Disclaimer: See first chapter.
A/N: Wow, I am so glad you all liked chapter one! Thanks to everyone who reviewed.
I meant to post this earlier, you guys, but then my internet had an epic fail and I had to wait. Sorry. Also, I am aware that this is short. I managed to get it to end where it does after much poking and prodding to keep it from just sort of ballooning into ridiculous length, so that I could post it, but the rest of the chapters will be longer. If I get my way, much longer.
Just because I realized this is going to come up: I did not look up the lyrics to this song. I listened to it for about an hour and wrote down what I heard, then checked them against the internet. I know of at least one place where I firmly believe I have it right and everyone else is wrong, so if the lyrics I use don't exactly match what you think they should be, just agree to disagree with me, yes?
As you guys have no doubt discovered, I am replying to every review I get sent. If you flame me, I'll probably still respond, to thank you for driving up my review count. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to leave them in a review and I promise to get back to you as soon as I can.
And now on with the story!
Invictus
How dare you wield such flippancy without requisite shame?
The moment they were alone in the temple's private garden, away from prying eyes and ears listening a little too innocently, she confronted Dastan.
"How can I trust the man who breached the walls of my city?"
It was the only question that she had to have answered before she agreed to this marriage. There were other things, important things, that he needed answers to, but they could be taken care of later. She was going to be trusting this man with her life, her body, and her duty, and this man had nearly lost her all three.
Tradition demanded that her husband, whoever he was, would become a Guardian as well, a military counterpart to her more spiritual role. If she married this foreign prince who had invaded Alamut, how could she be certain that he would not be gaining exactly what she would have fought to the death to keep him from stealing: access to the Dagger and the Hourglass?
"Well, I'm starting to think I'm no longer the same man who breached those walls." His voice was gentle and slightly self-mocking. His words made little sense.
"That's a short time for a man to change so much." Tamina fought to keep the suspicion out of her voice and make the comment idle, but she knew it had a bite to it that the observant prince could not fail to notice. Still, he took it calmly enough.
"Perhaps."
She eyed him carefully, weighing his tone against his words. "It sounds as though you've discovered something here." It was a not-so-subtle prod at the secrets she knew he was keeping from her, and he dodged it with ease.
"What might that be?"
"A new spiritual awareness." She wasn't entirely certain what she meant by that, but it sounded right. Sort of. It was vague enough that his answer might tell her something about what it is that he was hiding.
"A destiny."
Was that a smirk? "Yes, exactly." Destiny? What did he mean by destiny?
"I believe we make our own destiny, Princess." That was a smirk.
They started walking again, and she searched for some adequate response to that. It was a loaded statement, and there was quite obviously more behind it than just a statement of fact.
"You have an unfortunate lack of curiosity." She didn't believe that for a second. It would have been more accurate to say that he exhibited an unfortunate lack of curiosity. She couldn't call him on it without breaking the illusion that she accepted his words at face value and losing the element of surprise somewhere down the line, but anyone who was in the position he was pretending to be would be curious as to what exactly she'd meant by spiritual awareness. Also, he had very obviously not asked what it was that someone might have invaded Alamut for.
"No doubt one of my many flaws." Her comment had amused him, and his tone was gently teasing.
"Please don't mock me, Prince." It confused her. Everything he said carried with it the implication that he knew her better than he had any right to, was closer to her than she'd ever let anyone be.
"Oh, I hardly think we know each other well enough for that, Princess." He stopped them and turned to face her. There was an intense, slightly sad look in his eyes that held her gaze, and she was startled to realize she wanted to know why he was sad. "But I look forward to the day that we do."
His eyes gentled, softened, so suddenly she blinked. No longer shadowed, his face was relaxed and almost affectionate. She searched that face, looking for some hint of the cause of that affection. Lust she was used to; she was aware that she was an attractive woman with a great deal of power, and she had seen that knowledge reflected on the faces of men before. Affection, this kind of teasing, happy longing, was new, and Tamina could not understand why he should feel it for her, and why it makes her stomach flutter.
His eyes flicked downwards, and, distracted, she looked down as well. He'd raised a hand, holding it loosely open in a way that indicated that he wanted her to place her hand in his. It was a gesture with much more symbolism than a mere touch of hands; this was the marriage proposal, the official one. If she took his hand, despite the general lack of witnesses (for him, at least, the servants in the garden would swear to whatever she asked them to, if need be), she was agreeing to be his wife, a Princess of Persia. Could she keep true to herself and her duty if she married Prince Dastan? And yet, that look, so hopeful and happy and doing such odd things to her thought process...
She lifted her hand, and carefully wrapped her fingers around his.