Karin woke up earlier than Kazune for a change. She opened her eyes to see the sturdy wall of Kazune's chest, millimeters from her face. He breathed in and out softly. Karin tilted her head to look at his face and saw that he was drooling a bit on the pillow. The sight ruined her morning god a little bit so she returned to taking in the closeness she was feeling. The weight of his arm across her arm and back was pleasant and his scent could almost let her drift to sleep again. Karin remembered the stuffed toy she had had as a young child. She used to bury her nose in its fluffy body and the scent always comforted her. She took it with her everywhere because of that. Kazune's aroma had a similar effect on her psyche. She liked that this was his natural scent and not the cologne he sometimes wore. That smelled nice too but others could smell it from a distance. As far as she knew, she was the only one who'd been close enough to experience his pheromones in excess. Well, maybe Micchi had too...

Kazune let out a happy sounding grumble and he tightened his arm, pulling Karin's face into him further. It was a little hard to breathe with her nose trapped between his pecks. She began to try to push him away just a bit. As she struggled to breathe full breaths Kazune gripped tighter before weaving his knee between hers, separating her legs enough to shift his weight to his knee and roll on top of her. The additional weight pressed the air out of her lungs as she opened her eyes to their full extent. Karin saw Kazune's seductive smile telling her that she was not going to move from that spot. He let up on the pressure allowing her to take in more air but his hands traveled down her legs and around to her inner thighs. Kazune was distracting her with kisses to her face, along her cheekbones and eyelids as he moved his other leg between her knees. Karin's arms reached up to hug his neck but they were pushed up above her head. One vice like hand gripped both her wrists together as the onslaught of kisses continued. His tongue was slipping in and out of her lips, little moans escaped and nearly made Kazune hum in enjoyment. He reared up with his hand under Karin's knees. She hadn't noticed how intrusive he had become. She was stuck. Kazune moved the hand from under her knees up to her mouth, offering her his fingers. She looked like she was confused by what he was doing. Smiling to himself again, Kazune placed his thumb at her mouth and pushed it in, separating her teeth. Karin tried to protest but she couldn't speak well with his thumb in her mouth. Kazune removed his thumb as he slid his middle and ring finger in its stead. She could guess what he wanted now and began to coat his digits in her saliva, lubricating them.

The feeling of her soft tongue running over his finger tips heated his body up till his shoulders lit on fire for a moment. When he was satisfied, he pulled his fingers out of her mouth and re-entered her at her lower entrance. Karin's body bucked as she whimpered. Kazune moved his fingers slowly, stroking along the top-inside of her walls. He felt her tighten but soon loosen. She was opening up deeper to accommodate something more. Soon fingers would serve no justice. Kazune still wanted to milk it as long as he could and added a third finger. Karin squirmed more, panting and trying to say something that was lost in translation. She seemed desperate but Kazune had other plans. He removed his fingers and licked them clean before kissing her on the lips again. He let go of her wrists and stood up over the edge of the bed, leaving Karin to admire his back muscles flexing as he bent over to grad his clothing off the floor.

"What are you doing? Get dressed, we have to go." Kazune turned and looked over his shoulder grinning evilly at her.

Karin looked mortified.

"But..." she began.

"I chose when you can cum." Kazune said as he finished re-buckling his pants.

"And I say you don't get to till we get where we are going." He walked over to the closet and pulled out a new shirt.

Karin let out a frustrated moan. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her hands travel down to try to console herself. He whispered a few words and she was unable to move.

"Ah ah ah, no pleasuring yourself either. You'll get dressed and we will walk to the forest."

She gave him a teary look but gave up when he released her body from his spell. She reached for her clothes and slid them on over her head before standing and getting her things together.

"What do you want for breakfast?" She asked with a shaky voice. "We didn't eat dinner so I am very hungry."

"The Inn has an attached restaurant; we can go there and see what there is to eat." Kazune said as he shouldered the last of his belongings.

"Okay." They left the room and went down to the lobby to find food.

