My father and I had explained to the Royal court everything that had happened, from the conversation with the messenger to the plan to keep the country safe. After we had finished, chatter had filled the room until Lord Kaede had silenced the members.

Lord Kaede rose from his seat and said, "Your strategy is very clever, my prince. Unfortunately, there are a few flaws to your idea as well. You say there is no way to avoid war but we have decided otherwise. Of course this is just one of our options just as yours, your majesty. A way to avoid a war is for you to just marry the princess. We do, however, understand your concerns about an assassination attempt against you from them. Our option is to put you under 24 hour servailance. I'm afraid we cannot allow even the slightest chance of the people being harmed. You are the future king after all. It is your duty to do whatever is needed to protect your people even if it means putting yourself at risk. Marriage between you and the princess is our only option. Besides, hurting your people just because of your own selfish ambitions is not a good enough reason to start a war."

I clenched my fists. I was angry. This was the Royal courts decision. They didn't seem to even think twice about it. The court members all stared at me, waiting for my response. I calmed myself and rose from my seat.

"I appreciate your time. I shall do whatever I see fit in this situation. You're right. I cannot allow my people to be hurt for my own selfish reasons. Therefore, I will do whatever is necessary. Thank you." I bowed and walked through the door.

My father followed behind me. I had walked all the way to the front door of the palace.

"Father, I'm going to go see a friend. I will be back before dinner." I said.

I didn't wait for him to say anything before walking out the door. I could still feel his eyes on me but I didn't look back. Before I could walk out of the front gate, my father was already running after me. I told him I wasn't going to need a limo or anything because I wanted to be left alone but that apparently didn't make any sense to him. Instead, he sent four body guards with me. If he hadn't, the trip there would have been a lot easier. Usually when I go into town on my way back home from school, no one would notice me. I was just like another person walking down the street but this time was different. Everyone was staring and even reporters would come out of no where to try and talk to me. Of course, the body guards wouldn't let them pass which helped but it was still annoying. I was going to see a friend and that was Emiko. Even if I was going to do anything different such as run away or anything, the guards would stop me. I knew if I went to Emiko, I could definitely trust her but I would have to ignore Drake because chances are, I wouldn't be able to think straight.

"We're here." I said.

The guards stopped and followed me to the front door. I rang the doorbell and Emiko opened it. The first thing she did was looked at the body guards.

"Can you guys wait out here?" I asked.

They nodded and started to spread out. I rushed into the house and shut the door behind me. Emiko just stared at me.

"Sorry." I laughed.

"It's fine. Anyway, what are you doing here this early?" she asked.

I looked at the clock and it was eight thirty in the morning. I hadn't realized how early it was.

"I'm sorry. I had a meeting this morning and I guess it started earlier than expected. I came here because I needed someone to talk to. If you're tired, I can come back later."

"No, no. It's fine. Come on. I'll make some tea. Is Jasmine tea ok?" she asked.

I nodded. She led me to the dining room and then walked into the kitchen. I waited for her patiently. The room was a good size and it was decorated nicely. There were some pictures on the wall that caught my eye. All of them were pictures of family members and one of them had a picture of Emiko and Drake. I saw another woman on there too but I had never seen her around the house before. I didn't remember Emiko mentioning anyone either. When I looked at the bottom of the picture, it looked like there was something under it. I started reaching for it but before I could grab it, I was pushed onto the ground. I hit my head on one of the chairs and grunted in pain. I suddenly felt something on top of my stomach. I looked up and saw a dog. It growled at me. I started to get up and it growled even louder. I was scared it was going to bite me. I was surprised Emiko hadn't heard it yet. I put out my hand and the dog sniffed it. It stopped growling and wagged its tail instead. I looked at the dog tag and it said Hiroto.

"Hiroto?" I repeated to myself quietly.

Hiroto waged his tail. He finally jumped off of me. I was almost able to get up until he tackled me again and this time started licking my face. I laughed.

"Hiroto! Down, boy!" someone yelled.

