The Dragon With The Paper Crown In The Observatory

The emperor of Shylasa looked up from his dinner to listen to the strange sounds coming from just outside his observatory window.

"Hey let go of me!" The voice sounded female. "Put me down." and "I'm not a princess." The voice also sounded annoyed and the sentences were punctuated by the sounds of slapping. "Am not times a hundred. It's a card board crown you idiot."

Then a crown fell from the window and rolled across the observatory floor. It was quickly followed by a tumbling mess of, as Gnimish recognized a moment later, Drakhan and a girl.

"Well, about time, too, thank you very much." The girl still muttered at the lizard as she reached for the crown, placed it back on her blond braids and got to her feet. Then she spotted the emperor and blushed bright red.

"Now look what you've done!" She was still muttering at Drakhan. "There was something a gnome's supposed to do when the emperor pops in. And that man over there looks just like the emperor. What was that? Oh right." She bowed deeply to Gnimish as Drakhan slunk under the table.

"Doesn't beat just everything. I'm so sorry your majesty. He wouldn't believe me when I told him that I'm no princess." She nodded at what now looked to be a harmless if excessively drooling lizard.

The emperor looked under the table. "Just what were ya doin' anyway??

"You see," The girl snatched the crown off her blond hair and held it out to Gnimish. "It's just card board."

Gnimish looked up at the young lady and tried his best 'I'm the Emperor and I'm all stern and stuff'-look, failing quite miserably at it due to being surprised. "Um, cardboard crown... " He bobbed his head back under the table to stare at his lizard, shaking his head, and back up again. "Well, as long as yer here... What do they call ya, then?"

"Mellisandre Gnoffeymel, your majesty." She dropped a curtsey. "I'm ever so sorry, your majesty. It's just not every day such a one as I gets kidnapped by frightfully huge black dragon. Come to think of it, that never happened to me before."

Gnimish looked around for a second chair - he didn't usually entertain guests in the observatory. "Gnoffeymel, that's from... Where is that from, Drakhan?" He prodded the little beast. "Er, yeah... sorry about that... not sure what he was thinkin'." He gave up looking and just summoned up a chair. "Might as well have a seat while yer here." He invited the young lady to sit before he glared at Drakhan again. "I thought we agreed you were gonna stick to sheep?"

Mellisandre tilted her head slightly to the side and narrowed her eyes with suspicion. ?That is, this isn't just a trick cousin Gurshy is playing one me, is it? You do look rather cute for being the emperor, not at all like the picture at the assembly hall.?

? 'ey now, what picture?? Gnimish blinked and fidgeted, and then sat up straight and all presentable like, wondering where this not-so-cute picture was.

?Hah!? He looked down at the ?cute? lizard. ?Ya don't really want another ride with him anyway, do ya??

?Not really. He wasn't very cooperative, or friendly.? She grinned. As getting kidnapped by dragons went, it hadn?t been all that bad. Not that she had any previous experience to compare this one to. ?Or maybe he was too friendly. I'd really rather walk. Though that may take a few weeks.?

Gnimish looked appalled at the very idea of it. ?Oh nonono, I've....we've....humfph...put ya in enough of a bind already.? He gave the lizard another bonk. ?What were ya thinkin' anyway? Jeez.? The lizard shot back a duh-you-need-a-princess-and-she-was-wearing-a-crow n-look and Gnimish glared back. ?Oh yeah, princess of Cardboardia, brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?? Gnimish sighed and looked back up and met Mellisandre?s gaze. ?Oh yes, and I'm...we're...terribly sorry.?

?I really didn't mean to fool anyone. I mean, who'd think anyone would take a card board crown for a real one?? She looked embarrassed.

Gnimish waved his hand dismissively. ?Not yer fault, was talkin' to scaly down there. I think he's color blind or somethin'. Anyway, we'd love to make the while thing up to ya...see I've got this party to go to myself...and seein' as yer dressed up and all already...well, minus one crown.?

Mellisandre looked around for the crown she gave to Gnimish earlier. The poor little bent crown now sat upon the table, looking decidedly droopy after its little adventure. ?Well, it's not as pretty as it was a few hours ago.?

