Sasha belongs to moi. Yup. Nothing else. Aw.

About half an hour after Irene had told us the good news, we left for the Mistari.

The Mistari always sort of frightened the serpiente and avians for some odd reason, and yet they continued to use them for peace talks.

I guess they frightened people into peace.

It was all a puzzle to me; I saw nothing wrong or scary about them.

But then again, I was leopard and they were tigers.

Big cats.

Sort of intimidating.

I wonder why I didn't scare anyone around here then…

We rode on horseback to the desert-ish lands of the curiously peaceful Mistari.

Zane, Irene, Charis, I, and a few guards which included my sister's husband Galen and my brother's 'girlfriend' Adelina and her brother Ailbhe.

I never liked her.

Adelina.

So stuck up like she was and all.

I'd commented to Zane about her before, but he just looked at me with raised eyebrows that practically said, "What are you doing questioning my love life??"

So I had long since stopped talking about her to him.

But that didn't stop the frosty glares I gave her every so often.

Ailbhe was a different story.

He was the exact opposite of his sister.

Not letting his emotions rule him like his sister, and, on the plus side, he was nice.

And a little cute, I have to admit.

So, as I was saying before, it was a long ride.

Except I didn't ride.

The moment we left, I shifted into my leopard form and had been running even with the horses since.

I'm always surprised at how calm the horses will just accept a big cat running next to them.

You'd think they bolt or something.

But no, they just glance at me condescendingly (like they're better than me or something) and snort in my face.

Literally, in my face.

So I usually snarl.

A bit.

That usually makes them back up, and my family laugh.

So this journey lasted about five days, since it's a long ways away from home.

I'd never been this far away from the palace before.

Neither has Zane.

Lucky us.

We were antsy.

That's all I can say.

Fidgeting, squirming, jerking, and…yeah, you get the point.

The point is that we were anxious for this to happen.

For this to hopefully work.

Hopefully.

Hopefully, the avians would show up.

Hopefully, we'd actually sit down together.

Hopefully, we'd have no fights.

Hopefully, we'd reach an agreement.

Hopefully, this agreement would result in peace and no more fighting.

Hopefully, both of our people would carry it out.

Hopefully, there'd be no rebellions or revolts.

And, hopefully, we wouldn't get killed in the process.

So you see, we were riding a lot on the hopes for this peace talk. And yet…we could only hope for the best.

Sorry this chapter was so short!!! And it was so late. *sheepish grin* Finals were calling; I couldn't ignore them. But, I'm back up writing, so…get ready? Yeah, get ready.