Devil in Disguise

Within the small town of Nodame, a young princess is escaping her fate. Nodame was on the east side of the country of Hime. To the west of the city was the ocean, large and pale blue. The town itself was made of large stone buildings and cobblestone roads. People of all sorts piled into the city on boats and from carriages from the east. Behind the city were tall hills that extended until the horizon met large, great mountains. Hime had been plagued by war. A war that stretched through all four regions of the country and brought the people of Hime to despair and poverty.

"What are you even doing here?" A tall girl demanded. Our young princess rose. She was a tall, red headed girl that stared at her opponent with dull grey eyes.

"What does it matter to you?" Hoshi, the princess of our story, questioned while looking back down to fix her shoes. Hoshi had had run away from her home almost five years before, wandering from town to town, and she had already learned the skills of being an orphan. Nodame was her most recent and longest lasting settlement, which was lasting her two months.

"Well, we are in charge." The first girl Calonia snapped. Her long blond hair was more brown than gold. Her clothing was tattered, as were all of their clothes, and she seemed to have had a rough life. "We are the ones who determine if you can live here or not." Hoshi turned away, the shame making her heart hurt.

"Well you haven't been doing your job very well." Hoshi said as she tied her long red hair away from her face. Hoshi didn't talk much, which is why the others found it hard to be around her—the others being the few girls and boys who had lived there in the broken down church. Hoshi wondered why they were bothering her now. Suddenly she was being questioned after weeks of silent compliance. Why? What was it about now, today, this very moment that made them wonder why she had picked this place to be her home? Then again, she wondered the same thing. Why stay in this place? Why stay so long? Turning to the door, Hoshi ignored the rather dense and annoying girls and started out of the church.

"Where are you going?" Calonia's second in command, San, demanded to no avail. Calonia said something with a dangerous sneer and turned away. Hoshi continued to walk out. It wasn't rare that they said things to her and it was even rarer that Hoshi actually cared. She grabbed the cloak that sat on the floor near her stuff, which she gratefully tucked away from all eyes, and quickly left the sanctuary.

"Hoshi?" A small child ran up to her, making her turn. Looking down at the boy for a long moment, taking in his small frame and shaggy black hair, Hoshi turned and continued down the cobblestone streets. "Hoshi, take me with you!"

"Shadow, I can't." She said simply, her eyes focused on the ground in front of her.

"Why? Come on! I'm already ten years old! I can steal as much as you can!" The boy stood in her way, his hands on his hips. Since Hoshi had moved to this town, another drifter, Shadow, had attached himself to her. The boy had pale black hair and dull blue eyes. He stood shorter than her but they knew he would put up a good fight if there ever were one between the two. He was an orphan all his life. Never understood or knew love, never felt a compassionate hand or an understanding ear. He didn’t comprehend that there was good in the world. She had tried to show it to him but it made him weak and it was dangerous to be weak.

"No." Hoshi said as she walked around Shadow.

"Hoshi," Shadow said as he grabbed her arm and followed along.

"I'm not going to baby sit you anymore." She told him, pulling her arm away. She had to be stern with him. He had to learn that he wasn’t going to be able to rely on her anymore. She had been planning to leave for days, unsure how to break it to Shadow—the one friend she had found in the entire place. "I'm going to get food. Don't ruin this for me again." She turned her grey eyes to him and that was the only reminder he needed that he had messed up one too many food missions for Hoshi. She placed the hood over her head of fire red hair and started again towards her destination. "Go away Shadow. I mean it." The boy crossed his arms over his chest and took off in the opposite direction. Hoshi jumped up to grab the top of the side of the building and pulled herself up. Carefully, Hoshi moved across the roof of the small building until she found the perfect shop just below her. It sold bread and that was the best in all of Nodame.

"Bread! Fresh, home cooked bread!" The seller shouted. "Best in all of Nodame!" Indeed, Hoshi thought to herself. Best in all of Nodame…Before Hoshi could drop down and distract the bread seller, a team of cars pulled through the city that was so poor a car was pretty much the most exciting thing the entire country probably had ever seen. She watched them carefully—the cars that is—and watched as the bread seller moved away from the stand to get a closer look at the cars. They were dirt brown, which probably made them hard to see in paths along the mountain border. They came far from a different country, that was clear, and everybody who had mobility was moving towards the mysterious objects.