?I'm sure it was a wonderful little crown.? With a chuckle Gnimish directed a few little wisps of blue mist to dance around the poor little crown, perking it up and giving it a slight metallic sheen.

?For a card board one, yes. Oh!? She then watched the magical transformation with shining eyes.

?There,? he chuckled at Drakhan, ?*now* it looks like a real one.? The little lizard just rolled his eyes and put his head back down. Gnimish still felt bad about the whole thing and figured that he could at least help the poor lass get a bit fun out of the ordeal.

He stood up and took the crown with a chuckle, settling it atop her head. ?There we go, princess Mellisandre of Gnoffeymel.?

?No one at home will believe that.? Mellisandre giggled and beamed a smile to Gnimish. ?Thank you. Now it looks too pretty to wear.?

Gnimish tilted his head and studied his handiwork. "Eh, looks good on ya! Of course, I refuse to wear the darn things, myself." Mellisandre blushed a little at his compliment. "Now, to get ya home?Hirshberg ya say?" At her nod he offered his hand to her. "Only two ways to get ya home, and I don't think ya want to go his way." Gnimish tilted his head at the sleeping Drakhan.

Curious, Mellisandre stood, taking the Emperor's hand and he tapped his amulet, 'poofing' the lady to the bakery in Hirshberg. "Eh, forgot to say bye."

?I's plenty nice, Gnim-bo.? Karen chuckled and answered Mellisandre?s smile with a nod.? Welcome tae th' Arena, jest avoid th' ladies locker room.?

?No tellin' what spyin' devices Gnort has stuck in there, Karen.? Gnimish groaned and Mellisandre pulled a hand from her mug to cover a grin.

?Thank you, avoid the lady's locker room, got it.? Then she opened her eyes wide as two thoughts occurred to her at once. ?You go to the gents' locker room? There are more gnomes??

?There's cameras in th' lady's locker room, an' fire-proof spiders an' giant alligator-sharks in th' men's. Best tae change clothes in th' closet, ifin ye got tae.? Karen shook her head and the fairy giggled.

?Oh, no...Yer probably the second gnome most of these folks have ever seen. And I choose to... um... not avail myself of the facilities here.? Gnimish grinned and waved back to a young bouncy girl.

?Ut-oh. No locker rooms and Gnort is not a gnome, got it.? Gnort was fine gnome name, though, Mellisandre thought.

?No, Gnort is *not* a gnome.? Gnimish shook his head emphatically. ?And if ya ever see him... um... go the other way.?

?He?s a Barkeep.? Karen informed while the fairy started to unwrap the caramels she had pulled from her pocket. True to form, Drakhan heard the unwrapping of caramels and beelined for Topaz.

?So what did Drakhan do?? Topaz floated the first unwrapped treat toward the lizard?s snout.

?See what I mean? Jeez...? Gnimish pointed at Topaz and Drakhan for Mellisandre?s benefit before he gave up on avoiding the topic and turned to Topaz. ?Well, he... um... well, he kind of kidnapped her you could say.?

?He didn't believe me that the crown was card board.? Mellisandre tried to help when she noticed just how embarrassed Gnimish appeared.

?Yes, and there's that, the cardboard crown.? He nodded and glared at Drakhan. ?Look what ya got me into now!?

Topaz looked from Gnimish to Mellisandre to Drakhan and giggled. ?Did you get Gnim a princess?? She floated another unwrapped caramel to the lizard.

?I'm not a princess.? Mellisandre protested as a young bounce female shuffled to Gnimish and set an apple down for him, then shuffled back to watch the rings.

In full topic-evasion mode, Gnimish just gushed over the apple. ?Oh, thank you very much, Taneth!!? Taneth smiled back and blew a few kisses around, then she bounded to the stairs, up and out.

Gnimish shook his head at Topaz, holding the apple. ?Nope, she's not a princess... Was just a... um ... big misunderstanding.?

?Poor Drakhan.? Topaz giggled and waved to Rena, who had just arrived for her calling shift.

?Hm, ya might have a point there though.? Gnimish chuckled, ?Hadn't thought it that way. Ok, maybe we'll leave the story part out. But I'd still be honored if ya would let me be yer first duel!?

?Leave the story part out.? Mellisandre nodded vigorously. ?The honor would be all mine, your, err, Gnimish.?

