"I did leave a note. I just couldn't be like the two of you; I couldn't go through with getting married. Especially not to one that beats me." Maura said.

"So, he slapped you around a little to keep you in line. It's no more than I've done in the past. Now, who are these people? What kind of trouble did you cause?" Hera asked.

Yami stepped forward. "I assure you madam she's caused no trouble, at all."

"And you are?"

"I am Master Yami Atemu, I am top royal advisor to King Seto Kaiba of Draglor." Yami said motioning to Seto.

"Ah, yes. I have heard of you, King Kaiba. Thank you both for bringing our little troublemaker back to us. I hope she didn't cause you any trouble."

"She was no trouble." Seto said.

"Actually, in truth we have come here to respectfully request that you allow us custody of young Maura." Yami said.

Hera stood up and glared at them. Mokuba tightened his grip on Seto's hand moving behind him some. This woman reminded him a lot of his stepmother.

Seto squeezed the boy's hand to reassure him. Then he bent down and whispered in his ear, "Go, and hold on to Ryo. I have business, I need to take care of here."

Mokuba nodded, walked over and grabbed Ryo's hand. Ryo squeezed his hand tightly. Being that he was still Mokuba's official royal guard, he had come with them along with Varon and Alister.

"I suppose that brat belongs to you." Hera asked.

Seto glared at her. "As a matter of fact he does. Have you got a problem with that?"

"He looks as if he's past the age of marriage. I shall assume that he's not married. Is there a reason for that?"

"First he's too young to be married; second, we're not married and I don't believe that anyone should be forced to be married."

"Well I shall tell you now that there are only two ways that that little brat is leaving this castle." Hera said.

"What are those ways?" Yami asked.

"Marriage or a pine box."

Everyone was shocked. Mokuba moved even closer to Ryo. Ryo moved his hand to the boy's shoulder and Mokuba instantly clung to Ryo's side, scared.

"You can't be serious!" Yami said.

"As a matter of fact I am. You want that brat then either the king marries her or you marry her to that kid."

"I am not going to marry her nor will I allow Mokuba to be married." Seto said.

"All we want is custody. It would get the girl out of your hair and it would give our little brother a friend." Yami said our without thinking.

"Our?" Hera questioned.

Yami was at a slight loss for words. He was going to say Seto's, or the kings he was trying to think of the correct wording but it came out our.

"Master Atemu is my brother." Seto said intentionally leaving out the fact that Yami is the oldest to keep from having to explain why he being the oldest isn't the king.

"I see. Well as I stated that brat will be dead before I allow her to leave this castle!"

"But why, stepmother?" Diana asked.

"Yes, I'm with Diana. Papa would want Maura to be happy. If going to live with these people will make her happy I say let her go." Jasmine said.

"It will be sad to lose our little sister, but…." Diana started.

"You wont lose her." Yami said.

"What do you mean?" Jasmine asked.

"Ryo, could you and Mokuba come here?" Yami asked.

Ryo wasn't sure why but did as he was told.

"You said you wished to adopt our little sister. How could we not lose her?" Jasmine asked.

"Mokuba, tell these nice ladies who Ryo is."

Mokuba smiled and squeezed Ryo tight as he said, "H-He's my big brother."

"You see the king and I are his real brothers. Ryo here is his adopted brother. We didn't like it at first, but now we accept that he's as much the boy's brother as he is ours. So, you see we would only be her adopted family. You would always be her real family."

Maura smiled and hugged her sisters. "See, I'll write to you and even come see you sometime. I wouldn't want to lose my big sisters for anything. Maybe you could even come visit me sometimes."

"I don't know if we could do that." Diana said.

"You would be more than welcome." Yami said.

"You can all forget it, I told you that brat will not be going anywhere unless she is married or dead!"

"Very well, perhaps when the circuit court judge passes through here we can have him decide." Yami said.

"Considering you have no real legal leg to stand on being that both her biological parents are dead and I'm certain you never formally adopted her. I'm sure the judge will not let you just marry her off to some creep."

"That reminds me, stepmother, you said that they could marry, Maura. But didn't she have a fiancé?" Jasmine asked.

"Yes, she did. If she hadn't run away, she would have married him! But no she ran off and now I have to find someone else because he was insulted by her attitude towards him and then to top it off runs away the day before the wedding!"

"Did it ever occur to you that not everyone wants to jump into marriage? My father tried for years to marry me off. But in the end I remained single and I plan to keep it that way till I find the one I believe I am meant to be with for the rest of my life." Seto said.

"That could take an eternity to find!" Hera said.

"So, it'll take an eternity. What do I care? I have my family and my brother feels strongly that this girl should be a part of that family. Who am I to say he's wrong? This girl could be the thing that brings our family even closer together."

"Or she could be the very thing that tears you apart! Don't let her little miss innocent act fool you! I assure you she is a lot more cunning and manipulative than she lets on to be!" Hera said.

"Stepmother, if you do not allow Maura to leave willingly with these people, then we shall have no choice but to convince our husbands to withdraw any and all support from this kingdom." Diana said.

"Also, when the time comes you will never see the grandchildren of this kingdom, not that I'm sure you really care but they will sadly never see this kingdom. So that when you die, this kingdom will die with you. You did everything in your power to get me and Diana married off and tried with Maura. You even wanted father to give you a child of your own so that they would inherit this kingdom." Jasmine said.

"But now that right belongs to Maura. Although by rights it should have been me. But you made sure that didn't come to pass by marrying me off to a king." Diana said.

"All because you couldn't get father to get you pregnant!" Jasmine said. The girls didn't normally have the courage to stand up to their stepmother. But they loved their little sister and wanted her to be happy. Their stepmother made sure that few things ever made them happy. They wanted to do this for Maura.