Questions rushed her mind all at once but Mynera couldn't focus on any of it. There were too many, they were too fast. Some loud and demanding, others low, a whisper that seemed to already know the answer even when the question was asked. There was so much going on in her head right then and there that she would have surely stayed in the water until she shriveled up like a prune if the handmaids hadn't come for her.

"M'lady?" one called and she flinched at the interruption.

"Y-yes?" she answered, her voice croaky from disuse.

"Are you almost done, m'lady? You've been in the water for a while now."

"O-oh, have I?" She laughed nervously. "I'm sorry. I'll be back in a second. You two do not need to worry. You can go back now."

Mynera crawled out of the river as their footsteps went away. The night air was now too cold and she rushed to put on her scents and pull the flowing nightdress up her hips and over her shoulders.

Saenar has a lover.

It was still unbelievable. So unbelievable that she laughed, but to her ears it sounded like a bark.

My future husband has a lover.

She shouldn't be so surprised. Plenty of married men had whores. It was a common practice. That he had one before the marriage even begun was a bit of a shock but so what? He was eighteen. He had needs. All men do. They didn't know how to control themselves , so blaming Saenar for having a lover wasn't really the solution.

Besides, she knew he hated her. She could see it in his eyes every time he looked at her, could hear it in his voice every time he spoke. She didn't know why and frankly she didn't care much. But now she knew. He hated her because she was his soon to be wife and not his precious Charmaline. 

Well, it didn't matter if he hated her. She hadn't done anything wrong. She had been forced into this just as much as he was. So what if she didn't have anyone she loved? That person might be out there and he was standing in the way of that. Wives with lovers wasn't a much practiced occurence and it would be much worse when she was queen. No, she may never find the one she was destined for. All because she had to marry her beloved betrothed.

Charmaline and Saenar could go screw each other for all she cared. They were meant for each other. The girl who wanted to marry the prince and the prince who wanted to marry her. She could just step out of the picture and let them have their happily ever after.

The hell she will.

Why was she so angry anyway? Why did she cared what he did? He's nothing to me, she reminded herself. Merely a partner in a wedding transaction, that was all. That was all she needed from him. His name, a ring and his seed. Nothing else mattered because nothing else should.

So why was she digging her toes into the ground like a bird?

"Oh, damn him," she muttered, coming to her senses. She should march right into camp and congratulate him. That way she knew she didn't care.

Mynera headed back, her used clothes clutched in her hands. The handmaids were waiting for her at the camp and as soon as they spotted her, they ran to take the clothes. She thanked them with a smile but it felt false against her teeth.

She needed sleep. Yes, that was it. She was tired and so she was feeling things she wouldn't normally feel. Her mind and body was too tired to put up a defense; she was sure of it.

Sighing softly to herself, Mynera walked to her tent. There was silence in the camp now, almost everyone sleeping. She paused when she came to the prince's tent but then forced herself to continue, not trusting what she might do if she lingered any longer.

Yes, all she needed was sleep and this whole thing won't seem so bad by the morn.

The next morning was bright. Seemingly too bright for Mynera's dull mood. The sunlight slipped through the openings in the tent, shining directly in her eyes and preventing her from getting any more rest. She wasn't a morning person, plain and simple, but she learnt how to control her annoyance when waking up so early.

So when the king swept into the tent, showering the inside with bright light and paying scant regard to her state of under dress, she bit her bottom lip, holding back the angry words she had been ready to let loose. The king was already dressed, in brown tweed vest with gold trimmings, matching pants and a sword slung to his side. He looked down at Mynera with a tiny smile.

"'Tis bright as day out there, my lady," King Damon said. "I would have thought that you would be already up."

Mynera came to her feet gracefully. She made a sloppy curtsy but she didn't care. She was tired and he was in her space. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I told the maids to leave me be a while longer for I was truly worn out."

"The whole camp is up and we're all worn out. What makes your situation any different from the rest?"

"Nothing, Your Majesty. You're right. I shall get dressed right away. Are they almost ready to depart?"

"Yes, almost. Be quick about it. We have no time to waste. I would like to be back in my own bed and not sleeping on this hard ground as soon as I possibly can.."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The king swept back out of the tent and Mynera made a fist to channel her anger. It was the king, she told herself. He had the right to be anywhere he wanted. But it wasn't getting through to her. Not when she was tired, undressed, and had a mind full of adulterous princes.

The handmaids came in to help her and she didn't mind. They dressed her quickly in a green dress, similar to the blue, except it had no cape. She exited the tent to see everyone hurrying about, re-saddling horses and taking posts around the king, who stood in the centre by the dead fire talking to his son.

When she came out into the open, the prince turn and looked at her and she felt her anger return. But why am I still angry? 

There was no answer but she didn't have any time to think of one because the prince had come running up to her.

He took her hand a placed a gentle kiss upon the back. "My lady. I trust you had a good sleep?"

Mynera slowly withdrew her hands from his. "Yes, actually, I slept very well last night," she lied. "Thank you."

