Chapter 3

Laren, Fei Yin, and Nikola sat in the dining hall that evening.

It was tensely quiet between all three of them as they ate the thick stew in their bowls. Nikola had his one glass of wine which he had been savoring, only taking small sips of it here and there.

Laren sat at the head of the table and Nikola defiantly sat at the other end, at the foot. Fei Yin sat quietly in between them.

"Could you please pass the bread basket, Fei Yin," Laren muttered.

Fei Yin nodded and handed the basket to her.

"Nikola, would you like any bread?" she asked.

"Fine...yes please," he muttered and was soon walloped in the head by a bun.

He grumbled.

"Very mature," he held up the bun that had fallen to his lap.

"So was you screaming after Helen like an insolent child," teased Laren.

"I wasn't screaming," he crossed his legs and maneuvered himself so he wouldn't have to look at her.

He took a bite of the bun and grumbled.

"Want some butter?" she asked.

"No, no! I'm fine," he said waving the bun defensively.

"Just asking," Laren sighed, and continued eating.

"Banshee from hell," he muttered.

"Pardon?" said Laren.

"Nothing," said Nikola, faking a smile.

"So Fei Yin, do you have any duties to attend to after supper?" asked Laren.

"Yes ma'am," said the girl shyly.

"All I'm saying is you might want to apprise Mr. uh," Laren looked up at Nikola.

"Tesla," he muttered.

"Right," Laren noted sarcastically. "You might want to notify Mr. Tesla of your schedule so he can better do his job."

Nikola felt the remark hit him like a stone.

"I'm very good at my job, thank you," grumbled Nikola.

"I'm sure you are," muttered Laren.

"I, I can give you a list..." interjected Fei Yin.

"If it eases your lady's mind, and I use lady only as a formality," he stated at Laren.

"It must hurt you a little bit," teased Laren.

"Surprisingly no," he gave her a sardonic grin.

"Excuse me, while I fetch dessert, you won't try to run away while I'm gone, will you?" asked Laren.

"Oh no, I'm staying, if only to make you miserable," he leaned back in his chair defiantly.

"That shouldn't be too difficult, you already have a miserable personality as it is," Laren stood up and excused herself with a kind but determined smile.

Fei Yin kept her head down.

"So, Fei Yin, do you have any hobbies?" Nikola asked casually.

The girl squeaked slightly, her eyes darting up to meet his momentarily then shooting back down and shaking her head.