News spread like wildfire and by the time Hoshi was able to drop down to be unseen by peasants trying to get a better view, the streets were so flooded with people she couldn’t even move to grab the bread that were waiting to be eaten. Three large men walked out of the cars, all wearing black suits and ties. The people muttered quietly amongst themselves, all of them contemplating why these suited men would arrive at such a time and what they were looking for. They commented on how well they looked and how rich they probably were. They suddenly started speaking a strange language that made everyone roar with life. They wanted to know what they were saying, wanted to know what was going on and the fact that the language was so different, they were scared that they came to harm. A slender young man, the one who was last to exit the vehicle, lifted his hands to silence the crowd. He smiled pleasantly and the people stared silently.

“We’re looking for a young woman,” he said in their language. “She has bright red hair, dull grey eyes and is very tall. She would have wandered in a few months ago.” The town began to murmur. Hoshi ground her teeth, pulled the hood tighter over her head and moved passed to grab a loaf of bread as she tried to find a way up to the roof tops.

“Hoshi,” a loud whisper called to her. She found Shadow not too far away in an alley, hidden by the shadows. He was good at hiding but he needed work and training. She nodded to him and quickly moved through the remaining citizens to hide in the alleyway. “They’re looking for you,” he said softly, sneaking a look at the men. She nodded a little and did the same. Shadow’s hood was over his face as well and he hid better than Hoshi did. “Why?” She sighed a little and pulled Shadow away from the light.

“Would you like to come with me? I have to leave here now. Move to the next town and the next one until it is safe. Would you like to come with me? We can get all the food you’d like, I can teach you about living on your own, and anything else you want.” She glanced out at the crowd and they were almost at full roar. “If you don’t want to that’s fine but I need to know now. I need to leave now.” Shadow licked his lips and nodded.

“I’ll go with you.” She smiled a little at him and nodded before looking at the roof.

“Alright, we’ll use the rooftops to get to the church. I need to get my things and we’ll steal some horses and get moving out of the city.” He nodded and stared at the rooftops. He and Hoshi made their way to a few boxes, on which Hoshi stood and boosted Shadow up before following him along. They moved quietly and swiftly on top of the roofs and when they reached the church, Hoshi dropped down first, landing quietly and stayed crouched out of the light. She watched from where she squatted as the people in the town were trying to find her. She looked up at Shadow and nodded for him to jump down.

“Are you sure?” he whispered loudly.

“You can trust me with your life, Shadow. Jump.” He paused for a long moment and after swallowing, counting to ten, and stepping back a few paces, he jumped off and landed in Hoshi’s arms. She smiled at him and placed him down before pressing her back against the wall of the building. “Alright, let’s move quickly.” Shadow nodded and the two of them quickly ran for the church. When they entered, San and Calonia were talking to the suited men. Cursing, Hoshi moved quickly to the shadows of the church, hidden behind broken statues and pillars. She had to move to one of the upper floors where she made her bed and hid her things.

Quietly and quickly, she climbed a pillar that wasn’t too high and swung over the ledge onto the second floor of the church. She crouched down and moved her way through the level to where she slept behind a large organ. She had to move it, yes, but it was secure and safe and no one would find her. She hid her things in the base of the broken organ and just as easily as she put it in there every night after assuring herself it was there, she took it out and slung it over her shoulder. She didn’t bother to push the organ back to its original spot and searched for Shadow. He was standing by the door, talking to a strange man who was yelling at him. She frowned, snuck around the back way and climbed down to find a way to grab Shadow. He turned to look at the darkness where she was and smiled a little when their eyes met. He nodded and looked up at the man. He began to cry hysterically. The man who spoke their language ran to him quickly and began to ask what was wrong.

“He’s yelling at me!” shouted Shadow. “Yelling!” He ran suddenly, away from the two men to the darkness. “Quickly,” he whispered as he pulled Hoshi through the darkness to the backdoor of the church and out into the street.

“Did you get your things?” she asked him. He nodded silently and led her through the streets. Everywhere they turned another man dressed in all black seemed to appear. She cursed, as did Shadow, and they stopped to conspire.

“The nearest place with horses would be the inn,” Shadow said softly. “I could bet you anything that the dark men are there too.” She nodded.

“I’m afraid you’d win that bet,” she said softly.