Gnimish scribbled the ring request on a piece of paper and flung it at Rena with a grin after she had not reacted to his verbal request. ?We might have to wait a bit, Miss Rena looks awful busy.?

Mellisandre nodded. ?More time to look. What am I supposed to do exactly??

?Well, it's easy! Ya take a sword and ya thwap me with it, and ya don't let me thwap ya with mine.?

?Where from do I take said sword?? Mellisandre suspected that it sounded a lot easier than it was.

Gnimish pointed over at the weapon racks on the wall. ?Can pick one of those if ya want, or use somethin' of yer own if ya have anything that's... um... suitable for thwapping.?

She looked down her Sunday going calling dress and back up. ?No, nothing suitable for thwapping.?

Not satiated by the caramels, Drakhan started in on finding a new source of food, taking note of the standing Xeno and waddling over in that direction.

?Well, we'll just have to pick one out for ya.? Gnim looked over to the racks, seeing a nice gnome-sized short sword, and got up to retrieve it. He headed back to the table and saw Mellisandre standing and watching him. ?'ey, what're ya doin' there? Oh, here try this one out.? He flipped the sword over and offered the less-dangerous end to her.

?Thank you.? She reached for it with her right, but the sword didn?t budge. ?Err.? She tried with both hands.

?'ey now, it's not gonna bite ya.? He grinned as she took the sword.

?It's heavy.? The weapons had not appeared that heavy when she had watched others wield them.

?Too heavy for ya? Hm...? He figured that offering Kui-sa'kai wouldn't be a good idea if the short sword was too heavy and looked back at the rack.

?Not at all like a rolling pin or a baking pan.? But neither of those would look half as elegant.

Gnimish turned away from his survey of the rack with a grin. ?Rollin' pin ya say??

?It doesn't look like those swords are heavy.? She looked to the rings with a new appreciation.

?Well that's because they've been usin' em for so long, makes it look easy....don't let em fool ya though.? Gnimish had an idea and headed behind the bar. He yelled at a few of the serving lads and caused a general commotion before he returned with, yes, a rolling pin.

?I get to thwap you with this then?? Mellisandre looked unconvinced at the rolling pin Gnimish was holding out for her. It didn?t appear to be overly useful when defending against sharp and pointy weapons of steel.

Gnimish reached out and bonked Mellisandre on the head with the flat of the scimitar. ?'ey, where's that crown when ya need it??

Mellisandre blinked and rubbed her head. ?But that swing was working a couple rounds ago.? Obviously there was more to this than simply repeating what worked once. ?Your blade still looks scary.? It felt scary, too ? cold and heavy.

?Yer a speedy one...? But Mellisandre only managed to escape half of his swings. Grinning he reached out for another tap with the flat of the sword.

?How come you keep getting to do that?? She did try very hard to copy the movements of Gnimish and the pair in the other ring.

?Just lucky!? He chuckled and shrugged. Then he was swatted by the mean rolling pin and he held his nose with his left hand, feigning a broken nose. ?Ow, ow, ow.?

Mellisandre gave him a guilty and apologetic grin, asserting that he was not really hurt, and then threw a quick glance over her shoulder, to see if there really was no guard or some such coming after her. After that nearly heart stopping moment, she decided that she?d be more comfortable with merely avoiding to run into the scimitar. To hear the official proclaim that the duel was at and end and a tie only a few rounds later, was a surprise.

?Well fought, then!? Gnim laughed and saluted.

?Thank you.? Mellisandre smiled back, exhilarated and happy, and handed the rolling pin to Gnimish.

Gnimish smiled to Mellisandre as they exited the ring and he had tossed the rolling pin to Hubie. ?So ya had enough for one night??

?That was a lot of fun!? Her cheeks were rosy from exercise and excitement as she smiled back to him.

?Well I'm glad ya enjoyed yerself!? He looked pleased. ?Least I could do after... ya know.?

To help lighten the mood, Karen turned and smiled at Mellisandre. ?Ye did verra well, especially fer a first duel.?

?Thank you.? Mellisandre gave the knight a wide smile too. Maybe she was a little chivalrous after all.

?Well.... I do need to be gettin' back... Hm...?

