Oh my gosh! Thanks you so much for all your kind words. I know I'm being a bitdifficult with my plea for reviews but now you manged to do it. I'm really happy :-D As promised here is chapter 5 for you and of course I will finish this story :-). Thanks so much once more – would love to hug you all! Hope you like the update :-)

Bis had left shortly after he had reminded Dastan of Keyla and the prince was actually glad he was alone. He understood why his friend felt the need to be alone with his thoughts. Especially in the light of this wedding, Keyla was sort of a sour topic. She was their friend and they both loved her like a sister but she was stubborn and she always had a very strong, very independent opinion about things. Dastan could very well imagine what her take on this politically staged marriage was...

He wondered why it had been that particular memory that had come to his mind when thinking about Keyla. It was a bad memory and he had so many good ones as well- funny ones, happy ones but it had been this harsh and rather enangering one that had found it's way to the surface from his conscience. Dastan wasn't quite sure what that said about his mindset and his relationship with Keyla but being honest with himself he knew why this memory had to come to the light. It was because he felt guilty...

It would have been a simple order to send one messenger to her and tell her about the wedding, maybe even invite her to come here. Of course she would have declined that offer but at least it would have been a gesture of good will. If she found out now and from some stranger, she would definitely be angry with him. In that regard it was a good thing he would stay here in Alamut - that was a safe distance away from Nasaf and Keyla's wrath.

He hadn't forgotten about Keyla, he had simply ignored the fact of her existence because Keyla had always been the one to speak her mind and tell him her opinion even though there was a rather uncomfortable truth to it most of the time. She had told him what she thought about going into battle against people who only tried to protect their own freedom and she had also been the one to tell him what she thought about his blind loyalty towards his father, brothers and uncle... Especially that last part had proven to be the wrongest thing he ever could have done. He hated it when Keyla was right like that but unfortunately she was right more often than she was wrong...

Dastan shook his head, trying to leave the thoughts about Keyla behind. It was too late now and what was done was done. Worrying about Keyla would not change the situation and actually he had more pressing things at hand to do right now. He had promised Tamina he would spend the evening with her. That thought managed to bring a smile to her face and it spread into a grin when his thoughts returned to Keyla once more. Bis had not told him about his thoughts to remind him he had made a mistake in forgetting about Keyla, he had done so because this whole wedding and the preparations for it had triggered something in Dastan's friend he had been denying for a long time. Dastan knew very well that Bis had a soft spot for Keyla. He had been in love with her ever since they were children... but of course they both had been too stubborn to admit it and nothing had ever happened... Maybe it was time to change that... but not tonight.

He still needed to exchange his dusty clothes for some clean ones and needed to clean up at least a little bit before he would leave for Tamina's chamber to spend the evening with the princess. He had been looking forward to this all day. She was right after all. Ever since he had been able to prevent the events only he knew about and that had not happened now that his uncle was dead, he had barely been able to spend any time with the woman he was supposed to get married to in a couple of days.

It was easy to forget the fact that even though he felt like he had known her and had spent a very trying and adventurous time with her already, none of this had really happened and he needed to get to know her all over again. Some sort of connection had formed between them almost immediately and at times he was sure Tamina knew that he was hiding something from her - something concerning the dagger - but would never ask him about it. It didn't matter. It was nice to have this chance to get to know her all over again.

He finally got undressed and left the pile of dirty clothes on the floor. HE remembered Tamina telling him something about Alamut being famous for it's fountains and clear water... For a city so rich of water, it certainly was a miracle how dirty one could end up by only spending a day out in the streets of the city, overseeing the work other people did. He would have liked a bath right now but that would have meant to get a servant and at least another hour before he could leave for Tamina's chamber and that was just too long.

Instead he used the small basin right next to his bed and washed himself before getting dressed again, slipping into something more comfortable for the evening he wanted to spend with the princess. It was fully dark outside by now and he had no idea if she was even awake anymore but he had promised to at least drop in on her and it would have been rude to just ignore her. After all that was the last thing he wanted for tonight. He had missed Tamina, as ridiculous as that sounded, and he wanted to spend the rest of this day and possibly every other one still to come with her.

He had to grin by the way his own thoughts sounded to him. Just a day ago - which of course given what had happened or had not really happened to be exact as time had turned back and he had changed the events - he never even would have thought about marriage or love but now that was a completely different thing. He loved Tamina, it was as simple as that. And she loved him too... she just didn't know about it yet. But that was what he was there for - he would make her see.

He left for Tamina's chamber, walking down the illuminated corridor. It felt strange to see both a local and a Persian guard in front of the princess' room but that had been the agreement. The Persian troupes - and Dastan as one of the most prominent among their warriors - had just attacked and ravaged the city a couple of days ago and those wounds were still fresh, suspicion still running high. It was only a precaution and a first step to trust to have both groups of soldiers working together. Hopefully - with time - both trust and this marriage would grow.

Dastan greeted both soldiers with a nod and entered the chamber of the princess. He found her sitting on an embroided blanket that had been put down on the floor, a plate full of food in front of her. She looked up when he entered, crossing his hands behind his back and smiling warmly at her. He couldn't help it. He always reacted exactly like that whenever he went to see Tamina.

