(Disclaimer & Warning: I don't own Digimon, its characters, nor the plot. Take note that this is MIMATO so if you're not a fan, don't read it. I respect those who are not fans of this couple, but I will not tolerate spamming and flames from them.)

THE MAIDEN

Chapter 14
Death of a Prince

As they rode that day, each step taking them closer to Frenzyheart territory, each person grew more watchful. The road became steeper and in places so narrow the horses shied at having to travel it. They were traveling east toward the rising sun, with the mountains that hid the villages of the Inkhearts and the Shatterhearts to their left in the north.

No one spoke as they stayed alert for any noise not of their own making. Twice Mimi saw Jun looking at Ken in a hungry way and thought with disgust of the woman's appetites. One day Jun wanted Matt and the next she wanted Ken.

Perhaps it was Matt's words that made her doubt her brother, but she looked at Ken with appraising eyes. He sat stiffly on his horse, never once glancing in Jun's direction, but something in the way he carried himself made Mimi think Ken was very aware of Jun's gaze.

Mimi looked up to see Matt's eyes on her. He gave her a level gaze that for some reason embarrassed her and she looked away. The man was treacherous! He knew that his words had made Mimi watch her brother and now he was making her doubt him.

They camped that night in the crook of the river that was the boundary of the Frenzyheart territory. They did not build a fire but ate cold food then put their blankets onto the rocky ground and settled down to sleep. Ken had the first watch.

No sooner had Mimi gone to sleep than suddenly she was awake. The river was noisy and masked a great deal, but her senses told her something was wrong. She eased onto her elbow and looked about. Jun and Sora seemed to be asleep and she looked toward the deep shadows in some rocks where Ken hid and guarded. Matt had moved his blankets away from the others and she could not see him. She looked at Tai and knew he was awake.

Tai lay where he was but his hand moved to point toward Matt's place in the trees then toward the narrow trail leading into the Frenzyhearts' land. Mimi felt her heart begin to beat faster. For some reason he had ridden alone into enemy territory.

Mimi eased out of the blankets, signaled Tai to stay with Jun and Sora, then crept toward the horses. She knew Matt would ride directly to Koushiro's city, so she mounted bareback and began to ride, slowly and softly at first then with more speed and vigor the farther away from the camp she got.

She had not gone far when Matt shot out of the trees on his horse with the fury of anger.

"Damn you, Mimi!" he yelled at her. "You are worse than a possessive mother. Go back to the others now!"

"You left without protection," she said, her horse dancing about. "And you are in enemy land. Koushiro's men will kill you and they will not question whether you are a king with a noble purpose or not."

He seemed to be trying to calm his temper. I am looking for the messenger I sent. He was to travel along this back road, the road the Misthearts use to steal the Frenzyheart horses, and he should have reached us by now."

"The Frenzyhearts will not let your messenger live—that is, if he ever reached their king."

"I am king. Koushiro is— hell, Mimi, I don't have time to argue with you. I know you won't return, so ride with me. And watch my back," he called over his shoulder.

She smiled in the darkness as she began to follow him. Perhaps he was learning some Draconian ways after all.

They rode along the rocky path for an hour, the moon their only source of light, when Matt raised his hand to halt. When he dismounted, so did she, and as silently as possible they led their horses down the steep ridge and tied them to a tree.

"I saw the light of a fire ahead," Matt whispered. "Stay close to me and do not do anything foolish."

"You have ridden alone into enemy territory," she reminded him. Even in the darkness she could see his warning look.

For such a big man he could certainly move silently, she thought as she followed him along the ridge. And his eyesight was excellent, since they were some distance from the flat place in the trail where the fire burned.

She and Matt hid behind trees and surveyed the scene for a while before moving. Three men squatted around the fire, gnawing on the remains of a rabbit. They looked tired and their clothes were torn and patched and repatched, as if they had been wearing them for years.

Mimi recognized them for Frenzyhearts. They were small men, half a foot shorter than the Misthearts, but as anyone who had fought them knew, they had a wiry strength that was formidable in battle. They were pale men with brows that nearly grew together and their legs had the characteristic bow of the Frenzyhearts. It was said that at three years of age a Frenzyheart child was set on a horse and never again allowed off. They were said to love their horses more than each other and that if a Mistheart on foot met a Frenzyheart on horse, the Mistheart should pray for a swift death.

