Hettie's breath fanned against his lips. It was warm, like peppermint tea. Her tongue darted out to moisten her too dry lips before retreating the way Vom knew he should. The way they both should have pulled back.

The bushes rustled loudly, finally driving them apart. Vom wondered what could have happened if they'd only had a few seconds more. The thought ended even as the images played across his mind. Whatever had disturbed the bushes was only getting louder. It broke every twig in its path on the way to them.

Prince Ettrian tripped over the last tree root and fell across the dirt, laying sprawled at their feet. Leaves peeked through his hair add off angles like the worst kind of accessories. Dirt caked his angular face but it did nothing to detract from the bright shine in his eyes.

"Well there you two are," he shouted. Ettrian shot to his feet and dusted himself off carefully. Most of the dirt remained even after a few passes. "I was so worried you'd gone further. These legs were made for distance after all." He looked at Vom's legs with something resembling envy.

"What are you doing here?" Hettie finally asked. Surprise made her voice raise several octaves higher. Even as her shock and frustration played across her face for anyone to see, her hands on the prince were gentle. She removed the twigs and leaves he had missed, taking great care not to make any snarls or snags in the silky strands.

As expected, the prince easily fell into the role of pampered royal. He sat on the ground in front of her while she worked. His eyelids slid half closed. Any minute and he'd begin purring under her gentle fingers. "I couldn't stay away."

Crouching down in front of them, Vom gripped the man's shoulder firmly. "You have to go back. They'll be in a full panic looking for you."

"You don't understand," Ettrian began, pausing to pull them both side by side in front of him. Somewhere between when they'd left him and now he'd found travel clothes. Not the fancy silks and velvet nobles draped themselves in for long carriage rides, real clothes. The tan leather fit snugly to his body and only the smallest bit of fine cotton poked out from beneath the tunic.

This was not the prince they'd left behind despite the delicate fingers that gripped their wrists. "It wasn't just that I couldn't stay away, I was pulled here. Even if they'd locked me up I would have found a way to find you both." His fingers made gentle paths up their forearms.

Hettie dropped her head into her free hand. "Of course."

"I thought being away from him was supposed to lessen the effects, make them manageable," Vom said. If this was manageable he didn't even want to think about what someone would do under the full effects of the potion. The way the prince was looking at them felt like a physical touch.

"No one has ever been exposed to an entire bottle like this. I can't even be sure she didn't manage to actually get some in his mouth," Hettie said. The crease between her brows got deeper the more she considered the full ramifications. "Gods, I feel like such an idiot."

Both men moved in unison to take one of her hands from where they were pressed to her temples. The movement was so fluid and instinctual they didn't even have to think about it. Thoughts only returned when Hettie stiffened between them.

"Fine, new plan, we all travel together and get those herbs as soon as we possibly can before this," she pointed between all of them after freeing her hands, "goes too far."

"Oh now is it really all that bad?" Ettrian sighed. "I can think of worse ways to spend a night than laying beneath the stars with two gorgeous people sandwiching me between them. To prove his point he lay back on the ground and stretched his arms over his head. "See? Perfect. Except for this rock." He fished a thumb sized stone from under himself while the others turned to their tents.

"You can't see the stars from there, highness," Hettie told him. Above their heads the branches of the trees overlapped too closely for a clear view of the sky above. The trail a few feet away would be clearer but no one brought it up. The campfire's glow kept them close.

Undeterred, Ettrian tried to snag their hands as they moved about the small camp. "You can see them when the breeze shifts the branches. Sometimes just a glimpse of something so amazing is worth the trouble of waiting."

Neither Hettie nor Vom stopped to indulge him, but they didn't shoot him down either. It was only after both of their tents were fully setup and the fire had been fed that they sat back down within arms reach.

"Highness, I don't suppose you brought a tent," Vom said gently. He didn't expect the prince to have experience roughing it in the woods. Even the nights nobles had no choice but to sleep outdoors, their tents were often stuffed with full sized beds, plush carpets and even silk curtains for privacy. The smallest of those polished tents would make Vom and Hettie's look like a piece of cloth draped over a twig.

Ettrian waved a hand lazily in their direction. "No need, my ancestors were created to live in harmony with nature, nothing but body heat to warm ourselves." He waggled his eyebrows at them and ran his hands over the dirt at his side. A beetle clung to his smallest pinky and glittered like a jewel in the firelight.

The prince screamed. No matter how he shook his hand the determined bug clung to him. It took both of them, Vom to hold him down and Hettie to gently pry the beetle free. Ettrian jumped to his feet and ran his hands over every inch of himself. "Obviously I'll need to room with one of you. There are dangerous creatures in these woods."

In the end they sent him to Vom's tent. It was the larger of the two though not large enough to support Etttrian's suggestion to squeeze all three of them into one tent. They had paused long enough to debate the pros and cons of that option.

They'd spent maybe more time than was necessary on the idea.

Finally they were all settled into their tents. Vom kept himself on his side as if that would somehow give both himself and the prince a measure of privacy. He should have known better but it didn't bother him when Ettrian's smaller frame leaned into his broad back. It was warm at least if not horribly cramped.

If he'd known how close they were sleeping, they might have tipped the debate in favor of their list of pros.

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