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Chapter Four

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or is that Marina galloping across the field killing the French?" Miles called to Julian as he parried a blow with his sword.

"Hang on. Let me dispatch of this knight." Julian quickly finished off the man he had been fighting, then looked where Miles was pointing. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Your eyes play no tricks. It's her."

"What's she doing? She's supposed to be at the castle!"

"Well the battle's almost over." Julian ducked a blow and delivered one of his own. "In fact, I think the French are about to surrender, hurried on by their own princess."

The French did indeed surrender, and the casualty report was brought to King Henry the Fifth, also known as Dr. Julian Bashir. But this time, the report was different. More French had died, and no English.

"That little woman slaughtered three of her own cousins," Miles whispered to Julian as Marina rode up on horseback, resplendent in a pink silk dress and a pearly circlet.

Marina was smiling and panting, her long hair in disarray. "Well, that was fun, wasn't it?" she managed. She took a few deep breaths, then frowned. Miles was frowning at her and Julian looked as if he was about to laugh. "What? What is it?"

"You're--you're Katherine!" Miles exclaimed. "You're French!"

"I know." She bit her lip. "I couldn't help it. I had to get out here. I was getting lonely in the castle. And I can't believe I missed Julian giving the St. Crispin's Day speech!"

"You should have been there. It was my best yet," Julian said, smiling crookedly and trying not to laugh.

"But--but--You killed your cousins!" Miles cried.

Marina looked behind her at the line of dead bodies she had left behind. "Oh. Well…" She shrugged. "I guess I'm defecting."

Julian burst out laughing.

Miles elbowed him. "It's not funny. She messed up the story." He turned to glare at Marina, but couldn't. She looked innocent and angelic, sitting wide-eyed on the horse in that flowing pink dress. Innocent except for the bloody sword she had filched from some unlucky Frenchman. He couldn't help but chuckle.

Marina looked sheepish. "I'm sorry. I don't usually go berserk like this, but those holographic servants in the castle were starting to get on my nerves, and I was getting lonely."

Miles elbowed Julian. "Lonely for you," he muttered.

Julian ignored him and stepped forward. "My lady, let us head on to the next scene," he said with a bow.

Marina smiled at him. "All right."

And the story resumed--this time going as it was supposed to.

(LINE)

"That was fun wasn't it?" Marina said as she walked down the hall of the habitat ring with Julian and Miles.

"It certainly was," Julian replied, smiling at her. He studied her closely. The pale pink of her dress matched the slight blush in her cheeks. "You make a wonderful princess."

"Thank-you, my king." Marina giggled.

"We're close to my quarters now, so I'll go ahead and say good-night to the two of you," Miles spoke up. "Keiko and the children are waiting."

They stopped at the door to his quarters and said good-night, then Julian and Marina continued walking.

Marina was suddenly quiet, feeling nervous. Julian was talking to her about something, some project he was working on, but she was only half listening. As she looked at him, studied his dark hazel eyes, she remembered her earlier thoughts. Could she trust him with her heart?

"Marina. Marina! We just passed your door!" Julian stopped walking and gently took hold of her arm. He studied her face carefully. "Are you feeling all right?"

She blushed lightly. "Sorry. I was just thinking…"

Julian's thumb brushed her upper arm. "What were you thinking about?"

Marina bit her lip. "Well…"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He gently led her to stand in front of her door.

"I do want to tell you. I just don't know how." Marina looked down, frowning, trying to think of how to tell him that she would take nothing but a serious relationship with him. She was too deeply attracted to him to have a casual relationship with him. And besides, she had always been something of a traditionalist--at least, in most matters. She smiled at the thought. She certainly hadn't been in the holo-suite, swinging that sword…Of course, she had unconsciously been trying to get Julian's attention… Good Lord, I even ramble in my thoughts…

"You were trying to get my attention with that sword-slinging stunt you pulled in the holo-suite?" Julian asked suddenly.

Marina looked up at him, her eyes wide. "I didn't say that."

"But you thought it." Julian gripped her upper arms. "Marina, I think I just heard you thinking."

"Oh my gosh."

"My thoughts exactly."

They just stood there for a moment.

Then Julian said, "I'm certainly not allergic to your brain waves, but… Has anyone else been able to pick up on them?"

"No. Never." Marina shook her head. "We must be on the same frequency."

"Is it possible that you mind-melded with me, in a way, without physically touching me?" Julian asked. His voice was intense.

"I--I don't know."

"Marina, were you thinking hard… of me?"

"Well, I--"

"Don't be shy. Just tell me."

"Yes."

He released her, and they stood staring at each other for a moment.

"Marina, I think we just made a scientific discovery," Julian said quietly, his eyes wide and over-bright. "We've just discovered that psychogenotrons can mind-meld with someone by just thinking hard of them! That's amazing." His smile made her heartbeat race.

"Yes. It is." Marina looked away from him. "Did you hear… all of my thoughts?"

Julian cleared his throat. "Well, uhm, most of them, I believe."

Marina looked back at him. "Like what?"

Now it was Julian's turn to be nervous. "You are attracted to me--very attracted. And you don't want a casual relationship. You want something real. And you are worried that I don't."

"That's most of it," Marina said quietly.

There was another awkward silence.

"Marina, let me tell you, I am as--" Julian started.

"Hey! Look! It's that mind-freak girl!"

Julian and Marina spun around.

There stood Jake Harris and Carlos Garcia, two of the young officers who had come aboard Deep Space Nine with Marina, Tom, and Hannah.

Jake stepped forward. He was a big man, a combat specialist, and Carlos followed his lead in almost everything. "Hey, girl--didn't you send my friend Tom to the sick bay with your mind powers, or whatever?"