Mimi turned toward where Matt was hiding. He was staring at her and he nodded his head toward the distant trees on the far side of the Frenzyhearts' fire. She could barely make out the outline of another person, and as she started, she thought the person seemed to be tied to the tree. She looked in question to Matt and he nodded. So, here was his messenger, trussed like a goose for feast day. She couldn't tell whether the man was alive or dead.

For all that Matt was a foreigner, Mimi was beginning to be able to understand him. Without saying a word, he directed her to the other side of the Frenzyhearts' camp while he stealthily made his way through the trees toward the man they held prisoner.

It seemed to Mimi that Matt was gone for a long time and she jumped a bit when he at last moved into the shadows beside her.

"They have Iori," Matt whispered.

Mimi could not see Matt's face but she knew the anguish he must be feeling. Iori was the son of Hiroki, the prince of the Og'rilahs, the boy Matt had pledged his life to keep safe. She thought it was a foolish thing to have sent this valuable young man into Frenzyheart territory as a messenger, but she did not tell Matt this. For now she would hold her tongue.

Matt motioned to her that he wanted to take the three Frenzyhearts so he could rescue the Og'rilah boy, and for a moment Mimi thought he meant to try to take them by himself. Mimi gave him a level look that told him what she thought of his plan.

He grimaced in resignation, then said, "No killing," under his breath and disappeared into the trees.

She sat absolutely still and waited for him to give a signal that they were to begin. Her heart was pounding as it always did before any contest of skills, but now there seemed to be something else. She was worried that Matt would be all right. She prayed that now was not the time when he would be killed. She offered a prayer to his god, then, just to be safe, she asked the Draconian god of war to watch out for her well-meaning foreign husband.

Matt did not attack in a subtle way, but stepped forward into the circle of light of the fire, his sword in his left hand, and said, "I am the King of Draconia, put down your weapons."

All three of the tired Frenzyhearts leaped up at once and ran toward Matt. Mimi came from the trees behind them and brought the back of her battle-ax down on one Frenzyheart's head. The man crumpled at her feet, and before she could turn, a second Frenzyheart had her about the waist.

He was strong—very strong—Mimi admitted as she struggled against the man's hold on her. His arms were forcing the breath from her body. She brought her heels back and her elbows slammed into his ribs, but the man didn't let go. To her left, Mimi could hear the sounds of steel against steel as Matt fought the third Frenzyheart.

The man holding her kept tightening his grip, and Mimi tried to keep her lungs open to breathe but she was failing in her attempt. She was losing strength and she could feel herself growing limp in the man's grasp as the pressure continued. Her eyes closed and she felt nothing.

"Mimi! Mimi!"

She wakened to find herself on the ground, her upper body in Matt's arms as he slapped her face and shouted at her. She stirred in his arms and tried to sit up but he held her fast.

"Mimi, are you all right?"

"Yes," she said impatiently. "If you don't crush me now." She rubbed her sore ribs. "I could not breathe."

"Why did I allow a woman to help me fight?" he said woefully, still clutching her.

She pushed away from him to sit up. "Because I knocked one man out and kept the second busy while you were still trying to subdue the first man." She rubbed the back of her neck. "If we had just sent arrows into them—"

Matt stood and looked at the three unconscious Frenzyhearts on the ground around them. "They are my people the same as the Misthearts." He turned away to the tree where the boy Iori was, and Mimi followed him.

At first the boy seemed to be dead, but upon closer inspection he was only sleeping very deeply, for the sounds of battle had not wakened him. Matt knelt to him. The boy was not tied to the tree as Mimi had thought. She also knelt before the boy and the smell was overpowering.

"He's drunk," she said with disgust. "He's not a captive, he's merely a drunken boy."

Matt shook the boy awake.

Iori rolled his eyes, smacked his dry mouth, and then smiled stupidly at Matt. "My father will be proud of me," he slurred. "I went to Koushiro."

"And Koushiro didn't kill you?" Mimi asked, aghast.

The boy grinned and closed his eyes briefly. "Said I was brave. I told him about Jun." The boy moved his hands to make a female shape in the air. "Koushiro says he'll marry her." He leaned toward Mimi, his foul breath making her pull her head back. "They will be a funny pair. He's a little man, but then Jun's not as young and pretty as you, Mimi. If you had a sister, I would marry her. I would then be related to my king."

Mimi raised her eyebrows at Matt. "Your king? You mean your father Hiroki?"

The boy gave her a crooked smile. "King Yamato. King of all Draconia. King of—"

"Where is Jou?" Matt said impatiently, ignoring the way Mimi was looking at him over the boy's obvious hero worship. "I sent Jou to take the message to Koushiro."

