Emily waited, crouched behind a stone pillar in the field behind the castle. She was hunkered down, patiently holding the small gun firmly in her hand and her breathing was steady. There was a sheen of sweat on her forehead as she peeked around the corner and drew back quickly. Looking down, she noticed her tennis shoe was untied. She set the gun down beside her, tied it, and then picked the gun back up.
It was almost time, time to defend herself again. The cows around her ignored her as she waited, her legs beginning to strain. She checked her gun again, it was fully loaded.
She heard footsteps coming toward her from the barn. She held her breath, afraid it might give her away and she got ready to aim and fire.
“Emily?” Kyle called to her.
She kept still.
Kyle sighed and she could hear him. He was almost close enough to launch her attack. After taking a deep breath, she rounded the corner, took aim, and fired, shooting long streams of water directly into his face. He was caught off guard, so she took that opportunity to run.
“That's it!” he shouted, and followed after her.
She ran as fast as she could, but heard him gaining. She took a blind aim behind her and shot again, not sure if she'd hit him. Mid-stride, her feet disappeared out from under her as Kyle picked her up and threw her across his shoulder.
“You cheated!” she yelled at him.
“I did not cheat, I ran… Someone who attacks someone else should take their abilities into consideration.”
“Ha-ha, now put me down.” She was laughing.
“No.” He began to run faster and she could feel the wind blowing past her.
“No!” she screamed, sure of what he was doing.
Kyle didn't answer.
“Stop or I'll tell Chev!”
She heard him chuckle and the sound of waves came closer.
“Kyle, no! It's cold!” He didn't slow, and she saw the sand turn to wooden planks.
“Good afternoon, Sir,” said one of the guards, hiding a laugh.
“Good afternoon, Travis.”
“Stop!” she shouted. “Travis, help me!”
The guard laughed, “No can do, Lady Emily.”
She felt herself fall off of the pier the three feet down to the icy cold ocean. She surfaced, the cold water knocking the breath out of her, then swam up to the beach and stepped out, soaking wet and shivering.
“Some guard you are,” she teased Travis.
He smiled and chuckled, his teeth glistening in the sun.
She spun and looked at the pier, but Kyle was gone.
“Wimp!” she shouted after him, and she thought she heard laughing on the wind. She tossed her water gun to Travis and he glanced at her questioningly.
“If he comes back, shoot him,” she said, starting off for the castle.
The guards at the front of the castle grinned at her and opened the door. She stepped in, her clothes dripping water all over the floor. A towel flew out at her from the dark shadows and landed at her feet.
“Thank you,” she mumbled, and headed to her room to change.
As she walked up the stairs, she saw Chevalier standing at the top, watching her with a grin, “Long day?”
“Kyle tossed me into the ocean!” She knew tattling wouldn't do any good.
“I see… and before I behead him… who started it?” he chuckled.
She began to dry her hair as she passed him, “Heku… always sticking together.”
Chevalier walked behind her, laughing softly, “You know it's not fair for you to ambush him. He can smell you from 200 yards away, less if you are downwind of him.”
“I was downwind, I made sure of it, and I did get off a few good shots.” She grinned and walked into the ante-chamber. Kyle was standing in the corner grinning, “But he cheats.”
Kyle cleared his throat.
Chevalier raised an eyebrow at him and smiled, “We all cheat, it's our nature.”
Emily disappeared into the bedroom and headed right for the wardrobe. Chevalier looked again at Kyle and shook his head.
“One hot chocolate coming up,” Kyle said, smirking.
Chevalier nodded and walked into the room, shutting the door behind him.
“I don't think Kyle knew what he was getting himself in to when he took up this position,” he said, sitting down on a chair by the fireplace, though there hadn't been the need for a fire in months.
“Oh… he knew.” She disappeared into the bathroom.
“Which reminds me, I heard a congratulations is in order,” he called into the bathroom.
Emily walked out in dry jeans and a t-shirt, “Hrm... not planned exactly.”
She took the hot cocoa from Gordon and thanked him and then sat down in a chair by Chevalier and sipped at the warming drink
“Well, Kelly does apologize.” Chevalier was trying not to laugh, he wasn't sure why he found it funny.
“He shouldn't have let your monster out while Patra was in heat,” she grumbled. “I'm not saying this place doesn't need more horses, but we could have at least gotten her a paint stud instead of that grouchy Arabian you ride around.” She frowned. Chevalier's horse was ornery and temperamental.
“Well, maybe he found her mouth wateringly appealing.”
Emily blushed and sipped on the hot cocoa.
“So what brought on the sudden attack on Kyle?” He was still working on being casual about their relationship, but at times, found it hard. He couldn't help but find it irritating when the two of them were together so much, and they had begun to have inside jokes that he didn't understand.
“He made fun of Patra for being pregnant.” She glared at him and he took the sign to drop the laughter at her mare's expense.
“You don't find it the least bit funny?” He grinned and looked at her eyes, “I've been thinking…”
“Yeah?” She was watching him because he seemed nervous, which was extremely uncharacteristic for him.
Chevalier grinned broadly, “Marry me.”
Emily sighed, “Be serious, Chev.”
“What if I am?” He moved to kneel in front of her and took her hand, “Please… consider it.”
“What about our secrecy? You know… mean ol'Enforcer can't be caught loving a mere mortal.” She raised an eyebrow and smiled down at him.
“We'll get married in secret… just us and one other… it will finally make you mine.” He smiled, knowing how much she hated to be claimed that way, but he loved to see the way she blushed when she heard it.
“Ugh… Chev… we don't need to get married. I've done that, remember? White wedding, hundreds in attendance, the stress… the panic… the pressure. You see how well that one worked out.” She was still sipping at the hot cocoa.
“Not a human wedding, Emily… it's amazing how hard it is to find any type of preacher from any flavor of mortal religion that will marry a mortal to an immortal. It goes against the ethics of every theological professional in the world.” He was still smiling. She was getting