Allaysa tried not to smile as their kiss broke apart, instead she kept a flirtatious smirk dancing across her lips. She knew her cheeks were probably red, and her lips were on fire. Then she got self conscious. What if I suck at kissing? Oh no. Allaysa shook herself out of the rut she had put herself in for the moment.

"Guess it's official now," he murmured, running a hand through his hair. "And I don't know a thing about you yet." What did he mean he didn't know a thing about her? The night before she practically spilled her life story to him, but maybe that wasn't what he meant exactly.

Allaysa fixed her dress that had made its way slightly up her leg during the kiss before saying anything. "Well, what do you want to know?" She cocked her head to one side, letting her dark straight hair come untucked from behind her ear. She took another moment to rearrange herself like Aloysius had done, noticing the moment was over, and the feelings had all but vanished from the air, except her lips were still yearning for something more.

Vale chuckled quietly. "I can only fear for your life, my dear," he murmured, reaching out and patting the back of her hand. "Although she is rather well. The Shaman boy...." his eyes darkened slightly, his lip twitching at the corner. "She's fine," he finally said, playing with the upholstery. He ran his fingers down the armrest, before looking back over at Arcadia.

He decided it needed somewhat more explaining.

"My sister is a rather...unique case," he murmured. "But for her, she's fine."



It was as if the memory was burned into his mind. There was no way he was going to forget that kiss. All those cliches about fireworks and knowing that this was just the right match? Well....only the fireworks happened.

Aloysius still had his doubts, but this was an arranged marriage. He didn't have the option of opting out.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

Aloysius pondered the thought, before firing off some questions. "What's your favorite color? When's your birthday? Favorite food? Favorite memory?"

Arcadia nodded, sighing softly. "I don't suppose there's any way to avoid meeting her." She muttered, crossing her legs. Though that didn't sound like a bad idea, Cadie knew she'd have to face his sister eventually, and she knew it wouldn't be pretty in the least. She wasn't nervous, or scared of the sister, she just wanted to avoid what would be coming. Arcadia never got into fights unless it was with her brother, since she never really got angry. It would take a lot to break her down. Her mind wandered to her brother, and she was wondering how he was doing with his bride to be. She glanced down at Chev, then turned her gaze back to Vale.

Allaysa pondered the questions for a moment while she tiwlred a lock of her hair between her fingers gracefully. "Well my favorite food is definatly chocolate, any kind, dark, milk, white. I don't eat much, but I can never pass up chocolate." She grabbed her water bottle and took a sip letting the cool water rush down her throat. "My favorite color would have to be blue, the darker shades, like the ones in your eyes." A smile played across her still burning lips, it was true, her favorite color was blue and especially the ones in his eyes, they were so deep and held so much mystery.

"Favorite memory? Well when I was five I taught myself how to morph shadows into peoples fears. It was the only time my parents went out of their way to congratulate me, they patted my back and told me they were proud, but I could do better, but it doesn't matter because it was one of the only times they acknowledged my existence, hence my fondness of the memory." Allaysa paused for a moment and laughed quietly to herself. Vale had always been the favorite child, and Allaysa knew that she could never be, she was adopted out of pity, and nothing else. "My birthday is actually tomorrow. Ill be turning forty six, I'm getting old." Allaysa laughed again, knowing she was still the youngest.

Allaysa definatly didn't want anything for her birthday, she never recived anything before, not getting something this year would not be any different. "What about you? Birthday, color, memory, food, and what's your biggest aspiration?"

Gwen finally shut the water off and stepped out of the shower. She grabbed one of the white, soft towels and dried herself. She pulled a gray tank top over her head and pulled jean shorts over her legs. She looked in the mirror at her still dripping wet hair and lifted both hands to her head. She concentrated and within a few seconds, her hair was fully dry and in front of her floated an orb of water. She moved the water over the sink and let it go down the drain. With a happy sigh, she opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom into the noticeably cooler room. She looked over at Aslan, who seemed to have found his way onto the bed. She walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, immediately seeing Axel leaning on the counter. A smile found it's way onto her face and she walked over to the table and sat down, pulling her plate towards her. Slowly, she spread the butter on her toast and took a bite of it. She sighed, not remembering the last time she had a simple breakfast like this. "Thank you." She said, looking over at Axel.