"I tied Jou up. I couldn't stay there with all those Misthearts. My father expects me to be a man—like you. I had three older brothers and they got killed when my father sent them on raids." He leaned toward Mimi. "I attacked this Mistheart king, but I lived. Now I have to do more. I have to prove I can be as good a man as my father and I have to prove myself to you, King Yamato. Have I done so?"

Matt put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "You have pleased me and, yes, I believe you to be a man," he said softly.

"So you rode alone into Frenzyheart territory," Mimi said, then looked at Matt. "Your innocence is affecting us all." She turned back to Iori. "Why didn't Koushiro kill you?"

Iori's expression changed to one of sadness. "They are very poor. Koushiro says everyone steals their horses, so they must move all the time. They cannot plant crops and last winter they were very sick. Many died. They need women." Iori's young face brightened. "My father will give them all of our women if they want. We will take the Mistheart women."

"So Koushiro accepts us?" Matt asked.

Iori's head lolled to one side as he nearly fell asleep. "Those three are to take you to Koushiro. Did you kill them? One is Koushiro's kin. For little men, they sure can drink." He closed his eyes, his head falling forward, and went back to sleep.

Tenderly, Mimi eased him to the ground. "I never noticed what a handsome young boy he was," she said.

"Not colorless like some of us?" Matt snapped. "Now, if you can stop mothering that child, we had better see to the Frenzyhearts. I thank God I did not have to kill one of them."

Mimi smiled at him as she patted Iori's cheek. "He is actually close to my age, so I guess he is a boy no longer. And he was very brave to go to Koushiro alone."

"He is brave when he goes alone, yet I am foolish," Matt muttered, and left her to see to the Frenzyheart men.

Mimi smiled at his back, loving his jealousy. For all his faults, this husband had a way of making her feel… well, beautiful. Not that beauty was of any use whatsoever but it was a rather nice feeling.

One of the Frenzyhearts was beginning to stir as he rubbed his sore head. Matt sent Mimi off to fetch water while he looked after the men. She returned to see Matt holding a sword on the men while they glared at him. But Mimi wasn't surprised when, as they listened to Matt's explanation, their faces began to change. Mimi thought that Matt's words just might be able to coax flies off dead meat.

When Mimi stepped into the light, the men looked up at her and one kept staring. She knew he was the man who had nearly killed her, and they exchanged looks of gratitude that they were both alive.

Mimi sat by the fire, behind the Frenzyhearts but where she could see if they went for their weapons, and listened to Matt talk. Idly, she pulled a leg off a roasted rabbit and gnawed at it, then tore off a chunk of stale bread. The fire, the exercise, the safety, and most of all, Matt's voice was making her sleepy. She stretched out on the ground, sleepily pulled one of the sheepskins that the Frenzyhearts used for horse blankets over her, and went to sleep.

She woke, but not fully, when Matt picked her up in his arms. For just a moment she fought against him but then she settled against him, snuggling her head against his broad, hard chest, and let herself drift back into sleep. She was not conscious of it but somewhere in her mind she knew she was safe. He had done several things that she knew were foolish, but he had made them work. He had befriended Hiroki of the Og'rilahs, persuaded the Blackheart queen to allow her people to marry into the Misthearts, and now the Frenzyhearts were listening to him.

She opened her eyes. "Do you really talk to God?"

Matt gave her a look of puzzlement. "I am only a man and I need help from wherever I can get it."

She closed her eyes again and went back to sleep. She didn't wake until it was almost daylight. Matt lay beside her, sound asleep, his big arms wrapped around her as if she were a child's toy. Slowly, trying not to disturb him, she tried to untangle herself.

"Do not leave my sight," he said, not opening his eyes and tightening his hold on her.

"I need to go," she said pointedly.

He still didn't open his eyes. "To that tree there and no farther," he said. "I do not want to fight anyone for you today."

She shut her mouth on a sharp retort and went to the tree. When she returned, he was still lying there, still looking as if he were asleep. "We must get back to the others," she said. "Tai and Sora will worry, and where are those Frenzyhearts and Hiroki's son? Do you plan to stay here all day?"

His hand shot out and caught her ankle. "Mimi, do you not sometimes want to lie all day on the bank of a pretty stream and watch the butterflies?"

She smiled down at him. "Perhaps, but it cannot be done today. Ken will—"

"Oh no!" Matt gasped, coming to his feet. "I had forgotten that brother of yours. He will kill the Frenzyhearts without giving them a chance to explain. Mount and ride!" he ordered her.