“Hey you there,” a low rumbling voice said. “Have you seen this girl?” The accent was broken and sloppy. He was probably told the phrase in a mass meeting.

“No.” she snapped as she pulled Shadow away.

“Hey you, have you seen this girl?” he repeated as he began to run towards them. Shadow and Hoshi began to run, the man not far behind them. He shouted something wild and foreign into a strange machine. More voices were suddenly coming from around them and Hoshi cursed loudly before grabbing Shadow’s hand and pulling him into another alley to climb onto the roof. Shadow was dragging behind, making Hoshi turn to get him, pick him up and carry him across the rooftops.

“Please!” another man shouted. “Stop! We can talk this out!” Hoshi glared at the man who spoke their language with a horribly accurate accent and continued to run as fast as she could across the rooftops. His hair was a brilliant gold color. He looked too formal to know her language. She slid to a stop as she met her downfall; a gap. She was usually good at jumping but that was with two hands and a small jump. This task was about six more feet wide and she had to use one hand. She put Shadow down and had him go on her back.

“Hold on tight,” she said softly. He nodded and grabbed her tightly around the neck. She nodded as well, backed up and took off running as fast as she could. She jumped and landed barely on the edge, her hands clinging to the wall for dear life. She tried to get good footing but the wall was too smooth. “Shadow get off.” She snapped. “Climb over me and get on the roof. Run and don’t stop. I’ll catch up.” He shook his head.

“I can’t do it, Hoshi.”

“You can!” she shouted. “Get off and go! I know you can and I have confidence in you. Now go!” She looked below her at the men who were trying to break into the house. Shadow was climbing over her, his foot on her shoulder. He pushed off and landed on his elbows, which he used to scramble up to his feet. He ran, shakily at first, but straightened out and continued to run as fast as he could—which still wasn’t fast enough—across the roof. Now that the unneeded weight was gone, Hoshi managed to pull herself up and get onto the roof as well. She ran and soon caught up with Shadow. The men were busting onto the roof as Hoshi and Shadow got halfway on the roof. She and Shadow slid to a stop and turned around to run back. More men were coming across the rooftops. She began to climb down the side of the roof but they were surrounded.

“Princess,” said the man with his perfect accent. “Please, we need your help.”

“Hoshi?” asked Shadow. “What is he talking about?”

“Hush now,” she muttered as she hid him behind her. “You mistake me,” she said sternly. “My companion and I would like to leave town. We are orphans, you see, thieves by trade and we would like to leave in peace in exchange for whatever you wish,” The man sighed.

“Why do you wear a hood then, orphan thief?” he asked. She glanced at the people around her and lowered her head ever so slightly defensively. “Why is your accent different than most here? What are your origins, orphan? What happened to your parents?” She remained silent, biting her tongue to hold back a bark.

“Hoshi?” Shadow asked once more.

“Princess Tiri, we need your help to defeat a very dangerous evil. Will you join us to save people’s lives?”

“It is not my responsibility to save people. I am no princess.”

“You are,” he said. “Only the people from far north have red hair. Young one,” he called to Shadow. “What color is this girl’s hair?” Hoshi turned her eyes to the boy. He looked at her and then at the man. He was silent. The man frowned in annoyance. “Young one, don’t you want to know who that person is? Shouldn’t she tell you about herself? How can you be someone’s friend if you lie to them?” Hoshi turned her grey eyes down to Shadow’s blue eyes and he straightened ever so slightly.

“Hoshi is my friend. I do not need to know her past. All I need to know is that she will protect me and help me when I need it. Friends are not meant to share their whole life with you. They are supposed to help you enjoy it while they’re in it. Hoshi has done that.” He moved to stand in front of Hoshi, his arms out to protect her. “Princess or not, Hoshi is my friend and you will not take her if she does not want to go.” Hoshi smiled at Shadow and placed her hand on his shoulder gently.

“You are far too dramatic, young man.” Said the man in the suit.

“Shadow,” Hoshi said, “I think it’s brave of you to protect me like this. Thank you. Man,” she said as she looked up at him. “Lead us away. I will go with you. If you bring this boy to the northern castle and have him safe.”

