Diana sighed as she put down the book she was attempting to read. Her mind was quite beyond distracted, and she wondered what she had gotten herself into. Simon had gone to help with a banquet the king was throwing, lord only knew for what this time, still she chose not to attend but instead to have some time to herself. Even with time to herself, she could not help but think what Lord Barsham would require of her after they were married. Would she have to pretend to have relations with him? Would he force her to walk about with him just so he could show her off? So many questions ran through her head as a whistle caught her attention. Looking to her right she saw him, Lord Barsham himself. She thought it was true what they said, speak or think of the devil and he appears.

"There you are my dear, I have a gift for you." Lord Barsham said as he went to Diana and took her free and kissing it.

"What gift do you speak of?" she questioned unsure what he would dare give her.

He then placed a small box in her hand. It was what looked to be a handcrafted wooden box and the initial "D" was inscribed on the top. Did he have one for each letter of the alphabet in case he met someone with a different letter?

"Open it." He grinned anxiously.

Diana put her book to the side and turned her attention to the box. She took off the dark green bow and opened the box. Inside was a ring, it was small but quite beautiful. The center stone that stood alone was a sapphire. How did he know that was her favorite gem? She had not even told Simon that.

"Samuel, it's beautiful." Diana said as she looked at the ring.

"Put it on." He encouraged her.

Diana tried the ring on all her finger's, but it only fit on one finger. Her left ring finger. She smiled as she looked at the ring. It truly was beautiful, but she wondered why he had given her a gift at all. As she was about to speak, she saw three ladies off to the side looking at them. They looked to be giddy and giggling as they watched the scene before them. Of course, the ladies in waiting would report not only to the Queen but to the King as well. She had better make it look real then, smiling she grabbed Sam and kissed him. She wanted them to have something good to report, what she did not expect was for Sam to entangle his fingers in her hair and deepen the kiss. Her head was telling her to pull away before it was too late while her body wanted to explore this new sensation she was having. Finally, breathless they pulled away; Sam only winked at her.

"I should buy you gifts more often, wear the ring and think of me every time you look upon it." He grinned and then kissed her cheek and took off.

Diana blinked a few times, trying to process what had just happened. She was unsure of what to make of the whole situation, but she knew for sure that the ladies in waiting go the show they wanted. They took off giggling not too long after Sam took his leave. Going back to her room, she sat there before the fireplace as she tried to think. She knew she would have to marry Sam, but she did not love him. She was completely unaware that Simon had come back, he saw her sitting before the fire and was concerned. He sat down behind her and then held her from behind. Diana leaned back into him; his touch was so comforting.

"He gave me a ring and kissed me today..." Diana confessed knowing Simon needed to know the truth.

"Quite a random thing to do..." Simon asked skeptical.

"There were three ladies in waiting watching us. Simon when I kissed him it did not feel the same as when I kiss you." Diana said as she turned to look at Simon. "I prefer to kiss you."

Simon smiled and kissed her forehead. Just her saying that made him so happy. He hugged her tighter, she however put her arms around his neck and kissed him right on the lips. Simon did not deny her anything, he kissed her back with as much passion as he could muster. He wanted to be Diana's first everything, but he did not know if he truly was her first. Laying her down on the rug, Simon pulled back only for a moment.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to regret anything." Simon asked as Diana blushed and nodded.

"First and new experiences are always the most fun." Diana said as she pulled him down to another kiss. "I promise you Simon I am marrying him only in name, my heart does not belong to him."

Simon took off his shirt and threw it aside, he kissed Diana's neck and held her in his arms being as passionate as he could with her, using his last bit of energy to make sure she was his even if just for this moment in this time period. He wanted to show Diana that even when they left this time, she would still be his and he would still be hers.

The next morning, Simon woke with the birds singing their song loudly in the air. He squinted and looked to the figure laying in his arms. Diana was still fast asleep. She rested well in his arms and he did not regret a thing they did last night. He had given himself fully to her as she had done with him. Kissing her shoulder blade, he prayed she would not regret it either. Diana yawned as she looked up into Simon's eyes.

"Good morning." He grinned as he looked down at her.

"Morning, I don't think that is a night I will ever forget." She smiled as she kissed him.

A loud knock on the door made Diana want to hide.

"My lady! Your wedding dress is here to be altered for you! Please hurry!" a ladies voice spoke from the other side of her door.

