Deryn woke slowly, but kept her eyes tightly closed. The bright morning sun seemed to take pleasure in tormenting her sleepy brain. With her eyelids unable to block out the light above her head, she pulled the covers up over her face. It took a few moments for her to register that the bed beneath her felt strange and the sheets were rather soft compared to the scratchy ones she was used to.

She suddenly recalled the night before, having dinner at Alek's flat and then sitting on the couch together to enjoy a relaxing conversation after a long day of work. She also remembered convincing Alek to stay with her in the bed—rather than sleeping on a couch that was too small for his frame—and her having to wake him from a terrible nightmare.

Deryn was all too familiar with having nightmares. She had them quite frequently, and they were almost always about her father's ballooning accident—as though her mind wanted to find a way to change the terrible events that had caused her to lose her beloved father. Just thinking about it made her shiver.

Deryn scooted over toward Alek, wanting to be closer to him, but he was farther away than she thought. She felt around in the bed, searching for the warm body that should be there. She uncovered her face when she realized the other side was cool, not warm.

Then, she smelt breakfast cooking; coffee, eggs and toast, if her nose could be trusted. She smiled as she stretched in the bed. She was getting spoiled. Even if it was only occasionally that Alek cooked for her, she enjoyed it. He was a rather good cook, if last night's meal was any indication.

Fully awake now, she got out of bed and made her way to the water closet. After freshening up, she walked down the hallway and entered the kitchen. Seeing Alek at the stove, she smiled as she leaned on the doorway and studied the back of him.

He was 19 now, only a few months older than herself; both of them fully capable adults in the eyes of the world. Alek had grown considerably in the past three years and was even a few inches taller than her. Although she liked his height now, she sometimes missed the days when she could tease him about being taller than he was. He had even broadened nicely in his upper torso, thanks to his continued fencing lessons with Count Volger.

The only things about him that hadn't changed was his wavy, reddish-brown hair and lovely dark-green eyes. Over all, he was a very handsome man. Her man.

"Good morning, your princeliness." Deryn called, making her way over to him and kissing his cheek.

"Good morning, liebe." He said with a brilliant smile. He returned her kiss, this time on the mouth. They were suddenly interrupted by the smell of scorching eggs and burning toast. Alek turned away from her to remove the pan of overdone eggs from the stove. He yanked on an oven mitt and swiftly pulled the dark-brown toast from the small oven.

"Sorry I distracted you." Deryn muttered, not sounding sorry at all.

"It was a pleasant distraction, I must admit." His said, smiling at her.

With an impish grin on her face, she moved closer to him. "Aye. But I should still make it up to you." She ran her hand up his chest and rested it on the back of his neck, pulling him toward her. His smile suddenly disappeared, his Adam's apple moving as he swallowed.

Their lips fit together perfectly, moving in sync as they exchanged slow, deep kisses. He rested his hands on her hips, drawing her closer, sending pleasant sparks of electricity through her body. Her hands made fists in his hair and the back of his shirt, holding him close as their kisses turned more passionate. Things were getting very heated indeed, but not by the stove.

It was a few minutes later that they sat down to a cold breakfast, their clothes wrinkled and hair mussed. They had been interrupted, before things could go too far, by the feeling of eyes watching them.

Together they looked across the kitchen to see Bovril, contentedly seated on the kitchen table. The Perspicacious Loris, its adorably large eyes watching them intently, looked very interested in what they were getting up to. Feeling embarrassed and a squick irritated with the beastie, Deryn quickly moved away from a red-faced Alek, to search the kitchen for plates.

"At least the coffee's still hot." Alek said, a goofy grin on his face.

Deryn could only nod as she shoveled her food in, washing it down with the hot liquid.

"Aye. But I've got to hurry and get to my flat." She said around a mouthful of toast. "Need to change clothes before we meet with Count Volger."

Alek looked slightly puzzled. "Why is that?"

Deryn rolled her eyes as she swallowed another sip of coffee, annoyed that he didn't see the obvious reason for her needing to change clothes.

She gave him a pointed look. "Because dummkopf, Volger might be a squick suspicious if I arrive in the same barking clothes I wore yesterday. That bloody sneaky-beak knew we were planning to have dinner at your place last night. Aye?" When Alek nodded, she continued. "Then, if I go to work wearing yesterday's clothes, he might not believe us when we tell him that we didn't do anything besides snog."

