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The flames rose high and lit the sky as soon screams erupted and panic consumed the Kingdom of Kirits. Their once great walls crumbled all around as Siliska's forces moved in and commenced the fulfillment of their orders.

"Leave no survivors." King Wolof, sitting upon his onyx and ruby throne, gazed heavily upon the Captain of his army. "No woman, child, livestock, nothing. Crumble their walls, drop the castle, I will show them all that I am not a man to be crossed!" Large hands fanned out from his broad-shouldered torso, throwing his onyx cape dramatically up with his movement. His eyes were wide and maniacal, his lips pulled back in his rage. "Sir Oxkin will regret the day he sought to disobey . . ." He settled back into his seat, eyes turned towards the great window at the far end of the room. His words the final bell as all would go as he commanded.

Torein Uykio, standing in his scarlet uniform, lowed to his right knee and bowed forward slightly. His right arm crossed over his chest where his fist rested against his heart. The stance that represented the vow of eternal loyalty to his King. He had been the Captain for only a short time, after illness left the previous Captain barely clinging to life in his private ward. "Yes, sir." Was all the brunette said to his King as he arose and turned to cross the room to the only viewable exit. He would have only hours to prepare his men for the trek. So many things were going through his mind as he walked through the door. It would take two days to advance upon Kiritis, that would be plenty of time to come up with a battle strategy with the rest of his men.

"You're going to do it?"

Glancing into the shadows with his hazel eyes as he turned away from the closed door. The hallway he was in was dark with only a few candles being lit, but it was his exit point to guide him back to the main staircase. "I do as my King orders," Torein's voice did not waver as he planted his gaze upon the small girl hiding behind a statue of a beautiful, sapphire-eyed Goddess. "our Princess should know this by now." There was no warm welcoming for the seemingly sheltered child. Even though he knew her standings as well on the pressing issues at hand. Some days there were opportunities to fantasize about child dreams, other times . . . well, life was all but a fantasy. A brutal, wary existence for any who knew the battlefield.

"W-what if I declared that you could not?"

That caused him to balk. She was so innocent, and he understood her desire very well. He did not want to go to war, and he knew his men did not want to either. As a man of servitude, though, he had to do as his monarch demanded. "I am sorry, Princess Riyoka. My orders are as they have been spelled out quite clearly. I am obligated to fulfill my King's wishes, even should I lose my life in the process." There was that bitterness that he and all his comrades shared. This would be the third neighboring Kingdom they would have been sent to destroy. Was the King trying to plunge them into an international war?

Regardless, it was something he would not be able to prevent. So long as his ruler wanted to keep sending his men out to seek and destroy any and all who opposed his word. "There will come a day that you may be able to change the laws of this land. But, you are but sixteen years old, child. Another four years, and well . . ." His eyes met hers as he bowed properly and turned on his heels to walk down the hall. They exchanged a moment, a hopeful moment. One in which she could not possibly ignore as she tried to accept what it was that he was saying.

The young Princess walked from behind the Goddess statue and chased after Torein. Her tiny heels clicked at her swift approach and when he turned to glance over at her, she was at his side and holding onto his arm. "I-If I cannot make you stay, then I demand that you return as soon as your task is done." She was dawned in a rose colored evening dress, her chocolate hair pulled back into an elaborate display of braids, and though she looked very much like a Princess. She did not behave as such, not when she was suppose to. But, in that moment, it was alright.

Torein took a gentle hold of her hands and went to one knee before her, grasping the white-gloved tips of her fingers with all the tenderness he held. "As a man of my word and the Captain of your army, I would be honored to have your blessing over our men as we march off in the name of your father." He leaned his head forward and pressed her knuckles to his forehead.

She was momentarily left speechless before her silver eyes glittered with tears, "My blessings forever go out to my men. Their hardships do not fall upon blind eyes, and their words do not find deaf ears. And one day--"

"Princess Riyoka?" A voice cut in from behind the two of them. "I've been looking all over for you, oh!" She paused when she saw Torein, he was releasing the Princess' fingertips and standing back to his feet. Those hazel eyes piercing through her as if she had interrupted something important. ". . . and Sir Ukyio." Her voice was calm, betraying none of her inquiries about his and the Princess' conversation.

"Sienna." Riyoka greeted as her gaze shifted back to Torein, he would not get to hear her words as she smiled kindly at him. "Thank you for your time, Torein. I truly appreciate it." Her words were genuine as she gazed into his eyes with all the warmth she could possess. He would return, she knew it and the moment was bittersweet.

She knew this was their farewell, but she couldn't give herself away. Even as his gaze lingered on her for a few more moments before he carried on his way, he would never suspect what she was going to do. And he would replay their final exchange over and over in his head until they met each other again.

That was okay, though. Riyoka knew how long time could stretch on, but when something is lost and then returned it was twice as cherished. It's only then that one would realize that what they lost meant more to them than they thought. "I am awful tired, Sienna, would you please walk me to my room." Her voice feigned her tire, cutting off the server's curiosity. Now that Torein was already to the main staircase and descending. She did not want to talk about they exchange. Even as she knew his gaze had wanted her to finish what she was saying. But, she couldn't . . .

"Yes, ma'am. Is there anything you would like to discuss before calling it a night, ma'am?" Sienna was a short, freckled blond. Thin and lovely in her uniform. Though she were already in her mid-twenties, she was just as curious as the young Princess. Riyoka had bore witness to some of the men that the server worked beneath treated her. It had been during her first encounter with the treatment, in person, that had gained her much respect from many of the wait staff of the castle. Even the man that had crossed the line.

It had been during one of the fanciful dinners that her father hosted for other monarchs to attend and speak about adult matters. She, being too young to sit amongst the adults, had been hiding in the kitchen amongst all the busy servers when she had seen one of the chefs swing his hand and knock Sienna into a wall. Blood had seeped from a point upon her cheek where the skin had split upon contact.

The fury Riyoka had felt that day had burned her veins as it consumed her. Such an emotion to such an extreme degree that her body had seemed to move on its own. Something had catapulted itself through the air and connected squarely with the side of the man's face. She vaguely recalled that the man's name was Juuk and that he had been promoted to head chef when his dishes had caught the King's fancy. But, he had always been unruly and unkind to all those who worked beneath him. Riyoka had just not known to what extent.

Not that day. With one direct hit, she had fell the man and all who stood in the kitchen that day heard her warning. "Should anyone ever be caught laying a hand upon another one of my servers, it will be death. Fear not the anger you hold for each other, but the anger of one who will not tolerate it." Her eyes had burned with rage, but when her father and half of the castle guard arrived with all the night's dinner guests . . . well, it was not fun explaining to King Wolof why his kitchen had become a battlefield that involved his daughter. They were all lucky that night, in a way. Her father could have sentenced them all to horrible demises, but he had turned a blind, but proud, eye away from the whole scenario.

"No, I would rather walk in companionable silence tonight, Sienna." Riyoka's lips were turned into a gentle smile. "Tonight will be a quiet night to absorb all the beauties that we are blessed to have in our lives." For, soon, she would not have the beauties any longer. But, for her people, she could do it. It was just a matter of whether or not one day she would be Queen of Siliska and her people would survive long enough to thrive once again. She just needed to speak to Voxin again . . .