Deciphers and Dates

Yeah! Finals are over! I think in celebration I’m going to do a longer post than usual (and that it worked out better to extend this post anyway). Whew! Stop rambling. To the story!
********
The lesson with Queen Abigail bothered Martin greatly. Oh, he already knew the answers to the regular questions the men had asked. Any amount of time researching could reveal those answers. No, he had been bothered by what he should ask. He debated asking about courtship, especially when Sona was flirting with him more now than ever, but he figured he could have someone else ask that. He had seen the queen’s look of surprise when she realized that the men actually worried about Santer life more than noble life. No doubt she would now go to all the classes and give them the chance to ask her questions. Martin was fairly certain he could even get Jordan to ask the courtship question for him.

So that left other disturbing questions for him to ask. What was she planning on doing to him when she found out he was the prince? Was he going to be whisked to Nacre? More training? What about his past? He wasn’t willing to tell people he was a street urchin from Loman. And then what about the powers?

Martin clearly remembered earlier in the day when the powers literally forced him to walk away from what he was doing to do something else. While he had learned much from the conversation he overheard, he did not like that he was forced to it. It made him feel like a pawn and that did not sit well with him. He finally decided on that question. He did have stronger powers. How could the queen teach him when she was so much weaker than him?

She is right though, Martin grudgingly admitted. The queen had her powers longer and understood the little she had. She would be able to help him a little…

Sona suddenly emerged from her office, locking it up for dinner. Martin’s thoughts on his Santer powers left as he remembered what he saw on Var’s ankle.

“Sona,” he hailed, quickly walking over to her. The pretty researcher turned around and smiled as he approached. Before she could greet him in return, he leaned close to her ear and whispered. “I’ve found it.”

“It?” she repeated, confused.

“Var’s decipher,” Martin whispered, making sure no one was watching them. “It wasn’t an object. It’s a tattoo on his ankle.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, looking excited.

“Yes,” he answered. “I saw him use it in class.”

“No wonder we couldn’t find it,” she muttered, her eyes distant as she thought. “A tattoo… We’re going to have to copy it.”

“Ask Luke about something to put Var to sleep,” Martin suggested. “We don’t want him to know we’ve got him.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Sona agreed. “Get going. You still have to eat then have fencing. We’ll talk to you afterwards.”

Martin nodded and left, wondering what plan his two friends would come up with. It was frustrating to sit through dinner acting as if nothing was going on. Then he had to suffer through the fencing class and his private one afterwards. While he still wasn’t used to Fall’s teaching methods, he was slowly improving. At least he wasn’t landing on his back as often.

“You’re getting there,” Fall said cheerfully after Martin finally managed to perform a moderately difficult block. “Not the fastest learner I’ve taught, but you are getting there! You should be proud of yourself. Let’s go over it again.”

Martin glared but said nothing and took the standard stance again. Pride often brought people down. It was action that matter, not boasting.

“Looks as if you have friends coming,” Fall said, falling out of the stance and looking across the courtyard. Martin turned to see Luke and Sona watching from the sidelines. “I guess this means we’ll have to cut our session short,” the sword master said, taking Martin’s practice sword away. “Go do what you must.” Martin nodded curtly and strolled over to his two friends.

“Thank you,” he said when he approached. “You got me off early. Perhaps you should come visit me more often.”

“No can do,” Luke said, grinning. “I’ve got Thomas to watch over and Sona’s too busy with work.” A small jerk of the tall spy’s head told him that they needed to move. Together they left, using the less used halls to get away.

“What have you come up with?” Martin asked, knowing that no one was listening.

“This.” Luke produced a small bag from his vest, holding it out. “It’s a sleeping powder that dissolves in water and forms a gas. Anyone in the enclosed area with this in the air will fall right asleep.”

“That’s great,” Martin said, frowning. “But we sort of need to be awake when we copy the tattoo…”

“The gas only lasts half an hour,” Luke assured him. “Though the effects last for six hours. We come by after it is gone and copy the tattoo.”

“You’ll need to deliver it though,” Sona added, walking quickly to match Luke’s and Martin’s long strides. “I was thinking that we do it tonight.”

Martin switched his gaze between Luke and Sona. “Wait… You want me to put all my tent mates to sleep?”