Mimi had trouble getting her bearings because she had been asleep last night when Matt had carried her from the camp. She hastily gathered their few belongings, mounted her horse bareback, and went after Matt.

Minutes later she saw that Matt's fears were justified. Damnation, but she hated to admit even to herself that he was right.

Ken was always an excellent fighter, but when his temper was aroused he was fearless. He had managed to capture all three Frenzyhearts, no doubt sneaking up on them while they slept, and he was now threatening their lives if they did not tell him how they had murdered his sister.

Mimi came into the clearing just in time to see Matt throw a knife that landed in the dirt between Ken's feet. Mimi knew there was going to be a fight. She kicked her horse forward but it was already too late. Even years later she would not be sure what happened next. The Frenzyhearts, who had come in peace, had already been attacked twice in a few hours, and their anger was directed at Ken. When they saw their chance, they leaped, weapons ready. Young Iori, who was roused from a drunken sleep, looked up and saw the confusion, not really understanding who was attacking whom. To him it must have looked as if his beloved King Yamato was in danger.

Iori ran, sword drawn, and put his body in front of Matt's. A Frenzyheart lunged at Ken, missed as Ken sidestepped, and his sword pierced Iori's chest. Had he not been there, Matt would no doubt have been killed.

For a moment time seemed to stand still. Iori fell to the ground without a sound while everyone stood as if frozen.

Matt reacted first, kneeling and taking the boy into his arms.

"You will tell my father that I did not die in vain," the dying boy whispered.

"I will tell him," Matt said softly.

Slowly, painfully, Iori put his hand up to Matt's shoulder. "I have not lived without purpose. I have died for my king." His lifeless body collapsed in Matt's arms.

"This will mean war," Ken said with unconcern as he sheathed his sword.

Mimi turned to look at her brother and could see the look of near glee in his eyes. He was glad of this boy's death, glad of the war to come, glad that Hiroki would now kill Matt. In that moment Mimi knew Ken cared nothing for Draconia but merely for himself and his own sense of power.

Mimi looked at Matt as he still held the boy, but she could not read his expression. His face may as well have been carved out of cool marble for all the emotion he betrayed. No doubt he too worries about the war, she thought.

Very slowly, Matt tenderly picked up the boy in his arms and walked with him into the forest.

"We had better ride," Ken began. "Hiroki will—"

Mimi glared coldly at her brother. "You will remain here and you will wait for him, and if you harm anyone, I will kill you," she said through her teeth.

"But Mimi—" Ken began.

She walked away from him, through the trees toward where Matt had carried Iori. Sora called her to leave Matt alone but Mimi wanted to find him. They would talk about what must be done now that the boy was dead.

She walked for some time before she found him and she did not approach him when she saw him. To her, it was a strange scene. Matt had stretched Iori's body on a rock, as if it were an altar, and Matt was on his knees before the boy's body.

Mimi stood absolutely still but Matt did not turn to her as he knelt there, his face in his hands. It took her a while to realize that Matt was crying.

Her body was paralyzed as she watched him. She had never seen a man cry before, had seen very few women cry, but the sounds coming from Matt were unmistakable. She did not go to him, did not have any idea what one did with a crying man.

She stepped behind a tree and waited and watched. She did not want to leave him, but she did not understand his reaction to the death of this boy. Was he afraid of the death Hiroki had promised him? Did the prospect of war make foreign men cry?

Her head came up when she heard Matt begin to speak. He was talking to that God he seemed to believe was his friend. She strained her ears to hear what he said.

"I have failed, God," Matt said softly. "I have failed my father, my country, I have even failed my wife."

Mimi frowned at this and listened harder.

"I begged to be released from this task," Matt said, "I told you I was not worthy of it. I am a coward and lazy, just as my old tutor said. I cannot unite this country. It is not mine to unite."

He put his head in his hands and cried again. "Mimi saw through me. Mimi knew that I would fail. Oh, God, I was not the one to be chosen for this. Better that someone else had been born my father's son. Now this boy has died for me, to save my worthless soul. I cannot go on. I will leave Draconia to true Draconians. Forgive me, Father, for having failed you."

Mimi leaned against the tree and found that there were tears in her eyes as well. She never knew he doubted himself. How could he believe himself to be a coward? He was walked against Hiroki's army alone. How could he doubt that he was the true king after all he had done in so short a time?

