A/N: Ok, this is the sequel to ALL THE INTERESTING MEN! So, for those of you who haven't read it yet...maybe you should. But I'll give you a recap right now...

This is an AU to Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen, so Nawat is not in this story, nor will he ever be; for all I know, he could still be a crow. So don't complain to me about Nawat being missing. Aly is now a Spy/Player...she and Braden, Aliya, Chris and Ronnie are both spies and Players who are traveling with the rest of the Players, Neal, Kel and Dom to Maren where they will be performing and keeping an eye on the Royal Family. Alanna was very reluctant to allow Aly to do this, but Jon, the good King that he is, ordered that Aly should finally be allowed to do what she wants in life, and she is therefore the very first noble Player. Kel and Dom are courting and very much in love, and Aly and Prince Roald persuaded Jon, George, Myles and Raoul to permit Neal, Kel, Dom and his squad to accompany the Players. Braden and Aly are finally courting as well, and Aly thinks he is the most interesting out of all of her previous beaus. Both Alanna and George are hoping that she keeps Braden for a while. Aliya and Alan are courting, but are (obviously) taking some time off while she's on her journey. We begin this story as Aly and company are on their journey to Maren.

If anyone wants a list of charaters and who they are, email me and I can write one out for you, otherwise, you're on your own!

ENJOY!

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The brisk wind whipped at her strawberry-blonde hair, and she rubbed her hands together to keep them warm. She looked over at the man next to her, and followed his gaze. The sun was finally setting, and half a mile in front of them was a gate - the gate to the first village her party would stop at.

Kel's sparrows and Daine's hawk friends cawed and chirped as they flew in circles around the party. There was still chatter going on; Kel and Dom teased Neal who tried in vain to defend himself; Chris and Rhys brainstormed over new pieces or ideas for more small performances; Aliya and Ronnie chatted about nothing in general, and Ivy told stories of knights defeating spidrens to her children. Aly smiled. This was how life should be lived - riding along with friends and talking about nothing important and not worrying about what was to come. It was simple like this, and she knew she should cherish these moments...once they got to Maren, nothing would be simple.

The group approached the gate and Kel waved a hand to signal for everyone to stop. "Who are you and what us your business?" a burly man who stood next to the rickety gate asked, almost sleepily.

"We're travelers on our way to Maren," she leaned in and whispered, "our rooms at the inn have already been reserved."

"Ah, yes, of course. The Players I presume?"

Kel nodded. The man smiled a toothless smile, and pushed the gate open. It was a large village just off the Great Road East, but most villages now had gates to help keep spidrens and other immortals out.

Kel signaled for the group to continue, and they soon stopped outside the fairly large inn. "Wait here while we go get the keys." Kel and Dom dismounted and went inside to talk to the owner of the inn.

Aly dismounted and handed Azure to a stable boy. She saw that Neal looked forlorn and nudged his arm playfully. "Miss Yuki, or disgusted to think that Kel and Dom will be sharing a room?"

Neal's green eyes widened in disgust and moaned, "Why did you have to remind me?"

Aly laughed, and smiled sweetly. "Who are you rooming with then, Meathead?"

He shuddered at the nickname. "You too?" She nodded, her hazel-green eyes dancing and he sighed. "Chris I believe." He thought for a moment, "Then who is Braden-"

"Keys!" Kel and Dom reemerged from the inn and started to hand out keys to pairs (except for the men of the Own who had 3 or 4 to a room). She handed out the keys while Dom called out pairs.

"Neal, Chris; Aliya, Ronnie; Morgan, Ivy, Nari and Donovan, don't worry you guys have the larger room; Theo and Rhys; Aly and Braden."

Aly grabbed the key out of Kel's hand and tried to get to Braden before Neal got to her. She took Braden's hand before he saw her, and dragged him inside. "Slow down, Anne."

"Neal..." she whispered, and was amused to feel Braden's hand squeeze her own tighter as he began to practically drag her up the stairs. She fumbled with the key, but finally opened the door to their room-

A small room.

With one small bed.

She took a step in, Braden right behind her. She immediately took off her cloak, sweater and boots when she heard him gulp; he must have taken in the room and the one, small bed. She turned around to face him and shut door closed with her foot. She looked into his eyes; they were the normal stormy grey, but they also looked scared. Aly took his hands in hers and asked softly, "What?"

"They, they must have given us the wrong room, this room is too small and the bed..." he paused, looking frantically around the room.

