Sarah enters her parents' main room and drops into a shallow curtsy. "Good morning mother. Father. You requested to see us?" Sarah asks politely.

"Not us, Sarah, you," Seth murmurs quietly to her as he straightens from his bow.

"Oh," is all she says to him.

"Yes we did Sarah. Come forward and meet our guests. They are representatives for the Ancients," Mrs. Bruno says.

"How do you do good sirs?" Sarah drops into a curtsy for them as well.

"We have been summoned by the Ancients to discuss certain... Misunderstandings. You have been specificlly asked to come as well." Sarah straightens up immediately, her eyebrows risen up in question, and Seth's mouth drops open next to her.

"What about me mother? Am I to come too?" Seth asks, jealousy tinging his voice.

"No," Mr. Bruno answers immediately. "Only Sarah and one servant of her choosing. You have not been... Invited to come Seth. Sarah si the one the Ancients requested we bring with us. I am sorry. Now please leave while we talk to your sister about the upcoming days ahead." Seth shoots Sarah a mild glare that's more jealous than angry then bows in respect before leaving the room. Sarah watches him leave then turns pack to face her parents and their guests.

"Why have I been requested to attend this er... Meeting?" Sarah asks.

"I do not know Sarah, perhaps your escapades out of the palace in the middle of the night seem quite suspicious to them," Mrs. Bruno says exasperatedly. Sarah's cheeks turn a light pink.

"But mother I do not want to go! I'll have nothing to do! I'll be stuck in the palace all day everyday we're there!" Sarah half whines, half pleads.

"Good! Maybe then you'll learn some discipline while we're gone! Now go pack your stuff, we're leaving this evening! We will discuss the rest of this later!" Mr. Bruno booms, standing. Sarah glares at him and turns on her heel. She storms out of the room. "What are we going to do with that girl?" she hears her father ask wearily as she closes the door. Her defiant facade crumples when she hears that and she runs back to her room, just pushing past her brother as he tries to stop her. She slams the door closed behind her and drops onto her loveseat, unable to keep the tears of anger and frustration back any longer. She drops her head into her hands and cries into them, not hearing the door to her room open quietly and the footsteps make their way over to her.

Sarah wipes her hands across her eyes, trying to dry the tears, a blush spreading across her cheeks, embarrassed that anyone, especially Levi, the boy she loved so much, found her crying. She tries to meet his gaze but can't, instead turning her face partially away as the tears lessen but continue down her face.

"I've been summoned by the Ancients along with my parents to Netherfield. We're leaving tonight," she says, slipping her hands into his. She tries again to meet his gaze, but instead lets her eyes rest on his lips, a faint thought of how he's teaching her to read lips like he can flitting through her mind.

"I'm scared Levi. And this time, I won't have my brother to lean on. I've been instructed to pack and I can only bring one servant with me..." She trails off, her gaze wandering to the side again as she thinks. A small smile appears on her lips as she looks back at Levi, this time meeting his gaze, the tears ending.

"What if you came with me? They didn't specify who to bring with me... Will you Levi? Please?" She looks at him pleadingly, lacing her fingers through his, not bothering to wipe away the few stray tears left on her cheeks.

Levi listened to Sarah, patiently watching her lips. He couldn't hear nearly at all, but he could read lips fairly well. His natural habit was to just watch her lips, or anyone's lips, in order to gather what they were saying. As far as he could tell, Sarah was upset because she, along with her parents, had been summoned to the Ancients in Netherfield.

Levi's back became a little straighter as he waited for more, trying to concentrate on her, not on his thoughts in case she spoke. He didn't want to miss anything she said to him at this moment.

"I'm scared, Levi," he read, slightly hearing her tone of voice. His gaze softened and he offered a small grin to comfort her. ". . . only bring one servant with me. . . " He'd barely caught her sentence, but he'd gotten the main point. He sighed and nodded, his eyes meeting hers when she looked back at him smiling. His eyes narrowed and curiosity overcame him. Something had clicked for her; he was a little wary about what it was. "What if you came with me? Will you, Levi? Please. . ."

Levi sighed and smiled, wiping the tears from her face. She'd stopped crying, her fingers intertwined with his, and she was smiling still. She wanted him to come with her. Levi knew the dangers of slipping up and showing her affection, or vise versa. He wanted to go with all his heart, but he wanted to make sure she would accept the risk factor.

He noticed she was watching his lips, and he grinned a little. He'd been teaching her to read lips like he could, mainly because she found interesting. Plus, it gave them a commonality and something fun to do. "Sarah," he said slowly, making sure she would catch the movement. "You understand," he began, pausing and looking away. "You understand, the risk in my going with you?"

"Sarah," Levi says slowly. She watches his lips form her name and smiles, reveling in the pleasure such a simple action gives her. "You understand," he began before pausing and looking away. "You understand, the risk in my going with you?"

Sarah takes her left hand back and turns his face back towards her then places her index finger on his lips tracing their shape gently. She smiles lovingly and looks up from his lips to his eyes.

"I know," she says. "And I don't care. My parents will be too busy to notice. Besides we'll probably be put in rooms on the complete opposite side of the palace as them. Who'd find out about us? The servants there? What are they going to do? Whisper about us? I don't care. I want you- no, I need you to come with me. I'm going to need the strength and support you give me. As well as your love." She moves her finger to trace Levi's jaw and leans forward. Sarah places her lips against his and whispers, "I love you Levi," bringing her arms around his neck and kissing him tenderly, her eyes closing as she slips into a private world consisting of just the two of them.

