Maridria sat on a rock at the water’s edge, watching the sunset cast yellows and purples over the red water. The city sat in the distance behind her, hidden behind its walls, up on the hill.

She wasn’t sure if she was even allowed to be here, whether the new rules stated that those living in the cities were allowed to leave the boundary walls of their city or not, after all she’d only arrived in Syra this morning from the country.

But right now she couldn’t be bothered climbing the four hundred and twenty two steps that led up the cliff to the city and continue her job hunting, she was perfectly content with
watching the sea. It reminded her of home.

The sound of footsteps behind her startled her. Except for her the beach had been deserted. Turning around she noticed a man had just descended the steps, and was standing behind her, staring at her.

It took her a few moments to realise who it was, she’d never seen him in person before. It was Seprathier, the king’s second in command.

Wow. He was incredible looking, that was for sure. He had brown hair and eyes, and a muscular body, probably from all his training. She hadn’t expected him to be that good looking in person. Although Eliazesha had told her stories after returning to the country during a break from her job in Syra the year before.

He was way out of her league though, and probably a stuck up noble at that, she decided.

“What are you doing here?” Seprathier asked her, scanning her outfit skeptically. “Shouldn’t you be working in the castle kitchens or something?”

She bristled. “I’m not a servant.” She should have known he would be a jerk.

“You’re a noble?” he asked, visibly shocked.

She glared at him. What was that supposed to mean? So maybe she didn’t look like a noble, but did he have to rub it in. “No. I’m from the country.”

He nodded his head slightly, turning to look at the water. “Where abouts?”

“The Kiplar District,” she replied, taking in his profile.

“And you’re here for a job?”

“Yes. Do you think there’s any other reason I’d want to leave my home to come to the city? It’s not by choice you know.”

He turned to look at her. “You don’t like the King’s city?” His eyes were daring her to disagree.

“Not particularly, no,” she replied. “I prefer the countryside.” She wasn’t going to let him make her back down. So what if he was the second most important person on Antar, he was a jerk, what with his condescending looks and insults, and she wasn’t going to let him win.

He raised his eyebrows, turning back to the ocean.

“Shouldn’t you be working or something?” she asked, wondering why he was down here instead of up in the city.

“I don’t need to work,” he replied snidely.

She narrowed her eyes at him, turning her gaze back to the water.

***

Maridria arrived at the entryway of the city, after leaving Seprathier sitting on the beach alone. His silence had gotten to her after a while, and she longed to be somewhere with noise.

She passed through the gates, flashing her pass at the guards there. She could see the castle to her left, on the highest point of the city, and turned in that direction. Eliazesha lived in that direction, near the castle, just before the area in which a large amount of nobles lived.

Making her way down the grass lined streets she glanced at the people and buildings around her. There was a lot of security, which wasn’t surprising, as this was the most
important city on Antar, it was the city in which the King resided. Maridria didn’t see the appeal though, the only reason she’d come here was that it was the closest city to her home, and her best friend was here.

After a few wrong turns she finally made it to the apartment block in the Yasla Sector that her friend had recently moved to. Eliazesha had bought a two person apartment, as she was expecting Maridria’s arrival in the city, and the two wanted to live together.

Looking up she was surprised to see that the building was actually quite tall compared to most apartments in the Yasla Sector. The Yasla Sector was mainly occupied by people like herself, those from the country who had come to the city for jobs.

She entered the building, showing her Identification Chip to the receptionist, and explaining that she was moving into an apartment in the building. The woman pointed her in the
direction of the elevators.

Arriving at level 11 she exited the elevator, knocking on Room 114. Within moments Eliazesha answered, hugging her and pulling her into the room.

“Maridria!” she exclaimed. “How are you? I’ve missed you so much. It’s so lonely here in the city sometimes, especially living alone.”

She looked around the room, rushing towards the windows in the living room. “You actually have a view!” she exclaimed, looking out at the city below. She could see the courtyards and tree lined roads next to the apartment building. “This is amazing.”

“Tell me about it,” Eliazesha replied. “It’s taken me a year of working here to get the money to rent an apartment like this. Until last week I was living in a dingy little apartment with a view of a wall.”

Maridria wrinkled her nose. “Well, I guess I’m lucky I wasn’t made to come here to work until you’d already been here a year.”

“It’s not that bad actually.”

She looked at her friend. “Really? I thought when you told me that last time I saw you it was just so I wouldn’t dread coming here so much.”

“Well, its not like home,” Eliazesha replied. “But I quite like it. I’ve met quite a few really great people. And you should see the castle and the Castelia area surrounding it, they are amazing! Castelia Park is totally beautiful. When we’re allowed we sometimes spend our free days there.”

She flopped on the couch, watching as her friend’s eyes lit up animatedly. “Are you serious? Well, I’ll need to find a job first.”

“Oh,” Eliazesha replied, dropping down next to her on the couch. “I almost forgot to tell you. I heard about a job you should apply for. It’s a non-servant job in the castle, pays well. I’d apply myself, but I already have a job I love.” Eliazesha worked in a restaurant frequented by nobles in the Castelia area.

Maridria grinned. A non-servant job in the castle? She didn’t know they had any of those. And working in the castle could be amazing. “And its definitely a non-servant job?” She didn’t want a servant job, they paid far worse, and that would be so embarrassing. People from the country were considered of a far higher class than servants.

“Definitely,” Eliazesha replied.

She grinned. “Great. Oh, and speaking of the castle, you’ll never guess who I met down at the water about an hour ago.”

“King Zander?” Eliazesha asked excitedly.

“No,” she shook her head regretfully. “Seprathier.”

“Seprathier, as in the king’s second in command?” she asked. “You actually met Seprathier on your first day in Syra? I’ve lived here a year and never met him. Is he just as drool worthy in person?”

She nodded. “Yes, but he’s a total jerk too. But you haven’t met him? I thought you knew stories?”

“Oh, I know stories all right,” Eliazesha replied. “I have friends who’ve met him, well, more than met him actually. The guy’s a total ladies man. Apparently he has a new girl at least once a week.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. I guess its no wonder he’s a jerk, right?”

Eliazesha shrugged. “I dunno, if he’s a jerk why do so many people want him to be king instead of Zander.” She paused for a moment, something dawning on her. “Oh, Couretinayia is going to be so jealous of you!” Couretinayia was a friend of theirs who belonged to a Seprathier worshipping cult. They worshipped the king’s second in command in the political sense, believing he would make a better king than Zander.

She laughed slightly, she hadn’t thought of that. Poor Couretinayia. She, who couldn’t care less about Seprathier, had got to meet him, when Couretinayia would probably never have the chance to.

Couretinayia was a Sakinian, one of the two races of people inhabiting the planet of Antar, whereas Maridria and Eliazesha, along with the King and his entourage, were Palitian’s. Due to the threat of war between the king and Khivar, a Sakinian, and while mixing between the races was allowed in the countryside, all major cities had either an All-Palitian or an All-Sakinian population. Syra was a city which had an All-Palitian population, and therefore Couretinayia had no chance of meeting him in Syra, so unless Seprathier visited the countryside for some reason, she would never meet him.

Maridria sighed, feeling sorry for her friend. “She’s going to be so crushed when she finds out.” Although why, she wasn’t sure, the guy was a major jerk.

***

The next morning Eliazesha took her to the Castelia area, showing Maridria the restaurant she worked in, as well as other interesting sites, before showing her the beautiful Castelia Park, which was situated right outside the main entrance to the castle.

“Why are we allowed in the park?” Maridria asked. “I mean, I understand that nobles would probably be allowed, but us? Isn’t this the castle’s gardens?”

Eliazesha laughed slightly. “No, their are gardens on the other side of the castle, looking down on the sea in front - or so I’ve heard. They are the private gardens for those living in the castle. These are the public gardens. I’ve heard that they are the best public gardens on Antar.”

“Have you ever been in the castle?” she asked her friend.

“Once,” Eliazesha replied. “But I wasn’t anywhere near the gardens, so I’ve never seen them.”

Maridria’s eyes widened. “Once? You’ve been in the castle once during one year of living in Syra, and you expect me to go in on my second day here?”

Eliazesha laughed. “Yeah, well, the reason I’ve only been in the castle once is because I’ve only ever once had a reason to. It’s not the kind of place you just wander into.”

