Amber woke up and noticed one thing… Joy was missing.  She was hopping that she would be back before she woke up but she wasn’t.  Reassuring herself she got ready for the day and went down stair for breakfast.  When she was done she checked her room again; she wasn’t there.  When the chiefs gave her the snacks they made she went to the kitchen to leave them there for the tinies.  She hopped that someone would tell her what was going on.  Luckily she noticed Lu appearing before her with Joy behind him.

“Joy,” Amber called her with relief in her voice.  “I was worried something happened to you last night.  I didn’t see you and … well I thought the worst had happened.”

Joy put on the best smile she could, “No everything is fine.  I was just tired and decided to sleep here.”  Lu looked at Joy for a split second and saw something in her eyes that told him to go along with it.

Amber bent down and picked up both of them and brought them up to the table and placed them down near the tray.  This way if they were hungry they could eat and they still could talk to one another. 

“I’m glad your fine.  You had me worried.”

“Sorry I made you worry,” Joy said.

Amber shook her head, “It’s my fault, and I worry too much.  I’m just afraid that something bad is going to happen to you and … well I couldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you.”  Joy didn’t know what to say.  Joy never considered what would happen to Amber if something bad happened to her last night.  She felt guilty not telling the truth but she knew if she did tell her, there would be no way Amber would let her. 

Amber continued, “Well I was wondering if the two of you would like to go on a quick picnic.”

“A picnic?”  Lu and Joy both asked.

Amber smiled at them, “Yeah a picnic.  The place I’m thinking would be great for you all to live we could visit.  It’s a place that I usually go for a picnic.  I haven’t been there for a while and was wondering if you would like to see it?”

Joy looked at Lucius and saw him nod.  “We would be delighted.” 

“Great,” Amber said with great enthusiasm. 

After Joy and Lucius got the food taken to the others they were ready to go on this picnic.  Amber kept Joy and Lucius together as her maid, Mary and a guard traveled with her.  They were outside the carriage so Amber was alone with Joy and Lu.  Joy thanked Lucius for not saying anything about last night.  Lucius figured that there was a reason why she didn’t say anything so he kept to himself.  Joy started to feel grateful that she met someone like Lucius. 

They reached the picnic area and Amber revealed the surroundings to both Joy and Lucius.  They were both stunned at the beauty of the place.  They were sitting near a river in a flowery meadow.  There were a few trees scattered around to give some shade.  Joy was speechless.  Amber told them that no one ever comes out here, it would perfect for them to live.  Joy still couldn’t say anything as she looked upon a place she could only dream of being at.  Now she would be able to live here.

“This is perfect…” Joy said breathless.  Lu just nodded his head in agreement as he too looked shocked.

Amber smiled at them, “I knew you would like it.  I used to come here when I was a kid.”

“But how are we going to move everyone here?  It might be easy to move 3 or 4 a trip but that’s too little to make a big difference with the amount of people we have.”

Amber picked up her picnic basket and gave it a slight shake.  “I could carry them in here.”

Joy gave Lu a smile, “She could carry 20-30 people at a time!  Amber you’re a genius.” 

Amber blushed slightly.  “I just want to help you all.  I still feel like I need to help.”

“Amber you have done more than enough to help us,” Lu said.  “You have given us plenty of food and now you have found a place for us to live.  We can never thank you enough.”

The three of them spent the next couple of hours enjoying the wonderful weather and plant life.  The feeling from last night was slowly dissipating as she realized that there was now hope for her kind.  Joy felt relieved as she lie in Amber’s hand and let the day pass by.  Eventually they had to head back.  As they headed back Joy decided to stay with Lucius when they told everyone about the good news.

“Do you want me to get you after Dinner?”

“That would be great.”  Joy said as Amber placed both Lucius and Joy on the ground in the kitchen. 

“Are you sure about this,” someone asked Lucius.

“Positive.  It’s perfect and there was no sign of any danger.  We can finally start a new life and live in peace.”

There was some worried looks but finally everyone agreed that this was what they needed. 

