Welcome to Gaia! ::

“Very good, your highness,” Loralen was saying to Cairien as the elf reached the doorway, panting. “Now, I wa—.“ Loralen stopped mid-sentence and turned to the elf. “Yes, Larin, what is wrong?”
“Lord Damian, your grace,” the elf, Larin, panted. “He’s collapsed!”
Loralen went white. “Your highness, come with me,” she ordered. “Larin, bring ice water and a cloth to my son’s room.”
Cairien ran with Loralen to Damian’s rooms while Larin, with panic-stricken green eyes, dashed off to the kitchens after the duchess’ requested ice water.
“What’s wrong with Damian?” Cairien asked, confused. He’d been fine just an hour before when he had brought her to his home.
She and Loralen reached Damian’s suite and Loralen magiked him onto his bed, which was made of ebony and had black drapes and comforter.
Loralen sighed. “I will answer you at a less critical time. Right now, wait for the water and treat him as though he has a high fever.”
“Put the wet cloth on his forehead?” Cairien guessed.
“Exactly, and try not to touch him, understand?” Cairien nodded in answer and she watched as Loralen took a crystal from her scarlet gown, ripped her son’s shirt open, and placed the crystal to Damian’s bare chest.
Damian screamed, it was a hellish, inhuman sound. Cairien winced and then screamed herself when Loralen collapsed to the floor, the crystal glowing brightly.
Larin came with the ice water and cloth and told the young princess not to worry about the duchess. Cairien took the bowl and cloth, got the cloth wet, placed it carefully on Damian’s forehead, and put the bowl on the ebony nightstand next to Damian’s bed.

Damian woke soon after Cairien had fallen asleep in her suite. His mother was still there, exhausted. “Where is the princess?” he asked quietly.
Loralen’s lips tightened slightly. “She is in the suite across from here, probably sleeping,” the duchess replied. She stood, laid one hand on her son’s cheek, and left the room.
As soon as her footsteps had receded, Damian got up and walked across the hallway to Cairien’s rooms. He walked through the sitting room, his head throbbing a little bit as he went. When he reached her bedroom, he watched her for a long while as she slept, a look of peace on her beautiful face.
Finally, he walked over to her, removed her shoes, and covered her. As he left, he checked over the room, ensuring its security. When he reached his own rooms, he stumbled and collapsed on the sofa in his sitting room, sound asleep. A few moments later, another blonde-haired elf covered him with a blanket.

As they left the restaurant, Cairien was happier than she had been in a long time. They stopped at the ice cream parlor and decided that, rather than disorienting Cairien for a second time, they would walk back to Damian’s manor.
“Why do so many people live on this island?” Cairien asked suddenly as the walked. She looked up at Damian, craning her neck to see his face.
Damian met her earnest gaze and smiled. “Because we feel safe here,” he told her. “You’ll learn more in Magical History at school.”
Cairien looked slightly confused, but made no comment. They walked in silence for a while, Cairien’s eyes trying to be everywhere at once. Damian, however, watched her, how her hair shone in the sun, how the breeze made it wave slightly. He watched how her eyes shone as she made a new discovery or suddenly understood something someone else had told her.
“What is it like?” Damian asked her after a few minuets of silence. “Living in the non-magic world?”
Cocking her head, the princess thought for a moment. “I don’t really know,” she answered. “I’ve lived there all my life with no clue that there was a magical world, so I have nothing to compare it to.”
Damian nodded. “What did you do there?” he tried again.
This time, Cairien laughed. “I hid from paparazzi as best I could, fled from mobs of adoring fans, spent hours every week in a small room in a recording studio with boys I think of as brothers, and sang all day every day,” she replied.
Damian looked confused. “What’s a ‘paparazzi’?” he asked.
“They’re people who follow celebrities everywhere they go, doing there best to find out all their dirty little secrets so they can let the whole world know everything about them,” Cairien answered, disgust both on her face and in her voice. “They’re difficult to avoid because they always manage to find you, regardless of where you’re hiding.”
“Your brother said you were an actress,” Damian commented. He looked surprised at the look that crossed her face, a combination of anger and disgust. “Didn’t you enjoy it?”
Cairien shook her head vehemently. “I hated it,” she replied. “I only did it because I was practically blackmailed into it and my best friend promised to make it more fun for me. He failed miserably.”
Damian laughed and they continued their walk to his home, talking about Cairien’s likes, dislikes, and problems.

