Lance-

My father was furious with me for putting together a last minute "hunting trip" for just Zeke and I, when he was putting so much effort into my inevitable (in his mind) betrothal to Lady Elyse. Of course that wasn't the real reason for my absence, but I knew I'd be met with harsh reprisals that would make it damn near impossible to get to Jayne if he found out where I was really going.

It was a brutal ride, as I refused to stop more than once every two nights to rest. Zeke and I passed village after village without too many eyebrows being raised. We dressed in old traveling clothes of our soldiers. The only thing that really stuck out were our well-bred and expensive war stallions. But we went by so quickly, I don't think too many noticed nor gave it a second thought after we passed them by.

I wondered for the millionth time since Harold and I's conversation last week what Jayne had been banished for that no one seemed to know about. Jayne was not a troublemaker in anyway and her heart was made of gold. Not that any of that would matter to my father. If he had wanted her gone, he would have found a reason. Did that mean he had found out about our relationship? I had figured that he had, by his choices in words when the topic of Jayne was brought up after I came home.

I should have never left her.

By the time we crossed the border and came to the village of Dina, both Zeke and I were worse for wear; exhausted and dirty. But I barely noticed that I could fall off my horse any moment from my lack of sleep. The only thing that mattered was that I was close to Jayne.

We dismounted our horses once we reached a small market and walked up to a couple of young women talking together in front of a vegetable stand.

"Excuse me." I began as they turned to look at Zeke and I. Their eyes widened a bit and looked us up and down. No doubt wondering who we were, "I was wondering if you could help us find someone? Her name is Jayne. She's a native of Benbourgh and she has dark curly hair, with olive skin tone. She's about this tall." I said gesturing to my shoulder. My petite Jayne.

The woman running the vegetable stand, who was slightly older than the others spoke up first, "What is it you need with her?" she asked with a streak of accusation in her voice. So she knew Jayne. Good, we're in the right place.

"Where is she?" I asked hurriedly. I was growing impatient knowing she was near.

"You didn't answer her question." One of the young women said, "What do you want with her?"

I grew aggravated. No one had ever spoken this way before to me. Granted there's no way these women would know I was a Prince, so why should they speak to me as if I was anything but a strange commoner coming to their village? The logical side of me didn't win out though and I was about to argue back. Thankfully Zeke stopped me.

"We are old friends of Jayne's from Benbourgh. We've known her since she a small child. We mean her no harm." He spoke sincerely and it seemed to soothe the women.

The older woman behind the stand gave us directions to a small cottage on the outskirts of town. We thanked her profusely and went on our way.

"I think the one on the left liked you." I teased Zeke as we walked our horses in the direction of the cottage.

He threw his head back in a laugh, "Well she was quite pretty. But let's find your woman before we go finding me one." I couldn't agree more.

Jayne-

I thanked God that Drake and I were able to fall back into friendship after his revelation and my rejection of his feelings. As much as I had not wanted to become his wife or lover, he had become such a dear friend to me since I came to Dina, that I couldn't fathom the thought of losing him.

Our family (minus Lily who was inside taking an afternoon nap in her cradle) were outside in the garden, harvesting our potatoes when I heard the sound of horse hooves on the dirt road. They were loud and I reckoned the horses were heavy, much heavier than most of the farm horses in our area.

I didn't give it another thought though, until I heard the hooves stop nearby and my father asking "May I help you?" I turned around then and met the face that had been so apart of my dreams and fantasies, that I could almost imagine right now that I was asleep.

Lance-

My breath caught in my throat when she turned around and stood up. By God, she was even more beautiful than I remembered her being. Her breasts, behind and hips seemed slightly full, though she was still slim everywhere else. She looked even more like a woman now. Her hair was longer, flowing down to her behind, skin slightly tanner, most likely from more time spent outside, gold eyes mesmerizing and damn near stopping my lungs.

I turned to the man who greeted me briefly, remembering his eyes, and judged this was her long, lost father. I scowled at him, remembering his abandonment, before turning back to Jayne.

She seemed unable to speak, her mouth hung open slightly in an almost comical fashion. Everyone seemed to grow silent, probably sensing the tension between us.