She watched Alek's ears turn red, her implied meaning becoming clear in his mind. "Right. You should change." He said hurriedly, then focused his attention on his coffee.

Bovril piped up, declaring, "Snog!" And chuckled as it finished its own breakfast.

About twenty minutes later she was at her flat, racing to her bedroom to change clothes. She unbuckled her belt, stripped off the brown trousers and light-blue, long-sleeved shirt she was wearing. In her haste, she nearly tore off the shirt's buttons while undoing them.

She quickly pulled on a fresh pair of black trousers, wanting to make sure the change in clothing was noticeable to that barking Count, whose eyes and ears never missed a thing. She threw on a white long-sleeved shirt, flying through the buttons and miffed that there were so many of them, swiftly tucking the ends into her pants.

Whipping the belt out of her other pair of trousers, she fed it back through the loops around her waist and fastened the buckle. Completing the ensemble, she quickly looped the black neck-tie around her shirt's collar and knotted it expertly, pulling it tight and ensuring it was straight. After running a comb through her short hair, she was finally ready.

Dressed in under two minutes, tops. Never could have done that with a barking dress and bloody corset. She thought to herself with a smirk.

Deryn ran out to the kitchen, slightly out of breath, where Alek and Bovril were patiently waiting for her. He was putting freshly sliced apple wedges into a small container for the beastie to have later.

"Mister Sharp." Bovril said with a chuckle, munching on a piece of fruit as it perched on Alek's shoulder.

"Aye, beastie. You ready?" She asked Alek.

He nodded and they headed for the door, knowing they had very little time to get to work. If they were late, they would have to explain themselves to the Count, something neither of them wanted to do.

As it turned out, they were late, but only by a few minutes. However, this technicality hardly mattered to the man. He was waiting for them at the front entrance of the Zoological Society building, annoyance emanating from him.

Inside Count Volger's small office, behind closed doors, the two stood before him. They felt a bit like children awaiting punishment for a wrong-doing, instead of the grown adults they were. He tended to have that effect on them.

Deryn stood defiantly before the man, arms crossed, ready for whatever insults he might try to throw at them.

"I assume you both have a good explanation for why you are late." Count Volger asked, looking at them suspiciously.

Before either of them could speak, Bovril answered for them.

"Snog!" It exclaimed, then chuckled.

Deryn stared in horror at the beastie on Alek's shoulder. She could see Alek's face and ears turn beet red. He suddenly became very interested in the patterned carpet at his feet.

"I see." The man said, measuring them both with his gaze. He then fixed a glare on Deryn, obviously still blaming her for all his years of planning and scheming going awry. She glowered right back, unfazed by the man's intimidation tactics.

"It was my fault Volger. I made us late by burning our breakfast..." Count Volger stopped Alek with a raised hand, one eyebrow lifted high.

Deryn wanted to smack Alek upside the head. Brilliant! Just bloody brilliant! She thought.

"Our breakfast?" The Count asked, putting special emphasis on the word. His eyes widened as they looked again to Deryn. "You slept at his..."

"It's not what you think, Count." Alek interrupted quickly, his hands raised in surrender.

"I certainly hope not!" The man proclaimed fiercely, still giving Deryn an unkind look. When he made a show of looking down at Deryn's flat stomach, she felt ire rise in her.

"Bloody hell, Volger!" She blurted out, throwing her hands up in exasperation, surprising the man and gaining his full attention.

"We didn't do that! I barking fell asleep at his place after we ate and, aye, we did snog a wee bit. But we're not bloody morons, ye knoo!" She declared, her anger making her Scottish accent thicker. Her voice betrayed her disgust with the man's impertinent suggestion.

Count Volger held each of their gazes for a long moment, testing their resolve. Finally, he said very firmly, "Be sure that you do not let it happen."

Alek looked positively mortified as he nodded and left the room. Deryn stayed to scowl at the man a squick longer, before turning on her heel and leaving the room.

That bum-rag. She thought to herself, silently cursing the infuriating man.

When she was in the hall she turned her glare on Bovril. "Next time beastie, keep your barking perspicacious nonsense to yourself. Bloody traitor!"

