After several days, they finally reached the very edge of the mountain range and began their ascent, going up narrow trails. As the day edged closer to its end, they reached a small plateau, a break in the steep ascent. The group pleaded with Jesika to stop for a rest. At first, she argued against it, but then to their surprise, she gave in. They now sat in a circle, talking over their plans.

“Rowan, you’ve got the map of the mountains, right?” Jesika asked.

Rowan nodded, reaching into his bag. He laid out the map on the ground in the center of the small circle they had formed.

Rowan pointed at a point on the map. “Right there is the peak of the mountain ranges. That’s where Aethelinda stays.”

Jesika nodded. “And how do we get there?” she asked.

Rowan showed her a trail on the map, full of even more narrow trails and steep cliff sides. It wasn’t a trip for the faint of heart.

“There’s some points we’ll practically be hugging the mountainside,” Rowan said, looking up at her.

Jesika winced. “Any good news?” she asked.

He shrugged. “There’s several small plateaus like this along the way that we can stop to take breaks on.”

She nodded yet again. “Alright. Stop for the day? We need water and food. I don’t know about you, but I’m running low on food now.”

Darryn piped in: “Yeah, Rocky needs some water too. Why don’t we split up?”

Darryn then gave Aquila a sharp jab with his elbow. Aquila caught his drift; they had talked with Rowan about trying to get him a chance to apologize to Jesika. She had been civil with Rowan when she had to talk to him, but otherwise had avoided him like the plague.

“Yeah, I’ll go with Darryn to get water, you two can go hunting. Be careful of wild beasts,” Aquila dutifully said.

Rowan nodded, looking at Jesika. “Sounds good to me. Your Majesty?”

Jesika shrugged like she didn’t care, but the slight annoyance in her expression showed her disdain at the idea.

“Darryn, take Kronos with you so he can get some water,” Rowan said.

Darryn frowned. “But then you won’t have a beast to protect you.”

Jesika shrugged. “We’ll be fine, it won’t be a long trip and it’s broad daylight,” she said.

Darryn sighed reluctantly, acquiescing.

Rowan stood and Jesika stood with them. The four split up, Jesika and Rowan going back into the flatland forest. They started walking and Jesika took her bow out, holding it to her side. Rowan grabbed his own, then sidled up next to her. They walked in mostly silence for a while, pausing once in a while when they thought they heard something.

Finally, Rowan mustered up the courage and stopped her, a hand on her arm.

Jesika turned to him, raising one brow. “Can I help you?”

Rowan removed his hand. “You don’t seem like the type to listen to or accept apologies.”

Jesika scowled. “You would be correct with this assumption,” she agreed dryly.

Rowan shrugged. “Nevertheless, I feel the need to apologize for what I said to you.”

She tilted her head, her scowl easing up just the slightest bit. “You don’t seem like the type to apologize, Mr. Rowan,” she said, her voice holding just the slightest hint of amusement.

Rowan took that slight hint in strides. He grinned, nodding. “You would also be correct with that assumption.”

A slight grin tugged at her lips, but she fought it.

“However, I am also smart enough to realize when I have severely overstepped. And this is definitely a case of that.”

She crossed her arms, shifting her weight, studying him as if she didn’t quite know what to make of him. “I suppose I can make an exception myself then and accept your apology,” she said, allowing herself a small smile.

Rowan smiled back. “That is good to hear.” Rowan looked away a moment, choosing his next words, then looked back at her. “Look, we’re both very blunt people. I think we’ve established that. So why don’t we just do what we do best and lay all our cards out on the table, eh?”

Jesika rose one brow, an act Rowan was learning meant she was cautiously intrigued. “It depends on what you mean by that,” she said.

“I suggest we just flat out take turns telling each other what we don’t like about each other. That way we know what to work on, what grates on the other person’s nerves, in hopes we can learn to better understand each other.”

Jesika considered it a moment, then nodded. “Worthy idea, Rowan. You first.”

Rowan grinned, tilting his head. “You’re impulsive. You’re quite bossy and you have a hard time letting others voice their opinions, much less consider them. And you’re far too uptight and easy to rile.”

