To Love Another

Secret's

"Orion?" I was puzzled as to why he was at my door. He leaned in close to me, "I will come for you at midnight. Be ready. Tell no one of this conversation." Before I could say anything he turned and walked away. I was puzzled, he'd come for me at midnight? Why would he come for me at midnight, be ready for what? I do not know how long I sat puzzling but the next thing I know Veronica was in front of me informing me my bath was ready. I started at get for a minute trying I actually understand what was said to me. I shook my head to clear the confusion. I stood and followed her.

The bath was glorious. A large tub of hot water with bubbles to lounge in. I slowly sunk in the water letting my muscles unwind and my mind relax. If I had a complex problem I would always take a bath. For some reason the hot water always helped put things in perspective. Today however I didn't see it happening so I decided to let my mind go blank and just soak.

One hour later I was back in my room wrapped in my robe being fussed over by Veronica. "Please princess let me help you. You can not sleep in just a robe." I waved her off, "Veronica please I am more then capable of dressing my self. Now off to bed with you, I will see you again in the morning." She nodded and departed my room. I quickly made my way to my wardrobe and pulled out my training clothes. I had decided, while in the bath, that my training clothes would be more practical if Orion planned on take me somewhere. My dresses tend to get in the way of my movement and from his message we were going to be sneaking somewhere.

Once dressed I grabbed my cloak. I was about to close my wardrobe door when I spied my sword. In a last minute rash decision I strapped it on and hid it under my cloak. My grandfather would kill me if he knew I had gone out alone with a man and left my sword behind.

I had no sooner closed the door when there was a soft knocking at my door. Knowing who it was I opened it. Orion stood before me dressed also in a cloak. He look me over, "Shall we go?" I nodded and quietly closed my door. He motioned for me to be quiet as we slipped from corridor to corridor. With his guidance we quickly made it out side. He stopped at a corner and turned to me, "Stay close to me, and be quiet" I nodded again. He grabbed my hand and for a minute I marveled at how soft and warm his hand felt. I was jolted from my thought quickly as he tugged me with him. We sprinted, hand in hand, across the garden and into the maze. We wound through the maze swiftly. Soon we were passing the fountain I had spent my afternoon at. I kept up easily with him. Suddenly we turned a corner and I saw the outer wall looming in front of us. Two more turn and I was standing next to it. He let go of my hand then. "Where are we going?" He turned to me and smiled. He extended his arm and pushed a brick in the wall. "My family had secret exits put in the castle. Only a few people know where they are and that they actually exist. It's so we can slip people out safely in the occurrence of a raid." I nodded, "Where are we going?" He grinned, "You will see!" I had only known him a few weeks and for some reason I trusted him. I continued to follow him as we exited the castle as headed into the wood. I silently thanks the higher powers I had decided to bring my sword. Even though there was trust I was still scared.

We walked a little while longer. We couldn't have gone far. He stopped and I realized we were at a clearing. The ground was flat and secluded with a beautiful view. I could see a lake blow and a village not to far in distance. The little lights coming from the houses and buildings look magnificent dancing on the lake. I felt Orion move beside me. "I love it here, in this clearing. It's peaceful. I have found, in the past, if I come here when my mind is troubled it eases my thinking and allows me to come up with a solution to my problem." I nodded showing I understood. "At home I would train." "Train? How could that help your mind relax?" I thought go a moment of how best to answer. "When I train my mind relaxes and simply focuses on the task at hand. This allows me to think with a clean head." He nodded showing he understood. He moved away from me. "Shall we begin?" I was puzzled. "Begin?" He unsheathed his sword. "I was under the impression you wanted a chance to train." He dropped his sword, "But if that is untrue then..." He never got to finish the sentence. In one practiced motion I through off my cloak and drew my sword. He looked at me stunned for a moment. Then he grinned, "seeing as you are a girl, and a human I shall go easy one you." I smirked. He had no clue what he was up against.

We circled each other. I looking for a flaw in his careful motion, he waiting for my attack. My grandfather taught me, when in a face to face fight, never to make the first move. I saw him come at me a moment before he lunged. I easily blocked his first attempt and quickly readied my self for his next attempt. Again I saw him move a second before he attacked, allowing me to block. The move this time was more then just a simple blow. However I easy blocked all attempts and came back with an attack of my own. I think I shocked shim with my ability and knowledge of sword play. In what felt like seconds I nocked him on his rump and had his sword laying in the grass out of reach. "Very we'll done. Perhaps next time I shall not go as easy on you." I smirked, "I may be a women but I have been very well trained." I lowered my sword and offered him my hand. He took it and stood up.

We spared as such for another hour. Him only winning a match twice. When we finished we went back to the castle the way we came out. Once on the inside of the wall, he took my hand and we quickly wound our way through the garden and into the castle. Somehow we managed to dodged guards and servant undetected. When we got to my door Orion put his hand on my shoulder. "I enjoyed sparing with you. You are magnificent." I smiled, "Thank you. I really appreciated you taking me. It felt wonderful to stretch my muscles. You don't know how much this meant to me." He beamed, "No the pleasure was mine. Shall we do this again sometime?" I didn't know my smile could get any bigger, but it did, "Yes! Absolutely!" "I'll let you know when I can spar you again, but I wouldn't be for a couple days." I nodded and turned to enter my room. I felt a hand on my shoulder stoping me, "Princess?" I turned back to him, "Yes?" He was quiet for a moment. His face showed he was deep in thought. I waited. He moved his hand from my shoulder to my cheek and gently caressed it with his thumb. His eyes never left mine as he slowly moved closer to me. I could feel the heat from his body and he got closer. His lips gently touched mine for a second then were gone. "Goodnight." He abruptly turned and walked away. I was stunned, I had never been kissed before. What stunned me even more was that I liked it.

I opened my door in a daze, still thinking of his lips. They were gentle and soft. I couldn't wait for him to kiss me again. I was suddenly nocked out of my train of thought when the hairs on my neck stood up. I had leaned over the years to trust my senses, they had never led me wrong. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I went to turn to figure out what it was when I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and the world went dark.