"No problem." Axel replied with a shrug. He strolled over to the table and pulled out the other chair, taking a seat. He leaned back against it and folded his arms across his chest, his gaze making it's way over to Gwen. He studied her for a moment, his damp black hair falling over his forehead in a slight mess. He leaned forward a little and rested his elbows on the table, thinking for a moment. He knew nothing about the woman sitting across from him, and yet she was to be married to him soon.

Gwen looked up to find Axel's gaze fixed on her. A blush threatened to creep onto her face but she took a deep breath and forced it away. "What?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked back down to her food, taking a bite of her toast. She felt something brush against her leg and leaned back, smiling down at Aslan as he take his usual place by her feet. Shaking her head, she looked back to her food and continued to eat, finishing quickly. She stood up and took her plate to the sink, cleaning it quickly and turning around to lean on the counter. She grabbed a dish-towel off the counter and dried her hands.

"Nope," Vale murmured, reaching out and patting Chev as well. "Although I'll be there to make sure she doesn't eat you alive." His tone was joking, but his eyes were serious.

Allaysa...well, there was no predicting what his sister would do to her. She had been furious last night when she learned that the two of them had gasp kissed, of all things. As if she'd never caught him kissing anyone else before. He could name quite a few times. There was the one time with a maid....Yeah. That was a bad choice. But Vale got over it. The maid ran away, presumably because Allaysa had done something, but Vale had never believed that.

He lifted his eyebrows, meeting her gaze again.

"Maybe you should go visit your brother," he suggested. "After all, I met with my sister...."



"What about you? Birthday, color, memory, food, and what's your biggest aspiration?"

Aloysius pondered the question, before rattling off answers. "August 14th, blue, black and silver, not necessarily in that order or together, favorite memory is of the time I charmed my sister's shoe laces together and she couldn't figure out how to untie them. In close second is the time I exchanged all the sugar the wedding cake of my second cousin once removed for salt. I didn't eat any of the cake, but it was rather amusing when he ate them." He paused for breath, before continuing.

"Favorite food? Hard to say. I like practically everything. Except for bitter things. Can't stand them. Can't stand spinach stems either. The leaves, I can eat. The stems?" he shuddered to accentuate his point.

"Biggest aspiration...well, hard to say. For now, maybe one day to learn the ancient language. So many spells are written in that language. I mean, imagine everything I could do if I could learn every single spell ever written down? I'd be unstoppable!" his eyes sparkled with excitement, getting very into his words.

"And now it's my turn again. If you were about to be dropped on an island, and the only things in the plane that you could take with you was a paper crane, a piano, a hat or a banana, which one would you choose? Oh, and after you answer that, tell me, if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?"

Allaysa soaked in all the information, glad he ignored that tomorrow was her birthday; she forced herself to remember he didn't like bitter things or the stems of spinach, and his favorite colors were very similar to hers. She smiled as his excitement rose when he talked about the ancient language, his eyes bursting with wonder, he seemed so... vulnerable.

"And now it's my turn again. If you were about to be dropped on an island, and the only things in the plane that you could take with you was a paper crane, a piano, a hat or a banana, which one would you choose? Oh, and after you answer that, tell me, if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?"

She thought for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of each item, "Defiantly the piano, I could make a fishing pole, shelter, and a ton of other things with it, plus I like the way piano music sounds." Allaysa smiled momentarily, thinking over the riddle she had never heard before, "Peter Piper didn't pick any pecks of pickled peppers because pickled peppers aren't pickled when they are picked." She looked at him uncertainly and ran her answer through her mind again, and realized it made perfect sense, "my turn."

Again she took a moment to think, making sure she asked only the correct questions, "If the entire world was listening, what would you say?" She brushed imaginary lint of her bare shoulder then turned back, "and, what are you afraid to lose?" Allaysa's questions were deep, but she was curious, there was always time for the flirtatious questions, but now she wanted to delve into the real Aloysius, not the guarded one. She leaned back, resting against the wall, her shoulder blades ached from being pushed last night and she ended up putting a spell over her skin to make the blue bruises vanish, but the aching did not subside, and she prayed silently that Aloysius did not see her pained expression.