Aly began to worry, what was so wrong with them sharing a bed? They loved each other, they had admitted to each other only nights before. So what was the problem? "Braden, this is our room. Why are you so scared?" She stood on her toes and weaved her hands through his jet black, unkempt hair. She closed her eyes briefly, and when she reopened them Braden let out a soft gasp.

"Anne..." She smiled wickedly. That always got him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and planted his lips on hers. She smiled into the kiss and attempted to slide his cloak off his broad shoulders. They broke apart quickly and Braden took off his cloak and his own sweater before slipping off his boots. He ran his hand through her hair and kissed her jawbone. She found the edge of his shirt, and slipped her hands up it so they were dragging around on his bare chest. She felt him shiver slightly and she backed up into the bed. He kissed her again, this time more aggressively, and they fell onto the bed on their sides.

Braden pulled back, much to Aly's dismay. "We should go eat..." he ran a hand through his hair, and averted his eyes from her own emerald ones. "Could you change your eyes back to their normal hue?"

She sighed and closed her eyes. "Braden, something's wrong." She adjusted her Sight and saw that he was planning on lying to her. "And don't lie." He let out a breath as her finger caressed his cheek. "You know I love you."

"I know," he whispered.

"You know when we get to Maren we won't be able to see each other that often. I have to be able to flirt with the princes and become friends with the princesses to get inside information..."

Braden's grip on her waist tightened slightly. "I know."

"So what's wrong with this room?" He finally met her eyes with her own, and she knew what was wrong. She frowned slightly. "Come on, let's go eat." She sat up and put her boots back on when there was a knock on their door."

Braden opened it. A servant man was standing their with their bags. Braden thanked him and put the bags in one corner before putting his own boots back on. He kissed Aly quickly on the cheek before they left the room to go downstairs to see what was for dinner.

Her mind was elsewhere when Aliya poked her side. "Aly!" she hissed.

She snapped back to attention. "What?"

Aliya rolled her eyes and nodded her head in the direction of Neal. "Oh. He's not too happy that Braden and I are sharing a room."

Aliya's eyes widened. "Oh! Well should he be concerned?"

Aly's small smiled faltered. "No. We love each other, but I think Braden's scared or something..."

Aliya patted her friend's hand. "Do you want to?"

Aly shrugged and looked at her food. "I wouldn't mind."

"Hm." Aliya nodded and Aly straightened up.

"Why am I getting so worried about this?" She put down her fork, deciding she was done with her pie and big Aliya goodnight. She walked over to Neal and whispered in his ear, "You have nothing to worry about, Father. We'll behave ourselves," and before she could see his reaction, she left the dining room and walked up the stairs to her room.

She opened the door and went to the bathroom where she turned on the water and stripped off her clothes. She stepped into the tub and let the warm water clear her senses before taking the soap and scrubbing her body and hair. She stepped out of the tub and toweled off before going back into the main room. She walked over to the corner, but not before bumping head-on into Braden.

He caught her before she fell back, but not before her towel slipped off entirely. She stood up, not realizing this until Braden took in a sharp breath. She looked up and saw his eyes taking her in. She quickly bent down and picked up her towel and tried frantically to cover herself up, but a strong, tanned hand gently took her arm. She looked up into his eyes; her cheeks were slightly flushed, her hair still damp. He took both her hands and the towel once again fell to the ground, as he whispered into her ear, "You're beautiful," and kissed her gently. He deepened the kiss when he grabbed her waist and pulled her naked body towards him. She could feel the heat radiating off him, through his clothes, and she clung to his tunic, weak in the knees from the mere pressure of the kiss.

He walked backwards a step, still fiercely kissing Aly, and never letting go of his iron grip. They collapsed onto the bed, still clinging to each other, neither wanting to ever let go. They finally broke apart and Aly looked deep into his steel grey eyes, the eyes that she loved. He stroked her cheek before removing his boots and socks with his feet. He skillfully flipped over so that now he was on top, and he stood quickly to remove his tunic. He wanted her hands on his chest again, and she smiled. He hovered over her naked body, once again taking her all in; and she was once again self conscience until he whispered hotly into her ear, "I love you." She shivered with delight as he left a trail of kisses from her ear down her neck. He paused for a second and looked into her eyes; she could barely distinguish the iris from the pupil they were now so dark. From what?

"Do you want them green?" She whispered, her voice low.

"No," he whispered back and undid the buckle of his belt. Aly smiled and raised her head to kiss him again. His hands left his belt and instead rubbed up and down her side. She squirmed slightly but only deepened their kiss.

Suddenly he pulled away. "What, now?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"If we do this, then-"

"Then what?" She combed a hand through his hair and longed for him to touch her again.