Diana grabbed Simon and kissed him deeply before rolling out of bed. Simon was shocked as he watched Diana dress faster than she ever had before. Keeping a sheet over his bottom half, he stood and suddenly got a call on his watch from John, Diana's step father, gulping her looked to Diana.

"What is it?" Diana asked as she put on a normal non fancy dress knowing she would just be changing out of it.

"Your father is calling me, shall I hang myself now or will he do the honor?" Simon asked as he looked at Diana with a contemplated look on his face.

"No, answer it. He will probably update you on something." Diana said as she walked up to Simon. "They can't watch everything. I shut off our watches before our fun last night. He's probably calling about that."

With that, Diana turned and left the room. Simon sighed as he looked down at his watch which was probably forced on due to her mother's access to them. Quickly putting on a night shirt, Simon answered the call and a hologram of John stood before him. John stood tall with his arms crossed behind him.

"Agent, well soon to be agent, care to explain why your communication devices were shut off all of the last twelve hours?" John questioned and Simon gulped.

"Diana wanted some private time." Simon replied with a straight face.

"Private time? In the tudor period? What on earth would she want that for?" John asked as he watched Simon's face closely.

"They were previously engaged in a round of fun last night." Fred answered from his station at HQ both John and Simon could hear his answer.

"Right, well do not let it happen again. If so we will pull you both from this mission." John replied and disappeared from in front of Simon.

Diana stood behind a curtain as three different dresses stood on stands before her. She would truly be looking like a royal thanks to either of the wedding dresses that were before her. The Queen sat with a few of her ladies in waiting, including Anne and Jane, and watched as Diana contemplated the choice before her.

"Try each of them on, then we can help you make the decision cousin." The Queen kindly suggested.

"What of Lady Camile?" Diana asked quickly changing the topic.

"Still in the dungeons, she will not be moved until after the wedding when we bring her before the King and myself. Now Diana try on the dresses, please." The queen insisted.

Diana nodded and went behind another screen. Three women helped her try on the first one but it was far to fluffy and stiff for her to be in let alone get married in. It was onto the next, however it was made of lace and Diana's skin would itch as just the thought of lace. Finally the last one was a perfect fit for her. It was white which was odd for the time period but it was Diana's favorite out of all the others. Putting it on, she looked at herself in the mirror and was shocked. She was really going to have to do this, she was going to get married to a man she didn't know in a time she did not belong in.

"Come round and let us see the last one." The queen called out.

Taking a deep breath, Diana moved to stand before them and all of the women smiled back at her. The queen most of all, she even stood up and circled her cousin all the while with a smile on her face. Then she clapped, this must have meant that she approved of the dress. Diana smiled as the girls all said how beautiful she looked and how happy she must be to be married to someone like Lord Barsham, they all must have forgotten the part where he was sleeping with anyone wearing a dress.

After taking the dress off, Diana walked around the court. She was skeptical about so many things, she truly wanted to get her mission done and over with however that now included getting married. How did her mother ever accept this? Sitting down by the fountain, she picked a flower from the side and began to pick the petals off of it throwing them into the fountain pool. Then thunder cracked over her head, she had no time to react as a massive rainfall came down upon her. Running back through the gardens she tried to reach the safety of the court but felt herself trip over something. She braced herself for the fall that would hurt and bruise her quite a bit yet it never came. She felt as though someone was holding her, looking up she saw it was Sam who was holding her and keeping her from falling onto the ground.

"Bit wet outside today, let's get you inside." Sam said as he moved to pick her up but a sudden pain in her ankle made her cry out in pain. "You must have twisted it, come now I will carry you inside."

"Wait! Are you sure that is a good idea? Won't someone see you doing that?" Diana asked trying to keep the raindrops out of her eyes.

"You mean carrying my injured and almost drenched fiancée out of the rain due to her twisted ankle?" he spoke carefully as though he was making sure he was using all the right words.

It made sense, who else besides him and Simon was even allowed to touch her? No one. Diana nodded and put her arms around Sam's neck. He held her close to him as he made his way inside. Diana turned her head into his neck and she could smell the woods, it was an oddly comforting smell but not the only one the other smelled of firewood. He gripped her tighter as he kicked in a door and made his way into a dry room. He carefully brought her to a chair and sat her down.

"Care to tell me why you were in the middle of a rainstorm?" he asked with a chuckle.

(Dress pictured above, all rights go to the owner. Image used under fair right act.)