“We don’t want anyone waking up when we come,” Sona pointed out. “It’s safer to have them all knocked out.”

“You realize that I’m also in that tent. I’ll be put to sleep when I let this stuff off.”

“Don’t worry,” Luke scoffed. “I have the antidote. I promise that we’ll wake you up so you don’t miss all the fun.” He handed the bag to Martin. “Put out all the lights in your tent to let us know that you’ve put the powder in water. We’ll wait a half hour before entering, wake you, and copy the tattoo. No one will ever guess we were there.”

“Thanks,” Martin said dryly, stashing the bag in his pocket. “I’ll see you when I wake up.”

When he arrived at his tent, the others were already there. Jordan was sitting on the edge of his cot, looking earnestly at Var and Calvin. The merchant and glassmith both seemed annoyed by it.

“What else was asked?” Jordan was asking when Martin entered the tent.

“Martin had an interesting question,” Var sneered. “But I don’t think we should worry about it. Why should the prince bother learning about his powers? I mean, shouldn’t it be a natural thing to use those powers. He’s had them all his life.”

Martin controlled his expression to uninterested, but he really wanted to scowl. My powers were blocked! How is suddenly having them natural? But he said nothing and dropped onto his bed, not even changing. The others talked for a bit, pretending that he hadn’t even entered the tent. They had come to expect him to be exhausted each night when he returned from his private lessons with Fall. Usually Martin did fall asleep when he returned, but not now. He waited until he heard the others begin climbing into their own beds when he got up.

Pretending to get a drink of water, he listened for them to get settled before pouring the powder into his cup of water.

“Good night all,” he whispered, blowing out the last lantern by the water, plunging the tent into darkness. Taking slow breaths, he returned to his cot, laid on top, and felt the effects of the gas take hold. The others, he knew from the snores, were already fast asleep. He had one last thought before he was taken under.

I hate getting poisoned.
**************
“And there goes the light,” Luke yawned as the light finally went out in Martin’s tent. Sona tried not to fidget as they waited out of sight around the corner of another tent.

“Do you think he’s alright?” she asked softly. Martin didn’t seem very thrilled when he figured out that he was to be poisoned himself.

“He’s fine,” Luke brushed off. The tall spy sat down on the ground, stretched his hands over his head before locking his fingers together and resting his hands behind his head. He leaned back against a tent pole. “Oh, he doesn’t like getting poisoned, but he’ll do it anyway.”

“That’s true,” she reluctantly admitted. She wouldn’t have expected any less from their Alex. Though knowing he didn’t like getting poisoned did get her thinking. What other things did he do that he would rather not?

They waited for the half hour and then some. Luke warned that his calculations might have been a bit off about how long the gas would remain. When she asked him why he hadn’t warned the Alex, he tried to mimic Martin’s shrug. “Because I didn’t want to worry him. He has too much on his mind already.”

Mindful of anyone outside, they stole across a row of tents to get to Martin’s. As Luke predicted, all of the men were sleeping, oblivious to their entry. She was quick to see the Alex laying on top of his cot, still clothed in the attire they had last seen him in. However, before they could wake him, they checked on the other three men.

“My poison took,” Luke whispered cheerfully. “Good to know that the day-in, day-out of cleaning hasn’t ruined my hands.”

“Good for you,” Sona whispered back, jerking her head to where the Alex still slept. “How about waking him up?”

Luke pulled a thin tube from his vest, uncorking it. Suddenly he grinned. “Hey, how about you kiss the sleeping prince into wakefulness?”

“Luke!” she exclaimed, strangling to keep her voice down, knowing her face was beet red. She went to grab the cylinder.

“Come on,” he teased, easily holding it out of her reach. “I know you want to. It’s an enchanted sleep after all.”

“Be serious!” she hissed, finally jumping and getting the tube. Shooting a glare at the chuckling spy, she sat on the edge of Martin’s cot and waved the opening under his nose. He groaned a bit, tilting his head to the side away from the tube. Sona kept waving it until he coughed. She pulled it back as he reached up and rubbed his nose.

“By the Seven Founders!” he swore quietly, propping himself up on his elbows. “Luke! You forgot to tell me that the antidote smells! Ugh! What is it? Rotting fish?”

