-Hello reader, great that you decided to give this story some attention! I have checked an reread the chapters multiple times before publishing them. However, English is not my native language so if there are any mistakes, feel free to ignore them or PM me. Reviews are allways welcome-

The evening sun colored the sky red. The light came through a large open window into the room. Two brothers lay next to eachother on a big bed, staring at the ceiling. The younger of the two, a blue eyed, goldenblonde young man, turned his head and looked at the oldest.

"Andros, tell me why you do not want to go to Father." While he was saying this, Thomas heard his brother sigh, as he often did when confronted with something he did not like.

"Why would I want to go? I have little to offer," said Andros. His blue eyes gazed only at the ceiling, as if it were more important than his brother. He bit on his lip, a sign that Thomas understood as being unsettled. Thomas turned his head and looked at the suitcase next to the bed. It had no pretences, it lay open and was completely empty. The silver case on the other side of the room was completely closed, the marble floor was as clean as ever, the food on the tray on the coffee table was untouched. Thomas suspected that his brother had done nothing but staring into space, since the messenger had told them that their father would receive them the next morning.

"But you do, your future lies there," said Thomas and Andros responded with a big sigh through the air.

"What are you afraid of?" Said Thomas. Andros angrily hit his fist beside him on the blanket.

"I'm not afraid. I just have no business there. He's not a father to us, there are only formalities, like last time. I think it's great to see him during the Grand Tour, but why do I need to see him now? "

"If you do not want to talk with father, there is still plenty to do. You cannot let me go alone with mother. You know how she is, " urged Thomas further. "And if it just too difficult, you can always lose yourself in one of the maids." This latter remark did not have any pretences eather and the face of his brother turned red with agony, while his hands clawed in the blanket. Thomas immediately regretted his remark.

"So you know about that?" Asked Andros, still clutching the blanket in his hand. Thomas nodded.

"You cannot hide these things from me, especally when it comes to her. " The latter said in a soft tone.

"Did she come to you?" Asked Andros, his tone softened. He let the blanket go. Andros suspected that his young brother had feelings for the girl, maybe even when she was very young and Thomas and her played hide and seek in the kitchen. Maybe it was a lasting friendship, a bonde between them that he and this girl could never experience.

"It hurt me to see her so, why have you done this, my brother?" Said Thomas.

"Maybe it paines you more if I tell you the whole story." Andros sighed again.

"That's a risk that you well have to take," replied his brother. Andros turned to look at his brother, and begun.

"Six months ago, after the state visit of our father Dumalis, he asked me to come to him. He stayed in Villa East Farm, where we had been often when we were younger. You were at that time in Central, where you took off your final exam. Father wanted to know if I would go with him the next time, though this did not seem like a question, but more like a request. He said that I had to gain more experience. I was bored of the discussion and we spent the rest of the evening in silence. We sat in the small dining room, the fire in the fireplace gave a crackling sound and spread warm glow over the room. My father was bent over a document. I heard a sound and I looked up. Karona was there in a white dress, her black hair loosely pinned up in a bun and in her left hand she had a large jar of water. She poured water in his glass, almost silently, and full of grace. He did not look up. Then she walked towards me, nodded at me and poured the water into my glass. My gaze fell on her slender soft hands, her light-colored arms, her breasts, her slender neck where her breathing faltered when my hand touched her, at the address of the glass. Her downcast eyes could not hide her blush on her cheekbones. I wanted her from that moment, even though I knew it was not possible. That evening, in the twilight, she walked through the garden. I sat on a bench, watching the sunset. She was shocked when she saw me, bowed to her knees, apologized and wanted to walk away and leave me alone.

"Karona stay," I told her. She looked at me with a questioning gaze. I motioned her to sit next to me. She did this with some trepidation and sat on the edge of the bench.

"Sorry," I said. Her expression did not change. "I'm sorry about earlier. Sorry about much .. many things. "

"Many things?" She pressed her hand on her stomach while looking at me. She frowned, but then let her gaze fall down. "What do you mean?"

