"Darn it, darn it, darn it..!"

As she stomped along, Azalea found it increasingly difficult to just shrug off the increasingly-feeble mewing of her pet cat from her mind; in fact she had to stop and punch the lower-middle part of an archway-shaped entrance (constructed in marble) with the side of her bare fist--the resulting throbbing pains only seeming to render her angrier--before feeling strong enough to proceed.

"Screw Mom n' her twisted logic... Screw it all! She said somethin' 'bout me skulkin' in places I shouldn't be, and how my marks dropped some..." Zal squeezed her eyes shut, indignant tears still flowing. "Alright, sure, such was ultimately the case... but why the frick would she not have cared to look beyond that? Huh?!"

For one, this princess thought with gnashed teeth, I may've been slicing into smaller bits that raw meat I'd gotten from those stinkin' markets, with my own frickin'-allowance, day after day, so that Eara could've digested it better... That kitty loved that dish so much too, the way she purred and brushed herself 'gainst my hands... Purr among angels now, Ea; ya're ne'er gonna go hungry again...

The Little Viper trudged on, sniffling in morose silence, through the corridor wide enough to let four grown men to march abreast. Just as slowly, an idea wormed into her feverish mind.

"Wait, just hold on a sec," the headstrong girl muttered, noticeably slowing down. "Not so long ago, Akhi Mustafa and that cheeky twerp Rashid too had lost two of their frickin'-maids in one night's incident, if I don't misremember. Let's see, what were their names again..?"

Some time passed, and the Little Viper found to her dawning consternation that she could not quite recall those names.

Mira, from whose presence she had just bolted off, had told her so often that it was "completely right and damn-normal" to be served "as long as it matters". No need to recall the names of those doing the serving; not like anyone was ever going to congratulate you for it.

At that given moment, however, such callousness alarmed the Little Viper.

"What the heck..? How am I s'posed to properly express my condolences, if I don't even know whom to commiserate for? Screw me, and Akhi's been so kind to me otherwise... Didn't regard me as a monster child n' all. Why the frick can't I get back at it just when I know it would matter to him, dammit?!"

With a low growl, Zal slowly closed her eyes again and tried to ease her breathing; her well-tested method to refocus.

"First things first, duh," she murmured when she opened them again. "I gotta see 'im again... It's really been some time since that night attack; Akhi Mustafa might itch to hear my take on it..."

***

Sometime later, Zal spotted the princes coming from the other way and grinned ear to ear. Seeing Rashid was not what she'd expected, but teasing them both regardless had always been one of her favorite pastimes.

After all, she mused, no viper woulda shown signs o' distress when there be such juicy preys 'round.

Figuratively brought down to earth by her own current messed-up state, however, the sharp-tongued girl took time to duck behind a stone pillar and with some haste smoothed her hair and unceremoniously wiped off her snot on said pillar's lower portions. That said, thin traces of it were stuck to her red hair; the thin tear-traces and swollen eyes, also markedly visible.

"Yo, dear nutbrains!" she waved, calling out. The princes noticed her and paused in their tracks. "Caught ya both at the right time, I 'ope?"

She could see Mu narrowing his eyes, and Rashid flinching, but did not allow either to let her down. The lower hems of Zal's favorite purple dress rustled as its owner quickened her pace.

"What?" young Rashid remarked, folding his arms, already defensive. Zal took little notice of that, moving instead to pinch his cheek rather forcefully which earned her an annoyed grunt.

"Some way to begin the day," the eleven-year-old middle prince complained, having been let go.

"Couldn't resist. Been swatting at each other 'gain, 'ave ya? Who won this time 'round, I wonder?"

"Did a couple footwork, was all," Rashid grunted. "Not in the mood for anything too... taxing."

"Ha! Must've gotten that last word from yer pighead of a sis. Ya goin' her way, that it? Tell her I said hi."

Rashid flushed. "My sister's not a pighead! You dork!"

"Ooh. Look who's angry." Being all of two years older, Zal now used her advantage in height to begin messing with the younger prince's sand-colored hair, occasionally purposely pulling at it--which earned her loud, squirming groans as Rashid tried in vain to cover his head with both hands.

"Stop that, you're hurting him!" Mu took hold of her unoccupied hand, forcibly getting her attention... before noticing something. "Wait... You've been crying, for real? Is this snot on your hand..?"

"THE HECK?!" Rashid yelped, dismay and shock in equal parts, jumping back as if he had springs on his legs. He patted the crown of his own head a few times; it came away with somewhat-sticky sensations. "Yikes! Azalea, you nasty slob!"

"What, playin' hero again, Akhi?" Zal shook free of her eldest sibling's hold, snot and all, not the least bit apologetic. "Li'l surprise there, I guess. 'Twas ya I wanna talk to more anyway, ere this lousy pipsqueak got in the way."

"Hey, don't just ignore me!" the younger prince complained, puffing his cheeks. "You owe me an apology here and now-"

Zal menacingly showed her particular snot-covered finger instead, waggling it before his face. "Another word n' I'm shovin' this wherever I please, rugrat."

