| Part 2 He rolled his eyes, smiling good-naturedly. � I see why you choose not to talk. Everything that comes out of your mouth is something one would hear from a four-year-old.� � Would you like to hear my bad-word vocabulary? I was an apprentice in a weapons shop and whenever the smith would smash his finger--which was a lot, since he wasn�t too coordinated--I�d hear lots of interesting words.� � He cursed around a girl?� � I was pretending to be a boy.� � Oh.� As we walked, I noticed that Lavitz was getting several winks and nudges and his cheeks got progressively redder. � I don�t think I should�ve brought you here.� � They think we�re together?� � Yes.� He sighed and muttered under his breath. Then his head came up and the look on his face was one of stark horror. � No, I have to get you out of here! If word gets to the king . . .� He led me down a few halls and then stopped short. � Oh no . . .� � Oh yes,� replied the cloaked man who blocked our way. He let his hands fall from his waist and came toward us. � Come now, Lavitz. You thought you could get away with sneaking a lady in here and get out without me knowing?� � . . . It was worth a shot,� was the weak answer. I looked from Lavitz to the green-draped noble. � You make him sound like a monster, acting like you are.� The noble laughed. � It�s a running joke that Lavitz only has one woman in his life. His mother.� I giggled. Lavitz looked skyward and begged, � Kill me now! Please!� � It�s nice to see he at least has a female friend, even if she isn�t more than that. We had begun to fear that he was still in his �girls have cooties� phase.� Lavitz groaned and I giggled again. The noble lifted my hand and kissed the back of it. � Now that I have thoroughly embarrassed him and made a nuisance of myself, I would like to introduce myself to you. I am Albert.� I did not miss the fact that he left out his title. Either he was the casual type of king who would rather have everyone call him by name or he was testing me. I just curtsied as I had with Lavitz�s mother. � I am Kysia, my lord.� He smiled and took a step back. � As much as would like to stay, I still have the day�s business to conclude. If you will both excuse me.� He bowed and left, giving Lavitz a hard nudge. Lavitz drug me from the castle and even out of Bale after that. I took my turn and showed him around the area, since I knew it much better than he did. I revealed hiding places and good places for a lookout. But I only did this because I decided that he was not so bad after all. After that, we returned to his house. He led me up to the roof and we watched the sun set. And for once, I was able to appreciate it. I didn�t have to look out for monsters and I didn�t have to worry about getting home, since I was already in a temporary home. � Kay, come on.� I did not question the nickname, since I had responded to it just as quickly as I would have responded to my true name, and let it go. Besides, the next time he called me, I�d know it was him. We went downstairs for supper and I again praised Lydia�s excellent cooking once we had finished. She thanked me and went upstairs to go to bed. � What are you going to do?� He shrugged. � I was going to read.� � Read what?� � I don�t know. Why?� � May I read with you?� � Sure.� So we each got comfortable and settled on the large sofa in the living room. It was very wide and allowed both of us to lay on our side. However, I was small enough to be able to lay on my stomach as long as he was on his side, so that was the arrangement. We read about the Dragon Campaign eleven thousand years ago. How the power of the Dragons had been harnessed by chosen Humans, eventually called Dragoons, to combat the mighty Winglies. Really, it was quite interesting because I�d heard about such an occurrance during my travels. As it got later, I yawned more and laid my head down on my arms. I don�t remember ever falling asleep. ~)(~ She was coming down the stairs to get a drink of water when she realized that the door to Lavitz�s room had not been shut and no one was inside. Looking down into the living room, she saw the reason why. Kysia and Lavitz laid together on the sofa, illuminated by a soft beam of moonlight. The slightly cramped space forced him to lay partially on her, but she didn�t appear to notice or care. An open book hung from his left hand; he must have been reading it up until he fell asleep. Lydia walked quietly over to them, removing the book from Lavitz�s hand and placing it on the table. She took the folded blanket from the back of the sofa, unfolded it, and draped it over them. It woke Lavitz, whose eyes opened wearily and sluggishly. � It�s just me, sweetheart,� she said before his eyes were half open. � Go back to sleep.� He obeyed, shifting into a somewhat more comfortable position that didn�t even jostle Kysia. She was making breakfast the next morning when she heard a knock on the door. Hurrying to answer so that the pair on the sofa wouldn�t wake, she was pleasantly surprised by the visitor. � Albert!� She opened the door wider. � Come in, come in!� Seeing the square outside empty of guards, she smiled. � Gave them the slip again, did you?� He chuckled and kissed her cheek. � I�m turning it into a fine art, I think. I just need to get past Lavitz to perfect it. Where is he, by the way? I need to speak with him.� � Oh, he�s on the sofa. But I don't think you'll get anything coherent out of him until he�s had a little breakfast.� There was a grumble and she patted the blushing king�s stomach. � Sounds like you haven�t eaten either.� � No. I got up and came right here.� � Well stay, then. I was just getting ready to start cooking.