Our Little Secret
It had been three days since Eliwood and his band of mercenaries had defeated Oleg and decided to head towards Ostia to meet Hector's brother Lord Uther. Their tactician Mark suggested today was a good day to rest and Eliwood agreed. After the camp was set up though Mark was nowhere to been seen. This worried Eliwood a little, but he trusted Mark's decision making skills. It more worried Lyn, the lovely swordfighter from Sacae, more though so she decided to go look for him. She searched for him in his tent, in Merlinus' tent, and even up in the sky on the off chance he got one of the Pegasus Knights to give him a ride to observe the land, but it was no use. Lyn figured that only one person probably saw where he went, and she found him sitting around a fire eating with her fellow Sacaen swordsman Guy.
"You know one day I will win one of our sparring matches." Lyn heard Guy say as she approached the two from behind.
"Yeah sure, and Lyn totally isn't standing right behind us." Matthew countered without even looking backward. "Come and sit down Lyn, we have enough food for you too."
"I would love to, but I'm looking for Mark. Have either of you seen him?" Lyn asked walking into the two's vision.
"Not today." Guy answered. "In fact, the last time I saw him was yesterday when I was exchanging swords."
"But I saw him though. He went into those woods there with Kent, Sain, and Wil." Matthew said pointing to the east.
"Do you know what they were doing?"
"No, but Sain seemed excited about it. That means the possibility of women being where they are is very high." Lyn stood and pondered this for a moment. Why would Mark go into a random forest where women would be. The thought was not an amusing one and it showed on her face.
"Hey Lyn, is something wrong, because you look a bit mad." Guy said snapping Lyn out of her thoughts.
"What? Oh no, I'm just worried about them. Thank you for your help." And with that Lyn walked quickly away from the two in an eastward direction.
"Hm, what do you think that was all about?" Guy asked Matthew when she was out of earshot.
"She's jealous." He responded nonchalantly
"Of what?"
"Think it through. She asked where Mark was and I told her that there might be women where he was." Eventually it dawned on Guy what he meant.
"Oh. Ooooh! That means she-" Matthew cut Guy off by putting his hand over his mouth.
"We don't want the whole camp to know that! Especially not anyone who would tell Lord Eliwood."
"Why would that matter?"
"You know, for a swordfighter you're blinder than a bat." Matthew told Guy. Incidentally, as that conversation was going on, Eliwood passed the two of them without paying them any mind. He had spotted Lyn walking quickly towards a wooded area and started running towards her.
"Lyn!" He called out. "Lyn, slow down for a second." With that second call she slowed down to a stop and turned to face him. "Whew, you were walking pretty fast there. Is something the matter?"
"Maybe." Lyn answered after pondering some. "I just heard from Matthew that Mark, Kent, Sain, and Wil are somewhere in this forest. I was going to go see if they're still safe in there."
"Oh, well I could come with you." Eliwood offered. He had wanted to spend some alone time with Lyn today anyway so they could talk and get to know each other better. Actually he'd wanted to do that since they met up at Castle Caelin a few weeks ago. He knew his feelings and he knew them well, he was falling for Lyn.
"Actually, I wanted to go by myself if that's okay. Besides, do we really want to leave Hector in charge of the camp?" Lyn joked and they both chuckled.
"Okay, but when you come back could you spare some time for me? I was hoping we could talk some together." Eliwood asked not letting his slight disappointment slip into his speech.
"I'll see what I can do." Lyn said not promising anything. She knew something was up with him, but didn't know when the right time was to tell him she just wanted to be friends. She was worried that, coupled with his father's sudden death, her rejection of his feelings might get him killed in battle. To counteract these thoughts she started focusing on tracking Mark and the other guys. It was east since they weren't covering their tracks, Kent and Sain's footsteps were very straight forward and even when they got hard to see Lyn saw where Mark's robes misplaced the plant life. Eventually she came upon a pool of water surrounded by big smooth rocks. But it wasn't an ordinary pool of water, Lyn could feeling the heat radiating from it and immediately recognized it as a hot spring. She was stunned by it's beauty all the way inside this forest for a few moments until a head popped up from under the water.
"Man, the other guys don't know what they're missing." It was most definitely Mark who still had his back to Lyn. But he slowly turned around and realized he wasn't alone. "Oh Lyn, when did you get here?" He asked sounding genuinely surprised. Lyn didn't respond immediately since she was looking Mark over. He wasn't muscular in the chest like most handsome men were, but what muscles he did have had great definition. "Lyn! Lyn! Elibe to Lyn!"
"What? Oh, sorry Mark, I just zoned out there for a second."
"That's okay. But I'm still curious as to why you're out here."
"Well, nobody could find you in the camp anywhere and I was getting worried you had gotten captured or something." Lyn said truthfully. "But now that I know you're safe, what are you doing out here?" Her tone got slightly harsher with that question.
"Nothing much. I knew this hot springs was here from my last fly by with Fiora and invited Kent, Sain, and Wil to come with me. Sain being Sain hoped some women would be here for some reason and when he thought he saw some he chased after them with Kent following him just in case. Wil stayed a bit longer but he said this water reminded him of the proof that Dart was his friend Dan and ran back to the camp leaving me here. Mark explained concisely. Lyn exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding and finally sat down on the bank of the pool to get more comfortable.
"I guess I had nothing to worry about then." Was all Lyn could say as she mentally cursed herself for jumping to the worse possible outcome.
"Hey, I appreciate the thought though." Mark said to try and comfort her. "And as long as you're here you can enjoy the hot springs with me." He suggested.
"That depends. Are you wearing undergarments under the water?"
