The girl turned around sharply, "Nakaijima-sama! I-I didn't hear you come in."

The head of the brothel sat gracefully in an ornate chair. "Still sulking, Rina-chan? Dearest, I thought you understood..."

Rina turned towards her, a guarded expression on her face.

Nakaijima continued, "Since you came here, I've had you do the fetching and the carrying. You've done jobs like preparing rooms and mixing the contraceptive herbs rather then... then what the other girls do. I've done this because, well, you're very small, Rina. Not only small, but you always looked young. Too young. Some men do like that, but not the men I want you near." She smiled affectionately at her favorite employee.

"You've gotten older though," She continued, "You're still small, but you don't look quite as young. It's time you took your place with the rest."

She put a hand on Rina's shoulder, "Don't worry, I won't let any monsters near you. One of our wealthier visitors saw you and have already contacted me. His next visit ought to be in three or four days. Rina. Rina, please talk to me."

Rina forced a smile onto her face, "I understand, Nakaijima-sama. I don't like it, but I won't let you down. May I be left alone now?"

The woman nodded in the affirmative and swept out, graceful as ever.

Rina had been given this speech over ten time in the last week. She hoped the a bit of sulking had convinced Nakaijima. In reality, she had no intention of being there when her time came to be made a "full member" of the brothel.

If you're clean and still young, you don't leave a brothel. All the girls knew that. Nakaijima would make life miserable for anyone who tried. She might as well have owned them, like slaves. Even Rina, who Nakaijima loved as her own child, or at least a very young sister, wouldn't be safe from her wrath.

Also, Nakaijima had kept the girls from associating outside of the house. None of them had friends in Falcam they could depend on, if they did escape.

Rina, however, had friends elsewhere. Friends who would bring false papers and money. Friends who would sneak her out. Friends who would-

"I'll find out what you're up to." said a voice from the door.

For the second time that hour, Rina spun around.

"Uh, Mai-san? I'm not planing anything."

"Please, don't do that. I know you, you aren't the kind who will let this happen. You have some sort of plan." The girl with light brown hair cornered Rina, "I'll find out. I'll tell her, then we'll see who her pet is."

"Still trying to get on Nakaijima's good side, huh? Well, you're going to be disappointed. I have nothing planned. I can't say I'm thrilled with what's going on, but-"

Mai gave a derisive snort, "We'll see Rina-san."

She turn around, and her hair flipped away from her face. Now Rina could see a large black and blue mark, started at the girl's temple and ending where her head met her neap.

"Mai!" She cried in alarm, putting out a hand to touch the bruise.

Mai slapped it away and spoke to Rina in a low slow tone, "You're so stupid, you know that? You stay here and get fed and lodged, but you have no idea what kind of place this is. You don't know about men who blame you when something's wrong with them, or men who just enjoy hurting you. If you do have some sort of plan to get out of here, I'll find out what it is, and I'll ruin it. It isn't fair, you're born small and cute, and I'm the one who gets hurt for it."

She walk out, anger seething from every pore.

Rina blinked slowly, as if coming out of a very dark place, and seeing the sun. She griped the window sill to hide her trembling hands.

"Damn it, Aika, you only have three or four days!"

On a deserted road a long, long way from Falcam, four travelers, well... traveled. Keiko and Staci walked a little ahead of Otaru and Kakeru, so as not to be heard by them. They were walking along silently, assuming that the two girls ahead were still giggling over whatever they had been giggling about for the last day. They had no idea that the conversation had taken a more serious twist.

"Staci, we've been walking together for a day and you haven't said a word about the mission you are on. Don't you think it's time to tell me about it?"

"Welll... I suppose." She glanced at the boys behind them as if to make sure they weren't listening. They weren't. "I'd appreciate it if you'd keep this to yourself until we get closer to Falcam. I don't want them running out on me."

"What IS it?" Keiko was REALLY curious now! "Is it dangerous?"

"Yes, it could be, if we aren't careful." She lowered her voice to a whisper, even though the boys were still far behind. "I have a friend in Falcam, Rina, who needs my help. She is living in a brothel and wants to get out, well, before she is 'initiated', shall we say. But she can't do it on her own. She needs false papers, and money, and I can give that to her." She looked at Keiko. "Can I count on you to help?"

"Yes, of course you can!" She looked warily at the boys. "I don't know if they will be so willing, though. I mean, a brothel? Otaru MIGHT be willing to help us out, but Kakeru definitely won't want to have anything to do with it."

"That's why we aren't telling them, not yet. They can be a big help in busting Rina out of there, but we don't want to give them a chance to worm out of it."

"Sounds good to me!" Keiko loved the thought of forcing Kakeru to do something he didn't want to do. "When do we tell them?"

"We'll surprise them when we are right outside the building. It'll be kind of hard for them to run away then!" Staci said that laughingly, but she still looked worried. "We have to hurry, though. If I have my time frame right, we only have 5 days at the most before Nakaijima gets her, and we are still far away. Look at the turtles back there! How do we hurry them along without making them suspicious?"

Keiko grinned evilly. "Leave that to me."