"Good evening, princess Tamina."

"Evening? It's night prince."

"I have to apologize. Yet again... I can leave if you want me to?"

"No. Please stay. I had some food prepared. It's too much for one person to eat. Sit with me, prince Dastan."

She was being so formal and Dastan still hadn't decided if he liked that or hated it. She was beautiful the way she tried to let her royal education win the better of her and always behave as a lady was supposed to or if he should feel frustrated about the fact that - in that other timeline - they had already known each other so much better and they had to go through all that once more. Being honest with himself getting to know the princess had been the fun part of their adventure and he was happy to have a chance to get to do it again. He hid back a grin when she - rather quickly - invited him to stay with her and gently sat down next to her, watching her closely.

"What are you so interested in?"

"I enjoy watching you like this."

"Are you teasing me again, prince Dastan?"

"No, princess Tamina. Not at all."

This time it was completely impossible for him to hide back a grin. She was so... adorable whenever her temper was flaring up and she was trying hard to control it and not to let it show too much. He hadn't meant to be rude but he DID enjoy watching her like this. He enjoyed watching her no matter what she did. But it hadn't been his only reason for staring. Even though he had told himself not to, he was still thinking about Keyla.

The last time he had seen her had been before he and his brothers had left for Koshkhan to fight a battle against the warlord who was threatening their territory. Just as always when he and his brothers left for a battle, he had fought with Keyla. He really had no idea why he went there to say goodbye only to end up in a fight every last time he did so. They would never be able to get to a common ground about war and battles and he knew that. Keyla always and rather vehemently told him it was wrong and sinful to fight other people for their freedom and he always told her it was a question of loyalty towards his king... It had been an ugly fight and they had both been angry but - as always - right before he had left, she had told him to be careful... She had been worried about him... and now he hadn't even invited her to his wedding... He winced when Tamina's voice ripped him out of his thoughts. He smiled and hurried to reassure her. He really didn't want to talk about this again.

"You seem troubled."

"No, not really. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Remember what we talked about when we first met."

Dastan had to grin. Actually they had been talking about how proud he had to be about the title the troupes had given him and he had advised her to show a little bit of humility towards the king for her own good. They had been arguing in that rather inspiring and amusing way even then but he had to remind himself that all this had never happened. He was too caught up in the memory right now to remember their second "first" meeting though and looked at her a little helplessly.

"Help me out."

"I asked you how I was supposed to trust you and I think I found a solution. You should be honest with me."

"Wasn't this part of getting to know each other better. Does that mean I can tease you now?"

He was giving her a soft grin and even though she tried her best to hide it back, he could hear a soft groan escape her lips. It was miraculous how easily he always managed to actually be able to tease her. He watched the slight trembling of her lips as she was trying to regain composure with amusement and had to hide back a chuckle when she answered in a stern tone, referring to him only by his title again like she always did when she felt agitated about something he had said.

"No, you cannot, prince."

"Then I think I'm fine, princess. Will you eat that any time soon?"

"Yes I will."

He had pointed to the plate of food and had eyed the still empty plate standing in front of her, receiving a glare in return. She had invited him to sit and eat with him but right now she looked like she was about to pull the plate of food away from him... or throw it's contents in his face and kick him out afterwards. Instead she picked up a couple of things, placing the food on her plate and glared at him in a way that clearly told him he should not even be thinking about touching that food. It probably was supposed to be a threatening look but he felt all the more amused by that adorable anger she was trying to keep caged inside of her.

They sat in silence for a long while, Tamina keeping her eyes firmly fixed on her plate of food and Dastan watching her eat, amusement still shining in his eyes. He had the advantage here because he knew Tamina way better than she could imagine and than she did know him. He knew she wouldn't be able to be angry with him for long and just as she had expected after a while she carefully looked back up at him, her voice soft, almost pleading and she was back to what little intimacy they had established so far, calling him by his name.

"Tell me, Dastan. Please."

"I had a talk with my friend and he reminded me of something I rather not wanted to think about. Can I have something to eat now?"

"Here you go. What exactly did your friend remind you of."

"A friendship. An old one."

She raised her eyebrows at him. Maybe she was surprised she had actually been able to get him to tell her or maybe she had expected something else. Whatever it was she was easily able to tell that he would not say anything else about this matter. He had just about gotten himself to successfully forget about the conversation with Bis and he would not start thinking about it again now because Tamina wanted him too. He watched a smile appear on her face and found himself surprised realizing it was almost mischievous. It was probably the first time she was the one to use a teasing tone

"You don't want to talk about this do you, prince."

"No I don't. I would take some more meat though if you don't mind, princess."

Without waiting for her permission or any other response in return, he reached for a piece of meat on the plate and put it into his mouth, grinning at her. Tamina rolled her eyes at him, unable to keep her emotions in check and he could hear her mutter under her breath. It would have been so easy to tease her now and that was obviously what she had expected him to do but for once dastan felt the situation was too serious to make a joke about it. He reached out a hand, gently grabbing Tamina's just like he had done upon their first meeting a couple of days ago, smiling a warm, soft smile at her.

"Why did I agree to this marriage again?"

"Because you knew that it was right and that it was what you wanted, Tamina."

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