“Amber said that she will be able to start taking us in a few days.  She will take a few of us and we will prepare for the rest of you when she makes another trip in a few days later.  Are there any volunteers that want to be the first to leave?”  Joy looked upon the group of people and saw a few hands rise.

With everything settled Joy began to start preparations for their new home.  They started to pack food clothes and other supplies needed for them to live.  By the time they were done Joy realized that it was getting late.  Joy was about to leave to check and see if Amber was waiting for her when Lucius stopped her. 

“Joy… I don’t know how to thank you.  You have helped us beyond anyone’s dreams.  Not only are we helping others survive but we are making a place for them to live at too.”  He quickly gave her a hug and kissed her.  “Thank you so much.  I love you.” Joy was too stun to say anything.

“Lu, come over here quick we need your help,” Someone called.

“Yeah alright,” He shouted to them.  Lucius turned after giving Joy a big smile and left to help who ever called him away.

 She stood there flabbergasted.  Walking in almost in a daze she left still unable to process what just happened.  Lucius just kissed her.  She never had been kissed like that before.  Granted Amber kissed her but that was on a different scale.  Still distracted she stepped out away from the crates that hide the passage way to their home.  There was a voice that snapped her out of it.

“Joy.”  Amber said.  Turing Joy looked up to see Amber waiting for her.  She gave her a concerned look, “Are you ok?  You seem… slightly distant.”  Amber picked up Joy and started to head away from the kitchen.

“I… ummm.”  It was all she could say as she kept replaying the event that just unfolded on her.  What would Amber think?  No she couldn’t find out.  Should she keep it from Amber?  Would she hate her?  Would she hate Lucius?  These thoughts raced through her mind as she tried to consider what to do.

Amber looked at Joy with concern in her eyes, “Joy?”

Joy saw this and knew what she had to do, “… Lucius and I kissed.”

“Oh…” she said sounding shocked.

“I’m sorry Amber don’t be mad it just sort of happened and-”

“I’m glad.”  Amber said.

“You’re what?”  Joy asked confused.

“Well I’m glad you found someone that makes you happy.”

“But you make me happy.”

“Well do you like Lucius?”

Joy felt her face slightly blush, “Well… yeah, but what about you?  I love and I don’t want that to change.”

Amber gave her a smile, “I just want you to be happy.  If you like Lucius… well I don’t mind.  In the end as long as you’re happy I’m happy.”

“So you’re not mad that we kissed?”

Amber shook her head no. 

Joy looked up at Amber with admiration.  “You’re too kind.  I don’t know how you can be so kind to me, no not just me to everyone.”  Joy hugged Ambers thumb.

Amber couldn’t help it but feel happy seeing Joy like this.  Amber could always tell that Joy was reserved from the world the moment she met her.  As they got to know each other she slowly started to come out of her shell.  Amber reached her room and opened her door.  She set Joy down on her bed as she got ready for bed.  She pulled her covers back and picked up Joy and brought her up to her face to say good night.

Joy stopped her by saying, “Amber… do you mind if I sleep with you tonight like the other night?”

Amber couldn’t hold back the smirk that spread across her face.  “Do you mean sleep or…”

Joy blushed and couldn’t help but look away.

Unable to stop herself Amber had to tease her some more.  She brought her closer to her face and whispered in her ear, “You just have to say it.”

Turning a deeper shade of red, Joy said: “Amber please… can we have sex again?”

Amber couldn’t help herself from letting a giggle leave her.  She got into bed and started to kiss Joy. 

Joy was being bombarded by Amber’s lips as she kept kissing her.  Amber slowly stopped her kissing and stuck her tongue out.  She dragged her hot, fleshy, wet tongue up her body.  Joy had shivers as she was coated in a warm sticky substance.  Then she was hit again as the tongue crawled up her body a second time.  After the third time Joy couldn’t stand it anymore.  Never had she felt this way.