"I'm glad to hear that. I, on the other hand, feel as if I slept on a rock. My back is terribly sore."

"Is it? You should get someone to rub that for you," she said dryly.

"I should, shouldn't I? But I do not want that old medic man touching my back. His fingers feel like wet paper on my skin. No, I would much rather have a pretty maiden rub the aches from my back."

"There are many pretty maidens around here," Mynera said, watching his face closely to see if she could gauge a reaction. "You could ask any one of them. Unless you already have one in mind."

Saenar gave nothing away. Instead of blushing, or looking away guiltily as she expected, he looked down at her and smiled. The first time he ever smiled at her. Something was up. "Is there anyone fairer than my betrothed?"

"I don't know, Your Highness. Is there?"

"You know more than I do that you are a beautiful woman--"

"And you know that I have enough brains to match my beauty and what you're doing now isn't normal."

Saenar stiffened. "What am I doing?"

"Tell me, Saenar. Did you just wake up this morning and decided that you would be fond of me or was that feeling building momentum until you could no longer hold it in?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Because I seem to remember a time when you didn't care about my beauty. You didn't care about me at all. Why the sudden change of heart, Saenar?"

"I'm merely paying a little more attention to my betrothed."

"Oho! Is that what you think I want? Attention?" Mynera smiled at him, rage boiling inside her. She could see it bubbling inside him too. Good. She preferred him angry over whatever he had been just now. "Don't worry, my dear prince. If I wanted attention there are other people I could get it from."

Saenar was close to exploding. She saw it in the way his jaw twitched and his eyes turned cold. She didn't care. He could get angry all he wanted.

Done with the conversation, Mynera twirled on her heels, her hair flashing out behind her. 

Saenar was not letting her go that easy. He was not the type to let an argument drop like that. He should have let her walk away. To hell with her, she was a pain anyway. They didn't have to talk until the wedding and that was fine with him. So he didn't know why he pulled her arm, holding her there, and he didn't stop to question himself.

Mynera whirled around, shocked. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"I wasn't done talking," he snarled.

"Well, I was!" She wrenched her hand free from his. "We don't need to do this, Saenar. We don't need to talk, to be friendly, and to put on a show for everyone to see. We don't even have to smile at each other. Everyone knows this is an arranged marriage, so no one really expect us to love each other. You do not have to do me any favours."

"You think I'm doing you a favour?" He sounded surprised.

"Well, aren't you? Are you telling me that you're talking and smiling at me because you want to?"

His sudden silence spoke volumes. "See?" she said. "You're trying to do me a favour and that needs to stop."

Mynera walked away again but this time, he didn't try to stop her. He just stood there staring into her back. He didn't understand her at all. Wasn't this supposed to be what she wanted? Attention from her betrothed?

He knew the answer as soon as he asked the questions. Mynera didn't want any of that. She didn't need any of it. He could continue hating her without having to put those feelings aside for a moment and converse with her. She practically told him to leave her alone, so that was exactly what he was going to do.

Saenar turned on his heel and walked the other direction. He should just ignore her completely. See how she liked that. His anger didn't dim in the least when he grabbed the reins from the hands of the groom as it was being handed to him and he mounted his horse in a frightening speed. He pressed his thighs against the stallion and the beast began to run.

He didn't know if everyone parted the way because of the dangerous beast thundering his way through, or from the murderous look on his face that screamed he would run them over in a second and not care. Either way, the camp parted in two as he rode like hell away from everyone, including the infuriating woman currently sitting atop her horse watching him with calm eyes.

**

Gorgo's face split in two with a wide grin. He had been watching the altercation between the prince and Lady Mynera and it amused him to no end. To think the two hated each other. And all this time, Gorgo thought they were in love. What a hoot.

"Ya' missed it, Tim," Gorgo laughed from his post behind the large coverage of the trees. "They just had a fight!"

"I heard it," Tim said boredly. His long legs were stretched out before him, his head resting on the soft leaves of a bush. He had his eyes closed, obviously not as interested in the lover's spat as his friend was.

"Yeah, but ya' missed it!" Gorgo turned his head back to the scene, chuckling when he saw the prince jump atop his horse and ride as if the devil was on his heels. He laughed even harder when he heard the angry shout of the king, and the horde of people following the nobles set off behind his furious son. Gorgo turned back to Tim and poked him excitedly. "Ya' should have seen their faces! She was all angry an' heated an' he was all cold an' frigid. Gave me goosebumps. Look!"

Tim pushed Gorgo's hand aside, not sparing a single glance on his partner's hairy arms. "Don't ya think it's about time we went back to tha' boss?"

"Ya' sure?" Gorgo asked, sobering up. "He tol' us to confirm tha' princeling and tha' lady going back to tha' capital."

Tim quirked his brow at the dust stirred up in the prince's wake. "I think dat confirms it enough. Don't ya'?"

"Aye. Den leggo, we can't keep Lord Gavin waiting."

Tim nodded and got his feet, brushing the dirt and thistles off his backside. Gorgo did the same, and the both nodded to each other before heading back to the camp waiting for them deeper inside the forest.