Author's Note: First of all, readers should know that this oneshot was written for the February Challenge over at the Tamora Pierce Experiment Writing Challenges Forum, which is a lovely new forum created by some very nice Tamora Pierce fans who would love you to check it out if you have some spare time. On a not really related note, readers should be aware that this scene takes place after Kel plays matchmaker for Roald and Shinko at the banquet in Squire in terms of a Tortallan timeline.

Reviews: Feedback is always welcome.

Disclaimer: If I were Tamora Pierce, I would be pretty stupid to be posting my work on a fanfiction site where I don't get a penny for it, wouldn't I?

Justice

The Midwinter party was finally dying down. The shrill laughter of the ladies as they flirted with eligible bachelors and married men alike had stopped resounding through the chamber at last. Every last glass of wine had been emptied. Every dessert that had been arranged in a beautiful design on every table had been devoured.

Normally, this would have been a cause for great internal jubilation for the almost cripplingly reserved Shinkokami. Tonight, however, it wasn't. After all, tonight she had engaged in her first real conversation with Roald of Conte, her fiancé and heir to the throne of Tortall, thanks to the efforts of their mutual friend Kel, and she didn't want it to end. Now that she saw that Roald was clever and funny in addition to unfailingly polite, she never wanted to stop listening to his quiet yet distinct voice. Of course, the fact that he had inherited his father's brilliant blue eyes and his mother's midnight hair also helped keep her enthralled.

Trying to conceal her sorrow at leaving him behind her calmest, most expressionless face, she curtsied to him and was about to exit the chamber with her ladies when Roald halted her with a gentle tug on her sleeve.

"Yes, Your Highness?" she asked, spinning around to face him again.

"I was wondering if you would like to take a walk around the gardens with me tonight," he said, and as she saw fires erupt in his cheeks, she felt her own ignite . "They aren't as pretty now as they are during the rest of the year, but the servants and the children will have built people and animals from the snow for us to admire, and we will have a chance to talk some more. Of course, you can have your ladies accompany you as chaperones."

"I'd be delighted," she answered, smiling at him. Then, she felt as if her feet had been transformed into stones when he placed his arm beneath hers and guided her outside to the gardens with her ladies trailing behind them.

As soon as they left the palace, the wind buffeted them, and Shinkokami's dress flapped against her legs as they strolled down the stone path of the garden. The only light came from the candles burning in the castle windows as well as the pale moon and stars twinkling above their heads. Shinko thought this was rather romantic, but as a participant in the scene, she was biased, and, besides, at the moment, she would have regarded a public execution as romantic if it allowed her to speak some more with Roald.

"We never had winters like this in the Yamani Islands," she told him, gesturing at the dragons and griffins that had been sculpted in the snow where flowers would have been arranged in tasteful, orderly designs during any other seasons.

"You must be terribly cold, then." Bringing his tongue to his lips in a sympathetic noise, Roald slid his cloak from his shoulders and wrapped it snugly about hers, instead.

"You are most kind," she murmured, allowing him to draw her closer to his warmth, so that she could hear and feel his heart pounding against hers.

"It's only justice," Roald countered. "I think that if a woman leaves her country to marry a man that she has never met before out of duty, then it is only fair that the man should do his duty by her and make her as comfortable in her new county as he can."

"This is all duty to you, then, Your Highness?" she demanded, struggling to maintain a level tone as she pulled away from him slightly.

"No, Your Highness." Seeming to realize that he had said the wrong thing, Roald shook his head with uncharacteristic vehemence. "Duty requires that I marry you and treat you with the respect that you deserve by virtue of your birth. Duty does not require that I fall in love with you, but I—I think that I have done that tonight, Shinko."

Staring into his brilliant blue eyes as well as she could in the pale moonlight, she saw that they were blazing like the hottest, deadliest part of a flame, and she knew he was being perfectly honest with her. She felt water collect in her eyes as he went on, "You must understand that I would have been willing to marry you even if you were an old, shriveled shrew if it would serve my country. When I discovered that you were not old, I was relieved, and when I first laid eyes on you and saw that you were beautiful, I was pleased. Now that I have glimpsed you behind the polite, shy mask, I have come to love you."

"I think I've come to love you, too," she whispered, trying to blink away the tears that were pricking at her eyes. "Well, I suppose that is justice, isn't it? If we are willing to sacrifice everything for our duty, we deserve to find some love and happiness."

"You're right, Your Highness." Roald offered her the grin that she was already coming to treasure more than all the jewels in her possession, and that she was already joyfully anticipating spending the rest of her life trying to earn. Even when he was toothless, she thought that grin would still have the power to make the blood in her veins thunder in her ears, her feet turn to stone, her heart pound, and her cheeks burn. "We have to do our duty, but we certainly don't have to be miserable like Lord Wyldon is about it. If we are going to do our duty, we may as well enjoy ourselves."

With that, Roald raised her hand to his lips and kissed it, eyeing her as if to say that he would rather be kissing her somewhere else.

"I will make certain that you enjoy yourself," she promised, amazing herself with her boldness, since she had been told in no uncertain terms back in the Yamani Islands that she should be as modest and as conventional as possible, as men with unruly mothers tended to desire conventional and tractable wives. Yet, somehow, in the heat of the moment, the words felt right, and she wouldn't take them back to please anyone. The words were for Roald, even if he didn't want to hear them. Then, deciding that if she had already violated the rules of modesty once, pushing them a little further wouldn't do too much damage, she added, "Your geography is off, Your Highness."

"What do you mean?" Roald's forehead knotted as he shot her a bemused glance.

"I mean that I think that kiss should have landed on my lips," she responded, feeling like she had been drenched in scalding water. She knew that the words were improper. After all, she had been taught back in the Yamani Islands that not only should a woman never initiate any sexual interaction, but that, while a woman should never complain about doing her marriage duties in bed, she should never show the slightest sign that she enjoyed any sort of sexual activity. It was scandalous, because what was done between a married couple in a bedroom was supposed to be a matter of duty, not pleasure, especially for a well-bred lady. Yet, Roald himself had said that just because something was a duty that didn't mean it had to be unpleasant. She and Roald had a right to try to find delight in their arranged marriage if they could.

"Indeed it should have," Roald agreed, and his confusion was replaced with a smile. The next instant he was leaning toward her, and, if it hadn't been for the darkness, she was sure that she could have seen the pores on his face. Then, he brushed his lips tenderly against hers. At first, he was hesitant, but then, when she didn't yank herself away from him, he seemed to gain confidence, and the kiss gradually became more passionate.

Finally, they both ran out of breath and split apart. Fog formed in the frigid night air around them as they both hurried to fill their lungs. As she gulped down air, Shinko thought that her first kiss may have been more moist than she had expected and may not have made her head explode with all the colors of the sunset, but it had left her feeling indescribably empty-headed and almost unbearably happy.

Looking at the creatures that had been sculpted from the snow, she imagined how wonderful it would be when she and Roald had children of their own to build such things. Ever since she was a little girl, she had known that it would be her duty to give birth to children, even though it was a painful and dangerous process for women no matter how many healers were around to help with the delivery. When she had discovered that she would marry the crown prince of Tortall, she had known that it would be her duty to provide him and his country with heirs. Now, she knew that it would be more than her duty to give him children; it would be her pleasure. After all, it was only justice that Roald's handsome features and charming personality should continue on, and the only way that could happen was if she gave him offspring.

Ever since she had arrived in Tortall, she had been dreading her wedding night, but now she found that she was looking forward to it.