grapes

"Since when have you known of Gapsar's feelings for you?"

"I was made aware only recently." She noted the way her King talked as if he had been well aware of the tenth General's feelings for her long before.

"And? What do you think?"

"I don't need a Mate that fights with me at every corner." Originally, she wasn't looking for a Mate, but that all changed when Sam made a spot for himself within her heart.

"I thought you would say that." He nodded, his great brown mane moving along with his head. "I was waiting for someone with softer edges to appear for you, alas, the only warm person confident enough to approach you was the Third Prince." She wouldn't say she was scary, but her name was well-known in the Forest and that worked as a barrier for many Beasts. Even if she was liked by many, she was untouchable. The barrier was only strengthened by her disinterest in anything besides the Deranged.

"He is warm." She commented on Sam, smiling softly. "It's nice."

"There's that word again. Last time you said you would reject him for being too nice. What happened?"

"I learned more about him. Realizing I was also interested in him, I decided it was too tiring for me to keep denying these feelings." She said it as if she hadn't fought with herself many times over the terrifying idea of falling for the prince.

"I'll have you know that we are only testing the waters. I made it clear to him I won't make him my Mate," she hastily told him as she began to see the misty-eyed look appearing on her king's face, "not until we are sure we can stay together. A Mate is a life partner after all."

"A rather wise decision." His amber eyes lost their shine, the tears seemingly disappeared from view.

"I am not too sure of asking the prince for help another time." He said bluntly. "He hasn't asked for anything in return from the other times he has helped us. What if he demands that you stay here, regardless of thoughts you may have otherwise."

"He won't."

"With all due respect Kiera, you haven't known him for that long." She took a step back, the truth of his words hitting her squarely in the chest. "While I don't believe he is that kind of a man, you never know how a desperate person might react if they have to part with their loved one."

The way he said that. Kiera believed he was speaking from experience. She thought of their late queen.

"That being said, I wish nothing but happiness for the two of you." There was concern still in his eyes.

"Ask for his help or not. I will leave the decision to you. Tell Helios he can stop pressing his ear to the door and come in. We have much to prepare in case the humans come knocking at our door."

She turned her head to the door, rolling her eyes as Helios came into the room. He wasn't avoiding her eyes anymore.

"I may have an idea." He said, not at all embarrassed to have been caught eavesdropping. "It's a monster the humans have never seen before, we can spread rumors, saying that it's a new type of monster."

"And how would you explain how the monster got to the shopping district in the first place?" The King's question stumped him. He went silent, his dark eyebrows drawn together as he thought hard.

"I like the beginning, we only need to develop it further. The humans are slow, their earlier investigation proved to me of that. Let's hope they continue being slow for a while longer."

They each nodded their heads once, determined looks on their faces.

***

"Is this a training or a picnic?" She eyed the decadent spread of light finger foods he had his servants place on a metal garden table. It was the first day of their training, and Kiera arrived at the prince's palace wearing her usual gear for training. A simple white blouse and a brown leather belt clinched the bottom of her blouse and settled around her waist. Her sword was strapped on her hip and her trusted pair of boots she always wore.

"We can have a little fun can we not?" He flashed her his usual smile.

She admittedly was pleased by the way he chose to dress for their training. An off-white shirt layered over a darker undershirt and tan-colored breeches that were tighter around the lower part of his legs. He also wore boots that were similar to Kiera's. It was the first time she had ever seen him in his gear and she couldn't stop staring at him.

"Fun?" She faked an annoyed look on her face, but she knew she couldn't be angry with him when he was dressed like that. She fought the urge to kiss him. "Where is your sword?"

She waved to the wooden sword used for children that was in his hands.

"I'm starting to suspect you are planning to kill me." He joked, twirling the wooden sword in his hands.

The prince cleared his throat when she did not laugh.

"I decided we are going to use wooden swords, at least for today. Otherwise, I might not live to see sunrise tomorrow."

She stared at him in disbelief. Did he truly believe she would be capable of injuring him?

"You don't think I am skilled enough to avoid hurting you?" Her question made him wince.

"No. It's not that I don't believe in you…" His eyes swept to the side. Kiera placed her hands on her hips.

"I'm not going to use my full strength against you." She thought it was funny how she was the one trying to convince him she wasn't dangerous with a sword. "You might even be stronger than me." She coaxed, walking towards him.

"Do you trust me?" She reached down to place her hand over his, her fingers brushing the wood of the sword.

"Kiera…" She saw his expression change as he wavered. His emerald eyes mirrored his internal conflict.

"You haven't answered me." She used one finger to trail patterns over his hand, keeping her eyes on his face. "Do you trust me Sam?"

That was all it took to make him resign. She halted trailing her finger over his skin, taking the sword from his hands as he released it from his grip. Then she flung the wooden stick to the ground.

"Take out your real sword."

He sighed and ran a hand through his golden hair.

"I will have my butler go and retrieve it."

As they waited for the butler to bring Sam his sword, Kiera took a sweet-smelling round ball from one of the plates that were out on the garden table and popped it into her mouth, savoring the moment her teeth broke through its skin and juices flowed down her throat. She immediately took another handful and put it in her mouth.

She swallowed the juice inside her mouth and licked her lips and fingers, trying to remove the stickiness.

"These are called grapes." Sam appeared by her side. He grabbed one of the round balls and flicked it into his mouth.

"Grapes?" He nodded when she repeated the word.

"Imported from Exatra, as we can't grow them here. We use the grapes to make wine as there's nothing as delicious as wine made from Exatran grapes."

He watched her pluck another grape from the plate and put it in her mouth. Then he took her fingers and licked the stickiness off, exactly as she had done.

She felt a bolt of exhilaration run through her body as her toes curled up inside her boots. Not changing the expression on her face, she bit into the grape still inside her mouth.

She then leaned forward and kissed him, letting him have a taste of the grape's juice in her mouth. He smiled against her mouth and she felt his arms snake around her waist. She was pulled in closer to him.

Their kiss deepened further with his tongue entering her mouth. She felt a dribble of liquid escape the gap between their lips.

When their heads pulled away from each other, their lips were sticky with the remaining residue from the grapes.

She licked her lips and grabbed another handful, eating them quickly when she heard the sound of Sam's butler approaching. Sam followed her eyes to watch as his butler came into view.

"Here is your sword sire." He bowed his head and presented the longsword to the prince. Sam wiped his hands on his handkerchief before reaching out to grasp the grip of his sword.

"Then let's begin." She moved away from the table, wasting no time to begin their training.

"Firstly, we should go at each other for a couple of rounds. This is so I can get a feel for your style of fighting. Then we can move on from there."

"As you wish."