The loris just chuckled and whispered again. "Snog."


Over the next few weeks, Deryn observed some suspicious behavior on Alek's part.

He seemed to be preoccupied, having something on his mind all the time. When she asked him about it he would change the subject or brush it off like he didn't know what she was talking about. She also witnessed him have several private meetings with the Lady Boffin.

Deryn had a sneaking suspicion that Alek was hiding something from her, but wasn't sure what it could be. She pushed all thoughts of Alek and his odd behavior to the back of her mind, focusing instead on the mountain of paperwork Dr. Barlow had recently given her. When she had agreed to work for the woman, Deryn hadn't realized there would be so much barking paperwork.

Deryn missed the Leviathan immensely. She missed being a soldier, climbing the ratlines and tying knots—usually better than half the men aboard. She longed to be up in the air again, going topside, feeling the wind in her face...

Deryn was brought out of her reverie when someone touched her shoulder. She looked up to see Alek watching her with an odd expression.

What's he up to now? She wondered to herself, feeling slightly put out with the man and his recent secretiveness.

"Come take a ride with me." Alek said, a pleased smile appearing on his face.

Something was definitely going on here.

"Why? What's going on, Alek?" She asked, feeling irritation rise in her. "You've been acting barking odd lately."

"All will be explained soon. I promise." He said fervently, raising his right hand as though he were swearing an oath.

"Oh, alright. But this had better be barking worth it, you daft prince!" She said. She wasn't really angry with him, just a bit suspicious, because of his recent sneakiness and secrets.

She almost reminded him that they had promised each other years ago not to keep secrets from each other. The only thing that stopped her was that he was evidently going to reveal his secret to her now.

She had to admit though, his smile and giddy attitude did have her curious, wondering what he was so barking anxious to show her.

"It will be worth it, liebe. I promise you, it will be." He assured her.


Alek had spent the last three weeks racking his brain, trying to think of the best way to reveal his secret to Deryn. In the mean time, he had written to and received positive responses from two very key players in his plan. Both people were thrilled and gave their approval without hesitation.

One day, about two weeks ago, an idea suddenly came to him and he knew what he wanted to do. The only problem was, he just didn't know how to go about executing it—that is, while still protecting Deryn's secret identity as "Dylan Sharp".

He finally went to Dr. Barlow and explained his idea. She was very happy to help him concoct a suitable plan. She even arranged for some very trustworthy people to help carry it out, ones that would stay silent after the fact.

This is why he and Deryn were currently in a carriage, pulled by a giant oxenesque and headed to a secret destination. It is also why he had insisted on the handkerchief that was presently tied around her eyes. He had also left Bovril at his flat—promising the unhappy Loris strawberries when he returned—in order to keep the beastie from ruining his surprise with its clever mutterings.

"Come on you daft prince, where are you taking me? And why do I have to wear a barking blindfold!?" She demanded, but didn't try to take it off.

"If you don't wear it, then the surprise will be ruined. I promise you, it will be very, very worth it, meine liebe." Alek said with a mischievous smile, which she couldn't see. He leaned toward her, moving slowly so as not to startle her, his lips brushing against hers. He gave her a tender, slow kiss—one that he hoped made her feel as cherished as she was.

She didn't seem to be quite as annoyed with him after that.

It took another fifteen minutes before they reached their destination. The noon sun was high in the sky and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. Everything was going splendidly.

Alek helped Deryn out of the carriage, insisting that the blindfold was still necessary. He led her forward and positioned her in the right direction, ignoring her muttered curses about bloody princes and their barking cracked attics.

When he pulled off the blindfold, her reaction was everything that he could have hoped for. Her mouth fell open in utter shock and she stared at the impressive creature tethered to the ground.

Giant and magnificent before her was a Huxley Ascender!

"Surprise!" Alek said, gesturing to the beast—which to him looked a lot like a gigantic jellyfish. Its tentacles flowed lazily in the slight breeze and the hydrogen gasbag at its top looked taught and healthy.

"Barking Spiders!" She whispered, glancing from the Huxley to Alek and back again.

"You...you did this? For me? Blisters! When!? How!?" She exclaimed in a high, very unmanly voice.