Quickly wiping the evil grin off her face, Keiko called back, "Staci just told me that there's a cheap horse-dealer in Falcam. C'mon, let's go! I know you hate walking just as much as I do."

Otaru's face lit up. "Really? Great!" He quickened his pace to a slow jog.

"Wait up, Otaru!" Kakeru yelled. "If they're a cheap place, then wouldn't it stand to reason that the horses are bad?"

Staci nearly panicked at that. She stammered out, "Well... they're horses at least... right?"

Kakeru nodded. "Point." He too began to run.

The sun was nearly setting by the time Staci decided to call the group to a halt for the night. Otaru and Keiko, nearly gasping with the effort to breath, almost collapsed with the command. Kakeru hovered over them, grinning widely.

"Tired already?" he said, and turned to Staci to question her about camping accomodations. Keiko watched in exhaustion, almost disgusted by her two companions' untiring enthusiasm. Kakeru and Staci talked almost as if, instead of having walked and run the entire day, they had merely gone for a light jog. Keiko sat up from her position on the dusty trail, intent on some softer ground.

They set up their bedrolls that night close to the trail, though they made sure, with Staci's guidance, to hide themselves in the bramble near the trail. When they were all set, Keiko gratefully crawled into her thin covers, sighing--almost purring--contentedly.

"We've hardly been travelling three days and I'm already sick of it," Keiko commented to no one in particular. Kakeru shifted in his covers to face her.

"You'd better get used to it," he said dryly, not feeling particularly tired. "We're going to be travelling a lot more, princess."

Keiko gave him a withering look. "But I don't want to get used to it!" she whined, sitting up in her bedroll.

"Would you rather we took you back to the castle?" Kakeru asked with a tone of irritation. Keiko glared at him. She couldn't exactly argue with that, but the urge to argue about SOMETHING had become overbearing.

"Well, if I went back," she said hotly, "that would mean you'd have to marry me!"

Kakeru ground his teeth. "Not if I never went back to my own kingdom!"

"I'd tell them where to find you!"

"YOU wouldn't know where I was!"

"I'd find you!"

"You wouldn't!"

"How about I turn you both in right now?" Staci asked hotly from her bedroll, her back turned to them. "Be quiet and go to sleep, children!"

Kakeru and Keiko both stared at her in disbelief, before a snickering sound coming from Otaru's bedroll distracted them. Keiko raised her chin in the air royally and crossed her arms, flopping back down in her bedroll.

"I don't need this!" she huffed, pulling her blankets around her head. "You people..."

Kakeru couldn't help but grin foolishly as he watched the form of the princess curl up into an angry ball beside him.

"Good night, princess," he said before laying down again. He could only grin wider as the princess' angry groan met his ears. He turned over on his side and watched her, until, inevitably, he fell asleep.

Two days had passed, and a switch had taken place. Instead of the two girls leading the way, Staci and Kakeru had taken up the lead and apparently had no thought of slowing down. Keiko and Otaru were, slowly, bringing up the rear.

"What is WRONG with them?" Keiko glared at the two speed demons in front of them.

"I wouldn't be complaining if I were you." Otaru glanced at the griping Princess beside him, almost with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Keiko looked at him in surprise. OTARU had never been mad at her, but if he wanted to pick a fight, that was fine. "And why SHOULDN'T I be complaining, pray tell?"

It was Otaru's turn to be surprised. Why did the Princess want to fight with him? He had never gotten angry at her... "I'm sorry if I seemed to find fault with you, I was just going to say that it was your idea to get the horses in Falcam." He added quickly at the sight of her dark face, "and a very GOOD idea it was too."

At that, Keiko felt embarrassed. He had never been angry at her at all... She smiled to herself. It was extremely relaxing traveling with Otaru, since he was always so kind and patient with her. Not like Kakeru, who picked every opportunity to fight with her.

Suddenly, she noticed that the two figures who had been traveling steadily further away were running toward her. They seemed excited about something.

"Falcam! Hurry up, we just saw the buildings of Falcam!"

Keiko felt a surge of joy. /It's about time!!/ Otaru and Keiko started running ahead, their energy magically renewed.

"Okay, here's the plan!" Keiko exclaimed dramatically, scratching some lines in the dirt. The group had detoured behind some bushes about a mile from Falcam's gates in order to make a plan. They were gathered in a circle, hiding Keiko's marks from all outsiders. Keiko paused for effect.

And paused.

And paused.

Staci, Kakeru, and Otaru all looked at each other. "Umm, Keiko?" Staci finally asked. "Just what IS your plan?"

"My plan is... to let you make the plan," Keiko grinned sheepishly. "What do you think of the marks? Pretty professional, huh?"

The others just sweatdropped as Staci took the stick away.

"Quit fooling around," Kakeru whispered angrily. "We don't have time for that!"

"What's the rush?" Keiko whined, subdued a little.

"The rush is that we have to get Rina out of there tonight!" Staci groaned. She rubbed out Keiko's scratches- much to Keiko's dismay- and began to make her own.

