Disclaimer: As I said. Refrain from stealing, if you please.

Chapter 2

Learning

Martin lay in bed thinking about Kaara, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Sure some of the other girls at court were pretty but until now he had never even had much interest in girls. The way her golden hair would catch the light and her beautiful hazel eyes were so intelligent... but she was off limits. It was not hard to learn that the king hated him once his father had died and that he would always be watching him. It was obvious to him that the king tried to keep a close eye on him.

'How could he be so stupid to fall in love with the princess?' He thought 'Well maybe it isn't my fault, I loved her even before I saw anything but her eyes. I would have kept a safe distance if I knew who she was, wouldn't I have?'

But he didn't know, she was like an apple in the Garden of Eden, but he couldn't compare her to an apple, no, she was smart, and unique, she wasn't exactly like all the other apples in the tree. Finally Martin worried himself to sleep.

As soon as Martin got up he went to the fighting room to help Garrett practice. Garrett was practicing into the air when Martin came in, he turned around to scare Martin with a sword at the throat but Martin was too fast. Silently Martin drew his blade when he saw Garrett's hips begin to turn, as Garrett turned all the way around Martin caught his blade trying to go up at his throat and in one quick motion he brought Garrett and his sword clattering on the ground.

"How the hell do you do that?" Garrett asked panting on the ground.

"You can tell if somebody is going to turn around by how their hips are moving." Martin helped him up, "also the person usually stops for a split second with what he's doing before turning around."

"Just demonstrate, too many words clog up my brain." Garrett laughed.

"All right," Martin began, "I'm in a duel with you…I've fallen on the ground with my sword on the floor. What do you do?"

"I'm a knight and wait patiently till he's on his feet with sword in hand." Garrett recited. Martin smiled at his annoyed friend.

"As you're waiting I pick up my sword," Martin let his sword clatter to the ground as he falls to his knees. Then picking it up he stood up still not facing Garrett. "You don't stab me in the back, right?" He waited for Garrett to nod. "Watch my hips…"

Garrett caught his sword and started to bring it down, quickly Martin stepped to the side and back pulling his sword out. "That was a stupid move." Garrett criticized.

"Yes it was I also want to tell you try and back him into a corner, he will be alarmed at how quick you are and will probably not be thinking enough to resist." Martin brought his sword back up for a practice fight

Although Garrett was a year older than Martin he didn't mind when Martin helped him and talked things through with him. Unlike some other knights in training Martin being really good and also being young did not irk him, instead he was glad for a teacher who was better at him in fighting but Garrett could still give pointers in other things.

Outside Martin was watering the iris' he sat down, stroking them as if they were his mother's soul, and to him they were. He heard somebody come behind him a hand simultaneously went to his sword handle but as he turned around he found there was no threat… it was Kaara.

"Hi." She said nervously. Martin ignored her, he couldn't talk to her so he turned back around. A small winged horse flew down and sat in the shade of the Iris patch. Kaara bit her nails, and wiped her hands on her hood, pulling it off.

"I saw you at lunch." She said, trying to start a conversation. He bit his lip to keep from talking to her. Sitting down by him she added, "I know why you won't talk to me."

He raised his eyebrows 'Right, because you didn't tell me you were the princess before, no that isn't the reason.'

"When I was eight it was to hard for my nurses to keep what was happening away from me. Why my father was so sad all the time, finally they gave in and told me about your mother, but it wasn't until your father died that I learned about you." She waited to see if he would say anything, when he didn't she went on. "They told me all about you when I asked why you lived here, your father had only been a knight, hardly important enough for you to stay here. You were Naomi's son I learned. You buried her, and planted these iris'."

Biting back tears Martin twirled a blade of grass between his fingers, he couldn't cry in front of a girl. Why was she plaguing him with these memories in the first place?

"My father is always watching you so he would try and kill you if he saw you with me, right, or is it me?" she inquired. When Martin still didn't say anything she pulled back on the hood. "Nobody will know who I am." She waited, licking her lips.

"Oh please Martin, talk to me!" she wiped angry tears out of her eyes. Still Martin would not talk.

Kaara wanted to order him, to make him talk to her but if he was going to be like that then fine, his loss. She got up and walked away.

After she had left Martin silently cried his heart out, he really liked her, just why did he parents have to screw up so badly? Did they have any idea what this would do to him? He loved her, and would probably never see her again.

The next day Martin sat on the bench and threw rocks at a tree, he felt somebody cast a shadow over him but didn't look up. The girl sat down beside him, not saying anything. Soon she picked up a rock and threw it at the tree. It hit the perfect middle, then, picking up another one, she threw it over hand and it went right into an abandon bird's nest.

Martin looked over dreading who it would be, the girl had on a grey hood and a white skirt. Her hazel eyes gazed into his face. Kaara.

As he got up to go away she grabbed his hand, "Martin." She pleaded. He shook it off but sat back down.

"Martin?" she asked, "Can you teach me how to fight? With daggers, not a sword and just punching and things too?" Martin leaned on his arm.