“True,” she replied, looking towards the gates leading up to the entrance to the castle. “Well, wish me luck.”

“Good luck.” She smiled. “I gotta get to work now, so see you.”

“Bye,” she answered, turning and walking towards the gates. Showing her Identification Chip to the guard and explaining that she was there to see about a job, she made her way into the castle.

It was huge. Even bigger than she had expected. Of course, it did house not only the Royal Family and high up nobles, like the kings second in command, but also contained a large entertaining area, and the top secret military area in which only the high up people in the military were able to access. And Maridria was sure there were other facilities in there that she hadn’t heard rumours about.

She could hear her footsteps as she walked over to the reception area taking up most of the entrance, which branched off into many hallways. Signs on the walls pointed to things like ‘living chambers’, ‘entertaining hall’, and ‘private gardens’ among others.

“Hi,” she said, arriving at the reception desk. The girl looked up at her. “I’m here about a job.”

The girl eyed her. “Non-servant position?”

“Yes.”

“Wait a minute, I’ll tell him you’re here.”

“Thanks.” She walked over to one of the large armchairs in front of the desk, sitting in it. A few minutes later she was told to go down a corridor and enter the first room on her right.

Entering the room she was surprised to see King Zander sitting at the desk. She stood in the doorway for a moment, wondering if she had gotten the right room.

King Zander looked up, smiling at her. “Maridria?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied. She had the right room? What was he..?

“Come, sit down,” he said, gesturing at the chair opposite his, on the other side of his desk. She walked over, sitting down in the next. Not knowing exactly what to do she let him talk.

“So I take it you’re here about the job,” he said.

She nodded. “I am.”

“Do you know much about it?” he asked.

“No, a friend of mine told me about it, I only arrived from the Kiplar District yesterday. I was surprised to find that you don’t only have servant jobs in the castle,” she added.

To her surprise Zander smiled at her. She hadn’t meant to say that, it had just come out. “Yeah, not many, after all the bulk of the jobs here are cleaning and in the kitchen, but we have some, like at the reception, the entertainment room attendants, and soon we’ll have two new serviers - which is the job you’re applying for. Would you like me to explain about it?”

“Yes, thanks.” They had an entertainment room?

“Okay, a servier is a similar job to a waitress in a cafe in the Castelia Sector. You bring us our meals from the kitchen - a servant is never hired for this kind of job, because it involves interacting with nobles and royalty. The same reason they aren’t hired in the reception.”

She nodded. Those nobles and their class system.

“You are also expected to converse with those eating if they want you to.”

She raised her eyebrows. They wanted to converse with a country girl who brought them their food?

“And serve drinks and other appetisers at functions of ours,” he continued. “If you are hired there will be two of you, so you will get meals off. One will have the breakfast shift, the other the lunch shift, and you will have the dinner shift on alternate days, and will be expected at any other times we need you. Of course, during functions, you will both be working together.”

She nodded, didn’t sound too bad for a job in the castle. And it sounded like she would be getting a lot of off time as well.

“Oh, and you will be expected to be on-call in the castle most afternoons,” he added. There goes all the time off, she thought. “But you won’t be expected to wait in the kitchen or anything, just as long as you’re in the castle,” he continued.

She grinned. Just as long as she was in the castle? Did that mean she was allowed to just wander around the castle if she got the job?

“Okay, so now onto the interview,” Zander said, smiling at her. “Firstly, how old are you?”

“Seventeen,” she replied.

He nodded thoughtfully. “Seventeen? Don’t most girls arrive from the country looking for jobs at about sixteen?” he asked.

“Yes, but I was needed to help out back home for another year because my older brother went to join the military. Now my younger brother’s able to help.” She was supposed to leave when Eliazesha left, but was glad when her parents had postponed it another year due to her brother Kylaer’s leaving.

“I see.” His eyes scanned her for a moment, deep in thought. “Well, Maridria,” he said, smiling. “You’re hired.”

Her eyebrows shot up, she was already hired. “Did no one else apply or anything?” she asked, instantly regretting it. She always had a habit of blurting things out without thinking. She hoped she wasn’t just about to get fired because of it.

To her surprise Zander grinned. “No,” he said. “A lot of people applied actually, but to make it easier I just hire the first two people who I feel would be good for the job and have no problems talking with nobles or royalty.” She blushed at that. “After all a great part of the job consists of interacting with nobles, so if they are too self conscious when talking to them it isn’t so good. That’s the reason I do the interviewing myself, I feel if they can talk to the king they can talk to anyone.”

“Right,” she said. That was true, if not slightly stuck up.

He smiled. “Well, you can go now. If you would arrive at the reception at eleven o’clock tomorrow morning to get your uniform, you have the lunch shift.”

She smiled in return. “Thank you.” Nodding at him she stood up, making her way to the door.
Seprathier left the military headquarters, navigating his way through the corridors of the castle towards the dining room. He was about to met the second new servier. He’d met the first this morning, an outgoing girl with long brown curls.

Entering the dining room he was surprised to find the room empty. Sure, he was only having lunch with the Zander, but it was unusual for Seprathier to be the first to lunch.

He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned towards the new servier. He was shocked to find that it was the girl from the beach.

She looked shocked to see him too - although he had no idea why, she knew he resided in the castle - but recovered quickly, placing his drink on the table in front of him. She nodded at him, turning to go.

“So you’re not a servant.” He didn’t know why he said that. Maybe to get a reaction out of her.

She turned to face him, her green eyes flashing slightly. “No. And I’m sure you’re about to point out something equally obvious, like the fact I’m not a noble. Well, for your information I am well aware of the fact that I could never be a noble.”

“What?” Had he insulted her yesterday without being aware of it? Vilandra was always saying that he didn’t converse well with strangers, but he’d always thought that she was just saying that as a reason to get out of their arranged marriage, and that she didn’t mean it.

“Oh god,” she said, eyeing him disdainfully. “You don’t even remember me, do you? I would have thought you’d have a better memory, being the head of the military and all.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked her, thoroughly confused by this girl. “I know you’re the girl from the beach yesterday.” Of course he remembered her, he’d been trying to get her out of his head ever since.

“Oh,” she said quietly.

“Yeah, the servant girl,” he added. He couldn’t help baiting her. She was just so... interesting when she was mad.

Her eyes flashed again, and he could see the angry look on her face. He couldn’t help laughing. The girl was so predictable... yet she was also so unpredictable too. Maybe she was just weird.

At that moment Zander entered. He smiled at them both, sitting down in the chair opposite him. “So,” Zander said, turning to him. “I see that you’ve met Maridria.”

Maridria. So that was her name. He just shrugged, watching her back as she returned to the kitchen, before focusing his attention on Zander.

***

“Did you have to hire her?” Seprathier asked Zander once they entered the king’s meeting room.

“Is that what you wanted to talk about?” Zander replied, sounding slightly amused.

“No, actually I wanted to talk about defense tactics,” he said. “But first, why did you hire her?”

“Why not? Do you know her or something?” Zander asked curiously.

“No,” he replied. “I just met her yesterday down at the beach. And its just she’s so annoying. She’s got an opinion on everything it seems, and doesn’t seem afraid to admit it.”

“Did you sleep with her?”

Seprathier’s eyes widened. “What? Of course not. The complete opposite actually. I mean, she got all pissed off at me just because I thought she was a servant.”

Zander raised his eyebrows. “And why wouldn’t she? Seprath, you really have to work on your socializing skills. Anyway, I would have been surprised if you’d actually slept with her. She’s completely different from any girl you’ve ever had. She’s independent, outgoing-”

“Irritating,” he interrupted. “Zan, why did you hire her?”

“Why do you think?” Zander replied. “Because she looks like she can serve us meals - and she did do a good job today you have to admit.”

Seprathier grunted.

“And she has the ability to converse with nobles and royalty without getting all embarrassed and shy, which shows through the way she stood up to you.” Zander grinned. “Plus, she’s beautiful.”

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “You’re married.”

“Yes, and happily too I might add. Still doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate beauty. And what about you? You’re engaged to Vilandra, yet, if I am correct, you are entertaining other woman in your room.”

He frowned at his friend. “Unlike your marriage of love, ours is not,” he replied. “Apparently it was someone’s terrific idea that we get married to each other, instead of choosing our own partner.” He glared at Zander.

