Disclaimer: I own nothing, and will let you know if that alters, if nothing is said assume I still don't own them.

Sorry if the characters are a bit OOC, trying to write a story similar to this but not having time but needed to get some form of it out there so that I can focus on my revision. So apologies in advance. Please review and tell me what you think though.

Second Version - Thank to BlackFir for the beta'ing of this chapter and making it understndable.

Maerad and Cadvan lay under the shade of a tall oak. Cadvan was idly stroking her hair while her head rested in his lap as he rested his back against the trunk of the tree.

"Maerad?" he asked after a moment.

"Hmm?"

"Have I ever told you one of the greatest stories of all time?"

"Many of them. But I like hearing them. What's this one about?"

"It's about hurt, duty, friendship and, my favourite section, about love."

"I don't need to hear that one."

Cadvan glanced down, confused, and saw her looking back up at him.

"I've lived it," she told him, before sitting up slightly and kissing him gently. She pulled back slightly and gazed back at him, her eyes warm with love and affection.

He looked thoughtful for a minute. "We both have," he replied after a moment, "But our story won't end like theirs did."

"How did theirs end then?" she asked, curious now.

Cadvan flashed his dazzling grin at her, amused by her curiosity he asked her "Can I tell you the story? Just this particular section?"

She mock-sighed and laid her head back down in his lap. "Go on then. Just that section."

Cadvan smiled and leaned back against the tree again, his fingers returning to stroking her hair.

"There was once a queen who ruled over an exotic country. She had gained her land by pure intelligence, by begging a king for some land when he believed that a woman could not be intelligent to gain or rule any. But that's altogether another story. She had fled from her home when her husband had been killed by her brother and her husband came to her in a dream explaining what had happened. But that's yet another story. So this beautiful queen was building a beautiful city.

"A local ruler, a cruel heartless man, had asked her to marry him, not out of love, but since he wished to count her as a possession and gain her land. But she refused his hand, for she had promised to remain faithful to her husband, even after his death, an idea praised and exalted. Women who remained faithful to this pledge were remembered, their names carried down throughout history..."

Maerad smiled gently but stopped him before he could continue.

"Cadvan, the story. You're getting side-tracked again."

Cadvan smiled sheepishly before carrying on.

"So she was building this beautiful city. One day these men from a war-torn land came to her country; it doesn't matter how she met them. But they believed in many gods and goddesses, and the leader of these men was the son of one of these goddesses.

"Now, the queen met this great hero, this man who had come into her country. She held a banquet for him, his son, and his men and begged him to tell the story of the tragedies he had seen and the battle he had seen through to the end, so that she might better understand what he had been through. He had led his family out of the city, carrying his father on his back and leading his son by the hand while his wife followed. Unfortunately his wife became lost, and the father told his son to carry on with his grandson and he would follow, unfortunately he died before they could arrive.

"But the queen, ever since she had met him, had worried about him and had burned for him and this passion wore away at her. Her thoughts were distracted by images and memories of him and because of this she could barely sleep; she was obsessed by his strength and beauty."

He glanced down at Maerad, as he carried on talking, and was surprised to see a faint blush in her cheeks. She caught his eye and glanced away guiltily.

"Sorry, is the story not interesting", he said both apologetically and curiously.

"No, I'm enjoying it.It just rings truer than I thought." Cadvan simply looked at her; they knew each other well enough to not have to ask questions any more, and she answered his unspoken question.

"When you said that she couldn't sleep and was plagued by memories and images of him." Cadvan continued looking at her. Maerad held his gaze steadily for a moment before the blush in her cheeks returned.

Cadvan laughed quietly. "You weren't the only one," he said wryly and smiled down at her before continuing.