"I treated you badly, not like my father's servant should be allowed to be treated. Despite your ancestry, you live in a decent home and you have a decent job. I should have shown you more respect than that. "

"Respect," she repeated.

"I was young and you were the first I had ever seen with a color. I called you names, I rat on your game with Thomas in the kitchen, I pulled your hair and let you cry. I was a very spoiled and annoying kid. Can you forgive me? "

"We were young," she said. "Ten maybe, Mr. Thomas eight? It was child's play, it's okay, I forgive you. "

"That's nice." I let my gaze dwell on her downcast eyes and on her lips. "Look at me, " I said. She startled, her eyes fell upon me again and her breath quickened.

"You travel a lot with my father," I said. She nodded. "He's obviously fond of you. What kind of choirs do you profess? "

"What do you mean?" She asked, her eyes widening. "I'm doing everything other maids do, serve, a little cleaning, some small chores. I serve a lot of tea. Sometimes in the evenings I play harp for your father to entertain him. "

"Harp? Nice, maybe you would like to play for me one time?"

"Yes sir," she gazed down again.

"Look at me, Karona," I commanded her. She looked at me again, there was a flurry of anger on her face. I smiled.

"You were an orphan, right?" I asked. She nodded. I motioned for her to continue." I grew up in an orphanage in District 18. I know nothing about my parents. Your dad bought me and two other girls when I was twelve and I got a maid training. But I worked for him even earlier in the summertimes, since I was eight. Maybe you remember .. " Her gaze dwelled on my face, but I gave her no notion on how well I remembered this.

"Are you happy, serving him?" I asked.

"It's the greatest honor possible, my lord."

"Honor is unother thing, it is not an equivalent of luck." I said and took her hand. She was startled, her body was tense.

"Play for me tomorrow night, in my room," I said. She nodded nervously. "You may go," I said. She stood up, bowed slightly to her knees and walked away. I looked at the last gleams of the setting sun, and promised myself to keep her whole. She was pure and beautiful, vulnerable. I could be her downfall, I thought. Somewhere inside me I wanted that. Her fate in my hands.

And then that night she played for me, besides the burning fire. Her long slender fingers played the strings, sensual and strong at the same time. The melody stroked my ears. Her concentrated gaze was focused on her hands, but I wanted her to look at me as I looked at her, on the couch, in front of the fireplace. She played the instrument like she played me, knowledgeable and perfect. I could not get enough of her presence and told her to go on, deep into the night. Now she looked at me, angrily, but kept going. Her fingers ached, but she steeled herself, trying not to interrup the game. The hours flew by. I fell into a trance. I felt my spirit dance on every note and every chord that she touched. It was as if everything just fell away and I became one with the music. Then I heard her falter. It brought me back to positives. Tight stood her eyes on me, and occasionally she squeezed them shut in pain. She stopped.

"Did I say you could stop playing?" I asked.

"No sir," she replied. She picked up the thread again, now with tears in her eyes. I wanted to save her, but seeing suffering simultaneously. I wanted to break her, and then mend her. I wanted her as a wolf devours his prey. Bur I also wanted to protect her, since she is vulnerable and pure.

Suddenly my sadism became even for myself too much. I commanded her to stop, which she gratefully accepted. I knelt before her, grabbed her sore hands and kissed her thick, red fingers. She was startled, tears rolled down her cheeks. I wanted to apologize but did not get it out of my mouth. Minutes I sat there with her fingers in my hands while I looked at her puzzling. I no longer knew what I wanted her to do, all my evil plans melted into insignificance when I looked into her bright blue eyes and dark lashes, which were filled with tears. I started to feel embarrassed. Were those tears what I wanted from her, did they give me the pleasure that I thought it would give me? Still, I would have them. I grabbed her face with my hands and kissed her salty tears. She let me. She smelled delicious, I made her bun loose and ran my fingers through her wavy black hair. The hair that gives an indication of the fact that she is a halvebreed, that her blood is not pure, and that she is a sweet that I can not eat. A candy that I wanted very badly. I felt her warm breath against my cheek shock while I kissed her cheek with gentle kisses. Her mouth sought mine and eventually she found me. We kissed deeply, I kept stroking her face with my hands. I wanted her, could not get enough of her. She let me because she wanted it, even though she hated me and herself for it. '

Andros stopped his story because his brother, who had been listening with bated breath and indignation, struggled to let him continue without interrupting.

