Jasper looked at himself in the mirror. His princely attire looked wonderful on him, with his blue/brown eyes shining, and his short brown hair slicked back, he could almost believe he was a prince. But the other thing he saw in the mirror was lies. If he went to the girls like this, they would still believe he was a prince. They would trust him, even though he would be deceiving them the entire time.

Coming to a decision, he started ripping off his vests and leggings. Half way through, he heard his sister call to him, telling him to hurry. "Coming!" he yelled back, renewing his efforts to change. He turned around and found brown pants, a gray tunic, a brown fur vest, and thick, tall brown boots, He shrugged. He would make do.

                                                                                *.*.*.().*.*.*

He emerged a few minutes later, pulling on his boots as he tried to run. Finishing at last, he ran over to the northern side of the Center Room, to say his farewells. He hugged his dad goodbye, exchanging a few words. He then repeated the action with all of his other friends. Sidny came at him last, and he knew from past experience that she was a bit clingy, but he had thought of a solution to that.

She jumped on him, swearing that she would never let him go. He smiled. He then sniffed the air. "Mhhh, is that chocolate I smell? Ooooh, I think those are Sindy's favorite cookies!" Now her head was up and she was sniffing the air. Jasper grinned. Time for the trump card. "Wow, those smell so good, I'll bet they'll be gone soon!" With a yelp, Sidny jumped of him and ran to the kitchen.

Jason smiled, and before she could figure out the cookies didn't exist, he had left.

                                                                                 *.*.*.().*.*.*

"Now, girls, you remember everything we've told you?" Winter grumbled but Arianna nodded her head. "Yes mother, we have everything packed and I've written down everything you told us in my journal. Don't worry mum, we'll be back before you know it."Asha sighed and nodded. More maids entered the girl's bedroom and started lugging their suitcases downstairs. Winter pulled on her boots and looked in the mirror. Right now, she was wearing a ridiculously jeweled dress with more lace and stitches than one thought was possible to cram on a dress. It was pale green though, so for that she was happy.

Winter looked over at her sister and saw she was wearing the same styled dress, but in a light purple color. Winter adjusted the heavy necklace she was wearing and patted the secret pocket she had the maids put in all her dresses. It concealed a small dagger, in which she planned to use on the necklace in the near future. The necklace had a thief-proof lock on it, so you always needed another person to take it off. It annoyed Winter to no end.

"Winter, dear, are you ready?" Winter's head shot up and she nodded. "Yes mother. I do believe so." And then she ran across the room and flung herself into her mother's arms. They stayed like that for a moment, and it was then Winter realized she wouldn't see her mom for a while after this. Tears threatened to flow down her face if she didn't do something. She stayed in Asha's arms a moment longer, then abruptly let go. She grabbed a suitcase and practically ran out the door, hopping none of them had seen her tears. It never occurred to her that on some occasions, tears were ok.

Motherand daughter silently watched her go. When she was sure Winter was gone,Arianna spoke. "She never did like crying in public." Asha nodded thoughtfully."Yes. She always was trying to be the tougher one. Watch her, will you? I wantboth of you back here in one piece." Arianna felt the corners of her mouth liftin a smile. "Yes mum, I think I can handle her. Goodbye, I love you."

Arianna picked up a bag with her left hand. She then placed her right hand on her chest, then on her mothers. It was their way of saying, "With love from my heart, to yours." Arianna always did that when she was leaving anywhere, and now it brought more tears to Asha's eyes, as she repeated the action to her daughter. Then, quickly kissing her mother's cheek, Arianna left, heading out to get her horse.

They had already said farewell to the king, so the princesses were ready to go. Suddenly Arianna was tired of farewells. Waving her hand one last time, she jumped on Skystream, her bay horse, and took off, leaving the pack horse and Iceblaze, Winters blue roan, behind. The two quickly realized their time at the castle was up and started after her.

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They met Jasper at the top of the hill they had left him on earlier in the week. Winter leapt off Iceblaze before she had come to a stop and ran Jasper over. "Jasper!" she screamed. She jumped off him, eyes still shinning. "I thought we would never see you again, but here you are, we are seeing you again, even after I thought we wouldn't, and but we are, and your really here, and-"

"Winter!" Arianna's voice cut like a whip. Winter immediately closed her mouth. Arianna looked at her sternly. A few awkward seconds passed, in which neither Jasper nor Winter had anything to say. Arianna then shifted her eyes over to Jasper, and for a second he thought she was going to blame him.

And then, out of nowhere, she smiled. "It's good to see you, Jassie." Jasper grinned and there was an audible sigh from Winter. He mock bowed. "And a delight to see you also, your highness." He blushed. That didn't come out as poetic as he had wanted. But Arianna didn't seem to notice. Her smile grew wider, and she looked over at Winter. Arianna saw the clear message written there. 'You BOTH love each other! It's SO cute!' Arianna barely restrained from snorting. "Mount up you, girl."

As Winter hurried to comply, Arianna turned over to the pack horse. She took their clothes pack, food bag, and miscellaneous bag. She then turned the horse to have it face the castle and smacked it's rear. Up on it's back legs it went, then it charged down the hill. Arianna knew it would soon be found and returned to the castle. But by that time, they would be long gone.

Winter didn't react to the absence of the pack horse. They had already talked about this, and she knew it was for the better. Arianna now gestured to Jasper. "Mount up, boy. We have a lot of hard country coming up, and I don't think you're going to want to walk." He nodded and mounted Spots, his Appaloosa. He then told them their first destination: the Wolves Tavern.

Hi! I'm back, and im alive! Sorry it took awhile:(    Anyway, I'll be getting to the 3 Rings in the next chapter. Buckle in, because the rides about to start!

SkyBrid