“That’s one ingredient,” the tall spy smirked. “Now that you’re awake, let’s get the job done.”

Martin glared at the spy but managed to sit up right. After a moment of rubbing his nose again, he got up and came to Var’s cot. Luke busied himself with lighting a lantern as Sona got out her pencil and paper. Uncovering the sleeping glassmith, Martin took the man’s right ankle, pulling the pants back to show the tattoo.

Just a glance told Sona that Martin was right. It was the decipher. Kneeling down, she quickly copied it, herself a very good drawer. It was an interesting decipher; it was like a bulls eye, with three rings. The outer ring had symbols while the inner two had writing characters.

“I can’t believe it,” she muttered, working fast.

“What is it?” Luke asked, holding the light over their head for light.

“It’s a simple code, but it’s not at the same time.”

“Like that made sense.”

“I recognize the inner code,” Martin said, “The outer letter is substituted for one underneath it, but why the symbols?”

“The inner code isn’t that,” Sona whispered, finishing her drawing. “It may look like that, but it’s not. It’s the symbols that dictate the code.”

“Alright,” Luke said, still not following.

“The symbols are an ancient code,” she explained. “They’re actually numbers. I’m guessing that the symbols dictate how many times he has to count on the inner ring from the second ring letter to get the one he wants.”

“And let me guess,” Martin sighed, “When the symbol changes on the message, so does the number that he has to count?”

“Exactly,” she said, growing excited. “With this, I should be able to decode his letter in just a couple of hours!” She paused, watching as Martin positioned the glassmith to how he was. “Brilliant, really,” she added, slipping her copy of the decipher into her satchel. “A tattoo is always dismissed as a decoration; not something useful.”

“Wonderful,” Martin yawned. “Work on it in the morning, can you? I’m exhausted.” He gave Luke a glare before the tall spy blew the lantern out. “I hope that isn’t a side effect of the gas you gave me.”

“It’s not,” Luke assured in the darkness. “They’ll wake up feeling fresher than a spring morning. I’m sorry that you won’t though. You were forced out of your sleep. You may have a headache for the rest of the night.”

Martin groaned. “Thanks. I’ve always enjoyed getting poisoned.”
**********
Thomas had to wait until lunch to get the details of the night’s work. He wished he had been along. Anything was better than spending the evening listening to Lynne talk about her father’s health. Not that he didn’t worry about the lord, but he could only take so much about hearing of Grelend’s gout problem.

“So then Sona started copying the decipher,” Luke was saying. His two friends and him decided to eat outside of the dinning tent, where the hot bodies combined with the hot food and weather to make it almost unbearable to eat. They sat under the shade of a large tree, enjoying the sandwiches Luke had taken from the kitchens so they didn’t have to enter the dinning tent to get their food. “She explains what it is…”

“It’s a number code,” Martin said, covering a yawn. He seemed still a bit tired from the night before. “You know, how you have to count down the letters in the alphabet to get to the letter you want. Only it has two alphabets that you have to count from.”

“As I said,” Luke interrupted, swallowing a bite of food. “She explains it, and we left.” He chuckled a bit, wiping crumbs from his mouth. “She’s probably busy working on that code right now.”

“You can’t blame her,” Thomas pointed out. “She’s been trying to whittle down who the prince is and the queen won’t let her dismiss any of the men.”

Martin choked on his bite, coughing to clear his throat. “You mean,” he said, coughing the last bit out. “Sona’s trying to remove men? What evidence does she have?”

“She’s read up on Santer magic,” Thomas explained. “She was at it nearly all winter. She may know more about your magic than the queen does.”

“That’s delightful to know,” Martin grumbled. “Now I have to be extra careful around her.”

“Oh,” Luke teased, slapping the Alex on the back, “don’t be so worried. The longer you don’t react to her flirting, the more money I get!”

Martin frowned, giving their tall friend a confused look. “What do you mean? What money?”

“He’s talking about the bet the Tree has about you and Sona,” Thomas explained with a yawn. “You know us spies, we gossip about everything, and the two of you are a great source. Everyone is either holding out for you to not court her while the others are saying that Sona will get you.” He laughed, remembering when the queen heard about it. “Even the queen made a bet!”