Zander flinched. “Look, I’m sorry. I just thought it would be better if you were actually related to me, not just my second in charge. You know, more important.”

“Yeah, I’m sure everyone dreams of being related to the king,” he replied sarcastically. “And its not increasing my status any more than being second in charge anyway. Either way I’m still the second most important person on this planet. I’d rather be able to choose my own wife anyway.”

“When? In twenty years?” Zander snorted. “Seprath, as good as you are in military areas, you are lacking in the relationship department. Do you think you’ll ever settle with one person you actually want to be with? This way I’ve done it for you, so you won’t end up a bachelor.”

“But your sister? I don’t even know where she is. Last I heard she was vacationing somewhere in the country, but she’s been gone for almost a week.”

Zander shrugged. “It’s been announced, there’s nothing you can do about it. Besides, you can still entertain as many women as you want in your living chambers, so why are you complaining? There’s no one else you actually want to marry.”

Seprathier sighed. Zander was right, there was no one else he wanted to marry. But still, he didn’t want to marry Vilandra.

***

“You know what’s strange,” Maridria said to Cassarina, the other servier girl, as they walked around the castle’s private gardens. “The fact that there is only one of us working during every meal, but during the afternoon on-call shift they need both of us here.”

Cassarina turned to her. “Oh my god, I didn’t even realise that. You’re right, that is so stupid, I wonder why they do that?”

Maridria shrugged. “Maybe to keep each other company? So we don’t go wandering around the castle by ourselves? I guess there’s less of a chance we’d do something we’re not supposed to do.”

Cassarina nodded. “That could be it. Do you think they can tell if we leave the castle during our shift?”

“Well, I don’t think our calling chips embedded in our uniforms our honing devices too,” she said, smiling. “Why, do you want to leave?”

Cassarina laughed. “No, I don’t want to leave. I mean, you don’t get many opportunities to wander the castle by yourself, I’m taking full advantage of every chance I get. But honing devices, you know, I’d never thought of that. Oh god, what if they do? What if they’re following our every move?”

Maridria shook her head. “I’m seriously doubting that. After all, their are security cameras at the entrance as well as guards and receptionists who ask where you’re going when you are both coming and leaving, so they already know whether we’re inside the castle or not. Although you do have to wonder, what with the fact that the cities are now segregated and have been for over five years now.”

“True,” Cassarina replied. “And ever since Khivar’s threat right before they segregated them, there has been no sign of an attack from Khivar.”

“I know. I still don’t understand the reason for segregation, although I guess it might be a necessary precaution against attack?”

Cassarina shrugged. “Who knows? Let’s not talk about all this political stuff, I’m only seventeen, I don’t understand it at all.”

She nodded.

“So, how was your first shift?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” She replied. “I only had to serve King Zander and Seprathier. I was told that it is usually a lot busier, but there were no guests today and Queen Tesavarina is out with friends in the Castelia Sector.” She paused for a moment. “And to think of it, I haven’t seen Vilandra either. How was yours?”

“Not too bad either,” Cassarina replied. “I did serve the queen though, with King Zander of course. And Seprathier as well.” She smiled. “You know, he sure is good looking.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Maridria nodded her agreement. “I don’t like him though.”

Cassarina looked at her curiously. “You don’t?”

“Oh, he’s just too full of himself,” she answered.

“He seemed fine to me,” Cassarina replied, shrugging. She lowered her voice, glancing around the garden to make sure no one was listening. Not that anyone would be, the garden was deserted in this area, excluding them. “My friend, from the job I just quit,” she began. “Well, she slept with Seprathier a few months ago, and she said he was amazing.”

Maridria’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?” She couldn’t say she was completely surprised, after all the guy had to be good to have that many conquests. And he also did have rather large hands. Not that she was looking, it just, well, she’d just noticed.

Cassarina nodded. “Yep. She said it was the best night of her life, and hopes it will happen again, but she doubts it. She hasn’t had an opportunity to come back inside the castle since. And besides,” she added. “Given his record with woman I’m thinking that its unlikely to happen again.”

She nodded. She’d heard all about Seprathier’s womanizing. Oh well, not as if she’d ever sleep with him. No matter how gorgeous he was.
Maridria flopped on the sofa next to Eliazesha after work. Eliazesha turned to look at her, taking in her face. “Bad day?”

She rolled her eyes, sitting up slightly. “No, actually it was a good day. It’s just I’ve been working there three days and that Seprathier still hasn’t said one kind thing to me.” She glanced at her friend for a moment, taking in her exhausted expression. “And I would just write it down to the fact that he’s a jerk, but Cassarina is always going on about how he’s a lot nicer than she expected.”

Eliazesha shrugged. “Well, maybe he’s really a jerk but is putting on a front because he wants to use her.”

“Great, so I’m not good enough for him to be interested in me,” she mumbled.

“’Ria-”

“No, I’m sorry. It’s not your fault the guy’s a jerk. So how was your day ‘Lia?” she asked. “You look exhausted.”

“I feel exhausted,” Eliazesha replied. “I was on my feet the entire shift. People just kept pouring and pouring in.” She shook her head. “I don’t know why it was so busy.”

Maridria frowned. “That’s not too good.”

“Not compared to working with royalty anyway. So you’re not working tonight?”

She shook her head. “Nope, tomorrow night.”

Eliazesha smiled. “Then do you want to check out Yasla Sector’s best club?”

***

Seprathier looked up from his desk as Zander entered his meeting room.

“Have you seen Vilandra?” Zander asked immediately.

Seprathier looked at his friend, confused. He thought that they were having a meeting, not discussing the whereabouts of Vilandra. “She’s your sister.”

“And your fiancee,” came the reply.

He grunted. Like he wanted to be reminded of that fact.

“Don’t sound so enthused,” Zander said, frowning at him.

“Zan, this is an arranged marriage, how enthused do you expect me to be?”

Zander just sighed, rolling his eyes, giving him an ‘I’m sick of this conversation’ look. “Well, do you know where she is or not?”

“No,” he replied. “Why? Do you need her?”

“Not right now, but I just wanted to make sure she hadn’t forgotten the party tomorrow night.”

“Well, knowing Vilandra and her love of occasions like that, I’m sure she’s remembered,” Seprathier replied.

Zander nodded, then an unidentifiable expression crossed his face. “Shoot! I forgot to tell Maridria about the party tomorrow.” He paused, thinking for a moment. “Oh well, she’s working anyway, so it’s not as if she’ll have plans or anything, I just must remember to tell her tomorrow when she arrives.”

“Great,” he replied sarcastically.

Zander glared at him. “Look, what is your problem with her? She’s a great person. If only you would lay off the attitude every time you’re around her you might realise that.”

“What attitude?”

Zander sighed. “And if only you’d keep an interest in where your fiancee is.”

It was Seprathier’s turn to sigh. “Look, she disappeared on vacation over a week ago, and I haven’t seen her since. What, you want me to keep tabs on her or something? I hope not, because I sure as hell don’t want her keeping tabs on everything I do.”

“Seprath-”

“And she’s your sister,” he continued. “Shouldn’t you know where she is more than I should? Besides, weren’t we meeting to discuss tactics, not the whereabouts of your sister.” He rolled his eyes. “I know you’ve only been king for a year but you can’t get off topic that easily can you? It’s hardly good leadership if you give in so easily to distractions.”

“Seprathier.” It was his warning tone.

He just sighed, shaking his head. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

***

“I hate this,” Vilandra told Khivar as they said their farewells. She had spent the last eight days with him in a secluded country town far away from both their homes. They always choose the same place for their meetings. A small town where the people barely paid attention to political matters at all, so they didn’t realise that the two people who frequently stayed in their town were actually supposed to be sworn enemies.

“I know, me too baby,” Khivar replied, smoothing her hair back off her face before leaning in and kissing her lightly. When they pulled apart her gaze fell on the rumpled bedsheets. She wished they could just have a normal relationship.

“Will you approach Zan with your peacekeeping idea soon?” she asked, praying for an affirmative answer. Ever since becoming involved with her about nine months ago, Khivar had been considering going to the king and pleading peace between them. After all, there had been no attack from either side in over five years, and it was obvious to Vilandra that Khivar no longer wanted power over her brother. And if the peacekeeping agreement was successful that would mean segregation in cities would be over and she was free to marry Khivar.