?The people want fresh bread in the morning.? Mellisandre agreed. There was little enough of the night left for sleeping, if she could sleep at all after all the excitement.

Gnimish grinned and held out his hand to her. ?I don't even wanna think about what they'll do if I'm not around by morning.?

?Whatever it is, it would be bad.? She placed her hand trustingly into his, already knowing what was about to happen next, and waved to the people she had just met.

?Drakhan.? Gnimish looked over at the lizard and shrugged. ?If yer comin'...? He waved to the crowd and then the trio vanished as he tapped his amulet.

?Apple pie, oh yes...? He looked down at Drakhan, giving him a stern look. He hoped that the lizard remained on his best behavior despite pies being mentioned.

?I would like to make you special one. I would have already had I known you'd be coming to Hirshberg this evening.? A little excitement had crept into her voice. If he liked that one better than what the fine baker that he was certain to have at the palace was baking, perhaps she would get to see him more often.

Gnimish looked back up at her, caught between wanting to smile at the offer and wanting to explain the sudden appearance in Hirshberg. ?Oh yes... I hope ya don't mind me comin' to visit like that again.?

Mellisandre picked up the mug and brought it close. It was so good a mug for hiding one or the other overly interested glance. ?Oh no, not at all. I was hoping that you would eventually. Not that you said anything. It just, that is, I did very much enjoy the precious visit and the swatting.?

She had also had enjoyed the first surprised and then grudgingly believing faces of the master and his wife when they recognized the emperor and realized that her stories explaining her two disappearances were at least not entirely made up.

?Ya see, Drakhan...um...he insisted we come and visit. So I thought ya might enjoy seein' the Inn and all. Probably shoulda asked first or somethin'.?

?At least they now believe that I got to meet you.? She grinned. ?They still don't believe the dragon, though. I'm very glad you didn't let Drakhan come all by himself again.?

Gnimish took a sip from the mug, doing his best to hide the fact that he was quite pleased by her reaction to the sudden visit. ?Oh, no... they?d think he was there to eat the whole town or somethin'. Glad I was able to prove ya right to yer friends though!?

?You shush.? He glared down at Drakhan again. ?Oh, rumors nothing, now go back to droolin' over that pie.?

?Rumors?? Mellisandre narrowed her eyes at the lizard and a little blush came to her cheeks. Was the creature really aware of rumors or was it shooting into the dark, she wondered. She too had heard a few of those rumors and actually rather liked them - even if they were totally wrong.

Gnimish looked back up at her, giving a slightly nervous chuckle at the fact that he had said that out loud. ?Oh...nothin'...pay him no mind.? He kept his gaze on her as he gave the lizard a sound jab with the toe of his boot.

?Ignore him, you got it.? She beamed a smile at Gnimish, relieved that he obviously didn't hear any of them.

?You'll find ignorin' Drakhan is a skill worth havin' I'm afraid...? He generally paid little mind to rumors, though some other folks certainly did.

?Is he really all that bad?? She shot another quick glance to the lizard before turning those grey-blue eyes back to Gnimish. "He looks so tiny and unable to do any harm now.?

?I asked if you had a favorite.? She sat the mug down on the table but kept her hands wrapped around it. ?Might you already know when you may have time for visiting again??

?Oh, yes, that's right...? Composure regained, he returned to making sense, or at least as much as he usually did. Oh, any time, any time at all! Hm, how to let me know when it?s done though...?

Mellisandre chuckled at Drakhan?s suggestion for them to come visiting daily to check. ?No, that is not a good idea. Nor can I make one every day and then let it sit to spoil.?


?Oh shush, you never have any good ideas...? Gnimish grumbled at the lizard, and then pondered, ?Hm, shall I stop by in say... two days time then?? He kicked the lizard again. ?No, we're not followin' her home and waitin' for one!?

?Oh.? The idea of Gnimish watching her put a pie together was too odd to consider. ?Two days time ?? A happy smile lit up her entire face at the prospect of getting to see him again so soon. ?That's the day after tomorrow, so Thursday - that would be fabulous.?

Gnimish smiled and nodded. ?Then it's a date!? He looked down again. ?Er... no, Drakhan, I didn't mean it like... oh would you be quiet!?

