"Objects In Motion Stay In Motion"

The days went by so fast that it hardly seemed any time had pasted at all, but nevertheless the fact that the Ball was only in a few hours time hardly escaped the consciousness of any living creature in the Castle.

The servants bustled to and fro making sure everything was exactly to the King and Queen's orders. The Great Hall was a far sight more festive then it's usual dreary self and the whole Castle seemed to be alive with movement. If Kallel hadn't been so intent on making sure everything was perfect and no one suspected her she might have enjoyed the break from normalcy.

More then once Kallel was caught out of her rooms where she was suppose to be getting dressed and more then once she was politely but forcefully escorted back to her chambers where she would promptly slink out again. This cycle continued until someone ordered guards stationed at both doors.

This was when Kallel decided that it would be best if she started to put on all her make-up and jewelry her father gave her to wear for the long- awaited Ball.

Kallel fixed her hair high on her head and curled the golden strand so they would fall down her head. She put on the white silk dress that had been made for this specific occasion and took a glance in the mirror. Staring back at her was someone who looked the part of the perfect princess.

Kallel sighed and took her eyes away from her reflection long enough to smooth down her dress so it wouldn't get wrinkled. Holding her train up she left her rooms and opened her door where her father was waiting to escort her to the Great Hall. She would make it through this night.

Kallel entered the room with her head held high and her white train flowing behind her. She took her seat at the front between her father and her mother.

As she watched every pampered noble in the Homeland paraded past her with their sons not completely unlike horse sellers parading their best stallions before a reluctant buyer. It made her very sick.

After a hours of this endless procession, in which she fell asleep twice and twice almost mortally offended someone by saying something stupid, it came to the time of the night were she was suppose to dance. This was the part she dreaded the most. If she danced with the same person too much people would start getting ideas and all sorts of rumors would be flying around. Not that it mattered after tonight, she realized

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted her best and only friend, Andrew. She shot him a distress signal and pleaded with him with her eyes. He got the message and with a sigh of exasperation crossed the floor and offered her his hand. She accepted it willingly and the orchestra immediately began to play.

"You've got to stop doing this." he said in her ear.

"Doing what?" She asked with innocently wide eyes.

"You know what I mean!"

"I know, but they just disgust me!"

"You can hide forever!"

"Just watch me!" Kallel was hard put not to growl. "Listen, let's not fight about this, okay? I just want to get out of here; help me decide which one of these idiots I should dance with, then I -"

"Can retreat to your room saying you're tired." He finished for her.

"Exactly," Kallel said thinking, not for the first time, that Andrew knew her too well.

"That one, in the corner talking to his friends. I think the best way to judge someone is to watch them when they don't know you're looking at them." He said deciding not to argue.

"All right here I go." with that she slipped over to the corner. He was pretty nice but still a pampered noble brat. Kallel went from partner to partner feeling more like an object every second. Finally she got to retire to her rooms; this is where the fun begins.

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Bright Stars! What is wrong with that girl? The King fumed to himself I get every young man in the country worthy of her hand and what does she do? She runs away!!

He knew that with egos as big as the ones in this room he couldn't afford to let Kallel retire early. As he watched her leave he called a page over to him. "Yes, Your Dignity?" the young man asked curiously.

"Bartlebey, I want you to go find Princess Kallel and tell her that I will be very displeased if she doesn't come back this instant and mingle with our lovely guests." The King ordered. The unfortunate page gulped and bowed his way out of the Ballroom, feeling more and more like he was caught between a rock and a hard place.

The King was expecting her to refuse, to act very childlike and stay in her room until she was forced out. What he had not expected was for the page to come back looking stricken and announce that his daughter had been kidnapped.

It wouldn't occur to him for some time that she had planned the whole thing and her plan did not include returning, and when it finally did there would be nothing stopping him from tearing the kingdom apart to find her but his own good sense. If he alienated his people they wouldn't be his people for long.

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Everything went as planned. Kallel was out on the Main Road within the hour and no one had come after her as of yet. Suddenly Kallel thought of something that made her brain shut down with a moan of defeat. She had finally found the fatal flaw in The Master Plan, and realized that the last few months had been the easy part. Now the problem of where to go and what to do was facing her and it was far larger then she had expected.

For a split second, Kallel, for the first time in her life, was about to admit that she was in way over her head.

But the second passed, as all things do, and she remembered that she was - Kallel of the Homeland and she could do anything.

Her teachers had always been astonished at how fast and well she learned. Later on she would look back on that split-second of insanity and laugh until she was awarded strange looks from those around her.

So Kallel set about the task of trying to decide where to go. She thought about it until her head began to ache, and arrived at a two options:

One: she could wonder the countryside acting like a traveling musician or mercenary and keep her ears open for bits of gossip or information. Or two: she could find a station where she was likely to get into the minds of the people who matter most: the so-called 'common' people.

Kallel decided that the latter was the best option but near impossible to get because the same qualities that made it appealing to her made it appealing to about every other person in the Homeland. They were more likely to hire a man for such a position in the first place.

Kallel only got that far when she heard hoof beats behind her and recognized them as her father's Guards' faithful horses.

