A few hours later

In approximately 5 more minutes, Emma knew she was going to go insane. It wasn't just the stuffy coach that her, her mother and father, and Elijah had been sitting in, not speaking, for almost 6 hours. It was the fact that the silence between them was anything but comfortable. Emma was intensely aware of Elijah's eyes on her face, but she had refused to meet them, instead staring huffily out of the window at the stupendously boring countryside. Equally as awkward was her father, glancing rapidly between her and her vampire suitor. It was all Emma could do to pretend to ignore them, but her patience was wearing thin. In a stiff, sudden movement, she turned to her father and announced, "I'd like to ride for awhile." It was important that she did not ask permission, but phrased her demand in an ambiguous manner that would almost surely get her what she wanted.

"Oh, well – alright I suppose." her father replied, startled out of his focused study of the non-interaction in the coach. He reached over and pulled a cord near the window, signaling the driver to stop. When he did, Emma practically kicked the door out in order to be out of the coach that much more quickly. She picked her favorite mount, Renegade, out of the team of horses on the coach behind them, and was in the saddle and trotting away before the footmen could even converge to unfasten the horse for her. When she passed her family's coach, she silently congratulated herself on having made an escape without having made a scene.

Then someone rode up beside her. Naturally, it was the person – if you could call him a person – she least wanted to see. Elijah. She sighed. Of course. It was just like him to poison her triumph this way. Now that she was already set with Renegade, she could hardly change her mind and go back in the coach, nor could she ask him to leave her alone, not with so many servants around. So Emma simply nodded at him when he rode up beside her.

"You realize you'll have to speak to me at some point, right?" he asked quietly.

"I never said I wasn't speaking to you." Emma retorted, pleased with her half truth/not lie. She never actually said she wasn't speaking to him, she just didn't.

"Don't play that game with me, Emma, I taught it to you." Emma's expression soured as she realized he was right.

"Look, I think you should know that when we arrive at Belleterra tomorrow, we're expected to attend a formal dinner."

"Well I have a long history of disappointing people's expectations. You should know that." Emma tried to keep her tone polite even as she uttered words meant to scathe. But, although she didn't like to admit it to herself, she did feel guilt for causing Elijah pain. Although she couldn't/wouldn't love him, he was her friend, and with that friendship there was a desire to make him happy. But in this case, what would make him happy might make her life eternally miserable.

Emma's words hovered in the silence between them. They were too close to the coaches and the servants to speak plainly, so Elijah nudged his mount into a faster trot, knowing his stubborn princess would follow him. When they were far enough away that they would not be overheard, he said, "You never disappointed me, Emma. Ever."

"You expected that I'd be overjoyed to marry you."

"Well, I wouldn't use that word...but yes. I didn't anticipate so much...resentment, but I blame myself for that."

"I know that you think of this whole mess as a tactical error, but I promise that I would have been just as averse to the idea if you'd been able to tell me properly."

"Ah, that's because I didn't have time to work up to it. I didn't plan to tell you until you realized how much you love me." Elijah's roguish grin put Emma in mind of happier times, like swimming in the enchanted grotto. So she didn't sound quite as hostile when she next spoke, after looking over her shoulder for eavesdroppers.

"Elijah, if I ask you a question will you be perfectly honest with me?"

"I think I've learned my lesson about deceiving you."

"That's a yes. Why can't you ever just say that?"

"I wouldn't want to bore you, love."

Elijah was pleased to note that their conversations had relaxed into their old playful banter. He just hoped her question wouldn't put them right back into hostilities again.

Emma took a deep breath before posing her question.

"Hypothetically, if everything had gone according to your plan; if I had fallen in love with you, and accepted your proposal enthusiastically...Were you planning to tell me that it was all part of a political agreement? Or would you have let me wander about in blissful ignorance?"

Emma suddenly found hers and Renegade's path cut off by Elijah, steering his mount in front of them, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"Of course I would have told you." He said with unmistakable sincerity. "I never intended to keep this from you forever, just until you were ready."

Emma seemed to accept that. "At least you respect me that much." she said as Elijah and his mount fell back to her side and continued along at a leisurely pace.

"I do respect you. Actually, it seems like you're the one who has problems respecting people's privacy." he teased her, winking.

"How do you know about that?!" Emma exclaimed, embarrassed at being caught yet again. Elijah didn't even need to answer – Emma knew he would never disclose his "sources" – it was something she had long since accepted about him.

"I just didn't know whether to believe you or not." Emma muttered.

Elijah snickered. "If I had been there, I wouldn't have let you forget the pin."

Emma laughed as well. "Yes, but if you could have been there, I wouldn't have needed to be snooping."

"Haha, true enough. Still, I thought I taught you better than that. Leave everything as you found it –"
"- leave nothing behind. I was flustered, alright?" She was still smiling, but something told Elijah it was time to back off. Luckily, Emma changed the subject for him.

"So...what exactly does this formal dinner entail?" Elijah breathed a sigh of relief that her tone wasn't antagonistic, like before.

"Well, we'll get dressed up in expensive clothes you can only wear once, eat a few bites of a dinner that the chefs slaved over for hours, and then be entertained in a room where we pretend not to notice the background music provided by a string quartet imported from halfway across the world."

"That sounds awful."

"I was rather thinking that myself. Of course, we've had a very long journey, I'm sure you'll be feeling very tired tomorrow night."

"Yes, I suppose I will." Emma said, smiling, catching on to his plan.

"Oh, but I forgot, you won't be able to retire to your rooms, they won't be ready yet!"

"Of course, they won't be ready until at least midnight, and I probably won't last until 9 o'clock!"

"Well then we'll have to keep you awake somehow, and sitting in a room with boring old men probably won't do the trick."

"That particular activity has never ranked high on my list of favorites."

"Nor on mine. I think we'll have to find something else to do. No one will argue of course, we wouldn't want you to fall asleep in the sorbet during dessert." Elijah smiled at his – his what? What was he supposed to call her now? Emma had always been more than a friend to him, but now everyone knew that, including her. Yet she wouldn't take kindly to being called his fiancé, but it felt awkward to refer to her as his soulmate anywhere other than in his head.

Emma's sparkling laugh distracted him from his conundrum. "Actually, no one will protest because they're just desperate for me to fall in love with you." Amazingly, she was still laughing as she said this.

'Perhaps we've turned a corner..." Elijah thought, smiling to himself.

Thanks for reading everyone. I'd really appreciate it if you could take the time to review. I know I'm not the best about prompt updates, but I do better with more encouragement! Even if it does take awhile between chapters, don't worry, because I'm not giving up on this story, I'm just busy. Thanks again everyone!