Author's Note: Hello! Welcome back! I have managed to update within a month, so that's not too bad. I would like to manage a fortnight, but let's be honest, that's probably not going to happen. So I'll just try to aim for under a month. I know where the next chapter is going (I do have most of this fic outlined and many scenes drafted) so it's shouldn't bee too difficult to get there. I've gotten most of the awkward conversations out of the way for the time being.

A big thank you to Dragon of Winter Nights for being my beta reader. I'm not sure how well this fic now works as bribery for finishing Protecting You when you are doing the proofreading for me.

Happy reading! Please let me know what you think!

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Content Note: This chapter has not been edited for content. This is the same version as posted on AO3.

Chapter 5

In which Umi and Clef have a talk about treason
(and how Clef totally isn't committing it already)

Clef was still mostly asleep when Umi knocked on his door asking if he was awake. He called something that hopefully sounded more like "come in" than incoherent mumbling as he extricated himself from the covers and sat up, blinking blearily at the door and running a hand through his tangled hair.

Umi walked in carrying a tray with a teapot and two cups. She was dressed in yet another little dress, this one again barely halfway down to her knees, so white and lightweight it was nearly translucent. He sighed in exasperation. It wasn't that he had anything against Umi wearing such things, but that she seemed to be wearing them at him was frustrating to no end. She had to know how hard it was not to look when they both knew she wanted him to.

And yet, she wasn't carrying herself like she was set to seduce him. Her smile was merely half-hearted as she said a quiet "good morning."

"Morning." Clef watched her warily. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I—Um…" She stepped forward and around the side of the bed to set the tray beside him like a peace offering. "I brought tea?"

"I can see that."

Umi looked down at the floor, spinning her bracelets about her wrist, thoughtfully. She opened her mouth once, then shut it again before looking back up at him. "I'm sorry about last night."

"Umi?"

"You said no, but I pushed. I shouldn't have. I'm really very sorry Clef." she said, bowing deeply. "If you want me to go home, I can."

The bodice of Umi's dress was far looser than she must have realised, because at that angle he could see too much smooth golden skin. "I don't want you to go home," he said truthfully, flushing and averting his gaze to the ceiling. "But if you wouldn't mind standing up?"

He heard Umi squeak out a soft curse. She was red faced with her arms crossed over her chest when he braved looking at her again.

"It's nothing you haven't seen before," she murmured, almost too softly for him to hear.

"The view is just as distracting this morning as it was last night." He clutched the covers tighter over his lap. "While I am grateful for the tea and the apology, would you mind if we took this conversation to more neutral ground than my bedroom?"

"Oh!" Umi backed away. "Yes, of course. I'll—Um…" She waved toward the door.

"Give me a few minutes to make myself presentable, and I'll meet you in my study?"

She nodded and quickly left the room.

Once she'd gone, Clef fell back into the pillows and dropped his arm over his face, with a groan. Maybe it would be better if he sent her home, then he wouldn't have to have this conversation yet.

No, he couldn't keep putting it off. Not talking about it would just lead to more and more misunderstanding.

Clef crawled out of bed, and dressed himself in dove-grey warden's robes. He was half tempted to wear the full drapery of his guru's robes, but that was a step too far. If he really needed that much protection from her, he would never have invited her to stay. Not to mention, he would likely have meetings this afternoon, and he didn't like to wear mantle and coronet when he was at home, acting as warden.

He picked up the tea tray and went to face Umi.

She was pacing the floor of his study when he walked in, only stopping when she turned and saw him in the doorway. "I really am sorry, Clef," she repeated, twizzling her bracelets.

He shook his head and walked toward his desk. "No, it's my fault. We're painfully overdue this conversation." He lodged the tray in a gap and dropped into his chair. "…I just haven't wanted to talk about it, because talking means thinking about it, and then I tend to start… well… panicking?"

"Because it's illegal?" Umi asked, tentatively.

"Three times over." Clef snorted. "Though, after the last meeting more like two and a half times, I suppose— or because you're a child—"

"I am not a child!"

"A child," he insisted. "Umi, you're the same age as Aygo!"

Blinking at him, Umi flopped down onto the sofa, dislodging several of the cushions. "I— really?"

"I think he's actually about half a year older than you, to be honest. And he's grown up faster than usual, with the dissolution of the Pillar System. Elysion is nearly twice your age, and she's still a child!" He waved a hand in her direction. "I know you don't look anything of the sort, but that's not the same, and I can't forget that you're a very small fraction of my age. I wouldn't think much of myself if I could forget, to be honest, no matter what feelings I may have for you!"

