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I awoke to two little girls’ serious faces hovering over me. “Good morning,” I said warily.
“You’re not mad at Martin anymore, right?” Mari asked.
“No,” I answered, sitting up, wondering what they were doing.
“So you’re not going to date Quinn?”
I swallowed a smile. “No, Mari, I’m dating Martin.”
“See! I told you!” Cathy said triumphantly.
“What about Quinn?” Mari protested, distressed.
“Quinn and I can work things out on our own,” I said, getting up. “What is this about?”
“Mari said that you were dating Quinn, so you couldn’t date Martin.” Cathy was clearly offended. “I told her you were just friends, but she didn’t believe me!”
They were still discussing my love life. “Martin and I are together now, and Quinn and I were never together. He was my date to the ball, and that’s it. What happens is between Martin and me.” I stared hard at them. “And no one else, understand?”
“But...” Mari protested.
“Mari Elizabeth...” I warned.
“Fine,” she grumbled.
“Cathy?”
“No one else,” she repeated promptly. “Can we go shoot arrows now?”
“Can you wait ten minutes?”
“No.”
My mouth twitched in a smile. “All right, but find a guard before you leave sight of the doorway.”
They nodded and rushed off. I’d only finished getting dressed when someone knocked on my door. I opened it to find Martin. “The girls are shooting arrows,” I told him. “A guard should be with them and I’m going to check as soon as...”
He cut me off, stepping inside and shutting the door. “I didn’t come as your boss, Joan; I came to see you.” He threaded his fingers in my hair, which was still unbound. “The fact that the girls are gone makes this better.” Then he kissed me. I happily kissed him back.
“I’ve missed you, Joan,” he whispered as I rested my head on his shoulder. He nuzzled my cheek as his pager went off. “I’ll be back,” he promised.
I gave a happy sigh long after he left. I’d missed this.
I was humming softly as I braided my hair and went down to the kitchens for breakfast. Simon caught me as I was entering and said, “Just a minute.” He disappeared inside and quickly returned with breakfast, handing it to me. “Better if you don’t go in there. The kitchen staff doesn’t like the fact that they have to pack and still manage to come up with three more meals before tomorrow.”
I thanked him and bit into the casserole he’d brought me. “Mmm.”
He smiled. “So how’s Joan today?”
“Joan’s doing great,” I replied, taking another bite. “She only wishes she wouldn’t have to answer a lot of questions about her love life.”
Simon grinned. “Perhaps I could help. There are several people from the city outside who would like to see you.”
I perked up. “I’d love to!” I hesitated. “But I’m spending the day with Martin. I don’t know if he’ll have to be close.”
Simon shrugged, a smile playing about his mouth. “I’m sure he’ll find you.”
I sent him a look. “I’m going to get enough of this from my own people. I don’t need it from you too.”
He smiled for real. “There are always people here if you want to visit them. His Highness would always be happy to visit with you.”
“I take it that you aren’t happy to see me then?” I teased.
“I’m happy to see you, Joan,” he said sincerely.
I hooked arms with him. “I’m glad things are better for you.” I couldn’t help but smile. “I hear a certain female has caught your interest.” I laughed at his sheepish smile. “I didn’t know a man your age blushed so easily,” I teased.
“I have been seeing Lady Angelina,” he admitted. “She’s enchanting.”
“And how serious is it?”
“Very serious for me.” He wasn’t at all shy at admitting this. “I have a few months yet, but then I plan to ask for her hand in marriage.”
I stared. “This must be very serious indeed.”
He smiled. “Lady Angelina is the most wonderful person. She doesn’t mind my position as Captain of the Royal Guard and everything that comes with it.”
“I don’t mind.”
He laughed. “You’re a royal guard. Most people don’t see that as a very good job. Captain is a little better, but not the best job if you have a family. My daughter’s had a hard time with my job and everything that comes with it.”
“What about champion?” I asked. “Aren’t you the Champion of Lendia?”
He looked reflective. “I am, but perhaps not for long. Do you remember Paul Rolla?”
I thought. “He’s your second-in-command, right?”
