The next morning Androma and her family already were at breakfast when Adam arrived in the dining room and deposited his cloak on a chair along the wall. Androma smiled at him. "The palace is so beautiful inside, I'm very much looking to seeing the exterior this morning."

Adam nodded. "Unfortunately, you won't see the many flowers, which are quite spectacular in the summer, but the layout is still interesting. You can tell that many, many generations of Eternian rulers – and their gardeners – each wanted to leave their mark."

Capsim broke in eagerly. "I don't think even I've seen all the gardens. Just a few weeks ago I took a wrong turn and found myself in front of a fountain I was sure I hadn't seen before."

Adam smiled. "I think that the only people who know all the gardens are the gardeners themselves and the people who grew up in the palace playing hide and seek."

Androma gave Adam another smile, this one a little more dazzling. "I'd love to play some games in the gardens to get to know them better." Adam was pretty sure he blushed and hoped no one noticed.

The walk with Androma was less terrible than he'd expected. She showed an interest in the palace's architecture and history, and after a turn in the gardens, Adam found himself offering to give her a tour of the entire palace. She was full of questions and compliments and he had no trouble complimenting her in turn, fully fulfilling his role as the young courtier. As his mouth moved on auto-pilot, a small part of Adam's mind stepped back and looked at the young blond man playing to his attentive, attractive audience and wondered where he'd come from.

The rest of Adam, however, was appreciating Androma's big brown eyes, comely figure, and interest in everything he said. It was a new experience for him, and he drew himself up to his full height and wondered if people passing them in the halls or the gardens note how poised and grown-up he and Androma looked as they walked together. He glanced behind at the guard and maid trailing behind them and was surprised to see them looking rather bored. He felt a dull stab of resentment at his mother, who had insisted that in addition to Androma's maid, a guard accompany them on their stroll. He wasn't a baby, but she'd been firm when he'd tried to argue, saying there were many strangers in the palace this year. He indulged himself in an inner eye roll about that before turning back to Androma and describing King Kadan's decision two centuries before to tear down part of the old palace's center section to create the Great Courtyard and its sculptures.

XXX

The following day's market visit with Pamona was the opposite of the garden walk with Androma. They had no sooner left the garden gates – trailed by two guards, one of Pamona's maids, and some poor groom from Pamona's household whom she had grabbed on the way out of the palace grounds – than Pamona loudly announced to Adam that she had no romantic interest in him.

"What?" Adam sputtered. Did she think that because he's flirted with Androma, she'd be next?

"I just wanted you to know," Pamona replied loudly. Adam had the feeling she wasn't talking to him, though. Maybe she wanted the maid and groom to hear, so they could report back to Androma that Pamona wasn't competing with her? Not that she was much competition, Adam reflected. She wasn't nearly as pretty as her older sister and didn't have any charm or wits to make up for it.

Her brusque manner with the merchants didn't endear her to anyone else, either. She breezed past jewelry and fabrics and glass baubles without a second glance and spent most of her time examining and criticizing the leather goods, which mystified Adam until Pamona loudly announced she needed to buy a present "for someone special." Adam raised his eyebrows.

"Who, might I ask, is this special someone? If I knew, I could help you find what you need," Adam offered, hoping to finish the trip as quickly as possible.

"I can't tell you. Even my family doesn't know," she proclaimed at high volume. "I'll tell them when the time is right." She picked up a tooled leather belt and called to the merchant, who was helping another customer. "You! Do you have this in any other colors and with better-quality buckles?"

She spent rest of the morning browsing for the perfect present for this mysterious person while Adam made as much friendly conversation with the merchants as possible to compensate for Pamona's rudeness. Finally she settled on an expensive, ostentatious wallet made from Vine Jungle snake skin. Adam silently thanked the universe that he was not the object of Pamona's affections.

XXX

The night after his market visit with Pamona, Adam found himself sitting next to Androma at dinner. Well, if he admitted it to himself, he'd maneuvered to put himself next to her, and he was fairly sure she'd done the same.

"I must say, Adam, I'm a bit jealous," Androma started. Adam paused, his fork halfway to his mouth.

"Why?" he asked, wondering if she'd seem him greeting Karl's sister Maybelle when Karl's family arrived that afternoon. Maybelle seemed like she might be fun, but he was in no way attracted to her.

"Pamona told me all about the market and its amazing array of wares." Androma put her hand on Adam arm and looked directly into his eyes. "I'd love to see it myself."

"Oh," Adam replied, relieved. "Well, perhaps I can arrange to take you there tomorrow or the day after."

Androma gave his arm a squeeze before removing it. "I'd love that."

Adam looked up towards his parents and saw his mother watching him, a slight frown on her face. He then looked at Karl, who was across from Androma and rolling his eyes. Adam felt his jaw clench. He's done his duties greeting visitors the past few days. He was going to do something he wanted, and that was taking Androma to the market.