DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related characters are the creations of Kazuki Takahashi.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: My humblest apologies for not updating this story in so long. Real life went crazy on both myself and my beta reader. To make up for it, here's a little status update on the progress of this story: This update contains chapters 10-12 and I've already started work on chapter 13. I also have the remainder of this whole story roughly planned out, as well as one major scene and the epilogue completely written. So it's coming together. I just need time to work on it. For those who are still reading after all this time, I thank you for your patience and hope you continue to enjoy it.

Hearts, Souls and Shadows
Chapter 12: The Plan Proceeds
By Shadow's Mirror

As the older boy was meeting the man who would soon become their ally, the younger boy was meeting someone new as well.

"You're not my sister!"

He blurted the words out without thinking, but the girl showed no sign of surprise at them. She merely nodded slightly. "She should be here soon. The guard who put me in here said she would come to question me."

The boy shook his head. "No, not that sister. My youngest" He paused as his mind belatedly realised something strange. "You know who I am." A slightly puzzled frown creased his brow as studied her more carefully. "I know you too do I not?" She looked familiar. He felt as if he had seen her before. Not just once, but so often that he knew all of her movements and gestures. Including the way she blushed, bit her lip and looked away from his eyes, as she was doing at his question. Only her voice was unfamiliar to him. He had seen her but she had never spoken to him before.

"I am a servant in one of the houses near your family's home." Her voice was very soft and the words came reluctantly.

The boy considered that for a moment before shaking his head slightly. "No, that is what you are but it is not who you are. It is not how I know you." He almost had it. He just couldn't quite place her. Then she glanced at him, clearly surprised by his words and he knew. "You are the one who has been watching my brother for the past three years."

Her eyes went wide and she blushed as deeply as a female could physically blush. "I I N-no I" She looked down at her lap and her hand automatically stroked the white cat lying there. "I am just a servant. I would never presume to" She trailed off and bit her lip again.

"To fall in love with my brother? I do not think that is such a presumption." The boy spoke very gently and was rewarded by her looking at him again in wide-eyed shock.

"I do not I would never" She shook her head vigorously but was unable to deny what he had said. She bit her lip again and looked back down at the cat she was petting. "I am but a servant. He is the son of a powerful magician."

"Considering the situation, I really do not think that matters anymore." The boy sighed softly and moved from his spot by the door to join her. He dropped onto the other chair there and looked at her, his mind racing. He'd been delivered to the wrong girl. How could he fulfil his part of the plan now? "I knew it was going too smoothly."

His words were muttered under his breath, but the girl blinked and looked curious. "Did you just say something?"

"Ah. No. Just thinking aloud to myself." The boy smiled a little. "So, how did you end up here?"

The colour in the girl's cheeks had been easing, but at his question it returned full-strength. "I was in the servants' quarters of the house where I worked. I could not sleep, so went to get a glass of water. I thought I heard something outside. I peeked out the kitchen door and" She bit her lip and looked at him with worried dark eyes. "Your father was stumbling along the alley that runs beside the house. I was too scared to approach him. Forgive me. I should have done so. He must have needed help." She looked down at the cat again, biting her lip harder.

"No. It is good that you did not approach him." The boy's voice was soft, but the sadness in it coupled with his words caused her to look questioningly at him. "A lot happened tonight and Father did not deal well with any of it. His mind" He looked away. Even though the man had tried to kill him as a sacrifice to the Shadows, he was still his father and he could not bring himself to speak of the fate that had befallen the man that night.

"Oh. I am sorry." The girl's voice was soft and gentle, but her hand on his was even more so, despite the rough calluses on it from her working life.

It was just a fleeting touch, but the gesture warmed him. "Thank you. So, you saw Father and what then?"

The girl nodded. "I stood there for some time, trying to work up the courage to go and see if he needed aid. Then I heard a group of the city guards go past in the street. I was going to go and ask them to help him but when I got to the street, I realised they had stopped at your house. I was worried something bad had happened, so I circled around and watched them from the alley opposite. Only I was caught." She blushed again.

"So were we. The guards seem to have had a busy night catching people." The boy smiled a little. "Thank you for being so worried about us. I am sorry you got caught up in all this." The girl shook her head but he continued on. "When my sister speaks with you, tell her your mistress sent you out for some sweetmeats and you were taking a shortcut through the alley when a guard stopped you. She will believe that. She has sent me out so late at night for the same reason." He grinned at her. She smiled back a little and nodded.

"Thank you. I will try that." She bit her lip. "What about you? You said you were caught too. You and your brother?" She blushed again.