“Soon, my dear,” he replied. “When its the right time.”

“But when is the right time?” she asked. “The sooner you do it the sooner we can get married.” She smiled at him, tracing her fingers lazily across his back. “And the sooner we get married the more important you will be. Related to the king,” she grinned. “Think of how good that will be for peace on the planet.”

He smiled at her, an honest, loving smile. “I know, and you know how much I’m looking forward to that.”

She grabbed his face, pulling it towards hers in a kiss. She wondered why Zan hated him so much. Sure, he’d launched an attack that had killed many people just over five years ago, but everything had changed now, Khivar had changed. In all truth he was just like Zan, except for the fact that Zan was in power and Khivar wasn’t.

He pulled back slightly from her, gazing at her with his intense eyes. “We still have a little bit of time before we have to leave,” he said, his eyes moving in the direction of the bed.

She nodded, smiling at him. Their lips rejoined and she let him pull her in the direction of the bed.
Vilandra took the steps from the entrance area to her living chambers two at a time. She hadn’t meant to arrive back so late, but Khivar was just so irresistable.

Reaching the room from which the door to her living chamber as well as the King and Queen’s opened from, she noticed Zander waiting outside her room. She sighed, wishing her living chamber was on the other side of the royalty wing. Seprathier was lucky, his chamber was away from any other occupied rooms.

“Where have you been?” Zander asked her, his gaze scanning her.

“On vacation, you know that,” she replied, wishing he would move out of her way so that she could go to her room.

“For over a week?”

“So what? Sometimes I need a break from this place. Besides, its not as if I’m needed for any major leadership decisions,” she replied bitterly.

“V, you’re a woman. A woman can’t do a man’s job.”

She just shrugged her shoulders. Khivar didn’t mind her input.

“So where were you?” he asked again.

“On vacation. I’m sorry, I arrived back later than I expected, I meant to allow more time to get ready for tonights party.”

Zander nodded at her, still not moving from her doorway.

“Well, I would like to get into my room,” she said, gesturing at her door.

“Oh, sorry,” he moved out of the way, walking towards his own door, still watching her.

“I’ll see you soon,” she replied, placing her palm on the scanner to open the door. She smiled at her brother as the door opened, before turning and walking into her room.

When the door shut behind her she leant against it, sliding down the door to a seating position, her back still against it.

She hated this. She hated lying to him. She couldn’t wait until this was all out in the open. She didn’t mind the fact that she was supposed to be engaged to Seprathier, after all she knew all about him and the girls he had in his chambers. But lying to her brother was horrible.

In a way she wished she hadn’t fallen for Khivar. Although that would mean that there wasn’t soon going to be peace between them. But still, as wonderful as these nine months she’d been with Khivar had been, the guilt of lying to Zander constantly weighed her down.

She remembered the time she and Khivar first met. She was on holiday in the countryside, and he happened to be staying in the same town. He had sat down beside her at a local cafe, and at first she didn’t even realise it was him. He looked different from any picture of him she’d ever seen. The resemblance was still there, but the most recent photo she had seen of him had been taken years before.

He’d told her who she was from the beginning, and had been surprised when she told him that she was the new king’s sister. They met on the first day of her two week vacation from Syra, and spent everyday of their time there together. By the end they’d fallen in love, and promised to meet back there three weeks later. It was then they that had their first kiss. She could still feel the sparks shooting down her back as their lips joined, the way he ran his hands through her long blonde hair. No man had ever made her feel like that before.

They continued to see each other, living in their world consisting of only them, excluding the fact that they were supposed to be at war with each other, supposed to be enemies. When her arranged engagement to Seprathier was publicly announced two months later she had gone to their secluded getaway crying, surprised to find him there also. It was then he had confided her in his hope of regaining peace to their planet.

They had worked on ideas ever since, and now the time was coming. Soon Khivar would approach Zander, and, assuming it all went smoothly, peace would return to the planet. She couldn’t wait for it to happen.

But right now she had to get dressed for tonight.

***

Maridria glided around the castle’s large entertaining hall. It was filled with lots more nobles than she had expected, and already many people she had never seen before had stopped her to talk to her. She had never thought that so many would want to talk to a servier girl, but they seemed to be interested in what it was like living in the countryside, and her reasons for coming to Syra.

At that moment King Zander and his wife, Queen Tesavarina made their way over to her. She’d served the queen a few meals already, and she seemed like a really nice person.

“Hello Maridria,” she said, smiling at her. “Are you enjoying the party?”

“Yes, very much so,” she replied, smiling back at her.

“Excuse me please,” Zander said, glancing at both of them. They watched as he walked in the direction of a man that had earlier introduced himself to her as the mayor of Krisla, who was talking to a woman who she thought looked familiar.

“Whose that woman?” she asked the queen, gesturing in the direction of Zander.

Tesavarina smiled. “Oh that’s his sister, Vilandra.”

“Vilandra, as in Seprathier’s fiancee?” she asked, discretely looking at Vilandra out of the corner of her eye.

“The very same,” Tesavarina replied.

“I didn’t realise she was related to King Zander.”

Tesavarina laughed. “Just call him Zander,” she replied. “And yes, she’s the king’s sister. Zan arranged the marriage between them.” She smiled. “Which probably explains why you’ve heard so many rumours about Seprathier.”

Maridria raised her eyebrows. This wasn’t something she expected to be discussing with the queen. “So they’re all true.”

Tesavarina shrugged, smiling slightly. “Well, I don’t know if every woman who claims to have slept with Seprathier is telling the truth, but I’m sure a good majority of them are.” She glanced in Seprathier’s direction, where he was talking with some nobles. “Seprath’s a womanisier,” she said, lowering her voice. “I’d stay away from him.”

Maridria nodded, wondering why the queen was telling her that. After all, it wasn’t as if she was interested in him.

***

“So, do they have a lot of parties here?” Maridria asked Seprathier, who was standing next to her, watching the room. She knew why she was watching the room - to see if anyone looked like they wantted food or maybe another drink, but she had no idea why Seprathier was.

He nodded. “Yeah, noblity love their parties. There’s another one coming up in a few days, this ones more of a political gathering. See, there’s the mayor of Talia,” he said, pointing to a short man with longish brown hair. “And that’s the mayor of Presda,” he said, gesturing to the man that Cassarina was talking to. “And there’s many others here too.”

“Only from Palitian cities though, right?” she said.

Seprathier looked at her curiously. “Yeah.”

She nodded. “Thought so.” She decided to use the opportunity to ask Seprathier something she’d always wondered, especially seeing he was actually talking civilly to her. “Why are the cities segregated?”

His eyes turned away from her, his eyes scanning the room. “I wouldn’t know, I was only low down in the military back then.”

“Yeah, I know, but why keep it that way? Not all Sakinian’s are bad.”

His eyes flashed angrily at her. “Yeah, but not all Sakinian’s are good either,” he replied, picking up his glass and walking away from her without another word.

She stared after him, biting her lip. What had she said? Why was he so uptight about Sakinian’s?

She sighed. And just when she was having her first actual conversation with him.
The next day Maridria was down at the water watching as the waves crashed against the shore, when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her. Turning around she was surprised to see Seprathier standing behind her. She grinned wryly, just like her first day here. She wondered if it would be just as unpleasant.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her, eyeing her curiously. “Shouldn’t you be working?”

She shrugged. “Zander gave me the afternoon off. I have no idea why two of us are needed for the afternoon on-call shift anyway.”

Seprathier ignored that comment, sitting down on the rock beside her and staring out at the sea.

“What’s your fascination with the water?”

She bit her lip, shrugging slightly. “It reminds me of home.”

He turned to look at her, staring intently at her. “You still don’t like the city?”

She blinked. “No, it’s far better than I expected. I’m actually enjoying it here actually,” she confessed. “But I still miss home, you know?”

To her surprise he just nodded.

“So,” she began. “What are you doing down here?”

Now it was his turn to shrug. “I wanted to get out of the castle.”

Maridria was surprised. “You don’t like the castle?”

“I get sick of it,” he replied, his eyes probing hers. “You know, stuck inside the castle walls, or the city walls for that matter, every day. You get sick of it. Imagine living your whole life inside those walls? You’re lucky you live in the country.”

She was surprised. Was he actually jealous of the fact she lived in the country. “Yeah, but you have the power. Noblity doesn’t live in the country.”

