Gwen had been surprised only partially by the invitation that had been delivered to her door in the Squire's Wing when she had only been back in her room a few minutes. She knew that Sir Nikolas had been attempting to flirt with her. And as a way to protect Roald during the talks she had not responded at all except polite acknowledgement as she was acting as his squire. But this invitation had been addressed to her as a lady. As much as she hated fussing there was something exciting about being invited to an intimate cup of tea for the first time. She had seen other female squires and pages approached by peers in less romantic and less traditional ways. It was nice for a bit of formality to acknowledge that she was a lady as well. She had dressed the part with the small lady's wardrobe she kept for special occasions. And after her brief stop to talk to Prince Roald about her doings, she felt like she had dressed the part well.

Sir Nikolas was indeed a powerful person in Tusaine. Gwen knew he was the son the most well-known general in Tusaine with all plans to take his place when his father retired and his friendship with the heir of the Crown in Tusaine was matched by Sir Faleron's friendship with Roald. The acknowledgement of his status by the Tortallan monarchy was to house him in a very nice suite that held a sitting room, a dining room, a servant's room, a decent sized bedroom, a privy, and a dressing room. Gwen knew all of this before she had even met the man that had taken an interest in her. She was also aware that Sir Nikolas was the only member of the diplomatic party that ranked so high and had brought his own servant. So she wasn't surprised when it was a manservant who answered the door rather than Sir Nikolas himself.

Sir Nikolas himself was waiting for her in the sitting room, standing to greet her and looking her over with a look that resembled pleasant surprise as he looked her over. After the door closed behind her she saw him flick his hands at his manservant.

"Thank you, Gerald, you are dismissed for the evening," he didn't even take his eyes off of her to see if he had been obeyed. After a moment he shook his head as if to clear it and gave her his now infamous charming smile. "My Lady, I am in awe of your beauty. I was unaware of that you were hiding this behind your squire's uniform or I certainly would have asked you to join me for tea much sooner in order to make sure no one else could snatch you up."

"You are too kind," she blushed at his praise. It was a pleasant change for being looked down on for her sex.

"And you are far too modest for as beautiful as you are," he told her with the charm oozing from his words. "Please have a seat," he bowed to her and indicated that she should sit on the same couch he had been occupying. She was surprised by his boldness as he sat down next to her, leaving only half a foot of space between them but she let him have his small victory. This sort of man was the kind one had to pick their battles with. He reached over to the small tea set he had on the table and started to pour two cups.

"That's a beautiful set," she nodded to the black stone tea pot with the matching black cups painted with silver vines.

"It was a gift from his Royal Highness Prince Edric of Tusaine," she saw him puff his chest out a bit as he said it. It was a good bragging point for any nobleman to be close in with the royalty. "The tea is also a gift from him. I think you'll like it. It's a special blend of spices in a black tea. Traditionally we drink it with milk mixed in but I know Tortall tends to frown upon milk in tea."

"Perhaps we should observe the tradition," she nodded to the small pitcher of milk that was sitting on the tray. She saw his smile. She was of course doing exactly as he wanted but the fact he had left room for the milk as he poured and the cups. "And is asking ladies to tea also a tradition for you?" She asked when he handed her the cup with tea and milk.

"I would be lying if I said I had not invited other ladies to tea before, but none so beautiful as yourself. Your eyes sparkle like blue sodalite surrounded by diamonds," he informed her. She knew sodalite as a mineral of a blue with often violet shades and white veining. It was pretty without being a gemstone. It was a twist on one of the traditional compliments a man paid to a lady about her eyes. Usually a man listed a sparkling gem rather than a mineral. "And your hair is like the color of rosewood with the softness and beauty of velvet. How anyone could let a beauty like you out of their sight to become a squire is beyond me." He was staring at her face again with more awe than charm.

"Perhaps they let me become a squire, or rather, they let me train to be a knight because they know a woman is so much more than her beauty," Gwen was mentally holding her breath. It was the first set of compliments from him that she wasn't acknowledging. Not that his compliments were anything but the same list of compliments men usually gave to women. 'Your eyes shine like gemstones,' 'your hair is a luxurious fabric,' next would come something regarding the colors of her clothes complimenting something about her skin tone, eye color, or her whole color palette. After that, if he was bold enough, he might compliment her lips or her body itself. She wasn't impressed by these things as some ladies were but she wasn't going to show her hand yet if she could help it. It might help her to come off like every other lady he had asked to his rooms for tea.

"You are quite right, a woman is so much more than her beauty. I hear you, as part of your studies, work with his Highness Prince Roald with the paperwork of the country's affairs," he sipped at his tea while he spoke to her.

"And how is it you are so well informed about my doings?" Gwen purred rather than acknowledge he was completely correct.

"I believe in doing some scouting when it comes to the class of women you belong to. It wouldn't do me any good be any more surprised by you than I already am. I wouldn't be able to keep my wits about me if you took me anymore by storm." She kept her eyes down on her cup as she listened.

"And which class of women is that, the one which you believe I belong to?"

"The highly desirable combination of intelligent and beautiful, naturally." She had no response so she sipped her tea in silence waiting for him to have more to say. "So you took arrows for Prince Roald and he made you his squire and rewarded you with his trust. I mean, he must trust you with a lot of important information if he has you working so closely with him."

