Hey ALL!!! Thanks for the many reviews and emails for the last chapter!! Glad most of you enjoyed where I went with the story and how only a few things were revealed!! I thought it would be more realistic instead of having Luna tell him the whole truth and then having them run into each other’s arms… hahaha

Anyway I hope you guys enjoy this chapter just as much!!

Shaved, bathed, and freshly dressed, Ares made his way down into the breakfast room of the Palace. His family was gathered around the hand carved wooden table, having just started breakfast. Everyone looked up from the table’s conversation and all eyes fell on him. He smiled at his family and Maddok gave him a knowing grin. He knew his cousin suspected that his mood had something to do with Luna. He saw his father and his mother exchange smiles. A silver brow rose, as Ares walked over to his mother and aunt. After kissing them both on the cheek, Ares made his way over to an empty, place-setting between Maddok and the twins.

Conversation started again as Ares grabbed a biscuit and began to spread jam on it. He suddenly overheard his younger cousins arguing and looked to his left. The twins’ heads were bent and they were whispering back in forth in what they thought were hushed voices. Then all of a sudden both Lucinda and Sabrina turned to look at him. They flushed, identically, and then turned back around when they saw that their subject of conversation was looking at them with a brow still raised.

“You ask him. He was with her, so he’s bound to know,” Lucy said to Sabrina and then nudged her side. Sabrina was closest to Ares, so when she turned she was met with curiously laughing eyes. These two always seemed to get into trouble, and it now seemed as if he was the center of their newly found mischief.

“Ask me what?” Ares said nonchalantly. He saw Sabrina turn to her sister, but Lucy was determined and after a couple of nudges the question finally popped from Sabrina’s mouth.

“Do you happen to know of any fairies?” Both of the twins’ eyes were twinkling as they gazed at Ares. It wasn’t a totally ridiculous question for everyone knew that fairies still existed. The thing was that no one had seen one in quite a long time. They were responsible for the season change every year, and without them, nothing in nature would function. The fairy colonies kept to dense wooded areas and sometimes mountain peaks. They were the size of an adult hand and had translucent wings; tiny, thin creatures with the ability to make things grow.

Ares shook his head and still smiling he said, “And why do you think I would know any fairies? They hide from things bigger than them. People want to take their tears because it’s been said that they hold some sort of powerful magic. I’m not special enough for a fairy to show themselves to me…” He trailed off when they quickly looked at each other and then back at him, wided eye.

This time Lucy spoke up. “But we saw you with one. She was beautiful and she had these amazing silver wings and she was dressed in all white. You can’t lie to us Cousin. We know you were with her, we saw you.” Ares didn’t seem to notice, but their conversation had gotten the attention of the rest of his family. Everyone was looking at him to see what he would say to the twins’ remark.

“Ok you two, I’ll bite. When and where did you happen to see me with this fairy?” Ares didn’t want to crush their dreams of him cavorting with a fairy so he played along.

“Last night, Ares,” Lucy started, but then Sabrina finished for her sister. “You were on a balcony and the fairy was with you.” Lucy took over the story telling once more. “We heard yelling and it woke us up. We knew it wasn’t coming from inside so we ran to the window to see where the voices were coming from.” Sabrina chimed in, “we saw you and the fairy out on a terrace and both of you were yelling and then the fairy began to cry. We thought you wanted her tears.”

Now Ares’ entire family was listening intently, no longer trying not to look like they were eavesdropping. Lucy continued. “She didn’t want you to have them though, but then you were going to take them anyway, but she stopped you.” Sabrina backed up her sister’s story. “We thought she must have been a queen because she was normal sized, and those wings; they were beautiful. That’s why we thought you had tried so hard to get her tears. But then you kissed her hand and walked away.” Lucy nodded vigorously and then added for another time, “She was beautiful though. Her dark hair was wild and she looked so pretty in all that white. The fairy queen stood there for a long time after you left, as if waiting for something, but nothing happened. And then she disappeared.”