Martin froze, putting on his unreadable mask. “The queen made a bet?”

“Yep,” Luke chuckled. “Her bet is a bit overdue, but that happens. Personally, my bet was placed on you’d be too scared to ask our researcher out.”

Their friend didn’t answer, rubbing his face in thought. “If the queen made a bet…” Suddenly he stood and walked purposefully for the mansion.

“Hey!” Luke called after, scrambling to his feet and catching up, he pulled in front of the Alex and stopped him. “Where are you going?” Thomas also got up, recognizing the determined expression Martin wore.

“I think,” the duke answered before the Alex, awed, “that he’s going to ask her out!”

Luke looked confused for a moment before it also hit him. Spinning around, he grabbed Martin by the shoulders. “Martin,” he said tensely, “don’t do it.”

“Why not?” Martin asked, smirking. “The queen sees no problem with it.” Brushing Luke’s hands aside, he went again for the mansion. Luke gave him a worried look before following after the Alex.

Oh, dear, Thomas thought with a sigh, following after the two. Luke wasn’t going to win this fight; once Martin had his mind on something, it took a lot to get him to change his mind.

He could have waited until after lunch, he thought as they came to the hall Sona’s office was. Then we wouldn’t have abandoned lunch. But neither of his friends seemed too concerned about food at the moment. Luke was still trying to convince the Alex to walk away in a low whisper that people couldn’t hear, while Martin just ignored him.

“Listen,” Martin said, pulling up short a few doors away from the researcher’s. “I know that you’re concerned. You have every right. But what is wrong with this?”

“Everything,” Luke said through his teeth, his head whipping around to make sure they were alone. “You are the prince! You have a duty to this nation....”

“Santers have married commoners before.”

“That was hundreds of years ago,” Luke pointed out. “We live in modern times when nobles marry nobles, and commoners keep their noses out of it. Do you think that she’ll respond favorably when you tell her the truth?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I guess I’ll find out.” They all turned when the lady in question left her office. Giving them a don’t-try-to-stop-me look, Martin purposefully walked away.

“Sona!” he hailed, stopping the researcher. Sona paused, turned, and smiled as he approached. They were too far away for Thomas and Luke to hear what they were saying; but judging from Sona’s lightening expression and Martin’s relaxed stance, the Alex was laying on some heavy flirting.

“He wouldn’t,” Luke whispered, looking worried. “He shouldn’t…”

“I don’t think we can apply normal prince rules to him,” Thomas pointed out. “There’s no way that he can be a traditional prince.”

“But what if…” Luke stopped short, turning a bit white. Thomas turned around to see the queen approaching them.

“What’s happening here?” she asked as they bowed to her. She glanced down the hall where Martin was still talking to Sona. The researcher was laughing at something he had just said.

“Well,” Thomas coughed, exchanging nervous glances with Luke. “I think… Martin’s asking Sona out.”

Queen Abigail spun on them, eyes wide. “Really?”

At that moment, even from their distance, they heard Sona’s squeal of surprise. Her face lit up, nodding happily. Though Martin’s back was to them, they could also tell that he was smiling. After a few more words, the researcher laughed and walked away, a distinct bounce in her step. Martin finally turned around and joined them again, the smirk on his lips revealing his success.

“Your Majesty,” he said, bowing to her when he joined them. “May I request a pass for all of tomorrow? One for Sona as well?”

Abigail grinned; she looked as if she wanted to clap in excitement. “Of course!”

Thomas coughed politely, snapping his fingers at Luke. “You owe me.”

Grumbling, Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin, grudgingly tossing it at the duke. “Thank you!” Thomas said cheerfully, about to pocket the coin when the queen also coughed, holding her hand out.

“I believe both of you owe me,” she said sweetly, grinning. Thomas sighed and handed over his won coin while Luke grumbled again to find another coin.
************
Martin waited in the stables for Sona to turn up, the written pass from the queen held in his hands. He kept checking the papers, knowing that everything was in order. The guards at the gate wouldn’t stop them from going into the town. But still he was nervous.

I have every right to be nervous, he thought. It’s my first date. Now that was an odd thought he still wasn’t used to. To get his mind off of it, he decided to check on Rowan. The elven horse was still as content as could be, especially after Martin had gotten up early to ride him. It did both of them good to ride out their extra energy after being cooped up for so long. Not that it really helped Martin. He was more nervous than before.

