Where we left off: Sayuri had gone to the Prince's to bath and had gotten caught. He sent a soldier to tail her.

It was three days before Mali heard back from the guard he had sent to investigate the young girl who had snuck into his residence. In that period he had had much time to think up causes for her mysterious actions, others being more sensible, like she was just at one of those rebellious times he'd heard girls went through and she would soon get over herself. Others however leaned toward more sinister plots such as family problems that she didn't want him to know about. There was really no use even wondering, he knew that, though they provided a suitable time killer, because he would know soon enough from a reliable source.

It was on that morning during his early morning meal that the guard returned with news.

"Your highness!" the man yelled, running full sprint up to the prince even though as a mere foot soldier royal custom forbid him from addressing a member of the royal family unless spoken to first and certainly not while the person was eating. The morning was a bright one and Mali had to squint up at the guard until he knelt in submission at his feet. It wasn't particularly hot or humid either, rare during the dry season, so he was glad that there wasn't going to be a battle today from what the scouts had said. It gave him time to rest, since he had had little to no sleep for the past few days between the war and wondering about Sayuri.

"What did you discover?" Mali asked, ushering away the protesting serving maids, leaving only his most trusted handmaid, who had been like a mother to him after his mother had died. Hadi had always been there for him, unlike Ryui and Shala she had stayed unmarried and Juda had always respected Mali's wish to keep her with him at all times despite his uncle's offer of many young handmaids.

"She went to the infantry's camp, sir! She entered a tent and didn't reappear till morning!" the man exclaimed, trying to say his information as fast as he could. Out of the three of them, Mali was the most astounded by this; he was sure he had guessed correctly in her not being a prostitute. Hadi was just interested in why the prince even cared about some random girl that he had tailed. It seemed very out of character, even if he was very much like his father.

"Well then maybe she was a prostitute…" he considered aloud and rubbed his face with his hands.

"No, sir! I asked around about her and the other soldiers laughed at the prospect of her being a woman. They all thought that I had fallen in love with a boy. Apparently that woman is acting as a man." He protested. Mali dropped the strawberry, his favorite fruit, that he was about to put in his mouth as he heard this piece of news. His face began to go pale.

"What?" It was Hadi that spoke this time and the soldier continued.

"That is not all your highness, all the soldiers that have heard of her say that she is by far the best in the whole army! To them her name is Kuron." He finished and waited for his lord's consideration.

Mali's mind was in turmoil at that point, what had egged that petite woman into doing something as illogical and dangerous as disguising herself as a man and joining the army. Was something not right in her head or was she one of the few girls that wished to be like Ishtar? She wasn't a part of the Hatti tribe either, Hadi would have told him, so learning how to fight wasn't in her usual education. Either way the battlefield was no place for a woman, even if she was a superb swordswoman. If someone was to discover her…

"Alright, you may leave but do not breathe a word to anyone and don't try to engage in any kind of conversation with her." Mali sighed tiredly and the exhausted guard left hurriedly while the prince went back to his breakfast, deep in thought. He was surprised that Hadi let him finish his meal before beginning to question about his odd conversation.

"Prince Mali who is this person the guard was talking about?" she asked worriedly. The young prince wasn't usually someone to investigate a person and so she assumed that this particular girl must be rather important to have attracted his interest.

"I'm not exactly sure. Three days ago she somehow managed to evade all of the guards and sneak into my palace." He said absentmindedly. Hadi did not like this in the least. She knew the danger of someone coming in unannounced, even if it was a girl. She and her sisters had succeeded in poisoning Yuri. She also felt somewhat useless at this information. Along with being the prince's handmaid she had taken upon herself to be his constant guard, especially when he was still a small boy. The fact that someone had gotten close to him without her knowledge made her question her own competence.

"Prince Mali, she could have been someone sent to kill you! What happened to her?"

"I let her go. She had only wanted to take a bath and had no idea that this was my residence. She was completely lost. I asked her some questions but she evaded quite a few so I had that guard find out more. Was that wrong?" he answered.

"Well I suppose that was the right thing to do. But you should have called me so at least I could see her face and remember." Hadi answered sternly to him and he sighed in exasperation.