"Look here." The princess felt a light tap by a hand from behind her shoulder and tensed some, for the whisper that followed yielded certain retribution. "I've not been able to score as many slashes as I'd have liked in today's training, we're getting tired, and you think you can get away with dissing someone about half your height with your slobber. Cut to the chase!"

"My bad, Akhi," the Little Viper conceded without looking, and the pressure eased. Turning to regard the Lion Prince again, she managed a weak smile even as Rashid stuck out his tongue at her behind her back.

"Yer dead maids," Zal pressed on. "What're their names again?"

Mu's countenance softened a tad. "The fair one with green sharp eyes, Vareena; the dark one with large blue eyes, Zahra. The heck are you getting at?"

"Was gonna say. 'Tis been two months; don't 'cha wanna go to wherever they're put to rest and... just maybe... pray for 'em there?"

The Amir's firstborn did not meet his fiery sibling's gaze. "I've put that behind me, Zal."

"Just sayin'. Ya're fifteen, a bare year shy o' the age of consent. Old 'nough, I gather, to ask for a single day's escorted trip, carriage n' all. Back before sunset just like that, none the wiser. Not like ya're goin' past this freakin'-city's walls."

"Why would I want an escorted trip when I could mount a horse right now, get there myself, and be back again in less than half a day?"

"That... works too."

"Fess up. You just want to hitch along."

Zal beamed. "Ya know me so well. The pipsqueak could come too, if he wanna. Bit cramped inside, sure, but we'll live."

"Leia-"

"Needs not know," the Little Viper finished, her smirk growing.

"Oh yes, she does," Rashid chimed in, protectively. "She's gonna be so upset if she couldn't find us for longer than a day. Not to mention our mom; you know this!"

The princess stuck out her tongue at him. "So don't be the tattletale, dumbass."

"I'm not a tattletale! They'll find out themselves soon or late, you'll see. And I'm not the dumbass; you are!"

"If you're trying to provoke us into something fishy here, Zal," Mu pointed out, "it's not gonna work."

"Eh, let's just say I wanna do somethin' nice for 'em nannies for a change. Ne'er really got'n that chance when they'd been with us, fool me. What d'ya say, Akhi?"

The elder prince kept his stare. "That can't be all."

"Yo, that's s'posed to be my line! 'Sides, I wanna do good too! That so odd?"

"Guess not."

"We've been training, you see," Ras pointed out. "Wanna get some rest."

Zal shrugged. "Pull that off during the ride. There'll be cushions, and our shoulders to rest on. I might even pat ya to sleep, a one-day treat." She noticed Rashid's wince and shrugged. "Or, by all means, stay here n' let us off. Just don't let any of this out, Pipsqueak, or I'll know where to look. Ya won't like that, I swear. Akhi?"

Mu was quiet for some time. Deep down he was still annoyed, at Leia and their mother, at not having been given permission to at least witness the last rites for those who had been with him since he could remember... for those, who had actually given their lives so that his might go on.

At the same time, he felt he could not plunge Rashid into yet another misadventure.

"You can stay, Ras," Mu offered at length. "I'll go."

"No way, Akhi! Where you go, I go."

"Anything happens to you, it'll be on me."

"Hey! I thought that's the point of us training together at all since that day! To keep ourselves safe!"

"You were the one asking to end it mid-lesson today, and that without even managing to land a single hit at me! Now is when you try to tell me about keeping safe?"

"Well, I-I only meant..."

Zal laughed, the grief for Eara's loss rapidly being replaced by the thrill of the upcoming journey. "Gotta love that spirit, still. So? Go or no go?"

The Lion Prince sighed. "We should still let our mom in on this, Zal; no going 'round that. The offer's appreciated, all the same."

"Gotcha. Be frickin'-great if she could give her consent today, don't ya dare skip on that part, 'kay. 'Til then... guess I'll be lookin' 'round for other things to give a hand with. Ta-ta~"

"And keep those hands clean wherever it is you're headed, would you?"

The Little Viper gave a no-look wave of acknowledgement.

"Snotty slouch," Ras grumbled when he was sure she was out of earshot.

"Our sister all the same," Mu reminded him.

"I didn't ask to be her brother!"

"Nor mine." That rejoinder earned the Amir's firstborn a sullen glance. "Yet here we are, training together. That one is damnably difficult not to dislike, Ras, I know... but few else could've beaten you straight in ten chess matches in a row, for one. You can't pin all of those to luck or cheating, now can you?"

Urdin's middle son groaned. "Got me there, Akhi."

Azalea, for her part, was likewise mollified... for the moment. Sure, the pain for her pet's loss still haunted her; but she'd gotten to talk with her eldest sibling as planned, and he seemed inclined enough to go along with her idea.

All in all, thus, it was a more-than-fair deal for her, as shown by the occasional skip in her steps as she directed herself to the tutorial chamber.

