A/N:  Sorry about the long wait in between chapters.  This chapter has lots of goodies to make up for it!  Anyway, I'm going to try to post more often, but I won't make any promises.  I'm about to get really busy and I've started playing Maplestory again (it tends to take up a lot of my time).  Anyways, hope you like it!!! ^^

Yunho kept watch for Kari out of the corner of his eye as he struggled to listen to Puita wax on about the differences between Equatha and Filarin.  As interesting as it was that all Equathian magic-users had shapeshifting as their minor talent or that in their normal state, the Equathians weren't even remotely humanoid, Yunho had trouble paying attention to the man.  Kari had been gone longer than he liked, and he was starting to get a little worried about her. 

His fears subsided as she glided slowly back into the room and headed for the dais.  And boy, did she glide.  He knew for a fact that she was wearing heels, but she walked across the ballroom/throneroom as if she were dancing or floating.  She was a beautiful sight to see.  Of course, the vividly red dress she was wearing helped.  It looked like someone had taken strips of red silk and woven it around her torso, letting them flow together into the long full skirt.  She had a diamond tiara set delicately in her curly brown hair and dangly diamond earrings in.  She was stunning.  There was something else that was interesting about her dress, though.  It was the first time that Yunho had seen her wearing red.  He was rather partial to that color, all things considered.  But she looked absolutely amazing in it. 

He shook his head as Kari took her place next to him at the table.  He laid a hand on one of hers and she gave him a smile.  He smiled back, a little concerned.  Something, he didn’t know what, was off in her eyes.  She looked a little dazed. 

Kari broke the eye contact first and went back to giddly talking to Puita’s second wife.  As the talk turned back to rather advanced physics, Yunho thought that he must have been worried for nothing. 

After what felt like ages, though he did enjoy himself, the ball ended.  Pleasantries were exchanged, and the Equathians promised a more intimate meeting later on in the week (after they had had the chance to recover from all the alcohol they drank, no doubt).  Puita let him know that the Equathians only had the chance to drink offworld, as their law forbid the presence of alcohol on their planet.  Although Yunho didn’t really prefer to drink himself (he had been forced to consume far too much alcohol out of politeness before coming to Filarin), he understood others’ love of its effects. 

Finally, Yunho and Kari made their way back to their rooms.  He was looking forward to a long soak in the tub and maybe some hot tea before bed.  Kari, as tired as she looked, would probably go to bed first.  That meant that he wouldn’t have to worry about being disturbed. 

As they entered their main sitting room, Kari broke away from his side and headed for her dressing room.  Yunho glanced around, looking for the maid (Mair, was it?) who usually accompanied her.  There was no one in sight.  He had a bad feeling about this.  He turned back around and checked the doors leading out into the hallway.  They were locked.  As he shook the handles, he could have sworn he heard a few maids giggle and run away.  If he ever found out which ones did this, he would – no, he wouldn’t do anything.  He sighed. 

“Yunho – Yunho, come here.  I need help.”  Of course.  This was going to be a repeat of their wedding night, wasn’t it?  Yunho walked into Kari’s dressing room, preparing himself mentally for having to help her out of her clothes.  At least she had access to her pajamas this time. 

“Yunho, I can’t get this dress off and Mair’s not here for some reason.  Can you help?”

He sighed inwardly.  “Alright.  I think we’ve been locked in again.  I heard some maids giggling on the other side of the doors.”

“Oh.”

He gave her a curious glance.  She didn’t seem to understand exactly what that meant.  Or maybe, she was just comfortable with him, now.  After all, they had been sleeping in the same room for several days.  But, there had always been servants right on the other side of the door, waiting to see if they needed anything in the night.  Somehow, Yunho felt like it would be different now that they were completely alone.

 Yunho took a step closer to Kari, noting that she had already removed her earrings and the tiara.  Her hair was messed up from where she had had to fight with it to get the tiara off.  It was kind of cute. 

“So, what am I supposed to do?”  He was trying to be as nonchalant as possible.  Maybe if he didn’t make a big deal out of their situation, Kari wouldn’t either. 

“Umm.  I don’t really know, now that I think about it.  There are no buttons anywhere and I wasn’t paying that close attention to Mair when she helped me put it on.  I think I know where to start, though.”  She tugged on the end of one of the strips that had been deftly tied in the small of her back.  She couldn’t quite reach it well enough to actually undo the knot, though. 

Yunho walked around behind her, making sure to position himself where he couldn’t see her in the mirrors and lifted the strip of silk that was partially covering the knot so he could see.  The thing was tied in a way he had never seen before, so it took him a good five minutes to get it undone.  Of course, the silk was wrapped far too tightly for it to come off as soon as the knot was untied.  Kari took the silk out of his hands and turned to him.  Her eyes held his for a moment.

“Thanks.  I think I’ve got it from here.”

