Disclaimer: If it was mine, then I wouldn't be amusing myself by playing with Tamora Pierce's characters. So, in conclusion, it isn't mine.
A/N: Well, for once in my life, I've written something that isn't angst! I'm pretty proud of myself in that regard, since it isn't often that I write non-angst anymore. But, anyway, the second part of this will be up in about a week. So, until then, enjoy, and don't forget to review!
Rosto the Piper wasn't used to not getting what he wanted. He didn't like to think of himself as selfish or anything, but he was still used to getting his way. He was strong-willed and cunning, handsome and intelligent, and, that being said, he had a very high opinion of himself.
Above that, though, was his vanity. With long, white-blond hair, ivory-pale skin, and extremely dark chocolate brown eyes, he was certainly a sight. He was lithe like a dancer, strong, and as fast as lightning. He was the Rogue of Corus, the King of Thieves. His very life depended on how well he could fight a single duel.
There was something that puzzled him, though. Beka Cooper, a recently promoted Dog in the Lower City, fascinated him. She had since their very first meeting. He had been enchanted by her in every way. He couldn't explain it, nor would he try. He had lost his heart to her without knowing it at the time.
Since then, though, he had come to realize what had happened, and he had let life go on. They were on opposite sides of the law – they could never really be, together, or in any other vaguely similar situation. They were equals: the Rogue and the Terrier, mortal enemies who just happened to live in the same boarding house. They were friends, as close as could be one moment, worlds away the next. Their opinions differed in many ways, but there was always that common ground.
Rosto thought she was beautiful. He had once heard her say to Kora that her looks were pleasant enough, but she couldn't really be considered pretty like Kora or her sisters were. Her dark blond, almost light brown, hair was almost like the smooth golden wood of one of his pipes. There was a warmth in the color that he didn't see in the many shades of blond that he had seen in Scanra. Her eyes, though, he would agree, were her most striking feature. He had never seen eyes that color before. There was an ethereal look to just the color, the ghostly blue-grey that he could only liken to the color of the snow in the afterglow of the sunset in the Far North.
It wasn't just her appearance that intrigued him, either. Her shy exterior hid so much. He had come to see that after getting to know her better. She was kind, sweet, smart, witty, and so much more. Her determination was second to none when it came to protecting those she cared about or the people of her City. He had also seen a loving side to her. She had not displayed it with another cove, but with her cat. She clearly loved Pounce; he was her friend and companion.
In some ways, this attraction he had for her did not make sense to him. He wasn't supposed to like her. He had been crooked most of his adult life, and here he was, falling in someone who was completely straight, someone who wouldn't change just to please him. Maybe that was one reason. There was just something about Rebakah Cooper that he couldn't resist. He loved her more than he would have thought possible now. Even though he knew he shouldn't, he couldn't help it. He loved her, and he wasn't afraid to acknowledge it.
There was only one problem with that. Not only had Beka rejected him several times, but she was currently seeing someone else – a fellow Dog from Day Watch in Patten. She had brought him to meet her friends on their day off once. Rosto didn't like him at all, but that was something to expect, since he wanted to claim Beka as his own. Kyell wasn't that bad, but he had claimed Beka's affections, and Rosto didn't like him one bit because of that.
"Rosto?" He turned from looking out his window to see the very subject of his thoughts standing in the open doorway to his room.
"Hmm? What, Beka?" he asked politely. She smiled at him. She had known that she could turn to him if she needed a friend.
"I just wanted to talk to you. About Kyell, and something he said to me today," she said. He nodded his assent, watching her as she walked into the room and closed the door behind her. That was something she only did when she wanted to have a serious, private discussion with someone.
"If your man has said anything to insult you, I'll gladly flay him alive, if you wish," Rosto said softly, turning his gaze back to the window when he said that.
"No. Don't. He didn't insult me. And he's courting me, Rosto, it's not that serious yet," she told him. If only she knew what that was like for him, hearing that it wasn't serious, but it was serious enough that he couldn't make an attempt to win her without causing trouble for all of them.
Rosto turned back to look at her, hooking his foot around the leg of a nearby chair and seating himself in a smooth motion. His eyes never left her.
"Kyell said that you were jealous of him, and that there were rumors floating around that you meant to kill him. Are you that jealous of him?" she asked. Rosto raised an eyebrow as he looked her straight in the eyes.
"Am I jealous that he has your heart? Yes. Am I going to kill him over it? No. I may be the Rogue, but I ain't that sort of cove, Beka. I would never hurt you, and I know that dousing him, especially over you, would hurt you," he replied. "I just don't think he's good enough for you." Silence hung in the air when he said that.
"And what if I think he is?" She asked after a moment.
"Then," he said, pausing to rise from his chair and walk over to her. "Then, I won't object. I have found myself incurably in love with you, Beka Cooper." She gasped when he said that. "But I'll let you have it your way," he continued, his voice soft. He stood right in front of her now, looking down the two inch difference in their heights. Without thinking, he leaned down and brushed his lips gently over hers. He was about to pull away when she deepened the kiss, seeming not to be thinking about what she was doing.
When she finally did pull away, she was breathless. All of the air seemed to have left her lungs. She looked up at him, both pleasure and confusion sparkling in her blue-grey eyes.
Rosto backed up, never letting his eyes leave her face. He sat back down in the chair and watched her, searching for any hope that he might one day have a chance, if her Dog did not snatch her up. Somehow, he knew that there was still hope.
Beka looked at him with a strange look on her face for a moment, then turned to go.
"And Beka," he started as her hand touched the doorknob. She turned to look back at him. "Just because something seems out of reach doesn't mean it is. If you have faith you can get it, then keep that faith. If you choose Kyell, I won't stop you."
Beka nodded, still looking back for a moment before she left. She had much to think about, she told herself. She reached up to touch her lip as she walked up the stairs to her room. She had very much to think about indeed.