Sarah looks up from her reflection in the gilded mirror before her to the door when Levi walks in to her room, partially closing it behind him. She gives him a smile then continues to brush her hair as Levi looks from the completely made bed down to her sitting at the vanity. She's now dressed in a crimson riding habit of soft velvet with long, plain sleeves down to her wrists, golden buttons down the front, and straight cut, yet still quite flattering, matching pants reaching to the floor. There is simple golden embroidery along the cuffs of the pants and shirt, as well as the waist of her pants and hem of the shirt. The crimson coloring of the riding habit bring out the natural strawberry blonde streaks in Sarah's hair and gives her skin a healthy, tanned glow - even more so than usual. It is obvious that the cloak placed in her bag earlier matches the riding habit by the simple cut of the shallow neckline. She is wearing inconspicuous black riding boots and has a sling bag at her feet with her silver dress and flats from before and two of her favorite books in it.

Levi walks over to Sarah and runs the cloth in his hand over the gilded frame of the mirror and the top of the vanity itself, making sure to keep himself out of Sarah's way as she brushes her hair. She just watches him as he works quietly, smiling gently as she clips her hair up once more, this time with no tendrils of hair hanging around her face. She turns in her seat towards Levi and tilts her face up to see his. She lays one hand on his arm, making him pause and look down at her. She snakes her hand up his arm, standing up as she does, causing Levi to step back a little to give her adequate room to stand without partially sitting on her vanity.

Without saying a word, Sarah stretches up on her toes and kisses him lovingly, a smile still on her lips as she kisses him. Levi's arms hesitantly come around her back as Sarah brings her other hand to rest on his chest, the other moving to encircle his neck lightly. His hands rest gently on the small of Sarah's back, slowly pulling her closer to him as their sweet kiss becomes more passionate.

"Sarah!" comes a quite shocked voice from the door to the room.

"Seth!" Sarah gasps, her head whipping towards him, quite startled.

"It's time for you to go. Everyone's waiting. I was a good thing I was sent and not one of the other servants." Seth says, his face and tone somewhat blank as he tries to comprehend what it is exactly he's just seen. A bright red blush spreads across Sarah's cheeks as she quickly steps out of Levi's arms.

"I'll see you downstairs," Sarah says as she picks up her travel bag then walks towards Seth. She looks up at him pleading, pausing in the doorway next to him. "Please don't tell anyone Seth. He's the one thing here besides you that makes me happy. If you tell mother of father they'll have him taken away. Please don't tell anyone Seth. Please. I need him. I love him. And he loves me." She looks over at Levi who's also sporting a blush, but one that's much more subtle than her own. She gives him a small smile then looks back at Seth. "Please don't tell Seth. I'm begging you." She puts her hands on his arm, showing how sincere she's being. "Please," she says before turning and leaving the room. Seth crosses his arms in front of his chest and looks Levi up and down, studying him intensely for a minute or so. He then leans against the door frame and his expression softens immensely.

"So you and my sister huh?" he asks Levi with a grin and mostly good-natured snicker.

OOC: MistressDarkstar gave me permission to god-mod Levi in this post.

((Yay! So glad I did well. :D))



"Well that's Sarah for you. And of course y'all have my blessing. Not that it's really mine you need. But don't worry Levi, I won't throttle you. That's a promise I can keep," Seth comes over to Levi and claps a hand on his shoulder. "Just don't let our parents find out okay? They will do a lot more than throttle you. I'm sure of that. Now come on. Everyone's waiting downstairs." He turns and leaves Sarah's room, his hands shoved into his pockets, a grin on his face.


Sarah walks quickly down the hall, her blush slowly diffusing. She pauses at the the top of the stairs to glance outside. She sees her parents get into the awaiting carriage and sighs lightly, putting the bag on over her shoulder, letting it rest against her hip. She continues on down the stairs then out to the waiting group. The carriage door is still open and a servant is standing next to it, ready to help Sarah in and close the door behind her. She just walks past him, giving him a small smile of thanks anyway as she passes him.

"Sarah?" comes Mrs. Bruno's high pitched voice from inside the carriage. Sarah sighs and stops and turns towards the carriage.

"Yes mother?"

"Is something the matter? Why aren't you getting in the carriage?"

"Because mother, I'd rather ride on Lillias."

"Lillias?"

"My horse..."

"Rid your voice of that tone this instant yound lady and get into the carriage. We are ready to leave," comes Mr. Bruno's harsh, deep voice. Sarah rolls her eyes.

"Yessir but I'd rather not. I'd prefer to ride on Lillias," Sarah says tonelessly.

"You will ride in the carriage Sarah! It is not a Duchess's place to ride a horse while traveling!" Sarah just rolls her eyes again and turns to walk away.

"When have I ever acted like a Duchess dad?" Sarah asks over her shoulder. She walks to the other side of the carriage to a chestnut colored mare with an intricately carved mahogany and soft, chocolate colored leather saddle on its back. The horse instinctively takes a step towards its rider and nuzzles her outstretched hand, whinnying happily.

"Hiya Lillias," Sarah murmurs and kisses the mare's nose. She runs her hand along the mare's side and grabs the horn of the saddle. She places one foot into the stirrup and lifts herself up into the saddle, slinging her other leg around and onto the opposite side of the saddle. She shifts in the saddle some and glances up, looking towards the windows above her, waiting for Levi to join them and Seth to say goodbye.