"Sure." He said.

"Oh, THANK YOU!" Kaara was overjoyed, "Tonight will you teach me some?" she asked.

"Yeah, when?" Martin looked over at her.

"At sunset, I will also teach you how to see magic, that could be helpful." she smiled and took a deep breath but didn't leave. She just stayed there sitting by him in silence. About a half hour later of just sitting, not talking Kaara finally said.

"I'm sorry I said all that stuff about your parents, I just wanted you to talk to me. I wasn't trying to bring back bad memories… I also know you were there when she died sooo..." A tear fell on an iris petal. Kaara put her arm around Martin, surprised at himself he did not shrug it off.

"It's fine." He said.

"You do know that people's magic shows in colors right…"

It was past sunset and Martin was just tip toeing to the garden and under the weeping willow (yes the one that's his mom's favorite) there was Kaara. She wasn't wearing her hood because most people were inside, instead she was wearing a silver silk dress with a lily behind one ear, her hair was out and she was twirling it around one finger.

Martin stared, he wanted to grab her, swoop her up and kiss her. But no, he wasn't here for romance, he was going to teach her. He just looked; it didn't occur to him that she was thinking he wouldn't come-

"Oh, Martin you're here!" she smiled, "I was afraid you weren't coming."

"Sorry about that." He looked at the iris bed and back up at Kaara, "It was hard to get away with out anybody asking questions but I waited till everyone who would care was either drunk or in bed."

She laughed, "That is fine."

"Here," he handed her a throwing knife, "these are different then rocks, some are heavier on one side then the other so you have to hold them so it is perfectly balanced." She took the knife and inspected it. "That is whether it is right where the blade and handle meet, somewhere on the handle, or at the blade."

She held it, balanced perfectly, in a fist, as she was about to throw Martin stopped her, stepping I front. "What say you," he held a hand in front of his face, "I teach you how to hold it first. Just- just to prolong your life span."

Kaara doubled over in laughter, and handed it to him. He took it, smiling. "Well aim your thumb where you're throwing it." He looked at her, "Here." He wrapped her fingers in the right place and put her thumb facing the right way, holding her hand around that.

They suddenly stopped laughing, as he was taking his hand away she held his hand. Martin bit his lip. She pulled away giggling nervously and aimed… it would have hit but Martin was surprised that she hadn't cut her foot off.

He smiled, "Hold it by your ear." She tried again, this time it went to far. "Aaaaaggghh." He faked. Laughing Kaara tried again, this time she hit the tree on the side.

"Good job!" Kaara smiled at her accomplishment.

"Now you!" she said, pulling a hand through her hair.

"Ummm, come again?" He said. Kaara laughed at him.

"I'm teaching you to see magic," when she paused Marvin raised one eyebrow, "It will be useful to know if somebody had the Gift or not. If you know whether something is magic or not."

"So how do I do it?" Marvin's brows were furrowed in thought.

"Well actually I have a magic that can make you see it since you don't have the Gift, but you have to learn how to see it." She said taking a deep breath, he could tell she was focusing on something but didn't know what then he felt like something was coming to him.

"Well what do you see?" Kaara asked sitting down.

"Nothing," he saw Kaara's eyebrows raise, "I mean I see you here," 'As beautiful as ever' he thought, "And the grass, and irises and tree, but nothing out of the ordinary." Kaara sighed. She did something and the tree bent then sprung back to its original state.

"Did you see that?" she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. Eyes coming just about out of his head Marvin said:

"The tree bending, yeah." He backed away, not knowing she was so strong in the Gift.

"Damnit this is going to be hard." She muttered. "Alright concentrate on me, just think about how I look, nothing else."

"Alright." He stared at her, this was easy, to think of nothing but how the girl he loved looked. But he couldn't concentrate on something he had already concentrated on before so instead he tried to find something bad about her.

First he looked at her nose, stubbornly prominent but made her look incredibly intelligent. Her eyes. Oh her eyes, he could go on about those forever but her eyebrows… nope nothing. He looked at her breasts, nothing. Ribs, was she too skinny? A little bit fat maybe? No perfect too, her legs…she was strong, you could tell but her thighs weren't too big either-then something caught his eye he quickly looked at her face, it was gone. He concentrated on her ears then to her neck, it was at a perfect curve-THERE something was glowing he stared more at her; her whole body was amber glowing.

He must have been looking for a while because finally Kaara got up. "Now you're just staring at me," she sighed. "This isn't working."

"No your amber." He said quietly.

"That's my magic! Yes!" Kaara clapped her hands, her voice echoed throughout the court. She looked down. "I guess nobody's here." She said.

"Yeah we had better go back to bed." He said. As he was about to leave she caught his arm. He turned around.

Realizing what she had done she dropped it. "I'll go first and then in about ten minutes you go. That way no one will know we were together."

'Dang she's smart' he thought. "Sure, same time tomorrow?" he asked.

"No if it is at the same time everyone will find out in time. Tomorrow just after breakfast." She said, nodding at her idea.

"Good-bye." He called after her.