“My sister does,” he said quietly.

She looked at him, eyes wide. “You have a sister?”

He just nodded.

“Why does she live in the country?” she asked, curious.

“She wanted to get away after-” he broke off.

“After what?”

He glared at her. “After nothing.”

She looked at him warily. Okay. “Wait till the Seprathians hear that,” she murmured.

He was still glaring at her. “Hear what?”

She blinked at him. “Hear that you get sick of the castle. Geez, are you always so uptight?”

His face relaxed. “Oh.”

She just shook her head. He certainly got angry easily.

“Wait, Seprathians?”

“Seprathians. You know, the people who worship you believing that you’ll make a better king than Zander.” She raised her eyebrows at him. “You’ve never heard of them?”

He gave her a confused look. “No.”

She shrugged. “That’s surprising. There’s usually a large group of them in most districts. Me, I really don’t care whose king as long as they rule well.”

Seprathier laughed, shaking his head at her. “So you’re not a fan of me?” he asked.

She grinned at him. “Hell no.”

He just smiled. “Are you sure about that?”

Maridria nodded, not liking the way he was pressing the subject. “Uh-huh.”

He shrugged, still staring at her. “Okay then.”

She stood up, for some reason this was making her uncomfortable. Like he was wanting her to admit something. What, she didn’t know. “Well, I have to head back now anyway,” she said.

“I thought you had the afternoon off,” he replied, smirking.

“That’s not what I meant. I have plans with Eliazesha,” she explained, walking away from him. “So, bye.”

“See you soon,” he replied. She could feel his eyes on her as she made her way up the path to the steps.

***

She didn’t like him. She didn’t like him. She didn’t like him.

Maridria was chanting that to herself as she lay on her bed, the events from that afternoon flowing over her.

There were many reasons why she couldn’t like him. Firstly he was a jerk to her up until today, or maybe yesterday, and he still got pissed off at her for asking innocent questions.

And then there was the fact that he was engaged. Not that it mattered to him, he still slept with as many girls as possible. And then Tesavarina had warned her against him, not that she needed that warning, she already knew not to get involved with him. Doing so would only get her heart broken.

Not that he could break her heart. After all she didn’t like him. She didn’t like him. Didn’t like him.

She sighed, it was useless. When did it happen anyway? When did she go from thinking that he was the biggest jerk on Antar to slightly liking him.

Well, more than slightly, she admitted, remembering the way he had looked last night. His usually spiked hair had been smoothed down, and his lips had looked totally kissable.

Don’t think about it, she told herself. Thinking this would only end in heartbreak.

It had probably happened last night, she thought to herself. After all, that was the first pleasant conversation she had ever had with him. Of course, she had thought he was attractive the moment she had seen him, but she hadn’t been interested. All he had been was a gorgeous jerk.

Why was she even contemplating this anyway? After all, nothing would ever happen between them. He saw her as little more than a servant, even though she was of a higher class. She couldn’t believe he had let himself be seen socializing with her last night.

Oh god, he didn’t know did he? After all Tesavarina had seemed to know that she might like him, even though she hadn’t even realised herself. He couldn’t know could he? That would be so embarrassing.

No, she had to get over this. Get over him. After all, nothing would happen between them. And even if something did happen, he would only be using her like he used every other girl, so it wouldn’t be anything real.
The next day Maridria was sitting alone in the castle’s private gardens, gazing out at the water far below. She was doing the on-call afternoon shift by herself today as Cassarina had the afternoon off, just like she had yesterday.

She now understood why they had both on them on for this shift. Despite the peacefulness, it was incredibly boring. She didn’t think she could survive this everyday. When she was working with Cassarina at least she had someone to talk to, to explore the castle and the gardens with. A week ago they had been pleasantly surprised to find an entertainment room and had spent most of their afternoon shifts there since, but Maridria didn’t feel particularily comfortable going there by herself.

She was startled when she caught the movement of someone out of the corner of her eye, and was surprised to see that Seprathier had once again snuck up on her. How did he manage to walk so quietly that you never heard him coming? She figured it must have something to do with being in the military.

“What are you doing?” he asked her once he realised she’d noticed him.

“Just looking,” she replied. “Cassarina has the afternoon off today so I’m doing this shift alone.”

“Boring?” he asked.

She nodded. “Now I understand why they put both of us on.”

He smiled, looking like he was considering something. “Have you ever been in the exclusive part of the garden?” he asked.

She stared at him curiously. “Exclusive part?”

“Yeah, there’s a special exclusive part which only those who have access to it can enter. Its so that we have a private place that we can go seeing as all servants and visitors can come here.”

“Yeah, well, you may have noticed that I don’t have that kind of access,” she replied.

He shrugged. “Someone could have shown you.”

“Nope. I didn’t even notice it existed.”

“It’s quite hidden from the rest of the garden.” He looked at her closely. “I can show you if you want.”

Her heart leapt. He was actually going to go out of his way to show her something. “Sure. I mean, if you want to.”

He nodded, taking her hand to help her up from the ground. The feel of his skin against hers sent pleasant shivers down her spine, and she was disappointed when he dropped her hand as soon as she’d stood up.

“This way,” he said, starting to walk. She quickly followed.

After a few minutes they reached a gate partially hidden by greenery. Seprathier placed his hand on the scanner, and a few moments later the gate opened.

She followed him in, her eyes widening as she took in the garden. She briefly wondered why he was actually being nice to her for once, but pushed the thought out of her head. The garden was beautiful.

“Do you like it?” he asked her.

She nodded, taking in the exotic flowers surrounding the pond in the centre. “I do. It’s amazing. Beautiful.”

“It is,” he replied. She could feel his eyes on hers and she walked towards the pond.

“Do many people actually come here?” she asked.

“I’m not sure, I know Tesavarina does, but the others...” he shrugged.

She nodded, moving closer to him. She ran her hand down his arm before grasping his hand. Why she did that, she didn’t know. All she knew was that it felt right. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

He just nodded, moving closer to her. He was staring intently at her. And then, all of a sudden, his lips were pressing against hers.

She moved her mouth against his, not quite sure what to do. She had never kissed anyone before. It felt right though, unlike her friend’s stories of how uncomfortable their first kiss was.

She was surprised when she felt his tongue against her lips, and opened her mouth, allowing him access. She wrapped her arms around his neck, his hands were around her waist, pulling her even closer.

It was incredible. The taste of his lips on hers, the feel of his tongue in her mouth, god, even his hands pressed tightly against her waist were making her see stars. It was the most amazing experience she’d ever had.

She was disappointed when they had to break apart for air, but a few moments later his lips had rejoined hers, his hands were moving slowly up her back. She gasped in surprise when his lips left hers and began kissing their way down her chin, stopping to suck on the tender flesh of her neck.

She involutarily moaned, pressing herself closer to him. Her hands were in his hair now, running her fingers through the soft strands, pulling him closer still.

His lips left her neck, once again searching for hers. She thought she heard him moan, but wasn’t sure. Why had no one told her kissing was so amazing? Or was it just him that made it amazing?

The sound of beeping withdrew her from the haze created by being kissed by Seprathier. She sighed when she realised it was her calling chip. She was being called to serve someone.

“I have to go,” she said, pulling away from him.

“Ignore it.” He pulled her back into his arms, once again attaching his lips to her neck.

She sighed. Oh how she wished she could. “I can’t,” she said, trying to ignore the feeling of his lips.

“Mmmph.” She couldn’t tell what he said due to the fact that he was talking into her neck. She pushed him away from her.

“It’s my job. I don’t want to get fired.”

Seprathier made a face, but he was no longer trying to pull her into his arms. He was, however, just staring at her.

Her calling chip beeped again, bringing her out of his gaze. “I really have to go,” she said, giving him one last glance before turning and running out of the garden, and all the way to the kitchen.

***

Zander watched as his friend paced around the meeting room. Seprathier seemed more wound up than usual. He looked frustrated and pissed off, although why, Zander had no idea. After all there were no major military or governing decisions being made right at this moment. Maybe it was something else.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked him.

Seprathier looked at him coldly. “Nothing’s wrong with me.”

Zander raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure?”

“Yes I’m sure.” Seprathier narrowed his eyes at him. “God, I know you’re king, but you don’t need to know every detail of everyone else’s lives.”