“Martin!”

He turned around to find Sona quickly crossing the stables. He felt the blush heat his face. She always looked very pretty, but today it seemed as if she took extra effort to enhance her beauty. She wore a nice green dress that nicely fit her figure with a dark red sash as a belt. Her hair, while normally pulled back in a bun or tail, cascaded down her back in soft curls. But it was that sincere smile that brightened her face and lit those green eyes that made him blush.

“Sona,” he finally said, finding his tongue. He left Rowan’s stall and closed the door, smiling at the pretty researcher. “You look amazing.”

“Thank you,” she said, blushing. She looked him up and down. Martin suddenly wished he had something nicer to wear, but all he had were tanned pants, dark blue shirt, and a grey vest. They were the only clothes he had that didn’t look as if he had spent his days on the road. He had briefly considered asking Calvin if he could borrow something of his, but dismissed the idea. Calvin was at least a half foot shorter than him and he would have looked ridiculous with his clothes too short.

“You look nice,” she said, eyeing the papers in his hand. “You got the passes?”

“The queen herself signed it,” Martin said, handing over her pass. “Did you know about the bet that was going around the Tree about us?”

Sona frowned as they started walking toward the gate. “No, I wasn’t aware.” Then it dawned on her as she connected the dots. “The queen made a bet?”

“A very good one too apparently,” he chuckled. “She collected her money from Luke and Thomas.” She laughed. It wasn’t too long that they arrived at the gate and showed their papers to the guards. The guards looked a bit surprised at Sona’s papers, then stared at Martin. Even the guards heard of Sona’s rule of no touching. Curious, Martin opened himself to their emotions, allowing the shock and wonder hit him. These men probably wondered how he managed to get Sona to agree to this outing. Giving them a discrete wink that Sona couldn’t see, Martin led the researcher out of the mansion ground and into the town.

“So what are we planning on doing?” Sona asked as they wandered through the streets. The small city of Salmon was a lot like other towns. It surrounded the gate of the lord’s estates and was bursting with energy. People worked and played around them, continuing their lives as if there wasn’t anything important happening at the mansion.

There was one oddity of the city, however. There were a lot more inns and merchant houses than normal. This was due to the excellent position the town had to the nearby Raven Pass. Merchants from both sides of the pass found this place to be the ideal location for merchant festivals and market selling.

“Well,” Martin said, his destination in mind after talking with Calvin the night before, “I hear that a traveling festival has showed up a few days ago and they set up shop just outside of town. I thought it might be fun…”

“A circus?” she asked, looking excited. “I haven’t seen one in years! Not since I joined the network! Oh, thank you!” Martin laughed and extended his arm to her.

“Then let’s not waste time wandering here.” She grinned and took his arm.

Despite it being still fairly early in the morning, there were already a lot of people at the circus. They had to wait a half hour in line to get to the ticket booth to buy their entrance. But once they were inside, the crowds gave away as the circus opened up to their different attractions. Sona was grinning broadly, trying to look at everything at once. Martin, however, was a bit more reserved, though he did notice everything around him. Even the pickpocket who was busy stealing from the man behind them.

“I don’t know what to do first,” she said, tugging on Martin’s arm. “How about some games?”

“Sure,” he said with a shrug, keeping note that the pickpocket had moved to a different person to rob.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, her happiness dimmed down a bit. “Don’t you like circuses?”

“I’ve never been to one before,” he confessed.

She stared at him, shocked. “Never?”

He shrugged. “I’ve always been too busy.”

“Well then,” she said, taking a firmer grip on his arm. “I just need to show you how fun they are!”

The first stop she had him try were the games. There were at least a hundred games to play, each, he noticed, a bit skewed against the players. When he mentioned it to Sona, she just chuckled.

“I know they cheat a bit,” she brushed off. “But it is fun trying to win.” Martin just shook his head. How was being cheated fun? The last game Sona said they would play was a tossing game. Martin wondered briefly why should would pick this game, since there were a dozen more like it, when he saw her glance briefly at the prize, a very pretty handcrafted silk rose.

“Should I win that for you?” he asked. She blushed as she realized that she had been caught staring.