I looked up and Emiko was right behind me. Hiroto backed away. She pointed toward the stairs and he ran in that direction.

"I'm sorry. Are you ok?" she asked.

I nodded again and got up. I started laughing and she stared at me blankly.

"I've never had a dog get that close to me before. I didn't think they were so wild." I laughed even harder and Emiko laughed too.

We finally stopped laughing and Emiko set out a beautiful jade tea set. She poured the tea and sat down.

"Wait. Does that mean you have never even pet a dog before?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Why?"

"I've never had a dog and if I was out somewhere and a person's dog would try to get close to me, my body guards would always push the dog away and try to get me as far away from the dog as possible."

"Oh I see. Oh my gosh!" she gasped.

"What?" I got up from my chair.

"You're bleeding!" she said.

I put my hand on to my forehead and saw blood on my hand. I was just about to say something until the front door had suddenly flew open.

"Your majesty!" someone yelled.

I heard footsteps running toward the dining room.

"Oh. Shoot!" I said.

It was one of the body guards. I didn't know what they would think if they saw me like this and there was a big dog in the house too. I just hoped Hiroto would stay up stairs. Finally, the body guard ran into the dining room.

"Your majesty! Are you alright?!................. You're hurt!" he yelled.

I got annoyed. Thank you for stating the obvious. I thought. Luckily, only one of them had come in. The first thing he did was stare at Emiko and glared. He must have thought that she did it.

"I'm alright. Really! I just tripped and hit my head. It's ok. I'll just go wash it off." I smiled.

I started to walk toward the kitchen but tripped over my own feet which made it look like I was stumbling. I must have been having the worst luck that day. The guard immediatly ran over to me.

"I just tripped over my own feet that's all. Don't worry about me. Please. You can return to your post now." I said.

It didn't seem like he was going to leave. He was very persistent. It made me angry and feel even more embarrassed because I was being treated like a helpless little child.

"Your majesty, I really don't think I should leave you alone with the state you're in." he said.

"I'm not alone. Emiko is more than capable of helping me if I really needed it. Thank you for your concern but return to your post. That's an order!" I raised my voice.

He paused for a second and then left. I let out a big sigh of relief. Emiko just stared at me again.

"Um.... Come on. I'll get a wet wash cloth to clean the blood off." Emiko said.

"Alright."

The blood had run down the side of my face and onto my jacket. Emiko started to wash the blood off of my face and then she got to the cut. It stung a little more than I had expected but it didn't look too bad.

"I have a bandaid too. Here." she smiled.

"Thank you." I said.

I put the bandaid on and luckily, my hair covered it. I took my jacket off and put it over my chair. We both sat down again and Emiko seemed to have calmed down. She sipped her tea and looked in my direction.

"I'm sorry about that. They just never leave me alone." I said.

"It's ok. Don't worry about it. They're just doing their job. Besides, you're a member of the Royal family and the only heir to the throne. It's only natural that you be protected this much. Anyway, what did you wanna talk about." she asked.

I sat back and looked up at the ceiling.

"Right. I almost forgot. You've heard of the country of Shinso, right?" I asked.

She nodded.

"And you know of their king?"

She nodded again, "King Hajime, right?"

I nodded, "Our alliance with Shinso isn't a very stable one. If he wanted to, he could turn on us at any moment. He sent a messenger to my father the other day with a request reguarding me. I overheard their conversation after..." I stopped.

I couldn't tell Emiko about the arguement. Especially, because it was about her father. I also didn't want to have to explain the entire conversation and what happened.

"After what?" she asked.

"After I had talked with him about some of the documents in the castle library. It was just something that had to do with a former guard." I replied.

It had a sense of truth to it. Sir Drake would have been recorded in them and he was a former guard but even telling myself this, it didn't ease my guilt. Emiko just nodded and didn't ask about it.

"Anyway, that's not the point to why I'm telling you this. Hajime's request is supposedly going to help the alliance between Shinso and Ishikawa but I know that he doesnt just simply want a better alliance. He is a very greedy man and is always hungry for power."

"So, what was the request?" she asked.