"Well that was a refreshing bit of candor?" Nikola sighed and picked up his glass of wine and took a generous sip of it.

~~~~Later~~~~

Nikola walked behind Fei Yin as she struggled to carry a heavy bucket full of water to the stable.

Nikola contemplated helping her carry it then thought against it because she seemed to have a handle on it.

Then she stumbled slightly.

"Here, let me give you a hand," he reached for the bucket.

"No, no! It's okay," Fei Yin put herself between him and the bucket.

"It's no problem, I don't want you to dislocate a shoulder or something," he held out his hand.

"It's my duty," she defended.

"And you can complete it with a lot more ease if you let me help you, just with this," Nikola offered.

She contemplated his offer and then nodded handing him the bucket.

"And you don't have to be so formal around me, I'm not a lord or anything. I'm here to protect you that's all," he said with a soft smile. "I don't bite, I promise."

She finally met his eyes for more than a moment and smiled weakly.

"Thank you, sir," she said.

"Nikola, please," he said gently.

"Nikola...sir," she added nervously.

"You know, you speak very good English," he said following behind her.

"Ms. Hayward has been teaching me," answered Fei Yin.

"You speak better English than some englishmen I know," he chuckled.

"Thank you, sir," she blushed slightly.

"Nikola," he reiterated. "So, why are you here, Fei Yin. Why did you leave China to come work for...that woman here?"

"Both of my parents were killed in a protest," Fei Yin said sadly. "If I had stayed they would've put me in a work camp."

"I guess that's a good reason," Nikola muttered. "And do you like working here?"

"Ms. Hayward pays me," said Fei Yin. "I plan to save so that I may get an education."

"Really? And Miss Chain-and-tackle will let you do that?"

"She encourages it, that's why she has taught me English and other studies, every weekend she tutors me in math and science, reading and writing, and literature. In a few years I will have learnt enough to go to a woman's college in Edinburgh. Ms. Hayward has arranged it."

"Hmm," Nikola sighed.

"You don't like Ms. Hayward do you?" asked Fei Yin.

"It's not that I don't like her, it's just it seems we rub each other the wrong way, and she doesn't let me drink wine..."

"So you don't like her?" Fei Yin giggled slightly.

"Fine, I don't, but she doesn't seem to like me either so it's all good," Nikola sighed.

"If you don't mind me saying so, sir...uh, Nikola, I don't think she hates you as much as you think," she gave him a small smile and Nikola looked at her a little curious as to what she meant.

Before he could ask her for clarification she had reached the stable and entered, taking the bucket from him and pouring its contents into the horse trough.

"I thought she said you were a chambermaid," Nikola noted.

"I am," she said. "There are two young men that come from the town and take care of the horses usually, but they've gone out of town for the week so all of us have taken shifts watering them and feeding them. Ms. Hayward usually tends to their grooming," Fei Yin explained as she lifted the lid off a large barrel and picked up a pail with a scoop in it.

She took a scoopful of oats out of the barrel and placed it inside a feed bin in the horses stable. Patting the horses nose gently as she did so.

"What's his name?" asked Nikola.

"The brown mare is named Edalene," said Fei Yin. "But this one is called Faramund."

"Gaelic...I've noticed that a lot, this place. A lot of Gaelic names," Nikola sighed.

"Ms. Hayward and her mother shared a love for Gaelic history and Gaelic names," said Fei Yin. "That's what she told me."

"Ah, I see," he nodded. "You all done here?" he asked.

She nodded and set everything back in its place before following him out.

The crack of lightning even took him by surprise.

"Oh great, it's raining," he sighed. "Well that's just perfect."

He removed his jacket and held it over his head.

"Well, no use getting yourself soaked, come here, we'll make a quick dash back to the castle."

Fei Yin nodded and stepped under the protection of Nikola's coat.

"Alright when I count to 3 we'll start running. Ready? One, two, three...go!"

They began dashing towards the house. Nikola heard something distinctly not rain like and he looked around for its source.

There it was again. Fwip!

Fwip!

It couldn't be, no, could it?

He looked up.

"Oh hell!" groaned Nikola. "Fei Yin!"

She was running ahead of him but stopped when he called her name.

"Fei Yin, I..." he saw a flash of orangey-red in his peripheral vision. "Get down!"

He tackled her out of the way as a flaming arrow stuck into the ground where she'd been standing.

"Okay, no one told me there would be flaming arrows!" he barked.

In a moment he watched the arrow melt away like it had been made of clay.

Fei Yin watched, terrified.

Nikola sat over her protectively.

"How'd he get here so fast?" muttered Nikola.

"It's him!" cried Fei Yin.

Another flaming arrow landed closer to them than Nikola would've liked.

"Go! Get inside the house!" Nikola picked Fei Yin up and began pushing her towards the house, keeping his body between her and the flaming projectiles.

He got her inside safely and pushed her through the door, staying out side and scanning the rain swept countryside for big bad Robin Hood.

The man was already gone by the looks of it.

He scanned across once more then headed inside. Drenched from head to toe and covered in mud.

"What happened?" Laren came running down the stairs.

"Mr. Gargantuan made another attempt to woo the fair maiden...so to speak," sighed Nikola.

"It was Ralph, he tried to kill me," cried Fei Yin.

"Flaming arrows, great way to win a woman's heart," Nikola muttered sarcastically.

"You're shivering. Let's go to the kitchen and fix you up something hot to drink," Laren ignored Nikola.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Nikola rolled his eyes.

"Take off your shoes, your making a puddle," said Laren, escorting Fei Yin to the kitchen.

Nikola grumbled but removed his soaked shoes anyway, not that his socks were much dryer. He followed the two of them to the kitchen. He figured maybe he'd get a warm drink out of it.

"I don't understand why he keeps pursuing me," Fei Yin let a small sob loose. "I only ever was kind to him when we spoke. I never meant to make him think that...oh god!"

Laren draped an arm around her.

Nikola took a tea towel and used it to wipe his face and hair.

"It wasn't anything you did Fei Yin, it's him, something is wrong with him that's telling him that he's in love with you and he has to have you. But we won't let him do that, Fei Yin, I stake my life on it," Laren said comfortingly.

"Mr. Tesla...Nikola...saved me," she stepped out of Laren's embrace and went up to Nikola. "Those arrows were aimed right for me and he put himself in front of their path...thank you!"

She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Nikola tensed, his aversion to being touched kicking in a little bit. He patted her back awkwardly.

