The first two days went by uneventfully. They made good time, and were happy that the weather was holding out so far. On the third day though, it didn't look so promising. Dark storm clouds were clustering angrily on the horizon by four o'clock. It was clear rain was on the way. Jasper had noticed then by now, and decided to call it a night.

"Alright ladies, let's get camp set up." Jasper said. He started taking something out of a saddlebag as he continued. "It looks like rain, so I will make camp with the tents. Arianna, you get a fireplace ready and Winter, you go get firewood. Lots of it too, and put it someplace dry, so if it rains, we can keep the fire alive, at least for a while."

The three of them got to work, Jasper setting up the tents, Arianna finding good rocks, and Winter with a small ax getting dry firewood.

Jasper finished with setting up the tents, then leaned back against a tree to unobtrusively watch Arianna. She was still casting around for stones large enough for her fire pit but small enough for her fire pit. Jason looked down and saw that at his feet was a stone that was just the fight size. He leaned down, picked it up, and threw it at Arianna, yelling, "Ari! Catch!"

Now, being with Jasper for as long as she had, she probably should have reacted instantly hearing that call. But, she was also a princess, and she has been a princess much longer than she had been with Jasper, so she still wasn't all that used to reacting with great speed.

All that for, the rock hit Arianna. In the shoulder. Hard.

"OWWWW!!" she screamed, much louder than the occasion called for, mostly because she knew who threw it. Jasper was trying so hard not to utter a noise; he held him mouth closed and he bent over at the waist. He could feel Arianna's dagger - like glares penetrating through his head, and he knew he could keep it in any longer. He let out an explosive laugh, then it led to another, then another, until he bowled over, laughing up a storm, with tears rolling down his face.

Arianna was beyond furious. How dare he, she thought, barely refraining from screaming. The pain was gone, but seeing him laugh at her like that was too much for her to take. She stormed up to him, getting right in his face.

As Jasper became aware of her presence, he looked up, and saw a terrifying sight. A mad Arianna. He could see the veins in her head bulging as she tried extraordinarily hard to keep her rage under control. He suddenly thought it might be god to try to get away.

Slowly, still on his rear from laughing, he inched back a few inches. Arianna realized what he was doing and inched herself forward.

Carefully, the game continued, Jasper backing up and Arianna moving forward, until disaster struck. Jasper's back hit a tree. He couldn't move back anymore. He started sweating. Maybe he should have thrown that rock.

Somehow though, even with Jasper unable to move, Arianna still inched forward, until her nose was touching his. It was terrifying for Jasper. He had no real idea what she would do to him. They stayed like that for a few tense seconds, the only noise being Winter collecting wood. Ant then, Arianna started to speak.

"Jasper, you listen to me now, and you listen good." She began, in a quiet, controlled voice. "If you ever, laugh at me again like that, I will tell my father. Then he will throw you into the deepest, smelliest, dirtiest, darkest dungeon that has ever existed on the face of this planet. Do you hear me?"

Now, it has to be noted that Castle Armarlda didn't have dungeons. King Kiel didn't believe in treating humans like that, but as a king, he did need something to keep the bad guys in line, so had a jail. It worked for his purposes.

Jasper went to nod, the realized words would probably be better in this situation. "Yes, I got you Arianna. I will never, laugh at you again." Arianna pulled back an inch, studying his eyes. Apparently determining he was telling the truth, she abruptly rose, then turned on her heel and stalked over to finish what she had started.

Winter decided to come back at that moment. "Hey guys, I got the last of the firewood." Then she noticed that Jasper was still staring at Arianna terrified and Arianna had her back to him, hiding a grin. She looked up at her sisters words, and then smiled. She said, "Thanks Winter, that great, I'll take that now"

A bit confused, she handed the stack to Arianna, and then gestured with her hands to Jasper. Arianna responded with a minimal shake of the head. Winter shrugged. It would come out in time.

Jasper eventually got over his fear of Arianna and helped them make dinner. Then, after feeding their horses and unsaddling them, they went to sleep, each in his own tent.

                                                                      *_*_*_*_*

Arianna awoke. She sensed something was amiss. Quietly, she sat up, and then leaned forward, looking out the tent flap. She guessed it was about one o'clock, although she didn't have any real experience reading the moon. It was just a guess. She leaned out a little more and looked around. Everything seemed to be in order.

Then she heard a deep noise, and for a brief, terrifying second wondered if there was a large animal on the prowl. Then she realized it was just Iceblaze. The horse seemed to be troubled by something, looking out onto the road as if waiting for something to happen. Arianna knew that by now, she was wide awake, and there was no hope of her falling back asleep anytime soon, so she decided to comfort the horse.

She got out of bed, but kept her blanket around her shoulders, as it was quite chilly outside. She walked over to the horse and quietly brushed her down with a soft curry comb. She knew it was the horses favorite brush.

But for some reason, it didn't calm her down. Iceblaze turned her head around to look at her once, as if hopping it was Winter, but then seeing it wasn't, went back to staring at the road, nickering under her breath. This concerned Arianna. Iceblaze was never like this.

She brushed the horse a minute more, but seeing it did nothing to help calm her, put it away and went back to her tent.

Suddenly, a horrible doubt assailed her. Iceblaze was looking at the road; Iceblaze appeared to want Winter. Arianna started breathing faster, frozen to the spot a few away from her tent. Could Winter be....

She had to check. She turned and went to the tent closest to her, Jaspers. They were in a semi-circle around the fire, going from left to right, Winter, Jasper, Arianna.

She put her ear to his tent and heard his soft snores, so she knew he was still there. She sighed in relief. Then stood, ad with fear clutching her heart, she slowly walked over to Winters tent. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. Winter was her, she told herself. It was fine, nothing has happened. But she still had to check.

Holding her breath, she peered in the tent. And stifled a scream.

There was no one there.