“Seprath,” he began cautiously, worried how he would take this. “Maybe you need to get laid.”

Seprathier glared at him and he flinched. “Maybe you need to mind your own bloody business.”

“I’m sorry, I just thought that maybe you’d feel better-”

“That’s not going to help with this problem, okay?” Seprathier interrupted.

“Okay.” He paused. “What problem?”

“Nothing!”

Zander looked down at his desk. Okay, Seprathier was pretty pissed. It must be personal, maybe to do with a girl. Probably one got mad at him for acting the way he did afterwards, about time too. Most were too scared to stand up to his second in command, fearing his anger and his position.

That’s why Zander liked Maridria - apart from the fact that she was a great girl, she also had the ability to stand up to Seprathier. He almost laughed aloud, then realised that was a bad idea considering Seprathier was still in the room, at the thought that if Seprathier did something like that to her she would probably stand up to him. Of course, that was the last thing that would ever happen, Seprathier and Maridria would be the least likely couple to get together on the face of the planet.

“Look, if all you’re going to do is sit there with a grin on your face then I’m leaving.”

Seprathier’s voice cut through his thoughts, and he looked up in time to see his best friend disappearing from the room. Oh well, there were no pressing matters to discuss anyway.
Three nights after their kiss in the garden Maridria was serving at a party with Cassarina. According to Tesavarina, unlike the party five nights ago, this was a social gathering with many nobles from Syra and other neighbouring cities attending.

She made her way around the guests, offering them food and beverages. She recognised a few regulars from the restaurant where Eliazesha worked from times she’d visited her there.

Making her way back to the kitchen for refills she noticed Seprathier entering the hall. This was the first time she’d seen him since their kiss. He’d been avoiding her, eating meals out whenever she was working.

She quickly looked away before he saw her staring, and entered the kitchen.

Taking a new tray she exited, noticing Tesavarina smiling and walking towards her. Offering drinks to the group of nobles standing near her she waited for the queen to reach her.

“Maridria,” she said, taking a fresh drink from the tray. “I have someone who wants to meet you. He says he has a son about your age that he wants you to meet.” Tesavarina rolled her eyes at her, smiling. Maridria wondered how she coped with interacting with these people on a daily basis. The queen was hardly any older than she herself was, and some of these people were old enough to be her father.

“Is the son here?” Maridria asked politely, walking beside Tesavarina as she made her way back to where she had been previously standing.

“I think so,” Tesavarina replied. “I personally haven’t seen him, but I hope for your sake he’s hot.”

“Why would he want his son to meet me anyway?” she asked, curious. “After all, I’m not nobility.”

“The class distinction is becoming less important,” Tesavarina said, smiling at people as she made her way across the room. “Of course, no noble would consider socializing with a servant, for some reason beyond my comprehension, except for the fact that it’s tradition, but people from the country and nobles have always interacted, after all, both have money and own land, its just that the nobles usually live in the city. Nowadays more nobles are considering marrying those from the country, depending on the person of course, because that means they won’t have to move to live in a different city if that’s where the noble they’ve married is from,” Tesavarina finished as they arrived next to the man she had been talking to. A young, sandy-haired man had now joined him.

“Dravidier Gresador,” the older man introduced himself. “And this is my son Tylack.”

Maridria smiled politely at them both, focusing her attention on the son. He was attractive, with his bright blue eyes and sand-coloured hair which was almost hanging in his eyes, but not the kind of attractive that makes you look twice.

***

Seprathier watched as Maridria spoke to Lord Falaheya, her hands gesturing as she spoke animatedly about something or other. Her hair was up in a loose bun, and as she walked by him, strands of her hair which had come loose floating around her face, he thought she’d never looked more beautiful.

He watched her back, or, more specifically, her ass, as she made her way back to the kitchen. Averting his eyes he noticed Vilandra standing alone on the other side of the room. Excusing himself from the conversation he was involved in he made his way over to her.

“V,” he said, arriving next to her. “Haven’t seen you for a while.”

She turned to look at him, seemingly surprised. “I’ve been busy.”

“As I was aware,” he replied. “I heard you were off vacationing in the country. How was it?”

“It was brilliant,” she replied, surprising him with her enthusiastic voice and sparkling eyes.

“Where abouts were you?” he asked, vaguely interested. There was a reason he was talking to her, but he didn’t want to get straight into it.

“Oh, just the Olaya District,” she replied with a wave of a hand. To most people it would seem genuine, but he could tell she was hiding something. Not that he cared, if she refused to tell him where exactly she was vacationing he didn’t really care, it wasn’t as if he was planning on going there himself anyway.

“Right,” he said, nodding his head. “Anyway, what I really wanted to talk to you about was do you think that there’s anyway we can get out of this whole arranged marriage thing?” he asked, lowering his voice so others around him wouldn’t hear. Only a few select people knew that the marriage was arranged.

Vilandra looked surprised that he had brought it up now. He hadn’t intended to, it was just he hadn’t had an actual conversation with her free from anyone else for a while now, and it was something that needed to be discussed.

“Do you think there’s any way we can get out of it?” she asked softly.

“There’s got to be doesn’t there?” he replied. “Besides, he’s your brother, I thought you would know.”

“He’s also your best friend,” she replied, glancing around them to make sure no one was listening. “I can’t think of anything right now, complaining hasn’t worked-”

“Tell me about it,” he interrupted.

“And he seems firmly set in following through with it, especially seeing he’s announced it to the whole planet. But maybe if we go away and think about it we could come up with something. Who knows, maybe something could drastically change everything, and whether or not we get married no one would care about.”

He stared at her curiously. Why would she think something major would happen? There were no signs of anything about to happen, and he knew that she would know nothing about it if there were, being a woman and all. He rolled his eyes. Well, as long as she was trying to think up ideas to get out of it, it was all good.

“Yeah, maybe,” he replied. “Just think about it, okay?”

***

Maridria had excused herself from Tylack, explaining that she had to work. That was partly the truth, she did have to help serve, although her job did consist of talking to nobles when required also. But Tylack was just so dull she didn’t think she could cope talking to him for one more minute.

She had almost reached the kitchen when she felt someone grab her, pulling her through the doorway of the hall and down the empty corridor a small way. When the person finally let her go she was shocked to see that it was Seprathier.

“What are you-”

“Shh,” he said, covering her mouth and pulling her further down the corridor and ‘round the corner.

She looked at him confused. He’d ignored her for the past three days, and now he was pulling her out of the hall into a deserted corridor. “I have to work,” she told him.

“No one’s going to notice you gone,” he replied. “I mean, you’ve just spent god knows how long talking to that Gresador guy and no one cared. This is the part of the night they when expect you to mingle, or leave if you really feel like. Drinks and food is on the table if they really want it, and they’re all too involved with enjoying themselves to notice that you’re not there.”

“And why won’t I be there?” she asked, still confused with why exactly he’d pulled her out of there. She’d assumed he wanted nothing to do with her.

“You ask too many questions, you know that.”

“Yeah, well, I-” He cut her off by kissing her.
He was making her feel things she had never felt before as he kissed her, his tongue probing her mouth, his hands running up and down her back.

They disentangled, both breathing heavily. Seprathier glanced up and down the corridor for a moment. “We should probably get out of here before someone finds us.”

“Is this allowed?” she asked, still trying to catch her breath.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never done this before.”

She tried to ignore the way her heart leapt at those words.

Glancing around one more time he grabbed her hand, leading her further down the corridor.

After numerous stairwells and many twists and turns that would have rendered her lost they arrived in a room with three doors opening off it.

“My living chambers,” he said, gesturing at the middle door.

“Whose are the others?” she asked.

“Unoccupied at the moment,” he replied. “The middle one’s the biggest.”

She grinned, she wasn’t surprised. “How can you find your way around here without getting lost?” she asked as he laid his palm on the scanner.

He shrugged. “You get used to it. It’s not my problem if the best room is on the other side of the castle to the entertaining hall.”

The door opened and he grinned at her. “But do you really want to talk now?”

She shook her head, smiling, as he pulled her into his living chambers. The moment the door shut his lips were once again on hers, kissing her fiercely, passionately.

She let him walk her further into the room as their tongues devoured each others. They collapsed on a couch, and his lips left hers to kiss their way down her neck, pushing her uniform off her shoulders so he could kiss them.

