Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own the Fable universe. Characters you do not recognize were created by me for the purposes of this story. Rated M for a reason, dear readers, do not continue if adult topics (sex, violence, etc) could upset you. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you for all the absolutely lovely reviews, faves and alerts – they spur me on! All the best - Fallon.

Chapter Nine

Walter led the group as they traversed the sewers of Bowerstone Industrial. Maya tried breathing through her nose, but the smell was rather difficult to avoid. Hale and Von were walking behind her, and she was thankful for the distance.

She still couldn't believe she had actually told him what she did, and was still trying to mend her barriers. He was exactly what she hated, and she was adamant that he stayed at a distance. The further away the better.

"Keep your wits about you," Walter warned, "they may be wary of our presence."

Von groaned, "You may have mentioned that sooner..."

"What, are a few armed rebels too much for the wolf-boy?" Maya taunted, shooting him a cold stare.

He rolled his eyes, clearly they had gotten nowhere with their earlier conversation, "Don't concern yourself, Princess, I assure you I can take care of myself."

She laughed, "Oh, I assure you I don't."

"Stop it you two!" Walter growled, "We're nearly there, and it would be unwise to show up on the doorstep of a potential ally bickering like fussy children!"

Maya grumbled and Von laughed, "Whatever you say, Sir Walter."

The rounded a bend in the sewers and came upon a larger room filled with barrels. Walter led them further onward and they found a smaller room that didn't smell so bad. Maya breathed a sigh of relief and shot Von another glare when she caught him looking at her.

"Stop right there!"

Guns were raised and Walter raised his hands, signalling to the others to do the same. "We have come to talk to Page."

"Don't give a damn who you want to see, old man!"

Maya stepped forward, "Watch it, fool!"

"Back up, lady, or we'll get nasty." The man warned.

Maya drew her Dragonstomper, "How much do you want to bet I'm faster?"

"Enough!" An imposing woman strolled into the room and pointed at the man who was taunting Maya, "I thought I gave the orders around here, Kidd?"

"Sorry, Page." He scratched his head and walked off.

"Walter," the woman approached them, giving Maya a suspicious glance, "what brings you to my little corner of the sewers?"

He nodded to Maya, "Could we speak in private, Page?"

She gave Maya a closer look but nodded, "Of course."

"Why in the name of Avo did you bring the princess here?" Page stood beside the map table, she had already been on edge, but was even more so when Walter revealed who Maya was.

He hurried to calm her, "She's a hero, Page! Just like her father, and we're trying to get her on the throne."

"Hmm," she pondered, "that sounds appealing...but how do I know she isn't just like her brother?"

"I suppose you won't take my word for it?" Maya offered, a small smile on her lips.

Page didn't laugh, didn't even crack a smirk, "No, actions speak a lot louder."

"What would I need to do to prove to you I'm not like Logan?"

"Help the people of Bowerstone, Industrial in particular...and I might consider joining your little war effort." She said with a nod.

Maya patted Hale on the head, "I will return when I'm done then. You keep Walter company, Hale," she turned to leave, "until then Page."

Von followed her but Maya waited until they had left the main tunnels to confront him. She didn't want Page to think she was a brat, but she wanted to rip Von a new one without worry, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Protecting you," he said calmly, "from yourself and others."

"I don't need you for this." She said firmly, hoping it would be enough.

"You don't even know what you're going to do," he said with a laugh, "what harm is there in bringing me along?"

Maya sighed and motioned for him to follow. The journey back to the streets above was a quiet one.

"This isn't what I imagined myself doing when I left the castle..." Maya admitted, blowing a strand of hair out of her face as she dug through the muck of the sewers.

"What did you think starting a revolution would consist of?" Von asked as he leaned against the sewer wall, content to watch her do all the dirty work. They were trying to find a man's lost engagement ring, and it was proving to be a bigger pain than either of them had originally thought.

"Not this!" She gestured around her, her hands covered in the thick substance she was currently knee deep in.

He laughed, amused by her mussed hair and dirty attire, "I'm sure your brother would be proud."

"No," she felt her back crack, "Logan would tell me how this isn't what a princess should do, and then maybe berate me for smelling like an outhouse."

Von smirked, "Can't blame him there."

Maya looked back up with the intent of chewing him out, but realized that the smirk on his lips was rather light hearted. She bit her tongue and went back to work, "Do you think this will be enough to impress Page?"

