After the meeting with Princess Evelyn and the Kobold ambassador Fern, which Zach had been literally dragged to, he didn't know what to do next. He started down the stairs with Riley at his side then remembered her suggestion from earlier, to go walking around the city. It sounded an awful lot like a date but Zach was okay with that. He liked spending time with Riley and he didn't want that to change, no matter what she ended up deciding regarding their relationship.

Once he and Riley had descended from the Princess's tower and had a bit of privacy in an empty hallway, Zach asked, "Did you still want to go for a walk outside? We were on the way to get my backpack when Fern ambushed us."

Riley's face lit up. "Yes, that sounds great. I could use some fresh air."

They detoured to Riley's room to get Zach's bag and Riley took the opportunity to change out of her work clothes. She kicked Zach out of the room while she got dressed, even though he'd already seen her in nothing but underwear dozens of times.

Zach leaned against the wall outside her door and thought, I wonder if that'll change if we start dating for real? The thought came with a mental image of Riley undressing, so he forced his thoughts to more mundane things like where they could walk to on their not-quite-a-date. He didn't have much money which limited his options. Maybe we could climb the wall? The view of the sunset is probably amazing from up there, but it's pretty exhausting to climb that many stairs.

"Ready!" came a voice from Zach's right. It was Riley, in an outfit he hadn't seen before. She wore a leather underbust corset over a short-sleeved and short-skirted green dress, with tight black leggings below that, tucked into low-topped brushed leather boots that matched the corset. Her vibrant red hair was tied back in simple ponytail, giving a clear view of her smiling face.

"Wow," Zach babbled, "You look great. Better than great, even. Wow." The outfit looked like something straight out of one of his world's renaissance festivals, but in all the best ways. His clothes, on the other hand, looked like something a banker might wear in the old-timey west: stuffy and utilitarian and ill-fitting.

Riley took the compliments in stride. "Thank you, Zach. I can tell it's not just empty flattery, since you have no poker face at all." She smiled as she used the lingo from his world, then hooked her arm through his and said, "So, want to take the scenic route to the Grand Library? We can pick up a beginner's magic book for you."

"Sure. That sounds nice," he answered, making a mental note to visit a proper tailor as soon as his gold mine investment started paying out. Standing next to Riley while she looked so cute and put together made him feel like he was letting her down through his fashion choices.

Riley led the way and they left the castle through the garden exit that he had seen at the equinox festival but never used. It connected the main banquet hall directly to the garden's main path, a spiral that wrapped around the grassy clearing where the king had used impressive magic to grow miniature horse statues for the children.

"Well, you weren't kidding about taking the scenic route," Zach said as he looked around at the grounds, now empty of merchant's booths and festival goers. The hedges and lawns were still vibrant green, but some of the aspen trees were starting to turn yellow and gold with the season. Zach had always liked autumn with its mellow temperatures and vibrant colors.

Riley's thoughts were on the season as well. She said, "It's nice out, but it won't be for much longer. I assume the weather's the same where you're from?"

"Yeah, as far as I can tell. Back home, the first snow is usually in October, and the last one in April, with plenty of sunny days all throughout. They say we get 300 days of sun a year."

Riley nodded. "That sounds right. I've never lived outside New Albion, so I don't have anything to compare it to."

The small talk fell off and they walked in a comfortable silence for a while. Zach's legs were a bit longer, so he had to hold back to match Riley's speed. The slower pace let him admire the scenery as they exited the castle gardens and walked through what seemed to be an upper-class residential neighborhood, judging by the large houses with elegant exteriors. Children played with a leather ball in the street, safe from cars and other dangers of Zach's world, and an elderly couple reclined on their porch, shaded from the afternoon sun by a large evergreen tree.

When Zach had first arrived in New Albion, he'd treated the city as a mystery to figure out, a puzzle to extract information from so that he could earn money. Now he found that he really enjoyed seeing the city in a new light, as a place where regular people lived and loved and raised families. He supposed Denver was the same way, but he'd never thought about it until now.

While they walked side-by-side down the cobblestone street, Riley started, "Zach, I—"

"Um, Riley—" Zach began at the same time.

Riley put out her hand, palm up. "After you."

Zach shook his head. "You started first."

"Just hurry up and accept my courtesy," she replied with a grin.