“Hoshi!” Shadow said. “You can’t put me away. I need to be with you to help you! You can’t do everything yourself.” He, too, turned to the man. “I am going with her. If you take Hoshi I will find a way to get to her.” He looked at her and blushed a little. “Will you be my tella?” A smile broke open on her face. She nodded once and held out her hand. He smiled placed it on his forehead. She looked up at the man.

“Okay.” He nodded back and looked at the men, who moved slowly towards her to take her arms behind her back.

“Hey!” snapped Shadow.

“Shadow,” Hoshi soothed gently. “It will be okay.” He paused but nodded and allowed the men to take him in custody as well. They moved from the roof to the main street. “Man,” Hoshi said. “I am in need of one more thing. Tell your men to let me get it.” He hesitated. “They can journey with me. It’s not far. If they can keep up, it will take only a few minutes.” He nodded and Hoshi looked down at Shadow. “I will return to you shortly, Lantor,” She bowed to him slightly and turned to the men. Nodding, she walked forward until she was near a rooftop. She jumped up easily and looked down at them. “Come along men!” she said to them laughing. “You must be able to use the rooftops to follow me.” They looked at their commander and when he rolled his eyes and shouted something at them, they moved away from the wall to stand near Shadow. Shadow had his eyes fixed on Hoshi. She winked at him, pulled her hood tighter over her bright red hair and ran across the rooftops with the agile ability she always had.

The man did his best to follow her but he was slow and lacked her grace. She stopped running at the edge of a building and stared down at the ground. He caught up with her a few moments later and she turned her cold grey eyes to him.

“What is this?” he asked as he panted.

“Wait here,” she instructed as she dropped down gracefully. Landing softly on her hands and feet, she glance down both ends of the alley and moved forward slowly, still on her hands and knees. Carefully, she pulled a long, cloaked object from a hidden place and put it on her back. She straightened, fixed the object and climbed back onto the rooftops.

“Why do you use the rooftops?”

“It is easy to see one’s enemies and faster than streets.” She said as she walked passed him. “They are full of people buying things, selling things, stealing things. Here, no one wants anything from you.” He hoped across tiles and she sighed. “Do not hop. The roof is not a toy. It is a structure. Feel it. Understand it. Move with it. Like the water, we must be able to dance with it, walk with it. Do not assume you are better than it for it will push you without regard.” She walked as easily on the shingled roof as if she was walking on solid earth. She dropped down between the houses and he ran to where she was. She was calmly walking away towards the men and Shadow. He sighed and tried to figure out how to drop to the ground. “Just jump. Why leave the earth to join the sky without intending to come back?” she asked as she smirked.

“Silence!” he shouted at her as he fell to the ground, his suit getting dirty. She laughed, as did Shadow, and looked at the men. They stared at her strangely. She sighed and looked at the man who was coming towards them. He said something foreign and they moved towards her. She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and they looked at the man. “They will bring you to the cars and we will go to the plane. We need to get you back before it’s too late.” She nodded and looked at Shadow.

“Stay close, Lantor,” she said. He nodded and walked to her side so he could follow the men with her. He squared his shoulders and walked towards the mysterious black carriages with a single-minded determination that he would not let his tella down. She kept him close as she entered the strange vehicle. The object she had recovered sat in her lap neatly and safely. She kept a solid hand on it while the other was on Shadow.

“What is that you’ve got there?” asked the man. She stayed silent. “What is a Lantor and a Tella?” Neither of them spoke, causing the man to grow frustrated. His cheeks were still a bright pink from running after Hoshi. His golden hair was askew and every so often, he tried to push it back into place. “Princess, please. We are not trying to harm you in anyway. Just asking for your help.”

“I told you,” Hoshi said. “I am no princess. I am an orphan. You are obviously going to keep pushing this so I’d like to clear this up as quickly as possible.”

“You are among friends here, Princess. No need to lie anymore.”

“I know not those men,” she replied.

“These men have no idea what we are saying! It is gibberish to them! Please, I am your confidant and friend. I will not harm you.”

“As man have said before you, Man. I shall not make the same mistake again.” She repositioned herself to sit straight and proper. “Now what business do you have with a princess?”

“We are facing a problem, my colleagues and I, and we need the princess to help us defeat this evil. A powerful demon has come to our attention and your family—My apologies, the princess’s family, has been known to have the power to defeat this demon.” Hoshi’s face hardened.

