"I did what!?" exclaimed Sara.

"You were leaning into him with your head on his shoulder ma'am, your feet curled up on the sofa and you arms around his."

"Oh, I'm mortified. What does James remember? Did I embarrass myself?"

"If I may say so, you two did look rather cosy together," Elle teased, trying very hard not to smile.

"Not helping!" Sara interjected.

"Sorry. Msizi and I decided that we should not give James all the details, just that you were both asleep. The only other people who saw things were the staff at the event."

Sara half wished that a hole would appear and swallow her up.

"Moving on," Elle continued, "you do not have any diplomatic meetings with Ambassador Wallace planned for the next few days, you do however have several meetings on Seomia today, then tomorrow your recurring meeting with security."

* * *

"Good morning Sir!" exclaimed Msizi as he turned the main lights on. "Did you rest well?"

"I feel terrible, I think I drunk too much last night." James groaned from under the covers. "How did I get home?"

"Water and headache tablets on the table next to you, I have also brought you a large fried breakfast this morning. I am told you call it a 'Full English' and it should get you feeling better soon," he smiled. "There is nothing on the agenda today, so take your time."

"Thank you," James groaned again, raising a hand from under the cover to wave a thanks.

An hour later James emerged from the bedroom, feeling much better than when he first woke up. "Msizi, sorry did you say there was nothing going on today?" he asked.

"Correct, all clear today and for the next few days. Good thing too as it's currently half-past-ten," he smiled.

"Oh wow, I really did sleep in. That's not like me at all, thank you for letting me rest, I must have needed it. Um, how did I get here last night, I can't remember much - your alcohol is a lot stronger than I am used too."

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"The guards carried you back from the palace on a buggy. I put you to bed."

"Oh wow, please thank them for me when you see them next. I didn't embarrass myself or Sara did I?"

"Not at all, however we did find you and the Princess asleep together on a sofa."

James put his head in his hands. "Oh dear," he muffled, "please send a note of apology for me if I embarrassed her."

"No apology necessary, Sir. You were both tired from the endless meetings and last night was a chance for you both to relax a little. I believe that Elle will be having this same conversation with the Princess too."

"Ah, thank you, Msizi," said James relaxing. "The last thing I want to do is offend anyone."

"I am sure everything will be fine. Will there be anything else?"

"Oh, if I have nothing planned for the next few days, would it be possible to arrange a visit to see Xilquin? I was hoping to have seen him a lot sooner."

"Certainly, I'll arrange it for tomorrow. For today, I believe you should rest and try to recover."

"Wonderful, thank you. I'll just be over here feeling sorry for my sore head. I am available if anyone needs to see me."

* * *

Sara's meetings on Seomia passed by in a blur, she was too distracted about what happened last night. It was the first time she had let her guard down around someone in such a long time, if at all. True, she was mentally tired from endless meetings, and she did have a bit too much to drink, but on the other hand they were always together, side-by-side, during every meeting, every workshop, every day. ' It was to show a united front. I want things to go well. ' She would say when asked. She did feel comfortable around him, he made it easy to drop her barriers.

"Damn him!" she blurted out.

"Sorry Ma'am? Is everything OK?"

"Oh, sorry everyone please carry on. I was distracted by another issue I need to deal with," Sara explained.

"We can take a break if you need to?"

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry."

* * *

James spent the rest of the day catching up on news, messages and updates from the Council. The galaxy as a whole seemed to be calm at the moment so there were enough front-line ambassadors to continue without him for a while. " Take all the time you need " was the gist of the message from the Council.

He tried to quiz Msizi for information about Sara and the events of last night but was hitting a brick wall. He was being very tight lipped about the whole thing. What happened last night? Why was it a secret?

James had also profusely apologised and thanked the two guards for helping him home last night, and promised that it wouldn't happen again, not for a while anyway.

"Good news, Sir." Msizi said later on in the afternoon. "A private shuttle has been organised for your trip to Beldor tomorrow. The hospital will be expecting you, we set off first thing tomorrow morning.

"Thank you, Msizi, that's great."

* * *

"Damn it, damn it, damn him," Sara protested on the shuttle back to the station.

"Everything alright Ma'am?" Elle asked knowingly, smiling to herself.

"I have been distracted all day about this situation with James. Yes, we have grown closer as friends over the weeks, but I can't believe I did that. What was I thinking? Clearly I wasn't thinking, I was drunk. That was it, I had too much to drink and I wasn't thinking straight," she ranted to herself.

"He did get you to relax; something you haven't done for quite a while."

"Damn him," Sara said in frustration.

...