~...~^~...~

After breakfast Karin seemed to have calmed down and they were on the road again. This part of the Kingdom was far less populated. The crowds were manageable and the border walls were within view. Kazune was reading a book in one hand while Karin was trying to see how far she could kick a stone along the path. They were surprisingly quiet and withdrawn from each other today. Neither could think of anything they needed to or wanted to talk about. Karin missed the rock and let out a little cry at her mistake. Without missing a beat Kazune kicked it back up ahead to where she was. Karin called out a thanks and returned to her game. Kazune had thought about joining her but he was too enthralled in the book to want to do anything else. It was all about emotion magic. Since Suzune had shown them his power, Kazune became interested in how he could possibly use it. He knew how to cast trances but that was different than emotion magic. Trances were more like hypnotism, emotion magic made the affected truly feel a certain way and they would at according to their own methods rather than mindlessly doing what they were told. Emotion magic was also very limited to those who weren't born with the talent for it. Kazune could learn how to use it a little but it would be limited to heightening already present emotions rather than conjuring them up from within his test subject. For example, someone would already have to be angry or happy or sad for him to increase the intensity. He could not make an angry person happy. He guessed that people with magic abilities usually had to be persuasive enough to change their target's mind to whatever emotion they wanted to amplify. Suzune, however; might be able to change emotions. Unfortunately this meant that he might be pretty bad at using other kinds of magic.

Karin missed the rock again and Kazune kicked it up to her again without looking up from his book.

He had not considered an apprentice before Suzune mentioned it. If it were anyone else he'd have flat out refused but he liked Suzune. Karin did too. He wondered what kind of relationship he'd build with Suzune if that happened. Would it be teacher to student or more like older and younger brother? They weren't too far apart in age, ten years was too close together to be father and son like but also a little too far apart to be siblings. He guessed teacher and student was the most likely.

"Kazune!" Karin called out suddenly.

Kazune looked up from his book, blinking a few times at the change in scenery. He saw that they were reaching the rural part of the kingdom. Farms stretched all the way to the wall.

"Can we take this cart the rest of the way to the wall?" Kazune looked over at Karin who was standing next to an old man driving a hay cart.

"He's offered to take us."

The old man smiled and tipped his straw hat.

"That would be great. Thank you." Kazune said

"Not a problem. I live at the base of the wall. You look like you are carrying too much. It isn't good for you." The old man's voice was deep and soft.

Kazune closed his book and walked over to the back of the cart and took off all the bags. He then jumped up onto the cart's floor, helping Karin climb up too.

"Where are you two headed once you get past the wall?" The old man inquired. "There's not much beyond that but forests and mountains till you get to the Ocean."

"We're just getting to the forest. We don't plan to go too far outside these city walls." Karin answered. "Kazune and I are going to build a house out there and then we will be neighbors to this kingdom. We are friends with the new governor so we'll be visiting frequently."

"Oh, the new governor? I hear he is nice. His coronation is next month, right?" The old man smiled.

"Yes. We will be going to that too." Karin continued to make small talk with the old man before Kazune chimed in.

"Um, excuse me but, how long have you lived in this kingdom?"

"Oh, I've been here all my life. I remember when it was much smaller but with the previous governor, we gained much more land very quickly. Now I think this kingdom is just too big." He laughed.

"Would you mind telling me about what you'd like to see changed and what you wish would stay the same?" Kazune asked. "I am the new governor's consultant and my job is to learn about what the kingdom's people want and need."

"My, my, I had no idea I'd picked up such an important man." The old man looked a little worried. "I'll tell you what you want to know. You can even come visit once you and your wife are settled; I've been waiting for someone like you to be appointed."

Kazune and Karin became flustered at the old man's mistake.

"Oh, Karin's not my wife..." Kazune stammered

The old man became flustered too, "Oh please excuse me... are you siblings?"

"No" Karin responded. "He's my boyfriend I guess..." she trailed off, not liking how the word "boyfriend" described their relationship. It felt like more to her but there wasn't a word she could use to describe how she felt.

"You guess? Miss, that is something you ought to be certain of." The old man laughed.

"To me that word sounds too casual." Karin said quietly as Kazune stared at her.

The old man spoke again.

"Have you two ever learned the language of those who live across the sea from this country?"

"No" Karin and Kazune replied.

"Even if it is just a little, sometimes they are better at describing things our language cannot. If you want, you could consider referring to your relationship as sambo."

"What does that mean?" Karin asked.

"It is short for sammanboende, which signifies that you are in a long term relationship where you live together. It is stronger than boyfriend or girlfriend and more serious."

"Sammanboende..." Karin repeated as she smiled.

Kazune looked at her and then at the old man. They rode in the cart for a while. Karin talked with the old man almost the whole time except for a brief nap in the hay. During her slumber, Kazune had climbed up to the front of the cart and was sitting next to the old man whom he'd learned was named Saul.