"She was scared to death of me Hadi. She certainly wasn't dangerous. I would bring her here again to talk if I didn't think she would be end up running off somewhere where I can't find her. She's so unique." He responded grudgingly and he got up and strutted to the gate. His horse was there waiting for him. It was a sweet mare that was one of Aslan's descendants. She was one of the best since Aslan but none of his children had ever become as good a runner as he was. Aslan still lived in the capital and Mali was the only one ever allowed to ride him and only if Aslan let him. If he didn't want to run Mali was off his back in one quick rear. One of Aslan's main mares was one of his father's former chariot horses. The other one was with his father at that very moment, wherever that was.

With the help of Hadi, Mali got up on his horse and buckled on his sword.

"Don't you worry Hadi. She is nothing that you need to be concerned about." He assured her and smiled gently at her before beginning off toward the city.

"Wait, Prince Mali! Where are you going?!" she yelled at him.

"To greet your nephew at the gates! Tito's coming today!" he shouted back and pushed the horse into a fast gallop.

-

Sayuri quickly stepped out of her tent so as to not wake the still sleeping Nairek, who had only gotten back from a night of drinking at the nearby bar a few hours before dawn. She stretched her arms and yawned as she looked out towards the outer walls of Ugarit. Today she was going to explore the city after watching the sun rise, something she hadn't gotten to do since they had arrived in the city. Since she had gotten her pay yesterday and had enough money saved for regular expenses she had pocket money to spend and a cool morning to lift her spirits.

After the unlucky encounter with the prince she had been terrified to think what would happen if he discovered her sitting there in the middle of his army acted as one of his own. No doubt he would have her beheaded for lying to a royal or sent someplace where he didn't have to hear or think of her again.

Soon after she'd stretched her aching muscles Sayuri proceeded to start off toward the entryway on the far side of the city. Whilst the bars and brothels would remain quiet for at least another hour before the guests staying the night woke up, the majority of the city was already awake and getting ready for the new day. A day where they didn't have to worry the day away about their husbands and lovers fighting and possibly dying in the outskirts of the area.

She could hear the stable boys pouring grain into the troughs of the military's steeds. At one point she had thought about buying a horse from the army but the foot soldiers didn't have a use for them because obviously they were on their feet unlike the charioteers. She had enough money to buy a horse but the housing and feed would be too much, even if the horse ate mostly grass with the others in the pasture. Her father had been planning on getting her one, but they had wanted to wait till they had built another stall next to his own horse's so that they had a place to put it. They hadn't gotten a chance to before he had left.

The other people who were outside were the merchants already stationed in the bazaar. They were working more quickly, rushing to get things organized and reorganized for a big day of selling. The bakers had been up the longest, baking bread and other pastries to sell but other traders were getting ready as well. Sayuri saw a few shops that she noted so that she would remember to come back and look at when they were open later.

For now she continued on her way, saying good morning to any passerby as she walked past. When she got there the guards recognized her and they allowed her to pass out of the gates so long as she would teach them a special sword technique that she had created herself to battle against multiple opponents. Due to the war the prince had ordered that no one be allowed in or out of the city from dusk till dawn. Since it was so close to dawn they thought they could cut a little her a little slack. The people of the infantry and even some of the people in the other regiments liked her.

When returning from a battle one day she had seen an oasis roughly a mile from the outer wall. She could get there rather quickly if she ran, and running would do a fine job of waking her up. Still it was times like then that she still wished she had a horse.

It took her a little over ten minutes to get to the oasis. It wouldn't have taken her even that long but the ground was rugged and there were hills in between that slowed her down. During that time she had been thinking about home and the people she had left behind. Her father might know she was gone, if Kikkuri had managed to track him down and tell him. In which case she suspected that he would probably be looking for her and she wondered if he would think about their earlier fight. She had told him she had wanted to fight but he had been so against it that she wondered if he thought she had the guts to do it. Well he would soon learn she most certainly did.

There was also Kikkuri's family. She felt guilty to think about how they had been put in charge of her but had been unable to do that. It hadn't been there fault that she had run away; they just provided the chance she needed to get away. It was easy to escape from the kind Kikkuri, but her father would have tracked her down before she had even gotten to the caravan that she had hitched a ride with.