"Yes I am. I don't understand why some of the other guys don't though. Must be a preference."
"Maybe. Okay, I'm going to go over to those bushes to undress." Lyn said pointing to them. "No peeking."
"You have my word." Mark said covering his heart with his hand. Lyn chuckled and headed towards the bush patch. Part of her mind actually wanted Mark to peek a little bit but he kept his word and didn't turn around until he heard her body enter the water. Lyn took a deep breath and sighed as the warmth surrounded her body.
"You're right, the other guys are missing out." Lyn said agreeing with his prior statement. After that the two of them had fun talking and enjoying the hot springs. Though Lyn was noticing something weird about Mark. Whenever she would swim near him he would proceed to keep his distance. She even tested her theory a few times and when she knew she had evidence she called him out on it. "Mark, why do you keep doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"Swimming away from me, it's getting kinda weird."
"Well, I'm just being chivalrous you know." Mark answered weakly.
"Mark." Lyn said in a 'I don't buy that for a second tone.'
"Fine, you caught me." Mark said swimming up close to Lyn. "I need to talk to you about something somewhat serious."
"What is it?" Lyn asked suddenly concerned
"I don't know how to ask this and it not be awkward so I'll ask straight out. Do you know how Eliwood feels about you?" That was not the question Lyn thought or wanted to come out of Mark's mouth.
"I take it you've found out that he's taken a liking to me, huh?" Lyn asked.
"Yes I have, and that causes some problems for me concerning our group."
"I've had the same thoughts too, I don't want him to get killed because of something I might say to him." Lyn said confiding in Mark. "I like him as a friend, but I have my eyes on someone else at the moment." Mark was shocked for a half a second after Lyn said that but continued knowing that if he got this out it would be for the better.
"It also causes some problems for me personally as well."
"Why is that?"
"Because I'm in love with you too Lyn, I have been since the day we met. I've just been either too busy or to shy to just flat out tell you. And I really hope that this doesn't cause any problems between us Lyn, with you saying you like someone else and all. I just needed to-" Mark was cut off when Lyn's lips connected with his in a kiss. He just went with it for a while until his mind caught up with him and he pulled away. "Lyn, what was that? Not that I didn't enjoy it, it was just sudden."
"Do I have to spell it out Mr. Tactician? The other guy is you." Lyn said with a smile.
"Really?" Mark asked still in disbelief.
"Really. Mark, you have done so much for me and everyone. You're smart, creative, and you care for everyone you meet. I'll admit it took me a bit longer that you to realize how I felt, but my feelings for you are strong. I'm just glad you feel the same way."
"How could I not? You the most amazing woman I have ever met. You're tough as nails when you need to be, and sweet and caring the rest of the time. You are so confident in yourself and your heritage as well and that's great as well. And not to mention your grace and beauty. If I started talking about that I'd end up sounding like Sain." Mark joked and the two of them started laughing heartily.
"And that's another thing, you always know how to get me to laugh Mark. But you're right, this does cause some problems. What are we going to tell everyone else about us?"
"I don't know." It had been a while since that sentence left Mark's mouth. "But what I do know is that we have two choices, we tell everyone now or we tell them after this whole ordeal is over."
"How do we decide?"
"I can't belive I'm saying this, but let's leave it up to chance. If Sain comes back first we tell everyone, but if it's Kent we keep it a secret. Deal?" Mark suggested.
"Deal." Lyn agreed and then they were silent. "Sooo, what do we do now?"
"We can kiss again if you want." Mark answered with a cheeky grin and Lyn just shook her head and smiled. So they kissed again for a bit longer this time and when they were done Lyn swam up behind Mark and started massaging his shoulders.
"Boy, your skin is so soft, kinda like a girls." Lyn joked as she continued.
"Well, what can I say, I'm thinker not a fighter. But you're doing a good job, where did you learn how to massage so well." Lyn was silent for a second before she answered.
"My mother taught me how to. She would always massage my father's back when he was stressed out from the day." Mark put his hand on her hand to comfort her.
"I'm sorry I asked that." He told her.
"It's okay, that's one of my happy memories of them." Lyn said resting her head on Mark's right shoulder.
"I promise I will never leave you Lyn." He said suddenly. "I may not be Sacaen, but I always keep my word."
"I know Mark, and I'll never leave you as well." Lyn said softly in his ear.
"Thank you Lyn." He responded and then he swam behind her. "Now it's your turn for a massage, have to keep that sword arm fresh." So he started to massage her shoulders and not five minutes later Kent popped out from behind the bushes.
"Oh good you're still here." Kent said not realizing Lyn was there. "Sain got his Silver lance stuck in a tree trying to impress a woman, can you come help us get it back?"
"Sure, just let me get dried off first. Are you going to come Lyn or are you going back to camp?"
"Lady Lyndis, I guess I didn't see you there. My apologies." Kent said a little timidly.
"That's okay Kent don't worry. I guess I'll come with you guys as I assume neither you or Sain can climb a tree."
"That would be correct. I'll go back and tell Sain you two are coming to give you some time to dry off."
"Thank you Kent." Mark said and Kent started walking back.
"Do you think he suspects anything" Lyn asked as the two of them got out of the water.
"It's Kent, so I would say no. I think the first person who will find out is Matthew, but I have a way to make it so he doesn't tell."
"Which is?"
"I'll tell Guy how to beat him in a sparring match." Mark said with a grin.
"Yeah, I think that would work. But, if someone asks, I'm not going to lie to them. I have a reputation to uphold."
"I know, I'm not going to lie either. But for now, this," Mark said kissing her on the cheek, "can be our little secret."