The look Mellisandre gave Gnimish then was dreamy for a second or two, then it cleared up. ?Another thing no one at home will believe.?

?They won't believe yer bakin' a pie??

?Oh, that they'll believe, I do that all the time. The date part they might believe too, but with the emp-, err with you, that they won't believe.?

?Ohh, that... Er... hm...? A bit flustered at his slip up in choice of words, but he also didn't attempt to change them. ?So Thursday I'll have a pie!? He smiled at the idea and then checked the time. ?Hm... for now though I'm thinkin' I might have to be callin' it a night.?

?Thursday you'll have a very special apple pie.? Mellisandre nodded and then nodded again, wondering if there might yet be time for her to get a nap before she had to get ready for work. ?There are some that expect the bakery to be open in the morning.?

She scooted out of the booth and stood up while Gnimish picked up Drakhan?s leash, wrapped it around his left wrist and stood, offering his right hand to her. As soon as her hand was in his ? he unconsciously gave the offered hand a slight squeeze - he tapped his amulet and sent them to Hirshberg.

Gnimish took another sip of the coffee to wash the bite down. ?Tell ya what, I have half a mind to hire ya, ya oughta see the stuff they try pushin' on me back home...? He grinned, clearly joking about the hiring part.

?I'm sure you've a master working in your kitchen, rather than a half-baked apprentice, but I thank you most kindly for the compliment.? She blushed a little ? his compliments certainly made her feel all warm inside - and to stave off any nervousness continued, ?So, what are they forcing upon you at the palace??

?Half-baked apprentice... foo... what're they forcin' on me?? He chuckled. ?Bad cookin', that's what... a gnome can't be livin' on potatoes.? He caught himself staring a bit too long as he delivered the last compliment and quickly went back to the pie, hoping it wasn't quite noticed. He chewed and swallowed and, still trying to display at least a bit of good manners, took another sip from the coffee mug.

Her cup between the table and her lips, she quite forgot what she was about as Gnimish once again turned his attention to what was on the plate in front of him. He really was far more handsome - and a lot younger - than the pictures of him, she mused privately. Him sipping from his cup reminded her of the cup in her hand, and she took a sip before setting it back down.

?That's what the master is calling me.? Mellisandre dropped her glance to her plate again and found with some surprise that she had somehow eaten the entire slice. She set the fork down with a slight shake of head, and then looked up again.

Gnimish started to turn his head back toward the counter again and stopped, deciding to just ignore the "help" from the lizard. ?And how long's he been callin' ya that??

?For a couple of years at least. I've not so much longer to go before the mastership testing.?

He stuffed the last of the pie in his mouth, and was entirely disappointed by the sudden absence of pie on his plate. ?Hm... oh, no, I wouldn't say so at all, maybe ya oughta give him a piece of this pie as part of yer testin'.? He set his fork down and took up the coffee to finish it off, leaning back in his seat quite satiated.

?He's tasted it before. Would you care for some more?? Somehow that Gnimish should like it was more important than that some unknown to her tester should.

?Oh? um... well, I'd love some more... I'm not so sure my stomach would appreciate bein' quite so stuffed.? He chuckled and settled into his new sitting position. Then realized that he was holding an empty mug now and set it down.

?No more coffee either??

?Oh, no, thank you...? He simply couldn?t have been more pleased with the dessert, and couldn't help but let it show through his smile. ?This was just great, I tell ya.?

Mellisandre had been ready to jump up and get Gnimish more coffee, and now that he had declined the offer, had to force herself to lean back in her chair. She was so elated that her pie had found favor with him that she wanted to hug him.

?I've actually got a... um... hm, I guess ya'd call it a function... to be attendin' fairly soon, wouldn't want to get too lost in another cup of that coffee.? He chuckled.

?Of course.? She sounded perhaps a little disappointed at his mentioned leave taking. But she had gotten to see him again without having wondered for weeks on end if such may ever happen again. And she was happy, very happy, about that. ?Ruling must be a busy and demanding job.?

Gnimish shook his head a bit and shrugged. ?It's a job... I guess I can't be complainin'.? He stood up from his seat, of course forgetting to slide the chair back in.

?I'm sorry you couldn't stay longer, but very happy that you could come at all.? She was up and around the table the next moment, ready to accompany Gnimish to the door.

