Heart Duel

Disclaimer: See first chapter

Chapter 16: Duels of Lips, Words and Swords

Naria had fainted! I hitched my voluminous skirts into both my hands and rushed into the fray, only to find Derrick with an arm wrapped around Naria's shoulders and gently shaking her. The King and Queen hovered above their daughter anxiously, with the King checking for a pulse. I saw Kaelen push his way to the front of the crowd, worry apparent in his features. I did the same, heeding not the muffled yells of indignation.

"Seal the doors!" ordered the Queen, "No one is to enter or leave this room."

Did she suspect an assassin? I took a quick look around. Anyone could have hidden in the long ceiling-to-floor curtains or behind the many large potted plants. But what if it was magic? I am quite certain the mage need not be in the same room as his intended victim.

The various guests were ushered to the periphery of the room by guards. Queen Yustnesveas apologised profusely for the inconvenience, but stated that it was necessary. I saw Felix and his mother standing in line, with no apparent sign of discomfort or alarm. They were truly professionals at assuming the court mask.

I walked up to the both of them and introduced myself to Lady Fialma. The only thing she said was, "So this is the heir to Tlanth, one would've expected better from a union of a Calahanras and Chamadis union ...", while looking me up and down as if sizing me up. I frowned slightly in disapproval at her rudeness.

Lord Felix must have noticed the wrinkle between my brows for he attempted to diffuse the situation with a light touch to my arm and a whispered, "I apologise on her behalf, for the frown she made you wear mars your beauty for those who admire it."

Was that sarcasm I detected in his tone? But his eyes communicated utter sincerity. My frown deepened now, in confusion. "I have taken no offence," I whispered back, wondering why we were whispering in the first place.

He suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out my goldenwood dagger. "How did...?" I began.

"I found it after the attack, but kept forgetting to return it to you. Forgive me for the tardiness of its return."

I stared at him stupidly for a while before accepting the dagger and surreptitiously trying to slide it up my sleeve. It was considered rude, not to mention threatening, to come armed in the presence of the Sartoran Royal Family, especially on such a happy occasion. Automatically, I swept him a curtsy in thanks and departed.

As I made my way back towards Derrick and Naria, a stray thought struck me as odd. How did Lord Felix know that the dagger belonged to me? I had not used it in public before and my name certainly was not inscribed on it. There could only be one reason to his knowledge. He was the person who gave it to me! This revelation unsettled me somewhat, for an unfathomable reason. I brushed aside the jittery feeling and calmed myself as best as I could.

Naria had come to with the aid of some smelling salts and was smiling somewhat wanly at her family, as if assuring them that she was quite all right. King Rel suggested Derrick and Queen Yustnesveas escort Naria back to her rooms and ensure that she had a good rest. He and Kaelen would then stay behind with some of the guards to search the room.

"What about me?" I asked suddenly.

King Rel looked at me as if he had forgotten I was there. "It would be best if you joined your cousin Lady Tylana," he replied after a slight pause.

"I can be of help, really!" I hated the way I sounded, like a petulant child. In a bid to sound more mature I added, "Please, your Majesty."

Kaelen gave me a quick glance that conveyed his worry and I smiled a reassurance. Everyone was searched and systematically dispersed. Nothing was found, and the mages called in to test for magic essence found nothing. Perhaps, Naria was still weak from her bout of illness. I made a mental note to visit her in the morning.

It was nearly daybreak when Kaelen escorted me back to my rooms, and I was asleep on my feet. "I think I'll have to postpone my visit to your sister," I commented with a yawn, stumbling a little in my sleepy state. His arm instinctively came around my shoulder to steady me. When we reached my door, he apologised for Naria's fainting spell, thinking that it must have spoiled my nice evening.

"It's quite all right, I assure you. I'm just anxious about Naria, she really should rest a little more." He opened his mouth to apologise yet again, and was halfway through a 'sorry' when I said, "I had an enjoyable evening, your Highness. I really did."

That shut him up and he smiled tiredly. "Goodnight, Kaelen."

"Sweet dreams, Tylana." He took my hand and kissed it. On impulse, I did not let go of his fingers and stepped in close, feeling the warmth emanating from his body. He looked taken aback for a moment, but sighed blissfully when our lips met.

This kiss, unlike our first kiss, was sweet and tender and soft. There was no rapid heartbeat or butterflies in the stomach, just a sense of calm and serenity, as if we were the only two people around. My head told me to break off the kiss, but my heart seemed a little less willing. I felt my back press against the door and found my fingers tangled in his hair. One of his hands rested at the small of my back, pressing me against him, the other rested on the curve of my hip and seemed to run slowly down my thigh. The tip of his tongue grazed my bottom lip, causing my inner voice let out a shriek that pierced through the cloud of tiredness in my mind, and my eyes flew open. I broke the kiss with a gasp that came out like a strangled "Kaelen!"

The pattering heart arrived just then, and we stared wide-eyed at one another, taking in each other's dishevelled appearance of tousled hair and swollen lips. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, dropping his hands to his sides.

