Waves rocked against the ship. Ladislaya was hidden behind an old newspaper that was most probably outdated. Jake was carving a shape on the deck with a piece of bark - Wren was pacing to and fro frantically.

'Think you can stop that?' Jake said, gesturing to her. 'It's making me giddy.'

'Sorry,' Wren said apologetically and returned to Elias's side.

'We're almost there,' Elias announced. 'And this time, I mean it.' He grabbed his binoculars and squinted through them. 'In fact, I can see a tiny bit of land.'

Jake leaned in to Ladislaya and muttered, 'Sailor's delight. We're alreay running out of food!'

'See for yourself,' Elias said, throwing the binoculars over to Jake who caught it swiftly.

'Great, does this mean food?' Jake asked hopefully. Elias scowled.

The ship steered over and closer and closer towards Iridia. Wren could see a tall, towering flag waving in the air in the distance as they drifted closer.

'Boarding deck,' announced Elias. 'I'll just have to park the boat on the harbour and we'll get our stuff out. Find a motel and stay the night. How long are you kids going to be here for, anyway?'

'Er -' Wren said unthinkingly, glancing over at Jake. Jake shrugged.

'Perhaps a day or two,' Wren said quietly.

'What?' Elias said loudly.

'Maybe a day or two,' Wren said, louder this time.

'I don't think we'll be here for such a short period of time, will we?' Ladislaya perked up, frowning slightly.

'Well, tell him how long we'll be here then,' Wren said, sitting down on a little green stool as Elias reached for his tea which was settled inside a mug with the words 'I HATE MONDAYS' on the outside.

'Probably a week,' Ladislaya said swiftly. Elias choked on his tea.

'Watch it!' cried Jake, leaping out of the way.

'A week?' Elias shouted. 'A week? What are you kids doing 'round here that requires doing in a week? Dear Lord! Don't you have school and Wren, I suppose you have duties to carry out in the Palace -'

'Yeah, well my duty is to march around in frilly dresses and curtsy to everyone in the kingdom, including the palace guards,' said Wren moodily.

'Don't be silly, your dresses aren't that frilly,' Ladislaya said.

'I'd swap for jeans anytime.'

'Back to the point,' Elias said loudly. 'Even if you don't have duties, Wren; I do know for a fact that you three have school - you can't just go sneaking off to another kingdom like - does anybody know you're coming to Iridia?' he said, suddenly lowering his voice.

'Uh -' began Jake.

'- yes!' trilled Wren. 'They do!'

Jake looked surprised. 'They do?'

'They do!' Wren said, too enthusiastically. Elias raised an eyebrow. Wren hastened and pulled herself together. 'Yeah, well I've already told Odyssey and she's made it an exception.'

Elias raised his eyebrows higher. 'So she does know,' he concluded slowly.

'Yeah, so there's absolutely no need to go around asking people whether they know where we're headed off to and when we're coming back,' Wren said promptly.

Elias looked suspicious. 'What kind of things do you have to do in Iridia anyway?'

'That,' Wren said, puffing her chest, 'is top-secret business, Elias. You're not supposed to know.' She patted him comfortingly on the back. Ladislaya looked like she was trying to swallow her mirth.

Elias, still looking rather suspicious, turned back to the helm and continued steering the ship. Ladislaya grinned at Wren out of the corner of her mouth.

Soon enough, the ship docked the harbour. Wren, Jake and Ladislaya all jumped off the ship excitedly, loaden with their bags and things. Elias exhaled dramatically as he hopped off the ship.

'Right,' he said importantly. 'Got your stuff?'

'Yup,' Wren answered.

'Map?'

'Check.'

'Books, those that weighed a ton?'

'Check.'

'Clothes?'

'Got it.'

'Toothbrushes, toothpaste, stuff like that?'

'Yes.'

'Anything else you brought? Your compass, your extra bags of who-knows-what-in-it -'

'We've got it, Elias, there's nothing to worry about,' Jake told him.

'Right. Just checking.'