� She started to return to the kitchen, but turned back suddenly. � And don�t you try to sneak out like you did last time. It�s no trouble to fix a little extra.� � Yes, Mother.� While Lydia was not Albert�s mother, she had encouraged him to call her such and even though he had tried not to out of respect for Lavitz (who still had yet to object to it but most likely wasn�t going to), there was a slip of the tongue one day and he gave in finally. Once she was in the kitchen, Albert looked to the sofa to make sure Lavitz wasn�t merely pretending to be asleep. Unable to believe what he saw, he inched over and knelt by the sofa. Sure enough, Lavitz slept with one arm laying rather possessively around Kysia. Albert put his hand over his mouth to muffle his snicker and got up, rushing to the dining room before allowing himself to laugh. Lydia appeared in the doorway. � What are you laughing at?� The king composed himself. � It�s nothing, Mother. It�s just that Lavitz has sworn repeatedly that there is no woman who attracts his attention and then I see him here like that . . . It�s too much.� She smiled. � I think it�s nice that he�s found someone he likes. His standards are very stiff and though I still don�t see where she fits into them, she must somehow. Maybe because she fights also.� Albert tilted his head questioningly. � She fights also?� � Yes. He brought her in all torn up and took care of her. Her armor is by the door.� He peeked out the doorway at the front door. � That�s her armor?� It looked too large and heavy for him. But if she had worn it for a long time and grown accustomed to its weight . . . He then looked at Kysia to see if she really was hurt. She did have some small, flesh-colored bandages on her face. No wonder he hadn�t seen them in the hallway the day before. � How did she get the injuries?� � Lavitz said she was attacked by a large pack of vampire kiwis.� Lydia shuddered. � Oh, I can�t even imagine how terrible that must have been.� � Do you know where she�s from?� He was sure he knew every unwed girl in Basil and he couldn�t imagine parents who wouldn�t shove their daughter at an unmarried king, but if they really did exist, then he wanted to meet them. But maybe . . . maybe she had already been promised. That would most definitely explain things. But then she wouldn�t be with Lavitz . . . would she? � Where she�s from? Oh, I haven�t the foggiest. I know she isn�t from here because I�ve never seen her before.� � She hasn�t said anything about where she�s from?� � Not that I know of. Why?� She nodded at his look. � Oh. Well, if that�s why you�re so curious, maybe her parents gave her the choice and she didn�t want to come here because she didn�t want to seem like all of the other girls by throwing herself at your feet and all but begging to be Queen.� He blinked. � What girl wouldn�t want to be a queen?� � I didn�t say that, dear. It�s a little fantasy every girl has. But maybe she has enough of a mind about her to realize that flaunting herself will not get her what she wants. She may even know that her chances of being a queen are very little and was trying to steer clear of any royal capital to avoid breaking her own heart with the truth.� He frowned. It was too bad that he hadn�t found her first. If that was what the girl thought, it would�ve been nice to see the surprise on her face when he asked for her hand. She seemed to be much more intelligent than most of the girls in the city and she didn�t laugh at every little thing he said, which was a relief. If she was as smart as she appeared, she�d make a good queen. But maybe she would have turned to Lavitz anyhow. It was hard to say. The smell of cooking food hit him and his stomach hissed and snarled in protest of the inadvertent teasing. Well, maybe he could get breakfast done sooner by helping Lydia. Yes, that�s what he�d do. He pulled off his gloves, stuck them in his belt, and marched confidently into the kitchen as he rolled up his sleeves. � Mother, I am going to help you whether you like it or not.� ~)(~ I woke to the wonderful scent of breakfast, but didn�t get up. I snuggled into the blanket that had been laid over me and smiled as the heat of the morning sun registered in my cold fingers. Behind me Lavitz stretched, popping his back into alignment. � I�m getting too old to sleep out here,� he muttered to himself. � Then go back to your own bed. I should be leaving anyhow.� He pinned me down with one hand. � You�re staying here until you�re fully healed. No exceptions.� I humphed and wriggled. � You couldn�t stop me if I really wanted to leave, whether or not you were First Knight. I could beat you at nearly any competition.� � I may take you up on that one day.� � If you can find me.� � Are either of you two lovebirds hungry?� asked a familiar voice. � Because I am and I�ll eat your portion for you if you aren�t.� Lavitz growled and threw the blanket back, barely keeping from rolling over me as he got up. He dashed for the doorway and King Albert, grinning cruelly, spun to beat him to the table. I got up slowly--they�d leave my food alone if they knew what was good for them--and went upstairs to Lavitz�s bedroom. As I expected, there was a fresh set of clothes on the chair. Even though I would�ve rather been in my suit, I put on the clean clothing. ~)(~ � Why must you always lie to me?� Albert abruptly questioned. Lavitz looked up and blinked. � Lie? What about?� The king, knowing that he could dismiss overly formal dining etiquette, flipped his fork to point it at the ceiling. � That girl. You told me that she was just your friend.� He sounded hurt. � Don�t you trust me?� The knight rolled his eyes. � Look, that was just an unfortunate incident. We were reading last night and fell asleep. End of story.� <--Part 1 Part 3--> |