Waving a hand back at him, Umi pulled a face. "I try to forget how old you are, because when I do I remember you'd only be alive at home as some sort of sci-fi horror-show villain. Or else just very very dead, and I don't like thinking about that! Clef, my mother had me when she was seventeen. Can't we just - make up some Cephiran equivalent age for me? I'll tell my parents I'm a hundred and seventeen now, and put a lot of candles on my birthday cake." She paused, and bit her lip, and Clef felt a need to brace himself against whatever she was about to come out with. "By every other Cephiran measure, I'm an adult."

"…I don't think I dare ask what logic you're using there."

"It's a year and a day, right? You have to hold an adult form for a year and a day. Well, at home I'd be able to marry at sixteen, so if you take that as being an adult - it was a year from that before I kissed you, so it's a year and a half, now." She said it airily, but she wasn't quite meeting his eyes as she did so.

"Umi—"

"Wait," she said, and frowned at him. "What did you mean, after the last meeting? What happened?"

Now Clef was the one flustered again, but he'd resolved to have this conversation, and this was a part of it. "The first law stopping this-" he waved a hand between them "-was repealed."

Umi got up and poured a cup of tea, handing it to him before pouring herself one and retreating back to the settee to listen. "The first? There's more than one?"

"There are three separate laws binding the posts of Guru, Soru, and Teru. That's the master mage, the high priest, and the head judge - though you know what Guru means. And Soru. Sorry." He rubbed a hand over his face and sank down into his chair.

He didn't want to think about how much more time it would take to repeal the next two.

Umi was watching, silent, so he forced himself on. "They have to be removed from the books one at a time, in order, most recently enacted first. The oldest requires the post holders have no ties which might distract them and their resources from supporting the Pillar. It bans any entanglement with other people; magically, financially, legally, or otherwise. Very few people want a relationship with someone who isn't allowed to support them." The amount of things he'd gifted her recently had him teetering close to the edge of that financial support clause, which may have been one of the reasons Aveo cut him off. "There's a very specific clause in there banning the post holders having children, even one that is adopted."

Umi sat quietly for once. No interjections about how he didn't need to support her, no pointing out that she wasn't expecting children from this. It was her first relationship—he was quite sure of that—so hopefully she didn't want children from him. She'd absolutely be better off with someone younger if she wanted a family of her own.

"The next one you already guessed, it bans romantic relationships of any kind, to get rid of those few people who would hang around with someone bound-over not to look after them. Banning emotions, as we all know, is impossible and unenforceable, because people cannot actually control their hearts! So they realised that one was useless on its own, but didn't repeal it." He picked up his cup of tea and took a drink before continuing, wrapping his fingers about the warmth of it. "They just added a third law, banning any form of sexual contact, as at least they could police someone's actions."

"And you have to remove them... backwards?" Umi asked, leaning forward slightly. "So the first one would be..."

"The first one is no sex. And I put the bill forward for that months ago, and I've been pushing to keep it on time, so not to delay the others. The final ratification was scheduled the day you arrived; it was the last thing on the agenda, and we were already overtime. Half the room wanted to just put it back on hold for another fortnight." He set the cup down so he could drop his head into his hands. "I insisted we stay to finish it, which is why the meeting overran so long."

"You didn't want to wait?"

Clef hesitated, but made himself look at her. "I thought—I knew it was safest not to. Given, well, everything. And it passed—eventually—but there's a waiting period before any law agreed by the council comes into force; time for those who weren't there to raise any significant issues. So the law has been repealed, but it's still currently in force."

"So, let me get this straight," Umi was on her feet and walking toward him. "You were late home because you were making it legal for us to have sex?"

"It's not legal yet." He leaned back in his seat, putting a little more distance between them as she stopped on the other side of his desk. "But given I've already broken the second law into shreds, I wanted at least some progress before I wind up accused of high treason to the Pillar we don't even have anymore!"

Umi's eyes went wide. "High treason? Clef!"

"Is it any wonder I don't want to think about it?" He threw his hands up in the air. "It's a bunch of stupid laws, and stupid treason, but it is still there and still treason!" The words hung in the air for a good long moment. He sighed. "I would much rather not be committing treason the first time I sleep with you."

"So you do want to have sex with me?"

