Ara stood at the side of the court room, to the right of the King – who had found the strength to attend that day - alongside his other special advisors. The room was a wash of deep green civil servant robes, the only pops of colour coming from the brilliant white and gold of the King and Queen and the deep black that Ara preferred to wear. The murmur of chat between rulings flooded the large hall, echoing around the stone building. The chief special advisor stepped forward to hand the King the next document for consideration, but before the King had a chance to look, a civil servant stepped out and greeted him. All eyes turned to him, Ara's included.

“Your Highness, there have been rumours floating around the northern regions that have travelled down through our small nation... the rumour that the Demons are coming from Revenet, Your Highness. Is there anything we can do to quash these rumours and let our people relax?”

The King let out a hearty laugh before responding: “The Demons? What reason would they have to come here?”

Ara noticed Queen Yifa glance over at her husband. There was a reason after all, then, but what was it? Ara ran through Ranharan history in her head. There was no mention in any of the books she had read about conflict between Ranhara and Revenet. Odd. Surely the King was right, there was no reason for them to come, it was more than likely just a baseless rumour.

“Ara!” Queen Yifa called and Ara stepped out to greet both monarchs. “Ara, your visions show us everything that is held in our future. Have there been any indications of such an event?”

“No, Your Highness. No such visions have appeared.” she said with confidence.

“Are you satisfied?” the King asked to the civil servant, who nodded.

Ara turned her head slightly to address the now trembling man in green: “The rumours were more than likely started by rebel republican groups in the area who want to cause upset and instability to try and start a revolution. It's futile, of course, but they'll try anything. You ought to keep better control over the people in your region so that nothing like this happens again and so no more ridiculous rumours spread further than anyone who tries to start them. If the northern peoples have any doubts about the strength of our nation, that falls on you – they ought to have full confidence and fear nothing. Do your job properly if you don't want to fall out of favour.”

“I apologise, Your Holiness.” the civil servant stammered, apologising profusely to the King and Queen before returning to his position within the court, Ara doing the same.

Her large eyes slid over to the King and Queen before returning to the wall in front of her. They usually relied on her to put civil servants back in their place, anyone who dared to question their authority, strength or knowledge. Ara shook off the ominous feeling that rested in the pit of her stomach. She had known the Queen her entire life and something was definitely up, she knew something. It was true that she had no clear visions about an invasion, but... there were some more abstract things that had come to her. Warnings? No, surely not. Ara rolled her head, her neck stiff from a bad night of sleep. Whatever they were, she wouldn't worry about them until there was a reason to.

* * *

“Your Holiness!”

Ara stopped in her tracks on Mount Oma, looking behind her before continuing on her path down, suppressing a smile and ignoring the sound of feet crunching on the gravel for she already knew who it was.

“Have you been well, Your Holiness?”

“I have. Are you hunting again today?”

“That's right. It seems that the puma we ran into last time wasn't the only one on this mountain, so I've been coming back frequently to try and get rid of them.”

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“That's very brave of you.”

The pair strolled together in the early morning sunlight, stopping to rest on a small marble bench under an apple tree. As Jun reached up to pick two red apples from the branch that hung lowest, Ara glanced over at him and smiled at his cheerful expression. The corners of his mouth curved upwards, almost feline-like, when he smiled, which seemed to be more often than not. It was nice to see someone so relaxed and happy, especially as the palace was fast becoming a place of doom and gloom with the King's impending death.

“May I ask what it is you do for a living, Jun?”

“Well, I help out around my town where I can. I'm a teacher and an aide to the head master at the school.” he replied, offering her an apple. “The mayor came to us for help in protecting the town. I came this far to make sure, and that's where I found the pumas.”

“I see. Do you teach ethics?”

“Yes, Your Holiness, along with government and other practical things.”

“You strike me as that type.” Ara admitted, accepting the apple from him.

Taking a bite out of it, Ara covered her mouth with her hand as she chewed and used her other sleeve to wipe away juice that ran down her chin.

“Here, Your Holiness.” Jun offered, fishing a handkerchief from under his white robe collar.

“Thank you. You may call me Ara, there's no need to be formal.”

“As you wish, Miss Ara.”

A comfortable silence fell between them as they ate through the fruit, tossing the remains into the grassy area below before continuing on their way.

“So, you live on the other side of Mount Oma. Did you happen to hear any rumours lately?” Ara asked as they continued down the mountainside.

“Rumours?” Jun repeated, scrunching his straight nose as he thought. “Nothing very scandalous, although people are speculating that the town mayor Mr. Ma might be the real father of lawyer Tang's firstborn son. I'm not curious, but the older he gets the harder the resemblances are to deny.”

Ara laughed loudly and Jun found himself stunned by her beauty, even more than the first time he had encountered her. What an interesting young woman she was. Jun noticed the dazzling jewels hanging from her hair pins and clips – simple and elegant. She was surely elegant, but he had a feeling she was anything but simple.

He looked forward to finding out whether or not he was right.

“Have you ever come here at night time, Miss Ara?” Jun asked, stepping once to his left so as to be slightly closer to her.

“In winter time the sun doesn't rise until much later.” she replied. “You can see every single star. It's very beautiful here.”

“The weather must be awfully harsh in winter time.” he commented. “You must be well acquainted with astronomy, given your profession.”

Jun tried not to stare at her too much as they walked, but he couldn't help notice how lovely her skin was and briefly wondered if her cheeks felt as soft as they looked. She always seemed to wear dark make-up on her large eyes whenever they met, though they were her only features with any heavy amount of product on. Besides a light pink sheen on her lips, from what he could tell, her fine features were left alone.

“Of course I am, but I think anyone would have a deep appreciation for the universe if they were able to see such a sight.”

“If you wouldn't mind the trouble, I would like to view them with you on a clear night.”

Ara stopped suddenly and turned to look at her companion, his expression giving nothing away. He looked at her calmly, his lips in a faint smile, though they always seemed to be that way. She took the opportunity to have a good look at him, from his hair, half-up and tied neatly on top of his head, the other half hanging down his back, to his high and prominent cheekbones, to his well-defined jaw line. For a man who seemed so pure, what were his intentions, exactly? Her eyes darted to his fingers, searching for a ring of some kind – she really, really did not want to get in trouble again – but there was nothing, all ten were bare.

“Ah!” he exclaimed, realisation suddenly hitting him. “I am a teacher, Miss Ara. My students have been asking me about astronomy and my knowledge only stretches so far. I do realise how inappropriate it sounded, I apologise. If you would like to teach me, please don't hesitate to bring along a chaperone.”

Ara smiled at him, though felt a pang of disappointment in her chest. How arrogant it was of her to assume he meant the worst. Experience had taught her that any time a young man proposed something like that, it was for other intentions. Wouldn't it be nice for someone like him to show more than platonic interest for once? Jun gave her all the signs of being a very honourable man and it dawned on her that she was being absolutely ridiculous – the chances of someone like Jun being engaged to a suitable woman were very high. What on earth was she disappointed for? She'd only met the man a few times.

“I would be happy to help!” she replied brightly, still smiling through her disappointment. “I'll be free any time, choose a night that suits you.”

“Thank you!” he grinned. “Would next Saturday night be okay?”

“Of course.”