I am in an uncomfortable position when the banquet ends. It would be rude to return to my rooms so early, but I am a stranger among the distinguished scholars and foreign diplomats. Jonathan is unreachable among a crowd of Gallan ambassadors and I have no wish to embarrass myself by attempting to join their conversation. I suppose it was a thoughtful gesture of Jonathan to invite me to such a distinguished banquet, but I am more annoyed than pleased that I am stuck here with a mild hangover and no one to talk to.

"Ah. And you must be Delia of Eldorne," a silky voice interrupts my thoughts. The owner of the voice is obviously of Conte blood, with dark hair cut to hang fashionably around his earlobes and bright blue eyes that smile suggestively at me. Though he is clad in a formal tunic and pants, his physique is obviously muscled. I feel my heart quicken despite my determined loyalty to Jon.

"How can you tell?" I ask, snapping open my pink fan to cool my face from the sudden blood that has risen to my cheeks.

"My squire Alex described you as 'the pretty girl trying to pretend she enjoys being ignored in a room full of scholars'. I find it quite the disgrace that my cousin is unable to detangle himself from a conversation involving wheat production in Galla to talk to such a lovely lady, but if it means that I can have your company to myself I don't find that I can complain."

It is an intimidating challenge to flirt with a man who is not clumsy and shy with his remarks, and I play cautiously. "Whatever leads you to believe that my company is so pleasing, sire? We are not even acquainted."

"Forgive me, Lady Delia," the man says dramatically. "I have forgotten to introduce myself. I am Duke Roger of Conte."

I offer him my hand and he kisses it, letting his lips linger a second too long against my knuckles. I feel the treacherous blush materializing again and lead Roger towards the balcony, where the twilight masks my flush.

"And how are you enjoying life at court, Lady Delia?" Roger asks conversationally as I settle myself on a secluded bench with scenic view of the royal forest. He sits down next to me.

"More interesting than life at the convent, I suppose," I supply absently, pretending to be enraptured by the landscape in front of me.

"Well, I find that your arrival has made court life much more interesting," the duke says smoothly, and I can feel him leaning towards me, as I stare determinedly at the scenery. "I can't seem to remember ever meeting such a stunningly beautiful lady."

I turn towards him accusingly, prepared to reprimand him for such a horribly cliché line, but when I move my head to face him his lips crash down on mine with bruising force. I am like a rabbit cornered by a wolf, unsure of how to escape undamaged. His tongue probes against my lips hungrily and I realize that I am not repulsed, as I should be.

I push him away reluctantly. "Jonathan," I breathe urgently. "I belong with Jonathan."

He scowls. "Don't tell me you didn't like that, Delia. Jonathan doesn't have the experience to treat you the way I can. He's too naïve to know how to treat a woman. Is that what you want? You don't want this?"

Roger presses his lips softly against my neck, snaking his hand to the small of my back as he presses soft kisses against the flesh that my dress has left exposed. For a moment my resolve crumbles and I moan softly, tilting my head back to give Roger further access to my uncovered skin. The Duke's other hand reaches higher up my back, working nimbly on the lacings of my bodice.

I feel the dress ease off my shoulders just as a familiar voice from behind the hedge says impatiently "Yes, Lady Delia of Eldorne. Lovely brunette in a white dress, are you sure you haven't seen her?"

I break away from Roger and slap him hard across the face. Then I scramble out of the banquet hall as quickly as I can, holding the back of my dress closed as I run.

It is my fault, of course, that I let things go so far with Roger. I shouldn't have encouraged his advances, and I certainly shouldn't have taken him to such a private location. In my rooms, I ponder the Duke's motives as I slide out of my already untied gown. It is dangerous for him to approach the girl that the crown prince has so obviously claimed, and I cannot flatter myself that I had driven him past the point of logic with my beauty and charm. That kind of thing occurs in novels, not real life.

I am ashamed to admit my attraction towards Roger, a different breed of interest from the easy admiration I bask in from Jon. Roger is a challenge to me, a man who I must fight to impress.

A knock on my door interrupts my brooding. I grab a sheer rose dressing robe (funny that I should have an endless supply of lingerie and scanty cover-ups but only a few dresses, but that is what comes of a friendship to Cythera of Elden) and fling open the door.

It is Jonathan. He blushes when he sees my attire and tries valiantly to keep his eyes locked on mine. "Delia, I missed you after dinner. I'm sorry if the banquet was boring for you, but I had hoped to introduce you to my parents"

"I had a headache," I lie. "I had to retire early."

"Do you need a healer?" Jon asks, concern flooding into his eyes. I remind myself that this is the relationship that I deserve, not the uncaring, lustful one Roger would give me.

"No, just rest. I feel better now," I assure him. "Why are you standing out there? Come in!"

"Your reputation –" Jon begins to point out, but I scoff at him.

"Reputations are for the old and the bored to worry about. We are neither." I pull him into my room by the front of his tunic. "See? We're still alive. No explosions, no earthquakes."

"I was only trying to protect you, Delia, not lecture you," Jon says grudgingly.

"Protect me from what?" I ask him innocently. "This?"

I shrug the robe off my shoulders and slide out of it, exposing bare legs and my corset. Then I wrap an arm around his neck and stand on my tiptoes to reach his lips. As he was on the night he escorted me, drunk, back to my room, Jonathan's control seems to melt the second my lips touch his. And this time I am determined not to let it return.