As Elias dealt with the people on the harbour, Wren and Ladislaya sorted out their bags as Jake feasted on a bag of chips. Wren fished out the map of Iridia and traced her finger along the map.

'We're here,' she said, pointing to a spot on the map that was labelled GORDON'S HARBOUR. 'Two,' she prompted Jake, holding out an open palm.

'What?' Jake said through a mouthful of chips.

'Chips.'

Jake stuffed two chips on her open palm.

'Is there any sign of motels we can stay in?' Ladislaya asked, looking at the map.

'Perhaps. They don't write it on the map though,' Wren said, crunching the chips. 'This one isn't very detailed ... we'll ask people if there are any motels or anything. Two.'

Jake handed her two chips.

'We'll split up,' Ladislaya said thoughtfully. 'That's a lot of streets and it'll take ages for all three of us finding a motel.'

'And what happens if one of us finds one and the other two of us doesn't know?' Jake questioned testily.

Ladislaya rummaged in her bag. 'Here,' she said, fishing out three keychains the shape of a megaphone. 'One for each of us.'

Wren let the keychain droop from her finger as she held it aloft in the air.

'It's a keychain, Ladislaya.'

'That's it,' Ladislaya said, practically beaming. 'I've put a spell on them earlier on today because I've already thought and double-thought over everything that we might need. So if one of us has a motel, we'll just talk to the other two of us through that megaphone, see?'

'Splendid,' Jake said, chortling as he pocketed his keychain.

'Brilliant,' Wren said, pocketing hers as well and clapping her hands together. 'So ... is Elias coming with us?'

'I don't think so,' Jake said, crumpling up his now empty bag of chips. 'Elias told me he'd be staying with the other fishermen here. He'll be setting off back to Argonian tomorrow. He's expecting fine weather.'

'Goodbye, kids¬' Elias shouted from the other side of the harbour. 'Don't get in any sort of trouble!'

They waved. 'We won't!' Wren shouted back. 'I hope so,' she added under her breath, but Elias was already walking away.

'Alright,' Ladislaya said (she was the only one who had not pocketed her mini megaphone), 'shall we get started then?'

'I'll go down these three streets,' Wren said, tracing down three streets on the map that was at the right-hand side of the map. 'Ladislaya - you go down these three -' she traced her finger down three streets in the middle of the map, 'and Jake - you go down the other two.' she traced the last two streets at the left-hand side of the map.

'Cheers,' Jake said. 'Meet you two later ... or in the megaphone.'

They set off, all three in different directions. Wren blew hair from her face as she went down the streets of Iridia. It was a little like Argonian, really - people jostled about in the streets, sellers jiggling bells and holding out money-boxes. Wren considered stopping at a bakery full of delicious-looking, tempting breads, but then hurriedly decided not to when a creepy old witch with no front teeth grinned at her widely and attempted to sell her loose tooth gums.

It was a merry sight, Iridia - buildings lined the pathways and Christmas lights were already hung on trees and several lamp-posts. Empty boxes and cardboards were thrown out on the pavement and Wren felt someone collide into her from behind, causing her to stumble into the boxes.

'Ow - watch where you're going - ouch!'

There was a clatter and Wren thought she heard the sound of something falling behind her when she straightened up. Brushing off dust from her skirt, she turned around, ready to face her collider when she saw no one.

'Help me up, will you?'

Wren peered behind a barrel. A young boy around her age was sprawled on the ground, propped up on an arm. Wren frowned and held her hand out to him, pulling him up.

'Why are you - bloody hell!'

She collapsed on the ground, next to him. Breathing heavily, Wren stared up at the sky.

'You're heavy,' she said, exhaling, 'very heavy.'

'I am aware of that, very nice of you to notice,' the boy said, raising his eyebrows.

He sighed; propped himself up on both elbows. 'Sorry for tripping you over,' he said apologetically.

'No problem ... just don't do it again.'

Wren sat up and cracked her neck. It took her a few moments to realize the boy was staring at her.

'Who are you?'