"There are tracks in the snow! Maybe she was taken this way!" Shouted a voice that she recognized as Marcus, the Captain of the Guard.

Suddenly Kallel realized another flaw in the oh-so-careful plan - she shouldn't have used the Main Road.

Kallel and Juniper flew through the forest at a break-neck pace equal to that of a bird fleeing from the paws of a cat. It could have been the snow, or the fact that Juniper was running so fast, but whatever it was neither Kallel nor Juniper ever noticed the edge of a fast-approaching cliff right until it was too late.

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Logan was just minding his own business. Honestly.

Suddenly, there she was, falling out of the sky like an angel with a broken wing. Plunging into the frozen river with a crack, she didn't even struggle as she was immediately pulled under the ice by the strong current.

It was the strangest sensation, watching her like that; it was like the whole forest was screaming for someone to help her. Logan didn't even have time to wonder if jumping in after her was a good idea before the ground under him literally threw him into the water.

Logan swam furiously through the icy water trying his best to catch up with the girl. When he finally achieved his purpose, with many a mouthful of water she was unconscious, which made his job harder and easier.

He grabbed her around the waist tightly to make sure she would not slip out of his grasp and started for the shore. The cold was now seeping through his clothes and into his boots.

This is not going to be pleasant Logan thought to himself as he swam against the strong current with all his might.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere a tree branch slammed into his head, making him loose his edge against the current, but not his grip on the girl. His head swam, and like the rest of him was not having very much luck in the icy river.

For one of the longest moments in his life Logan thought that maybe, just maybe, everything might not be alright and he began to fear for his own safety as well as the girl's. For some reason the former was not as much a priority in his mind as the latter.

A pair of hands plunged in the water just above him and hauled him through the ice onto the frost-covered ground. Zed, he thought with relief. His lieutenant, and close friend. The same friend who had stuck with him through thick or thin and saved his life more times then it was wise to count.

"You crazy son of a..." Zed started to say when he glanced at the girl in Logan's hands and turned sheet white. "We better get out of here and get her warm. . . I swear Logan if you ever do that again. . ." He let that sentence trail off menacingly.

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Kallel woke with a start to find herself staring right into a pair of hazel eyes. She knew she couldn't stop the scream that was ripping through her throat, but before she could give in to the temptation there was a hand over her mouth and someone was whispering in her ear.

"We mean you no harm, you're with friends."

Define 'friends' Kallel thought to herself, unsure whether or not to trust this person and his so-called 'friends'. She decided that lying down was not the best way to face a probable enemy and started to get up only to be pushed back down by a strong hand on her shoulder.

"Don't try to get up, you got a nasty bump on your head." He said, releasing her shoulder and sitting down on the tiny straw-filled pallet next to her.

"By the way I'm Logan, and this is Zed." He moved aside and behind him stood a man Kallel new very well.

"David." She whispered, not wanting to trust such an important detail to her eyes alone. Kallel knew this must be a dream, she hadn't seen that particular face for so long that she had begun to believe the copious rumors of his violent and bloody death.

Confusion set into her mind and she didn't even realize when Logan started talking to her. "Hello?" came his voice finally penetrated her befuddled mind.

"I-I'm sorry, what were you saying?" I asked turning to look back into his strangely hypnotic eyes.

"I said 'What's your name?'" He repeated, seemingly oblivious to her condition.

"K-Kallel" She said after she had a chance to gather her scattered wits. "At least that's what it was last time I checked."

"Well, then it's good enough for us. You had a pretty bad fall, are you all right?" he looked rather concerned

"I'm fine." Kallel said, not all that sure herself, and tried to sit up again. Nothing happened - no dizziness, no nausea - things were looking up.

Not wanting to ruin her momentum, Kallel then took it a step further and attempted to stand up. Despite some weakness in her legs the attempt was all together a success and she was feeling better already.

When she was finally on her feet again she looked at David, waiting for a explanation. She knew she wouldn't get one without a fight - David was not one to explain himself to anyone - so she wasn't surprised when he avoided the question be shifting everyone's attention.

"Bright Stars, your nothing but skin and bones. You should get something to eat before you fall over. Come with me, I think there is a pot of something heating over the main fire, lets get you fed." he half carried Kallel out of the tent and over to a fire. Before she could protest that she, in fact, had just eaten he had shoved a bowl of a warm soup and a piece of bread in her hands.

A/N: Well, here's another chapter, and this chapter is the main reason I named this story 'Inertia'. There were a few last min. Plot changes that might not sit well with the rest of the story so if you notice any inconsistencies please mention them to me. Sasha: YAY!!! HALF DAYYYYY!!! I just love actually have time to do stuff. Do you? You are really good at the grammar thing do you want to be one of my beta-readers? I probably wouldn't have half as many mistakes. NE-way just e-mail me and stuff. Well . . . back to reading Shakespeare. Oh! You should post on Mr. O'Neil's discussions. . . some people are getting really catty. . . its fun to watch. . . P.S - thank you for the lovely compliment - your reviews are always the best! ^_^

RisingPhoenix: Thank you for waiting so patiently. . . like I said today was a half day so I finally got a chance to update some of my stories. Hope you like this chappie! ^_^

Luv

Eight wonder of the world

Maharanjoni