"Okay." I breathed heavily, feeling the grass pressing into my back and savoring that I was not on my feet any more. That this was because I had just been blown off my feet was a fact I tried to ignore. My sore body was glad for the brief respite. My head ached. I was so ready for a break from the physical and mental exercise. "I think –"

The air started to charge with the same heavy energy that had hit me earlier. It felt like a bass drum in a club, when the sound reverberated through your chest and very bones. Brought me back to the thudding music that had been played in the one hip hop class I had taken to get some variety into my style. I rolled, my body protesting but my sense telling me that I had to move or that would hurt. I did not need to be bashed into the ground until I was turned into a fine Grace-paste.

The blast of energy came and went, and I started to speak again, but the sensation returned, pressing against my skin. "Arion, knock it off!" I yelled, rolling again, sensing the spell blow by me again.

"Figure one more out!" he replied, breathing almost as heavily as I was. I had learned today that his royal highness did get tired after casting that many spells in a day.

"Dammit, Arion. I have no more in me!" I yelled from the ground.

"You have one more. Figure out one more. You've got to be pushed to your limits. Your enemies will not give you time to rest," the prince replied, circling around me.

"I've already worked my way through six of these damn things," I grumbled.

"Then go for the lucky number seven." He leaned over me now, grinning. "Come on." He backpedaled away, and I tilted my head back so I could follow him. He was almost playful. What the hell. Why should he look that playful and move that easily when I was aching like crazy.

"But…" I pouted, that being the only thing my tired brain could supply as an argument to the contrary of that idea.

"One and then lunch," Arion said. He crossed his arms and continued. "Now don't be a wuss, Ms. Donovan."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Fine, play both the lunch and pride card at the same time. You play dirty, your most annoying prince-li-ness." I grumbled, rolling over easily and pulling myself onto my feet. My muscles protested, and I wanted to complain and bitch and moan with them, but I knew that current-Arion would honor his promise. And if he didn't, I sure as hell had an idea how to do some simple steps to get back at him.

To be honest, I kept waiting for things to snap back to before. Yet the Arion here had stayed the whole day – through my sometimes-serious-sometimes-not snide and snarky remarks. He was being someone I might actual become friends with.

"You ready," he asked, pulling me from my thoughts, which tended to wander when I was tired.

"Hit me with your best shot," I shot back, grinning.

"Coming right up m'lady," he replied, bowing prettily. And then he disappeared. Like, invisibility. Like, one minute I was looking at a smirking, handsome Arion and then the asshole was gone.

I spun around, trying to sense his presence and feeling nothing. Why can't I feel his invisibility magic? I thought. "Arion, you're not allowed to disappear. That's not fair." The words just hung in the air without the response. "You're such a jerk," I muttered to the empty clearing.

Okay, how to find the invisible man? I simply kept spinning around, until I realized that I really ought to pay attention to my other senses. It was fairly obvious that I wasn't going to catch him with my eyes, so the smart thing to do would be to search for the tiny bit of magic he was using to make himself invisible and wait for his attack to come. I knew the spell, and had an idea as how to turn it against him.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the aching of my body and focus on the feel of the air around me and to listen for either a person or his magic. I heard nothing, and began to wonder if I was just being stupid. Maybe he was trying to show me how stupid I still was so that he could kick my ass more.

I shook away the thoughts. Focus, Grace, I told myself. You've got this. You can totally nail this. Blow his socks off.

Having centered myself, I went back to my task. Which was when I heard a quiet waltz, almost as though someone were playing the music in a very distant room and it was echoing through a house. I grinned, and opened my eyes. Got ya, I mentally crowed. Using the same technique as before and all the other times before, I pushed the idea of a waltz danced to a distant ball's music towards the magic. I then took control of it, and pulled the dance away from Arion's magic.

There stood the prince, looking shocked. "You weren't supposed to be able to sense that," he said, staring at me.

I stuck out my tongue. "You need to keep your magic subtler."

"Well, fine. If you're so good, then this will be a snap." The same bass-drum spell sailed towards me, and I threw the hip hop back at it, pushing the thought towards Arion to blow him over.

I threw my arms up in the air. "Hah! Seven for seven! Pluuuuuuuuus BONUS POINTS!" I did a goofy victory dance in his direction, savoring the success that pulsed through me headily. I caught his eyes, beaming. "Bayum," I continued, not tired of tooting my horn yet. My dance continued, and he leaned on his elbows, staring up at me, looking amused and… fondly exasperated, I'd say.

"I owned you, your majesty," I cried, boogying until I was close to his feet. This was when my foot found the one damn rock and I fell. Because of my jam's trajectory, I landed right on top of Arion.

For a few moments, there was a lot of confusion of limbs, as both of us were sort of shocked by this happening. His back collapsed against the ground, because I wasn't heavy but I have enough meat on me to knock a guy back when I crash on top of him. His arms were suddenly flailing around me while I tried to brace myself and pull myself off him all at once while figuring out where to put my legs so that I could stand. It was all rather a mess.

