A/N: And so there is another update. I really did miss writing this, and now that I've gotten back to it, I'm pretty happy. So on to the new and improved Chapter 3. Hopefully I'll get back some of my old readers and some new ones too. Also, as just a heads up, I don' imagine that Capricorn is body-concious, or shy in any way shape or form. That'll make sense later.

Meggie had gone to sleep shortly after the sun rose. Unfortunately, just two hours after she had drifted off, she was woken up by someone softly shaking her shoulder. Meggie's eyes slowly opened, and after her vision became completely clear, she saw a maid standing over her. It was Wendy, now in the dress seen on all Capricorn's maids.

"The boss wants to see you." Wendy had become a shy maid already. She didn't hate Meggie, but she didn't like her all that much either. Peter was enjoying this new world a lot more than she was, but that was understandable.

"I'm really sorry Wendy. I didn't... I didn't want this to happen." Meggie got up as Wendy led her to the church as she had been instructed. Meggie yawned as the doors opened. She was surprised to see Capricorn already walking down the aisle, as if to meet them.

"At last! Come along little Silvertongue, we have business in the North." Capricorn took a hold of Meggie's shoulder, turning her back towards the door. "You're dismissed," he said to Wendy. He then led Meggie out to the parking lot where his car waited for them. The car was already started, it was just waiting on its passengers. When Meggie yawned again, Capricorn looked down at her. "You can sleep in the car."

Meggie got in the car sitting on the opposite side of the seat as Capricorn. He obviously never rode in the front seat, he treated himself too much like royalty for that. After all, you'd never see a king sitting beside the driver of his carriage. "Why do I have to come along?" Meggie was surprised by her own bravery. But perhaps it was her new-found apathy that made her brave. After all, she had nothing to look foward to in life, so she didn't exactly care what happened to her.

Capricorn looked down at her with a sardonic smile. "Would you rather stay here without my protection?" He knew what her answer would be. His grin turned to one of satisfaction as Meggie promptly shook her head. "That's what I thought." Capricorn relaxed in his seat, settling in for the long ride. When he looked back over at Meggie a few minutes later, he saw she was asleep.

It hadn't taken Meggie long to fall asleep. After all she hadn't had a particularly good night the previous night. She fell asleep sitting up, and it was such a deep sleep that she didn't wake up when she slowly slid down the seat to lie sidways filling the space between her and her hated enemy.

It took around three hours for them to get to the small base in the north. When they arrived, Capricorn put his hand on Meggie's shoulder, shaking it slightly. She sat up slowly rubbing her eyes. When she realized what position she had woken up in, she eyed Capricorn suspiciously, but he ignored her glare. "Come along." Capricorn climbed out of the car as Meggie got out on the opposite side. He walked up the driveway meeting Meggie in front of the car. He promptly put his hand on her shoulder to keep her from trying to run. He still didn't entirely trust her.

Meggie didn't try to shrug Capricorn's hand off her shoulder, she was afraid of the reprecussions. She didn't really feel like going back to the village with any bruises, cuts, or possibly broken bones. Who knew how Capricorn would punish insolence? As they walked up the path the men who had been working outside stopped and stared at their boss and the young girl. Meggie fixed her eyes on the path, letting Capricorn lead her inside.

The small base was essentially a shabby mansion that reminded Meggie a little of Elinor's house. She wondered what would happen to it, and all the books that were inside it. Capricorn lead her to a medium sized parlor where he sat in an oversized, black, leather chair. Meggie sat in the smaller, red upholstered chair near Capricorn's. She knew he would want her in of his sight. She curled up in the chair and was soon back to sleep.

Capricorn conducted his business, every once in a while glancing over at the sleeping Meggie, making sure none of the men disturbed her in a way he didn't approve of. When she woke up, Capricorn ordered that tea be brought in for them. He didn't have Meggie read aloud to him here. This base was over-manned as it was, he didn't need more trouble. Part of the business he was attending to was getting some of his men switched around station-wise. He was going to send Cockerell here while arranging for another man, Zia, to come to the southern base.

Meggie was extremely bored. She wished she could have a book to read, but she was afraid to ask. She had caught up on her sleep, and her apathy was mostly gone, giving way to her fear once more. She was aware that the men who came in stared at her, some in awe, some in fear, and some in something else that Meggie really didn't want to know about.

At around 5:30 in the evening, Capricorn had his and the girl's dinner brought in, along with a small table to set it on. Dinner that evening was shells stuffed with tomato sauce, cheese, and meat. They were actually quite delicious, and Capricorn was impressed with the cooking at this base. But of course he didn't say anything about it, he just wasn't the type to do that.