"Well, you'll doubtfully be able to ride a horse tomorrow..."

She looked at him for a second to make sure he was being serious before laughing uncontrollably.

"I'm serious!" He stood up and redid the buckle of his belt.

She sat up and pulled a blanket around her body. "Braden, why are you so scared?"

Braden sat down next to her and sighed. "It's just-"

"What?" She leaned in because he had lowered his voice. "Have you-"

"Before? Yes."

"Oh," she had of course expected him to be experienced. "Then why..."

Braden took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "It's just that your a noble, and I'm a mere commoner! An ex-thief!"

Aly took his hands again and smiled. "Braden, do you remember who my parents are? They won't care..."

"But-"

"No."

"Well..."

Aly finally understood. Her father must have said something. "Did my father say something to you?"

Braden looked at his hands, the hands that were clasping hers. "What did he say?"

"He just wanted to make sure that I took care of you, and wanted to make sure I was serious."

"Are you?"

He looked up at her face in disbelief. "Of course!"

"Then why?"

"Well he wanted to know if I was serious if I would marry you..."

Aly's heart sank. He didn't want to have sex with her because he did not intend on marrying her. She looked down at their hands as tears almost started to form in her eyes. Why had she suddenly cared if they got married or not? They had only been courting for a few weeks at most...

"Oh, Aly!" He cupped her chin with his large hand and made her look at him. "I would, you know I love you, but I have nothing to give you!"

Aly laughed and broke into a watery laugh. "You don't have to 'give' me anything! As you said, I'm noble and have enough money. We can live in the Palace, and if I'm to be Commander of the Royal Spies..."

Braden laughed too, and hugged her fiercely. "I love you, Anne...but I don't want to get married yet," he added hastily.

Aly let out a breath, "Of course not! We're still young and we have to finish this mission first..."

He hugged her again before kissing her on the lips quickly.

"I love you," she breathed. He let her go and looked into her eyes. "I think I'll put my nightdress on so we can sleep. I want to be able to ride a horse tomorrow..." She got up and he laughed heartily.

"You never fail to amuse me."

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She woke up at dawn, her face against his bare chest and she sighed happily, closing her eyes again. She snuggled closer to him, trying to stay warm. She loved him, and would marry her eventually! She couldn't be happier...

She felt his lips kiss the top of her head and say, "Morning, love." She moaned, and try to snuggle closer, her legs intertwined with his. "Come on, we have to leave soon if we want to get to the border by nightfall."

She groaned as he sat up. "But it's so early..."

"I know, love, I know." He got up and went to the washroom to quickly bath and put on new breeches and a tunic. She rolled over and slowly opened her eyes. He was all hers...she waited a few minutes before getting out of bed herself and putting on a pair of clean breeches and tunic. All she felt like doing was going back to sleep...

"Kel! Dom! Wake up! Breakfast!" Neal pounded on their door, way too cheerful, even for him.

Kel rubbed her head and opened the door. "Mithros, Neal, how are you so awake? You hate mornings!"

Neal smiled cheerfully, "Doesn't matter, let's go!" He grabbed her arm and tried to drag her out of the room.

"Dom! Hurry! Neal's been drugged!"

"Nonsense, Keladry! Dear cousin, hurry would you?" Dom emerged from the washroom in clean clothes, and toweling off his dark hair.

"Meathead? Awake at this ungodly hour? How is it possible?"

"Chris must have slipped him something this morning..."

"Keladry! Domitan! Breakfast is waiting!" He finally succeeded in dragging Kel away, but not before Dom whispered in her ear, "That or he misses Yuki so much he's gone crazy..."

When everyone had finished breakfast, the group started again on their journey; they were to make the western border by nightfall, if all went to plan.

Which it did, and everyone had the same roommates...much to Neal's dismay; he did not like the fact that both Aly and Braden and Kel and Dom were sharing rooms and doing Mithros only knows what. Which was part of the reason why he was so cheery in the morning. He wanted everyone awake as soon as possible. He was going nuts with outrage, but of course no one ever knew.

They made it to the border of Maren in six days time; exactly on schedule, without any problems, bandits or anything. They were very, very lucky, and for this Aly was glad...but also somewhat disappointed. There was little excitement, although she did learn alot of things about each of her Player friends as well as Kel, Dom and Neal. All in all, she enjoyed her journey to Maren.

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A/N: Well? How do we like the sequel thus far? I'll admit, Aly and Braden's convo was a little bit weird, but give me a break! I couldn't have them doing it yet...but other than that was it ok?
!

AE