Kazune told Saul about their travels and their tribulations with Jin and Karin's mother. He told him that he was a warlock with mainly fire and air abilities and that Karin was an ice woman and a wood sprite. He did leave out how he'd torched his homeland and brutally murdered quite a few people along the way. Saul seemed impressed with all they had done in the past few months and was surprised at how little a time they had actually known each other.

"You two have lived more in a few months than I think I've lived in my whole life." Saul chuckled. "I've been a farmer forever. Sure taking care of crops and animals is fun in its own way but I never did get a chance to travel."

"I can't wait to be able to relax again." Kazune sighed. "I'd much rather sit at home and study than have to deal with political movements."

"You do have an awful lot of big books in that bag." Saul mentioned. "Heck, you were even reading one while you walked. Being curious and studious is a good thing but please don't forget that you'll be living differently now."

"How do you figure that?" Kazune asked placing his chin on his hand and glancing sideways at Saul.

"Well, you'll be living with your pretty girl now, won't you? You cannot forget that she is there or she'll be unhappy." Saul smiled and looked at the road ahead. There was an old woman that had come out of a distant house and was waving to them.

"See that woman over there?" Saul asked. "She's my pretty girl, and I've made sure to always make some time for her. Every day, for 50 years."

"That is a very long time." Kazune looked at the woman as they approached the house.

Her face was weathered and wrinkled, her eyes were droopy and she was a little plump. She did have a warm smile and bright eyes at the sight of her husband riding up to her.

Kazune reached behind him and woke Karin up to let her know they were getting off.

"Did you have a good ride, dear?" The old woman spoke in a sweet grandmotherly voice.

"Yes, I even picked up some important people along the way." Saul hopped down and gave his wife a light kiss on the lips.

"This is Kazune Kujyou and his sambo, Karin Hanazono. They are the new consultants for the governor as well as powerful magic users."

"Nice to meet you." Kazune extended his hand and the old woman shook it with both hands.

"You two are very lovely together. Thank you for keeping my husband company on his ride home. He does get bored doing this every day. I can't go along anymore so I am very grateful to you."

"It was no problem. Karin beamed. Mr. Saul is very interesting. I loved hearing about his farming methods."

The old woman clapped her hands together and adjusted her skirt's waistband. "Well now, I say it is time for supper. We'd love if you joined us."

"Oh no, we couldn't..." Kazune started but Karin butted in.

"We'd love to!" She skipped over to Saul's wife and followed her into the house.

"Karin!" Kazune called out with an annoyed tone.

"Don't worry about it." Saul laughed. "My wife loves company." as he ushered Kazune towards the front door.

"You're welcome to stay here tonight too if you want."

"No, we really have to find where we want to live tonight if we want to have our house built before the governor's coronation. Thank you for the offer." Kazune said as he stepped into the house. It was warm and cozy as the hearth light spread to his toes.

"All right, well you come back and visit anytime. I'll give you rides into town in the morning if you need them. During the ride we can talk about this country and what we'd like. How's that sound?" Saul showed Kazune to a chair at a wooden table and sat down in his own spot.

"I'd greatly appreciate it." Kazune responded, a little shocked by their generosity.

Saul's wife and Karin came out of the kitchen carrying large plates of ham, potatoes and bread. Karin also had a pitcher of milk that looked cold.

They ate together and talked about the life on their farm. Saul told bad jokes and his wife laughed heartily at all of them, making her belly jiggle. They were very happy here even though they didn't have much. Supper ended and Karin and Kazune prepared to head out again while it was still light outside. Saul's wife tried to get them to reconsider staying there for the night but Saul assured her that they had to go.

Kazune took out a pouch from one of the many bags and poured some money into his palm.

"Saul, thank you for the ride and for the food. I couldn't have asked for better hospitality." Kazune handed the man the money. Saul tried to not take it but Kazune insisted.

"Your window in the back of the hearth room is broken; I guessed that you may not have the money to fix it. Night must get cold with the hole."

Saul looked at Kazune with wide eyes, unable to speak for a moment. He reached out and took the money from Kazune's hand.

"Thank you, Kazune. You are right, it does get cold."

They all walked together to the gates in the wall. Saul and his wife wave Karin and Kazune off as they passed through, the gates closing with a clang behind them.