He nodded. “He is. He’s showing all the signs of being a Champion.”
“What kind of signs?” I asked curiously. We were outside now, walking along the walls.
“He’s a good fighter, he doesn’t mind having to be in the spotlight, and he’d be a good representative for Lendia. He’s good under pressure and he’s an all around good guy. An excellent reputation is important for the Champion.”
“Will it affect your duties at all?”
He chuckled. “Immensely. The Captain of Lendia doesn’t have to travel near as much for one. It’ll be less work for me if I can just stay with the king and give orders that way.”
“Would it be easier if you were just the champion?”
“I’m getting a little old to be the Champion.”
“Old?”
“All right, not so old,” he conceded. “But younger is better, and I’d rather he be in the spotlight. He wouldn’t do as well at Captain as he will as Champion. You’d be a good Champion. Why aren’t you officially? I noticed it wasn’t among your titles last night.”
“Because I can’t stay,” I said with a half-smile. “Cathy’s future is still undetermined and at the end of the summer we have to go back to the Flip Side. There’s no point in my being the Champion if I’m not going to be able to stay. Everyone just kind of assumes I’m the Champion, but I don’t get to claim it.”
He shrugged. “There are worse things.” He broke into a smile, but before I could ask what he was smiling about, I felt arms wrap around me.
“Here you are,” Martin murmured in my ear. “I was looking for you.”
I smiled. “Are you going to be busy today?”
“That depends on what you call busy.”
“Would you be free enough to go visit the city with me?”
He took a second to consider it. “I’m sure things will be fine without me, and there are plenty of others to handle anything that comes up.” He gently squeezed, then let go, instantly taking my hand.
I waved to Simon as we went the other direction. He was smiling as he continued on his route along the wall. Martin tugged me towards the front of the castle and I walked by his side. He paused at the entrance to have one of the pages deliver a message to Randall and Liam before we left the castle area. We talked the entire way to the town. He didn’t mind when I stopped on every corner to talk to people I knew and was patient when I stayed for a long time. He looked more amused than irritated.
Eventually, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me away. “Mine,” he said to the children gathered around me. To me he murmured, “Am I going to need backup to get you to myself? If we run, I think we can make it.”
I waved good-bye to the children, and had to give a hug to Bianca, and then they all came forward for hugs. Martin swept me in his arms, eliciting a squeal of shock from me as Martin backed up quickly and took me away from the crowd. The adults nearby laughed before Martin took me around the corner. “Martin!” I protested, laughing a little. “I was saying good-bye!”
“It would have taken a lot longer.” He set me down and nudged me farther down the street.
“I don’t remember you being this possessive,” I said teasingly.
“I’ve missed you,” he reminded me. Then he pressed a kiss to my cheek.
“You’re a lot more...romantic, too,” I told him. “The gifts and just spending time with me without working.”
“I’ve learned some,” he said seriously. “I don’t want to lose you again. I lost you because I didn’t make you feel important to me. And you are.”
I could tell this was a little difficult for him. He wasn’t used to talking about his feelings, and neither was I. We didn’t share our feelings; we relied on each other to figure out our moods, which was probably part of our problem. Martin was trying to change that, and I could see his face start to color a little. I decided to meet him halfway. “I appreciate it.” I felt myself start to flush as well. “I like feeling special and I...” I was failing miserably. “I love you,” I blurted out.
Martin chuckled, his face still a little red. “We’re terrible at this, aren’t we?”
I nodded, wishing my cheeks would cool. “I’m sorry.”
“Honey, I could care less about flowery words. ‘I love you’ is all I need.” He nuzzled my still-burning cheek.
“I’m trying to be more like...whatever I wasn’t. Pretty enough or...”
He seemed to understand. “Joan, you seem to be under the misconception that I’m attracted to you because you’re beautiful.” He tugged on my braid gently. “That is a part of it, but that’s not the most important part. I want more than beauty, Joan. I want someone who understands why I love my job and someone who I know is going to back me up. I want someone who is going to talk to me and with me and most of all, I want someone who I can trust to stay with me.” He was completely serious. “Being with a guard is difficult on the best of days, and much more so once you start moving up the ranks. I’ve lived my job for so long, I’m not always sure how to have a personal life. You understand that. You’re not afraid to work or get dirty, and you care about more than yourself. I never expected to find my dream girl, but you’re everything I prayed to get and I’m realizing it now more than ever.”