The boy nodded. "Yes. I was supposed to be taken to my youngest sister, but the guard who was told that passed me off to another and was not so specific in his directions. When my eldest sister comes, she will be annoyed at finding me here, but she will take her anger out on the guard, not us. Do not worry."

"Oh, no, I am not worried about that. I just" The girl bit her lip and looked at him. Despite her words, her eyes held deep concern. "Why is your sister treating you like a captive? Your brother and other sister also?"

He hesitated, trying to form a reply. She spoke again before he could. "Forgive me. That was I should not have asked. It is none of my business." Her blush was back in full and she kept her eyes trained on the cat in her lap.

"I do not blame you for being curious. It is a strange situation." The boy smiled wryly at that understatement. "My eldest sister has fallen under control of the Pharaoh, who claims he will make her his Queen. She works with him now. Father has certain information the Pharaoh wants, so he is trying to keep him close. Perhaps he believes his children know the information also. Our middle sister has gone willingly with my eldest sister, but my youngest sister is here against her will, as my brother and I are."

He knew it was safest for her if she did not know the whole truth, but at least he had been able to avoid lying outright. Everything he had said was at least partially true. As he looked at her though, a simple servant girl caught up in the mess because of her love for his elder brother, his conscience pricked him a little. She was sitting so quietly, stroking the fur of the beautiful white cat lying serenely on her lap. It was as if neither of them had a care in the world, but he was sure that it was just a mask, at least in the girl's case. She had to be very frightened. It wasn't fair to her.

The cat looked at him with her large unblinking blue eyes and began to purr. It was a comforting sound that seemed to fill his whole body with warmth. For a time, he just basked in it, as a cat basked in sunlight. When the thought finally surfaced that time was passing and he needed to be doing other things, he was surprised at how difficult it was to shake off the urge to simply stay and rest. He put it down to his exhaustion. After all, it had been a long night. Surely the slight tingle of magic he thought he could feel in the air was just his imagination. "Um forgive me for asking but that cat is?"

His question seemed to surprise the girl, who blinked at him before blinking down at the cat. "Oh." She looked at him again and smiled. "She joined me on the way here and came in to keep me company."

"Nice of her." The boy studied the cat curiously. He had never seen one so pure white before, or with such fluffy fur. "She is beautiful." He could not resist the compliment, but the cat seemed uninterested in his assessment and simply yawned as if very bored.

From somewhere in the depths of the palace came a sudden burst of noise.

The two captives looked at each other in shared confusion as the noise swelled. "What is that sound?" Now at last, the girl allowed her fear to show. The boy shook his head, unable to answer her at first. Then he frowned slightly.

"It sounds a bit like a lot of people shouting."

As they listened, another sound rose over the cacophony. Someone was running along the corridor outside. The footsteps paused outside the door and a youthful voice spoke up, almost squeaking in his excitement and urgency. "The prisoners! They've escaped from the dungeon!"

"What? What are those fools there doing? Sleeping on duty? Fine. Let's go get the rabble back in their cages." The voice was getting fainter as the guard headed off.

At the footsteps, the boy had risen from his chair and moved closer to the door to listen. Now, he turned to speak to the girl and blinked as he found her right behind him. "Something has happened."

Despite his best effort, he couldn't stop his concern from creeping into his voice. This wasn't part of the plan. He wasn't where he was supposed to be, so what if something had gone wrong for his brother as well?

The girl nodded but smiled at him. "This is our chance. They said the prisoners were escaping. We should too."

He hesitated, the sense of that suggestion warring with his knowledge that doing so would completely ruin the plan. If it wasn't already ruined. He needed to know what was going on. But he also had to get to his youngest sister and get her away from there. That was his role in the plan. He had to see it through. It was better for him to stay there and have his eldest sister take him to their youngest sister. That would be the easiest way. He would never find her on his own.

As he started to shake his head, he realised that he'd hesitated over his decision for too long. The girl was no longer behind him. Instead, she was opening the door. He blinked and joined her. "It was not locked?"

The girl looked at him, grinning. "There was a guard outside and he was expecting someone to come and question me. He didn't see the need for locking it. When he left just now, he was in such a rush, he forgot. Come on, let's go!" She had slipped outside before he could even draw breath to reply.

Again he hesitated, his choice no longer as clear. This girl was in danger because of his family. He should at least see her to safety. Surely they owed her at least that much?

A soft warmth brushed past his leg. He looked down in time to see the white cat follow the girl through the doorway. She paused on the threshold and her tail twitched. Perhaps it was the way it which it resembled a 'come here' motion, but the boy felt the strongest urge to follow. He found himself taking a step before he made himself stop.