He blinked at her. "I never said that I didn't." Hadn't that been quite obvious to her last night, when they nearly had?

"You called me a child, Clef!" She pointed out. "I mean, I knew you were a pervert, but really?"

"I am not a pervert!" He flailed his hands at her. There was no forgetting the fact she was so very young, but she was also far beyond the maturity of any Cephiran her age. With a growl he rubbed his hands over his face. "But maybe you do have a point."

"About you being a dirty old man?" She grinned at him.

"No." He wrinkled his nose up at her. "About your age."

She beamed triumphantly at him. "Why, Clef, are you actually going to concede that I'm an adult?"

"I'm going to accept your reasoning, though I feel it may be flawed," he said slowly, eyeing her with suspicion. "Otherwise, I nearly broke an entirely different set of laws last night."

Umi opened her mouth, presumably to argue, but was cut off by a knock on the door and Kalos peering in.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but Rio's here about the eastern roads?"

Clef turned to the clock. "He's nearly an hour early, what's happened?"

"He really wants to catch you before the party tonight, far as I can tell. I told him you have a guest, but he's very… eager." Kalos grinned at both of them. "I can see if Mum can talk to him instead?"

"No, I'll be down in a moment." He shuffled through the papers again and pulled out what he hoped was the correct set of notes.

.*.*.*.

Umi blinked as Clef leapt to his feet and started shuffling around for papers. She hadn't thought he would be doing any work that day. "Weren't you going to give me a tour of the house?"

He came around the desk. "This shouldn't take long?" he said, not sounding completely convincing. He smiled apologetically, and gave her the briefest of kisses before he swept out of the room.

Kalos leaned back against the doorframe and raised an eyebrow at her.

The heat of a blush crept over Umi's cheeks, as she tried not to think of how much of that conversation Kalos must have heard and failed. "I—Um—"

"It's potion-making day." Kalos straightened back up, still smiling. "An extra set of hands is always welcome in the kitchens. Unless you have something else to do?"

"I guess not," Umi said, and accepted the invitation. She ended up having a good time listening to the household bicker and gossip good-naturedly with each other. They included her in their conversations, but were perfectly happy to just have a new person to share stories with. Which was good, as Clef's one meeting turned into a day of them once word got out he was available. The only time Umi saw him before the evening was when he slipped down to the kitchen to grab something to eat and pull Brisa up to talk with whomever was in his office.

At some point, Aveo looked up at the clock and shot to her feet. "We ought to be getting you ready."

Umi followed her gaze and squinted . She couldn't read the silly thing, so she had no idea why she'd bothered. "I can get dressed myself."

"Do you know any dressing spells?" Kalos asked.

"No."

"Have you seen what he's gotten you for formal wear?"

Umi hesitated. She'd had a look through the dresses, and she had to admit she wasn't entirely sure how they went on. Caldina and Presea had helped them into the things they wore for the last ball.

Brisa tugged her up out of her chair, and Umi found herself ushered up to her room with a small entourage. Kalos sat Umi down at her dressing table while Brisa threw open the wardrobes and started pulling out a selection of dresses, tutting under her breath as she looked at each individually.

"Can you step out of what you're wearing?" Kalos asked, meeting Umi's eyes in the mirror. "Or does it have to come off over your head?"

Umi looked down at herself and had to think about it. The bodice was loose enough it should slide over her hips. "I think I can step out of it."

"Good." Kalos picked up brush and started running it through Umi's hair.

Elysion appeared a few minutes later with two metal-rimmed boxes. She set the smaller one next to Kalos, who opened it. Inside were a multitude of what Umi recognised as Cephiran hair clasps.

"Gold or silver?" Kalos asked, turning back to Brisa.

Umi turned too. Brisa had pulled apart various dresses—the ones that were little more than drapes of fabric with clips—and was rearranging the parts across the bed. "Not sure yet, wasn't your mum supposed to be checking what he was wearing?"

Kalos harrumphed and turned Umi back to the mirror, and started separating her hair into sections. "Your mage probably hasn't even decided what he's wearing tonight."

The door opened at that point, Aveo stepping into the room. "He'll be wearing the dark indigo set."

"Did you lay them out for him?" Brisa laughed.

Aveo merely grinned in reply.

"Is that set accented with gold or silver?" Kalos had started braiding a section of Umi's hair.

"All the Guru robes are gold."