Ares’ mouth was hanging wide open at Lucy and Sabrina’s story. He hadn’t realized that anyone had seen Luna and him last night, but apparently these two had. He could almost find it comical that they thought Luna was a fairy queen if he wasn’t so shocked. He quickly closed him mouth and then felt stares on his back. Ares turned and saw that everyone was looking at him. Even the maids, who had stopped serving the royal family and their guests to listen in, had their eyes on him. They seemed to notice that they were staring, however, for they quickly put the serving platters on the table and left. No doubt that news of this story would be around the palace in less than an hour.

His family however, was still looking at him, as if for an explanation. Ares turned back to the twins and opened his mouth to say something, but then stopped and closed it again. What in the seven levels of hell was he going to say to two little girls, that wouldn’t kill their over active imagination. And then he got an idea. He had asked Kammie to deliver a message to Luna before he came down to breakfast. It would be a perfect opportunity for the twins to meet their “fairy”. “I am going for a ride, this afternoon, with the lady you saw last night. If you want, you can meet her before we go and you two can decide for yourselves if she really is a fairy queen.”

The twins looked at each other and then back at Ares and they nodded vigorously. They smiled up at him, and it warmed Ares’ heart. He always wished he had had siblings, but Maddok and these two were good enough. He remembered asking his parents for siblings when he was younger, and when he became of age he understood that they had tried to give him a brother or sister. But because of the complications with his birth, his mother was unable to have any more children. That hadn’t spotted them from trying though.

Ares looked to his right and saw that his mother and aunt where in the middle of a heated discussion about their childhood. His father was chuckling at the two women and from where Ares was seated he could see Leo catch his wife’s hand underneath the table. He quickly glanced up at his mother’s face and saw a smile flash across her pretty features.

At that moment Ares realized that he wanted a relationship like the one his parents had, and he wanted it with Luna. That realization hit him hard and he smiled down into his plate. Holy Aya was giving him a second chance with her, and he was damned if he wasn’t going to take it.

---

Luna stretched gracefully when she heard Kammie enter her bed chamber. The elderly Elvin maid was humming a cheery tune to herself as she opened the curtains that were covering the large bay window. The blood moon was almost gone from the dawn sky and the sun was already shining brightly. It was almost early afternoon. Luna squinted as a path of sunlight reached her face and she sleepily turned over.

“My, my dearie. You sure are tired this morning,” Kammie said as she opened the windowed doors, which lead to the terrace, so that the cool ocean breeze drifted into the room. All of a sudden flashes of last night blazed inside her head as she remembered why she had gone to bed so late.

Luna inwardly groaned as she remembered breaking down in front of Ares and pleaded with him to leave. Luna didn’t know what she had expected but it hadn’t been what he had done. His dark blue eyes had gazed sympathetically at her as he had gently kissed the back of her hand and then he had walked away. As soon as Ares had turned Luna had a sudden urge to call him back, and she knew he would have come. He would have kissed all the pain away and Luna would wish for a time when things weren’t complicated. But they were, so Luna had let him leave.

She had stood there for a while staring at the spot where Ares had been, and then when she could hardly keep her eyes open anymore she crawled exhausted into bed. She had slept like the dead. But now it was morning, or so she thought, and she would have to confront what she hadn’t the night before. She wasn’t sure if last night had changed anything or how Ares would treat her, but Luna hoped that it would be for the better.

She stretched again and then slowly pushed the covers off of her slim body and made her way into the bathroom. Kammie had already filled the small pool sized tub and the scent of verbena filled the air. Luna stripped and slipped into the steaming water. She closed her eyes and laid her head back to rest on the cool tile.

“Really dearie. It isn’t good to be this tired. I know the prince said to let you sleep but the more you sleep the tired you are, my mother used to say.” At Kammie’s words, Luna’s head snapped up. What had Kammie meant by that? Luna turned to look and ask Kammie what Ares had told her but the Elvin maid had left the bathroom. Luna made quick work of washing her hair and scrubbing her body. She lifted herself out of the tub and wrapped a towel around herself.

Luna walked out into her bed room and saw garment pieces lying neatly on the bed. Kammie came up behind her and began to dry Luna’s hair with a separate towel. “His highness wishes for you to accompany him on his afternoon ride. He is waiting out by the stable for you, dearie.” Kammie took the large towel that Luna had been holding around herself, and dried the young slave. After Kammie was satisfied that Luna’s skin was rid of all water, she began to wrap a long, twelve inch wide, black piece of fabric over Luna’s breasts. The fabric was clipped in the back with a silver pin, so that the garment would stay secure.