But I felt strong hands quickly wrap themselves around my waist, and pull me up so that I was resting on his belly properly, and not awkwardly stuck somewhere between Arion and the ground. My eyes caught his, and… Well that was sort of completely awkward.

He was looking at me so softly. It was no longer fond exasperation that I found there, but instead something much warmer. There was now warmth in my stomach, and I was way too aware of his hands and how nicely our bodies pressed against each other. And the feeling was far too familiar and obvious now. This was that fuzzy crush feeling. And maybe a little more - the edgy, intense thing that had been between us in my dreams colored the heat in my belly.

Arion beamed at me. "Grace…" he started to say, but I quickly pulled his hands away from my sides and stood up.

"I'm such a freaking klutz, I'm so sorry. The freaking irony that the dancer can't remember her feet, right? And what's up with my name?" I was throwing out words, trying to erase what I had felt and the squeaky – was my voice really that squeaky right now? God. – register that my voice had suddenly reached in the last few moments. I began to move away, as he started to stand up.

"Grace," he repeated my name again, almost as though he was pleading with me. I could guess what about, but I was so not ready to address the thing that had just happened. The thing that I feared we both knew had happened.

I turned away, face blazing red, I could feel the intense fire in my cheeks. "I should go… uh…" My eyes fell upon the forest before me. "Pee. Yeah, I have to pee. Be back soon." I strode towards the woods, walking to the edge of the field. For a few moments, I thought he wasn't going to let me out, but the shield gave way to me and I walked into the forest. "Walked" in this usage meaning I jogged until I could safely hide from his view behind a tree.

I pressed my back against the tree, and took three long, deep breaths. And then took ten more. "No," I told myself. "No. No. No. No." That was all I could manage right now. "How about some more no. With a extra healthy dollop no. With a topping of how about no."

I clutched the sides of the trunk, trying to find some stability. This was way too crazy. I seriously could not be falling for his princely-arsehole-above-all-other-royal-arseholes. I knew better than that. He was rude and cruel and horrible. He had taken me from my family and ruined my life.

I tried to reconcile that person with those feelings, and, honestly, they didn't match up with the person I had fallen on today. The Arion of today had been prickly to start, but had softened as time had passed. He was actually charming, and sweet and funny and understanding. That sounds like such drivel, I argued with myself. Grow up, you know that he'll just go back to being evil once he gets what he wants and you fall for him. You cannot trust him. You're out now. He's trained you, and you can now actually manage this running away thing. You don't need him.

It almost seemed reasonable to run away… But I knew that I did need him, just a little. He was still way better at magic than I was which meant there was a definite chance that I could be recaptured and dragged into Tiernan's clutches. That would be worse that Arion any day, honestly.

I rolled my eyes. "You better walk right on back to that camp," I muttered, frustrated that it was actually considered logical for me to go back to Arion. But I so didn't want to be romantically anything with him, even if I was definitely attracted to him. I decided that I would just accept it and move on. I didn't need to act on it simply because I had felt it so overwhelmingly in that moment.

Turning around and feeling satisfied with my plan, I strolled back to camp. "Business taken care of," I declared. He didn't respond, simply kept staring intently at the fire, which he was working on building yet again. After the lack of silence between the two of us, this was slightly uncomfortable. However, uncomfortable silence was better than an uncomfortable talk about mutual feelings. Which there might not even be, I reminded myself.

It seemed a good idea to join him beside the campfire. I'd show him that I was totally cool about this too. So I did. And we sat in silence for what felt like forever. It was the most awkward thing I've ever done in my whole life, possibly besides that time I tried to ask a guy on a date by giving him a frog in 2nd grade.

I decided that it was a little too much quiet, which was when I threw out the first dumb question that came to mind. "So why are you so different now?"

His gray eyes slid over to me. "What do you mean?" He asked somewhat flatly, though I could tell he was trying to be polite.

I bit my lip. Maybe now was not a good time. "Um… You know what? Never mind, forget it" I stared at the fire, hoping he'd ignore my sloppy attempt at getting conversation started.

It seemed that this was something he was not about to let go, though. "Grace, I know you're still thinking something and I'm dreadfully curious. Do tell." I couldn't tell if his voice was sliding back into that predatory danger zone tone or if it was simply the way his voice sounded when he was trying to coax something out of someone.

"No, really. Nothing." I tried to wave him off again.

"Tell me," he restated. His voice still very calm. Deadly calm, I'd say. Dammit.

"Well. In faerieland… you were... well, I don't think there's a polite way to put this…" I searched for words. Words that would not lead this down the slippery slope that I feared we were heading down. I didn't need more of this. I would fight, but I was tired and I didn't need another visit from old Arion.

"An ass?" He named it bluntly. I gaped at him. "Don't pull punches for me. I'm a man, and I am man enough to recognize my faults. Is that what you thought of me?" He looked at me so hopelessly. Like what I had to answer mattered.