Maridria ran her hands up under his shirt, loving the feel of his bare skin against her hands. He pulled her into his lap, her legs straddling him so that the skirt of her dress rose higher.

She vaguely noticed that he had undone her uniform sometime, but was too caught up in the moment, in the feel of him with her, to care. She surprised herself when she pulled his shirt off though, after all this was only the second time she had ever kissed a guy.

His lips rejoined hers and the kiss got hotter and hotter. They moved to the bedroom, and it was as she was lying next to him, kissing him, wearing only her underwear, that she realised that she was about to have sex with him. That she wanted to have sex with him.

She could hear his murmured words, “Is this okay?” as he undid the back of her bra. She just simply nodded, pulling his head back up to hers, touching her lips to his in a light kiss which soon turned intense. She buried her hands in his hair.

She realised that she was about to sleep with a guy she barely knew, a guy who had been ignoring her for the past few days, and only the second time they’d kissed. She realised that she was about to sleep with a guy who had a new conquest every week. But right now she didn’t care.

***

They lay there in silence afterwards, his arm wrapped around her from behind. She stared out through his bedroom window at the three burnt orange coloured moons lighting up the purple sky. “Wow,” she said softly.

“Mmm-hmm,” he murmured, burying his face in her hair.

She turned back towards him, feeling slightly self-conscious due to the fact she was completely naked. Planting a kiss on his chest she lay against it, feeling his arms wrap securely around her.

It had been amazing, totally amazing. Far better than she had ever expected. And she had thought kissing was incredible, kissing was nothing compared to this.

She lay against his chest for a while, feeling the rise and fall as he breathed. Lifting her head she turned to look at him, licking her lips slightly as she did so. She wanted to be with him, be completely with him, again. She wanted to experience again the feeling of him inside her and the amazingly wonderful sensations it created.

“Hi,” she said softly, leaning in to press her lips against his.

“Hi,” he replied, rolling them over so they were lying next to each other.

She lightly ran a hand over his chest, leaning in to kiss it. When she pulled back she saw him smiling at her. “What?”

“You’re beautiful,” he replied, tilting her head up so that her lips met his. Once again they were involved in a heated embrace, their tongues dancing in each others mouths.

She pulled back, her eyes communicating to him what she wanted. What she needed. She buried her head in his neck, lightly kissing and nipping at it.

Pulling her lips back up to meet his he moved them slightly, positioning himself above her. She moaned as he entered her again, crushing her lips against his.

Her eyes closed as she took in the sensation of it all, of the feel of his skin against hers, his lips kissing hers, of his hands caressing her back.

This was amazing. She loved it. She loved him. And she wanted to stay this way forever.
Seprathier paced around his meeting room, forwards and backwards, forwards and backwards, as one thought kept repeating in his head.

Last night he had acted without thinking.

How could he have done that? How could he have just pulled her from the entertaining hall? How could he let himself sleep with her? Why did she let him?

After all, she must have heard the rumours. She was a smart girl. So, why did she let him use her like that? Why did he allow himself to get close to her?

And then there was the fact that she was an employee in the castle. Although Seprathier didn’t know of any rule forbidding what had happened between them, he knew Zander wouldn’t be pleased if he found out that he had slept with one of the serviers.

He groaned, rubbing his head with his hands. Why had he allowed himself to completely lose control?

Why did he sleep with her last night?

***

Maridria quickly unlocked the door to her apartment, dropping her things on the ground as soon as she entered. Apart from a quick stop in this morning after leaving the castle she hadn’t been home since the day before.

She had been relieved to find out that the people at the reception area now knew her and didn’t question her every time she went in or out. It would have been uncomfortable to explain that she had spent the night with Seprathier.

She was surprised when Eliazesha appeared from her bedroom, she hadn’t realised that she was home. “Hi,” she said to her friend.

Eliazesha looked at her for a moment, raising her eyebrows. “You didn’t come home last night.”

Maridria blushed.

“At first I thought you were just working late,” she continued. “What with the function and all, but then you weren’t even home this morning.” Eliazesha looked at her knowingly.

Maridria took a deep breath. “I slept with Seprathier.” The words came out in a rush. What was her friend going to think?

Eliazesha looked stunned. “You slept with Seprathier,” she repeated.

She nodded mutely.

“Oh my god!” Eliazesha exclaimed. “’Ria, that’s amazing.”

She looked curiously at her friend. “It’s not stupid?”

Eliazesha frowned. “Well, that too. But you have enough time to realise that, unless, of course, he really does like you.” She paused for a moment, thinking. “I mean, he could, couldn’t he? But anyway, how did it happen?”

She shrugged. “Well, I was working, and he pulled me from the hall and we ended up having sex.”

“Just like that?” Eliazesha replied, raising her eyebrows.

“Pretty much. Well, he did kiss me a couple of days before.”

Eliazesha’s mouth dropped open. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“’Lia, I didn’t know what it meant!”

“Hmm, then I guess you’re forgiven. And you did tell me about this.” Eliazesha smiled, looking at her curiously. “So how was it.”

Maridria just smiled. “Amazing.”

***

“Hey,” Maridria said, placing a drink in front of Seprathier at lunch the next day. “Were you busy all yesterday?” It was a casual question, as she assumed Zander and Tesavarina wouldn’t know about what had happened between them.

He looked up at her, briefly casting his eyes over her before grunting a “hey”.

She just stared at him. She wasn’t expecting an all out declaration of his love or anything, but she’d expected him to at least acknowledge her, especially after what had happened. He usually paid her more attention than that.

Acting nonchalantly she turned towards the other two, smiling at them. She saw Tesavarina shoot her a sympathetic look while Zander remained oblivious. “Anything else you want me to get you?” she asked. They had arrived earlier than Seprathier and she had already served them their lunch.

“No thank you,” Tesavarina replied, smiling at her.

Maridria nodded, returning to the kitchen. Leaning against the all she tried to collect herself.

It wasn’t a big deal. Not at all. It wasn’t as if she’d lost her virginity to him only two nights ago.

She couldn’t believe it. Had he just used her? Just used her for sex while making her believe that he cared.

Why hadn’t she listened to those who’d tried to warn her? Why did she disregard all the rumours she’d heard about him every time she was in his arms?

Throughout the whole meal he barely said two words to her, and she was relieved when he left with Zander. She couldn’t cope with him right now. Not in public.

“Maridria,” she heard Tesavarina calling her, and walked back into the dining room from the kitchen. “Can we talk?”

She nodded, walking over to the queen. Oh god, she didn’t know did she?

“Sure,” she replied, sitting down at the table next to her.

“Look, I know you like Seprath,” Tesavarina began.

She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

Tesavarina smiled sympathetically at her. “You do. Don’t worry, its okay. Many girls fall into that trap.”

Maridria grinned weakly.

“I just wanted to tell you not to take his behaviour today personally. Seprath can be especially moody sometimes, especially seeing as it’s coming up to-” she broke off, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. The point is that you’re a wonderful person, and any guy would be lucky to have you.” She paused for a moment, grinning. “In fact I know Tylack would be.” Tesavarina smiled as Maridria rolled her eyes. “Just because Seprath isn’t interested it doesn’t mean no one will be. In fact, you’re lucky he isn’t . That way you won’t experience the false hope that he wants to be with you that the girls he uses do.”

Maridria nodded, biting her lip. Well Tesavarina obviously didn’t know.

“So don’t worry, okay?” Tesavarina said. “I’m sure one day you’ll find a guy who’ll treat you far better than Seprath ever could.”

Maridria nodded. “Thank you,” she said, smiling.

Unfortunately she’d already experienced the false hope of being with Seprathier.
Are you okay?” Cassarina asked her during their afternoon shift.

Maridria turned to her friend. “Honestly, I did something really stupid.”

“How stupid?” Cassarina asked.

Maridria glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “Sleeping with Seprathier stupid,” she replied.

Cassarina’s mouth dropped open. “Are you serious? When?”

She sighed. “The night of the party.”

“And I didn’t even notice you were missing,” Cassarina replied, raising her eyebrows. “So how was it?”

Maridria rolled her eyes. Why was that the first question that everyone asked?

“Well, come on,” she pressed. “My friend told me he was amazing, and I’m curious to whether she was just exaggerating or not.”