“And what do you think this princess can do? You think she has the power to save you?” she asked as she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. “Luckily for me,” she said. “I know nothing of these powers.” The man nodded.

“I don’t know your name,” he said as he held out his hand. She sneered down at it.

“You need not to know my name. But I’d like yours.” He smiled a little and changed dialects. It was raw and broken but Hoshi knew it. It was a language from the south, far south, and she had learned it a while ago.

“You are a princess, so why hide it?” he asked. She dropped her eyes, staring at the door.

“I ran away from my home,” she whispered. “Five years away from my father and his kingdom, five years away from those stupid lessons on demons, five years away from protecting my people. There was a war,” she swallowed hard, “a war that killed my father just a year ago. The kingdom is in ruin. They are constantly looking for me to kill me so I will not come back to take my thrown. I do not want it. I am no princess just as I am no queen. Just as I am no demon hunter.” She lifted her eyes to him and they were suddenly hard and angry. “This is no joke to me. I know my powers and my family’s powers and I will help you but not because it is my duty. I will do it for my own reasons.”

“Of course,”

“I would like for you to respect me as a princess. I am royalty. Respect me when I give orders. Do not address me as princess. Hoshi will do. And I’ll need to learn their language,” she said, nodding her head in the direction of the guards, who were watching her carefully.

“What will you need?” he asked.

“Blood,” was her reply. “I’ll need a drop of their blood.” He hesitated. “I can do it now, if it should please you. No one but the men in this carriage, you, Shadow and me would know. Or, I could do it in public in front of your entire army, which I assume is here as well.” He nodded once and she pushed her hood off of her head to take off her robe. “Lantor,” she said softly in the Northern dialect. “I will need you to help me, can you do that?” He nodded a little and she placed her rob on the seat behind her. The men moved forward, watching her carefully. “Unsheathe my weapon, Lantor,” she said as she handed him the covered object. He nodded and she pulled her hair out of its tie. It fell gracefully down her back and onto the seat, the shimmering red of it gleaming like fire. She turned to Shadow, who had the silver sword sitting in his hands. She sighed softly and placed her hand over it, cracking her neck as she did. She murmured an incantation that made the sword shutter under her fingers. It shrank suddenly, fitting to her hand in the form of a dagger. She looked at Shadow, who was dumbfounded, as were the others in the car. She flexed her right arm, the blade in her left hand, and drew a long gash across her tan skin. She breathed out slowly, the pain whisking away with her breath.

“Are you alright, tella?” She nodded to shadow and handed him the blade.

“Do not touch the blade itself, Shadow. It is dangerous.” He nodded and held it gingerly in his hands. She placed her fingers in the blood and drew on the ceiling of the car symbols that looked horribly disfigured. The driver was peaking at her from the mirror and the other eight set of eyes were fixed on her and her symbols. She sighed and nodded, turning to Shadow.

“What else do you need?”

“Just the blade from you,” she said softly, holding out her hand. He nodded and placed it in her hand carefully. She turned to the Man. “Man,” she said. “Wrap my arm.” He nodded to the men in the back, who were fishing for something in the back. A large box was picked up, a large red cross on the front. “What is that?” she demanded harshly.

“Medical care,” he replied. The man had bandages and gauze to cover her arm, which she moved to hold over him. He stared at the blood, which seemed like paint sitting in a can; still and formed. She watched as he placed the bandages on her arm and nodded a little in thanks.

“Shadow,” she said turning to him. “Will you put your life in my hands? Will you allow me to protect you? To take care of you? You need to trust me completely. Do you trust me?”

“Of course, Hoshi, I trust you with me life.” She nodded and gripped the blade in her hand tightly.

“I will need to hurt you, Shadow, so that we will be bonded. Can you trust me with that?” He paused a moment, staring into her face for a sign of deception. When he found none, he nodded and took a deep breath. “It will be quick and you will awake as if from an evening rest.” He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself. She took his hand in hers, placed it over her heart, and stared at him in the eyes. Her eyes were liquid. They were deep grey and they slowly began to turn white. “Shadow, orphan of Nadome, friend of the mystic princess of the North, I ask you now once more; do you trust me completely to hold your life in my hands, to protect you from darkness and evil, and to take care of you like a mother of her child?” He nodded strongly, though the whiteness of her eyes was scaring him.