((end chapter three))

Cairien closed the door behind her and turned, wondering where to go now. She didn’t know the manor well at all and was unsure how to find her rooms. As she turned around, Cairien gasped. A man was standing behind her, smiling. He was tall and muscular and his facial features were much like Damian’s own. His hair was blonde and shoulder-length.
“Hello,” the man said. “You must be Crown Princess Cairien.”
For a moment, Cairien merely stared at him, too shocked to respond. The moment did not last long, however, and she shook herself. “Yes, I am,” she replied. “And who are you?”
The man laughed. “I’m Damian’s father, Mordarian,” he answered, holding out his hand to Cairien.
Cairien took his hand and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “You’re a demon, aren’t you?”
Mordarian laughed again. He had a deep, rich laugh with no hint of the evilness said to be prevalent in all demons. “I am,” he told her. “In fact, I’m the prince of the underworld, but I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“Nothing,” Cairien answered. “I was merely curious.”
Again, Damian’s father laughed from deep in his chest. “Is there anything in particular that I could help you with, your highness?” he asked. “You look a trifle lost.”
At that moment, Damian walked out of the library. Though his conversation had had no effect visible to his mother, his father immediately realized something was wrong and raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps your highness would like to visit the gardens while I speak with my son?” Mordarian suggested.
Cairien hesitated as she looked from father to son, her lips pursed in thought. When she looked at Damian, he nodded. “Where can I find the gardens?” the princess asked.
An elf suddenly appeared as if it had been called and Mordarian gestured to it. “She will show you the way,” he told her. The elf bowed and turned down the hall, looking back to make sure Cairien was following her as Mordarian turned to his son.
“Walk with me, Damian,” the demon prince said gently.
Damian nodded and followed his father down the long hallway.
“Your mother told me what happened last night,” Mordarian told his son as they walked. “And of what she discovered while she was in your mind.”
Damian nodded again. “She doesn’t agree with my decision,” the young man said.
Mordarian smiled. “Your mother is not always rational,” he replied. “She sees only what she wants to see and she does not want to see you struggle to keep a hold on yourself. In her mind, getting closer to the princess while remaining her guard is going to make your struggle harder for you, and she may be right.”
Damian sighed. “I can’t stay away from her,” he murmured. “And I can’t trust her safety with anyone but myself and I don’t want to. Mother asks me to give that up, but I don’t think I can, no matter what the cost is to me.”
His father looked over at him kindly, they were the same height of six foot ten. “I understand, Damian,” Mordarian replied. “I’ve struggled with those same feelings from the day that I have met your mother. Neither of my parents approved of the match, but what could I do? I love her.”
“What should I do?” Damian asked. “No matter my feelings, the closest I can be to her is her guard while certain laws are in place. Until she discovers them and changes them, I will struggle with myself, but I am not sure if mother will point out those laws to her.”
Mordarian looked at his son’s defeated expression and sighed. “I believe that your mother will come around and show her the laws that make things difficult for you, Damian,” he promised. “You just need to be a little patient. Now, why don’t you go and locate that princess of yours and ask her to join us for dinner?”
Damian looked surprised. “Is it that late already?!” he exclaimed, looking at his watch. The time read six ‘o’ clock in the evening. Laughing, father and son parted and Damian went to the gardens in search of Cairien.

After dinner, Cairien asked to go for another walk in the gardens; Damian volunteered to go with her. Loralen’s lips pursed and she said nothing, but Mordarian agreed with the two young people, winking at his son as they left.
They walked in silence for a while, Cairien’s face troubled. After a few minuets, she looked up at Damian.
“If I become the princess,” she began. “Would I still be able to continue singing?” The thought obviously worried about her and Damian looked down at her in surprise.
“I don’t think you have much choice in the matter. You are the princess, it’s not something you can choose to become and you’re going to have to become queen too. Why do you ask?” he replied, his brow creased.
Cairien sighed. “Because I enjoy singing, it isn’t something that I’m willing to give up just because I have other things to do. Singing is what makes my life bearable. Will I be able to continue singing?” she pressed.
Damian thought for a moment. “You can sing whenever you like to,” he told her. “In fact, as the ruler of the magical world, nobody can tell you that you can’t do something. What kind of singing did you have in mind?”
“Concerts,” Cairien answered. “Will I still be able to perform when they make me take over the magical world?”
Rubbing his face with the hand that wasn’t occupied – Cairien’s arm was in his own – Damian replied, “I’m not sure, you would have to ask your brother that. I didn’t know you sang though, your brother must have forgotten to mention it in your file that they had me read when I became your guard.”
The princess pursed her lips. “Well,” she huffed. “Bradly tends to forget that the things that I consider to be important.”
This made Damian laugh, causing Cairien to join in. They laughed as the passed the fountain with the statue of Cairien’s mother and the princess took note of the path they had taken to get there.
Suddenly, Damian turned serious. “How well known are you in the non-magic world, your highness?” he asked, and Cairien could tell that he was suddenly talking business.
“Just about everyone’s at least heard of me,” she replied. “So I’m pretty much in the public eye. Why do you ask?”
Damian nodded as though he had expected as much. “You need to be careful when we get to school then,” he told her. “Many of the students come from non-magic families, so stick close to me, at least until I get to know the people who want to befriend you and make sure that their intentions are honorable.”
It was Cairien’s turn to nod. This was something she was familiar with; in fact, she had hired a guard to keep people away from her except for those she already knew to be trustworthy from before she had become famous and boyfriends she had steered away from completely.