“Does that fact that your dream girl comes with strings bother you at all?” I asked.
“Well, both of us are going to have to cut back on our work hours, but I’m sure it shouldn’t be too hard to do.”
“Martin,” I said, laughing.
“I’m not sure I’d count your independent nature as a flaw. It’s a requirement on my list.”
I put my hands on either side of his face. “Martin, is Cathy going to be a problem?” I asked seriously.
He became serious. “Cathy is welcome in my life, Joan. She’s not going to scare me away from you. Now if it were Princess Mari...” He smiled as I laughed and pulled me forward the rest of the distance to kiss me.
Even though I’d forgiven Martin and we were back together, he didn’t stop leaving me gifts. When we left the next morning, I found a new sheath for my green knife sitting on my saddle. The old one was starting to come apart, and since we’d been on the road and I’d had a series of balls to attend to, I hadn’t had a chance to find a new one or get the old one fixed. The sheath was made of leather and decorated with the letter J. As I picked it up, I heard a squeal behind me and saw Cathy holding a similar sheath, except hers had a small silver knife embossed with the Valerian crest. I put the new sheath in place of the old, then walked over to Martin to give him a kiss.
He was caught off guard, and I think everyone else was too. We weren’t known for our public displays of affection, but Martin kissed me back, a smile on his face before turning and giving the order to saddle up.
“And to think I thought this would be boring,” Keeton commented.
“Nothing’s boring with Joan,” Larson told him as I swung up in the saddle.
“I’m going to take that as a compliment because I’m in a good mood,” I told them. “Otherwise you’d find a snake in your bed.”
They chuckled. “It was meant as a compliment,” Larson told me. “This is great fun. You and the captain...”
“Continue down that path and you will find a snake in your bed.”
He grinned, but wisely changed topic. “And once we get to Geidy, you’ll show up all the other Champions and fighters from other countries. They’ll hate that,” he said cheerfully.
“How many fighters will there be? I thought this was mostly about the peace conference.”
“It’s like the Olympics,” Cathy explained.
“What is an Olympic?” Larson asked.
Cathy and I exchanged horrified looks and shook our heads at the same time. “And you call me ignorant,” I sighed, nudging my horse forward as the lot of us began to move. Then I proceeded to explain what the Olympics were.
“And they’re only the biggest thing, ever,” Cathy interjected. “Everyone in the world participates.”
“Why?” Remy asked, wrinkling his nose. “Why would anyone care about how fast you can swim?”
“Because the people in the Flip Side don’t have violent tendencies?” I offered. “Or maybe because we’re not so medieval.”
“Ha,” Remy said, but he was still musing over it. “You have archery, don’t you?”
“Yes. Fencing, which is not the same as your giant swords, shooting, equestrian, but we don’t joust, and we don’t draw each other’s blood.”
“Joan almost went to the Olympics once,” Cathy piped up. “To shoot.”
“Why didn’t you?” Randall asked.
“I didn’t have the time. We didn’t have the money either, to spend on getting to the Olympics and everything that came with it. Olympics take time to prepare and train, and I wasn’t dropping school for it. Dad wouldn’t have allowed it. School was too important to him, and so I never went.”
“Well, then consider this your Olympics,” Randall said, reaching over to squeeze my shoulder.
“Do you have medals?” Cathy asked.
“No. But everyone knows who’s the best at what.”
“We always win in archery,” Liam boasted. “For the last century.”
I was impressed in spite of myself. “So I guess the war ended in time for you to uphold your reputation.”
There were a few sour looks. “The war didn’t allow us to join the last peace conference,” Pierson said, looking the most annoyed. “Pailio took the spot.”
There were a few grumbles throughout the group and I hid my smile. “I’m sure you’ll get it back,” I said soothingly. “Is that why you were so snippy to them?”
