Up close and personal

"Not yet, but I have confidence in my men that they will discover its whereabouts soon and then I will go to retrieve it."

"You mean us right."

He said nothing. Then he walked over to her side, closing the gap between them.

"Enough talk about the chaos orb, I brought you here to talk about a more pressing concern."

"Which is?" she asked when she detected a brief hitch in his voice.

"I thought it was understood that I want to make you my wife but I will not take you by force. I will have your consent on the matter soon."

Fiona laughed, "you can't be serious, as much as I am flattered by your proposal. I'm just eighteen. I'm young and I'm by no means ready to get hitched."

"Perhaps in your world women can decide when to marry but in this reality women get married very young and if they reach your age and aren't married yet a lot of the negative is assumed."

"I do not concern myself with the opinions of others," she said stoutly.

She was fully aware of what he was implying, Fiona knew by how the other women treated her that they considered her strange, old and plain.

Fiona was also outspoken for a female foreigner and they couldn't understand why the master was taken with her.

Some even muttered about sorcery when they thought she wasn't listening to them.

She was far from perfect and had many faults, they had even seen her recoil when men other than Tiamat tried to press their advantage.

They had not spoken since his last attempt at a marriage proposal days ago.

The other women at the keep had been upset that she was turning down a dragon lord, when others would willingly throw themselves at him for the opportunity to get married.

They ignored her and weren't afraid to mock her openly when Tiamat and his elites weren't around to chastise them.

One day they caught her staring at him while he was training with the men. His rock hard abs were taut and his sinewy muscles were dripping with beads of perspiration.

He showed his sheer mastery of fighting, he didn't even need to use a weapon and his prowess and mastery of fighting skill was evident as none of his men could best him.

"This mere girl has some lofty ambitions for a foreigner," said one of the women who spied her high color from watching the master train and work out.

"Talk about reaching for the sky," said another with a malicious streak. "Why would the master be interested in one with an icy cold demeanor who probably wouldn't know the first thing to do with a man if he fell into her bed."

"She acts too haughty, walking around with her nose in the air like she's better than the rest of us," agreed another.

"One day she's gonna fall and all of us will be there to laugh," said the first woman.

Their cackles filled the air as she hurried away from them.

Tiamat's gentle touch brought her mind back to the present.

The warmth of his touch seemed to scorch her skin, even through the thick plaid long sleeved dress that she wore.

"I see that we've garnered ourselves quite the reputation," the Black Flame whispered for her ears alone.

She should have shown indifference to his familiarity but instead she found herself blushing at the sweet intimacy of his tone.

Fiona found that she craved his attention and could not stop herself from inching closer just to hear the rich timbre in his voice.

"Good evening, Duke of Argyll," Tiamat said in a droll voice for his friend to hear, who was sitting a tad bit too close to Fiona for his liking.

Tiamat didn't seem in the least bit perturbed that Fiona hadn't even bothered to respond to his comment.

He said loudly enough for those at the main table and surrounding tables to overhear, "I'm so honored to have such an esteemed guest partaking of my hospitality and I hope that you and your companions are having a wonderful time here at Thornwyck."

His words were said in a low pitch that sounded non threatening even to Fiona's ears yet she sensed a tension between the two.

For it was as if Tiamat deliberately chose his words and said them in a deliberate manner to get a rise out of his best friend.

Torque did not react instead his smile seemed even wider and they saw how even his teeth were, his mouth was even blessed by the Gods.

"I would expect nothing but excellence from the noble dragon lord of Thornwyck and I cannot wait to tell others about how you went above and beyond as host even though my timing was less than conspicuous," said Torque as he raised an eyebrow slightly in response.

Seeing the two men standing in the same vicinity, Fiona couldn't help but feel that Tiamat was even far more handsome when up close and personal.

The hard angles of his face seemed to soften under the glare of the lamp light despite the challenge that lurked in his gaze right now.

"Perhaps it's best if Fiona sits on my right and Torque is seated on my left," he said to his squire.

The squire moved quickly to rearrange the placemats and helped Fiona to swiftly change seats guiding her carefully.

Despite the fact that she was unsure of why Tiamat wanted her to switch seats she complied because it didn't matter where she sat as long as she got a place to eat at the table.

Torque's eyes were marred with disapproval that he could not fully hide despite the smile that remained plastered on his face.

He had immediately stiffened when he realized that he was going to be parted from Fiona's side just so that Tiamat could play almighty host.

The fact that he couldn't gainsay it because he was only a guest and there was no breach of etiquette chafed on his nerves.

He had to keep his opinions to himself whether he liked Tiamat's decision or not.

Still he did try, "perhaps it would be better if the lovely Fiona remained seated between the two of us, I would not want to inconvenience her by having her move just because you showed up late."

The censure was in his voice and the gauntlet had been thrown down but Tiamat was not to be baited so easily.