"Nope," Vale murmured, reaching out and patting Chev as well. "Although I'll be there to make sure she doesn't eat you alive." His tone was joking, but his eyes were serious.

Cadie shrugged a small shoulder, but stayed silent at this. She decided not to mention that although his sister could be dangerous, she was in fact a vampire, and very, very capable of taking care of herself. Not that it would ever happen, but if it did come down to a physical fight between Allaysa and herself, she wouldn't be helpless in the least. But, Cadie never resorted to physical violence, and found that speaking was quite enough. On top of that, she rarely got angry enough to engage in a verbal or physical argument.

"Maybe you should go visit your brother," he suggested. "After all, I met with my sister...."

"Axel and I have already arranged to meet today." She replied, glancing back at Vale. Before they even entered the Rysdan palace, Cadie and Axel planned to meet the second day at around midnight. When they got to the palace, they decided it would be in the general area around the dining room. They would never have a problem finding each other, since they could always sense one another. They both knew they could take care of themselves, and had decided that meeting on the first night wasn't as necessary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Axel averted his gaze and shrugged as she got up. "I'm supposed to be married to you soon, and yet I don't know anything about you." He said, deciding he might as well say it. He turned his gaze back to her, considering all the things he already knew. She liked spaghetti, eggs and toast, and Aslan was attached to her. She had nightmares as well, she loved to sing, she could play the piano. She was beautiful, polite, and always smile around Aslan. She also got flustered seeing men in towels. He smirked slightly at that last thought. He pushed himself out of the chair at the table and walked over to the fridge, pulling out a bottled water. He popped the cap and took a sip, his gaze travelling over to the window for a moment before turning back to Gwen. "So, what's your favorite color?" He asked with a charming grin.

"If the entire world was listening, what would you say?" She brushed imaginary lint of her bare shoulder then turned back, "and, what are you afraid to lose?"

Aloysius frowned. If the entire world was listening....? Oh, the things that sprang to his tongue first, fighting to get out before he managed to throw the urge away. Things like... Listen up world! Prepare to meet your maker! or the ever classic, Luke....I am your father....

But no. He couldn't say that. Technically, he was baring his soul to this woman. After all, she was to be married to him and he to her. He took a deep breath, before answering. "If the entire world was listening...." Aloysius let a small, sly smirk slip onto his face. "Why, I would declare my ever lasting love for you, my dear." He waved his hand dismissively, as though it was the obvious answer. "And after that, I would tell the world that they really need to get over themselves."

Once answering that, he focused on the second question. This took almost no thought whatsoever.

"I am afraid of losing my memory." His voice softened, hands clenching into fists as he turned around and folded onto the sofa. He nodded towards the other side, beckoning Allaysa to join him. "I'm afraid that one day, I'll try a spell that doesn't work and everything I know, everybody I've met, all the secrets and the juicy tidbits I've learned will vanish."

He took a deep breath. "My turn again." It was time for the deep questions, Aloysius realized. It was time to dig straight into her heart, figure out what made her tick, what kept her running. "What makes life worth living?" he asked. "What helps keep you going, pushing you through even the toughest of days? And along that subject, have you ever been betrayed by someone you held dear? If so...who and why?"

Suddenly, Aloysius sneezed. "Aw shit," he muttered, rubbing his nose. "Someone's got to be talking about me."



Vale nodded slowly. "I suppose I'll have to stay here then," he murmured. Maybe meet again with Allaysa. I'm sure she has something to tell me now that she's spent an entire night with the Shaman boy.... He sighed softly, running a hand through his hair. "Maybe we should go for a walk? I feel the need to stretch and there's still much of the outside that we have yet to experience."

He was kind of feeling the need to go back to the pool. After all, swimming would be nice. He could feel the heat radiating from outside, from the sunlight streaming through the wide windows, sliding through the slits in the thick curtains he knew were in the bedroom.

His stomach rumbled lightly, before he chuckled, almost in embarrassment. He headed into the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of the coffee, now lukewarm instead of scalding hot.