“I trust you, Hoshi.” Hoshi nodded and placed the tip of the dagger against his chest gently.

“It will hurt for but a moment,” she whispered, her grip tightening on his. He nodded and closed his eyes, another deep breath moving into his lungs. As he exhaled, the blade drove through his heart and out the other side of his chest. He gasped but fell silent shortly after. She removed the blade from his chest and placed her blood covered fingers in his wound to collect blood as well. She then turned to the ceiling to draw a few more symbols, overlapping some, and finally adding his name in characters across the middle. She placed hers under his and lowered her fingers. She turned to the men, her eyes almost mercurial. She held out the blade to them and instructed the man to tell them her orders.

“Tell them to shed two tears of blood. I will need no more than that.” He nodded and relayed the message. They did as she said for fear of the eyes. They were piercing and horrifying. She placed her clean fingers against the two fingers and brought them to the ceiling. Placing the dots on the beige fabric made the symbols glow brightly. She turned to the men again and placed her fingers once more on their blood. She placed one drop on her tongue, the other on the lips of Shadow. Again, she murmured an incantation, her long hair lifted around her head like seaweed in water, and the car exploded in light inside. Outside, the car remained official and intact. When the light subsided, Hoshi had let go of Shadow’s hand to adjust her sword in its sheath. Shadow was coughing a little and the others were blinking away the blinding light.

“What the hell was that!” snapped a man.

“Calm yourself,” she said as she turned her now calm eyes to the man. “I am no danger to you. Your—” she looked at the man and said in her native tongue, “How do I say ‘aenie’ in your language?”

“Wound,” he pronounced slowly, allowing her to understand the sound and pronunciation of the new language.

“Yes,” she said, “Well, your wound, is no more.” She tried to step around the mispronunciation but her English was still lacking. They looked down at their fingers and noticed their pricks were in fact gone. They stared at her, unhappy with her accent and her English. She had tied up her hair again and placed her hood back on her head.

“What did you do to us?” snapped one.

“I took your tongue. It is easier to hear me speak this tongue than mine, no?” They nodded a little and looked at the man. He was surprised at how well her English was, though the accent was rich and exotic. The r’s rolled ever so slightly; the vowels weren’t stressed at the right time; the o’s were drawn out. She turned her eyes to him once more and as Shadow finally sat up, she smiled a little.

“I hurt,” he said softly, his wince clearly noticeable as he touched his chest.

“Merely a burn,” she said in her language. “A symbol of our bond, Lantor.”

“Yours?” he asked. She showed him her forearm here the bandage was. A large red mark was seeping through, a symbol of servitude.

“The gash will obscure it for a few days but it will be nothing.”

“You know our language,” said the man behind her. “But you still speak in your own.”

“Doo you blame me?” she asked. “I am more comfortable with it. I do not blame you for speaking your native tongue instead of mine, do I?”

“No,” they replied. “Perhaps not,” She nodded and turned her attention to the front of the vehicle.

“Hoshi,” said Shadow. “Was I dead for long?” She shook her head.

“No, Lantor, merely minutes.”

“What does that mean, ‘lantor’?” the Man asked.

“Master or king,” Hoshi replied slowly. “Tella means servant or follower.” The car finally slowed and Hoshi glanced out the window. “Let us go,” she said as she turned to the man. “Release us,” she ordered. He nodded and got out of the car to do as she said. The door opened and a large metallic creature stood in front of Hoshi and Shadow.

“Have you ever seen something like this?” Shadow asked Hoshi.

“No,” she answered softly. “Let’s go look at it.” She said as she smiled down at him. He raced her to the plane, which she in turn ran towards as well. They laughed—a joyous sound that set Hoshi free from whatever horrible past she was running from. The both stared up at the monster which stood taller than it had from the car. Shadow stared at the plane with wide eyes.

“Man!” shouted Shadow. His accent was much like Hoshi’s. The man came forward.

“Yes?” he asked.

“This? What is it?” he asked.

“It’s called a plane. It is a machine that flies like birds across long distances. We are going to get on it.” Shadow turned his eyes to Hoshi. She smiled at him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“I will be here,” she said softly in her language. “We will be safe.” He nodded and looked at the man. “We are ready, Man.”

“Then off we go,” he said as he led them to the stairs that would bring our princess and her Orphan king to their destiny.