"Hajime's request was that I marry his eldest daughter and he says that this would help Ishikawa greatly. If I know anything about that man, it's that he wouldn't want to help us unless he would benefit from it as well. The messenger had said that after the princess and I were married, Shinso and Ishikawa could combine and I would be the king of a great nation but that also means that the princess could have just as much power." I stopped and looked up and Emiko, who was very focused.

"Then, Ishikawa and all of the people are in danger?" her voice shook.

"Well, as far as I know, the people are not in danger. It's the nation itself that I am really concerned about. If I say yes to marrying Hajime's daughter, that means she would become queen. If she were to get me out of the way, Shinso would have absolute power and would be unstoppable if the two nations became one. I have a feeling Hajime is pulling the strings in this whole thing. The messenger made it very clear that Hajime was very impatient already and if I refuse to marry his daughter, it would most likely result in war. I don't know exactly what to do at this point. Whether I say yes or no, there is a gigantic risk." I sighed.

Emiko put her hand over mine, "It will be ok. I'm sure of it. Maybe the princess isn't like her father."

I smiled, "I have no idea. I've never met the girl. I wanted to talk to King Hajime myself but Arion had said it was a bad idea given his reputation. If he wanted to, he could have me killed while I was in his territory. It wouldn't be the first time he has killed a royal from another country."

"What do you mean?"

"During the first ten years after he had become king, the king from a neighboring country. and his son, had come to ask Hajime to marry his daughter, believe it or not. Hajime hadn't become king by marrying a princess. His father had died from some poison that was found in his drink. Whoever had done it had also put it in the Hajime's drink and the queen's too. The former king was kind of elderly and his body couldn't recover from the poison. The queen was very ill with the same symptoms that the king had too but she was younger and somehow she healed after a month. Hajime had almost died before his father had. He was having the worst effect from the poison. He had stopped breathing and was dead for about two minutes but after CPR, he was back. He hadn't woken up for about two weeks after that though. Unfortunately, his father had died while he was in a coma. The whole country had mourned the king's death and even Ishikawa had, but back then, the alliance was much stronger. The two countries had patiently awaited the result of the remaining royal family members conditions. They both survived but after the queen recovered, she had turned all power over to Hajime. Hajime's first priority was to find who had killed his father. It turned out that the person who had killed his father was from the neighboring country and when he was questioned, he said that a member of the royal family in the neighboring country had ordered him to do it but he wouldn't say who. Hajime was furious and when he had finally met the royal family from the country, Hajime had killed the king's son after being separated. It was a declaration of war and of course trying to get even with the king. Shinso had become larger from the country they had taken over after the war. Many lives were lost including the king and queen from there. The princess had survived but became Hajime's wife. Maybe he thought he owed the king that much but I wouldn't have the slightest clue."

I looked over at Emiko, who looked sad. She must have been thinking about something. We sat in silence until we heard Hiroto barking and growling as he came running down the stairs. He stared at the front door.

"Hiroto! Quiet!" Emiko whispered.

Hiroto didn't seem to even notice. I hoped that the guards didn't hear him but it would be hard not to. I had made it very clear that I didn't need their help. Emiko repeated herself again but this time louder. Finally, Hiroto stopped barking and lay down next to the door.

"So what do you think you're going to do?" she asked.

"I don't know. I have thought of a few options but that's why I came to see you. You did say if I ever needed to talk to someone I should talk to you, right?" I smiled.

"Right! You can count on me!" Emiko laughed quietly.

"That's good. I was thinking about leaving Ishikawa anyway and going to Shinso to discuss the situation at hand. I would just have to be careful not to slip up some how or let my temper get the best of me."

"You can't do that though. What if he does kill you? This country needs you. We all need you. That's a terrible idea. You can't just go alone!" I could tell Emiko was getting all worked up over this already.

"I wouldn't be alone. My father would never allow it. Anyway, my other option was to allow the princess to come here and stay at the palace for the time being. Then, it would probably be a lot less risky. If I went to Shinso with her, then there would probably be less of a risk but that would be decided later."