"Oh, right." Brisa picked up a few sets of clasps and set them down.

Again, Kalos turned Umi's head back to the mirror. "Hold still." She restarted the plait above Umi's right temple, and explained what she was doing while Aveo started in on the other side of Umi's head, mirroring the braiding. Elysion went over the help Brisa, who—from what Umi could glimpse in the mirror without moving—was trying to decide which fabrics and sashes to pair together.

By the time they were finishing braiding, coiling and clipping all of Umi's long hair up on to her head, she was well beyond wanting to fidget. She wanted to go for a run in the gardens, or challenge Clef to some sort of duel. She hated having to sit that utterly still for so long, she'd managed to argue her way out of Caldina trying to do her hair for any other formal occasions they'd attended in the past. She breathed a sigh of relief when they were finished and she could stand and stretch.

Aveo shooed Brisa and Kalos to the other side of the room as she held up the large lavender-blue swath of subtly patterned fabric like a curtain so Umi could slip out of her sundress without an audience. Umi held up her arms and let Aveo carefully drape the fabric around her, the corners crossing over her chest so the sides hung down either side of her. A translucent, iridescent cloth which shimmered like light on water was wrapped about her over the top of the first layer. Aveo clipped all of it into place with a delicate chain at each shoulder, catching the top corners just under her collarbones and then going back and around to fasten to the sides under her arms. The fabric draped low on her back, exposing more skin than she might have chosen.

Now Brisa returned with a wide sash that faded from deep indigo in the centre to a tone only a shade darker than the under-layer. She wrapped it snugly about Umi's waist a few times before tucking the end up and over so it hung down in front just above her knees. A golden filigree crescent set with blue and purple stones was hung over Umi's chest, attaching to the fabric so it couldn't come apart where it crossed over, and connecting on to the chain 'straps' about her arms so it couldn't pull down too far. More decorative chains with small stones set in the links hung from it over her arms, and Kalos added three more hanging progressively lower over her bare back, attaching them again to the ones about her shoulders.

Once her clothing was suitably settled, Aveo guided her to the mirror. "There."

If she thought the gowns Caldina had dressed them in at the last new year festival ball had made her feel grown-up, it was nothing compared to this. She felt like one of those grand ladies on one of the costume dramas she enjoyed.

"Jewellery!" Kalos declared grabbing up the other box.

Umi was allowed opinions this time, and agreed on a pair of ear cuffs with jewels that matched the ones decorating her chest, and a selection of bracelets which could have been extra lengths of the chain used to hold her dress up, each with a small central panel worked slightly differently. They all agreed that a necklace would probably fight for attention with the chest-piece, so left her neck bare.

"Good luck," Brisa whispered conspiratorially in her ear as they left her. Umi blushed, and took a long look at herself in the mirror, then turned back to the wardrobes and pulled open her nightgown drawer. The two little potion bottles clinked against one another as they rolled, and her hand trembled as she picked one up.

Better safe than sorry.

.*.*.*.

Clef was still sorting through papers when Umi found him in his study. He kept his head down, busy sorting through the day's additions when she walked in. "Just give me a few more minutes," he said.

Just as Aveo had said, he was wearing dark indigo with gold accents, and the lower layers were only a shade or two darker than Umi's dress. He had the heavy stitching and jewels of his Guru mantling about his shoulders still, but the robes were close cut and abbreviated, the cloth woven with a pattern even more intricate than hers.

Umi stepped further into the room. She eyed the settee and the chairs, but decided sitting down would only encourage Clef to keep at his work longer. Not to mention he wouldn't be able to fully appreciate her outfit if she sat down. When he did look up, Clef's hand stopped half-way to setting a small stack of papers down, his fingers tightening around them and his eyes gone wide.

The long, slow, appraising look down the length of Umi's body sent a thrill through her that made her own breath catch. "Does it look right?" she asked, trying her best to make the question sound innocent, though she also spun around to give him a full look at how she'd been dressed for the evening.

Clef didn't respond, and only let out a startled noise as she turned. When she faced him again, he had wet his lips and was staring at her wordlessly. To know she had that effect on him was—

"I'll take that as a yes?" She grinned.

"What? Oh yes. You look—" He swallowed and took a deep breath, before looking back down at his desk and smoothing out the now very crumpled papers that had been in his hands a moment ago. "I'll just- I'll be right with you, I just need to… do something with these…"

They ended up on one of the piles littering the edge of the desk, though not before he'd put them on one of the others and then looked bewildered at his own choice. But then he did step away from the desk, and even towards her, and they went out and down the stairs together - with a careful arms-length space between them. Umi would have felt insulted, but Clef was still glancing at her every other step, a flush high on his cheeks.