"Alright." Zach paused to take a deep breath and put his thoughts together, then he said, "We've grown really close over the last few weeks. You're my dear friend, my best friend, even. And I feel like there's something more, the seed of another feeling. But I don't feel comfortable letting that feeling grow unless you want that too. I'll admit that I don't have a good eye for other people's feelings toward me." As soon as he finished, he regretted his clumsy phrasing. It felt like he'd used the word 'feeling' a dozen times.

Riley stopped walking and let out a held breath. With a genuine smile, she said, "Good news. I want that, too." Then she grabbed Zach's face, one hand on each cheek, and pulled him down into a kiss, full on the mouth.

It was Zach's first romantic kiss since high school, and it was a thousand times better than he remembered. The physical sensation of Riley's lips, soft, warm, and wet, was amazing, but it paled in comparison to finally knowing that she wanted a deeper relationship too. His heart had already been pounding during his little speech, but now it was racing so hard he could hear it in his ears. Or maybe that was just because Riley's hands were still covering them.

Before he could fully come to terms with the sudden kiss, it ended. Riley let go of Zach's face, stepped back, cast glances up and down the street, then visibly relaxed when it was clear that no one had noticed their public display of affection. She stepped back and said, "Sorry it took me so long to figure out what I wanted. I needed to think some things through."

Still floating from the kiss, Zach dreamily said, "No problem." Then he blinked and said, "Wow, this feels good. Just knowing that I can let my feelings for you grow, that I don't have to hold back any more." Everything just felt so right and free, like shackles had been removed from his heart.

Riley took his hand in hers. "Calm down, stud. Let's hold back a little, at least until we're in private."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

She grinned at him and started walking again. "I know that. I just love teasing you."

The word 'love' sent a jolt through Zach's brain. Even if their relationship wasn't quite at that level yet, that's the direction it was headed. Zach had dated a couple girls in high school, but those relationships had just been two bumbling kids going through the motions, mimicking what they'd thought dating was supposed to be. They had never taken it further than second base and they had never reached a level of caring anywhere close to love.

But Zach already cared for Riley more than almost anyone else in his life. Maybe that didn't mean much, since he was a bit of a loner with very few strong friendships, but it mattered to him. He squeezed Riley's hand and matched her pace. He glanced around at the regal houses built from brick and flagstone and he smiled. He could live in this world, with Riley and all the other people he'd met.

"Thanks for coming, Zach," Evelyn said from across her little round table. Alexia loomed behind her and Fern sat with her chair pulled out from the table, her fur-covered legs crossed and one paw-like foot bouncing. The energetic Kobold just never seemed to stop moving.

"You're welcome," Zach answered, but it wasn't like he'd had a choice. Alexia had been waiting at the garden entrance for him and Riley, and she wasted no time in pulling him away from his date to attend yet another meeting. Riley had looked a little disappointed but accepted it without argument.

Fern spoke next. "This meeting is about that evidence my people found. Princess Evelyn, Zach, I wanted to get opinions from the two of you, since you have such an interesting perspective." She nodded toward Alexia and added, "I've already filled Alexia in on all of it, of course."

"Oh, okay," Zach said. "So exactly what did the Kobolds find?"

Fern answered, "Using our sense of smell, which is drastically superior to yours, no offense, one of our scouting parties found a campsite about an hours' run east of the city. It had the same scent as the crime scene Alexia found in the water infrastructure."

"I'm still not pleased that your trackers were given access to that crime scene," Alexia said. "It was a huge violation of security protocol."

Fern shrugged and smiled, a mischievous look in her eyes. "I suggest you take that up with the Captain of the Guard. He came to us, desperate for clues that might save other guards' lives."

Alexia crossed her arms and looked away. She couldn't argue with the Captain's motives, or with the Kobolds' role in this. But it was clear she would have preferred it if everything had stayed within the Guard.

Fern turned back to Zach and continued, "At the campsite, in addition to the unmistakable scent of Elven magic, there were signs that they had brewed additional vials of the poison, beyond the two doses that were used in New Albion."

As she spoke, Zach had a hard time keeping his eyes off her dog-like snout, which was somehow handling human speech with only a slight accent. It occurred to him that he hadn't seen any domesticated dogs in New Albion, even though wolves definitely existed in this world. If the Guard had had police tracking dogs, they could have found the Elven campsite without involving the Kobolds.

Princess Evelyn's voice broke Zach from his wandering thoughts. "The Kobold leadership… what are they called?"