She twitched. He could tell she was fighting to not let his honesty irritate her. “Alright. Is it my turn now?” He nodded. She straightened, her eyes hardening in that scary way they did. “Your ego is huge, and your attitude often leaves much to be desired. Also, though you speak of having respect, your words and your actions towards me do not reflect that of respect. And though I may not listen to other’s opinions enough, you also feel the need to fight me on seemingly every decision I make.”

Rowan grinned at her last line. “I didn’t fight you on the decision to go on this mission, did I?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

For only the second time since he met her, something he said had rendered her speechless. Her eyes widened and she seemed to pale even more than she already was.

“I-uh... You didn’t, did you?”

Rowan chuckled, shaking his head. She smiled, a full smile. He decided he liked the way it looked pointed at him.

“Well, I suppose I have a lot more to learn about you, Mr. Rowan.”

He stepped closer, studying her expression. “What about now we do the opposite? Balance things out a bit?”

“You mean tell each other what we like about each other?” she clarified. He nodded. She shrugged. “Alright, you first. Again.”

He gazed deep into her eyes as he considered his answer, wondering how it was possible for them to be golden colored.

“You’re an amazing, natural born leader. I don’t understand how you do it so effortlessly.” Her eyes widened yet again. But he wasn’t done. He stepped closer. “Though you’re impulsive, you’re also confident and steadfast in your decisions.” She bit her lip and he worked to keep his eyes from straying to them, yet again stepping closer. “And you’re as intimidating as some of the most legendary beasts I’ve encountered. Yet another thing I don’t understand.”

She cleared her throat, leaning away from him just the slightest, but not stepping back. “That all?” she asked. He nodded, smiling. “My turn then.” She paused like he had, studying him to find her answers. “You’re incredibly intelligent and level-headed. Even in tense situations.” She smiled at him. “And though your attitude and snarky remarks irk me to no end, I also admire that you don’t let me intimidate you enough to lose your sense of confidence and make you into a kiss up.” Rowan chuckled at that. “And I like the way you carefully consider each decision. Though that often leads to you arguing with me,” she laughed a little.

He smiled, reaching out his hand between them in the small space left. “Friends?” he asked.

She shook his hand. “Friends,” she said, her eyes dancing with a playful light he didn’t know they were capable of.

He withdrew his hand, pulling at his collar. “If we’re still being blunt, I’m going to move away now so I don’t do something freaking stupid like kiss you,” he said huskily, stepping back and going around her, starting down the path yet again. Rowan didn’t see her face get red, but he could hear the blush in her voice as she said:

“I could have your head for saying something like that to a queen.”

Rowan laughed and without looking back, replied:

“I’ll take my chances.”

***

Jesika watched him walk away with a grin on her face. She had no idea what had just transpired between them, but she was glad it had. She slowly followed him but was suddenly yanked back by thick vines that twisted around her, capturing her tightly. She let out an ear-piercing scream as the vines pulled her further back, the roar of the forest guardian who had caught her echoing behind her as she was pulled closer to its grasp. An arrow flew through the air and Jesika looked through the forest to see it was Rowan who had shot it. The forest guardian released her with a painful bellow. Jesika quickly turned on her heel, slashing at the forest guardian. It responded quickly, blocking all of her hits with its vines.

Rowan came running to her side, jumping and bringing the sword down on one of the vines. It cut through it easily, once again making the forest guardian bellow. Jesika shot him a grin, but it disappeared when she saw the horror on his face. She looked at the forest guardian to see the reason for Rowan’s expression.

The guardian’s vines were multiplying. Jesika and Rowan’s eyes widened as it raised its vines. It released a sharp thorn, and it came straight for Jesika. Rowan quickly grabbed her and pulled her out of the way, then grabbed her hand.

“Run!” he yelled, pulling her with him.

She followed after him as hundreds of thorns came flying at them. Deftly, they dodged and jumped away from all of them. After a long run, the two of them had finally lost the tree guardian.

They fell to the ground, both panting in exasperation. Rowan looked over at her as he was panting.