Yunho tried not to gulp as she turned back to the mirror and started to unwrap the dress.  He had to get out of there, and fast.  He nearly ran to the door and just barely stopped himself from slamming it shut as soon as he was on the other side.  Did she forget that he was there?  Or that he was male?  Why?  Why would she do that to him?  His heart was racing and his chest heaving.  So much for a relaxing night.

He crossed the sitting room and collapsed into his own dressing room.  He couldn’t even summon the energy to change into his pajamas.  This was not a good situation to be in. 

After sitting in silence, listening to his breathing calm down, Yunho got up and changed into his pajama pants and a white tank top.  He felt a little more comfortable knowing that he could at least escape into another room if things got too bad that night.  Maybe he should move his pallet to the sitting room, just in case. 

A click from Kari’s dressing room door closing brought him out of his escape plans.  Here’s where his real test began.  He opened the door and walked into their bedroom, sincerely hoping Kari was wearing one of her more conservative pajamas.  She wasn’t.  As he walked in, she saw him and glanced down at herself, blushing.

“It was all I could find.  I think someone stole all my other pajamas.”  That sounded like something the maids would do.  They probably took all the others for ‘cleaning’ earlier today.  Well, if he wasn’t trying so hard to ignore it (and if they had been acting like an actual married couple), he probably would have approved.  The only pajamas the maids had left her with was a very thin, very short spaghetti-strap nightgown made of white silk that looked more like lingerie than anything else.  Surely she could’ve worn something else.  Anything else.  He knew for a fact that she had shirts and shorts or pants that would’ve been plenty comfortable to sleep in.  For the both of them.  But no, she chose to wear this.  He closed his eyes and started for his pallet.  He was definitely sleeping in the sitting room tonight. 

Her arms around him from behind stopped him short.  She had pressed herself up against his back and was holding on to him for dear life.   He froze for a moment.  What was going on?

Yunho tried to gently pull her arms away, but she held on tighter.  What was he supposed to do, then?  He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but she obviously wasn’t in her right mind.  There must’ve been something in that purple drink.  It hadn’t tasted like alcohol, but Kari didn’t drink anything else and a lot of fruity drinks hid the taste of alcohol really well. 

Finally he gave up and turned around, still in her arms.  “Kari, what are you – “, he started.  He never got the chance to finish.  As soon as he had fully turned around, she kissed him.  He lost control and put his arms around her as he deepened the kiss.  It went on for a long time before Yunho realized what he was doing and what this would lead to.  He broke the kiss rather violently and pushed himself away from her, immediately regretting it when she sat on the bed looking at him with those eyes.  They seemed so inviting, and yet, so unfocused.  She was very obviously intoxicated.  There was no way this was going any further with her in that state. 

He gathered up his pallet and strode towards the door, stopping to look back at her from the doorway.  “I’m sorry”, he mumbled under his breath, and continued on his way letting the door shut behind him. 

Puita and his three wives settled into their quarters as comfortably as they could in a place so lacking in water.  He could feel the call of the ocean from just a few kilometers away.  He longed for it, just as he always longed for the ocean anytime he was away.  Even his ship would be better than this palace.  At least his ship was filled with water.  Here, there was barely enough water in the air to keep him from feeling like he was in a desert.  But, the Filarinis did try to make them comfortable.  The rooms they were given had giant pools of water throughout and fountains and small waterfalls.  He stayed in them because of that effort.  It wouldn’t be polite to let all that effort go to waste. 

The prophet strode into the room and gave Puita an arrogant bow.  Since the servants were gone, he could drop all pretenses.  The prophet, who had no actual name that Puita was allowed to even think of, was no servant.  The bow was simply a greeting of sorts to his inferior.  Prophets on their world were held in the highest regard, and although they pretended to be servants anytime they were offworld, were the true rulers of Equatha.  They ruled in a rotating council, with members switching out every year.  Since they could see many possible futures, they often made laws that made no sense until someone actually broke them.  Thankfully, none had seen him doing anything that might constitute breaking a law, even one that hasn’t been written yet.  The penalty for committing any crime, no matter how minor, was death.  The painfulness of the death was dependent on how bad the crime.  Of course, no one had broken any laws in quite some time.  The penalties for committing the crime made it not worth it. 

“I gave the girl my message, or at least, part of it.  That fool Yazin got in my way, but I think she understood.  I don’t see her having a child in the near future.”

Puita sighed in relief.  This whole trip was just so that the prophet could deliver an important message to the new queen of Filarin.  Apparently, if she had a child, she would be putting this entire section of the galaxy at risk.  It had something to do with the Elanari’s war with the strange empire from the other side of the galaxy.  He didn’t know much about it, the prophets kept much of that information to themselves, but he did know that neither side was making much headway.  Somehow, Kari’s child would be the key to tipping the balance of power in one way or another.  He just prayed to the ancient gods of his people that she never had a child.  That way, neither side would win and maybe they would stop this stupid war.  At least, he hoped they would.