“Guardsmen aren’t snippy,” Keeton objected, his back stiff. “We’re offended.”
“Uh-huh. That answers my question. Is this a solo or group thing? The contests and events?”
“Both,” Randall answered. “There’s an individual, and then a national winner. Or in this case, an English Region winner. We’ll win both.”
There were nods of agreement and I smiled. “I’m sure you will.” I glanced at Mari. “Who participates? Royalty?”
“If they wish and have the time. The royalty tend to compete among themselves and let the guards do their own competing. She’s too young,” Remy said, noticing my glance to Mari. “You have to be fifteen on the first day of the peace conference.”
“Which is?”
“The day we arrive, and celebrated by a ball.” Charlene’s voice was a smirk. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy that.”
“I might,” I said reflectively. “I just might.”
We stopped for a brief break, during which Martin stayed near me and Charlene sulked. He stayed near for lunch and rested his hand over mine, and since this was a public display of affection we caught looks and grins.
We weren’t going to make it to the train that would take us to Geidy until tomorrow, so we took it rather slow. We stopped for the night at a summer home for Lendian royalty. It was small, for a castle, but equipped with staff that settled us in for the night. I made sure the girls were settled and then slipped past Yal to go to the garden. I wanted to make some phone calls and called Jim first.
“Hey,” I said. “I’m calling just for kicks, as ordered. How’s life?”
His voice was a little more strained than usual. “Busy. You know how it is. I arrested one of your former classmates last week. She stole a car and went on a joyride.”
“Who?”
“Sara Brinkman.”
I had to think for a minute. “She wasn’t my classmate. She was a year younger. She really stole a car?”
“Yep. A nice one too, straight off the lot from the dealership on Broadway.”
“How’s the car?”
“It’s got a thousand more miles, and the dealership’s threatening to press charges for detracting from the value of the car. It was brand new. A bright yellow Mustang convertible.”
“She has good taste. How’d she rack up a thousand miles?”
“She drove to Colorado for the weekend and then took all her friends out for a spin. That was how we caught her. Blasted right by the police station. I guess she didn’t think the dealership would file a report.” His voice turned grim. “Joan, are you headed back here anytime soon?”
“No. Do I need to? Is something wrong?”
“I don’t want to discuss it over the phone.” He sounded relieved. “But when you come back, come see me. There’s something you should probably know.”
“Jim, do I need to come back? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing at the moment. Just stay where you are.” He paused and I heard a murmur of voices. “I gotta go. There’s been a murder at the jail.” His voice was tense again. “Gang problems.”
“All right,” I said, a little concerned. “Take care, Jim. I won’t be back until the end of summer.”
“Good,” he said. “Have fun.” Then he hung up.
Gina wasn’t picking up, but I left her a long message telling her what had happened and said I’d call her when we got to Geidy.
Martin stepped into the garden as I slipped the phone in my pocket. “Who were you calling?”
“Gina. Letting her know things are going good.”
He slid his arms around my waist and pulled me so I would relax and lean back against him. “Does she know?” he murmured.
“I told her we made up and that you dumped Charlene.”
“Did you mention how long you made me suffer before you accepted my apology?”
I reached up and rested my hand on his cheek. “But you apologize well, if it’s any consolation.”
His hand slid down my arm to touch the sheath I was still wearing. “You like it?” he asked.
“I do.” I raised my hand and touched it to the pendant I was wearing. “Both of them, and the flowers.”
“Good.” He nuzzled me gently. “I gave the knife to Cathy. I wanted to make sure she knew that I’ll accept her too. I know you’re a package deal.”
“Thank you. She’s worried about being in the way of us.”
“An understandable concern, given that you’re the last of her family.”
I sighed. “She worries a lot. She’s just a worrier.”
“You aren’t. You take what happens and you run with it. You do what needs to be done and you don’t do it for praise or for others to see, but because it has to be done. Just like you did in Cantralin.” His voice dropped to a murmur. “And I love you for that.”
We sat out there for a long time, then he stirred and squeezed gently. “We have a long day tomorrow. The train should get us to Geidy’s capitol in a matter of hours, so we’ll be there in time for them to arrange the ball that night.” He chuckled at my sigh. “Will you do me the honor of being my date, my lady?”
