A/N: First, I wanna thank everyone for all the reviews. I love them! (Does it seem to anyone besides me that the writers in the EE category are very rich in reviews? I mean, in a lot of the other sections people will have like sixteen chapters and eleven reviews, of seventy chapters and forty reviews. Not everyone in EE has a ton of reviews, but a lot do . . .) Well, now that I'm done with my little tangent, I want to mention a one word mistake in my last chapter. Yeah, it was tiny, but it's really been bugging me. So indulge me. Please? *makes puppy eyes* When I wrote "A long moment passed, and then another, before I had the courage to crack open an eye, staring warily at the youth. But his hand was no longer raised, and his eyes were so full of antipathy that it caused my to start in surprise," I meant to write EMPATHY instead of ANTIPTHY. I've gone and changed it now, but it used to say that and it was supposed to say empathy. Okay, now that I got that out of my system, I'm happy. Or maybe that's just the result of the chocolate I'm eating.

"The seer," I echoed, staring at Aiven, then the lord. You have got to be kidding, I thought to myself as I returned my astonished gaze to my companion. He caught my eyes squarely and held it, seeming only the tiniest bit embarrassed. I closed my mouth firmly, sure I must be gaping like an idiot. "Well," I said flicking my red hair over my shoulder, smoothly covering my awkwardness, "that's a new one."

"Do introduce us to your companion, Lord Seer," the lady said, looking at me curiously.

"Damslae of Yvonhe - Cyri, to be exact," he said, as I had admitted being from the capital. Then he turned to me. "And these are Lord Koilun, Lady Jainalii and their son Lord Kieran of Jorins."

What was I supposed to do? I would have *liked* to turn around and rage at Aiven, but the three on horseback and the rest of their train were looking on. Instead, I ground my teeth, smiled, and curtsied low. The nobles smiled and nodded at me, the youth looking at me with undisguised lust. Then and there, I decided I was going to stay as far from him as possible.

"Lord Seer," the lord said then looked at me, obviously unsure how to address me. "Lady Damslae," he said quickly, and neither Aiven nor I protested. After all, I could have been queen. "Where are you journeying?"

"To Bast, my good lord," Aiven replied. "I see you are also traveling in that direction as of this day."

"Indeed," Lord Koilun said. "We travel to our country's capital; surely you will travel with us so far?"

"With delight," was Aiven's response. "Perhaps you have a wagon you could spare for my lady and I?" He did not even look at me, and I kept a bland face. Inside, however, I was fuming. How dare he call me his lady? He had completely ignored me in the first two weeks I'd known him, and then all we'd done was argue!

"But of course," Lord Koilun said, signaling to a servant. We followed the boy, who led us to a wagon. Wagons as guest rooms - there was a new concept for me. The wagon was one room, obviously meant for a couple. I opened my mouth to speak - damn that servant, anyway - but before I could Aiven had taken my bag and put it on the bed with his own, and he had exited the wagon.

Deep breath, I told myself. Take a deep breath and follow. I caught up with him striding to meet a youth slightly older then me, holding the reins of two horses. I blanched.

"Lord Seer," I said in a bland, pleasant voice, smile plastered on my face, "I do not know how to ride." I kept my voice low, so do one could make out my words.

"Oh well," Aiven responded in the same bland voice, a smile the mirror image of my own on his face. "As long as you don't fall off and embarrass me, I can deal.'

"And if I can't?" We took the reins.

Aiven's eyes darted both ways, noting the approach of the nobles. He leaned forward, brushing his hand tenderly over my hair. "That's to damn bad," he murmured through his smiling mouth.

The nobles reached us atop their horses, and Aiven smoothly mounted his, tossing one leg over the horses back. Another servant came to help me mount. As he knelt so I could put my foot in his hands, I shivered. I'd rather never touch a man again. I looked up, and my gaze was predictably caught by Aiven's. Straightening my back and lifting my chin, I mounted - not at all easy to straddle a horse wearing a skirt, and the saddle wasn't sidesaddle. I envied the noble lady and her divided skirt.

Our horses rode at the front of the line. I would rather have stayed further from view, but Aiven position his horse between mine and everyone elses, whisphering hints whenever he could. Seer indeed! I was still seething over the fact that he had not told me.

The ride was boring - the nobles and Aiven chatted about random things and random places that I really couldn't care less about. I also discovered that riding for almost a full day is not a pleasant experience. My thoughts at the end of the day's ride were something along these lines: When are we going to stop for the night? Ouch! Do we really sleep in wagons? Damn bump-in-the-rode. Ouch! Oh, god there's another. What's for dinner? I'm really hungry. Ow! I hope *Aiven's* in pain. I really want pasta right now. I mean, I really, *really* want pasta right now. Stupid - ow! - horse. It's like it wants to hurt me. I wonder if we'll be traveling with these nobles much longer. I hate the way the young lord keeps looking at me. God, why do these stupid skirts have to keep hitching up? They are definitely not meant to be ridden in. *Ouch!*

My thought kept skipping randomly, and I was quite bored and exhausted - not to mention sore - by the time town lights came into view. I sat straighter then, concentrating on the bobbing lanterns and steady street lights. As we got closer, I pondered on the fact that even though we'd probably be staying in town, we still had our own wagons. I gave up the thought as we entered the town.

"You!" Lord Koilun said, nodding towards a young couple who stood hand in hand. They looked up startled, then at each other as if to assure themselves the lord was talking to them. He nodded regally at them, and said, "What is the name of the best inn this town hosts? And where is it, pray tell?" I resisted rolling my eyes. I hate "pray tell's" and whatnot.

