Disclaimer: By the Dreamspeaker, this disclaimer is sooo annoying! I trust you all know what the disclaimer is, so I won't type it any more than I have to? For good measure, I will type it for this chapter anyway. I don't own UOB, nor the characters, but I do own the reproductions of the books, and the plot and whatever characters that are not previously known. THERE! Grr.

A/n: It has been waaay too long since my last chapter. I'm very sorry and apologize from the bottom of my heart. Hopefully, this chapter will be long enough to compensate for my absence. If not, you are welcome to complain in your reviews. I deserve them. OK, on other news, the fifth chapter is finally here! Time to find out just who the two men are! And if Ari and Finn are going to start getting together in this chapter! Who knows? I DO! And eventually you, too. Well, time to get going!

Btw, many thanks go out to the people who have reviewed so far! You have really inspired me to write more story this instant! As for those people who haven't reviewed yet, do so NOW! I would really like your comments and /or criticism on all of my chapters! Thanks!

Chapter Five: Identities Revealed

Arianna stepped into the Royal Mews with a grateful sigh. Anale and Frank had definitely been hard at work reorganizing everything, she noticed with a smile. Ever since the reinstallation of these two faithful servants two days ago, life for the Royal Unicorns had gotten easier and tidier. However, Sunchaser was the only one who the two had not taken care of the past day. But that was all right, for Chase preferred Arianna's touch anyway, and it gave the young Princess something to do. Right now, though, Arianna wasn't going to look after her Bonded Unicorn. She was in the mews to start packing for her journey.

She walked into the tack room and found the Sunchaser's saddlebags.

~*~*~*#

The two brothers strolled into the Royal Mews. They were much cleaner and were well dressed. The taller of the two even sported a clean-shaven chin. They surveyed the Unicorns that were in their stalls and politely chatting with them. The Unicorns they talked with looked thoughtfully after them, remembering when the Princes of Balinor had conversed with them. These two talked much like them, and also walked a little like them, although if they had been the real Princes of old, then their walking strides might have been the same.

What they had started out from the Royal Palace to do was to find the Princess and ask to go along on the quest to find the King and the Queen. The shorter one had overheard Runetta talking to one of the volunteers from the village talking about the preparations the Princess was taking for the trip to find the Royal Family. He had raised an eyebrow and hunted down his older brother to relay the gossip. Then they had set out to find the subject of the discussion and that's where they were now.

They walked by the tack room. The taller one stopped the shorter one and looked in on Arianna busily packing saddlebags, obviously for the journey. They watched her for a while before the younger brother cleared his throat nervously. She looked up at them and stared. They were like an older version of about sixteen years of what she imagined were the faces of her brothers, and they sure carried themselves like the Princes of Balinor. But then Arianna shook her head and listened as the younger man spoke.

"My brother and I heard that the Royal Princess was about to embark on a quest to find her family, and we were wondering, that is, if we could join."

His brother snorted. "We probably wouldn't be much help, considering that we haven't done any questing over the past years. I don't even remember how we got here from beyond the Sixth Sea!"

"You came here from beyond the Sixth Sea?" Arianna asked them. She hoped her face didn't betray her eagerness, for that was where the evil Entia had hid the Princes of Balinor.

Apparently her face hadn't, for the younger one only nodded. "Yes, and we had one heck of a time trying to find our way here."

"Well, wait a minute. We're forgetting our manners. I'm Bren, and this is my brother Tace. We were the Princes of Balinor, before Entia kidnapped us. So I think that makes you, Arian, our long-lost sister." Bren, the older (or younger? I don't know which) one said.

Arianna simply sat down and stared at her brothers. So long had she dreamed of meeting them again, and now here they stood in front of her. Both of them had gotten their longish hair cut, and both were incredibly thin, but they looked well enough that she recognized them slightly as the Princes of Balinor. But there was one thing wrong.

"I have no doubts that you are the Princes of Balinor and my long lost brothers, but where are the longstaffs that you always used to carry around? I don't see your Unicorns with you either. Now," holding up a callused hand to stop Tace from protesting, "I didn't say that you weren't my brothers, but I'm curious. The Lords Artos and Puckenstew would very likely accept you, but Lord Rexel would absolutely refuse to recognize you as the heirs of the throne that you are, and would demand proof that you are of the Royal Family. Believe me, I have gone through that, and I do not want anyone else to go through that again." Arianna sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "About going on the search for my-our-parents, well, I'll have to introduce you to Finn and see how he reacts."

