Hey everyone, sorry this took so long. I lost my jump drive with the original on it and had to start from scratch. Anyway this chapter is dedicated to Jimmy Gnecco and his song "Someone to Die For" for helping me write this again. I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own

Before I had fully stepped into the light, Danica reacted to my presence with a violent shiver of panic that shot down her spine. Her breathing was fast and her heartbeat even faster as she rolled off the bed and to her feet where she froze prepared for me to move again before she made her decision: to run, to scream, to fight. It was comical really, her position was defensive as if she would fight me off; she didn't stand a chance and I think she must have known that, but she was going to try anyway.

"What do you want?" she pushed out in a whispered. Her eyes never left me afraid to blink and miss a single moment that might lead to any threatening motion; they were full of accusation, fear and disbelief. She had thought that my fear of the Mistari's strength would protect her without question and now she was realizing that maybe she was mistaken that maybe it wouldn't. It did; she need not worry, even if I didn't fear for my people's safety, I wouldn't hurt her now, what would be the point? Besides, I could arrange for a much better opportunity should things come to that…please don't let things come to that.

There were pillows lining the room and I sank down onto the one that was practically under my feet deciding that coming any closer to Danica would be tempting the fates; she only needed to call out, any sound at the right volume would be enough. Perhaps I could stop the guards, perhaps I couldn't, it really didn't matter the Mistari would finish anything that we didn't. And more than that, any chance at trust, at peace would be gone with that scream. When she flinched at my movement, I could feel my patience wearing I couldn't possibly inspire so much terror, "I decided that you and I should talk," I whispered back to her. She made no move neither relaxing or answering and it seemed that this could be an exceedingly tiring one-sided conversation. "Sit down, Danica. I'm not going to ravage or bite you or whatever it is you're thinking." I continued with a sigh.

She very slowly sank onto her pallet without taking her eyes off me and despite the fear and hate in her gaze, I couldn't help but notice her legs so perfectly shaped and exquisitely long as they fold under her. It is at that moment that I decided that there was no doubt this was going to be tiring, despite, and perhaps if I was completely honest with myself, because of the view.

She held steady for a moment and I could hear her heart rate decrease slightly as I still made no move to harm her, "Talk?"

Her suspicion was expected but we're hardly going to get anywhere like this. If only I could make her realize that, "We were thrown out of the Mistari hall quite abruptly and in all likelihood the same will happen tomorrow unless we have some discussion prior," I explain slowly, carefully. I needed her help without it this whole venture was doomed and if the last of my patience was the price for that then I'd have to pay it. Though in the back of my mind I found myself wishing the price was sometime else, something that I had more of to spare.

"Continue," she says so slowly, drawing out each syllable, that I almost laughed, but the slightest tremor in her voice stopped me; she was terrified though hiding it well as any avian could and laughing at her was sure not to help.

So instead of starting with a serious query I decided to provide her with some information that I hoped might help put her at ease, "Did you know there are four guards outside your door, Danica?" Her eyes widened and the hard line of her mouth relaxed slightly, in what I could only assume was surprise, though it certainly didn't resemble the way any serpiente would express it. "I thought not," I continued gamely as if I could read her face perfectly, "The Mistari added their own people to yours." She glanced at the door briefly as if she was considering calling upon them. "They're all incompetent really, or I wouldn't be here, but it would have been tricky to catch you alone tomorrow," I added quickly with a reckless grin to distract her attention from her saviors just outside the door. "And since you're the only one in your group who has demonstrated any sense, you seemed the one to talk to."

Her eyes returned to me and seeming more at ease she let out a long breath that just barely missed the dramatics needed to be a sigh, "It's late, Zane, and I'm very tired." This time she really did sigh, it seemed that she was becoming impatient with me as well. I hadn't thought her capable of annoyance, "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

She certainly wouldn't allow me to dance around the subject much longer, "About life," I answered then I paused unsure of how much I wanted to reveal to the cold woman, but before she could form a response I continued, "and about death. About the fact that my people mean more to me than anything else, and I would do almost anything to end this foolish war. I want to talk about the world, and most specifically, about you." It was only as I said those words that I realized that I was considering the Mistari's suggestion with something more than curiosity, with something much closer to acquiescence.

