Author's Note: Eeek...sorry about the severe lack of updates! I actually forgot for a while that I was writing this story. Then I remembered and had writer's block. But thanks to the wonderful Milla, who gave me the whole Hindi Territory idea, I am writing again! Whee!!

Enjoy, my diamond darlings. :)

And this is for Milla, even if she DOES think AR looks good in pink aprons and eyeliner. *shudders at the mental picture* I love ya anyway. :)

Chapter Five: Spectacular!

Traveling long distances wasn't something that Satine was accustomed to. As a matter of fact, before Christian had come, she hadn't even left the Diamond Territory before.

Well, they'd been walking for a whole day now, and she was exhausted.

To put it lightly.

"Are you tired?" Christian asked, concerned, from where he stood about twenty feet ahead of her, not looking the least bit winded.

"Just...a...little..." Satine wheezed, lifting her skirt as she stepped over a puddle. It seemed like the crimson satin weighed around a million pounds.

"We can rest for a while," he offered, walking back toward where she stood.

"No, no," Satine said, holding back a groan. "It's okay. I'll be fine."

Christian studied her skeptically, a smirk on his face.

"What??" she snapped teasingly. "You don't think I can take it??"

"You want the truth?" he retorted.

"Yes."

"No way in hell," he responded with a mischievous grin.

"You're lucky I'm too exhausted to come over there," Satine threatened, tiredly waving a fist at him. "Or you'd be in trouble, mister."

"Watch me as I tremble in trepidation," he deadpanned.

Too tired to form a reply that required words, she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Mature," he commented.

"Thank you," she replied tersely.

"Don't worry," Christian said. "You won't be forced to waste away much longer, fair maiden. We're getting close to the Hindi Territory."

"What's that?" Satine asked, feeling a bit embarrassed at her ignorance regarding Rougia's geography.

"It's a nice place, about a mile away from here-"

"A mile??" Satine cut off miserably.

Christian nodded gravely. "'Fraid so. Anyway, it's definitely an experience. Magic carpets, genies, harem girls, maharajas...very exotic."

"Sounds intriguing," Satine grinned. "Have you been there before?"

"A few times," he replied. "With my father and sister."

Satine sighed. "I've never been anywhere."

"Anywhere?" Christian repeated incredulously.

She shook her head. "Not out of the Diamond Territory, anyway."

"Well, then, we've definitely got to make this journey interesting," Christian declared. "I'm going to show you everything!"

"Everything?" Satine asked with a doubtful smile. "That might take awhile."

"Well, everything in our path, then," Christian promised. "You're going to have the time of your life."

"Am I?" Satine asked, still beaming.

"Of course."

"Because," Satine continued, "You know, I'm not having the time of my life at the moment. As a matter of fact, I'm feeling pretty dead."

"Too weak to take it?" Christian teased.

"Don't rub it in," she instructed. "I think I'm about to die. I'll just collapse right here if you don't mind."

"No," Christian said stubbornly. "We're getting to the Hindi Territory before nightfall."

"Chriiiiiistian," Satine wailed, drawing out his name shrilly. "Perhaps it has yet to register in your mind that I'm going to die."

"Nah, I actually caught that part," he replied with a grin.

"And yet you're still making me walk?" Satine asked, gasping in mock offense. "How dare you??"

"We're getting there," Christian repeated, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Even if I have to carry you."

Satine grinned. "Oh, really?"

"Really," he nodded.

"Well then, good sir," she said with a saccharine smile. "By all means, do so."

"What??" Christian asked.

"Carry me," she instructed.

Christian studied her skeptically.

"I was just kidding, you know."

"I don't care," Satine said. "Carry me or...."

Christian watched her, expectant. "Or?"

"Else!" Satine finished triumphantly.

He smirked. "Well, isn't that original."

"Yes," she shot back.

He sighed heavily. "You really want me to?"

"Of course."

He shrugged. "Okay."

And before Satine could even register the fact that he was moving, he had scooped her up into his arms and balanced her over his shoulder. She studied his back and let out a scream of indignance.

"CHRISTIAN!!"

"What?" he asked innocently. "You said you wanted me to carry you."