On the fifth time she grabbed the tongue.  Amber let out a “Huh,” as she noticed that Joy grabbed her tongue.  Letting out a chuckle she retracted her tongue in with Joy on it.  Joy was assaulted by the warm wet environment of Amber’s mouth.  Like the night before she felt the probing tongue roll over her body as it poked and rubbed her most precious parts.  Unable to resist, Joy let out sounds of pleasure as she was brought to her breaking point.

Amber could taste Joy’s flavor flooding her mouth.  Unable to resist, she felt her hands slowly work their way down to her precious spot and began to rub and tease her into bliss.  She could feel a wave of pleasure slowly build and with a sudden burst wash over her body as she orgasmed.  After the pleasure slowly subsided, she opened her mouth to let Joy get some fresh air and to retrieve her.

Joy lay there as she heard Amber’s breath increase.  After she was done with her orgasm her mouth opened up letting cold air wash over Joy’s wet body.  She felt her body shiver from the cold.  Two fingers slowly pulled her out of Amber’s mouth as Joy didn’t want to leave.  It was odd how she always feared being eating by something or someone, but for Amber she was willing to go the one place that she feared the most. 

As her body started to dry Joy lay in Amber’s hand as they both let their breaths catch up with them.  Again like the night before they felt spent and tired.  Amber placed Joy on her chest so she was in between her breast.  Joy couldn’t help it but feel herself slowly being lulled away to a sleep from the slow rise and fall of Amber’s chest.  Not able to stop it her eyes started to close shut as she fell asleep.

Amber watched Joy close her eyes and curled into a small ball as she fell asleep.  She looked so adorable like that.  Amber could watch Joy sleep all night, but felt herself slowly fall asleep too.  Very gently she pulled Joy out from her breast and placed her on the pillow next to her.  Covering her with the small blanket, Amber lay on her side watching Joy sleep.  Amber dozed off dreaming sweet dreams…

It has been about a week since Joy was kissed by Lucius.  Since then she tried to avoid him as much as possible.  It worked well considering Amber would make a trip every other day carrying about 10 people each trip.  Joy would go one day and when Amber came back she would go with her, and Lucius would take Joy’s place helping the others get settled in their new home.  They were constantly apart which was fine with Joy.  She didn’t know what to say to Lucius if she ran into him again. 

Most of tinies were gone from their hide out and were already living in the meadow that Amber showed them.  Joy was spending the night with Amber and the next morning they were going to take another group of tinies to their new home. 

Joy lay on the pillow thinking of ways to confront Lucius.  She didn’t get a lot of sleep last night as she was too busy thinking.  She felt ashamed that she liked both Amber and Lucius.  She didn’t want to pick one but she knew she couldn’t have both of them.  The morning sun was just rising and cast a little light in through the window and Joy was still pondering what to do when she was suddenly startled by Amber tossing in her sleep.  She was rolling her head mumbling something under her breath.  

Then to Joy’s horror she started to turn toward her with her eyes closed.  Joy quickly got up and started to run… or crawl across the fluffy pillow as Ambers head came crashing down where she was.  Before she knew it there was a crushing pressure on Joy’s back and then she was covered in a soft flesh wall as all light was blocked out from her.  Joy was pinned down into the pillow she once found comforting, now was starting to make her feel cramped.  She could feel Amber breath as the sound of her still mumbling in her sleep.  Joy would have been scared if she hadn’t been in worse spots before.  Joy tried to push Amber off of her but there was no way it was happening. 

Joy then tried to call Amber but it only came out as a muffled sound and Amber was in too deep of a sleep.  Joy decided she would just have to wait until-

Something wet touched the top of Joy’s head.  Shuddering at the feel of it, Joy wondered what it could be.  It didn’t take her long to find out that it was Amber’s drool.  Amber was drooling in her sleep and It was rolling down her cheek to her.  Now the saliva was starting to reach Joy. 

At first Joy was disgusted at the situation that was occurring to her.  She was being covered in Amber’s drool.  That was until Joy got use to the feeling of the liquid oozing down over her body as it cover both her and Amber’s cheek.  Joy Slowly started to enjoy the feeling of having this thick liquid coat her body.  It was warm and gooey and it reminded her of the multiple times she spent in Amber’s mouth.