Gnimish paused for a moment, not heading to the door just yet. This was the hard part for the gnome. ?Um... before I go... I thought, ya know, since ya were bakin' a whole pie that I'd bring ya somethin' too, but ya can't carry anythin' edible around the lizard and, well, ya know what I mean...?

That had her full attention and she looked up and directly into his face. There went the idea of wrapping up the rest of the pie for him to take home with him, she thought.

Realizing that he was rambling he just got to the point. He held out his hand and summoned up a few wisps of blue mist. Not the usual, quick-moving, crude summoning job, this actually took a bit of time as he focused on the creation, a perfect blue-crystalline rose. Every detail apparent right down to the texture of the petals. Another one of those half-embarrassed looks came on his face as he held it out to her in the palm of his hand.

Gnimish cleared his throat a bit. ?Ahem... well... it's not much but, ya know...

?Oh, it is beautiful, the most beautiful I ever saw - and the color!? She had been watching the swirling mist with fascination and now her eyes widened at the result. The she lifted her gaze, all surprised admiration, from the flower to Gnimish.

?I'm glad ya like it...? He smiled, entirely relieved but trying not to show it.

Mellisandre accepted the rose and held it to her tenderly, giving Gnimish her best smile yet. ?I love it.?

Gnimish just stared and smiled for a moment before he realized it. ?Oh, um... Mellisandre, would ya mind if I dropped by later to pick up some of the pie... can't really be carryin' it around, ya know what'll happen to it.? He looked in the direction of the lizard.

Cheeks aglow with joy, her eyes brightened yet another shade. ?Of course I would not mind, not at all. I'm looking forward to it.? If not for the delicate rose in her hand, she might have hugged him for joy that she'd see him again so soon.

?Then I'll certainly be by later...? He smiled and nodded, hesitating a bit before he headed to the kitchen door to fetch the lizard, who had quite a bit to say at the moment but the gnome was simply ignoring it.

?Until later, Gnimish.? She had accompanied him to the door and was still wearing that silly, overjoyed smile.

?Thank you for the wonderful dessert, Mellisandre...? He paused, a thoughtful look on his face as he looked down at her. ?I... um... should be going, yes...? He turned inexplicably nervous and looked again before he gave her a wave and then, tapping his amulet, the lizard and gnome vanished in a white glimmer.

Mellisandre waved after the glimmer before she thought of it that he couldn't possibly see that. She lowered her hand and returned to the kitchen to clean up and wrap the left over pie securely for later.

?Didn?t miss much?some folks go all crazy over it, but eh.? Gnimish shrugged, even in this dim lighting he found Mellisandre far more interesting than a sky and silly moon, or lack thereof.

She giggled a little at the idea, ?Perhaps I shouldn?t look then, I wouldn?t want it to make me crazy.?

?Hah, no, certainly not?? Gnimish replied while taking a look around the bakery. There wasn?t much in the neighborhood to see, especially with it being this dark. The shelves behind the bakery display window were mostly empty, waiting until morning to be filled.

Mellisandre tried to think of something at least half way intelligent to say, but everytime she glanced at the handsome Gnimish, she was too busy looking to remember what she was about to say. Finally she just blurted out? ?I very much enjoyed the outings and the dueling.?

He turned to look at her, darn near half-blind in the darkness, but could see well enough to admire those pretty braids of hers for a moment. For some reason he found himself thinking how glad he was that Drakhan wasn?t around, as he?d just mock Gnimish for not voicing his appreciation. ?Truly? Would ya mind if I?well, ya know?I dropped by and took ya back there sometime? Maybe point out a few more folks to be avoidin?, heh.?

?I would enjoy that very much.? In the darkness he couldn?t see just how happy the question had made her. He was quite relieved by her reply though.

?Well then, I?ll just have to be droppin? by more often then, eh??

?I am very much looking forward to that.? In fact, her heart was beating so loud that she wondered if he could hear it and tried to tell it to be calm.

?For now though?it is gettin? quite dark out here, Mellisandre?thinkin? maybe I oughta be lettin? ya get back inside and headin? home myself for the night. They?ll be lookin? for me again.? He stood from the bench and offered her his hand to help her up.