Meggie had really enjoyed the dinner that she had been served. the cooks here were excellent. She hadn't seen any maids, so she assumed she was the only female in the house. That explained the 'other' looks she had been getting.

It was at nine o'clock that night that Capricorn revealed that they wouldn't be going back down south until the next morning. He still had a few small matters to deal with before they would go back the next day. Capricorn lead Meggie up a flight of stairs. "There's only one room, as the men failed to make the prepartions I had ordered two days ago." Capricorn opened the door to a rather large room.

Meggie swallowed hard when she saw the furniture in the room. Two chairs, a table, a fire place, and one bed. It was king size, but it was the only one. There wasn't even a cot. Meggie would have to share a bed with Capricorn. She knew he would try to do anything inappropriate, but he was her enemy, and she hated him more than she hated anyone else. But, she would be safe, which wasn't much in the way of comforting thoughts.

"Go look in the wardrobe and see if those fools messed anything else up." Capricorn began to undo the buttons on his shirt, having already removed the jacket of his black suit. That day he had chosen to wear a black suit with a crimson under shirt. It brought out the extreme paleness of his skin.

Meggie quickly did as she was asked. "There's a night gown, and black silk pajamas, along with a change of clothes for the morning." She knew that Capricorn had wanted her to tell the contents of the wardrobe when he asked her to go see what was inside.

"Good. Bring the pajamas here, and there's a bathroom behind that door." Capricorn, now shirtless, pointed to a door on the left side of the room. He waited until Meggie was inside, with the door shut before removing his trousers, quickly changing into the silk pajamas.

Inside the bathroom, Meggie quickly changed into the nightgown, wishing that she had pajamas as well. But then again, Capricorn came from a story that was much like the middle ages, girls, and boys for that matter, wore nightgowns to bed. Boys technically wore night shirts, but they were as long as nightgowns in the present time, and sometimes nightgowns were just as baggy. She exited the bathroom, very shy and self-concious. She didn't feel comfortable sharing a bed with Capricorn period, let alone in a nightgown. Unfortunately for her, Capricorn was not in a patient mood.

"Hurry up will you?!" Capricorn snapped at the young girl. He wasn't very pleased with the sleeping arrangements either. The last thing he wanted to do was share a bed with a twelve year old girl. "I'm not pleased either, but it's something we'll just have to deal with." Capricorn got under the thick comforter as Meggie crawled onto the bed on the opposite side.

Meggie was very tired, despite the two naps she had taken earlier. She stayed as far away from Capricorn as she possibly could, glad that he wasn't happy either. Life's little pleasures were enough to keep her slightly satisfied. Despite her wariness and paranoia, she was asleep within fifteen minutes.

Capricorn looked over at the young girl who had recently become his favorite person in the world. He had known early on that she would be quite pretty in a couple years time, for that prettiness was already starting to show through her features. She looked quite a bit like her mother, now that Capricorn knew that Resa had been her mother, he could see a definate resemblance. He didn't stare long before he turned on his other side and went to sleep.

The next morning while Meggie was eating breakfast (for she had gotten up later than Capricorn), Capricorn was arguing with one of his men about what they should do about a lack of women. Meggie had decided to focus more on her eggs and bacon, for the discussion was one she didn't particularly care to hear.

Capricorn was getting very angry, and if the man he was arguing with didn't watch his step, he'd find himself face to face with the Shadow. But as with all arguments, Capricorn won. He then turned to Meggie, but found she wasn't in the red chair. He took a quick survey of the room and found her by the bookcase. She was sitting cross-legged, her back against the wood, quietly reading a book. Capricorn didn't say anything for a few seconds. He then decided that she could be trusted with books. He didn't like when she put up a fuss to read for him, so he decided that he would do his best to keep her at least somewhat happy, within reason of course. "Come along little Silvertongue, our business here is through."

Meggie looked up, her face fallen as she put the book back on it's shelf. She quickly went to Capricorn and followed him out of the house. She wished she had been given clean clothes to wear, but instead she had on her old clothes from the previous day. It was better than staying in the nightgown all day.

When Capricorn and Meggie walked out to the car, the men stopped and stared like they had before. Meggie was careful to keep her gaze on the ground as she passed the men. She didn't like the looks they gave her. She quickly crawled into the car on the opposite side of Capricorn, staring out the window.

When he was inside he motioned to the driver. And so they set off, but not to where Meggie thought they were going.