Chapter 2- Playing Games

Devin watched the boy he had found in the river scrub the wood floor of his room clean. The boy had already dusted, changed the bed sheets, and cleaned the windows. This amazed Devin. His room was giant. He had a large rose wood dresser that matched his desk pushed against the back wall. To the left was a door that led to Devin's sitting room, which the boy had already cleaned, and the glass door to the right led to his balcony which over looked the city below.

Devin was currently sitting on his bed, which was also made of rose wood and covered in comforters the color of the night sky. He had watched the boy work all morning while Cynthia hovered over him making sure he did everything perfect. Devin smiled, he knew that the boy was bugging Cynthia because she couldn't find many things to criticize him on. The boy worked hard and efficiently, what was there to complain about?

Cynthia turned to Devin. "Are you just going to sit there all day?" she snapped. Devin just shrugged and stayed put silently eating while watching the boy. They were approximately the same age but the boy couldn't even remember his name so Devin was trying to come up with a good one. He studied the boy harder. He had been Devin's servant for almost a week and a half now. He had messy black hair and blue eyes that were almost black. He had good reflexes because he had caught the lamp that Devin's cat had knocked down. But the harder Devin tried to think of a name that would fit the boy the more impossible it seemed. Finally Devin gave up; he was going to name the boy after the main character in his favorite book. He hopped off the bed and walked deliberately over to the boy. The boy looked up at him from the floor his face blank.

Devin pondered a moment then said, "Your new name is Damian." Then Devin turned and walked out the door. He wondered mindlessly down the halls since he didn't need to go anywhere today. Devin finally ended up in the library. He walked down the rows one by one his fingers touching the spines of the books as he read the titles. One finally caught his attention, The Adventures of James Rowan, the werewolf. Devin pulled it off the shelf and curled up in a nearby chair. He opened the book to the first page and was soon totally absorbed in the tales of the werewolf.

Damian focused completely on his work tired of trying to avoid thinking about his lost past. He had figured out that if he gave his work his undivided attention that he would forget about his past. The only problem with this was that he finished his work too quickly and was sent to his room. Then Damian would sit on his bed and wrack his brain for hours trying to figure out what to do now. He was careful never to misplace the necklace with Austyn's name on it. He was amazed he still had after the tip down the river. He couldn't afford to loose it, it was the only way to keep an eye on her.

Damian was sitting idly on his bed when a servant quickly entered his room. He was a short man with almost no hair and hazy brown eyes. "The prince wants to see you in his room. Devin simply nodded and slowly crawled off his bed. He walked quickly down the halls till he was standing in front of the prince's room. He knocked quietly on the door.

It flung open with a bang and Damian found himself on his knees in front of the king. His shoulders were throbbing from the blow that the king had given him but Damian knew better than to move. "Useless little boy," he hissed and stormed down the hall.

Claire appeared from somewhere in the sitting room. "Ignore him Damian," she murmured quietly and then proceeded to lead Damian into Devon's room. Devon sat in a chair at his desk doing some work that Cynthia had given him earlier. Claire had explained to Damian earlier that week that Cynthia was Devon's governess. Cynthia was sitting in a chair next to Devin reading a book. She glanced up when the door opened and gave Damian an icy glare.

Devon also looked up. "You forgot to organize my desk this morning," he handed Cynthia his completed assignment and walked over and sat on his bed.

Cynthia also stood up. "Finish it quickly and then go to bed," she snapped then she left the room taking Claire with her.

Damian walked over to the desk and pulled open the first drawer. This was the first time he had been alone in the room with Devin. He frowned when he saw that the contents in the drawer were neatly organized already. He turned to give Devin a curious look.

Devin smiled. "My desk is clean. I wanted you to come up here for a different reason."

Damian's eyes flickered with curiosity. "And what would that be your highness?"

Devin rolled his eyes. "First rule, I hate being called your highness." Damian nodded. "And I called you to my room to ask if you wanted to play a game with me?" Devin got up and pulled a board game out of his desk then gave Damian a questioning look as he silently waited for an answer.

Devin smiled and walked over to where Devin was standing. The two boys sat down on the floor and began setting up the game as Devin explained the rules to his new friend.