There was also Tito. Before she had left he had kissed her and she had already decided to leave. She liked Tito, who couldn't really; he was so nice to everyone. But she didn't love him like that. He was more of a brother that was gone most of the time. They had been friends throughout their childhood and she still wanted to be friends, but nothing more. She didn't want what had happened to come between them now.

She got there just before the sun was about to peek over the top of the hill and so she sat down next to the shallow pool to wait. She cupped her hands and grabbed some water that she threw on her face and then drank the next cup. Finally she turned to just watch. That disk of soft orange light brought the warmth she needed to continue on this dangerous trek. She always loved the sunrise because no matter you would want to do to stop it, it would still rise the same as it had the day before, and the day before that. The sun had almost showed all of its beauty before she knew it. She now couldn't look at it without hurting her eyes so she decided to lay back down on the dirt and rest a little. The heat was no becoming evident and she wiped a bit of sweat off her brow and covered her eyes with her arm.

She sat there for almost two hours, thinking of nothing and thinking of everything. Images of the past were coming back. The war, her father, and the village she had grown up in. All of it seemed so small compared to right now. They were pieces of the past, things that didn't seem important when she was in battle.

At last she got up and brushed off. She wanted to have all day and so she started back to the city at a walk. It took longer than when she had run but it gave her a chance to look at the scenery. This was something she was also sad to have missed out on. She had been focused on earning her place in the army on their way to the city so she hadn't really been thinking about what was around them. The landscape here though was so much more different compared to where she lived though. And it was all new to her too. She had never been outside her village and the few surrounding it.

She was a few minutes away from the gates when there were hoof beats and the sound of a horse neighing somewhat nearby and Sayuri looked to see a silhouette riding towards Ugarit at a canter. She couldn't see who it was but guessed that it was maybe a messenger or a traveler in a hurry so didn't pay him any mind. It was certainly a man, he had short hair from what she could see.

She saw that person enter the gates, which had by then been opened to everyone, and lost him in the crowd. The closer she got to the gates the more people she saw. The guards that had been there that morning had been replaced by ones she didn't know but they weren't who drew her attention when she entered the fray of people.

It was the prince. He was sitting on his horse in the middle of a large group of citizens with the person who had ridden by her on the way back. It was Tito.

Tito was looking around in a distracted way and suddenly the two made eye contact and Sayuri felt her pupils go large. He shouted something that she couldn't here and started his horse toward her but she quickly shot off down a back path and into another street full of people. Sayuri had to dodge wagons and civilians as she made her way through and she didn't look to see if he was following her but instead ran toward the bazaar where she was sure she could get away, earning many annoyed shouts from the townspeople. She hoped that the prince hadn't seen her as well because then she would assuredly have the both of them chasing after her. She got to the bazaar quickly and slowed down. Slipping into the nearest crowd of people she disappeared.

-

"Tito what is it?" Prince Mali asked his friend whom he hadn't seen in months, since the war started. Tito had given a little yell a moment ago for no reason and had distressed the good people around them.

"Tha- that was her! Ah… your highness I have to go! I promise I'll meet you for lunch in the palace!" the man said franticly, observing the crowd with a critical eye and quickly jerked his horse and almost hitting some of the prince's admirers who had been trying to attract his attention with no luck. His took one last look at the prince, who shrugged in submission, and took off down the street with caution.

He was astonished to have found her so soon after getting to Ugarit. When she had left he was sure that her reason had been to join the army. He had first gone to the capital and looked for her there thoroughly but to no prevail. He had later learned that she had left with a brigade that he had missed by a few days. Ugarit was a large city so Tito believed that it would take quite a while before he even discovered her whereabouts. Yet with a stroke of luck he had found her just as he entered the city.

Soon he realized that Sayuri had managed to slip away from him. He had been chasing nothing for a few minutes. He swore under his breath, well at least he knew she was in the city. That meant that his search was over. Now he just had to find where she stayed, which if she was here meant that she had made it into the regiments. Which meant she would be in the army camp.

After making sure that his horse was properly brushed and watered he walked to the armies camp. There was a man sitting next to a tent and he walked up.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a boy who is rather short, has black hair, kind of perky…" Tito asked the man. He didn't expect to get much information out of him due to his weak description but maybe he would get a general idea of who Tito was talking about.