Danica's mouth opened as if she wanted to answer but no sound came out as if tragically the words had been irreversibly lodged in her throat. I raised a single eyebrow in query; however, she took no notice and remained frozen. Finally, she managed to squeak out a single word, "Me?"

I found myself sighing heavily, I certainly wasn't here to discuss the Mistari's architecture, "Of course you. If the Mistari Disa's proposal is even to be considered, I would like to know what I would be getting myself into."

"I believe you already expressed your opinion on that subject," she answered coolly. Her frosty tone was sudden and surprising after her comical hesitance only a few moments earlier. I couldn't have insulted her, could I? Why should she care if I didn't want to take her as my mate? She certainly didn't want me as hers, but all the signs of insulted pride were there. In a cold and distant way that I wasn't entirely familiar with, but there all the same. If this was true, it was certainly a very interesting development, and entirely without my permission, my mind called up images of her resting comfortably in my arms. It was absurd, but as a man, I couldn't deny the fact that she was beautiful and I certainly wouldn't mind being closer to her. Though, she certainly had no problem quivering in my presence as if I was the most vile creature that ever lived.

"And I believe my first reaction is probably still correct," I answered confidently as if insulting her was something that I took pride in. "It is an absurd idea but that is no doubt why it hasn't been tried." It was then I realized that I sounded as if I was endorsing the concept, which I certainly wasn't. "I'm not saying that I'll go along with it," I quickly amended, "but it does have some potential."

Her expression did not change, in fact I don't think she moved at all, and without any clues, I couldn't quite make out her reaction. Though I would guess, she was horrified. I almost jumped when she suddenly began speaking again in a rather dry tone, "And what exactly do you think you are 'getting yourself into'?"

There could be no mistaking it; the avian princess was insulted that I was not eager to be her mate. Whether she admitted it to herself or not I had insulted her pride resulting in the hostility, I was receiving from her now. As I realized this, I let my eyes wander lazily down her body, "If it was just your body, Danica, I would agree very quickly," I told her. It would make life so much easier if she was someone I could love, someone with whom I could spend my life. However, fate was not so kind as that, it presents me with a simple peaceful solution that would leave me with a soulless mate and a lonely future. Her cheeks had colored slightly at my words, obviously embarrassed by my implications, but I could take no joy in her discomfort. It only proved my point she could never feel comfortable with me, and she could never be my mate. "But one doesn't chose a life's partner for form, and the simple fact is that mind comes as part of the deal—and that is a part of you despite years of musing over it, I have yet to fathom."

Since I had first laid eyes on when I was sixteen, she had frustrated me to no end. I could not reconcile the pictures that I had of her in my mind. The avian lady that spoke so coldly, her expression remote or the woman I had seen just weeks ago crying tears of regret for her enemy. My picture of her shifted as swiftly as my mood and because of the frustration I felt with the situation, I found myself angry with her more often than not. "I thought I understood you once, beautiful and arrogant and blind to suffering. And I had almost learned to hate you. But then I heard that the pristine Danica Shardae had knelt in the blood and filth of the battlefield and held my brother's hand and sung to him so he would not die alone." There was no point in letting her know that I had actually witnessed the event myself; it would only increase her distrust of my motives and I certainly didn't need that. "It made me think that perhaps you might have a heart after all."

With the last word I must have moved my hand towards her in some gesture that came naturally as I spoke. Though I had not noticed the movement, Danica had and quickly flinched away as I froze utterly shocked by her frightened response. The shock quickly faded replaced with a burst of temper that I couldn't control. This woman no matter how beautiful was hopeless whimpering prick and I despised her for it. I stood quickly and hissed to her, "Damn it, Danica. I'm not going to hurt you."

Not surprisingly she flinched away from me again and I could hear the naked fear in her tone as she hissed back to me, "Forgive me if I find it difficult to completely trust the man who has had so many of my kind killed."