My fingers intertwined with his. “It would be my honor.”
“And what color flower shall I bring?”
A flash of irritation crossed my face. “I don’t know. I don’t like these things enough to worry about what dress I wear until about an hour before the thing is supposed to start. I really dislike this entire conference thing and only the chance at world peace is making me do it.”
He chuckled quietly. “Let me know. It shouldn’t be too difficult a decision. Just pick a dress and let me know the color.” He stood and drew me up. “I love you, Joan.”
“Enough to get me out of the ball?” The plea was pitiful and I knew it, but I kept flashing on the thousands of faces staring at me and felt a shot of nerves.
“Enough to stay by you throughout it. Enough to watch you shine while fighting other men off you.”
This made me smile. “I guess you do love me then.” I pressed a short kiss to his lips. “Good night, Martin.”
“Good night, Joan.”
We went our separate ways inside the castle. I found Charlene fussing over Mari. As I entered, she turned a fulminating look to me.
I ignored it. “Girls, are you ready for bed?”
“Yes,” Cathy said instantly. Only Charlene could make them happy about going to bed.
I crossed to her and kissed her cheek. “Good night, sis.”
She hugged me. “Good night, Joan.” Then she climbed into bed.
Mari broke away from Charlene. “Good night, Joan,” she said, hugging me tight.
I hugged her too. “Sweet dreams, Mari.”
Charlene was obviously expected to leave. Her eyes flashed in fury and she strode to the door.
“Oh, Charlene, I’d like to speak to you a moment outside,” I said as Mari climbed in bed as well. She paused in snuggling under the covers, but as I turned out the light both girls laid down and closed their eyes.
I quietly closed the door, then turned to Charlene. “There’re a few things you and I need to cover,” I said evenly, my eyes on her. “First of all, you had better keep your distance from Martin. You don’t seem to respect the boundaries of a relationship. Martin is too much of a gentleman, so he’ll put up with it, but I won’t. You took Martin from me once, but you aren’t doing it again. I won’t allow you to come between us. If you make a move on him, then I swear by my mother’s grave that you’ll regret it.”
Her voice was tight. “You’ve made your point quite clear, Guardswoman.”
“I’m not sure I have just yet. I’ve let you get away with a lot of things because it wasn’t my place to interfere. I didn’t have a claim on Martin then. Now that I do, my tolerance is going to be considerably lower. I haven’t forgotten that this is a peace conference, and I haven’t forgotten my place. But I’m fairly certain that if I caught you with Martin inappropriately or heard you call yourself his mistress in a past or present or future term and I took you to the wall and dropped you in the moat, everyone would understand.”
Her eyes widened in alarm as she read the seriousness of my expression.
“Am I understood?” I asked.
She swallowed hard once. “Yes.” Then she turned and hurried off.
“Charlene,” I called. “One more thing. Do you know why I swore on my mother’s grave?”
She turned, looking nervous.
My eyes were level. “At one time, you insulted my family by implying my mother, or another of my ancestors, had been unfaithful to their husbands. In my family, marriage is sacred. I don’t know why I’m able to be here, and I don’t much care. From this point on, you had better not mention your thoughts on the matter. If you call my sister or me illegitimate again, or a genetic freak, then I will defend my family’s honor, and you won’t like how I do it.” I watched as she swallowed hard again. “Good night, Charlene.”
She disappeared around the corner and from my sight. I opened the door and went back inside.
I unstrapped my weapons in the soft light of a little lamp next to my bed and started to unhook the jewelry and diamond arrow pin when Cathy’s voice called out, “Joan?”
“Yes, Cathy?”
“You’re the best ever.”
“Go to sleep,” I said gently. “We’ve got a long day tomorrow.”
“I know. I just wanted to tell you.” I heard her and Mari shifting on their beds and then all was quiet.
I switched the lamp off, casting the room into darkness. I pulled my phone out as it vibrated to see a message from Gina. All it said was You go, girl!
Smiling, I set the phone down, feeling for the moment that all was right with the world.