“… apples…”  Amber mumbled as a new wave of spit started to run down onto Joy.

All Joy could do was wait until Amber stop dreaming of apples…

Amber’s dreams shifted a lot that night as she slept.  Her first dream was a blur of her running away from something.  She couldn’t depict what it was but then she ran into a kitchen where there were a bunch of apples.  She loved apples; they always tasted so fresh and sweet.  After spending hours eating apples her dream shifted again.  This time it was a familiar scene, she was in the castles hallways when she heard a scream.  Running she went to the sound to find her parents slaughter in their bed.

Amber knew it was a dream but it was so life like.  She was about to go over to her parents when she heard her brother shouting for help.  Desperate to save his life she ran to his room only to not make it in time.  The familiar yet horrifying masked faces were there too.  One of them came toward her and grabbed her before she could move while the other figure came at her slowly with a knife.  Right before the knife struck her the figure removed his mask.  There was a face of a young man who grinned at her.

Amber bolted up straight as she swore it felt like a knife was plunged into her chest.  Looking down she saw nothing.  Slowly, she got her breath back under control.  As soon as her heart stop racing she let out a sigh of relief that the nightmare was over.  Amber was about to move when she felt something on the side of her face.  It felt crusty… oh no did she drool while she slept?  How embracing, she thought as she started to rub it off.  As soon as she touched it she found something wrong, there was an object stuck to the side of her face.  Bewilder she picked it off of her cheek to let a gasp as she realized that it was Joy.  She was covered in Amber’s dried up drool.  She couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the sight.

“Had another nightmare again?”  Joy asked almost oblivious to the fact that she was covered in Amber’s spit.

Amber nodded her head as she couldn’t, help but giggle at the sight of Joy, “Sorry … you just look hilarious.  Sorry I drooled on you.  I usually never drool in my sleep.”

Joy started to wipe of the dried residue of her as she said, “Don’t worry about it.  Was it the same nightmare with the masked people?”

“Yeah,” Amber said nodding.  “But one of them did something different.”

Joy stopped halfway wiping her left arm off, “What happened?”

“He took of his mask and I saw his face.”  Amber started to describe his face and features as Joy listened.  “The strange thing is I never seen anyone like that before… but there is something familiar about it.”

Joy and Amber remained quite as they let it all soak in.  Eventually Amber decided that it was time to go eat and then go out for another picnic.  As Amber walked to the kitchen she started to ask how Lucius and she were doing.

“Were doing fine…” Joy said.

Amber slowed down a bit as she noticed the hesitation in her voice.  “You haven’t talked to him have you?”

Joy looked shocked at first but then she knew better.  Amber could read her like a book, “No… I don’t know what to say to him.”

“Well how do you feel about him?  You don’t hate him, so why not talk to him about your feelings?”

Joy just looked away as she said, “Because I know that if I do he might not accept me for how I feel about you.  I don’t want to lose either of you and I don’t want to choice if I have to.”

Amber understood her feelings as she couldn’t lie about that she too felt that Lucius might not accept Joy.  Leaving the conversation alone they went to go eat breakfast.  When they were done Amber began to pack her picnic basket with some food and tiny people.  With everything ready, Amber made another trip to her favor spot to have a picnic.

Joy still didn’t want to confront Lucius today so she decided to try and dodge him again like the last couple of times.  Amber sat down under a tree, where they decided would be the best place for all of the tinies to live.  The tree was large and allowed them to build make shift housing out of the leaves that the tree provided.  Not to mention the tree grew a fruit they could harvest.  After Amber let all the tines out Lucius was there waiting to welcome Amber and Joy.  Joy quickly started to help carry some of the food that Amber brought.  She had an excuse to not be able to talk with Lucius.

“Joy, do you need help with that?”  Lucius asked.

“No, we got it.  You could help with the other food.”

“Oh… ok…” he said as Joy walked past him.