"Uh, you're welcome," he stuttered.

She finally released him.

"Without you I'd be dead," she said again.

"Well, I'm your bodyguard, I won't let this fellow lay a finger or a flaming arrow on you," Nikola gave her a small smile and she returned it.

"Get some rest, my dear girl, he won't be bothering you for the rest of the night," said Laren. "Go dry off."

Fei Yin nodded and left the room as soon as she was gone Laren looked over at Nikola.

Nikola grinned triumphantly.

"Congratulations, you're not as completely useless as we once thought," she said to him, the snark returning just as strongly as before.

"You're paying me to keep her safe, I kept her safe, didn't I?" he defended.

"You're a good bodyguard, I'll give you that, but what are you going to do when you are standing shoulder to shoulder with him defending her life," she stood up in front of him, standing face to face with him.

"I can hold my own in a fight, even against a big brute like Ralph McGinnis. Don't worry. I'm worth every penny and then some," Nikola said defiantly.

"You better be," she growled.

They were standing pretty much nose to nose at this point.

"I will," he said even more determined.

In a split second they went from glaring at each other to kissing each other. Neither of them really knew what happened or who initiated it but both backed off as if they had kissed a snake.

Laren brought a hand back and slapped Nikola hard.

"How dare you!" she cried.

"That was not me! I'm pretty sure that was all you!" Nikola held his cheek.

"It was not me. Why would I want to kiss you?" she growled.

"Maybe you're attracted to my manly aura," Nikola teased and she scoffed.

"Please, I am more attracted to the foot fungus of a diseased leper than I am to you," Laren growled.

"Obviously not, because I would rather stick my lips to a hot poker and kiss a rhino's ass than you," Nikola retaliated.

"You are...agh!" Laren turned on her heel and left the kitchen.

"What? Too hot for you to handle?" Nikola teased and followed her

"Horrible!" Laren turned to him. "Absolutely horrible!"

"You barely knew me for three minutes before you started treating me like crap, what do you know?" yelled Nikola.

"That's just how horrible you are," Laren growled.

"What because I'm smarter than you? Are you intimidated by my intelligence or the fact that I didn't drool over the sight of you the moment we met?" he challenged.

"Please, you are so full of it," she rolled her eyes. "You are here for Fei Yin. Once that is done through I will happily see you on your way."

"Fine then, let's hope matters resolve themselves quickly," Nikola stared her down and then pushed past her. "Where is my room?"

Laren turned and smiled sardonically at him.

"I'll show you," she sighed.

"Can we at least try to be civil, it's obvious we don't like each other, but I would like to get out of these wet clothes and into something dry before the night is out," he sighed.

"Fine," Laren relented.

She walked past him and up the staircase.

"There is only one bathroom up here, my room is the master, I've put you in the guest room at the far end, with any luck we can spend most of your time here out of each other's company," she grumbled.

"Fine with me," he agreed.

"I claim the bathroom from 7 to 8 in the morning, every morning," she said sternly.

"Uh huh," Nikola followed her from the staircase down the hall to his bedroom.

"You should be quite comfortable in here," she opened the door.

"What? Did you lace the sheets with cyanide?" he glared at her.

"I would be lying if I said the thought hadn't crossed my mind," she teased back.

"Is this the end of the tour or do I have to suffer any more time with you?" asked Nikola.

"This is the end," Laren glowered at him. "I shall bid you goodnight and hope you sleep like a naked man on a bed of hot coals."

"And I hope you wake up with a Charlie horse," Nikola retaliated.

"Goodnight," she forced a smile.

"Goodnight," Nikola waved, putting on just as fake a smile as she was.

She shut the door behind her and marched away.

God, that woman!

He shook it off. No woman had ever infuriated him this much and this quickly. She was detestable.

He decided not to think about it and went to one of his suitcases. He peeled off his wet layers and mopped up his wet skin with one of his less nicer shirts. He was changed into a light, clean oxford shirt and a comfortable pair of trousers in mere moments.

He looked outside the window and saw that the rain had stopped.

He ran his makeshift towel through his hair a few times before crawling into the bed. Not like he needed to sleep but he didn't bring any reading materials with him, so he was going to try.

He flicked the electric lamp off and snuggled in comfortably.

His mind went back to that kiss in the kitchen. He smirked slightly. That woman...she totally kissed him first.

Laren reached her room and shut the door behind her. She let out a frustrated huff as she did so.

That man!

She'd never, in all her life met a man so arrogant, so childish, so… so… so whatever he was. It was like everything he did made her want to shoot him. Every word drove her crazy. And then that kiss. Where had that come from?

She shook her head. It was an accident, he must've slipped on his wet feet, or maybe something bumped her. It was nothing. She felt nothing but contempt for this man and his stupid boyish...kinda cute...but otherwise annoying grin.

She shook it off. It was only going to be for a couple of months. Maybe less if all went well, then she would never have to see him or that smile ever again.

She pulled the knot out of her hair and let her blonde hair hang loosely around her shoulders.

She changed into her nightgown and sighed as she brushed her hair.

Fei Yin had definitely taken a liking to him...it didn't change anything that she felt for him, but maybe...no, he was obnoxious and brash, and he drove her crazy and that's all.

She set the brush down and looked over to the picture resting on her nightstand. It was of her late husband in his military uniform. George. He had been her best friend and eternal compatriot, until a bullet fired off a German machine gun had picked him off.

Her heart twisted slightly. It was already three years. It angered her that he had managed to survive so long only to die just before the fighting stopped.

She cuddled down beneath her covers still looking at the picture.

She pressed two fingers to her lips and kissed them, placing the kiss on to the frozen face in the picture before shutting off the light and throwing the covers over her.

How she was going to last with this Mr. Tesla around she had no idea.

She smirked slightly.

Wasn't he in for a surprise tomorrow morning?

~~~~Author's Notes~~~~

Hey you crazy Teslen fans! Hi! Still reading i hope. Christmas is upon us which means hopefully enough time for me to write a few chapters for you. Not just for this fic, but for Troublemakers and Here We Meet Again as well...hopefully.

Anyways, I hope this gives you a few chuckles.