"I shouldn't have started it," I interrupted, gathering myself together as I attempted to smoothen my hair. I opened my door and stepped through the doorway, paused and turned to regard this enigmatic and exotic prince over my shoulder. His head was bent, as if he was in deep thought. Perhaps he did not want to look at me? "I enjoyed it," I started saying, "at least better than the first one."

He jerked as if someone had given him a scare. "I enjoyed it too, immensely if I may add." He grinned boyishly, and looked somewhat relieved that I was not offended.

I smiled and so did he, like friends enjoying a good joke. Turning back around, I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a bear hug. He did the same, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me bodily off the ground. Laughter followed soon after and he set me back down. With a wave of my hand I cleared the doorway and closed the door upon him.

Calm though I seemed on the outside, my senses, emotions and thoughts were in turmoil. Something was happening, I just wasn't sure what.

I woke up late the next morning, splashed some cold water on my face to freshen up and cleaned my teeth before sipping at the steaming cup of tea Louise had brought up. The memory of the kiss I had shared with Kaelen lingered at the back of my mind. The most reasonable explanation I had for what had transpired last night was what we were to the other: exotic and different, something new and refreshing.

It most certainly could not be Love could it? An infatuation at most, I assured myself. It wouldn't do any of us any good to fall in love anyway, what with a marriage alliance between our kingdoms already made. Kaelen was probably betrothed to some princess from Marloven Hess. I was setting myself up for a painful heartbreak if I fell in love with him.

There was a knock on the door and I hurried to answer it, only to find a youth standing outside. "A message for you my lady," he said, handing me a note and a bouquet of blue salvia. I think of you was what the flowers said. I unsealed the plain note with a slide of my finger and read: Never frown, for you never know who is falling in love with your smile.

It bore no signature. "Who is this from?" I asked the youth.

"My Lord Alasseo," he replied with a bow.

"Lord Alasseo? Have I met him?" I questioned.

"Forgive me, my lady. But I do not know if you have made my Lord's acquaintance."

I told him to wait while I penned a reply, thanking Lord Alasseo for his kindness and requesting to know why he had sought me out thus. Returning with note in hand, I gave it to the youth who left after yet another bow.

I visited Naria after that, and was relieved to find her in good spirits. She had been ordered to stay abed for a week by her parents, and was not to exhaust herself. Derrick spent almost all his time with her, holding her hand as she slept or just talking. They seemed like the perfect couple, completely in love with each other. I left when Naria drifted off to sleep again, inviting Derrick to join me for a stroll.

"Let her have her rest. You'll fare better to get yourself acquainted with this place, it's amazing!" I persuaded.

He dropped a kiss on her forehead before following me out of the room. "Have you met a Lord Alasseo?" I asked, wanting to find out more about the mysterious flower giver.

Derrick shook his head after a moment and enquired about my question. I told him about the flowers and the note, causing him to grin like he usually does. "You've gotten yourself another admirer," he commented.

"Another?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow. "The others being...?"

"The other being Kaelen."

I blushed scarlet. If only he knew what had transpired last night. "Kaelen and I are just friends," I insisted.

"Whatever you say, cousin," he replied with a shrug, "You're the only one blind to the way he behaves around you, although I have to admit he seems a little more distant ever since we arrived here."

As the bells of time change chimed, Derrick left me to return to Naria's side. I smiled inwardly at the special bond they seemed to have formed over such a short period of time. My usually joking cousin was seriously in love with his wife.

I met Kaelen again at the garrison courts in the late afternoon. Most of the young folk he had introduced to me the night before were present, and we exchanged greetings. Kaelen had just finished a bout with the voluptuous Lady Aarielle and was looking perfectly dishevelled. If one could look that way in the first place.

His wiped his face tiredly with the back of his sleeve before noticing Derrick and I. "Derrick! Lady Tylana!" he said, the exhaustion dropping from his features as his face lit up with a welcoming smile. "Here to join us for a bout?"

"Naria insisted I come," said Derrick resignedly, "said she was getting tired of seeing my constipated face all day."

We all laughed at his self-deprecatory joke. "You mean you just realised you had the face of a pug?" I asked innocently, garnering more laughter.

Kaelen regained all our attention with a polite cough before asking me for a bout. "No dirty tricks?" I questioned, suddenly wary.

He raised both his hands in submission. "I promise."

We squared off and the bout began. I have to admit that I was not completely focused on the swordplay, eyeing instead the many young ladies of court who had surrounded us. Each was more beautiful than the one before, with porcelain skin and large eyes, framed with lustrous lashes. They looked like dolls, each and every one of them, curving at the right places, with just the right amount of girlish innocence and womanly seduction in their expressions and the way they carried themselves.

A jab to my side brought me back to the bout as I gave a hiss of pain. I defended myself as much as I could and even scored a hit or two myself. He may have been practicing since who knows when, but I certainly felt more tired than he did. Thinking of some move I could employ, I came up with something outrageous.