"How are we even getting there?" she asked, as he led her across the entrance hall to the main doors.

Clef looked back at her, then stopped and laughed— and reached out for her hand, giving up on maintaining the space between them. "I'd planned on a translocation spell. Less fuss, and a lot less time. …I don't think I thought it through very well."

"Oh?"

"I certainly didn't plan on you wearing…" He shook his head, laughing softly again, apparently at himself, as they went out through the main doors. Once outside, he turned, and stepped in breathlessly close. Umi's breath caught as his arms slid around her, his fingers brushing the bare skin of her back.

"You know, I typically just hold hands with Hikaru and Fuu."

"Yes, but you three all know where you're going. I really don't know how to explain Bentley, or even Royce, well enough for you to follow." He pulled her even closer. "Just hold on."

Umi had just enough time to wrap her arms around him before the spell started to flicker through her body; Clef's house and gardens faded away and were replaced by a stone-paved courtyard. The light of the spell fell softly away as the last traces of it shimmered over Umi's skin, raising goosebumps on her arms and kindling a deep heat within her.

Curling in closer and pressing against Clef in a way that drew a soft noise from him, Umi brushed her lips against his ear as she whispered, "When is that waiting period over anyway?"

Clef hands dropped from the bare skin of her back to her hips, pushing her back to break the full body contact. "In a while," he said, his voice uncharacteristically rough. His eyes were dark and his breathing had quickened. "In a very short while."

The way his magic flickered under the fingers tightening in the thin material of her dress left Umi trembling. Biting her lip, she looked around them, trying to behave herself. The courtyard was on the side of a large town square. She'd expected another country house and gardens, not a proper town. "Oh!"

"Welcome to Bentley," Clef said, his fingers trailing down her wrist as he caught her hand in his.

Music and laughter drifted around them. Umi turned to stare up at the building behind them; if Clef's house seemed large, this couldn't even be called a house. "Impressive."

"Ouran would be pleased to hear that. He does love to put on a good show."

They made their way up the path and a short flight of stairs into a large entrance hall with the sort of tall ceilings and nonsensical decorative pillars she'd come to expect in the Castle. Groups of well dressed people were lingering around the room, talking. Some paused and bowed a head I Clef's direction, while he politely returned the gesture and continued on. Others paid them no attention and kept on talking.

The further they went into the building, the thicker the crowds seemed to become. There were hundreds of people. That was far more than there were members of the Council, where were they all from?

"Rolls and Royce have had a good suten harvest this year," Clef explained, leading them around the edge of the room away from the worst of the crowd. "But I imagine Ouran would have found some other excuse for a party if it weren't so bountiful."

"Suten?"

"It's used to make fabric like this." Clef held up his arm. The light caught the glittering threads and the pattern running through his robes. "They've done well enough this year that we might be able to increase Cephiro's exports. We won't know until it's processed, and that could take several months."

"Is all of this grown here?" Umi asked, looking down at her dress.

"This-" Clef touched the light translucent overlay fabric. "-is arumi. It's grown in Skoda, but the rest is suten. Mazda makes the dye we're both wearing."

"If it's a party for someone else's harvest, why are we here?" Umi asked, confused.

"If any Council member hosts a formal event, it's polite to invite the rest of the Council." Clef pulled a face. "Not showing up can cause problems when we're back at work, so I have to at least make an appearance, but a lot of business also gets done at these things."

"Is that why you don't want to host parties? You'd have to see them all more than every two weeks?"

Clef opened his mouth to answer, but stopped when somewhere nearby a strident voice called out a loud greeting and nearly bumped into Umi on the way to meet their friend. Clef stepped closer, guiding her through the throngs with a hand pressed firmly on the small of her back.

"Ah, Master Clef!" A man in a blue-grey tunic approached them. "About the report you sent—"

"I'm not relenting," Clef said, annoyance etched across his face. "I refuse to adopt the new roads until they are completed properly. A few half-cleared tracks will not do."

"Surely you have people in your ward who—"

"It's not a matter of skill." Clef cut him off. "Initial road development is part of central government. Maintenance is ward responsibility. As I see it, there is nothing finished to a point my people can maintain it. If it is a matter of funding, I will cover the cost, but I refuse to organise the project."