"I've been planning this for weeks, with a little help from Dr. Barlow, of course. That's why I was sneaking around and..." Alek started to explain—but his answer was abruptly silenced, as Deryn suddenly threw her arms around him, kissing him hard on the lips. She kissed him in such a way that he temporarily forget where they were, why they were there, or even what his name was.

"I take it you are happy with my surprise." Alek said after they had parted and he could speak again. He wore a pleased grin on his face. His arms were still loosely circling her waist while hers remained looped around his neck. Her hand played with the hair at the base of his neck sending tingles down his spine.

"Barking Spiders, Alek! It's wonderful! Thank you!" She exclaimed, hugging him tightly. When she leaned back slightly, he studied her face. The happiness he saw there made her smile even more radiant. His heartbeat suddenly increased dramatically.

"I suspected that you were up to something," She said, stepping out of his embrace. "But I never dreamed of something like this!" She declared, gesturing incredulously toward the beastie a few yards away.

"Well, I know how much you miss flying," He said, looking at the ground. "And I want you to be happy..." Deryn suddenly grasped his hand in hers, linking her fingers with his. He stopped talking and looked at her.

Her blue eyes were sparkling with happiness and love. "I am happy. Anytime that I'm with you, Aleksandar of Hohenburg, I'm very barking happy!" She said, before kissing him passionately once more.

"You daft prince." She whispered, her forehead against his, a tender and contented smile on her lips.

"Go on, liebe. It's waiting for you." He whispered back to her, giving her one more quick kiss.

His own smile grew as he watched her flash another huge grin and race over to the creature.

He watched as the airmen—who were under strict gag orders, courtesy of the Lady Boffin—strapped her into the harness. They tied a yellow cloth to her wrist, in order to signal with if something started to go wrong. Finally, they handed her a pair of binoculars to see the sights. His eyes followed her progress, the cable being let out slowly, till it reached two thousand feet.

Soon she was high in the sky, looking like an eagle soaring in the wind. He could only imagine the thrill this was giving her. His plan was working and everything was falling perfectly into place.

Alek waited about an hour before he began to implement the next phase of his plan.

He asked for the semaphore flags from one of the airmen standing nearby. He started to wave one to get her attention. He knew that with the binoculars, she could see him clearly.

When he saw her wave an arm, he began to spell out the words he had learned and had dutifully practiced the past couple of weeks.

D-E-R-Y-N—S-H-A-R-P—W-I-L-L—Y-O-U—M-A-R-R-Y—M-E

He repeated the sequence of letters three more times, all the while hoping that he was doing them correctly. Suddenly she waved her yellow cloth wildly. The airmen started winding her down, steady and fast. When she reached the ground she couldn't get out of the harness fast enough.

She ran over to him, her eyes wide, her face one of complete shock. She grabbed his shirt front and stared into his eyes, likely searching for signs that he was simply winding her up.

He gently took her hands in his own and held them close to his heart, speaking softly to her.

"I have written to your mother and brother and have received their blessing to ask for your hand in marriage."

He had to swallow a couple of times before he could speak again. "Deryn, I love you with all of my heart. You are my best friend and I cannot imagine a day without you by my side."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny, black-velvet case. He dropped to one knee and looked up at her.

"Providence brought you into my life and from that time on, my life has been more amazing than I could have ever dreamed. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me."

When he opened the minuscule box's lid, revealing a shimmering gold ring, he received a declaration of "Barking Spiders!" from Deryn. Her eyes grew even larger and glistened with unshed tears.

The ring was made of rose gold and had a round "brilliant-cut" ruby at its center. It was flanked by an intricate, circular design of tiny diamonds. It was truly exquisite.

It had been his late mother's wedding band—one of the few personal items Count Volger had been able to collect on Alek's behalf, after he renounced his claim on the Austro-Hungarian throne.

Staring into her glistening blue eyes, he gulped before asking his question again.

"Deryn Sharp. I promise to love you and always be there for you for the rest of our lives. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"


Note: I hope this was enjoyable!

All credit goes to the amazing Scott Westerfeld!

BTW: In the early 1900's it was common for royalty to use precious stones such as rubies and diamonds in wedding bands. Both, "brilliant-cut" stones (cut to reflect light better, usually round or star shaped) and rose gold (gold that has a slightly red tint) were widely used.