"Lance…" she finally said, my name almost like a prayer on her lips. Only she could say my name like that, bringing me to her feet.

"Jayne…" I started stepping through the open gate and walking to her, forgetting everyone else, "Thank god I found out." I reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into an embrace, squeezing her hard. After a few long moments, I realized she wasn't sinking in the way she used to and I let her go. She stepped back and looked at me with wounded eyes that were filled with tears. I gulped, remembering what Harold told me about her and another man.

"What…are you doing…here?" she asked and I could tell it was hard for her to find her words.

I raised my eyebrow, wasn't it obvious what I was doing here? "I came to find you."

She took a deep breath and looked up to the sky, it was apparent she was trying not to let her tears fall, "Why?"

I was shocked, why? Why else? "Have you forgotten what we shared?" I asked leaning down close to her and whispering, as I became more aware of the eyes on us. Clearly none of them felt the need to politely excuse themselves.

"I…" she started, but a baby's cry interrupted her sentence and she turned quickly towards the cottage.

"I'll get her." The two other women said in unison and rushed into the house. The two men, Jayne's father and the other one stayed behind. Zeke was still standing by the fence. None of them made a move to give us privacy. Jayne watched the women go and turned back to me.

I waited for Jayne to speak, though it took a few long moments. She seemed to have lost her vocabulary since I showed up.

"Of course I hadn't forgotten." She whispered as well, "I think the question should be if you have forgotten?"

"That's outrageous." My voice came out harsh and the young man that was not her father stepped towards us. Jayne raised her hand to him, stopping him. I turned to him and glared. This boy had feelings for her, I could tell. Was he the one she was kissing in the dark? Was he Jayne's lover? Had he touched her? I was going to kill him. I was going to forget all logical thoughts and kill this man I didn't even know the name of.

"Outrageous?" Jayne started, breaking into my thoughts, "How is that outrageous?"

"Well I'm here!" I was near shouting at this point, "You'd think that would say something to you."

She shook her head, "Then why weren't you at the church all those moons ago when you were supposed to be?"

"What?!" I asked. That didn't even make any sense. I was about to tell her so, but was interrupted by the younger of the two women standing in the doorway with a baby in her arms.

"I'm sorry Jayne, but she seems very hungry." She truly seemed apologetic as she looked between the two of us.

Jayne plastered a smile on her face though and walked up to the woman, grabbing the babe from her, "It's fine."

The realization struck me, as I watched Jayne hold the baby, gently coaxing her with sweet words under the breath, that this was Jayne's child. Jayne was a mother.

"You have a child?" I asked, fearing the answer she was going to give me. Not married? He said he didn't think she was married. Clearly Harold wasn't as good as he thought he was.

Her eyebrows shot up, "You didn't know?"

"What do you mean?" I asked in response to her shocked expression, "Of course I didn't know! Do you think I would come all the way out here if I had known you moved on so obviously and had settled down with a husband and child?"

Her face looked stricken for a moment, and it took her awhile to answer "You really don't know…"

Jayne's father seemed to finally decide we deserved some privacy and spoke up to Zeke, "I'm Evan. Why don't Drake and I take you to the field in the back where we keep our livestock, so you may water and feed your horses?"

Zeke nodded at this, knowing that Jayne and I needed a moment alone, "That sounds like a good idea. I know they'll appreciate the rest after our journey. I'm Zeke."

The men took off, though the man named Drake looked back quite a few times before he rounded the corner of the cottage. The woman in the doorway ducked back in saying something about putting a kettle on, shutting the door behind her.

Jayne walked slightly away from the house and leaned against a fence, all the while holding the baby in her arms; soothing the hungry cries to mere whimpers.

"I think your child wants lunch." I stated grimly, folding my arms across my chest.

She gave me a closed lip smile, that didn't have any happiness in it, "She can wait a bit."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh please Jayne…you don't have to be modest with me. I've seen you naked before. Or have you forgotten?"

She shook her head and looked down at her child, "No I have not and I doubt I will." She sighed as she started to untie her simple bodice, "But you are right. There's no sense in withholding her meal because you're here."