Is that really what she thought of me? That I had personally ordered the death of her people, that I took pleasure in their demise, I certainly was not as solely responsible as she made me out to be and I certainly had made no move to harm her. What right did she have to sit there with accusation in her eyes; she was no better than I was. Just as many of my people had died at the hands of her soldiers as hers had died at the hands of mine. "If I really wanted to hurt you, I would have done it already. I didn't have the slightest bit of difficulty slipping past your guards." Her heart rate had increased again, the hostility in my tone causing her fear to return. "Your avian heart beats almost a hundred time a minute at rest. Poison from a cobra's bite would reach your brain within seconds, so quickly that you would never have a chance to cry out."

She did not look as if she believed me, but she did not seemed prepared to argue and risk testing the theory. It didn't matter really if she would have time to cry out for help or not the poison would work well enough to kill her and that was what really mattered. Her disbelief though only fueled my irritation and before I could stop myself, I was speaking my thoughts, telling her things that I never wanted her to know. "Trust me, little avian, when I say that if I wanted you dead, you would have been dead long ago. I wouldn't have bothered to set up this whole meeting with the Mistari. I would have broken into your room in the dark of night and smothered you with that Chinese silk pillow you keep on top of the trunk at the foot of your bed."

"What?" she choked out so quietly that I was only sure she spoke as I saw her lips move. Her shock was understandable most serpiente had never even been close enough to Hawk's Keep to see its outer walls, but I had been inside. As shocking as that was, the fact that I had harmed no one within on the many trips I had made must make the story seem unbelievable. "You know the one I mean—gold and red silk with flying black and silver dragons. Beautiful, obviously handcrafted," I continued gamely, though a misunderstanding about which pillow I was speaking of was obviously not reason for her confusion.

My anger faded as quickly as it had come on, I would get nowhere with Danica using idle threats and barely contained hostility. This was an exercise in patience and I was determined to pass it. The comment had been made and now I was going to have to explain it, regardless of my feeble attempts at distraction. She would not be dissuaded so easily. "Who told you about it?" she demanded and had it been anyone but Danica Shardae the tone would have been ripe with anger. As it was, her tone was if not quite polite then close to it in a perfectly smooth calm pitch.

I was in too far to back out now, I would have to tell her the truth, but I certainly wasn't going to make it easy on her. "About the silk pillow? Or about the oaken chest it sits on?" For the first time I met her eyes with mine in a direct gaze and she did not flinch away. I wasn't sure if I was actually making progress with her or for the moment, her surprise and curiosity outweighed her fear. "Or maybe about the white woolen blanket you sleep with in colder weather, which is as soft as new down, and the heavy tapestry that hangs across the open balcony door in good weather." This knowledge had been gathered over several visits to the Keep, and I knew that those trips might now end. However, I couldn't stop myself from telling her these things, at this moment, I wanted her to know that I had stood there in her room and watched her sleep.

"How…" she replied and I suspected that she was working her way up to saying more but the fear was making her words slow. I didn't have time for her to form a full sentence.

"I've been there. I've seen it. The Hawk's Keep isn't the easiest place to sneak into, but I have a talent for such things. I nearly got myself caught the first time, trying to figure out how to get to the first floor, but luckily avian guards don't often look up for an enemy. From there, there are servant staircases. You don't even keep your door locked, Danica." Her eyes widened, and I knew the door would remain locked from now on. Though that was hardly any inconvenience at all, I could pick the lock easily enough on the balcony doors and the main entrance was much too dangerous to use anyway. Belatedly I noticed that as I was holding her gaze, she was holding her breath. I broke the gaze and she began to breath again, "You're making this up," she whispered.

Now that was simply ridiculous, I had given her enough details to prove my presence in the Keep. Danica was in denial and I think that she knew it, all I needed to do was push her just a bit further and to do that I was going to have to reveal memories that I tried to keep locked tightly away. "You really think so? The first time I saw you, Danica, I had just lost the first of my brothers to an avian attack. Someone—I don't remember who—told me you had just turned fifteen. For your birthday, my brother died." I had never told these things to anyone, my family and guards certainly wouldn't have approved. And I didn't know why I was telling this woman that I disliked now. Perhaps because she was such a large part of the tale, though she didn't know it. "I rode a horse to the old Desmodus paths, and then cut through the woods. It was an hour or so after midnight when I found myself at your bedside. I meant to kill you."