'What?' said Wren.

'Who are you?' the boy repeated.

'Shouldn't I be asking you that question?' Wren said.

The boy said nothing. He was around fifteen or sixteen; Wren was certain he was older than she was. He had blondish brown hair that fell down to his forehead gracefully that matched his light brown eyes. Freckles adorned across his cheeks. He had high cheekbones, a firm jawline and straight eyebrows Wren could have sworn they were aline.

'I'm Rafe,' he said, holding out his hand. 'Rafe Blackthorne.'

Wren took his hand and shook it. 'Wren,' she said.

'Just Wren?'

Wren hesitated the millionth second. 'Carezby. Wren Carezby.'

The boy raised his eyebrows again. 'Carezby? You must be the missing princess that has been found.' He winked.

Wren raised her head higher. 'So what if I am?'

'Relax,' Rafe said after a pause. 'You're from Argonian then, aren't you? Queen Odyssey's sister, Princess of Argonian.'

'Yeah, why?' Wren asked suspiciously.

'Because I was wondering what a princess would be doing out of the palace let alone her own country,' Rafe said swiftly.

Wren chose to ignore the second part of his statement. 'I'm allowed to be outside the castle, you know,' she told him.

'But outside? In another kingdom?'

'If I told you, would you forget the piece of information?'

'Why not?'

'I'm on a mission.'

'What mission?'

'Do you always ask so many questions?'

'It depends. What mission?'

'I've said enough, now tell me about you. Who are you?'

'No royal blood or lineage of any kind, I daresay,' said Rafe, averting his eyes from Wren. 'Just a commoner.'

Wren raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to one side. He was wearing a dull beige shirt which was half tucked into his jeans.

'Something wrong with that?' she said.

He looked up. 'Wha - no.'

Wren shrugged. 'Sounded like it was.'

'It ... wasn't.'

Wren stood up. 'Well,' she said uncertainly.

He stood up too, as if just realising he'd been sitting down. 'Uhm, so -'

'I'll just go,' Wren said. 'Now.'

'Yeah, you should,' said Rafe, the corner of his mouth turning up a little. 'Sorry for bumping into you like that though -'

'No it's fine, really.'

Wren began walking to her left and Rafe to the right. Wren raked her fingers along her red hair, frowning slightly, then -

'D'you know where I can find somewhere to stay the night?' she blurted out, turning around. Rafe had walked a few feet away but close enough to hear her.

'Oh, I ...'

'No it's okay if you don't,' said Wren, then immediately felt stupid. What do you mean, it's okay if he doesn't? she wondered, kicking herself. Of course he'd know ...

'I do happen to know a few actually,' said Rafe, biting his lip slightly.

'That's great,' Wren said breathlessly.

'Well, there's one in this town,' he said, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck - Wren caught a glimpse of a few rings shining from his fingers. 'The Coulhoun. Down the street. Left. Once you do, there'll be an opening of two lines, so just turn down the second lane and the inn should be ... around there.'

Wren turned around on a heel and faced a line of shops in front of her, dividing into North, East, South and West.

She turned back to the boy, who'd reddened slightly, making his freckles more visible now.

'I'll just show you,' he said. 'Not very good with verbal instructions.'

'Figured that pretty quickly,' said Wren.

'What have you heard?' Rafe's voice shifted a little.

'No, I - joking. I was joking.'

'O-kay.'

'I didn't mean for that to come out harsh.'

'It's okay.'

But Wren was definitely feeling everything was not okay, so she said nothing. Hell, were things awkward when she didn't have Ladislaya or Jake - especially Jake.

They started North, Wren feeling tiny as she walked beside him - he was another head taller than her. Things were becoming awkward, but Wren didn't trust herself to speak so the boy did.

'I'm sorry, I'm still very confused. You're here on a mission? I mean, you're the princess of Argonian, what kind of mission do you have to do?'

Wren hesitated.

'I swear I won't tell anyone,' Rafe said, raising his hand solemnly. Wren grinned. She felt she could trust him ... somehow.