A red flag went up in Gwen's mind. There were so many ways this conversation could go and yet it came back to her position with Roald. Thankfully some of the conversation skills they taught ladies at the convent could be adapted to such situations. Ladies were taught if they wanted to keep the attention of a man away from topics they had no knowledge of, they should compliment the man. In this case it wasn't that she had no knowledge about what Roald had entrusted her with, it was that she didn't want to lead him on to believe she was privy to such information.

"The ladies must fawn over you in Tusaine with you being so close to the Prince and being so incredibly handsome." She managed to force a blush as she said it and looked away to show she was embarrassed by her own boldness. "You likely have your pick of any woman in Tusaine." Gwen found the cup was plucked from her hands before she fully finished her sentence. One large calloused hand enveloped both of her with ease while the other hand found a place under her chin to force her to look up.

"That may all be true and yet the woman I find myself desiring only makes polite acknowledgement of me," he told her, his eyes on her lips as he spoke. He let go of her chin to raise both of her hands to his lips and kiss her fingers. Her heart was racing. He was good at his flirtations though some part of her doubted his intentions. She saw a brief flicker of embarrassment cross his face as he let her hands go. "I'm sorry, I fear I have pressed what little luck I have tonight. I will keep myself in better check."

"Perhaps you should tell me what some of these delicacies are," she redirected the conversation to the bite sized foods that were on a platter near the tea set. She recognized a few of them with her fief being somewhat near the Tusaine border but she knew it would give him something else to focus on and give her a break from his flirtations.

"Of course, how silly of me," he turned his attention to the platter as well. "Do you like mushrooms?" He selected a mushroom cap off of the plate. "This is a mushroom stuffed with lamb and goat cheese. It's a favorite at the Tusaine court." He placed it in her hand.

"I'm not much for lamb but this is alright," she said after taking a bite. She watched him process the information and then look over the platter once again.

"Perhaps something sweet? This is a pecan tart." He placed the tart in her hands and watched her eat. "Do you like it? No I can tell you aren't thrilled with it. Here this you'll like I'm certain." She could see he was flustered, two strikes on the food he was picking for her. His hands stopped moving over a bowl of sugared cherries. He picked it up and selected a cherry out of it. Instead of placing it in her hands he pressed it up to her lips. There was a brief second where his finger brushed over her lips. She raised an eyebrow at him in response and he held his hand up in surrender. "Pressing my luck again, I know."

"These I do like." She told him nodding to the cherries. They were pitted cherries stuffed with marzipan and then coated in sugar.

"So now that I've found a treat you like, and you seem to be enjoying the tea," he nodded to her half empty cup. "Tell me a little more about yourself. Do you like being Roald's squire even though he makes you serve through long meetings?"

"His Highness is an excellent knight master and I couldn't ask for better," Gwen informed him finally. It had come back to Roald once again and if she wanted him to show his hand she had to give a little too. So she gave him nothing he could actually use while opening up a little.

"You must be learning a lot about the realm," he pressed.

"You must learn a lot about the realm by being His Highness Prince Edric's close friend," she turned it on him.

"No more than he means for me to know, certainly," Nikolas sighed. "So what do you think about these meetings. I'm sure you've been listening."

"You of all people should know I won't speak about the meetings." She told him.

"But between you and me, you must know how his Highness is planning to proceed."

"Did you lure me here to ask about my relationship with his Highness and to get me to speak about the meetings?" Gwen set her cup down on the table. "I'm surprised that you are so presumptuous to invite me here, and flirt with me, and only ask about my relationship with his Highness and the meetings. You, Sir Nikolas, are just trying to use me." She stood and made to sweep out the door as if she were storming off like a lady. She was indeed mad but it was a calculated move. It had to be a calculated move. She couldn't call him out and leave. That could cause tension in the meetings. What she could do was call him out and give him an opportunity to cover. He had shown her enough to prove he was indeed trying to use her but if he didn't want her to go back to Roald upset, he would need to protect himself with some sort of cover.

"Wait, My Lady, please, I'm sorry," he caught her hand and turned her to look at him. He knelt down in front of her. "It was not my intention to get information from you but these meetings have put me under so much pressure I forgot myself." He brought her hand to his lips again. "I would beg for your forgiveness but I do not deserve it. Please tell me what I can do to make it up to you."

"You can let go of my hand," she waited for him to release her hand and turned to go to the door again. She had enough of a handle on what he was like now. He would not take her rejection tonight as an insult, especially because she had made it clear it was his fault. He wouldn't chase her down either. It was likely he would make some sort of gesture to her as a real apology in hopes she would at least keep quiet to her knight master but it wouldn't happen tonight. It would have to be something he put some thought and planning into. There was even a slight chance he wouldn't ask for her company again though that seemed unlikely when she glanced back at him to see him still kneeling on the floor where she had left him, looking slightly dumbfounded that she was leaving after his begging for forgiveness.

As she let the door close behind her, she guessed very few women had managed to walk away like that before. She, herself, had had a hard time walking away from him. It had felt like a genuine apology and she found she did like how he flirted with her. She would have to keep her defenses up until talks were over and things were settled. If he was still interested after that then she would have to believe he truly had just been pressured and wasn't singling her out to try and get information from her. If that was the case, she might give him the forgiveness he wanted and open the lines of communication again. But for now, she had to go back to her room and clean up so she was ready for the meeting in the morning.