She didn't startle at this revelation as I expected her to. She remained perfectly calm and cut to the heart of the story—the one thing I hadn't wanted to reveal to her in one question. "And why didn't you?"

It was then that I realized that she was still standing, still ready to fight back after feeling the heat of my anger. "Sit down, Danica," I sighed. There was no danger to her now and there never was really. I never would have struck her. "Do you have even the faintest idea how beautiful you are?" She paused shocked and slightly suspicious. It was only then that I realized she really had no idea. It was impossible that she never would have noticed such a thing about herself; surely even an avian would have seen that she was stunning, and proceed to tell her so. I certainly could not manage to forget it, as it drew me to watch her dream fitfully time and time again. My eyes closed and I pieced together how each detail had looked that first time, "You were fifteen. Only a year younger than I was. You were wearing white lambskin pants, and a blouse made of fur-lined cotton. I had assumed that you had fallen asleep before preparing for bed." I shook my head trying to clear away the feeling that the scene stirred in me, but opening my eyes to an older and even lovelier version of Danica Shardae did nothing to help my attraction for her. "I remember thinking that you were as beautiful as the chaste Greek goddess of the hunt," and still I couldn't argue with my assessment. "I was young. And I wasn't a killer—not then anyway. I had never killed before and I couldn't start by destroying something so exquisite. I reached out to touch your cheek."

Only when I felt my fingers brush against her warm cheek did I notice that I had moved. Even more surprising was the fact that she did not pull away from my touch as she had years ago. Unwilling to break the moment I made no comment on it, "You cried out in your sleep and pulled away from me. And then I saw the cut on your cheek, right here." As a spoke I once again touched her cheek where I remember the injury, testing to see how far the liberties she was allowing me would go. "Your arm had another slice, like you had been in a fight." As if I had hypnotized her with my story, she still didn't move as I traced the length of her arm, though her eyes were far away as if she barely knew that I was there.

"For a moment I wanted nothing more than to take you into my arms, but you had pulled away from my once already, and I was afraid of frightening you." I wanted her to understand how much that had hurt me as a sixteen year old boy, for her to flinch from me even in her sleep, perhaps that's why I couldn't stop myself from going back. "I told myself I hate you," I gently whispered. "But it wasn't true. You weren't responsible for the fighting. You weren't able to stop it any more than I was." I was desperate for this to reach her; it drove right to heart of everything that I needed her to know if were even to attempt the Mistari's vision.

"Why are you telling me this?" Danica asked her eyes still far away staring somewhere over my shoulder. I couldn't tell if she was really listening and without a second thought I shifted my position until I was on my knees directly in front of her where she would have no choice but to look at me. She gasped slightly but didn't move away as she was trapped by my position and her own. Good, I needed her here; I needed her to listen.

"You didn't start this war, Danica, and neither did I. It's been going on for so long that it's meaningless; people fight because they don't know what else to do." I could hear the desperation in my own voice, there would be no chance that she couldn't hear it too, but that was exactly what I wanted. "People fight because their leaders fight, and then their leaders are killed, so they have more reason to go on." I reached out and took her hands, and the touch calmed my desperation. If I was touching her then perhaps my probability of getting through to her increased, and before I could think better of it I decided to tell her of Irene, hoping that she would not use it against me. Hoping that Danica would be capable of some type of concern, "Danica, my sister Irene is carrying a child. She was white with fear when she told me. It's an event that should bring joy…but everyone in my family just remembers an avian soldier plunging his knife into my oldest sister's swollen belly." Danica opened her mouth as if to speak, but before she could get the words out I placed my fingers to her lips silencing her. She was going to apologize, I could see that in her eyes, but her compassion was enough I did not need the words. "No apology is necessary from you, Danica." I brushed my hand back along her cheekbone and ran my fingers through her hair while I spoke, though I couldn't exactly be sure why. All I knew was that I could think of no good reason not to, since she made no move to protest. "I am going back to the royal hall tomorrow evening. My mother, sister and guards will not be there to argue with the Disa and me. I hope you'll be there, and you'll listen to what she has to say. What she suggests…it might work. I'm just asking you to give the idea a chance."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I recognized them as the truth though I hadn't been aware of my own acceptance; it scared me. I could see that it frightened Danica as well. No matter, how alarming the idea was I would never have another chance at a peaceful resolution again; this was my one chance to take it. So perhaps for the first time in my life, I choose my words carefully, "Please, Danica. You sang to my brother of peace and hope. I can't believe that you aren't as desperate for those things as I am. Just…try."

