The birds woke her with their mating songs that rang peacefully into her ear.

It was very rare for her to have a dreamless peaceful sleep, so she woke with a smile on her face as she stretched and blinked her eyes open. She was nose to nose with a pair of captivating gray eyes that stared into her soul and melted her heart into a puddle right where she lay.

“Good-morning.” Lugo whispered.

She blinked – once, twice – her eyes flared and her cheeks flushed a beet red.

She screamed and pressed the blanket to her chest, kicking her legs till she fell off the bed with a house shaking thud. She scooted away from the bed and covered herself as much as she could, feeling naked and exposed. “What the hell are you doing in my room?!”

He sat up in bed, topless, tanned copper skin, looking lean and toned. His shorts hang just below the ‘v’ of his waist with a thin silver haired lining leading down from his naval. “You’re room?” He said with a tilt of his head. “This is my room. What are you doing in ‘my’ room?”

“Wh-?” She glanced around the familiar room, but it was no longer hers. She searched the corners of her mind, thinking back to what happened last night. “You! You fell asleep in ‘my’ bed so I came here. I locked the door! How did you get in?!”

“It’s ‘my’ room. Of course I have the key.” He said, waving his key in the air as he stood up. His morning wood bulged out of his trousers. Her eyes were drawn to it like a fish to a wriggling worm.

She screamed again and quickly covered her head with the blanket.

She had seen it so many times before, but this was different. This wasn’t her job, this was – Lugo.

“What? Too big for you?” He chuckled haughtily. “You act like you don’t get it every morning.”

“Every morning?!” She gasped from beneath the covers, clenching her eyes as though they might see right through the blanket.

“Yes every…wait…”

Was she too obvious? Did he figure it out?

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

She started to panic and tried to come up with an excuse – something – anything.

“Are you impotent?” He gasped, and she froze. “Is that why –” He covered his mouth. “That explains a lot!”

“What?!” She threw the blanket off her head and glared at him. He was sitting on the bed and he had the pillow in his lap, which was to much of her relief.

“Oh, it makes so much more sense now! Is that why you won’t go to the bathhouse? Or sleep with people?” His mouth shaped into an oval as his jaw dropped like he had an epiphany.

“No!” She screeched.

“It’s okay.” He nodded slowly. “I’ll keep your little secret. But, don’t worry, it’s not like we go measure ourselves at the bathhouse. We just go there to bathe and help scrub each other's backs. It's a good relaxing time. I’m still going to bring you, in fact you know what, why don’t I take you today?”

She chuckled nervously. “No, thank you.” She got up and ran out of the room with the blanket firmly wrapped around her like a mummy.

She ran into her room and slammed the door shut, locking it behind her. The unwelcomed picture of him kept popping up in her head, flushing her cheeks, but she couldn’t get rid of the memory. Her heart just continued to race like she had just finished running a marathon.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” She hissed and slapped her cheeks, hard enough to leave a sting. She let out a high pitched whine and slumped to the floor placing her head in between her knees.

After collecting her composure, she bound her chest and dressed before leaving for the orphanage.

“Are you avoiding me?” Lugo caught up to her in the street. “Why are you mad at me when you were the one sleeping in ‘my’ bed? ‘I’ didn’t do anything wrong!”

“You fell asleep in ‘my’ bed and then you have the galls to return to your room after I had fallen asleep.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize how tired I was, and your bed was so comfortable, I didn’t realize I fell asleep. Besides, I didn’t even know you were sleeping in my room.”

“Uh huh. I’m sure you did that on purpose. Besides, the beds are the same! How can one be more comfortable over the other?”

“Well, your bed – smells good.” He mumbled.

“What?” She blushed. She had thought it was ‘his’ bed that smelled good.

“I don’t know, but it’s like you have a smell that just soothes me to sleep, I can’t help it.” He smiled sheepishly.

“It’s called a shower.”

“Hey! I shower!” He pouted.

She watched him rub a crust from his eye and she let out a snort, shaking her head.

“Darlin’s! Great, you’ve all arrived.” Jenene clasped her hands gleefully.

“All of us?” Tsugi turned around and found Ellie standing right behind them.

She and Lugo both screamed in fright, splaying their fingers on their chest, as if to contain their heart.

{What?} Ellie furrowed her brows at the both of them.