“I doubt you could,” she said, smiling bashfully. “But it’s a sweet thought.”

“Oh,” Martin brushed off, stepping up to the woman who ran it. “It’s no problem.” Especially if he cheated a bit too.

Taking care of his stance, he took the three balls. The point of the game was to toss the balls into the jugs. The farthest jug was the price for the silk rose. I shouldn’t win until my last ball, he thought, tossing and missing the first two balls for the jug. The woman grinned as he prepared his last ball. He had managed to close a door with his powers, even smoothed some water so he could see, getting the ball to fit in that small hole should be easy…

Focusing, he actually felt the ball in his hand with his mind. He could also feel the hole in the jug he wanted the ball to go in. It was a very strange feeling. He tossed it, careful to make it seem like a slow toss. Even as the ball left his hand, he still felt it in his mind. Directing it was easy, it followed a seemingly normal arch and landed directly into the hole. Everyone cheered as it neatly plunked into the jug. Even the woman smiled. She reached behind her and took the silk rose and gave it to him.

“For your girl,” she said, winking. “Nice touch.” Returning her smile, Martin presented the rose to Sona. She took it, wonder and pleasure in her smile as she held it.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Without warning, she hugged him. Martin didn’t remember what happened right after that, grinning as Sona told him it was time for lunch.

There were several food booths but he and Sona opted for a chilled meal of cheese and bread. They found an unused bench and talked as they ate. Martin thoroughly enjoyed spending this time with her, alone. They didn’t talk about the war, or the prince, or even other spies. They just talked about whatever came to their minds. He found out that she liked spicy foods, dancing, and riding. She in turn pulled out of him that he enjoyed reading adventure books, sailing, and that he was absolutely terrified of heights.

“You’re scared of heights?” she asked, crumpling up her used wrapper.

“Been since I as long as I can remember,” Martin said, smiling weakly. “I avoid tall places as much as possible.”

She chuckled, letting him take her wrapper. “Then I guess I shouldn’t suggest any rides for you. What should we do this afternoon?”

“You figure that out as I throw these away,” he said, standing up. When he got back, she was beaming.

“I found out that they have a zoo,” she said, taking his offered arm again. “Let’s go there.”

Martin was a bit surprised by all the animals the circus kept, even a bit more surprised that the majority of the animals were kept out of their cages, with the close eye of a performer holding a leash on them. While he was sure that the animal keepers were very good at keeping their animals under control, Martin kept his mind open to the emotions of those around them. If anything happened, he would be the first to know about it.

Walking among the animals, however, did not prove to be dangerous. There were the desert animals of the south which enjoyed the heat of afternoon by sleeping, sea creatures in their own pool of water splashing around with balls and to the enjoyment of their audience, tropical birds were kept in cages and singed sweet melodies, small animals were even sold to be pets.

But the most interesting animal both of them found were the monkeys. The monkeys were highly trained and preformed tricks for the people. Sona laughed as one monkeys landed on her shoulder and put a flower in her hair before returning to its master.

“For a pretty lady!” the man said, bowing dramatically. “May the beauty of your smile always bring joy into the world!”

“Show off,” Sona muttered to Martin as the master ordered his monkey to give a little boy a toy. “I bet he tells that to every pretty face he sees.”

“Perhaps,” Martin teased. “But you do have a pretty smile.” Then, on impulse, he took her hand in his, kissing it lightly. Sona blushed, biting her lower lip even as she smiled. After they left the monkey show, neither had let go of the others hand.

As evening fell, they grabbed another bite to eat and walked around the circus again. When Sona started stifling yawns, he gently squeezed her hand. “Perhaps we should go back,” he suggested. “We stay out here any longer and we’ll fall asleep on our feet.”

Sona chuckled, squeezing his hand back. Walking close to him, she rested her head on his shoulder. “I suppose so. It’s been a long, but fun, day.”

When they reached the mansion, they had to show their passes again to gain entrance. Apparently rumor of their going out had reached these new guards and they stared openly, disbelieving, that Sona was holding his hand. Martin pretended to ignore the stares this time, though he was really quite pleased. Yes, you don’t see wrong. Sona likes me, not you.