"Hmm… a small boy… You have to mean Kuron! He should be in his tent, Number 73." He answered but suddenly he seemed to get defensive. "What business do you have with the chap? We won't let anyone bully little Kuron."

"I'm not here to bully, just to talk." Tito assured him but the man continued to watch him suspiciously as he walked away down the rows of tents toward where Sayuri's was. He didn't stand out amongst the soldiers; some even knew him in connection to the prince. He was dressed simply in plain work clothes but he still felt as if he was in front of a crowd. All around him people seemed to whisper odd things, he kept hearing Sayuri's fake name. All of it good too. They kept saying how kind she was, how good with a sword she was. If she was trying to be inconspicuous she was doing a terrible job of it.

He looked up and saw the tent named 73. He wondered whether he should call for her to come out or to barge in. if he called her se might run at the sight of him, it was clear that she didn't want him to see her.

He lifted the tent flap and was disappointed to see that there wasn't anyone even in the tent. On the floor to the left was what he was positive were Sayuri's things. Her bag he knew because it had been his family who had given it to her for her twelfth. The palaces best leather workers made it of the finest leather.

"Who are you?" a voice asked and he jumped around to face the speaker.

"It's Tito, I'm looking for Kuron. I was told that this was his tent."

"It is. Kuron is teaching some men how to do different fighting techniques. He's taking on competitors right now." The man said kindly, flashing a smile.

"Thank you." Tito answered, rushing off to the towards the practice courts where the men would go to try out different things or just socialize.

"You're not going to beat him if that's what you're here for." The man shouted after him and Tito laughed quietly to himself and continued on. It was a very short walk and when he arrived he saw a tight knit of people in a circle surrounding two people. They were cheering but no bets were being made on the outcome of the fight. He could hear the clashing of two swords against each other from where he was standing, a familiar sound to his practiced ear.

He stood at the back of the crowd and but could still see the faces of the competitors from over the heads of the bystanders. It was assuredly Sayuri and some unknown militia man.

At the moment they were pacing in a circle around each other in a predatory stance. The man was already sweating profusely though he could see that Sayuri hadn't even worked up a sweat. She hadn't even gone into her 'warriors mind' where she could rule her emotion, actions, and her movements to the upmost of her ability. She could brandish her sword without a thought for the challenger.

Today however she was fighting in a sure, almost lazy way. As they continued to spare she spoke words of advice: where to stand, how to hold the sword, different maneuvers for each strike. The man was listening with keen ears too, something Tito was happy to see.

Tito made his way through the crowd just as Sayuri decided the man had heard enough and with a quick jerk, the sword went flying out of his hand and behind the crowd. He stepped back in defeat and thanked her kindly, his eyes glimmering in respect. Another man, who had seemed to be the self-elected referee, spoke then.

"Is there anyone else who wishes to take on our all-time champ? Don't be shy men, just step right up!" the man shouted, looking over the heads for perhaps a missed hand.

"I will." Tito said and began to take off his outer shirt to allow more freedom of movement. He then proceeded to unclip his sword from his side as he pushed past people into the ring and wiped the blade for good measure on his pant leg. The men were looking at him in shock, though they had once believed they could beat the small boy themselves. He turned to Sayuri who was standing at the far side of the ring and looking as if she was considering bolting. Her face was very uncertain and in thought but it soon turned back to its normal expression. She would entertain him with this and then would ambush him or perhaps flee. Her hair was more boyish from the last time he saw her, going barely down to her chin but he thought it was kind of adorable. The way she walked and strutted had also taken on a on a man like quality.

"Are you ready?" the moderator asked and they nodded.

"Then begin!"

Tito immediately jumped at her, bringing the blade swinging down towards her face. She was forced to make a quick block, deftly returning the strike with one of her own. She wasn't surprised at his quick action, she had spared with him long enough to know he was usually the one to strike first. She continued to simply counteract his swipes as she asked him the question she was already quite sure of the answer to.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered quietly so the watchers couldn't hear her. Her expression had turned worried and he smirked playfully, whispering just as softly.

"You've got to beat me to find out." He said softly and slashed at her. Suddenly he saw her body change, she had begun to get serious and he knew she would soon beat him. Defense was soon his only choice and the crowd began to get rowdy and cheered loudly for her. In the time she'd been there she had completely entranced them. He jumped when she almost sliced his arm and tried to hit her legs, which they both knew he would never do but he hoped to create and opening; it didn't work however and only allowed her to swipe near his head so he had to block.