"Doubtful," he shrugged, "she seems like a very intense woman. It will take a lot to impress her and sway her into joining your cause."

Maya pulled something long and thin out of the muck, "Any idea what this is?"

"Not a ring." He tried not to laugh.

She shuddered and tossed it at him, laughing when he scrambled to get out of the way, "What's wrong? Wolf-boy not like a little mud?"

"Mud I can handle," he assured her, "but that isn't mud."

"Oh, thank you so much for putting that thought in my head!" She groaned and went back to work, determined to get it done and get back to the surface...and to the nearest wash basin. "It would go a lot faster if you helped me, you know."

"I'm fine here, thanks."

"But I thought you were supposed to be helping me?" She shot him a dangerous glare but her hair obscured it, seriously taking away from its ferociousness.

"I am," he said with a sigh, "but against marauders, bandits, thugs, and the like...sewage isn't part of the deal."

The sewage was warm and thick under her hands and she resisted the strong urge to vomit, "Such a gentleman..."

He cocked an eyebrow, "So you admit I am a man?"

Maya recalled their escape from Reaver`s manor, "I've seen you...I know that you are." She stood up to stretch her back, "But you're still no gentleman."

Von was startled by her comment, was she flirting with him? "Sorry to disappoint, Princess."

"Oh I'm sure you are..." She seriously doubted that.

He stood up from the wall, "So your saying I'm not like the men you know from the castle?"

"No, but I suppose that's not entirely a bad thing. They were dreadfully dull, always trying to impress you with their family name or woo you with piles of gold. They may have been handsome on the outside, but they were revolting the closer you looked." Remembering it all made her cringe. The gentlemen of the castle were always walking around with their noses high in the air, telling her she should act more like a lady, more like a princess.

"So are you saying I'm a handsome, captivating man, Princess?" He laughed.

Maya stopped working. He was utterly unique, exotic and certainly handsome. But she would be damned if she ever admitted as much to his face. "No, you're without a family name or piles of gold." She pursed her lips, "And are revolting enough from where I stand."

He clutched his chest, "You wound me, sweet lady!" The sarcasm was thick in his voice.

She pushed her hands back into the muck, determined to find the ring and get out, "Well maybe if you'd help I'd be a lot nicer."

Von thought about it, groaned, and got on his knees to help her find the ring. He got a handful of the slime and fought to hold back a gag.

Maya chuckled, "Nice, isn't it?"

"Lets just find the ring and get out of here." He grumbled, forcing his hands deeper into the muck.

Their hands searching blindly in the slime, they found a few old shoes, half eaten-half rotted food and more bones then either cared to admit.

Maya`s hand brushed over his, her fingers wrapping around his as she searched for the ring.

Von kept his eyes down but a cocky smirk formed on his lips, "If you wanted to hold hands you need only ask, Princess..."

She slipped her hand out of the muck and gave him a light slap to the cheek, leaving a grimy print of her fingers on his pale skin, "Watch it, wolf-boy!"

He wiped the slime from his cheek, his face turning sour as it smeared, "I thought you were going to be nice!"

"I didn't hit you hard."

He hurried to get it off his cheek, "What about all the diseases lurking in that -"

"Calm down, wolf-boy," she tried to hide her smile, "balverines are hard to kill, remember?"

He grumbled but went back to work without any more fuss.

"Wait!" Maya exclaimed, her finger having hooked something round and thin. She got her finger around it and pulled it out.

Von pulled his hands out of the muck and glared at it, "All that work for something so small..."

"I did most of the work!"

"If you hadn't had my hand to hold -"

She pushed him back, "I wasn't trying to hold your hand, wolf-boy!"

His clothes covered in the slime, he struggled to maintain his composure and keep his balverine self at bay. His blood coursed through his veins like fire, his frustration fuelled by adrenaline.

Maya noticed the pained look in his eyes and backed away, "Watch it!"

Von swallowed hard and stood, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You were going to change there."

He adjusted his trench, which was weighed down with the thick slime, "It's under control, lets get out of here."

He started to walk away but Maya didn't follow. Von noticed, her refusal to trust his control a slap in the face, "If I wanted to hurt you I would have done it already, kid."

Maya looked at him, her filthy hands at her sides, "That's not very reassuring."