Next Kammie held out a pair of flowly breeches, and waited for Luna to step into them. They were a soft satin and they billowed in the wind coming inside from the open terrace doors. The pants barely touched Luna's flesh for the pant legs were so wide, but the waistband fit snugly on Luna hips.

Luna stepped back looking for an approval from Kammie. The maid smiled at her, “You’re a beauty, you are. And anyone who thinks otherwise is a damned fool.” Luna’s smile was radiant. She hoped that this time at the stable would be different from the last time she had been there with Ares.

Kammie chuckled at Luna’s smile and then disappeared into the large walk-in closet and then reappeared with a thin shear black garment with sleeves and a hood. “It's going to be chilly today with winter only a few months away. You’ll need a cover. Can’t have you catching your death, now can I?” She slipped Luna’s arms into the garment and then wrapped the bottom once around her waist so that it was snug and came back around to her navel. There it was fastened by a large silver button. The two sides did not meet in the middle so her chest and stomach could be seen. But surprisingly the garment did warm her arms and back.

“Now for your hair, dearie, and then you can go. Oh and I won’t say I told you so, but didn’t I say that you would gain the attention of his highness sooner or later. By the way you look today; it’s going to be sooner.” Kammie chuckled at Luna’s blush. She was also hoping that Ares attitude, towards her, had changed as well.

She was hoping to ask Ares to forget about her break down last night. She had embarrassed herself, but in the end, their situation had turned out a little better. Hadn’t it? Ares seemed to understand a little better what she had gone through. And he had taken the blame off of her. It was a start to their new relationship and she would have to work with it. She knew Ares had always wanted her, at least he body had. But now, he had come to accept her and if his mind wasn’t still agreeing with his body, then Luna would have to change that.

After Kammie was done with her hair, she was off; excited and a little nervous. She quickly made her way through the palace until she was on the winding path that would lead her down to the stable. Luna walked at a normal pace, listening to the gravel crunch beneath her new black suede boots. Once she was over the hill, she was surprised to see two little girls in front of the stable, laughing to them. They didn’t hear her come up to them until she was standing behind them. At the exact same time they turned to smile up at her with identical faces, from the long almost white hair that was braided down their backs, to the small dimple at their cheeks. Lune realized that they these twins had to be related to the Earl because they seemed to be miniature, feminine, versions of him, even the humorous twinkle that all three carried within their honeyed brown eyes. “Hello. I’m Sabrina and this is my sister Lucy,” she paused to stare up into Luna’s eyes and they she smiled again. “You must be the fairy…”

---

Ares had been caught up in conversation with his cousin about what had happened last night. Maddok hadn’t let him leave the empty breakfast room until he knew why Ares was in such a good mood. Maddok had known it was it had something to do with Luna and he was going to hear Ares admit he was right. “See… I knew it. I knew it! She’s harmless and you let that beauty get to you,” Maddok said with a smile as he took a sip of his cooling coffee.

Ares gazed up at him and shrugged. “I can tell you one thing Maddok, Luna is anything but harmless,” the prince said with a hint of a grin. Images of her lying naked in hay flashed through his mind and his blood boiled.

Maddok seemed to get his cousin’s point for he burst out laughing. Once he had subsided he raised his brow. “So now the question is, if she thinks the same of you, my dear cousin.” Again Maddok raised the coffee up to his smiling mouth and took another sip. This time he made a face at his cup and set it down away from him.

Ares looked at him thoughtfully before he responded, “Well, she’s forgiven me for what happened last summer; at least I think she has. That’s a start, right? But I don’t think she’s forgiven me for this past week. I have treated her like shit since I found her in my bed the morning after my birthday. She has every right to stay angry at me…” Ares trailed off and folded his arms over his wide, muscled chest.

“And what exactly happened last summer?” Maddok wasn’t expecting an answer; he was expecting a shrug of the shoulder and then a change of topic, or something of the sort. He asked anyway and got one.