"Now then! 'Bout time to check on how my dear, sweet cupcake of a bro is doing~"

***

The last of the tutors for that particular day had seen himself out, but the lone occupant in the tutorial chamber had not yet moved along. This was Prince Dastra, a bare year younger than Rashid and three years Zal's junior.

Like his lady mother, Queen Mirani, and Azalea herself, Das also was a redhead. His smart green eyes he got from Mira. His oval face had a cheery look about it; his skin fair. For a boy with but ten summers behind him, Das was of average stature. This princeling was therefore the youngest, some say keenest, of Amir Urdin's five children.

At present, Dastra was understandably dejected, staring listlessly at the numerical problems on his notes.

"Man... Sure held nothin' back, huh, that Bahram..." the princeling murmured. "Twenty probs of increasing difficulty, due tomorrow for cryin' out loud..."

Pinning the middle part of his quill in two fingers and stirring it in the inkpot as he thought, Das continued to hum restlessly. Of the twenty problems, he'd only answered three.

"Dang it! Wonder if I'd need to ask for help, like, right now..."

"What, ya ain't done with those yet, runt?" Zal's teasing words as she stood on the chamber's threshold with crossed arms made him gasp.

"Big Sis! Don't surprise me like that, it ain't funny! You're right, though; these probs are quite the brain-twister..."

The Little Viper (her hands now considerably cleaner) shuffled wholly inside and cheerfully plopped beside him at her own table, which, unlike his, was already cleared of notes. "Want a hand?"

"Eh? You'd help me with these, really?!"

"Why not." Zal leaned closer. "Let's see..." She read out the fourth problem. "'Three plus twelve, equals..?' What's so hard 'bout this?"

He pouted. "I ain't got that many fingers to count 'em with!"

"Hmm. Can ya imagine it all in yer head, then?"

"Uh-huh, I can try..."

"That's something. Say ya already got three pebbles in hand; then Mom comes in to give ya five more..."

"No way!" the princeling shook his head with childish determination. "Mom's not gonna wander 'round for mere pebbles, let alone give me any! Rather keep all for herself..."

True 'nough. His sister smiled thinly. "Alright, let's make it Vessy then. That one sure loves gardening; pebbles she got plenty, and givin' away some won't be much of a pain in the butt for her. So, three plus five--how many now?"

Das folded his fingers accordingly. "Eight!"

"Nice. Remember that number. Next, I came along with six more, dumped all at 'cha. That makes it..?"

He paused, a finger on his thin lips, then grinned. "Heavy!"

Zal laughed along with him. "Okay bro, seriously now. Gimme the new number."

"Nine, ten... Fourteen!"

"Way to go. Now, as ya carry 'em all somehow, Akhi passed and just thought he'd add one pebble more. How many now?"

"Fifteen."

"That's the spirit. Write that down."

Still grinning, Das playfully wrote 'that's the spirit' in small letters on the lower edges of his notes--making sure his sharp-tongued sister see it--before putting down the correct answer in the provided space.

In this way, they managed to solve five more problems together before Dastra finally decided to call it a day and head out for some well-deserved nap.

***

Having now changed into more casual attires, Queen Vestra's boys resumed their talks.

"So, uh..." Ras began, "you seriously gonna nod to Zal's earlier invitation, Akhi?"

"If I said yes, you'd wanna come."

The younger prince raised an eyebrow at this. "Can't I? You're a big boy, you can protect me out there, can you?"

"It's not just me, Rashid. Mom's still worried sick about letting us go around town since that attempt, I can tell, and Lei might as well parrot her. She's still quite fussy about not getting to help us enough in the course of that fateful night. Against those, we only have a known troublemaker's promise that things would be worth our while."

"So we're seriously gonna let the tears and fears of two ladies stop us?"

Mu smiled artfully. "One of those ladies is our parent, and the other did not leave your room for a whole damn-week when you'd broken a collarbone from that untamed snow-white pony's kick two years prior. Ruffle their feathers at your peril." His true brother winced at the memory. "Or, you could also play it safe and just float that toy sailboat of yours somewhere, sometime. With luck, only Zal will get to call you a soft lance."

"Little does she know, you took so much time to carve that sailboat for me." Ras smiled slightly. "I often wonder what I'd done to make Zal love picking on me so much, though... Like, I'd never seen her call you out on how you can't swim, or that you've a penchant for model horses. It's not fair."

"Have you tried asking her about it?"

"What, and let her roast me more?" The younger prince gave a rude, dismissive wave. "Forget it. Zal's just that much of a jerk; the way I see it, that's not gonna change anytime soon! If she's gonna continue to hate me for things I don't even remember doing, let her! I still have you, and Big Sis Lei..." His gaze grew soft. "Right, Akhi Mustafa?"

In response, the Lion Prince lowered himself to his true brother's height and hugged the latter, giving Ras's back a few reassuring pats. "Aye. We'd faced worse together that night, lest you forget. I believe we can find ways to get past this, as well."

"We will," Rashid promised, in a tone half-jesting. "Are we not the Pathfinder's sons?"

"We'll find our our paths in time, aye." They laughed together.