"Oh, that's okay Arian. Considering the state that we are in, and that we just got here, and what Bren said about us not being any good, I think we'd be better off staying here. We have some searching to do anyway." Tace said, grinning.

Arianna smiled in turn. "Yes, that is a very good idea. One of the things that must be part of the proof for Lord Rexel should be a certificate signed by Dr. Bohnes and by a witness saying that you are the Royal Princes of Balinor. But first, inform the Lords Artos, Puckenstew and Rexel that you are the Princes, and if Rexel does indeed raise a fuss like last time, then go for the certificate. You'd have to take me with you, since I am the only one who knows where Dr. Bohnes is."

A clatter of hooves heralded the arrival of a Unicorn. Tace looked out curiously as a bird-like growling joined the hoof steps in the air. His jaw dropped as the Sunchaser stopped in front of the tack room. Odie the black cat looked up in surprise as this inconsiderate stranger interrupted her concentration just as she was getting ready to pounce. She growled again, hoping to scare this man away, but he just smiled lightly and nodded his hello, ignoring the still healing wounds peppering the little cat's body.

Bren joined his brother in the stable way. The Lord of Animals looked them over, seeing something in their faces that he was trying to remember, then he spotted his Bonded partner behind them, and everything clicked.

He said to his mistress, "Greetings, milady." She smiled back at him. Sunchaser turned back to the men. "Milords, it is good to see you back on the Royal Grounds again." He bowed his great neck, dipping his diamond-hard horn. With another growl, Odie slinked in a circle around them. Finding them satisfactory, she jumped on top of a stall door, whose plaque said, "Flier", then jumped onto Arianna's shoulder when she moved to the doorway. Then, and only then, did she say, "Hello, Your Royal Highnesses. I'm Odie of Ardit, and I am Her Royal Highness' protector." She stuck her thin chest out and waited for their response.

"Thank you, Sunchaser, and hello Odie of Ardit. You say you are my sister's protector? Then you must have been through a lot of adventures. I hear that Arianna has just come back from Terra Incognita and saved us all from the Kraken. Did you go with her on this journey?"

"Yep, that's me! I did go with Her Royal Highness to wherever you said, and I'm still here!"

Flier, sticking her head out of his stall, stifled chuckles of amusement. The wrinkles at the ends of his eyes crinkled anyway. Luckily, they were lost when Flier spotted the Princes in front of him.

"Your...Your Royal Highnesses? Are you really standing in the Royal Mews, in front of me? Oh, Dreamspeaker! Everyone, the Princes are back!"

Unicorn heads poked out of each stall, and each head whinnied their welcome to the lost and found at last Princes of Balinor. They smiled, happy to be Royal again.

Lincoln came trotting in, hearing the whinnying of the unicorns all the way outside. He joined in with the Unicorns at the glorious sight of the Royal Princes home at last too, then dashed away. Bren and Tace, wondering who this dog was, watched him go away with expressions of puzzlement. Arianna told them about Lincoln, and introduced them to Finn, who came running after Lincoln when he came back. Finn bowed very deeply, but Bren and Tace, they told him to call them Bren and Tace. Finn looked at Arianna tiredly. Arianna just shrugged and smiled sympathetically.

~*~*~*#

Runetta watched the two men go down to the Royal Mews. She felt happy that the Princes were back in Balinor again. After they had had their baths, and a proper meal, she had recognized their faces as an older version of those faces of the Royal Princes on the plates on the table. After they had eaten, she had quietly and purposely bowed to them as was proper and had taken their plates away. Then she had stashed the dishes in the bucket and was just now finished watching them disappear into the Royal Mews.

Runetta looked at the stack of plates and goblets waiting to be cleaned, and vowed to herself she would spread the news of the Princes' appearance around the village. That is, after she cleaned the dishes.

~*~*~*#

Arianna had a sudden thought. I had better find Runetta and make sure that she knows that they are the Princes. If she does, then I have to stop her from spreading the word.

And that's what she did. She prevented Runetta from gossiping about the identity of the Princes, telling her to simply refer to them as Bren and Tace. The village would find out for itself who her brothers really were. Eventually, when they had the ceremony presenting the Princes to all of Balinor once more.

A/n: I tried to make this as long as I could, but this will have to do. So, how was it? Rate it anyway you want and tell me. I would like some suggestions on how to start Arianna off on her journey, for I have no clue what I'm going to do on that particular subject. As for the match up between Finn and Arianna, that'll come another chapter. Right now, just the arrival of the Princes is enough of a topic for me today. Now, for those of you who have been waiting months for this chapter, SORRY!

! Plz?

Aleandra the Dark One