"I was thinking in a more romantic manner," Satine responded, voice bouncing with each step he took. "Not slapping me over your shoulder like some knapsack!"

"You never specified what kind of carrying you wanted me to do," he pointed out.

"Well, I'm specifying it now!!" Satine cried. "Now: put. Me. Down."

Christian obliged, setting her down on the ground again.

"Now, let's try this again, shall we?" she asked.

"Fine," Christian said. He lifted her again, this time gently, and she slung her arms around his shoulders as he held her in a fashion usually reserved for assorted princesses and Prince Charming.

"This better?" he asked, a half-smile lighting up his face.

Satine smiled. "Much."

~ * ~

"This is amazing," Satine breathed as they stepped through the threshold that revealed the Hindi Territory.

"It's great, isn't it?" Christian responded, setting her down on the ground again.

She nodded, entwining her fingers with his. Her blue eyes were wide with amazement as she scanned the activities around them. In one corner, a crowd had circled around a sword-eater in the process of sticking the blade into his mouth.

"What the hell is he doing??" Satine cried at once. "He's sure drawn a crowd for his suicide."

"They make sort of a show of that here," Chasten responded.

"Strange," Satine murmured before continuing her inspection. Lines of tents and booths surrounded them, draped in brightly colored silks as merchants shouted out advertisements for their products.

Right in front of them, a few young women clad in red harem costumes appeared out of thin air.

"Witches?" Satine murmured in awe.

"Genies," Christian whispered back. "Pretty common around here."

Satine nodded slowly as Christian watched her in amusement. They were approaching a group of dancing young women, singing out something in a foreign language he couldn't decipher. A group of men watched them, rapt and wide eyed. One of them was dressed in fine clothes, a scarlet turban and an intricately embroidered robe covered with golden elephants and crimson palm trees.

Realization dawned on him.

"It's the maharaja," he informed Satine in a hushed tone.

Her eyes widened. "He's like the king, isn't he?"

Christian nodded.

"Well, what's he doing down with the commoners?"

"Class rankings don't matter much here, I suppose," Christian responded, watching in interest.

The entertainers finished, and the maharaja applauded merrily.

"What do you think, Harry?" the regally clad woman next to him asked.

He shook his head. "No...none of them are quite what I'm looking for. All are exceptional, but they just don't fit."

The maharaja rose with a grim sigh, muttering to the woman, who Christian suspected was his wife, and then suddenly froze as his eyes fell upon Satine.

"You're her!"

"Um...excuse me, Your Highness?" Satine asked awkwardly.

"We've found her, Marie!" the maharaja cried, delighted. "You're perfect!!"

"...thank you?" Satine said weakly.

"You see, my dear, there's going to be a great play at the palace in a few months, but we simply couldn't find a woman to portray our female lead! You're perfect! Do you act?"

"I can," Satine responded.

"Wonderful!" cried the maharaja. "Spectacular! Would you be interested?"

"Um...you see, I'm meant to meet the king of Monroth," Satine replied. "But perhaps he would allow it..."

"Spectacular!" the maharaja repeated. "Now, what's your name, child?"

"Satine," she responded. "And this is Christian."

"Christian! Nice to meet you, boy!" the maharaja said, shaking his hand with vigor.

"You too, Your Highness."

"Oh, stop with this 'Your Highness' business!" instructed the maharaja at once. "I was Harry Zidler before I came to this place, and I'm still Harry! You call me that! I'll have no formalities!"

"All right..." Satine and Christian said awkwardly.

"Wonderful!" the maharaja cried. "I insist that the two of you stay at the palace tonight! Then you can continue on your journey to Monroth and write me to see if you can participate!"

"It sounds wonderful," Satine said with a smile, looking a bit shaken.

The maharaja snapped, and at once the rug that he'd been sitting on hovered around three feet into the air.

"Whoa," Satine murmured involuntarily.

Christian nodded. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

The maharaja boarded the magic carpet, helped his wife up, and then gestured to the room on the back.

"Hop on!" he ordered. "I won't have you walk to the palace!"

Satine and Christian exchanged a look of awed amusement before boarding the carpet.

Christian smiled as he watched her, the wind tousling her hair as she closed her eyes, a lazy smile on her lips.

Satine seemed to enjoy flying.