“You still sure you want to keep going on this mission? That was supposed to be one of the easier beasts to fight,” Rowan asked, praying everything that had hit them had been enough to make her back down. To his dismay, she shook her head.

“No way,” she said determinedly.

Rowan sighed in disappointment.

***

“How do you think it’s going?” Aquila asked as they ventured further into the woods, looking for water for their beasts.

He shrugged. “I just hope the guy doesn’t get himself in trouble by opening his big mouth again,” Darryn replied gruffly.

Aquila laughed, glancing at him. “I’m not sure Rowan would make it back alive if he said something else to rile her up.”

Darryn grinned slightly. “I find it funny how he gets under her skin so easily. Ironically enough, with Jesika’s fighting and leadership skills, and Rowan’s intelligence, they would make an intimidating pair.”

Aquila nodded. “They would.”

Darryn looked at her, arching one brow. “How did you even end up being friends with that guy?”

Aquila shrugged. “He was always in the library when I went. One day I couldn’t find something interesting to read, so I decided to go sit and talk to him.”

“And how did that go?”

Aquila smiled slightly. “He wasn’t overly fond of me at first for interrupting him, but he was civil. We started talking and ended up learning we have quite a few things in common. Which, is ironic considering his background is the exact opposite of mine.”

Darryn crossed his arms. “How is that?”

“Where I’m from a peasant family, Rowan came from a rich family of socialites and scholars.”

Darryn chuckled, lowering his gaze. “That explains a lot,” he mused quietly.

Aquila laughed.

They soon stumbled upon a small pond surrounded by towering trees softly blowing in the wind. Aquila kneeled down and collected water in her canteen, then stood, watching Darryn do the same. Rocky stood behind him and watched, then leaned over to drink next to Darryn’s head, nudging Darryn to the side. Aquila giggled as Darryn nudged him back, trying to make him move out of the way. The giant wolf wasn’t too happy about this, turning and pushing Darryn straight into the shallow water with his head. Aquila burst out laughing, doubled over as Darryn resurfaced, spraying water out of his mouth onto Rocky. Rocky protested with a loud bark, backing away.

“You think it’s so funny, eh?” he asked, annoyed as he looked at Aquila.

Aquila nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. He grinned, reaching out for her wrist, pulling her in before she could react.

She squealed as she fell in, resurfacing close in front of him. “Darryn!” she yelled, splashing him.

Darryn laughed, shielding his face with one hand and splashing her back with his other. This prompted an all-out battle between the two, them both splashing at each other and shielding their faces. Rocky watched all of this with his head tilted in interest. Finally, Rocky seemed to decide to join in, wagging his tail as he prepared to jump in. Darryn glanced at Rocky just as he was preparing to jump and he quickly grabbed Aquila, pulling her with him out of the way, shielding them as Rocky jumped in.

Rocky’s large size, almost matching the size of the pond, created a huge wave that came crashing down over Darryn and Aquila. He clutched her tight as the wave assaulted them. Once it was all over, most of the water in the pond now spilled out, Darryn looked down at Aquila. Her curls covered her face, lying flat to her head and dripping wet. Darryn chuckled, parting her hair so he could see her eyes. They were barely open, attempting to blink out some water.

“Are you alright?” he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Aquila nodded, finally able to open her eyes fully. “Just... peachy. This is why I’m a cat person, you know.”

Darryn grinned, but it faded as he looked at her. Water dripped from her long eyelashes as she looked up at him, her clothes clinging close to her body. Darryn wasn’t the only one becoming aware of their predicament though.

Aquila felt her face warm at the realization that she clung tightly to his muscled arms that were wrapped around her, holding her against him. She looked up at him and started to speak, started to finally admit the things she had felt for him for years, but her mind drifted back to her talk with Jesika yesterday and she moved away, climbing out of the pond. If Jesika and Darryn were doing better, it was only a matter of time before they picked back up where they left off. There wasn’t any way Aquila would get in the middle of that. She knew how much he cared about Jesika.

She missed the look of disappointment on Darryn’s face as she walked away.