Fern answered, "The closest term in King's Speech would be 'tribal council'."

"If there were to be full-scale war with the Elves, what would it would take for the tribal council to support New Albion in the conflict?"

Fern pondered that for a while, her head tilting to the left and then the right as she thought. Then she said, "It would take one of two things: they'd have to have deep trust in New Albion's leaders, an understanding that New Albion would do the same for us in a heartbeat, or they'd need to have a stake in the situation, to be in danger themselves in a way that pacifism and self-preservation couldn't solve."

Evelyn said, "I can work on the trust part. I'll even travel to meet them and work to help them directly, like I did with Okwata."

Zach raised a hand and said, "As for the danger, are we sure they aren't already in danger? What if the Elven assassins are already planning to attack them for being our allies, using the other doses of poison?"

"Uh, that's a very dark thought, Zach," Evelyn said. "We don't have any reason to suspect that."

"And you didn't have any reason to suspect a mass poisoning in New Albion until it already happened. I'm just saying a little caution might be able to stop something bad from happening to the Kobolds, or another human city." He turned to address Fern. "If you smelled a poison sample then visited that campsite, could you tell where the poison was taken next?"

"It's been three weeks since the Elves abandoned that site. Any mundane scents would likely be washed away by now. But if the poison was magical, I might be able to follow the mana trail."

Alexia seemed interested in this line of thought. She said. "I have no idea if the poison is magical, but I can get you a sample of it, if that would help."

Fern nodded and wiggled her fuzzy ears. "It absolutely would." Then she straightened up and said, "As much as I would like for Zach's theory about the other doses of poison to be incorrect, it would be remiss of us if we didn't investigate this to the fullest."

Zach did a double take on Fern's response. English, or 'King's Speech' in this world, wasn't her first language, yet she was far more eloquent than most native speakers he knew, himself included. Considering the Kobolds' advanced metallurgy and peace-focused politics, he wondered if they were intellectually superior to humans, on top of their high stamina and powerful senses.

He felt downright inadequate in comparison, and he wondered if this was what sci-fi explorers felt when they discovered an advanced alien race. That thought chained into one about the origins of the non-human races of this world. He decided to ask the librarian on his next visit to the Grand Library, which could also act as another date with Riley.

"So… what now?" Zach asked.

"I… don't know," Riley answered.

They were in their shared bedroom, sitting at opposite ends of the long side of Riley's bed. They were both in their sleep clothes, which were soft and loose-fitting and not particularly sexy, but their thoughts had nonetheless gone to the same sexual place.

It was their first night in the same room since they had started dating, and they both had no idea how fast to take the physical side of their relationship. Zach and Riley had experienced plenty of non-romantic physical closeness, and had zero practice with the romantic kind.

Zach scooted closer to her side, then managed, "I kinda want to… uh, kiss you, if that's alright." He knew he wasn't succeeding at being suave at all, but at least he felt he was being honest and open.

Riley tensed up during Zach's pause, then relaxed when he said he wanted to kiss. "Good news. I want that, too," she said, recalling her words from earlier in the day.

Unlike earlier, it was Zach who grabbed Riley's chin and pulled her into a kiss. And unlike earlier, Riley wasn't held back by her worry of being seen by bystanders. She swung her leg over Zach's lap and straddled him, and the kiss quickly escalated into a full makeout session.

Riley was definitely the one in control. She was still inexperienced with men, but she was no stranger to making out with women and those skills carried over just fine. The things she did with her tongue and lips sent Zach's sensations reeling, and sent his mind some pretty lewd places. While he internally debated whether to try to steer things toward other forms of intimacy, Riley pulled back.

"This is good," she said. "But I don't want to go further than this tonight."

Zach smiled and used his thumb to wipe a droplet of moisture from Riley's chin. "That's fine by me, because this really is good." Then he wrapped his arms around her lower back and pulled her back into the kiss.

They continued kissing like the young lovers they were until their tongues grew tired and their lips were dry. Then they took a water break and climbed into bed. Zach held Riley close under the covers, comforted by the warmth of her body through her pajamas, and she snuggled tightly against him. They almost forgot to tie their hands together, but it had become such a routine that it felt weird without the silk handkerchief on his hand.

"Good night, Riley," he whispered, his face nuzzled into her beautiful, vibrant, fragrant hair.

"Good night, Zach," she mumbled back, already falling asleep in his warm embrace.