"Greetings, My King.

Despite various details, the negotiations went according to plan. We are returning home. Princess Smaragd of Héllasz joins us.

Ambassador Ishaq Nasser.
21st day of Panaosz, 224."

King Teremun read the message with great relief and went straight to the audiences room, after giving the messenger falcon its deserved snack as a reward for its journey.

- The preparations for the Tribute to the Mother continue as planned! Our prince is returning home!

Faces lit all over the place, grateful for the confirmed presence of the heir for the upcoming event.

Smaragd felt herself going in and out of her state of consciousness. She knew she was alive and awake because of the pain she felt in her back, and the burning sensations she felt now an then. She fought to stay awake, but the pain was still too much for her. Until she finally decided to give up and let the darkness take her.

She felt herself awakening once again, not because of the pain this time. She felt something warm running through her back and driving the pain away from her wounds. It was like hot air, she couldn't really define it. She had never felt something like that before. The hot air passed through a sensitive place and she couldn't help but letting a low growl scape from her vocal cords.

- She is finally awake. Call the younger maid, please. 

- Finally!

Smaragd felt a hand taking hers. She didn't know exactly how she was positioned, but she was conscious enough to recognize her own body parts. After a moment she could guess that she was laying on her chest, and with her arms by her side. The hand squezzed her own hand tighter.

- My child. Can you hear me?

- Kara...

- Can you hear me?

Smaragd let out a small cough before answering.

- Kara.... You're here...

- Of course I'm here, my sweet girl. I could never abandon you.

- Where's my father?

- He's far away from us. You will probably never see him again.

- My Lady! Oh, I'm so glad you're awake!

- Be careful, please. The healing process is not over yet.

- I'm sorry, sir... My Lady! Kara, how is she?

- She has barely spoken a few words, Mina. But she will be fine.

Smaragd coughed again before she could speak better.

- Kara...Why do I feel like everything is moving?

- Because we're at sea, onboard His Highness's ship, my child. His healers are taking care of you.

- His Highness? 

She opened her eyes. She wasn't home. She tried then to move her arms and stand up, but Kara and Mina kept her down.

- No, My Lady! You must not stand up!

- Stop her! Or I cannot complete her healing!

- I will not allow that fake prince to do whatever he wants with us! - She was half way of being on her knees when Kara and Mina stood in front of her. They were placing her hair in front of her chest.

- My Lady! You must not stand up! You're uncovered!

Smaragd stopped and took a moment to look down. Effectively, she was naked from the waist up, and only her long hair was covering her breasts. She kneeled and covered herself with her arms in a sudden movement, and felt the pain invading her back again. A new growl made its way out of her mouth, and she turned around when she heard a male's voice talking to her from behind.

- Your Highness. I must ask you to lay down again. Or the healing will be incomplete and your back will not get better.

- Who are you? And why is a man in the same room with me while I'm uncovered? - She asked the last question looking at Kara with severity.

- I want you to get out.

- Your Highness...

- Get out! Now!

- As you wish. But be aware that your wounds will not close correctly if you let time pass without completing the process, and the pain will be your choice entirely.

The man got out of the room, closing the door behind him.That gave Smaragd the time to observe the place she was in. It was a small chamber, made entirely of dark wood. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, the door. Everything was made of the same material. She was kneeled in a litter whose frame was made of the same dark wood as the chamber. She was on a matress covered with soft sheets. There was a small rectangular window by her right side, that let the sunlight enter and cover the area that was being occupied by the litter. She had no time to ask questions to her maids, as the door was being opened again, this time letting the prince enter. He was talking to a woman in white clothes.

- I told you that she would never allow a man to heal her-- He stopped talking when he saw the princess covering herself and trying to kill him with her gaze.

- Oh yes! The covering issue! - He put a hand over his eyes, blocking his view.

- How careless of me. I'm so sorry.

- What is happening here? I demand to know where I am! - The tone of her voice made clear that she would not accept any unsatisfying answer.

- You are onboard the 'Lucky Messenger', My Lady. You were brought here after you lost consciousness at the square of the hèllaszian palace, and my healers were taking good care of you. I  understand you drove one of them away before he could complete his task.

- Where are we heading?

- We are at sea, heading to Hierakon. The capital of my kingdom.

- So we are going to Misara?

- Yes, Princess, we are.

- Get out of here.

- My Lady...

- I will have words with both of you later. I want you out of this chamber, Prince Aten. Since you have taken me against my will the least you can do is give me some privacy.