{Were you behind us this whole time?}

{Yes, I followed Lugo when he chased after you.}

{I didn’t even hear you.}

Ellie chuckled. {Seems like I’m not the only deaf one.}

“Alright, so I have a request here that will require the three of you.” Jenene placed a parchment on the counter.

[Request: Safely escort Princess Aylin and Princess Maki to the royal masquerade.

Please arrive by the twentieth day of the eleventh month. After they have arrived, you will be relieved of your duties and are free to do as you wish.

Thank you in advance.

-Lord Peylo]

“Oh, we get to see the good ole princess again.” Lugo smiled.

Tsugi’s eyes darted to him with a twinge of anger boiling from her stomach. “Why? You going to propose this time?” She sneered.

“Ha! I barely know her. Besides, I’m sure she’s going to find someone better at the masquerade.”

A small sense of relief filled her and her tense shoulders relaxed a little.

Ellie nudged her. {You are jealous!} She smirked. {You like him!}

{No!} Tsugi gave her a threatening glare. {No I don’t! He’s just my friend and I’m only looking out for him.}

{Sure, of course, whatever you say.} She smirked knowingly..

{I don’t like him like that!}

Ellie pursed her lips and shrugged defensively. {I didn’t say anything.} She smiled wryly and reached over to sign her name onto the document. {I’ll be heading back first to pack.} She waved and raised her suggestive brows at Tsugi before turning on her heels and headed out the door.

Tsugi sighed and shook her head as she, too, signed her name. “Done.”

“Alright. Time to go on another journey!” Lugo smirked, full of energy like he always is. “Oh, and don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the bathhouse. I may not be able to take you today, but we are traveling through Listoria.”

“Kill me now.” Tsugi muttered under her breath. “You don’t have a door that’ll take us straight to the Royal Kingdom? Or even a door that’s closer?”

“Nope, not this time. We need to go back through the dark forest, up to Listoria and down the other side of the path to the ocean. It’ll take us ten days alone just to cross the water.”

“Damn – we have to go through that darn forest again?”

“Yeah, sorry. I don’t have any doors between here and there.”

“Darn. Alright.” Tsugi sighed and hung her head in disappointment. “That forest gives me the creeps.” She shuttered, remembering the wraiths.

“Hey, there are fewer of us, so if we only travel with the bare minimum, we should be able to make it through faster.” Lugo shrugged.

***

“I spoke too soon.” Lugo grumbled.

Dawn hasn’t even arrived yet and at the front gates of the castle, the servants were loading up a wagon with chests and luggage, as much as they had the last time they left Mitheryn. “Do you really need all this stuff?” He approached Princess Aylin, who was directing where to put the boxes.

“Yes. It’s items for the long journey, gifts for the royalties and dresses for the masquerade.”

Lugo sighed, feeling vexed, rubbing furiously at his eyebrows – any harder and he’d be brow-less by the time this journey is over. “It’s not safe to travel with so many things. You don’t remember what happened to our luggage the last time? We didn’t even make it back with the carriage.” He couldn’t hide the irritation in his voice – or perhaps he didn’t want to.

“Well, we are not traveling with children and we are all more than capable adults who can fight, so I’d say we are better off than last time.”

“Alright,” Lugo put his hands up in surrender, “just don’t blame me if we lose the wagon again. If anything goes awry, we are leaving that wagon behind. I’m not risking anyone’s lives for that damn wagon.”

“Fine!” She barked.

“Fine!” He frowned and marched away as she continued to instruct the servants where to put the rest of the items.

“Stupid women always need to pack so much shit.” He mumbled as he marched past Tsugi and Ellie. Tsugi let out a chuckle and she quickly bit her lips, pressing them into a thin line to conceal her smile.

{What?} Ellie nudged Tsugi, wanting to laugh too.

{Nothing.} She smirked, but Ellie pried with her big puppy eyes, shoveling the dirt off Tsugi’s secret. {It’s just funny seeing Princess Aylin piss off Lugo. They’re fighting like an old married couple.}

{That’s it? You find the oddest things to be funny.} She furrowed her brows, shaking her head in disapproval.

“Is everyone ready?” Tsugi mounted her horse, with dawn just beginning to breach over the horizon. Ellie sat atop her horse, giving Tsugi a little nod. Lugo shifted on his horse next to Tsugi, but he seemed to still be pouting. Princess Aylin and Princess Maki were both sitting in the driver seat of the wagon, pulled by two giant horses. “Alright, let’s go.”