"You know, not everyone is trying to kill you." He sighed, "What do I have to do to earn a little trust from you..."

"I'll never trust you." She spat.

Von turned to her, blue eyes glowing in the dim light, "If we're going to work together, you're going to have to."

She bit her lip, "What I told you on the dock -"

"You trusted me with that," he said calmly, "what makes you think I'd want to hurt you?"

She wanted to say it was because of his heritage, but she knew that was only part of it. The loss of Elliot still crippled her, reminding her not to let anyone get close. "I have my reasons."

He nodded, "I'm sure you do, but I hope you realize soon enough that I'm not the enemy."

"How? How am I supposed to know that?" She felt her lip tremble and bit it hard to stop it before Von noticed.

He did, but kept it to himself. "Lets give that guy back the ring, get a bath...and we'll figure the rest out later."

The tavern in Industrial had one large wash basin and she was surprised to find it actually seemed clean. Von let her go first, which startled her because he smelt far worse than she did. She took him up on his offer nonetheless.

Maya sank into the warm water and began scrubbing the filth from her body while a maid clean her clothes. The water was warm and the soap seemed some what new, so she allowed herself to enjoy it. She had always had fresh soap at the castle and she decided that was what she missed most...well, that and Elliot.

She did not want to return to the castle, it had to many memories of him. Memories that, she thought, were best left buried.

Von sat outside the room on a bench, waiting for her to finish up so he could get clean. The maid had tried to salvage his clothes, but his trench and trousers were beyond saving. He was wearing a pair of trousers the owner had lent him, "for the sake of decency" the man had said.

The maid walked by and threw a pile of clothes at him. It wasn't until she was around the corner that he realized they were Maya`s clothes. Von knocked on the door, planning on tossing them inside for her to grab.

"Come in."

Von cracked open the door just enough to poke his head in and saw Maya had her back towards him. He cleared his throat, "Umm, the maid gave me these..."

Maya gasped at the sound of his voice, covering herself with her hands as she turned around, "What -"

"I-I'm sorry," he tossed the clothes on the ground, "here."

She glanced at her clean clothes on the ground, then back to Von, "Thank you...now get out!"

He did as she asked, shutting the door quickly and slumping back into his seat. Von tried to think of something else, but what little he had seen of her was all his mind could focus on. Her wet hair had been slung over her shoulder, her skin slick and pale. Even her lips were pale, like the petals of a pink rose and, he guessed, just as soft. The only dark thing about her were her eyes, which stood out like two large onyx in snow. She had covered her breasts with her hands, but he had seen enough to know she was not lacking in that area. He guessed she kept them tightly bound, as he had not noticed her...endowments before.

The door opened, startling him, and Maya walked out. She was wearing her freshly cleaned practical clothes and her hair was still dripping wet. "Your turn." She said, her eyes fixed on the floor as she walked away.

Maya tried to forget about what had just happened as she made her way to the bar, but the look he had given her...

It was strange, made all the more intense by his unusual eyes. She kept replaying it in her mind, but she could not figure out what it meant...if it meant anything at all. He was a man after all, even if he was a balverine, and a half-naked woman is a half-naked woman.

"Evening, miss, what can I get you?" The barman asked as she passed.

"Do you have two rooms for rent, one night please."

He checked the books, "Yes, miss, just right up stairs. You still owe us 150 gold for the bath and cleaning though -"

"A hundred and fifty! This is Industrial, it doesn't even cost that much in the Marketplace!"

He nodded, "We all got to make a living, miss, you used a lot of water and your clothes were a mess."

She reluctantly paid the ridiculous bill, but turned down the rooms he offered, tired of being played by the man. Instead, she returned to where she had left Von and waited for him to emerge from the bath.

The door opened and Von stepped out, his hair matted to his neck. She saw he was only wearing his trousers and looked away, "Where are your clothes?"

"In a bin somewhere, I suppose." He brushed his fingers through his damp hair, "They were beyond saving."

She sighed, "Just a second." She headed back to the bar, paid him another fifty gold for a spare set of clothes and returned, tossing them at Von, "They're not fancy, but at least you won't catch a cold."

He pulled the shirt over his head, "Thank you."

"What?" She said, expecting something more, "just a thanks? No witting remark?"

Von shook his head, "No, just a thanks."

She twisted her lips, trying to determine if that was sarcasm, "Well, lets go then."