Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. The word accentuated every step Shae took as she stomped through the forest, cursing herself and trying not to remember the sight of Felix naked under the waterfall. Why had she gone back so soon? She should have waited since she'd known he planned to wash off. Clutching the grip of her bow tighter, she closed her eyes for a moment, but it had the opposite effect, as she could imagine every glorious detail of Felix's wet body. The wide chest. The narrow waist. Rivulets of water following the curves of his muscles down his torso and flat stomach. His hand around his—

She kicked a stone angrily, then cursed under her breath as her toe ached dully. The leather boots she wore were not particularly sturdy. After she'd walked around long enough that Felix should have had more than enough time to get out of the water and dress, she finally walked back towards their makeshift camp. She kept a slow pace, not wanting to risk walking in on an undressed Felix. She'd had enough of that lately.

When she approached the river, an ominous prickle at the back of her neck made her hasten her steps. This feeling of foreboding had come over her before, and she had come to trust in it. As she neared their camp, the muffled sounds of a fight reached her and she took off at a run. Breaking through the trees, she found Felix fighting off a man while another rifled through their bags. They had obviously surprised him, as he was still wearing only a pair of unbuttoned breeches, his hair damp. His shield still lay on the ground and he was doing his best to defend himself using only the sword to parry the thief's attacks.

It was clear that Felix was not accustomed to fighting without a shield, since he would raise his left arm as if to block an attack before quickly remembering it was unshielded. His attacker, on the other hand, appeared comfortable fighting with a weapon alone, but had yet to gain the upper hand because of Felix's superior skill. It was a rather amazing sight, seeing Felix fight, wearing nothing but a pair of breeches.

The thief feinted an attack, making Felix raise his bare arm in defence, and before he could react, the man punched him in the face with his free hand. Felix backed away a few steps, shaking his head slightly, wincing from the blow.

Spurred into action, Shae brought her bow up and sent an arrow flying past the attacker's head. As it lodged in a tree trunk just behind him, he stopped in his tracks and turned his head to stare at her. Felix looked equally shocked by her arrival, his green eyes wide.

"The next one won't miss," she promised, and as the thief that had been rifling through their bags made a move to advance on her, she aimed the next arrow at him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'd have an arrow in your chest before you took another step. Now, I want both of you to leave before I change my mind and put an arrow in you, anyway."

The two thieves looked at each other, unsure of their next step.

"I would suggest doing as the lady says," Felix recommended cheerfully as he gingerly touched his chin and grimaced.

"Fine," the man with the sword muttered, sheathing it and slowly moving away from Felix while staring at Shae. "We'll leave."

The two men disappeared quickly. They must not have liked their odds when they were more even. Two against one had been in their favour, but a fair fight was more than they had bargained for. Just in case, she kept her aim on them as they walked away while she slowly crept closer to Felix.

"Are you all right?" she asked him as the forest nearly enveloped the two men.

"Peachy." He rubbed his jaw with his free hand. "It's my fault. I was distracted and let my guard down. When they arrived, I was still getting dressed."

"I can tell." She failed to hold back a smile as she lowered her bow. "I think this may have been the first time I saw someone in a sword fight with no shirt or boots on."

"You've obviously been watching the wrong fights." He winked at her, his green eyes glittering with mirth.

She laughed. "Perhaps."

His face grew serious. "I think we might want to move on. I don't want to risk them coming back with some friends."

They quickly packed up their belongings and Felix got dressed. After quenching the fire, they rode off. They had already been riding most of the day, leaving both them and the horses tired, but staying was simply not an option anymore. Silence stretched out between them before Felix finally spoke.

"I would like to apologise for earlier when you..." He cleared his throat. "When you walked in on me."

She stared straight ahead, her cheeks heating. "Let us not speak of it again. It is a natural part of life." Her face burned even hotter. "I am fully aware that men do such things."

"Not only men."

Her head shot up to stare at him. He was watching her with the hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "I beg your pardon?"

"It's not only men," he clarified. "Plenty of women do it too. It's quite helpful to... release tension."

"Right."

"Do you?"

She turned to stare at him. "You cannot ask me that!"

He chuckled, the warm sound washing over her, soothing her nerves even as her face continued to burn. "We are married," he reminded her. "Who else should I speak to about it?"

"Ideally, no one," she muttered. "And no. I do not."

Leaning a little closer to her from atop his horse, he grinned. "Perhaps you should. It might make you a little less... prudish."

She glared at him. "Perhaps you should be a little more prudish."

He threw his head back and laughed, but did not prod her further.

They fell back into silence for some time before he spoke again. "You're quite competent with a bow and arrow. When he gets older, you should teach Mio."

"I'd like that." Relieved that he had moved on from their previous topic, she smiled slightly. She had never considered teaching their son before, having packed away her weapons a long time ago. But now that she held a bow again, she wasn't sure she could bring herself to put it away it again.

"I always imagined teaching him to use a sword and shield," Felix mused. "But I think we should give him the option to learn archery as well. Especially from you. Who knows, maybe you can teach me too."

She gave him a surprised look. "Are you interested in learning to use a bow?"

He shrugged. "It could be interesting. I suspect I will always favour a sword and board, but it doesn't hurt to try something new. And if you're teaching me, I'd say that's a clear bonus."

He smiled at her, and she had to resist smiling back. Was he flirting with her? Why?

"I think your father made a judgement of error when he didn't let you join our assault on Messina. We might have won it back much sooner," he joked.

She looked straight ahead, staring into the dusk. It was fortunate that it was summer since it never got as dark as the winter. You never knew what could hide in the darkness. The attack on her home had proved that more than anything.

"I was there," she finally said quietly.

Felix looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"I was there. At the Battle of Messina. During the campaign to take it back from the Dark Disciple."

"You never told me that."

She shrugged. "I never saw a reason to."

"Why were you there?"

Looking down at her hands gripping the reins, she sighed. "After they attacked my home, I was on my own. I didn't know what to do, so I tried to find my father. It took me a long time to catch up with him. The roads weren't particularly safe. By the time I found him, you were all camped outside Messina, laying siege to the city."

"How odd," he said thoughtfully. "To think we were in the same place at the same time but did not know each other yet."

He may not have known her, but the name Prince Felix of Ler had been well-known across the camp. Almost always accompanied by the name Sorceress Isobel. How they had worked together with Goddess Dhim to gather the armies of the twelve kingdoms. She had seen him from afar. Standing next to the beautiful sorceress. His golden blonde head next to her silvery blonde. It was no wonder the world wanted to spin fairy tales about their love story; they were a beautiful couple.

"My father has forbidden me from admitting I was there since he thinks it reflects poorly on me. He believes all men want demure women who stay home and care for the home and children. Like my mother. A proper lady if ever there was one."

She glanced up to see Felix watching her, but she could not read the expression in his eyes.

"Not everyone wants that," he murmured. Then he grinned. "I will take this as an admission that you were indeed there. I must now revise my opinion of you as a proper lady."

"I am a proper lady," she muttered.

"You are," he happily agreed. "But until this trip, I believed you lived a sheltered life in the royal castle, like most princesses and women of nobility. That's not very true, is it?"

She shrugged. "I'm sure they sheltered me in some ways, but yes—I suppose I am not exactly a wilting flower."

"Well, I very much look forward to getting to know you—the real you—better." He was smiling broadly now. But Shae was uncertain of how she felt about this. Did she really want her handsome husband to get to know her better?

~~~~~~