Earls of Chester:

Chapter I:

They dragged her through a dark narrow passage that seemed to have no end. She did not walk; she did not resist even though she was terrified. Even though she knew very well that there was nothing good waiting for her at the mercy of those men.

There was no hint of hope or rebellion within herself, because to be far from her people was to cross the boundary between heaven and hell.

They threw her on a firm, damp surface, and she heard the door clatter behind her. Then she heard the sound of the beetle moving. And then she perceived nothing but the frequent, distant drip ...

The rain did not cease.

She did not dare to get up to inspect where she was, and she did not even move from the place where she had fallen. He had managed to lock her up once and for all.

She stood there, with her eyes were closed, breathing regularly. Remembering the life she once had and which she had always been proud of: her happiness consisted in dancing at night with her friends in the camp, in going to the river with the fishermen, in escaping to the city for reading the future in the payos' hands and listening to the stories of the elders of the tribe.

And being almost happy. Almost. Because her origin, her customs and her trade brought her many problems. They were discriminated against, persecuted and forced to lead a nomadic life, and they were constantly moving from town to town. And for the habitants of Chester they had no rights. They were not their equals.

She hated this situation, but she could do nothing. They had already defeated her, that time and this time. Now she only had to exist, and she did not know for how long.

Beeston Castle had a very pleasant view, dominated by the green of the fields and the color of a roses garden well taken care of by her friend Lady Mai Valentine. Tea was enjoying the scenery sitting by the big window, looking out over the hills that could be seen deep in the background, behind the conifers.

She had not yet begun to write the letter she intended to send to her cousin Devlin. She waited for Yami and his brother to come back of riding, as they did every morning.

One of her maids, Serenity, the squire's sister, entered the room and she handed her an envelope.

"Who is this from?" she asked.

"I don't know, ma'am," said Serenity. "Rex, the grandson of Mistress Donna has just brought it.

After saying this and with the permission of her boss, she left the room and she went down to the kitchen.

Tea Kaiba watched the yellow envelope for a while, speculating about what it could be about, and she checked that it did not indicate who it came from. She dismissed the idea of her cousin writing her because it would be too much of a coincidence. And the Earls of Cheshire did not believe in coincidences.

Since her sister-in-law had died, she had never seen him again. And Devlin wasn't very much in favor of family communications. Or at least that was the impression she had, in that her older brother and his cousin looked alike.

She decided that it was best to wait for her husband to arrive, she did not want to be surprised.

For two weeks now she had been having a bad feeling, which grew larger with every dream that tormented her at night. She had already taken action against them.

At first she decided to stop having dinner, so when she went to bed her systems would stop working and her brain too, but it didn't work. Then she chose to stop sleeping, but she never afford it, and the dream ended up overcoming her. And she had tried both methods at the same time, since she believed that the need to feed herself would not allow her to fall asleep. But it was all in vain. During fourteen days she had continued to replay her nightmares. Better say her nightmare, because it was always the same. And that was why she decided to write to her cousin.

She heard the sound of a few trotting outside the castle and she assumed it was her husband. Tea walked down the stairs quickly to the living room with the envelope in her hand and she stood by his trophy case.

Yami entered the room followed by Joey and Tristan. He walked to where she was and kissed her, but Tea was too altered to notice details.

"Yami," she said, moving away from her lips, "an envelope has arrived a moment ago."

"Oh... yeah? And who is this from?"

"I don't know, I have not opened it yet," she said, handing it over him.

Yami took it and he opened it quickly, Tea's attitude was too intriguing, and his curiosity consumed his patience. He took out what appeared to be a telegram from Sir. Crawford, the county judge. In it, he asked that they meet in his office the next day, because he had an important matter to deal with.

"Read it, Yami" an impatient Tea ordered. "What does it say?"

"Sir. Seto Kaiba;

Earl of Chester:

I know you had not hear from your cousin, the Earl of Southampton, since six years ago. I regret to have to inform you that I have very important information about the fate of Sir. Devlin Kaiba, information that I will let you know tomorrow if you agree to go to my office in the early afternoon.

Atte.

Sir. P. Crawford."

"Yami," said Tea with her arms crossed, seemingly annoyed, "you just opened a letter that was for my brother.

"Of course not," he said calmly. "You gave me the envelope to read. Didn't you say 'Read it, Yami'?"

"But I didn't know it was for him ..." she paused as she watched Joey and Tristan. "Speaking of Seto, where is he? Wasn't he with you and Mokuba?"

"He was," Yami said as he poured himself a glass of wine. "But he went with my grandfather to the town to see the exhibitions."

"With Solomon? He never goes with Solomon."

"I know, but Mokuba asked for it."

"Ok ... that makes sense."