How could she have doubted him? What more must he do to prove himself? Why hadn't she sided with him from the beginning? She prided herself on her logic and clear thinking but she had never thought clearly about Matt. She had fought him every step of the way.

More tears came to her eyes. Was it because, as Matt had said, she was afraid of loving him? Had she fought him not out of logic but because of a weak emotion such as love? Had she perhaps loved him from that first tempestuous meeting at the riverside? Maybe then she had known that he had the power to take her soul from her.

Matt was still crying and suddenly Mimi knew she had to do something to keep him from leaving Draconia. She had a vision of what would happen if Matt were not there trying to unite the tribes. If Ken were king, he would plunge the country into war.

And Mimi would… she thought she might die without this man. How used to his soft, tender ways she had become. How used to his strength. No matter how she ridiculed him, how she fought him, he always had the strength of his belief in himself. Now she saw that he had doubted himself all along. Why hadn't she helped him?

She looked around the tree at Matt and saw the slump in his shoulders, saw the defeat in his body. She had to help him now.

But how? A foreign woman would no doubt hold him and caress him, and Mimi was surprised that that is what she wanted to do. She wanted to put her arms around him and let him cry on her shoulder while she stroked that fine hair of his.

And make him feel worse, she thought. To offer him sympathy would be the worst thing she could do. She had to somehow make him believe in himself again.

Matt was standing now and looking at the body of Iori. Mimi felt tears in her eyes again as she looked at Matt's ravaged face. He did care about Draconia, not just the Misthearts, but all of Draconia, that he could grieve so over this one boy. Hiroki had been right to allow Matt to be raised out of the country. Hiroaki had been right and Mimi had been more than wrong.

And now she had to do something about having been so loudly wrong.

Quietly, she slipped through the trees, away from Matt, then turned and acted as if she were just coming toward him. She made a great deal of noise but Matt did not turn toward her as he merely stood there, his back to her, looking down at Iori's cold face.

She straightened her shoulders. "What are you doing here?" she demanded belligerently. "We must ride to the Frenzyhearts."

Matt did not turn around, and she almost put her hand out to touch his hair, but she withdrew it.

"What is this?" she asked loudly, gesturing toward Iori's body. "You mourn this boy? Or is it Hiroki's wrath you fear? When it comes to war, we Misthearts will win."

"There will be no war," Matt said softly. "I will give myself to Hiroki. I hope I can appease him."

Mimi winced but said, "Good! Then Ken will at last be king."

Matt didn't react.

"As he should have been all along," she said, but still got no reaction from Matt. "But tell me, before your sacrifice, do we go to the Frenzyhearts or not? Do we leave Koushiro waiting for Jun?"

"It is no longer my concern. I am not Draconian."

The sympathy she felt for him was leaving her. She frowned. "That is true. A Draconian would never have started this absurdity of uniting tribes. It can never be done."

"Perhaps by someone other than me," he said sadly. "I was the wrong choice."

"Yes you were. Ken will do a much better job than you. He will have no trouble uniting everyone. He will not cause the death of innocent boys." She watched Matt's face and she thought she saw some sign of life.

He turned to look at her. "Ken unite the tribes?"

"Yes, of course. He will do a grand job, don't you think? Jun has already seen his power and she knows how strong he is. Koushiro has only to see it also."

"Jun has seen Ken's power?" Matt asked. "But Jun…"

"Oh yes, I can see it in her eyes. She fears my brother."

"She means to have him on a platter. She will marry that stupid boy and rule all of Draconia." There was light returning to Matt's eyes.

"What does it matter to you? You will be dead. You will have sacrificed yourself for this dead boy."

Matt looked back at Iori's body and his face fell again. "Yes, that is true. Ken will make an excellent king, I am sure."

"If he wins," Mimi said.

"Wins?"

"Being married to a king has given me a taste of power. I shall marry Tai and perhaps we will fight Jun for control of her tribe. Perhaps I shall be queen of all Draconia yet." She smiled. "Yes, I like that idea."

Matt turned to look at her and the sadness in his eyes began to change. It changed to hate and the hate was directed toward her. "War," he whispered. "War and power are all you Draconians think of. You would wage war on your own brother to gain power. For your own selfish wants you would cause the death of thousands of people. You do not care about Draconia."

"And you do? You would leave what you have started behind and sacrifice yourself to Hiroki?"

"I must," he said softly. "I gave the man my word. A knight's word is his bond."

"You truly are not Draconian," she spat at him. "You are purely foreign and I am glad you go to die. We need no cowards such as you who cannot finish what they start. Go then. Go to Hiroki. Go back home. Go to the devil for all I care." She turned on her heel and stormed away from him.