Ares sighed and then rubbed his hand through his unruly hair. “I was sort of courting her even though she isn’t of noble blood, I really didn’t care- I still don’t,” Ares began. “Everything was going fine. Luna was different; she treated me like a normal person instead of a crown prince. It was refreshing and to tell you the truth, arousing.” Ares gave a short laugh at Maddok’s face before he continued. “But we fought over the fact that I wanted her to become my mistress, since she really couldn’t be anything but. Luna hadn’t liked the idea too much and let me know it. My cheek stung for about an hour after I had stormed away from her upset by her rejection. I went back the day after to apologize for what I had said to her out of anger, but when I got there she was gone. I spent days without sleep trying to find her, thinking that had run off with another man. At first I just wanted her back, but then I wanted her lover’s blood, and then I wanted her humiliation. I wanted to repay her for how she humiliated me, but her rejection and by making me look a fool by trying to find her.”

Maddok didn’t interrupt but kept listening to his cousin’s story. “After I gave up in finding her I began to drink. Heavily. I don’t remember much during those days. Everything is one big blur, but I do remember how I felt. I tried to forget everything about her, from the color of her eyes to the way she had made me feel. I was upset at the world and took my anger out on everyone. I began to hate everything female and just used them for sex whenever the urge took me. I didn’t care about satisfying them; after I was done I would leave, wanting to get away. I was pitiful.” Ares finally looked at Maddok. He hadn’t realized it but he had been staring at his cousin’s shoulder unable to meet his eyes, completely ashamed of his actions.

“What made you think she had run off with a lover?” Maddok asked, trying to better understand the situation. He was glad that Ares was confiding in him and he was going to try his best to help make things right between his cousin and the pleasure slave.

“On one of the days of my search, I had gone back to the manor, which Luna had been serving. The lord gave me a letter that had been signed by her saying she had gone off with a lover and not to come after her. At the time I was in a fit of rage so I didn’t think that it could have been forged. Seven hells I don’t even know if she can write. I wrote her a letter once, but she could have easily had someone read it to her.” He paused for a moment, sighed again, and then continued. “Luna told me last night what actually happened. Maddok, she was taken away from her home and made to be a pleasure slave. It wasn’t her choice and she had no warning. The just took her.” Ares again ran his finger through his hair. He was frustrated and he didn’t know at what.

“Sounds to me, like you’re guilty when you don’t have reason to be. You didn’t sell her off to Hafez. And I know that man works legally, so he just didn’t take her. Someone sold her to him and since the only one with the ability to do that is the Lord who gave you that letter. Are you sure the Lord of her old manor can be trusted,” Maddok asked his cousin.

“He would have no reason to lie to me if he had sold her into slavery. He actually seemed like he had wanted to keep Luna to himself, so his selling her doesn’t make sense.” Ares turned toward the window to think and then suddenly remember that the twins were waiting for him at the stable, and Luna was probably with them. He cursed loudly as he rose. “I forgot that Lucy and Sabrina are waiting for me to meet their ‘fairy’. We’ll talk later. Right now Aya has given me a second chance with Luna and I’m will not ruin it.” He quickly left Maddok sitting alone in the breakfast room.

Maddok smiled and then rose himself. His cousin was on the right track to losing his heart, but Maddok wasn’t worried. From what he had already witnessed and heard, Luna seemed close on Ares’ heals to doing the same thing.

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took forever… it was hard to write and I have a lot of family problems this month… anyway I hope you enjoyed it and please review! I want to hear what you guys think should happen between my main characters!!

Oh and I have started a new story on (pen name Queen of Laughs) check it out if you think you’ll like it. Here’s the summery for Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places and a little sneak peak of chapter one!!

Summary: Leira has given up hope on love, at least for herself. Her gay best friend, Jay, however, hasn't and he has his own plan for her love life. He hires a personal escort to be her pretend boyfriend for the weekend but what happens when the pretending stops..?

Preview: I had pulled back but Jay’s warm hand had found its way to the back of my neck and it had stopped me from pulling away.

I hadn’t known what the hell was going on and then second Jay had pulled away from my flushed face and moist lips I had know he hadn’t meant anything by the kiss. Jay had laughed at my confusion and shock. Then hugged me close saying “You’re hot as shit now sweetie, but sorry I’m still into the whole man scene. I had to see if this whole new you stirred me in a whole new way.”