He made one more desperate attempt to wade her off. She attacked furiously then and somehow easily got her sword hilt under his and jerked up, pulling it out of his hands. His sword went flying and he was knocked off of his feet.

"And the winner is Kuron again!" Someone yelled and Sayuri offered him a hand up. He took it gratefully and was a little ashamed of how short the match had been. He had hoped to play along with her a while longer but apparently she really wanted to get rid of him. She shouldn't have worried, it wasn't as if he was going to tell the soldiers of her secret unless he really wanted her to get hurt. Jerking his head in the direction of the entrance to the bazaar he left and began to walk there, expecting her to follow.

Immediately people began to swarm her, asking for rematches and congratulations. She calmly told them she was tired and wanted to take a rest but promised them that if later they still wanted to spare she would be happy to oblige them. They left unhappily and she rushed after Tito, catching up to him quickly.

"Tito what are you doing here?" she questioned. He grabbed her arms suddenly and clasped them to her sides. She was trapped and couldn't move which scared her quite a bit. She trusted Tito completely though, something that he wished she was a little wearier of on occasion.

"I'm here to look for you and serve his highness. Of course that really doesn't matter. It is what you are thinking." he exclaimed. She pouted at him, her lip bulging out and making her very irresistible…to everyone but him at the moment.

"Oh, no you don't. That won't work on me. Now tell the truth or I'm dragging you home right now by your hair which I noticed is exceedingly short." He threatened.

"Fine, fine. I wanted to be in the army but Father wouldn't let me so I decided to go when he wasn't home! He doesn't even have to know. I'll be back before he even gets home." She explained and Tito noticed that there was nothing but sincerity, making Tito almost laugh at her. She really had no idea what she'd just done.

"You really don't think you've done anything wrong do you?" he asked in disbelief.

"Of course! He is going to kill me if he finds out and I'll probably never get to leave his sight again but it's worth it! I'm doing something great here Tito! I am assisting in something I do well and am really making a difference, I know it. Would you take me away from that?"

"You think your father's wrath is the worst thing you have to deal with? Sayuri, you are a girl in an army of men. If you were discovered you would be raped, beheaded, or worse!"

She was about to come up with something to say against that but then stopped.

"What could be worse than that?"

"Ah…well… okay I just put that in for dramatic effect." He said. She stared at his for a moment and then shrugged.

"I know that could happen! And the prince's army isn't allowed to harm women."

"But the enemy's army is not. If the Egyptians were to capture you there would be no one to save you. It's a miracle no one has found you out by now!" he said angrily and Sayuri looked down in shame. She had worried them all just so she could do what she believed was her duty. Somehow though she knew she would still be here, even if they had begged her to stay.

Then her face blushed crimson. Someone did know she was a girl, even if he didn't know she was a soldier.

Tito guessed though.

"Sayuri…no one knows you're a girl, right?" he asked dangerously.

"Well…" she said timidly.

"Who knows Sayuri?"

"Okay fine! I needed to take a bath but couldn't find a private one so I went into the biggest building I could find, thinking that someone wealthy would have a private bath. I didn't know that it was actually the prince's palace!" she exclaimed. Tito's eyes widened. She went into Mali's palace and she was still in the army. This had to be some sort of jest.

"And what happened?" he managed to ask.

"Nothing really. He does know my real name but he didn't find out I was in the army." She said simply, as if it wasn't a big deal. Neither of them knew just how big it actually was.

"And that was it? Nothing else?" he wondered. He didn't know the prince to pass up on a girl.

"That's it." She said. Tito shook his head. This day had taken too much out of him. He really needed to go rest before dealing with this impossible girl.

"Please promise me you won't do something so dangerous again and that when this war is over you will never leave unannounced." He asked

"Sure." She lied. When this war was over she would definitely go back to her village. When the next war broke out though, she would go back to the army because that is what she knew would help the prince and the country the most.

I'm not going to bore you with apologies. I think we all know that our lives are busy and though i have no excuses for not writing this over the summer i think you would rather have me be writing chapters than really long apologies. but im still really sorry.