Damian woke with a start. It took him a moment to realize what had woken him, a scream coming from the direction of Cairien’s suite. He threw on the nearest set of clothes and dashed into her room at a dead run. In the doorway of the princess’ bedroom, he watched for a horrified moment as Cairien thrashed in her bed, screaming.
Moving from the doorway, Damian shook Cairien, trying to wake her up.
Cairien woke with a start, sat up, put her head in her hands, and started to shake. It wasn’t until a sob escaped her that Damian realized she was crying. He sat down on the bed and pulled the princess onto his lap, holding her tight and stroking her hair.
“It was only a dream, Cai, calm down,” he murmured in her ear. But to Damian’s surprise, Cairien shook her head.
“No it wasn’t,” she sobbed. “It was a memory! It was the night my mother was killed!” Cairien started to cry harder, gasping for air in short, quick gasps.
Damian’s eyes widened and he looked at her in surprise. He pulled her closer and murmured comforting words in her ear. Cairien clung to his shirt, staining it with her tears as she sobbed.
“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Damian as he stroked her back, doing everything he could think of to calm her down. If any of the other palace guards found out about it he’d be fired for sure, but he knew he had to get her to calm down; he couldn’t stand watching her cry.
Cairien shook her head and pressed closer to Damian, who responded by wrapping his strong arms tighter around her. He held her like that until, slowly, her tears stopped flowing and her breathing slowed. Damian laid her down once more and crept out of her room, leaving her fast asleep.

The next morning, Cairien woke to find a pair of jeans and a blouse laid out for her. A trunk had been packed with her school supplies and the keys to the ebony trunks on the nightstand by her bed.
Cairien stretched lazily and got up. She dressed in the clothing that had been laid out for her and walked out of the suite to find Damian, who had just left his own suite wearing his school uniform, the black leather and red silk of a sorcerer.
“Are you alright, Cai?” Damian asked her as soon as he saw her. His eyes revealed his concern for her.
Cairien nodded. “Thank you,” she told him. “I don’t know how you knew, but I appreciate it.”
Damian, seeing that she was back to normal, grinned ruthlessly. “It was a little hard not to realize something was wrong, what with you screaming in your sleep. If they didn’t sleep like the dead, you would have woken up the entire manor!” he teased.
Cairien blushed. “I’m sorr—“ she began.
Damian held up a hand to stop her. “Remember, royalty are not supposed to apologize. Don’t forget that. You are royalty, so act like it.”
The princess flinched. That was the first time Damian had said something like that to her. She stood up straighter and followed him down to breakfast, wishing she could just be herself.
Damian watched her face as they walked to the dining room for breakfast and knew what was bothering her, but he didn’t dare say anything until they were away from his home.
When they walked into the dining room, Mordarian and Loralen rose to greet Cairien. Damian held her chair for her as Cairien sat then took his own seat.
“Your highness, Damian,” Loralen greeted them as she took her own seat. “I trust you both slept well?”
“Yes, mother, we did,” Damian replied. “I trust your sleep was also restful?”
Loralen smiled, nodding. “We will leave as soon as you have had your breakfast,” the duchess informed them. She explained when Cairien looked confused. “For the train, your highness. I believe the letter you received from school stated that today was the day you were to board the train for school, did it not?”
Cairien blushed, she had forgotten. “Yes, it did, thank you for reminding me, your grace,” the princess replied.
Loralen nodded again and lifted her fork. She began to eat and the others followed suit. The duchess occasionally shot angry looks Cairien’s direction. Cairien noticed, but chose not to say anything.
“So, Dad,” Damian began, looking at his father as he ate. “Why aren’t you in your own world today? I thought you were supposed to stay there longer.”
Mordarian grinned impishly at his son. “It seems I got in trouble again, something about consorting with the girl who strikes fear into the hearts of all the beings living in my world.” The demon prince gestured to Cairien, who stared at him in confusion.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
The demon prince laughed. “Your name is whispered in fear among the demons of the underworld,” he replied. “Because many of them can see the future and know what you will one day do.”
Damian was glaring at his father, and Mordarian turned to grin at him, his expression impish.