Without further hesitation I said, "Yes. I hated you. And I am afraid that the version of you that I hated can easily come back." The words were delivered with nothing but bland honesty, something new for us. He looked down and prodded the fire. Was that shame I saw on his face? "So why? Why were you like that with me, if you knew?" I tried not to be angry. It may have seeped into my tone more than a little bit. It was hard to hold back. How could he have acted that way to me when he knew he was being cruel?

Arion stood up and turned away from the fire, as though thinking. I understood the need to find the words, but I needed him to speak. I needed him to explain now. He owed it to me, dammit. "You were so… different. Well, not different, really, but different to me." He growled. "I knew what I needed. I needed you to bend to my will and fall for me. I needed you to help me become king, so that my damned brother can't do what he wants with the courts."

"So you were a bastard so you could win me over?" I was furious. Arion was completely using me, which was expected. And I was glad I had not succumbed to him. That fucker.

The prince whirled, his stormy eyes falling on me, gaze intense. "Yes, I was. You were different, remember. Willful, unbridled. As a prince of faerie, others don't stare you down or fight like you did. You were like a stallion that had not yet been broken. And I thought that if I ground you down, you would break. My father and brother thought the same. We were waiting. We were planning to be cruel until you could take it no longer and would fall in line with the rest of the meek or at least publicly quiet women that reside in the courts." He smiled at me. "And after the volta, I knew. I knew you wouldn't break. We could abuse you until your body hurt, your soul ached for home, you needed respite from us, but you would never allow us the satisfaction. You would persevere, Grace. Singular Grace."

He grimaced. "I sound like an idiot. I apologize. But the point is, I… well, I was a complete ass because I had never dealt with a spirited woman quite like you. It sounds fair foolish, but there it is."

"So you were a complete heartless dick because you don't know how to talk to women?"

I couldn't believe that he laughed. "In a way. Honestly though, I'm sorry I put you through hell; I just knew what I needed. And I thought that was the way to reach my end goals. Now I see the better way is simply to appeal to you."

I frowned. "What, so have you only been better to me because you want me to fall head over heels so you can have the throne? This is just an act of another kind?" I felt as though my worries about his manipulating me were justified. And it hurt like hell because it had worked to some extent. I was on to him now.

"No," he said too quickly for my liking. He reached out and touched my forearm, trying to look me in the eye. "That's not…"

I stood, pulling my arm out of his grip as I did so. "Who the hell are you, Arion?" I asked pointedly, almost accusingly. I glared at him, and he walked towards me. He didn't have any of the cat-like mannerisms, or even any fury.

The golden prince reached out to me, the midday sun hanging over his head and turning his wild golden curls into a halo around his face. He was achingly handsome, and the blazing gold crown on his head framed a face that held eyes that were full of his soul. In those gray orbs, there was something sad and lost. This truly ethereal, impossible man who had turned my world upside down was touching my cheek, caressing it gently with a thumb so soft.

"I don't know who I am," he stated, with such naked honesty it shook me to the core. I was blown away. There was the truth about Arion, and he was laying that at my feet. "I am a thing torn between my parents' needs, my peoples' needs and my own needs,. I have been what I need to be." Our eyes remained locked, and he just continued. "For my country and father, I was what I was to you. It was inexcusable." I could tell there was more that he wanted to say, but he seemed to hesitate. Though something in me said that I shouldn't be curious, I wanted to know what it was that he was holding in so badly.

So I asked the first thing that came to mind. "Then why don't you free yourself?" I queried softly. "Get what you need. You can't help the other things without being happy too."

He bit his lip. (Dammit, that was charming and sweet too. Jerk didn't have a right to be that adorable.) "Would that I could, Grace," he replied in an equally gentle volume. That sentence contained such undertones, though. And I knew what the words implied, as he stared with longing, real longing, at me.

You have a choice, a mental voice whispered. You can ignore this. He is offering this to you. You know it. He knows it. You have no obligations.

I'm definitely not ready! I screamed mentally. I'm not ready for feeling this way about him. There's simply too much attached to that.

So I moved away from his touch. Arion tugged his hand back to his side, and looked to the side, hurt, I thought, but understanding as well. I didn't want things to be that way though. I just didn't want to deal with this right now. I offered a smile and tried to open things up again. "So how about some lunch? Care to teach me how you make the rabbits so delicious?"

For a few moments, I thought that he was going to shrug me off. The way he turned for a few moments made it seem as though he thought about shutting me out. However, Arion smiled at me gently as he turned back and said, "Of course, as long as you promise not to burn yourself like a ravenous dolt again."

I knew things weren't back to before. There wasn't the easiness, and the unaddressed thing hung between us like an awkwardly dangling string tying us together. This was better than him brushing me off. And there was always time. Always. "Well, if you didn't keep me waiting for so long, I wouldn't be ravenous, now would I?" I replied snarkily, falling into the banter with ease.

I hoped that sooner or later the meaningless chatter would wash away all that had just happened.