It felt nice, her small hands gripping his sleeve, feeling her trembling body against his own. Then there was the beautiful sound of her laughter, even as she tried to stifle it. He glanced down at her with a soft smile, he was glad she felt comfortable laughing into his shoulder like this. He barely managed to keep from nuzzling her head as he did not want his best friend making fun of him.

Jayesh sighed, calming himself down, with a small shake of his head. After a few minutes of silence, though, he looked up at Kaldrek, "Kaldrek. Will you help me with interrogating Fayre's attacker?"

"Now?" Kaldrek blinked in surprise.

"Might as well get it over with," Jayesh's eyes sparked in anger as he thought of the person who had dared harm his queen.

"Of course," Kaldrek removed his wife from his arm, "Zylvia will keep Fayre company, I am sure."

"Would be my pleasure," When Zylvia spoke, Kaldrek very nearly lost himself in the brilliant smile on his wife's face. She was..... everything he wanted in a woman. He shook himself out of his love haze and stood up. He ruffled her hair as he turned to go.

Jayesh set Fayre down, kissed her lips lovingly and walked out of the room. Kaldrek followed his best friend, with a soft smile on his face.

"Jayesh." Kaldrek broke the silence after a few minutes. Might as well get this over with.

Jayesh turned to look at him, "Yes?"

"Thank you." Kaldrek grinned at his king.

"What for?" There was a confused look on Kaldrek's best friend's face.

"For making me marry Zylvia. I really do like her you know." Kaldrek gave a wry smile, "And I probably would have never been able to tell her, either."

A pleased look came unto his friend's face. It was strange just how much investment both he and his wife had on Kaldrek's marriage, but he knew they were just concerned about him. Kaldrek would probably never admit this, but he was aware that he had bad habits when it came to simply taking care of himself.

"That is wonderful to hear!" Jayesh sounded excited. His eyes were sparkling, "How long have you liked her?"

Kaldrek frowned. It was a tough question, "Do you mean when did I realize I liked her? Or when do I think it started?"

"Both."

Kaldrek let out a sigh, "Well, I realized it about the time you were asking Fayre to marry you. It just suddenly struck me that what I felt for her was more than friends.h.i.+p. As for when it started....."

When he fell silent, Jayesh looked at him with a question in his eyes, "Well?"

"I am not quite sure but do you remember when we first met them?"

"Of course. I asked you if Fayre wasn't the most beautiful woman you had ever seen. You verified it."

"We were talking about two different woman...." Kaldrek shook his head, "I think I always liked Zylvia, she left quite an impression on me."

Jayesh burst into laughter. "You have issues, my friend. Well, your welcome."

When they approached the dungeon, they fell quiet, and exchanged a look. Kaldrek easily a.s.sumed the role that his king wanted him to, and produced a small flame in his hand in preparation.

They entered the dungeon and walked over to the cell that the female a.s.sa.s.sin was in. She glared at them, her eyes glimmering darkly. Kaldrek could not tell from her clothes where she was from. They were highly nondescript and were made to conceal herself.

She was nursing the burns he had inflicted on her, and glaring at him in particular. Her eyes were totally black and filled with hate. Kaldrek waited on his king's signal.

Jayesh stepped up, "Why did you stab my queen? What did you hope to gain?"

The woman let out a harsh laugh, "Do your worst, your highness. You will get nothing from me."

When Jayesh nodded at him, Kaldrek stepped forward, "Really, now? I can keep you alive and in pain for quite some time." He placed a spell on her that would make it so that she would be able to survive what he was about to do, and keep her from fainting.

The fire in his hand leaped at her and wrapped around her hand, burning her. He found himself hoping that it would leave a scar. This woman had dared to hurt one of the people under his protection, someone he cared about.

Her screams began to echo throughout the dungeon. Kaldrek wondered how long she would actually be able to last.