Allowing him to back me into a corner, he 'knocked' my blade to the side and held his point to my neck. I feigned a look of dejection and he turned his back on me. Blade still in hand, I tapped him on the shoulder and rested the tip beneath his ear lobe. "Never turn your back on an opponent, Your Highness," I said in the best court drawl I could muster.

Still with his back to me he said, "Then I yield."

"A forfeit is in order," interrupted Derrick with a mischievous smile. He was up to something, but I played along.

"What do you suggest, cousin?" I asked.

"Ask for a kiss," he replied, seeming nonchalant about it all. "I do recall a certain important visitor to Remalna once saying that a kiss costs nothing."

"And I do recall the giver saying that it costs one's honour," interjected Kaelen solemnly, but I could sense the laughter in his voice.

"Do you have any honour in the first place, Kaelen?" asked Derrick playfully, wrapping an arm around Kaelen's neck.

"No. That's why I flirt and dally with girls like your cousin all the time!" I let out a huff of indignation at that comment and lifted my blade from his neck.

"Forget it," I said.

Derrick turned to face me, and said mock seriously, "And forgo a chance to kiss a prince?"

"I don't believe in kissing princes, I believe in kissing frogs. It makes a much better bedtime story when you tell your children that you kissed a frog who turned into a handsome prince, whom you then married," I replied sarcastically.

"Are you insulting our Prince Kaelen-Dei, Lady Tylana?" whined Lady Aarielle with a pout.

"When did I ever do that?" I returned snidely, "I was just recounting a childhood memory where I kissed a toad as a favour for a friend. She believed that it would turn into a prince, but wasn't willing to do it herself, believing that it would only work if one was of noble blood."

"Did it work?" asked Kaelen, obviously amused.

"Of course it didn't! I was kissing a toad and not a frog. But we couldn't find a frog in the first place. Then we thought that perhaps noble blood wasn't good enough and that one had to be a princess of some sort."

At this, Derrick said to Kaelen, "Please tell me your sister did not attempt kissing frogs, toads or amphibians of any sort in her childhood."

Kaelen shook his head and said, "Not that I know of." Then with a nod in my direction, "Please continue Lady Tylana."

"That was it! I gave my first kiss to a toad." Uncertainly but with a feeling of having emerged victorious, I asked, "Do you still want that kiss?"

"Of course! No prince would ever refuse what is freely given," he said smugly, knowing that he had made it seem like I was giving him the kiss instead of the other way round.

I was not to be outwitted. "It takes two hands to clap, Your Highness; as it takes two pairs of lips to kiss."

He spread his hands in show of placating me. "Then the forfeit shall commence."

Two strides and he had covered the distance between us. I looked over his shoulder and saw the young ladies turning green with envy, and somehow I felt glad, as if I had beaten them at something. Scant moments later, the memories of last night's kiss returned in a flood. It must have been just a moment, but it seemed like an eternity, and the feeling of his lips against mine was so very familiar although we had kissed just twice before. We both pulled away at the same time, seemingly reluctantly. A shared glance and he took a step back as was proper. "My thanks, Lady Tylana," he said with a bow.

A salute in Derrick's direction and he strode out of the garrison court, leaving all of us in a slight daze, with me feeling the most confused of all. Then the sense of having a million pairs of eyes focusing on me arrived. I turned scarlet under the scrutiny as was my habit, saluted them all with my blade, handed it off to Derrick than hurried out as quickly as my feet could carry me, hoping to catch up with Kaelen, to ask him what that was all about.

A/N: Thanks to all reviewers! Please read my other CCD fics, especially Truly Gifted. I've put in a lot of effort into that as well. Hope you liked this chapter! Give me any constructive criticism or comments, or even how you want the story to go. Remember, I've only got the main idea set, but not all the details. As you can see, all the requests for a secret admirer has borne some fruit in the form of Lord Alasseo , so keep them coming in!

P.S Tell me if they seem too out of character!

Thanks to: heartduelfan, Kei, Divya, Caroline, Sailacel, AryaWinds, Alcapacien, jen, niara, Aerial Ravenna, fairydust123, Autumn Faery, Victoria, Katerainie, billie, SoccerFreak2516, cheler, Tallemera Rane, Dracorum, Hitomi, Christine, Eunice

Mia: You'll see more of Lord Alasseo, and he's probably going to be everything you mentioned, just sexier. Haha!

Kat: Will try my very best to make her a klutz. And I'm don't have such witty conversations in real life because there's no one really witty enough to have it with. I'm bad!=(

Deliandery: Nope, haven't seen or even heard of Cal Ballou. What is it? But that was a good idea. I'll make use of your flower idea too. Thanks!

Elanial Meril: Get what you mean. I liked this chapter though! For the fluff and the conversations. Am just afraid it's too rushed and they seem out of character.

Caroline: Watched Pride and Prejudice but not read it. But was dead bored by it anyway. So I didn't know he was like Mr Darcy. But you're not the first person to have said that!

REVIEW!

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