Before Marina could speak, Julian stood in front of her and said, "She is your superior officer, ensign, and Lieutenant Barnett is just fine now." His voice was icy cold.

"Who are you to know?" Jake asked, rolling his eyes.

"I am the chief medical officer aboard this space station, and if you don't leave us alone, I will report you to the constable."

Jake studied the doctor and the girl behind him, then laughed. "Look, Carl--the freak girl's got herself a boyfriend."

"Hey, didn't we hear that the chief medical officer had been genetically engineered as a child?" Carlos spoke up, looking to Jake for approval.

Jake smiled slowly. "Yes. We certainly did. Carl, we've got ourselves a pair of freaks."

Marina took Julian's hand and began punching in her code on the keypad of her door.

"Scared of us, lieutenant?" Jake teased.

"No, just sick of you," Marina replied quietly. The door whooshed open. "Come on, Julian." She gave his hand a tug. "I still have to show you those paintings."

Julian turned to go inside, then turned back to the two young men in the hallway. "Leave. Go back to your quarters," he warned, his eyes steely.

Jake crossed his muscular arms. "I think my friend and I will wait here. We're curious about what freaks do behind closed doors."

Julian reached up and tapped his communicator, fixing and expressionless gaze on Jake Harris. "Bashir to Odo."

"Yes?"

"Lt. Richardson and I are outside of her quarters, and we are having a little trouble with Ensigns Harris and Garcia. They won't leave us alone."

"All right. I'm on my way."

Julian tapped his communicator again and smiled benignly at the two new officers. "Good evening, gentlemen." He followed Marina into her quarters, smiling smugly as he heard Jake and Carlos hurry off down the hall.

Marina visibly relaxed as the door swished shut. "Thank-you, Julian," she said, turning to face him.

"No problem." He shrugged. "Rescuing damsels in distress comes easily to me." He grinned slyly. "Though I daresay, you are not always in distress. You are very handy with a long sword."

Marina laughed. "Thank-you. You aren't so bad with one yourself."

"Practice. Lots of it."

"Ah, yes. Me, too. My own programs tend to run towards sword-fighting and such."

"So…" Julian cleared his throat. "About the whole 'hearing your thoughts' thing. Uhm, I don't know what to say. I am… flattered that you find me so… attractive. And I must say, I am very attracted to you as well. But… we've only known each other for a few days. I don't understand how it's possible to--to…" He sighed and ran a hand through his short, thick dark hair, annoyed at his loss for words. He smiled sheepishly at Marina and stepped closer to her. "Read my thoughts," he whispered. "Find the words I seem to have lost."

Marina's green eyes were wide. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." He took her hands and closed his eyes. "Go ahead."

Marina felt herself trembling--with nervousness and something else… "Well, uhm, concentrate on… your feelings for me." She blushed even as she said the words.

"All right."

Then she reached out with her mind and looked for his. It wasn't hard to find. Unlike most minds, his was like a beacon to her. Yes, we are on the same frequency, she thought. She sifted through random bits of information until she found what she was looking for. She drew back at first, stunned at the force of emotions. He feels that strongly about me? Then she plunged in again.

(LINE)

Julian waited, still holding Marina's trembling hands. As he waited, he found himself picking up on random bits of thought, Marina's thought. It was frightening--but at the same time, fascinating.

"You're losing focus," Marina whispered, her voice sounding oddly hoarse.

"Oh, sorry." He again concentrated on her, on every feeling he had experienced around her.

After what seemed like forever, but what was probably only a few minutes, Marina drew her hands from his and sighed. "All right. That's enough."

Julian opened his eyes. Marina had turned her back to him and was standing with her arms crossed, facing one of her pictures. It was of a medieval woman in a long, blue dress weaving in front of a mirror. In the mirror was the reflection of an embracing couple. Underneath the picture, in flowing handwriting, was written, " 'I am half sick of shadows,' said the Lady of Shalott." Julian suddenly realized that the Lady in the picture bore a striking resemblance to Marina.

"My brother-in-law painted that of me a year ago," Marina said, her voice barely above a whisper. "It was at their first anniversary, his and my little sister's. I created a holo-suite program for them as Guinevere and Arthur, only one where they ended up happy, where Lancelot found his own bride. Ryder, that's my brother-in-law, said I reminded him of her, the Lady of Shalott. It's one of my favorite poems."

Julian stood close behind her, trying to pick up on her thoughts, but getting nothing. "Do you feel like the lady? Half sick of shadows of love?" On impulse, he said, "the couple in the mirror--I'll bet Ryder painted them to look like him and your sister."

"Yes."

"Marina, what did you learn from my thoughts?" Julian asked quietly.

Marina turned to face him. There was something different in her eyes. "Julian, I'm turning away from the mirror."

He tilted his head, a little confused.

"Maybe I imagined what I found. Maybe--maybe I imagined that I found that you care for me as deeply as I care for you."

"So that's what you mean. You're taking the chance, turning from the mirror, like the lady in the poem, to find out if what you saw is true."

Marina nodded mutely, almost afraid to look at him, but even more afraid to look away.

"You will not end up like the Lady of Shalott," Julian whispered, stepping closer. He reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair from her face, then leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips.

To her surprise, Marina kissed him back passionately, her arms going around his neck, and his around her waist. When they pulled back, she looked up at him and whispered, "So… I did not imagine it?"

Julian held her close, in awe at his own feelings. It's not even been a week since we met! "No… and neither did I."

"The mirror doesn't crack then? I don't have to go floating down the river?" Marina laughed, a bit hysterically.

"No. Not at all." Julian stepped back from her and took her hand, then kissed it. "Good-night, then, Lady Marina." He gave her a slow smile, full of promise.

"Good-night." Marina couldn't help but smile. She felt like laughing and dancing and singing.

With a bow, he left her quarters.

And took her heart with him.