As Martin walked her to her rooms, found in the guest wing of the mansion, they didn’t encounter anyone else, even with his mind open to the emotions, there was no one close to see them. He didn’t mind.

“Well,” he said as they stopped at her door and she unlocked it. “Here we are. Thank you for a wonderful day.”

Sona laughed, taking his hand and squeezing it. “I should thank you. I’ve had a wonderful day.” She suddenly acted bashful, looking up at him through her eyelashes. “Perhaps we should do it again?”

Martin chuckled, returning her squeeze. “Sooner than later, I hope!”

“Good,” she said, smiling. She then bit her lower lip, as if considering something. Before he could ask her what she was thinking, she stood on her toes and pressed her lips against his. Martin froze, every thought suddenly gone; it even took him a moment to realize what she was doing. She was kissing him! But before he could react, she pulled away, her face the reddest he had ever seen it.

“Good night!” she said quickly. She dashed into her room and closed the door. Martin just stood there, staring at the door, his mind too shocked to do much more. His feet started moving of their own accord, taking him back to his tent. However, when he reached the end of the hall, he paused and glanced back at her door. Then he chuckled, walking away, everything suddenly seemed right again.
*********
Sona was trying to work in the library, the decipher and several coded letters spread out on the table before her. Although she could have worked in her office, she really needed the space and windows in the library. The day was just too good to sit in a walled in office. But she really did need the space to work on the codes. Sergeant had brought her several more coded letters that Var had written; the large woman was very good at getting those letters. Though while Sona tried to work on these papers, her mind kept wandering back to the day before.

She wasn’t expecting Martin to so suddenly ask her out; she had been waiting it for some time, but to actually hear it had been a surprise. What else could she say but yes? And when he took her to the circus! It still made her smile. It had been a lot of fun showing him around, watching as he slowly relaxed out of the shell he kept around his emotions. There was a man behind the adventures she read and that man was so much more fascinating than the spy.

And then… she kissed him. Sona felt her face getting red just thinking about it. He was obviously shocked, no more than her after she realized what she had done. She had done it on an impulse. I mean, she thought, not really seeing the letter in front of her, he was the one who grabbed my hand first… But after she thought about it, once her heart stopped racing and her head cooled, she wondered if she had overstepped. He really hadn’t done anything to kiss her back…

Work, she tried to tell herself, shaking her head. I have to work on this. Even as she thought that, she wondered where Martin was today. It was midday break…

“What are you working on?”

Sona nearly jumped a foot in the air. Before she could even turn around to see Martin, he sat down beside her, grimacing a bit as he picked up one of the coded letters. She watched him nervously. He didn’t seem upset about last night’s kiss…

“Just trying to decode…” She was cut short as Martin pressed his lips against hers. Sona completely forgot what she was saying, her attention focused on him. When he broke off, she coughed slightly, trying to gather her wits.

“Well,” she said breathlessly, trying to think of something to say. “That was unexpected…”

Martin placed his elbow on the table and leaned his head against his hand, his eyes narrowing a bit though he smiled. “I’m sorry. I haven’t had much experience kissing.”

Sona chuckled softly, the meaning of his words finally making sense. So that’s why he froze last night. No one has kissed him before.

“Very well,” she sighed dramatically, matching his smirk. “You may practice on me.” She held up a hand as he leaned forward again, placing a finger on his lips. “Ah,” she went on in a low tone, “only to a certain extent will I let you practice.”

He chuckled, taking her hand so he could lean toward her again. “You’ll warn me if I get close to that extent?”

She smiled as she leaned to meet him. “You’ve seen my knives.” She stopped talking as she let him practice his kissing.
***********
That date was… interesting to write… A little sappy for me (very well; honestly, it was very sappy for me). And I don’t know much about that kissing scene. I’m still VLC so that description is a bit… strange to me. I can’t decide if I need to revise of all that yet or not. I’m just going to have to let it sit for a good couple of months before I can return to it. If I do make changes, I’ll try to let you all know.

Now with decipher in their possession, and a romance building, my characters are about to stumble onto something big. They don’t know it yet, but it is going to be huge! I think, perhaps by the end of January to mid February, it’ll all come to a head. Ah, it gives me warm fuzzy feelings when I think about it.

That’s it for this week! Enjoy the journey!