Allaysa watched him smirk, "Why, I would declare my ever lasting love for you, my dear." He waved his hand dismissively, as though it was the obvious answer. "And after that, I would tell the world that they really need to get over themselves." She gave him a soft careless smile and joined him on the couch, sitting a good distance from him, not to disturb his personal space, but closer than a stranger would sit.

"My turn again." It was time for the deep questions, Aloysius realized. It was time to dig straight into her heart, figure out what made her tick, what kept her running. "What makes life worth living?" he asked. "What helps keep you going, pushing you through even the toughest of days? And along that subject, have you ever been betrayed by someone you held dear? If so...who and why?"

She thought for a moment running her hands down her thighs then resting her chin on her hands. "What makes life worth living?" She repeated letting it soak in, it was not an easy question to answer. Then it came to her, she wanted to be honest, to tell him what kept her going, but she didn't want to, yet she did anyways. "What keeps me going, honestly, gosh don't laugh..." She paused again, "I've been told my entire life that nobody could ever love me, I'm not skinny enough, my hair isn't dark enough, I act like a child, I am not a good enough of a princess to carry on any kind of legacy. So I guess I live every day to be skinny enough, dye my hair, act more mature, make a legacy for myself. That in itself is motivational, for someone to think I am all these things, then love me for it." Allaysa did not care if her answer made no sense, to her it did, if Aloysius didn't understand it would just be another thing he would need to ponder.

Allaysa quietly laughed at the next question, but this one, by oath she made to her parents, she was bound by the shadows, to answer falsely. "I can't answer that.." She looked at him straight on, removing her chin from her hands, "I am not allowed to. I'm sorry Aloysius, but I just cannot." Fear and anger shined brightly in her eyes, she turned her face from him leaning into the couch and biting her lower lip until she assured herself she would not cry.

Not even Vale knew what happened that night when her father was raging drunk, the secret was tied between three people, her mother, father, and her, never to speak the events of that night, the night her parents shunned her for good, only showing the facade of a loving family to everyone else.

"Bless you by the way.. and it's my turn. If you just give me a moment." Allaysa stood up quickly walked into the bedroom, locking the door behind her.

"I suppose I'll have to stay here then," he murmured

"That would be a good idea. I can't say my brother would be pleased to see you without talking to me alone first." She smirked, shrugging. "I might have to be the one to protect you." She added. Which was probably true. Axel would want to talk to her alone first before meeting Vale, and she couldn't say he'd be civil even after that. She was older, more experienced, and much stronger than her brother, so she was prepared to step in the middle in case anything happened.

"Maybe we should go for a walk? I feel the need to stretch and there's still much of the outside that we have yet to experience."

Cadie smiled slightly and nodded. She was about to suggest the same thing, and was glad they would get to be outdoors once again. The waterfall sounded nice, since it was getting awfully hot in their suite. She would need to change again though and put on her suit, in case they decided to go swimming. She heard his stomach rumbled and smirked at his almost embarrassed chuckle. "I'll be ready in a minute." She replied as he went for the kitchen, and pushed herself from the couch, disappearing into the bathroom a moment later. There, she changed into her blue bikini and pulled her clothes over it again. She sat back on the couch and petted Chev as he crawled onto her, like he was a lap dog.

"Well, I don't know what to call it, but one time I saw a flower. It was the most beautiful blue I have ever seen. I picked it and pressed it, trying to preserve the color, but it wasn't the same as when it was alive." She said, a smile crossing her beautiful features, "now, my turn. If you could take only three items with you onto a stranded island, what would it be?"
Aslan came to stand beside her, lifting his front paws off the floor and placing them on Gwens leg. She dropped a hand onto his head lightly and scratched behind his ears. She pulled her hand away and couldn't help but laugh when he whined and pushed his head into her hand.

Aloysius was left to stare after her, a rather confused expression on his face. "Women," he muttered, before turning sharply and heading for the balcony. He threw the glass windows open, stepping out and leaning against the stone railing. He rested his chin on his palms, muttering soft spells under his breath.

He closed his eyes, as runes started drawing themselves in the air in front of him. He could feel his heart speeding up, his body starting to grow fatigued as the spell grew in power. But he kept at it. It didn't really do anything, except keep his stamina up. Which was what he needed. He kept muttering, the words flying easily from his lips as the runes began changing colors, turning from dark gold to pale silver and back again.