Joy let out a relieved breath as Lucius walked passed her with some others and started to help carry the food back to their new home.  It didn’t take too long to get the food to the housing they built for themselves.  Joy came back to talk with Amber before she left, but found Lucius waiting their talking with her.  He turned toward her and waved.  Amber picked her up and brought them together.

“Just saying goodbye; I’m going to help the new comers settle in,” Joy said.

“Alright, well see you soon Joy,” Amber said.

“Amber do you mind letting me talk with Joy?”

“Sure,” she said as she placed both of them down on the ground.  “I’ll be back in a little while.”  With that Joy watched Amber walk away toward the carriage without her basket.  When she disappeared over the small hill Lucius started to talk.

“Joy… did I do something to make you mad?”

“No, you didn’t do-”

“Then why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not trying to avoid you.  I just have been busy that’s all.”

Lucius didn’t say anything as Joy tried to sound convincing.  Finally, Lucius said something, “Well… ok you should probably help the others settle in then.  I’ll see you later.”  He then turned around and headed away from Joy toward the basket.  Joy was considering stopping him, but thought better of it.  She didn’t know what to say to him.  Joy took a step after him but hesitated. 

She would wait until next time to confront him.  Yeah that’s what she will do.  She’ll have some way of telling Lucius about her relationship with him, and with Amber.  She just needed a few more days to think of some way to tell him. 

Convinced that her plan was perfect she headed away from Lucius to help the others.

Amber was walking back to the tree where the others were at.  She told her guard that she forgot her basket and was going to get it.  When she came back she saw Lucius siting near the basket with his knees pulled up and his chin rested on them. 

“Is everything ok?” she asked worried that something bad might have occurred between him and Joy.

“… Yeah…” he said depressed.

Amber scooped him up gently and picked up her basket.  She started to head back.  Amber placed him in the basket as they reached the carriage and got inside.  The guard closed the door and started to ride down the dirt path back to the castle.  Amber opened the basket and pulled Lucius out to talk with him.

“You don’t seem fine.  Do you want to talk about it?”

Lucius didn’t say anything for a while but then said, “Joy hates me.”

Amber was shocked, “She doesn’t hate you.”

“Yeah she does.  She won’t talk to me.  I asked her what was wrong but she won’t tell me.  Maybe I was too forward with her with my feelings.”

Amber was silent debating what to say.  She finally said, “Lucius she doesn’t hate… she likes you a lot.”

Lucius looked confused, “But she doesn’t act like it.”

Amber gave him a smile, “Well… you see she also likes someone else too.”

Lucius looked crushed, “Oh… I see.”

“No you don’t understand,” Amber said trying to get him to not feel so bad.  “She thinks that if you knew that she like you and someone else that you wouldn’t feel the same about her.”

“… but if she feels the same way that I do about her I wouldn’t care.  I love Joy.  Ever since I saw her …” Lucius didn’t need to finish what he was saying.  Amber felt the same way when she saw Joy.  There was something about her that made her fall for her. 

“I know what you mean…” Amber said softly. 

Lucius looked up at Amber with confusion at first but a look of understanding came across his face.  Amber gave him a sheepish smile.  “Her smile is wonderful isn’t it?”  Lucius asked.

Amber nodded as she recalled Joy’s first smile at her.  “It is.  Please don’t hate her because of me.  I… I couldn’t bear it if she was hurt because of me.  Lucius, if you want to hate someone hate me but not Joy.”

“I don’t hate you Amber… I’m just upset that Joy wouldn’t tell me that she like someone else.  I mean I wish she told me instead of avoid me the past week.  Now I feel stupid kissing her like that.  I shouldn’t have done it.” 

“Lucius,” Amber said making Lucius look at her.  “If you feel the same way as I do then I would have done the same thing you did.” 

Lucius didn’t look convinced.  “I don’t know.  Maybe I should just leave you two alone.  I shouldn’t get in either of your ways.”

Amber lifted Lucius up so he was closer to her face.  “You make Joy happy.  I don’t care who she’s with as long as she’s happy with them.  If you like Joy and she likes you, then you two should try to work it out.  The only question you should ask yourself are you going to try and make Joy happy or not?”