She didn't go far, just until she was out of sight of him and then she stopped. Great sobs began to well inside her, and before she knew what she was doing, she sank to her knees and began to cry. It was as if all the tears that had been denied her all her life were coming to the surface. Her shoulders heaved, her hands clenched. She fell forward into the dirt and cried harder. She would die if Matt gave himself to Hiroki, but she could not tell him that. He did not need sympathy, so she had not given it. He had needed her anger, but she had not been prepared for the look of hate in his eyes.

After a while, she lifted herself and went back to the camp. The others were sitting about quietly and looked up with hope in their eyes when they heard Mimi. But when they saw she was not Matt, they looked away.

They need him as much as I do, Mimi thought.

Sora came toward her and Mimi turned her face away. "Have you been… crying?" Sora asked in disbelief. "What have you done to him?"

Mimi could tell no one, not even a friend as close as Sora, of what she had seen. How could a Draconian understand a man who cried like an infant? Yet Mimi had understood. Did that mean she was not wholly Draconian?

"Merely smoke in my eyes," Mimi said. "He will return soon, I think," she added.

It wasn't long before Matt returned. His hair was wet, as if he had been bathing, and he ordered everyone to prepare to ride. The Frenzyhearts stood apart, and Matt went to them and talked quietly for a long while. Mimi saw him pointing out the different people in the group and, Mimi thought, no doubt guaranteeing their safety with his own life.

She watched him closely and she could detect a difference in his eyes, an emptiness that wasn't there before, but he looked as if he were ready to resume command.

She waited until he looked at her so she could smile at him.

But Matt did not look at Mimi.

All day they rode and he never once looked at her. Did he not understand that she had said what she had on purpose to enrage him? That she wanted to spur him out of his misery? Tonight, she thought, tonight she would get him alone and he would touch her again, perhaps even make love to her.

But it was not to be. They camped and Matt avoided her. She asked him to walk with her into the trees, but he said he had to stay with the Frenzyhearts.

"I cannot leave them with your brother," he said, then looked at her with cold eyes. "Or perhaps I should call him the Rightful King." Before Mimi could say a word, Matt left her standing alone.

Sora saw Mimi standing there and ordered her to unsaddle the horses and Mimi went about the familiar task blindly.

"You have hurt him," Sora said.

"I have helped him but he does not know it," Mimi looked across the firelight to where Matt sat sharpening his sword. "I am—"

"—a fool," Sora said, taking her saddle and walking away in anger.

Mimi had her own attack of self-pity. Did no one believe she was capable of at last seeing the light? She sat quietly with the others by the fire that night and took her turn at watch near dawn, but Matt made no attempt to speak to her privately. He gave her duties and orders like he did the others.

No one else besides Sora seemed to notice any difference because Matt was treating her as Draconian men treated their women: as equals. But Mimi had grown rather used to Matt's protectiveness and the way he thought of her as soft and fragile.

And she also missed their lovemaking.

On the morning of the third day, just before dawn, she saw Matt slip from the camp and make his way into the trees. Feeling a little tentative at what she was doing, she followed him.

She half expected him to leap from the trees and curse her for leaving the protection of the others, but he did not. He was squatted by the side of a stream, bare to the waist and washing himself.

He did not turn around. "What do you want, Mimi?" he asked, his voice as cool as the mountain stream.

She almost turned back to the camp but she made herself go forward to kneel beside him and drink of the water. The sky was just barely pink. "We have not spoken in days and I thought…" She put out her hand to touch his shoulder, but he looked at her hand in such a way that she removed it.

"I was not aware that Draconian men and women talked," he said. "I believe your job is to guard my back."

She frowned, utterly confused by him. "But we are also married."

"I see. So, it is the bedding that you want from me. I am to carry steel in my hands and between my legs and that is all you want."

"If that is what you believe of me, so be it," she said angrily, and left him alone. Was she supposed to explain to him why she had done what she had? Did he really believe she wanted him dead?

Again, tears came to her eyes, but she blinked them away. Damn him! Why did she love a man who made her cry?

(A/N: So I took waaaay longer than usual. Hope this long chapter satisfies. The final two and a half chapters are coming soon. Working on them already. Thank you for the support and please continue to show your love and review!

Chris, love, this chapter is for you. I know about that ordeal with the plagiarism of PO but I hope my updating encourages your writing. I simply cannot wait for the prom chapter!)