The man nodded sheepishly. "I'll get it sorted."

Clef thanked him briskly before continuing on, more quickly this time.

"What was that about?" Umi asked.

With a shake of his head, Clef let out an exasperated sigh. "My first meeting this morning. Out toward Honda, the new roads are nothing but a bit of cleared ground, and they want to tell me that that's good enough for Mazda to adopt them."

"Honda?" Umi asked, feeling like she'd heard the name mentioned before, but couldn't recall the context. Possibly something to do with the ward system. They'd talked about the expansion of the land and how they were using strong mages to hold sections of it together, so she roughly understood what being a warden entailed. It had just never occurred to her that Clef was one.

"Out past Mazda, my ward, there is a new peninsula coming together. The council have decided to call the region Honda. It is not nearly stable enough for settlement yet, but it should be by the end of this year or the beginning of the next." He sighed. "You'll hear an awful lot of ward business tonight, I'm sorry. This is more work than pleasure for me."

Clef was right; the next three people to stop and talk wanted to discuss Mazda, and though Clef did manage to pause the conversation long enough to introduce her, that was the extent of her involvement—she didn't understand any of the issues they were so interested in. But the fourth person was one of the mages she'd seen coming out of Clef's study in the castle in a huff once or twice. When they started up an argument about where the Academy should be situated—an argument Umi had had with Clef a good dozen times before she'd made him see sense—Umi jumped in.

"That's a floodplain!"

Only then did the other mage notice her. "I beg your pardon?"

"It's a floodplain," Umi repeated. "One really heavy rain and all the lower floors will be in the river. You actually get weather now, sometimes, you need to plan for it."

"And you are?" They raised an eyebrow.

It took a lot of willpower not to snap when she answered. "Ryuuzaki Umi, Magic Knight of Water."

Clef's hand came up quickly to the bare skin of her back, making her pause with the sudden shiver of magic as he explained, "Umi has heard me talk at length about the academy."

A look crossed that person's face that Umi didn't like, but she shrugged it off as she remembered how she'd explained the concept of a flood plain before. "Hey, Clef." She turned to him. "You have paper and a pen don't you?"

Umi ached from the loss of his touch when he moved, but if she was going to attend the academy, she'd like to do so on dry ground. With a soft glow of light from his ring, Clef handed over a few sheets of paper and a pen.

"Table?"

Clef walked them around the edge of the room to an area near the dance floor where there were a number of waist height tables. Umi slapped the paper down on the nearest empty one, uncapped the pen, and began to draw a rough map of the Castle and surrounding lands.

.*.*.*.

There was an indescribable lightness in Clef's chest as he watched Umi draw such a detailed map from memory. She'd been travelling to and from Cephiro for years, and the Knights had a good view of the south from their bedroom window. But somehow this meant so much more.

He moved in closer as she drew, leaning into her. His hand automatically went to her back, fingers brushing bare skin with an electric charge. She shivered under his touch and leaned into it, flashing a smile at him before turning back to her task.

Umi traced a rough outline of the Academy where Livina was saying it should be then lifted the pen and began to explain storm flooding. It was a topic he had discussed with Umi more than once. He'd brought the problem of the Castle's positioning in the valley to the Council the same week she'd convinced him there was a problem to worry about. When they brushed him off he met with the Guard to adjust the shields to keep water out in the case of a flood, though the Council chamber was on the ground floor and he wouldn't have been sorry if it got a bit soggy because they'd not listened to reason.

Ferio turned up when Umi was pointing out two locations which would be more suitable. He bid Clef an absent 'good evening' while watching Umi's lesson to the small group of Councilors and guild members who had joined them. Livina had taken out her own pen at some point and started taking notes.

Ferio's voice had an air of forced calm. "Clef, what is Umi doing here?"

Clef dropped his hand from Umi's back. "Explaining how rain works?" he tried, and Ferio just stared at him. Clef shrugged, and turned back to Umi so he could get away from that look. "I invited her. That's not a crime."

Handing over the map to Livina, Umi smiled politely and bid them a good evening, saying she could answer any questions on her next visit. Her hand slipped into Clef's as she turned her attention back to him. "Sorry. I got a little carried away."

"You explain it better than I do," Clef admitted. A soft blush crept across her cheeks as she smiled at him, and oh, how he wanted to kiss her.

