out an orphanage, they could see a movie a few times a year for free. Or more. Have free candy, popcorn, all of it. Maybe I'd even hire them limos. Fund camps for them every summer. Scholarships for them into Universities and stuff...

Yeah. That'd be much more fun than drinking myself silly at elite parties.

I smiled, shutting my eyes, and pictured that until I was asleep.