"Are you fond of your own games?" He asked in a sharp tone.

"It certainly began as a game for me, but when it came down to it, I was cencere. And I did not force her into the game of love, she did this on her own free will. "

"But now you left her with a broken heart because you can't be together, she's only a maid, and even worse, she's a halvebreed, unpure. And you of all people are the Crown Prince of Xerra. You even fool yourselve. " Andros looked at his brother and saw him blink his eyes a lot, a sign the young man was very angry.

"I admit that my actions were somewhat sorrowful, but at the time, I could not help myself. Every night I let her come to me. Until Dad found out. "

"Oh no, how did he find out? How did he react? " Now the eyes of Thomas were wide open.

"I do not know how, but he commanded me to come to him one morning and he was furious. Seldom have I seen him so angry. "

"Because her blood in unpure?"

"No, because she's his maid, and she had been so since she was a child. He did had mercy on her in the orphanage, she has enjoyed his protection and now I have her destroyed, I have spoiled her, I have broken the promise he had made to her when she was a child. " Andros allmost barked out the words and he was pretty sure his brother would pick up on the anger he felt, mainly for himself.

"Jeez… I see indeed how this might depress him."

"I promised him that I would not see her alone again. I told her that things did not really work out and that we should not continue our relations. I told her that I was sorry that I had dishonored her. "

"How did she take it?"

"As a typical woman, in tears crying that she did not do anything with me that she didn't desire, but breaking up like this might be dishonering. I knew better, but try telling that to such an emotional creature. The whole thing was doomed anyway, and she damn well knew it herself. I told her that we had fun together and now it was over. She'd better accept it and get over it. "

"Do you accept it yourself?"

"What a stupid question ... ' Sulked, Andros turned around.

"Andros, you know, those riots and so, in Xarpolis?" The way the subject changed suddenly, surprised Andros and he turned back to his brother, who looked at him as if he too had a story to tell.

'Yes ..' Andros sat up and began to change position, moved the cushion until it was finally in the right place. Now Thomas also began to sit up.

"We are not allowed to come anywhere near that place you know .."

'But ..' Andros looked unsure at his brother as he begun his story.

"I went anyway."

"I should have known," sighted Andros.

"I was curious, I wanted to know what it all meant. What was the meaning of all this turmoil in our beloved city? So I have violated our protocol, outsmarted both my bodyguards and mother, got my alibi completely mapped out ... And I just went .. "

"Thomas, are you crazy? Do you not know how dangerous that is? Anything could have happened, especially if you were recognized .. '

"Andros, do you hear this now or not?" Andros nodded, Thomas continued.

"I have for the first time in my life taken a subway. It was awesome. I had a hood and sunglasses on, no one recognized me. That thing was fast and oh what was it busy. Nobody was friendly towards each other, nobody greeted each other. Very different from the neighbourhoods we come from. When I arrived at Xarynsquare I was totally overwhelmed. The crowd there was massive! All demonstrating for the house of the Senat. On TV you do not really see how much people there are. As if it were a single rioter. But it was a huge crowd of women and even children. Banners, shouting and booing. Everyone I encountered seemed to have been committed with the case. I spoke to a Xeraan who told me that during the two weeks that this protesting went on, people actually forgo sleaping. They sometimes even took turns! Some have not eaten for days. Others were deliberately on food strike. The guy even told me that they didn't stop this mass of people for protesting, because they needed a big force fort hat, and the amount of money wasn't available at this time due to the war and Big Journey.