"I have to stay here. I have to get to my sister."

He wasn't sure what made him speak aloud, or if he was trying to convince the cat or himself, but he nearly jumped when the girl poked her head back through the door and looked curiously at him.

"If you have to get to your sister, then why do you have to stay here? She's not here so wouldn't it be better for you to look for her? The guards aren't the only ones who know where she is. The servants will know too. Servants always know." She grinned at him.

He found himself grinning back, despite the seriousness of the situation. Her logic was sound. "You are right. I will join you."

As he joined her in the corridor, he noticed she was looking around and frowning slightly. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh. I guess not. I just The cat's gone." She shrugged and smiled at him. "She must have run off somewhere. Come on, if we're going to find a servant to ask about your sister, we'll have better luck downstairs. At this time of night, there should be at least a few at work in the kitchens." She didn't wait for his nod before heading off.

Bemused by her change in attitude from the initially shy servant girl to someone who appeared to be rather enjoying this unexpected adventure, the boy started to follow her. He couldn't resist one look around for the beautiful cat, first, though. Although the corridor stretched for some distance in both directions, there was no sign of her. But he had the strongest feeling that she was nearby, watching them go. Shaking the thought off as being a ridiculous notion, he hurried to catch up to the girl.

"Do you know where the kitchens here would be?" He didn't see how she could know, but she was walking as if she had some knowledge of where she was going.

"It should be on the far left side of the palace. That's where the smoke from the cooking fires comes out. I see it all the time when I walk past the palace to get to the market." The girl grinned at his look of surprise, then admiration.

"I see. That makes sense. So we are now" He thought back to all the turns the guard had took while taking him to the room. " on the right side of the palace. The dungeons are likely somewhere in the back. If the prisoners are being pursued, that is where the guards will be. So we should stay as far away from there as possible."

The girl nodded. "We'll take the first turn we see, then head along the front of the palace. That should work."

As the two younger ones headed for the kitchens, the older brother and his newfound ally were also heading out.

They'd freed all of the other prisoners. Although most of them were weakened from the poor conditions they had been forced to endure, their anger had been strong. It had fuelled the physical strength they had needed to overpower all of the remaining guards on duty near the dungeon.

The other prisoners were now making their bid for escape from the palace. With the guards all focused on recapturing them, it was the perfect diversion for the two steadily making their way towards the throne room.

The young man had quickly recognised that Alasdair's plan was better than his own. He had been content to just wait for his sister to inform the Pharaoh that he was there, confident that she would and that he would wish to see him. But there had been no guarantee that he would do so, or that he would then challenge him to a game. This way, he could be sure of meeting with the Pharaoh and with no guards around, he would also have more chance to talk his way into being challenged. His plans might have been adjusted a little, but the overall plan was still workable. As long as his little brother got their sister out of the palace safely, everything would be fine.

In the throne room, the Pharaoh scowled at the beautiful woman who had just displeased him. "What did you just say?"

"I said my brothers are not dead. They are here. I sent the younger one to my sister. We can use him to make her see reason." She pouted a little as he waved his hand and gave her an impatient look.

"Yes, yes. I got all that. I meant the last bit. What did you say you did with your other brother?" He scowled more.

"Ah. I had him locked in the deepest, darkest cell in the dungeon." Akila arched an eyebrow. "Is there a problem, my Pharaoh?"

He smiled a little and motioned for her to come closer. As soon as she did, her movements eager and her expression the smug look of one who is sure that her pouts and beauty are enough to overcome any man's temper, he lifted his hand and caressed her cheek briefly.

The force of the slap that followed knocked her head to the side and drew a shocked gasp from her. He smiled coldly at her. "It is not your place to order my guards around as if they are your own personal servants. You are not Queen yet, my dear. You would do well to remember that. As for what you have done You have just ordered your brother to be put in the same cell as the only one who has ever survived a game with me. I am not sure that was wise."

As he spoke, there was a slight disturbance at the door. One of the guards came into the room and whispered something to the Pharaoh, who nodded and replied with a curt, "Deal with them quickly." As the man left the room again, the Pharaoh fixed his eyes on the woman still holding her reddened cheek.

"It seems the prisoners in the dungeon are trying to escape. The ones leading them are the two we were just discussing. What a coincidence. Although they do not seem to be with the others. Perhaps we should plan a little welcome celebration for them, in case they show up here." His cold smile didn't reach his eyes.

The white cat sitting in the corner of the throne room swished her tail and mewed but neither the Pharaoh nor his would-be Queen took any notice of her. She curled up for a nap as the two humans began to make their plans.

To be continued