“Yes, it was,” she replied. “But that’s not the point. The point is that now he’s completely ignoring me, not even talking to me. I mean, I know I shouldn’t expect anything to happen,” she said regretfully. “But I didn’t expect him to treat me worse than before.”

Cassarina nodded sympathetically. “He’s treating you worse?”

“Yes.” She sighed. “Maybe I was just terrible or something?” she said, grinning weakly.

Cassarina shook her head. “Nah, he’s just a jerk.”

Maridria nodded. He sure was.

But if he was a jerk then why did she want to be with him so much?

***

Maridria flopped down on her bed in the otherwise empty apartment. She’d told Eliazesha that she’d come visit her at work that night, but right now she couldn’t be bothered.

She hated this. Why was he affecting her so much? Why was she letting him get to her? She hadn’t gone in unwarned, she’d heard the rumours, yet she was still hurt by the way he was acting.

It was just the way he’d acted that night. Acted like she was the only person in the world, acted like she was the only person she’d ever been interested in. But that mightn’t mean anything, maybe all guys looked at you like that when they were having sex, she had no idea.

But he’d made her feel so special. The way he had tenderly pulled her hair loose from her bun, gently running his hands through it. The way his hands had lightly stroked her body afterwards. The way he’d smiled at her when she woke up in his arms.

How could all that be fake? How could that all be just some show to make a girl sleep with him? He couldn’t possibly be that good.

She’d thought that she’d felt feelings, strong feelings, radiating off him as they made love. Feelings almost as intense as hers. And she knew, unfortunately, how strong her feelings for him were. So even if his were only half as intense – although they felt way more – he surely couldn’t have been faking them. After all how do you fake feelings like that?

She had to see him. She had to find out why he had slept with her, why he was ignoring her now. She had to know whether he was just using her.

And if he was… well she’d just rant at him.

But if he wasn’t… well then maybe she could experience those feelings of his all over again.

***

Maridria knocked on the door of Seprathier’s living chambers, desperately hoping he was there. She didn’t know where else he spent his time in the castle, and after the mission it had taken to get there – countless wrong turns and even knocking on the door to the wrong living chambers – it had turned out to be a noble who had been sleeping at time - she wouldn’t even contemplate the fact that he may not be there.

To her relief the door soon opened, and Seprathier stood there, looking delicious as always in a casual pair of pants and a black t-shirt. He looked surprised to see her.

“So you screw me and then you ignore me, is that it?” she asked, getting to the point. There was no point in dancing around it, he’d want to know why she was there.

He glanced around, making sure the room and nearby corridors were empty. “What?” he asked quietly.

“And you don’t want anyone to know about it either, huh? Too ashamed to have people realise you would consider sleeping with a country girl?” She glared at him. “Then why did you do it in the first place?”

“What are you talking about?” He was staring at her as if she had grown two heads.

She let out a sigh of exasperation. “God, and now you expect me to believe that you can’t even remember? Or have you actually f*cked so many people that you can’t even remember who it was you did a couple of days ago.”

His eyes narrowed at that, and he grabbed her, pulling her into the room and shutting it behind them. “What is wrong with you?”

“What is wrong with me? I’m not the one screwing so many people that I can’t even remember them.”

“I can remember,” she could hear the anger in his voice now. “Why would I be ashamed?”

“Well maybe because you’ve been ignoring me ever since. Geez, it was your idea you know. Not mine.”

“So now are you trying to say I forced you into it?”

“No!” It came out stronger than she had intended. She cleared her throat. “I mean, no, we were both there. I know you wouldn’t force anyone, just…” she trailed off. “Wait a minute, why are you turning this around on me? You’re the one whose been ignoring me for the past few days.”

She stared at him, waiting for an answer. He just sighed.

“Well?” she pressed.

His eyes probed hers, and he sighed again, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t do this,” he said.

She stared at him for a moment. “Do what?”

“Relationships.” He said it softly.

“Who said anything about a relationship? It’s common courtesy not to completely ignore the person you slept with the next day, even if you don’t intend on it happening again.” She paused for a moment, taking in his words. “Wait, do you want a relationship?”

“I didn’t say that.”

She raised her eyebrows, staring at him for a moment. Did he, Seprathier, the guy who’d slept with countless woman, actually want a relationship with her?

***

He couldn’t believe she’d come to his chambers to see him. No girl had never confronted him afterwards, let alone gone out of their way too. He was impressed. If not slightly annoyed.

He didn’t want to see her. He didn’t want to think about her. He didn’t want to have to consider the reason that sex with her meant more to him than it did with any other woman.

There was a reason he’d been ignoring her. Yeah, he knew it was a jerk move, and he usually never completely ignored a woman afterwards, although he had never slept with anyone working in the castle before, but he didn’t want to have to think about her, to explain to her what was going on when he didn’t even know himself.

She was staring at him in shock. Why had he said that? Why had he mentioned the ‘r’ word. He didn’t want a relationship, he hadn’t even considered it, so why had it just come out?

“No,” she said slowly, watching his face for a reaction. “But why did you tell me you don’t ‘do relationships’ if you didn’t want a relationship anyway?”

He groaned. What was wrong with this girl? Why was she so damn persistent. If only she was like the other girls, the ones who acknowledged the fact he didn’t want to see them and left him alone, the ones who didn’t keep appearing in his head without warning.

She moved closer to him until she was almost touching him. He could feel the heat radiating off her body. He wanted her so badly. Was she trying to torture him?

To his surprise she moved even closer, pressing her body firmly against his. Yes, she was trying to torture him.

She looked up at him, tilting her head slightly. Her mouth was only inches from his, and he could feel her breath on his face. “Fine, so you don’t want me,” she shrugged, smiling slightly. “Sorry, must’ve been mistaken.”

She moved slightly to back away and he reflexively grabbed her without thinking, pulling her back to him. He roughly pulled her mouth to his, feeling the sparks run up his spine as they kissed.

Why did she do this to him? Why did she affect him so much? Why was she making him feel things, things he had never felt before.

He deepened the kiss, running one hand through her hair as the other unzipped the back of her uniform, his hand roaming her bare back once it was undone. He felt her arms around his neck, pulling him closer still.

Suddenly her hands where on his stomach under his t-shirt. He felt her tug upwards on it and their mouths pulled apart for a moment so that his top could be removed, before quickly rejoining again.

Her uniform slipped down her arms and his lips attached themselves to her neck as his hands explored both her front and her back. God, he wanted her, wanted this, so much.

Her hands were on his head, pulling it away from her neck and back to her mouth. She kissed him, her tongue running over the inside of his mouth, before pulling away.

He reached for her, but she moved out of his grasp. He stared at her, wondering what she was doing, while trying to catch his breath.

She ran her tongue over her lips, smiling at the sound of his sharp intake of breath at that movement. “So you do want me?” she asked.

He rolled his eyes. She was stopping to ask him that? Of course he wanted her. He’d never wanted anyone as much as he wanted her. “God, yes.”

She grinned, which quickly faded as she looked seriously at him. “So then, do you want a relationship?”

He groaned. Not now. He couldn’t get into this now. He wanted to kiss her again, to make love to her again. It wasn’t fair for her to be asking him this right now. Now, when his thoughts were clouded with need for her.

She bit her lip, looking down at her uniform barely hanging off her hips. His eyes followed her gaze, becoming even more turned on as he took in her half naked body.

“Okay then, so what’s going on with us?”

He groaned again, his eyes returning to hers. “Not now,” he mumbled.

“Yes now,” she replied, moving a step closer and running a hand up his bare arm. “I need to know what’s going on with us before we…” she trailed off, looking pleadingly at him.

Like he even knew what was going on between them when he had a chance to think clearly, let alone now. “I don’t know.”

She pondered that for a moment. “You don’t know. Does that mean this isn’t just sex?”

God, what was with all the complicated questions? “No,” he replied. “It’s different.”

“Different?” She moved even closer to him again, pressing her body tight against him, her bra clad chest rubbing against his bare chest.

He gulped. “Yeah, different. You’re different. I want-“ He stopped.

Her lips where just inches from his. “More?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

She smiled, her lips crushing against his. When they pulled apart she stared seriously at him for a moment. “So does this mean that you’re not gonna ignore me tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” His lips connected with hers, tongues probing each others mouths as he lifted her up, carrying her towards his bedroom and intending to finish what they had started before she’d pulled away.