Michael Stackpole - At the Queen_s command

He stopped and turned to face her. "Don't, Bethany, please. I…"

She pressed a finger to his lips. "You will tell me you have feelings for me, too. Of course you do. How could you not? I nursed you back to health. But you love your wife. She has your heart. I know that. I am content with that, with knowing I am your friend. But I shall have to be your friend at a distance."

"It does not have to be that way…" Owen stopped, not certain what he was saying. "I wish I had not done what I did."

"You did nothing, other than be yourself. And this is why I must put distance between us." She shook her head. "It will hurt, but to not do this will hurt more."

"Miss Frost…"

"No, Captain. You see, I know a woman who married a man she did not love because she thought her heart's desire was dead. She listened to rumors that were false. And even though those rumors had been spread by the man she married-spread because of his desire to win her heart-she is married nonetheless. Still, she yearns for her lover and sees him. And I see how it tears her apart when they cannot be together."

Owen clasped her hands to his chest. "There are so many things I wish to say that I cannot. You have been more of a friend to me than anyone I have ever known. You have treated me better than my family ever did. You tended me in a way that my wife never could have. You have made me welcome in Mystria. Miss Frost, were it not for you, I should board the next ship to Norisle and read of Rivendell's folly in a book."

"No, you would not."

"Yes, I would."

She lightly pushed him away. "You're lying. He will create disaster, and you want to be there to prevent it. As much as you might dread seeing du Malphias again, you dread more seeing him on the outskirts of Temperance."

Owen nodded. "You know me too well."

"And I am proud to know you. You are truly an amazing man." She slipped to his side, linked her arm through his, and steered him south again. "Due to you, Caleb is more reserved in his comments about Norillian soldiers. He's not been in a tavern scuffle since your return."

"Less his respect for me than his growing up." Owen glanced over at her. Moonlight gave her skin an alabaster tone, and let glisten the track of a tear. "You have changed the subject, however, and I must be given a chance to finish my thought."

"It does not matter, Captain, for I know what I must do, and nothing you can say will change that."

"It is not my intention to change it. I shall respect your wishes completely. Tomorrow I shall move out of your family's home. I will take apartments elsewhere. And I shall have to invite your parents to dine there. Catherine will want to entertain. She will want me to invite you as well."

"Captain, you do not understand women. She will tell you she wants me there, but she does not." Bethany's eyes tightened. "Were I to come, I should be made to feel the provincial cousin. She would be kind, while being cutting. She would be as Lilith Bumble is, but more gracious and subtle. No, you shall ask, and I shall be feeling ill. I will send my regrets, and at the thought of missing you, they shall be sincere."

"Catherine would not do that."

"It is no slight against your wife, Captain, just the reality of being a woman in love with a man such as yourself. She will show everyone that you are truly hers. That is her right as your wife. I truly am happy that you have someone."

They walked in silence, then turned west at Kindness. Thin clouds striped the sky, eclipsing stars, moving slowly. Crickets chirped and dogs barked here and there. From the upper floor of one house came soft singing of a lullaby, the words unintelligible, but the melody soothing.

Owen laid his hand on hers. "You mean that I shall never see you again."

"You will, at a distance. You will come to church, and I shall be there. In the crowd when you march off to destroy du Malphias, I will be there. You'll see me with my uncle and my brother. You'll see my hand in stitches sewn for uniforms. You will be able to find me, but I cannot find you."

"And if I wished to send you a letter?"

"Please, Captain, do not. I lost you once, then came you back. But now I cannot have you. Please do not make this more difficult." She looked up and smiled briefly. "You will have your wife, and you will go back to Norisle and forget me, almost completely. Perhaps when you see the scar on your side and notice the stitching, you'll remember, but memory of me will fade far sooner than that scar. No matter."

"You'll forget me as well."

"No." She shook her head, looking down. "Women do not forget the men… Do you remember the first girl you ever kissed?"

Owen thought for a moment, then nodded. "Her name was Jenny. Cook's daughter at Overton Park Academy."

"Very good. Do you remember the first kiss?"

His brow furrowed. "No. I mean, I can remember the circumstances, but…"

"You can reconstruct the circumstances, Captain, but you cannot remember the touch of her lips, can you?"

"No."

"I remember my first kiss. I recall the scent of clover and the warmth of the summer air. I remember butterflies in the field, and the hiss of grasses as a breeze sent waves through them. I remember him, Ira, taller than me, casting a shadow over me. The sun made a halo around his head. I remember him bending over and kissing me quickly, so no one would notice, though we were utterly alone. I remember my lips tingling and my stomach feeling as if a dozen butterflies had flown down my throat. I remember every detail, and this was before I ever knew I loved Ira.

"So, Captain Strake, you will come to forget me. You might be able to reconstruct me, but you will have no memory of me. Your wife, your family concerns, will bury me but, again, I do not mind. I shall remember you as tall and handsome, honorable and brave. And that will be quite enough for me."

They turned east on Generosity and headed back toward the Frost home. "Have you any idea how remarkable a woman you are, Miss Frost?"

"Remarkable rather than infuriating?"

Owen chuckled. "Remarkable will do. You have wisdom beyond your years."

"Not wisdom, truly, just the knowledge that life seldom unfolds as one wishes it would." She smiled up at him. "And that is not terribly cynical, just realistic. So many people grumble and complain, waiting for things to change instead of accepting them as they are, or working to change them. But changing things is very difficult, so only the brave attempt it."

Owen nodded. "Thank you."

"For?"

"For yet one more gift." His eyes narrowed. "If we are going to defeat du Malphias, the old way of doing things will not work. We will need to change. I will not allow Rivendell to resist change, but force him to address reality."

"It could cost you your career."

He shrugged. "And it will save men's lives. The risk is worth it."

"And that, my dear Captain Strake," she said as they stopped in the shadow of her parent's gate, "is why I love you."

May 22, 1764

Old Stone Face, Temperance

Temperance Bay, Mystria

"I reckon that's the ugliest troop of monkeys I ever did see." Nathaniel smiled as he greeted Major Forest. "Heard tell you was back."

Forest turned, his eyes sharpening. "Nathaniel Woods, there's a sight for sore eyes. I'd offer to shake your hand, but I've been a bit on the rude side since Villerupt."

Beyond the Major stood an open face of weathered rock. Quarrymen had been cutting into it from the west, but had left a hundred feet of old stone with pine trees on top and broken rock at the base. A couple stout men amid the trees-one being Makepeace Bone if Nathaniel's eyes weren't lying-hung on to ropes lashed to men making the ascent. The climbers each wore two long sticks across his back, and two pouches filled with stones.