"Whatever?" Andros startled. "I have always understood that we had the upper hand in this."

"No brother, you see how tricky Television can be sometimes. Even us get conned .. I squeezed myselve at one point through the crowd. People had ribbons in the colors of the rainbow, around their necks, their hair, their tails. All, while so many varieties of people were never seen together before. Negroes, there were a lot of the way, but also coloreds and as well a lot of whites, believe it or not .. and I even saw a group of Native Oregan, complete in animal skins! I wanted to have a closer look so I squeezed through the crowd and joined them. I thought they only dealt with their own kind but they obviously had friends in other breeds. How a common goal can bring people together? Anyway, I got to talking with them. They were very open and friendly, not like the barbarians as they are depicted on TV. Their Xeran was fluent. With them was a white man with tail and some whites without a tail. They are not ugly up close. They can still be very clever and havea good figure, even though they have no tail. "

"You talk about them as if there is no difference ..."

"Yeah right, there is a difference, but ..." Thomas looked at the sleek face of his brother. "There's just a difference. But the goals that they have, for example, better education and better wage and not just for higher races. Shelter and food, without patent, are things worth fighting for right? "

"That may be, but eventually they only want one thing, participation in the Policy Council or even the Senat, and that is obviously rediculous. There are even some imbeciles who speak against racial doctrine. Such people should just be killed! "Andros stared at Thomas eventually nodded.

"Well, these guys did not fight for those things. They had a banner that said:

"Do not desecrate our sacred territory" Apparently there are plans to Polis much to expand the middle of the jungle. Here lives a clan of Natives who, according to their legends, have been living there since the beginning of time. Legend says that one of their ancestors made a trip from there under the ground. Apparentely he found the origin of life and had discovered the true reason for our existence. It is an important place for their religion, which our state is trying to take away from them.

"Religion is something old fashioned, they are stupid to believe in this nonsense. All that space .. Should we build around it or something? You know about the housing shortage, the lack of furtile grounds and space for our crops? There are even protest against liners! We can not consider everybody and everything. Some will have to make a sacrifice for the good of us all! "Snorted Andros.

"Yes, I understand, but it is unfortunate. Anyway, I talked with them for a while. They were not surprised that I, as a white Xeraan, was interested in their stories. Apparently everyone talked with each other. There were five Natives, Two of them were, if I may say so, heavely musceled. They must work out on a regular basis or something. They did not talk much. I think they could not speak Xeran, or they had no sense in it. They had a bare torso and had a shawl of animal skin. The three others had normal clothes on, but they all had long hair reaching to their buttocks. Longer than our hair. They are slightly tinted darker than us and their hair is really deep black, as black as that of Karona.

In this group were as I said a few whites, including a girl. She was tailless. She was talking to one of the three neatly dressed Natives, called Elan. With him I also had a chat, nice guy. But she was really beautiful brother. Her skin was allmost white and she had beautiful long blond hair in a ponytail. Beautiful bright green eyes stared at me when I spoke to her. Longing lay decided in het face .. and sorrow. I could not place it. Only that somehow I had decided that I would never forget her ... Her name is Limny, yes, like the flower. She protested along with the Natives because they lived on the outskirts of the city near the Jungle. A few of these Indian boys, including Elan, givet self-defense classes and train young people and children from the city, as a sidejob. She had some lessons with them since she was a child. She is a bit older than I, eighteen. She knows these people for a long time. She is truly committed to their fate. I ... "Thomas was interrupted because there was a knock on the door.

"My lords, we're leaving!" Came the voice of Maurice, the servant, by the door.

"Please Andros, don't tell anyone about this.. Especially not mom, because then she'll want my head on a tray, as in the legend of .. "stammered Thomas.

"Yes, brother, I will not say anything, if you can promise me one thing."

"What then?"

"That you forget her, as I will Karona."