Sapphire stared at lord Tristan Knight, he was inhumanly handsome, but ever so stoic. Through the duration of her stare, she hardly saw him smile, why she hadn't seen him smile at all! A stoic expression adorned his face, not giving anything away.

He was very beautiful. His bronze, brown, or was it a dark shade of blond, perhaps all three, hair was slightly on the longer side. His eye color she was uncertain of, he had a strong angular jaw which was covered with a small beard. Barely a fist full, it was very small, his hair barely left his face. He was tan, with the way his clothes hugged his body, Sapphire assumed he did manual labor. Something uncommon for a lord.

"Sapphire...Sapphire."

"Hmm." Sapphire answered, distracted.

"Stop staring at lord Knight, it's rude." Isabella giggled.

"Why you..." Sapphire fumed, embarrassed at getting caught.

"So, Xavier, what brings you here?" Lord Rivers questioned.

"Well my lord, I actually, well you see.... It's really ironic but...." Xavier's babbling made Tristan annoyed.

"What he's trying to say is , he came to ask for Isabella's hand in marriage."

Tristan said bluntly. Lord Xavier stared at him flabbergasted.

"Is that so?" Lord Rivers smirked.

"Yes sir." Xavier answered.

"Well boy, same goes for you, I will have to ask Isabella, if she agrees, well we'll see then." Lord Rivers smirked as if he knew something they didn't.

"But do tell me, why would you want to marry my daughter?"

"Well....I ....uh....I .....love her." Xavier said, looking him in the eye towards the ending.

"Marvelous."

A dark glint covered lord Rivers eyes as he moved in closer, in a split second he had Xavier by the neck.

"If she does say yes, and if you hurt her, you will be a dead man!" Lord Rivers sneered.

"Yes....sir." Xavier wheezed out.

"Pathetic." Tristan mumbled.

Lord Rivers let Xavier go and looked towards Tristan.

"Cut the boy some slack. I am pretty scary." Lord Rivers boasted.

Tristan stared and then laughed, actually laughed!

"Right , you are very scary."

Lord Rivers stared at Tristan as he smiled softly.

"How are things with you?"

"Good." Tristan answered, short and clipped.

"Ever so sharing." Lord Rivers mocked.

"That would be correct." Tristan smirked in return.

"Alright then, you gentlemen may take your leave, you're more than welcomed to come back tomorrow for the hearing." Lord Rivers smirked, dismissing them.

The lords shook hands before escorting themselves to the door. On the way out Alfred called lord Tristan to a stop, handing him a brown bag.

"For you, my lord." Alfred said respectfully.

"This isn't mine?" Lord Tristan said confused.

"I am merely a servant." Alfred responded and hastily retreated before he could be further questioned.

'How strange.' Tristan mused while mounting his carriage.

"What have you got there ?"

"I don't know, the butler gave it."

Lord Xavier took the bag from Tristan and had a look inside. The already small brown bag looked even smaller in his hands. Lord Xavier pulled out three carefully packed cookies. On closer inspection, he noticed they were homemade macadamia nut cookies.

He looked towards his friend to see him gazing out the window. Lord Xavier took a cookie and left the rest for Tristan.

"These are delicious!!"

Tristan looked towards his friend to see him munching on a....cookie.

"Where'd you get that from, and quit eating like a pig."

"From your bag." Lord Xavier said with a mouthful while motioning towards the brown bag. Tristan took the bag and examined the treats, why would the butler give him something, cookies no less, especially his favorite type , which none knew but a few.

Tristan lay in bed lost in thought. It had been a rather tiresome day. After leaving the Rivers manor, he tended to his horses and then trained his men. His thoughts drifted to the raven haired beauty, Sapphire, he came to learn. She was quite exquisite. He could still remember the fire which had smoldered her eyes upon seeing Stark.

Her hair was a wild, untamed mess. Her sapphire orbs burned with anger. She looked darkly desirable in her riding gear. Tristan felt his groin making itself known. Shaking his head to rid off thoughts he could not control, Tristan tried in vain to get some sleep.