Austyn had cried herself to sleep constantly for weeks after Mark's disappearance. She was a complete wreck walking around like a ghost, she felt as if part of her had died along with Mark. They had done everything together after he had saved her from the Phantom. Austyn let a small smile flicker faintly across her face when she remembered their next meeting.

Austyn collapsed onto her bed pouting. Anna smiled gently down at her child. "We'll only be gone for a couple hours, and trust me, these meeting are utterly boring!"

Austyn glared at the floor. "I still want to come," she whined.

Her mother shook her head. "In a couple of years you will have to, and then you'll wish you were not aloud to come again." Her mother gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked swiftly out the door calling out behind her. "Lorelei, please make sure Austyn goes to sleep soon."

Austin rolled her eyes and crawled into bed as her maid, Lorelei, entered the room. "Good night, sweetie," Lorelei murmured into Austyn's ear and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. "Get a good night's sleep." Lorelei then stood up and walked out the door closing it softly behind her.

Austyn lay bored on her bed. She wasn't tired at all. She finally sat up and lit her candle. Walking quietly over to the other room, she pulled a book off her bookshelf and clambered back into bed.

She had only read one chapter when there was a sharp knock on her window. She jumped in surprise accidentally hitting her head on the wall. She walked quickly over to the window and found Mark perched on the roof of her house. Austyn smiled and pulled open the window.

"Hey," she whispered quietly. "What are you doing here?"

Mark grinned, "I came to see if you wanted to go back to the shack with me."

Austyn frowned, "Are any Phantom's going to show up?"

"Not that I know of," Mark whispered back.

"In that case," Austyn said with a grin, "Just let me get my cloak."

She hurried over to her closet and pulled out her riding cloak. Austyn jogged back to the window and slipped quickly out into the cool night air. Mark led her carefully off the roof and into the alley below. Fang sat waiting for them in the corner and Austyn gave him a friendly pat on the head.

Mark grabbed her hand and the two children hurried off into night towards the forest. It was bright outside and a full moon lit the ground before them. Fang ran ahead of them keeping a sharp look out for anything and anyone.

It didn't take them very long to get to the shack and when Austyn hurried inside she found four candles on the floor. She carefully lit them and found, to her glee, that Mark had brought three different board games with him.

Mark sat down and pulled the one on top in front of them. "You want to play this one first?"

Austyn nodded and sat down across from them. "I don't know how to play though."

Mark grinned gleefully. "I'll teach you."

Several hours later, Mark hoisted Austyn gently onto her roof. The house was dark except for a single candle flickering in Austyn's room. She slipped through her window and turned towards a crouching Mark. "That was fun!"

Mark nodded, "I can't come tomorrow, but we can go back on Thursday?"

Austyn nodded. "I'll be waiting."

A single tear ran down her cheek. Austyn had finally finished gathered up everything that Mark had given her and put it in a box in her dresser. Everything except the necklace which she hadn't taken off since her parents had told her he was dead. Her body trembled while she rummaged through her dresser trying to find a dress to wear to the dinner her family was going to tonight. It was being held at the palace hosted by the king and his family, the only people going were Austyn, her family, and Mark's family.

The funeral was tomorrow. They had finally given up the search they hadn't found any sign of Mark and assumed him dead. Austyn had finally decided he must be dead because he hadn't come to see her since his disappearance. Three more tears slipped down her face. She reached forward and grabbed a ruby red dress with streaks of white and puffy sleeves that went down to her wrist. Lorelei did her hair and put some powder on her face to hide the tear streaks. When the maid was done she patted Austyn gently on the shoulder, Austyn murmured a thank you and walked slowly down the stairs.

Her parents were waiting for her in the sitting room. When she came down the stairs they stood up and led the way to the carriage waiting for them in front of the house. Austyn stepped carefully in and sat down next to her mother. The carriage took off with a jolt and a sense of dread wormed its way through Austyn. She had refused to talk about mark for the last three weeks positive that he was going to show up, but he never did. And now she was going to a dinner where all they were going to talk about was Mark. She wasn't ready yet.