The young man looked to startled to say anything; it was the girl that spoke. "That would be "The Captain's Light, your lordships. Your ladyships." This time I resisted the urge to laugh. First, I was no ladyship. Nor was the name "Captain's Light," appropriate - there was no ocean for many miles.

The girl gave directions, and I let my horse keep pace with the others. We were in a well off town, if a little sleepy; not many were wandering the streets at this hour, but many lanterns burned cheerily away. I gave my attention to staying atop my horse. As we reached the stables, I slid off my horse, barely even noticing that a stranger helped me down. In fact, I even smiled sleepily at him as I turned to follow the nobles. As I turned, I found Aiven's angry eyes burning into me. For what? I wondered. Because, for once, I had not been terrified when a man touched me? I scowled at him, and we continued onward.

Dinner was an enjoyable affair - even if there was no pasta, to my deep regret. It was chicken and fresh salad, along with a hearty soup and crusty rolls with a soft interior. Much better then the portions Aiven and I had been eating for the past two weeks.

Lord Koilun had reserved three rooms for the five of us. It was not till after dinner that I realized how this arrangement was supposed to work out, as we sat around our table, socializing. (Which, in this particular case, meant people sitting around practicing the art of talking about nothing with smiles on their faces.)

At first I had - foolishly, I'll admit - thought that the lord and lady would share one room, the two youths would take the second room, and I would sleep in the last one. Hah.

"My lady wife and I will now leave you young ones to your own devices. Till the morrow, my lord seer." How polite of them to say goodnight to their son and myself, I thought sarcastically as the two adults left.

A half-hour later Kieran rose also, bowing to Aiven and me. The two of us also stood - simultaneously, to my disgust. Aiven and Kieran also bowed - Lord Kieran a little lower then Aiven I noted. My eyes narrowed. So Aiven was ranked higher. To bad I didn't know how high Lord Kieran was ranked.

"Till the morrow, Lord Seer, Lady Damslae." Aiven - always the gentleman, of course - not - echoed the lord's words. I curtsied uncertainly, unused to court etiquette. Kieran took my hand and helped me rise. Not that I needed help. I gave him a blasé smile as he raised my hand to his lips. I could feel Aiven's gaze on us, and I kept myself from pulling away. I had thought I might be getting better, but it was worse with Lord Kieran - he seemed too predatory to me.

"Till the morrow," I told him flirtatiously determined to get over what was - as I kept telling myself - a ridiculous fear. I even fluttered my eyelashes a little, and a wide smile was given to me. As he lowered my hand I let it rest against his for an extra second. He smiled smugly at Aiven and turned to leave. Then I realized that as I had been given the same wagon as Aiven, we were to share the same room. I turned to look at him, eyes wide, too wide him glaring at me with the considerable force of him brown gaze.

"What?" I asked defensively, as I followed him out of the dining room, up the stairs, and down a hall to a room. Our room.

"What the hell were you thinking, Damslae?" he demanded of me, closing the door with a bang.

"You should know," I said peevishly. "*You're* the seer. What were *you* thinking? Why didn't you tell me?"

"It wasn't important," he said arrogantly.

"It wasn't, was it?" I said angrily. "It certainly seems important. I can't believe you didn't tell me!" I shouted.

"You think *I* left out important things?"

"Well, *I* never left out things as important as being a seer. A seer!"

"You left out," and his voice was soft and dead, "that you could have been Queen of Yvonhe."

I turned white. "Damn you!" I swore at him, "How do you know that? I thought seers only knew the future!" Tears were threatening to spill from my eyes.

"It doesn't matter how! You should have told me. It's not the sort of thing you should leave out!" His voice was as loud as mine.

"It's none of your business!" I screeched.

"It's *all* my business, and you'll do well to remember that!"

"I hate you!" I yelled, swiping at my eyes. "I hate you I hate you I hate you!"

I spun around and marched towards the door, shoulders quivering. As I reached out to yank the door open, it opened by itself, and a maid peeked in. I saw her note my tears and clenched fists, then go behind me to Aiven's stormy face. She let out a sigh of relief. "Oh good," she said to someone behind her, "It's a lovers quarrel, nothing more."

I felt myself stiffen in shock, and the door opened. Two burly men stood there, looking like they were ready to throw us out. But they relaxed at the maid's words. "Good," one of them said. Then he addressed the two of us, with a deep bow. "My lord, my lady, please excuse us for the inconvenience. We only interrupted as we thought there might have been a problem." With another bow from the men, and a curtsey from the maid, the three of them were gone.

They weren't going to yell at us? They weren't going to scold us, or reprimand us, or even give a gentle suggestion to be quiet? How important *was* Aiven?

And it was not a lover's quarrel!

I turned and glared at Aiven, tears still in by eyes, some tracking pathways down my cheeks.

"Well," he said.

"Well," I said.

We continued to stare at each other, and I half expected something to explode. It was him that looked away first, turning his attention to the bed.

Notice that was singular form; bed, not beds, as it should be.

I was tempted to say "well," again, but did not. Instead, I defiantly walked over to the bed. I sat down and bounced a few times as if testing it. Then I lay down, straight down the middle. After a second, I raised my head. "Where are you going to sleep?" I asked, as if the question had just occurred to me. We both knew it hadn't.

I expected him to argue; maybe I even wanted it. Instead, he just locked his gaze on my mine and walked over to a loveseat four feet from the bed - didn't trip over anything, either. He lay down, fully clothed, and turned his body away from mine, towards the back of the loveseat. I didn't move either, except to pull the covers over me. Right before I drifted off to sleep, I muttered, "It wasn't a lover's quarrel."

He seemed to sigh, and whisper, "No," in a rather wistful tone. "And it never can be."

But then again, maybe he didn't say that. One never can trust what they hear on the verge of sleep.