"If I were you, I would go with the second option." she smiled.

"That does sound like the easiest thing to do at the moment. I just hope it's the right choice. I'll have to let my father know about this and also have a meeting with the royal court as well. Thank you for listening. You were a big help."

Emiko smiled again. By this time, both of our tea cups were empty already so Emiko took them into the kitchen. I waited patiently for her and then remembered the piece of paper that was under the picture frame. Hiroto had fallen asleep by the door and it sounded like Emiko was washing the tea set. I went back to the wall and found the picture again. The piece of paper was still there. I knew it wouldn't be right to just randomly start going through their stuff.

"Emiko?"

"What?"

"Can you come out here for a second?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of the piece of paper.

Emiko stepped out of the kitchen with a towel in her right hand and one of the tea cups in her left.

"Who is this woman?" I asked.

She walked over to me and set the two objects down on the table.

"Oh. T-That's my mother. She.......," Emiko paused, "She passed away a few years ago."

Emiko's eyes started to tear up. I knew she was going to cry at any moment and, unfortunatly, I wasn't wrong. She had started to cry and I couldn't stand to see her that way. I didn't like seeing her so sad. She was normally very happy and cheerful. I stepped closer to her and wrapped my arms around her.

"I'm so sorry, Emiko. I had no idea." I whispered in her ear.

She rested her head on my chest and we stood just like that in the middle of the dining room. The only sound in the house at that point was the sound of her silent crying. I could also hear the sound of quiet tapping on the windows. It had started to rain, almost as if the sky was crying along with her. I had no idea that behind that cheerful face was such a deep sorrow. I looked down at her but I could see the tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"What's going on in here?"

I jumped but Emiko hadn't moved. I looked up to see her father standing by the stairs. Emiko raised her face from my chest and looked in his direction. His eyes went from Emiko and then shifted toward me. He didn't look too happy. I couldn't believe it. It really was Drake that I was looking at. The only problem was, I could tell he didn't recognize me and possibly couldn't even remember who I was. He had never looked at me with such anger before.

"Sir, I..." I tried to speak but Emiko cut in.

"I'm sorry. I started crying because I started thinking about mom and he was just trying to comfort me."

"Oh I see. That's the boy who walked with you the other day, right?" he asked.

"Yes. His name is Koda." she smiled.

I grabbed the box of kleenex that was sitting on the shelf behind me and gave it Emiko.

"Koda? That's the name of one of the royals, right?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Dad? This is Prince Koda." Emiko laughed.

"Is that right?" he asked, looking me up and down.

Her father didn't seem angry anymore which was a good thing. After all of this, I didn't think it would be a good idea to mention the piece of paper behind the picture.

"Well, It's a pleasure to have you in our home, your majesty." he bowed.

"There's no need for the formalities, Sir. Just call me Koda." I smiled.

He laughed.

"Well, I should probably get going. I must be home before dinner. My father would be worried if I'm not there. Thank you again for the advice, Emiko."

I opened the front door and it was pooring outside.

"It's raining really hard out there. Did you need an umbrella?" Emiko asked.

"No, but thanks for the offer." I smiled.

The moment I stepped out of their house, an umbrella was over me. One of the guards were standing outside the front door. He said something into a microphone that was attatched to his jacket and then the other three guards had come to the front with more umbrellas to shield me from the rain. Emiko looked surprised but then smiled again. Suddenly, my heart had begun to beat very fast. I had no idea why but it felt really weird. I waved good bye to the two of them and left. The feeling was there even after I couldn't see her anymore. Her smiling face kept popping into my mind. I tried my best to ignore this feeling. I couldn't even remember a time when I had felt this way. To get my mind off of it, I tried to pay attention to the road in front of me rather than getting frustrated over it. The press had caught up to me again but the guards kept the reporters and cameras away. They followed us to the gates of the palace until the gate had shut them out. I was actually happy to be home. The plan that Emiko had helped me decide on was one that I knew the royal court and my father would agree with. The only person left to convince now was myself.