I was silent as she pulled the bodice down, then her shift and the child latched on quickly. Somehow the sight warmed my heart and stilled it cold at the same time. She was beautiful like this, nurturing. But it was someone else's child she held and that killed me.

"She's beautiful." I said finally and the child was. She had her mother's gold eyes, full lips, and her skin was already slightly olive skin toned. Her hair was light blonde though, no doubt from the father's side.

Jayne looked back up at me and smiled a real smile; though she still had tears in her eyes, "Thank you."

"What's her name?" I asked after clearing my throat, to push back my own tears.

"Lily." Jayne answered simply.

"After your mother." I stated, knowing how much she missed the kind, slave woman who was such a dear friend of my mother. Now they were both gone. Life seemed to become more and more gloomy by the second.

Jayne nodded, "Yes. Lilith seemed like too much of a name for such a little girl though, so I chose to shorten it."

"I think you chose well. The name Lily is beautiful."

Jayne absolutely beamed at this, "I'm glad you like it." Then she turned somber again, all within a second. She looked down at the baby, cupping her head, "I heard you were betrothed."

"What?!" I snapped, startling the baby who lost her grip on Jayne's breast and tried to turn to look at me. Jayne soothed her gently though and the child went back to her meal, "I'm sorry. I did not mean to startle her. But where did you hear that from? Especially out here."

Jayne shrugged, "You know how rumors are. People love a wedding story and it got passed to our village." She tried to be nonchalant but I knew her well enough to hear the pain in her voice. Did she still love me? Is that why the thought of my marrying hurt her?

"I'm not betrothed." I answered simply, she looked up and I could swear I saw hope in her eyes, "There is a lady my father would like me to marry, but I refuse."

"Why?" she asked.

I looked her straight in the eyes, wasn't it obvious? "You're the only woman I could love. What's the point in marrying someone if all I would do is wish it was you?"

Jayne began to cry at this, "Then why didn't you come to the church? Why did you abandon me? Abandon us?"

I stepped closer to her, "I don't know what you mean by that. What church?" I stepped even closer so I was right in front of her, brushing my hand down her cheek. Her husband be damned. "I never would abandon you."

I didn't think Jayne could have looked more shocked than the moment she first saw me at the fence, but she did now, "Your mother…when I was banished. She told me she'd send you to the church in this town once you came home and if you didn't then she'd send a messenger. But no one was there on the day we decided on." She took a deep breath, "No you, no messenger."

It seemed the more information I got the more confused I became, "When was this meeting supposed to take place?"

"Four moons ago." She answered.

"Oh god...Jayne…" I leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek, "My mother died a few moons before that. If there was ever any plan I wouldn't have known about it."

"What?" Jayne asked incredulous, "Bethany is dead?" her hand slapped over her mouth to stop a sob, but the tears ran down her cheek. Her other arm tightened further around the eating child.

I looked down at the babe, and suddenly I was hit with another revelation. Her words hit me then, "Why did you abandon me? Why did you abandon us?" She said us. Could it be? Please let it be. I looked up into Jayne's eyes and swallowed roughly "Jayne…why were you banished?"

She took a few deep breaths, pulling her hand from her mouth, to wrap around the babe again. She finally looked back up at me, with a sad smile, "I was with child." She said "Our child."

I couldn't speak for a minute as I looked into her eyes, then I looked down at the child at her breast, at the light, golden blonde hair. "Lily's my daughter?" Jayne nodded, "You're not married?" Jayne shook her head.

Then I grabbed her, pulling her into an embrace, the child squeezed between us. Our child. Lily squeaked and let out a protest. I laughed, stepping back, running my hand through the small amount of hair on her head, "I'm sorry, Beloved. I'm just so happy." Then I leaned down and kissed Lily on the forehead. When I lifted my head back up, I saw tears in Jayne's eyes, but the small on her face told them they were not tears of sorrow but joy.

I found Jayne.

A/N: They found each other again! And yes Lance was a bit slow on the uptake, wasn't he? But that's the way men tend to be about such things. =P

The story is not yet finished just because they have reunited. After all we seem to have a love triangle (or square I suppose) on our hands and a not so approving father/king.