"Good evening, Umi," Ferio said, butting in.

Clef tried to drop Umi's hand, but she held firm, smiling. "Hi, Ferio."

"I thought you had school?"

Umi shook her head. "Fuu and Hikaru do, but I'm still on holiday. My classes don't start until next week."

"Is that so?" Ferio raised an eyebrow at Clef.

How much he guessed, Clef wasn't sure. Given Clef hadn't been back at the castle since the Council meeting, there was room for a reasonable amount of speculation about when Umi had arrived. But he was allowed to have friends! Wanting to show her about Mazda didn't have to mean anything else-

And if he wanted Ferio to believe that he really shouldn't be leaning into Umi's shoulder like there was no concept of space between them.

Caldina found them before Ferio could say anything else, calling out Umi's name and grabbing her into a tight hug. (Clef tried not to be disappointed when Umi had to let go of his hand as she was pulled away from him.) Caldina repeated Ferio's questions about school and received the same answers, then started flailing over Umi's dress.

"How did she talk you into buying that for her?" Ferio asked.

Clef didn't know how to answer. How could he say she hadn't talked him into anything, he'd bought most of it months ago because the patterns in the fabric reminded him of her, and he thought she'd like it? He just hadn't anticipated just what it would look like draped around her lithe form, and how difficult it would be to keep from staring at her all evening.

Ferio crossed his arms. "You realise the fabric alone is worth more than half my wages for an entire year?"

"Ah." No he hadn't, but that would probably explain the way Caldina was looking at it. He was saved from answering any further questions by their host walking towards them, arms wide in greeting.

"Guru Clef, how wonderful you could make it!" Ouran was dressed in flowing crimson robes that fluttered when he gestured with his arms, as he was prone to do. He was one of the few powerful mages who actually showed their age. His light hair had gone grey in the last century or two. There were deep creases about the corners of his eyes when he smiled. "I hear you have brought a guest this evening."

Clef took the opportunity to sidle away from Ferio and reach out to tug Umi away from Caldina, who promptly shot over to Ferio, probably to start speculating. Clef ignored both of them. "Allow me to introduce Ryuuzaki Umi, the Knight of Water."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Knight. I'm Ouran, warden of Royce. Welcome to my home." Ouran bowed deeply, facing Clef again when he rose again. "May I just say, Guru, you are looking as resplendent as always." He turned to Umi. "And you, my dear, are simply magnificent." He beamed at the both of them. "But what else would I expect of the Guru's companion, especially on an evening such as this?"

There was a blush blooming across Umi's cheeks as she curtsied politely, thanking him for the compliment.

"I know you are not terribly fond of crowds, my dear Guru," Ouran's voice was warm and... inviting. Clef sighed internally. "If you and your charming companion are not otherwise occupied, may I offer you refreshments and more private entertainment upstairs?"

"Thank you, but no. I have promised Umi a dance this evening, and I intend to keep my promise."

"Perhaps another time then." Ouran smiled and bowed, before turning away.

Umi blinked beside him. "Clef, did he just…?"

"Yes. Yes, he did."

"Huh." Umi cocked her head sideways and watched Ouran disappear back into the crowd. "I guess we are both kind of hot."

Clef snorted and squeezed her hand. Not wanting to fuss with more questions and conversation, especially considering the look Ferio was giving him, he waved at the dance floor. "Would you like to help give some substance to my excuse?".

"You could just ask me to dance," Umi grinned at him, and tugged him out onto the floor as a new piece of music started up.

While the move was a convenient way to flee impertinent remarks, it left no escape from Clef's other predicament of the evening. Every hold had him touching Umi's bare skin while he held her close. He was torn between cursing the members of his household who helped her dress or thanking them. Whichever he decided, he had little attention for the dance, and less still for anything else when Umi leant back in his arms, frowning slightly, and said, "Hang on. If he was asking you to go upstairs—Clef, when precisely is this waiting period over?"

"That is— not a topic for a crowded dance floor," he muttered, his cheeks flushing as he looked away. A few seconds later, Umi pulled out of his arms enough to grab hold of his wrist, and haul him towards one of the doors to the gardens.

The music was coming to a close, so they weren't the only people abandoning the floor, but he didn't see anyone else making their way outside with such haste. And once out, they were hardly in private. Extensive though the gardens were, a good number of people had had the same idea as Umi, and were walking arm in arm between the shrubs.