I held my breath, afraid to move; this was a moment that could change my life forever. In that long instant I realized that in my desperation I had revealed knowledge Gregory's last few minutes, knowledge that I was not suppose to have. It didn't seem to matter, perhaps she hadn't heard her mind concerned with more pressing matters. Then she was nodding and felt happier than I believe I ever had before. "I will try," she said.

"Thank you," I returned and before I could think better of it, I had moved forward and brushed my lips against her cheek as an expression of my gratitude. For the split second that my lips were in contact with her skin, the strangest pleasant glowing sensation emitted for every cell in my body and my instinct told me to pull her closer. I had never denied to I was attracted to this woman, but lust for Danica Shardae was certainly not even an option at this point and a weakness I certainly couldn't afford.

In the time it had taken my all these thoughts to run through my head, Danica had spent the time being startled by my sudden movement and as so letting loss a cry that had the potential to unravel so much. I only had time to take a step back before the two guards rushed into the room. Every muscle in my body tensed in surprised and my instinct rushed forward calculating my best chance for survival. However, Danica seemed to have other plans as she unexpectedly stepped between her guards and me seemingly at ease with me at her back.

"There is no trouble here. I was just about to escort Zane out anyway," she said coolly, a queen to her servants. As much as I found the tone distastefully remote, I knew I was being hypocritical. I had used the same voice when speaking to countless others when I was could think of no other way to win an argument, but through my rank. I relaxed slightly when I saw that the guards would listen to their princess. "Zane?" she prompted me.

"Thank you for speaking to me at such a later hour, Danica," I replied lightly, as if we had only been speaking of the weather and moved to her side all the while keeping a careful watch on the guards. Then, I offered her my arm, in what I hope was a respectfully manner mentally begging her to keep her promise. Hesitantly she accepted my offer, and we strolled to the door and the birds that seemed content just to glare at us.

The man that I had identified earlier as having hopes of becoming Danica's mate did not seem satisfied to let us pass through quietly and as we got closer I could see in his eyes that he was intent on challenging me. I was perfectly willing to accept his challenge if he wished it, so when he refused to move out of my way, I shouldered him from my path. Obviously this was cause for him to glare even more harshly at me in return, and in that second I realized what would trouble him the most and simple reacted to it. With his intention of staring me down, it was all too easy to catch his eye and freeze him where he stood. After that, it was a simple matter to detach my arm from Danica and loop said arm around her waist, pull her toward me to me, and brush my lips briefly against hers. Again I felt my body glow, it was a rather a disturbing reaction really and obviously a product of my long-standing attraction to the avian princess.

I quickly stepped away from Danica just as the avian guard stepped toward me probably intending to cause me severe physical harm. Nodding politely both to Danica and the guard and barely containing my amusement at the look on Danica's face, I changed shape and slithered down the hall. Before I was out of range, I heard the guard demand, "Are you all right?" If a snake had been able to laugh, I don't think I would have been able to contain myself.

I met no one until I changed shape right before I arrived at my room. The Mistari guards standing in front of my door seemed unsurprised by my suddenly appearance and merely opened the door as I nodded a greeting to them. I assumed that Adelina must still be angry with me, as my bed was empty, though I must admit that it was not a pressing concern to me at the moment. I was exhausted and I sunk down into my bed where I was almost instantly asleep and dreaming of peace.