"All right now, she said distractedly, drawing a vaguely pentagon-shaped box in the dust. "This is Falcam. The closest gate is here-" she demonstrated, circling a spot on the city line. "There are gates in the middle of every wall, though, and they're never locked in the daytime as long as nothing suspicious happens." Staci glared at the group. "That means no bar brawls."

All three had the decency to blush, thereby pleasing the fangirls.

"Anyway," Staci continued, drawing a line from the gate, "The marketplace is here. Keiko, I want you to go and buy five horses. Think you can manage that?"

"Of course!" Keiko scoffed. "My cover is a trader, after all. I can handle this."

"Okay then," Staci smiled weakly, trying to brush away the feelings of impending doom at that statement. "Otaru, I want you to go and buy enough supplies to last a few weeks. Keiko should have enough money to cover all of this if she plays it right with the horse traders. The food market should be pretty close to the horse stalls." Otaru nodded. "Kakeru," Staci continued, "You need to come with me to look over Rina's brothel."

"WHAT?" Kakeru's blush was enough to please even the toughest fangirl. "I don't want to go somewhere like that!"

"Tough!" Staci loomed over him, eyeing him venomously. "We can't sneak Rina out until right before they close the gates for the night, but we need to find out a little about the building first. If we get caught our cover is that you wanted some- ah- companionship and I volunteered to prove to you that this is the nicest place in town. Got it?"

"Y-yes," Kakeru stammered. Staci was SCARY!

"Good." Staci resumed her original position. "They close the gates at sundown and don't open them again until sunrise. If we get stuck inside we're trapped for the night. If we time it right, we'll be outside and the gates will be locked before they find out Rina's gone. Keiko, I want you to bring the horses out here as soon as you get them. Otaru, bring the supplies to Keiko and then come back and meet us in the town square-" she indicated on her map- "as soon as you're done. Got it?"

"Wait a minute!" Keiko put in. "You mean I don't get to help you rescue Rina?"

"Somebody's got to hold the horses," Staci sighed. "If you get stopped you'll have an alibi because people saw you buying them earlier. The rest of us could get hanged for horse thievery. Besides, if anyone recognizes you we're all dead, ESPECIALLY you."

Keiko saw the wisdom in that, but refused to admit it. She pouted ominously as the group rubbed out their map. Staci and Kakeru left first, Kakeru still blushing at the thought of what they were about to do. A few minutes later, in order to make it look as though they weren't in the same party, Otaru also left after getting some money and leaving a few comforting words. Keiko moped around for a bit, then made her way too. Buying horses. Easy, right? Of course. And then she'd see what she could do about helping Rina.

Keiko waked into town with a frown on her face.
Keiko: 'Why am i stuck with watching the horse's? I know it's for my safety, But still..'
she waked right into someone "excuse me do i know you?"
she looked up but quickly looked back down
Keiko: "No i've never seen you in person before"
"Thank you anyway" and waked away
Keiko: 'Boy that was close, I mean Obari right in my face. I'm surprised he didn't notices me, How bad can i look?'
She looked in a mirror
Keiko: 'forget i asked'
~~~~~~~~
"Keep an eye on that one"
"Yes captain Obari"
Obari looked at the strange boy who Just ran into him
Obari: "we might have our girl"
~~~~~~~~
"Tell you what, i'll give them to you for 5 gold a piece"
Keiko looked at the money in her poach she had 24 gold pieces, She knew Otaru needed at least 10 gold pieces
"how about 10 gold pieces for five horses?"
"three a piece"
"12 for five horses?"
"Sold!"
Keiko smiled: "finally done"
she had done good and they'd have enough money to buy supplies after all
Keiko grabbed the four new horses and started to waked to the gate
Keiko: "And Staci was worried! Ha! and i still have yet to walk into Obari or his men again..."
Some one grabbed her from the back
"I wouldn't be so sure about the last part, You little girlie are coming with me to Obari"
And as Keiko felt something hard on the back of her head her world turned black.

"You are coming with me, 'Your highness'," The soldier addressed her in a mocking tone.
"Excuse me.." The guard heard. He was suddenly wracked with pain, as the mysterious man's sword met his side.
"Who are.." The guard held his bleeding side and fell to the ground. The man knelt down near Keiko and splashed water on her face. After a few minutes, she woke up in a panic.
"Leave me alone!! Get away from me!!! Let me go!!" She hit him hard a few times.
"Listen, boy, I just saved you. The only reason a knight as I would pay any heed to an obviously ill-mannered boy as yourself, is the simple fact that that man, well," The knight scratched his head. "He called you, Your highness.."
"ILL-MANNERED?!?!?!" She was ready to kill this guy. 'Who does this knight think he is?!!?'
"No need for such a temper. I am Sir Jiro the bold. I've never had the pleasure of meeting the Prince of Alarras, but I have heard that he is missing. Could you possibly be this Prince?" He helped Keiko up.
'This wouldn't count as blowing my cover, right? Besides, I would finally have a knight at my command, to defend me. So what if he thinks I'm Kakeru?' Keiko thought. "You have discovered me, brave knight. Thank you for aiding me."
Jiro bowed. "'Tis my duty, your highness."