'Er...the kind of mission that most likely is either going to have me killed, dying a terrible death, or suffering severe injuries, or facing worse circumstances I have never experienced in my life before - possibly a crazy dark witch who is not going to get over me anytime soon.' She grinned.

Rafe had his mouth slightly open.

'Wow.'

'That was a lot.'

'Yeah, that was a lot. So the Dark Witch is after you, and you're running into danger, and you know it?'

'Hang on, how do you know that Nicaea ...' Wren's voice trailed off. Rafe cocked his head to one side, holding his hands up as if saying I-thought-the-whole-world-knew kind of gesture.

'Yep. Sorry. Sometimes I tend to forget that practically the whole world knows that.'

'Heh. It's alright.'

They turned another corner again. 'I'm not going to pretend you aren't different from anyone I've ever met,' Rafe said, grinning slightly.

'How so?' Wren asked tentatively.

'Well ... you're pretty mysterious,' Rafe said after an afterthought. 'Most people, who knew they were in danger, would, and understandably so, try to run away from it. But you ... you're walking straight into the fire.'

Wren gave a small, uncertain smile. 'What can I say, the best way out is through.'

'The best way out is through,' repeated Rafe, stopping in his tracks and looking down at her. 'That's what my mom used to tell me.'

'Oh!' said Wren. 'Um ... facts live.'

'Real talk.'

'Yeah.'

'She doesn't, though.'

It took Wren a second to realise what he was talking about - when she did, she felt like somebody had pushed a sack of cold ice down on her, hard. 'Oh, I had no idea, I'm so -'

'No,' Rafe said flatly, 'don't be sorry. It's just a word to fill the empty air when nobody cares ...'

He looked away, his voice soft. 'When nobody cares what's underneath.'

Wren swallowed. She couldn't help but feel the weight of his words; she didn't know his mother, but one thing she could see was that she'd meant a lot to him.

'Yeah, it's just ...' she didn't finish the sentence. They'd started walking again. 'I get it; both my parents are dead too - or believed to be.'

'I guess we do have a lot more in common than I thought,' said Rafe, looking at her, the right corner of his mouth lifting a little. 'You're here, Rebel Princess.'

Wren looked at him, grinning. 'So I'm Rebel Princess now?'

'Yep. And you can be Danger Princess, or Fiercefire Girl.'

Wren raised her eyebrows and she couldn't stop herself from smiling in amusement. 'Fiercefire Girl? Really? How?'

Rafe lifted his chin. 'No idea. My mind just ran away on its own, deciding it suits you.'

Wren laughed. 'Well, I'll stick to Rebel Princess for now,' she said, grinning wickedly. 'Thanks to you, I didn't get lost on my way here!'

'On your way here?' Rafe's eyes sparkled. 'God, Rebel Princess, I don't think you'd even be on your way here.'

He held up a hand in farewell, spun around, and took off. Wren found herself staring after him for a couple of seconds, the wind in her hair before the man on the counter poked her with his walking stick and shouted, 'Oi, you! Here for a night or two? I haven't got all day, you know!'

Jake dropped a bag of chips.

'It was the only room available for three,' Wren explained for the hundredth time.

'Room for three?' wheezed Jake. 'Carrots - this is a room for one!'

'Two, technically,' Ladislaya said, dusting off the dust that covered the two beds.

'Why are there two beds?' cried Jake in bewilderment.

'Oh,' Wren said. She pointed to a mattress that stood against the dull-painted wall. 'Someone's going to be sleeping in that.'

NEW CHARACTER ALERT!! How you liking Rafe? What kind of person does he seem like? *suspicious*

Alright folks, if you liked this chapter, (which I hope you do) do consider clicking that Vote button on the top-right corner of the screen!! And don't, don't forget to share this story with your friends whom you think might enjoy :)

P.S: I know you're all desperate for the romance in this book/series. Don't worry about it. Book 1's a slow-burn, and I promise you there's uh, some, in Book 2 :)

ENJOY!