When he broke the spell, the runes fell in showers of glitter, raining down onto the lawn underneath. He turned around, face flushed, heart racing.

Was Allaysa done yet?



Vale had changed as well, while Arcadia was in the bathroom. He wore the same pair of shorts as last night, as well as the same sweatshirt. "Ready?" he asked, throwing a towel over his shoulder. His feet were clad in dark brown flip flops, and a pair of sunglasses rested on top of his head. It was rather...odd, considering the almost light hearted feel surrounding the Fallen at the moment.

His eyes grew worried, before he shook off the feeling.

It wasn't time to be thinking about his sister, he berated himself. Now was his moment.

He headed for the door, glancing back to make sure Arcadia was following. Bel leaped onto his shoulder as he passed the sofa, claws digging into his sweatshirt before the cat found his favorite niche and settled down.

Allaysa wanted to tell him all about that night, but she couldn't. Her mind raced to the memory of her dad pressing her up against the wall keeping his hand over her mouth so she couldn't breath, or scream. The one man in her life at the time she would have sacrificed her life for took part of her's, that little part of her soul that was still clinging on from being a fallen, he just stole it, like it was nothing. Allaysa still did not understand how you could do that to a child, she was only eight. Whatever an eight year old could have stolen from them, well this was it. Though, the fact that her mother played it off like it was nothing, and bound them by the shadows to never speak a word, that hurt almost as much. Shadow promises were painful and stood with you for your entire life, or until one of the bearers dies, but until then Allaysa had to live with the constant knowledge that she was not "pure" and along with that came the constant mucky feeling that resided in her mind, courtesy of the promise.

The cold water splashed against her face, sooting the red marks around her eyes from crying just moments before. Aloysius would never understand, nor would ever know, and Allaysa decided he probably made a snide comment when she rushed from the room. She stood up, straightening her back and fixing her dress quickly and walked from the room, looking perfectly composed, just like a perfect princess.

She found Aloysius on the balcony, his face flushed. "Sorry about that. Just me being dramatic." Allaysa spoke for him to hear, hoping he caught the sarcasm in her voice. Her molten eyes searched for something, a question to ask him in return for the one's he asked her, but for her the game was over. "You never told me what that compromise was about me not being hungry, and you being hungry? Want to go get some food?" She shrugged, knowing she wouldn't be eating anything, but like a good... fiancée.... she could accompany him.


(In case you didn't get the drift, she got raped, sorry to be blunt, but I did not know how to put it through the message without it sounding funny. >.<)

Cadie grinned, glancing over at Vale. She took in his outfit, and couldn't help but like the way he looked in it. He looked so much more relaxed and...happy possibly? She shook the thought and pushed Chev off her lap, pushing herself from the couch. Following after Vale, she grabbed a towel from the back of the couch and called to Chev over her shoulder. He sat up, his tail swaying back and forth ferociously as he trotted after them happily. She walked out the door after Vale and closed it behind her, then slid her hand through his. She glanced up at him with a soft smile as she locked her fingers through his, feeling Chev's tail whacking against her leg.

When they reached the door they had entered last time, she smirked, noticing it was the same guard. Like the time before, she walked up to him and whispered something in his ear. His eyes went blank and he looked a little confused as he opened the door for them. She thanked him softly and gently pulled Vale out into the sunlight, sighing with content at the soft grass under her bare feet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Axel stared at her for a moment, completely taken off guard by her answer. She was one of the most interesting people he'd ever met, especially with an answer like that one. A breathtaking smile crossed her beautiful face, and he blinked, forcing himself to tear his gaze from her.

"Now, my turn. If you could take only three items with you onto a stranded island, what would it be?"

Axel thought for a moment, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned against the counter across from her. He took another sip of his water, then set the bottle on the counter top next to him. "My guitar, and endless supply of clothes, and someone special. If I'm allowed to have people with me, that is." He shrugged. He wouldn't exactly want to be stranded on an island by himself, that would be no fun. He couldn't exactly live without his guitar either, and clothes were a necessity. Water and food would be easy to find, and a shelter easy to build.

"What about you? What would you take with you?" He asked, his gaze travelling back over to her.