“You wouldn’t be mad that Joy would be spending her time with me instead of you?” Lucius wondered.

Amber laughed, “She already is.  If she is happy with being with you then I’m happy too.  What about you?”

This time it was Lucius’ turn to laugh, “Yeah, I probably wouldn’t be able to break either of you up if I wanted to.  You two are great together and I would never do anything to change that.”

Amber smiled at him.  “So how do I confess to Joy if she’s scared of talking with me,” Lucius asked Amber.

“Don’t worry I have a plan…” Amber said.

Joy was helping Richard carry some food to the storage room.  She heard a rustling noise in the air.  She stopped what she was doing and decided to check it out.  Leaving the safety of the tree she started to investigate the noise.  She turned around the tree and froze in terror.

“I found some!” a man with a bag said to another man next to him.  The other man turned toward Joy and gave her a wicked smile.

“Come here little one… we won’t hurt…” He said as he slowly came toward her.

Joy quickly ran for the safety of the tree only to be violently picked up and dropped into the bag which held a few tinies already.  Joy’s only thought now was that they would leave the others and just take her.

“Ken, check the tree for more.”  Joy heard the man with the bag say.  In a few terrifying seconds she waited for the response she didn’t want to hear.

“Oh wow!  We hit the jack pot!”  Joy could hear the screams of the others as they were quickly grabbed and shoved into the bag she was in.  Joy couldn’t do a thing to save the others as they were all collected. 

“Alright Ken lets sell these little fellows and make some money.” 

Amber just finished putting Lucius back in the kitchen when she ran into her mother.  She had a look of annoyance on her face.  “Where have you been young lady?”

“Mother, I was just outside enjoying a picnic by myself.”

Amber’s mother just shook her head, “We have been looking all over for you.”

“Why?”  Amber asked.

“There is another man waiting to see you about marrying you.  You might remember him.”

“Mother, if its John again my answer to him is the same as last time.”

Amber’s mother shook her head as she led Amber to her room to change her into different clothes.  “It’s not him.  Do you remember Scott?  You use to play with him when you two were kids.”

Amber didn’t remember much of Scott.  The only thing she remembered is that her father brought her over to a counsel that her father had with a couple of other countries for a trading pacts.  She was about 5 and he was around 6-7.  She was playing dolls and asked if he wanted to play.  He gave her a sneer and walked away.  It was because Scott’s family was the Herthinbergs.  They used to be mortal enemies with her family but over the generations the hatred died down.  Now her mother and father have arranged a ‘date’ for them. 

“I don’t remember much of him,” Amber said as she started to change.  She would just met him and most likely not like him.  Then he will leave and her parents will try to find her another husband.  

“Well, try to like him.  This is your fifth suitor.  I know you might not like him but for your father’s sake please try.  We’re running out of men,” she said jokingly to Amber.  Amber couldn’t help but feel bad about not accepting their proposals but none of them stood out as someone she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

“There,” Her mother said as she finished dressing Amber in a beautiful dress.  “Don’t you look lovely?  Ok, your father is having dinner prepared for all of us and Scott to eat together.  There are going to be a few others that your father invited over to talk with.”  Amber’s mother opened her door for her.  “Why don’t you go and met Scott now.  I’m sure you two have a lot you can talk about before dinner.”

“Ok,” Amber said feeling trapped that now her entire night would be with someone trying to impress her for her hand in marriage.  Sighing she headed down stairs to go greet Scott.  Amber would try and give Scott a chance for her parents’ sake.   

She opened the door to the room Scott was waiting for her.  There was no one in there but Scott who had his back turned to her as he looked out a window.  Amber quickly addressed him, “Hello your majesty.  Sorry for making you wait.”

 Slowly the man turned around making Amber nearly fainted.  It took all her will power to stay calm as she looked at him.  The man standing in front of her was the man from her nightmare… Scott was the man who murders her family.

“Hello Amber, it has been a long time hasn’t it?”