- I will let you be, of course. But not before I tell you a few things.

- I don't-- 

- First of all, I am the descendant of a King, princess. Just like you are. So I will demand the same amount of respect that you are demanding from me. - He kept talking while he was covering his eyes.

- Second, even with your royal status, your are still a guest on this ship, and will continue to be a guest in my kingdom until my father decides otherwise. So I will strongly recommend you to be grateful for the attention given to you, or it will be removed and you will have to earn your keep in this ship, as well as your maids.

He paused for a moment, as if expecting the princess to reply. When he heard nothing, he continued:

- Third: I have brought you with me for two reasons. One of them is the treaty for the alliance between our realms. It has already been made and there is no turning back from it now. The other reason is that, even when I hate to force a person to go against their will, the truth is that you lost all consciousness during your punishment by the hands of your father. Your own guards let you fall to the ground to be burned by the sun. In the eyes of King Bartal, you are nothing more than a merchandise that has already been sold, therefore you mean nothing to him anymore. If I was to respect your will of not coming with me, I assure you that you would be right now at the gates of the héllaszian palace, on your knees, begging for your father to let you in. Of course the guards would drag you out holding you by the hair, and who knows, maybe they'd even have their fun with you before letting you go. All that with your back completely wounded. Can you imagine that, princess Smaragd?

The only sound that filled the room was Smaragd's own labored breathing, as if trying to hold back a sea of tears.

 - Yes, you can imagine it. So I will politely ask you to calm down, keep your blood cold and let my healers do what they were trained to do. If you check now, you will see that the wounds on your back will be almost completely closed.

Smaragd stretched her arms, trying to touch as much skin as it was possible for her. The places where the wounds have been stung still, but beside that and the swelling, her back was almost completely healed.

- How... is this possible? These wounds take weeks to heal. - Then she thought that she didn't know how much time had passed since her punishment.

- How long was I unconscious?

- Just a few hours, Your Highness. About five or six. - The woman that had come with Aten was the one to answer.

- How can it be? - This time her face lost all trace of anger and was filled with astonishment.

- You will have your answers from her, she is my best healer onboard. But only if you agree to the terms I have set. The healing is one of the attentions that can be removed from you if you wish to be left alone.

 - I... Could you show me your face? It is weird to talk to you when you cover yourself like that.

- I thought you were uncomfortable with me watching you.

- Well... - Smaragd made sure her arms and her hair covered enough of her before replying.

- You can look now.

Aten uncovered his eyes and finally got to see the scene unfolding before him. The young princess was on top of the litter, on her knees and supporting her weight on her heels, with the white linen dress covering her from the waist down, and only her thin arms and her long black hair covering her from the waist up. Her pale skin was barely visible among the strands of hair, and her face showed a mix between fright and readiness, as if she was a wild animal evaluating its options before taking the first chance available. She looked much younger like this, when she wasn't defying the world around her. She looked much more... delicate. Her image caught his view entirely, overshadowing the figures of her maids beside her, for he saw them blurry.

He brought himself back to reality and cleared his throat beofre speaking, mantaining his previous pose the best he could.

- What is your answer, Princess?

- I... I will let you heal me and look after me.

- Very well.

- But I demand you to tell me everything about the alliance and your interests in my land. I will not arrive to Misara knowing nothing about the treaty that brought me here.

- That's fair enough. - Said the prince while holding her gaze.

- Do you wish me to leave you with her? If I remember correctly your healing needs to be resumed. - He asked while waving a hand to the female healer beside him.

- O-Of course.

- Fine. I will leave you then. You will be free to go out and explore the ship if you like, as soon as the healers make sure that you are in conditions to do so.

 He turned around and went out of the room, leaving the door closed behind him. The healer then took a step forward and stood in fron of Smaragd and the maids.

- Miss Kara, Miss Mina. You have already seen the process. But I will need you here as your mistress has probably never seen something like this before.

- Something like what?

Smaragd's eyes threatened to get out of her eye sockets as she saw the healer lift her hand, which was wrapped by a green glow that covered it from her wrists to her fingernails.

A.N.: I'm really sorry for the delay. I wish I could update much faster. 

Thank you for all your votes and comments! They mean a lot. Really, they do. If you liked the chapter, feel free to click on the star icon! Comments make me improve my writing and give me the feedback I need to keep this story going.

On another subject, go check out the NaNoWriMo stories. There are some pretty good ones out there this year!

Well, that was it. Take care of yourselves!