Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed these characters for a little while.
It was the best sleep she'd had in a long time.
When Dove woke up the next morning, she found herself held firmly in her captain's arms. That wasn't all: there was something hard poking into her lower back.
The young Queen flushed. She might have never been with a man, but Winna had ensured that she knew the basics of love making. Her mind traitorously wondered what it would be like if it were Taybur who made her a woman for the first time.
Blushing further, she realised that in her momentary fantasy she had shifted her body back against the hard form of her pretend husband. Freezing, she wondered what on earth to do now. Turning her gaze to look around her, she quelled her startled gasp when she realised they were being watched. Moving her hand conspicuously under the blanket, she pressed it into Sibigat's hip.
The Captain of the Queen's Guard snapped awake the instant his Queen touched him.
The man and woman on the pallet looked up at the sight of a big man looking down at them, two of his men nearby. "You are going to teach us royal ways," demanded Reyes. "You will make our plan work."
Dove assented neutrally. The mercenary leader, content with her reply, moved away. He left behind the two men who stood to the side and looked at the couple blatantly, waiting for them to rise and follow.
Dove slipped from the pallet first, tugging at her shapeless clothing. She didn't realise how close her bed partner was until she felt his breath at her ear and the heat from his body at her back.
"Wait for my cue," said Taybur vaguely.
They rode for three hours.
Arriving in a clearing, Taybur surveyed the large number of wagons full of various merchandise and goods. Where before they had been in the company of nine, there were now easily thirty men, with an equal number of women and children running around.
Wondering if perhaps he should have taken the chance last night and slipped away in the night, Taybur frowned as he noticed the tightened security. This was going to be a little harder than he had originally thought.
Looking to the side, he saw his Queen sitting upright in her saddle. There was an air of confidence and authority, but he knew that she too was looking at everything and anything. His body tightened as he recalled the feeling when he had woken up that morning. She had curves in all the right places and fit into his body just right.
He pushed it aside.
They weren't given time to settle in as Reyes greeted another man even larger and muscular with a hearty handshake. There were plenty of gestures in their direction before the large man made his way over, people stopping what they were doing and following. "I am Strom. You, man, will teach our men the fights of the Guard," his voice declared in a booming voice. "And you, woman, will teach our women how to be maidenly."
With the very smallest of simultaneous nods between them, Taybur and Dove moved to do their allocated tasks.
Teaching a small group of seven women the finer arts of how to be a maid, Dove clued on instantly when several asked thinly veiled questions about the assorted goods and treasures one could find in the company of royalty.
They were planning an attack on the Queen. On her!
Fighting to keep her face smooth, her temper beginning to simmer at their audacity, she continued to teach. Her eye shifted constantly to where Taybur was ordering a group of sixteen men into pairs.
When one woman remarked that she kept looking away, another one piped up just as quickly. "Tell you what Luce. If I had me a man like that, my eyes wouldn't be the only thing on him constantly."
She couldn't keep the flush from reddening her brown cheeks. Sparing another glance to where the men worked, she spotted a hand signal behind Taybur's back. Smoothly turning back, she faced her students. "Yes he is some man," she confirmed good-naturedly. "Now if you will excuse me, could someone please point me in the direction of the privy?"
Their directions were interspersed with laughter and Dove knew what their thoughts would be. Rising with as much grace as she could manage, she moved away. Mortified at their thoughts, she wasn't paying attention when she slipped into the trees.
She screamed when a man grabbed her arm and covered her mouth. She recognised the voice and then the hands when he spoke next. "It's me," said Taybur softly. She nodded and he removed his hands from her body. "Time to go."
Slipping through the trees behind Taybur, both were alert, constantly seeking out the guards they knew to be patrolling in the trees. They had managed twenty feet before a twig snapped on the right.
It all happened quick.
Taybur pushed Dove against a tree, covered her body with his and lowered his lips to hers. The instant they kissed, sparks erupted. All around them seemed to cease to exist as all that mattered was the heat and the passion between them. She felt every inch of him and something in the back of her mind was telling her off as she tugged the tall man closer and deepened the kiss.
It was heavenly.
Two things brought her back to earth: firstly the kiss ending when Taybur moved back slightly and secondly the sound of raucous laughter. A man – a guard – stood leering at them. Taybur swallowed as he took a step back and struggled to draw on a cocky persona, surprised as his own reaction to the kiss. "Hey brother," he managed to say. "What's with the interruption?"
Dove was another matter entirely. As Taybur distracted the guard at finding them so far from the campsite, her cheeks were flushed as she remained immobile against the tree trunk, presented with a sudden inability to produce words.
"Sorry my man," apologised the guard as he looked between the two. "But we've got to get back."
"I understand."
The sparks were still there when his hand clasped her, their fingers intertwining as they followed the guard – Boso was his name – back into the clearing.
She had thought they had managed to avoid being discovered as escapees, or worse, their true identify known, but looking at the large man that stood in front of Reyes, a young man beside him, and a large number of people joining the crowd, her heart sunk. It looked certain that they had been found out.
"It has been decided," boomed the voice of Strom. "You"- he pointed to Taybur -"will fight my son." The leader clasped the shoulder of the young man and drew him forward. "It will be a battle between our newcomer Gat and warrior Mekai. May the best man win." The large man raised his arms and paused for effect.
"This man will lead our warriors in the Plan."
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