The third time Umi began to speak only to have a group of people saunter out from behind a nearby rockery or tree. She hissed and glared about. "Okay, there has to be somewhere we can be alone at this thing. Or do we need to go find Ouran and take him up on his offer? At least then there'd only be one person listening—"

"I'd really rather not?" Clef put in, weakly. Her dragging him about hadn't done anything to lessen the will to pull her close again, as they'd been on the dance floor; closer still, running his hands over all that bare skin—

Umi tilted her head, looking back at the building. It was lit up from every window, music drifting out to them. "There has to be somewhere. If our host is throwing invitations like that about, then there's absolutely got to be somewhere people can sneak off with each other."

"Well—" He glanced to where the bushes came up against the building, and bit his lip, before checking no one was actually watching them. Umi came along willingly enough when he started walking, and the door to the side corridor was tucked among them just as he remembered, carefully masked from view.

At least half of the curtained niches along the corridor were already closed off, and the sound of the main hall was muffled by the double-doors which made this part of the building decidedly more private. Clef pulled Umi with him into one of the alcoves where the curtains were still stood open and tugged the drapes firmly shut behind them; the sound of the hall cut out as the privacy and silencing spells in the fabric came to life.

.*.*.*.

There was barely enough floor space for them to comfortably stand with any sort of distance between them, and given the spaciousness of the padded bench, Umi was certain that this was not the sort of place for keeping someone at arm's length.

She turned an amused grin on Clef. "What kind of a place is this?"

Clef's face flushed dark and he ran a trembling hand through his hair. "Somewhere to be… private?"

"And how do you know about it?"

"It's a good place to, uh, read?"

She gave in and laughed. "You run away from parties to read. Of course you do."

"It's quiet!" He flapped a hand at her. "And it's not like it was legal for me to do anything else."

"You never did say when that time limit is up."

Biting his lip, Clef couldn't meet her eyes anymore. "About halfway through your lesson on flooding, actually."

"Really?"

Clef shot her a wary look before staring at the curtains. He was going to cut his lip if he kept biting it that hard. He opened his mouth, then shut it again, and he had the same worried expression he'd worn each time he'd said no, it was a bad idea, they shouldn't… But she could feel the flicker of his magic pressing through the air though they weren't even touching, raising goosebumps on her skin.

She knew what that meant, now. And it was legal.

Raising on hand, she brushed her fingertips over his cheek and back into his hair, the band of his coronet cool against her hand. He caught a sharp breath and leaned into the touch, eyes falling shut.

"Umi…"

"This morning you said you wanted to, only it was treason. Well, if it's not treason now…"

"I haven't taken anything. If we got carried away—it doesn't even kick in immediately, if I had, and neither of us have a current protection charm on."

A thrill shuddered through her as she realised they were actually discussing this seriously. "I did take something."

"You have?" Clef blinked at her.

Umi nodded. "I took the first dose today, and there's still enough days before I go home to finish it."

His eyes were dark, pupils gone wide and it was hard to remember what conversation they were having, but she didn't want him panicking and pushing her away again.

Not now they could.

"I haven't heard about a charm. Is that contraception, too?"

Shaking his head, Clef took a breath. "No—it stops illness transmitting. I have no idea if the illnesses in Tokyo are the same as those here, or—"

"Can you cast it?" she asked, cutting him off. "In case we get… enthusiastic."

Another deep breath, and Clef's answer came in a whispered spell, magic rolling over both of them like a breaking wave. Umi swayed into him, gasping, and as soon as she had control of her limbs again, she tilted her head, pressed her mouth to his, and shoved him down onto the bench.

There was no hesitation when she pulled up the hem of her dress and climbed onto the bench with him, knees pressed into the cushions on either side of his hips as she pinned him back against the wall. She thought she had the upper-hand for just as long as it took him to slide a hand up her leg and under her skirt. The mere brush of his fingers sent her trembling, it was everything she had imagined and so much more.

And this time they kissed, and they kissed, and he didn't stop touching her.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the new chapter 5. I know things aren't moving quite as quickly as the original, but there is reason for that. Same note as last chapter - If you have reviewed the old version of this fic, you can't leave a new review yet. You will be able to by Chapter 7. Until then - and if you want to read the unedited version - you can comment all you like over on Archive of Our Own (AO3). You are always welcome to send me a PM or shoot me an email (milieva . p gmail . com) or even add me as a friend and message me on Discord (Milieva#1375).

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