?We?d not want them to send a search team out for you. That would be scandal. I am very happy you could visit today.? She took his hand and stood, giving him a little wink though she couldn?t be sure if he could see it in this lighting. ?Safe travels to you and sweet dreams.?

The Emperor chuckled at the search party comment then stopped a bit abruptly and found himself staring into her eyes for a moment as best he could given the lighting. He felt her give his hand a little squeeze and before he really thought about it he leaned in and lightly kissed her cheek.

Mellisandre was glad it was way too dark for Gnimish to see the heat rising in her cheeks. She gave his fingers another gentle squeeze to show she liked the kiss before letting go of his hand.

?Hm?um?yes?well?goodnight, Mellisandre?thank you again for everything tonight.? Gnimish blinked and stumbled over his words a bit, surprised but pleased that he actually did such a thing as kiss her.

She nodded at him, then unsure if he could see, spoke. ?You?re very welcome. I?d love to bake some more for you. Until soon.?

?I?d enjoy that very much?? Certainly, if tonight was any indication, he?d love nothing more. ?Oh, speakin? of bakin?, almost forgot the pie?? He stepped back to the bench and picked up the pie before turning back to her. ?Goodnight again?.I?ll see ya soon!? Then tapped his amulet, vanishing in a shimmer of white light, completely missing Mellisandre?s chuckle and warning to keep the pie away from the little beasty, Drakhan.

At that tone Mellisandre looked up. The surprised look she had for the matron gave way to an expression of joy as she saw Gnimish standing in the door. Then she blushed and with a quick glance at the disarray on her bed she jumped up to stand on the floor and curtsied, ever so aware that Mrs. Moosegnobbler was watching. ?Good evening, your majesty.?

Hoping that the missus wouldn't see it, Mellisandre gave him a quick wink as she straightened. ?
?Please pardon the mess.? She took a couple of steps toward the door and to Gnimish, then paused so she wouldn't step on the lizard. ?How did you get here??

Gnimish had turned and given the matron a nod of thanks, but she had not taken the hint. Then he couldn't help but let a little chuckle out at Mellisandre's surprise and the little mess of books and papers. ?Same way I usually get around, Princess...? He chuckled again, giving the amulet around his neck a quick poke with his fingernail. ?Wanted to drop by again, hope I'm not intrudin' on yer important work there though. Been a while, we're all out of pie!?

?I meant the lizard.? She nodded to Drakhan with a soft chuckle. ?It's good to see you.?

"If it's pie you wanting, I can set you up with some, your majesty." The matron was already calculating the benefits that would come from s sign that pronounced them imperial bakers. "We don't need the 'prentice for that."

Pie, of course, wasn't what the gnome came to see at all, but he failed to think up a more proper greeting. Gnimish blinked and turned around, he hadn't been aware until now that the matron was still there. ?Err, no, I won't be needin'... actually...? He grinned as he had an idea to get Drakhan out of his hair for a bit. ?Ya think ya could set my associate here up with a bit of pie? ?

The matron thought for a split second. Feeding that disgusting lizard with pie left over from two days ago would still entitle her to advertise that the emperor was a customer. She nodded, "Whatever pleases yer majesty, my pleasure." She turned to the emperor's pet. "Come along little one, we'll see what goodies we can find for you."

Too late she realized that this would mean leaving the emperor's company. "The door will stay open, little miss." She shot back at Mellisandre before she took Drakhan back downstairs for some pies.

Gnimish gave Drakhan a smug grin as the lizard was clearly torn between pie and tormenting him, but Drakhan's stomach finally won out and he followed the matron.

?That was some very good and quick thinking.? Mellisandre grinned, breathing easier now that the missus was no longer watching.

?About time I got a break...? Gnimish finally turned and put his attention on the whole reason he was here to begin with.

?I could do with a break, too. I've been looking at this mess all day.?

?Why thank ya...? He grinned and shook his head. ?Bad enough with just the lizard watchin' over us. Studyin' for yer bakin' tests, are ya?? He peered over at the mess of books and papers. ?Can't imagine what a book has in it that would help ya with bakin' a pie like the one ya made the other day.?

She nodded and grinned. ?There's more to it than just baking. They sort of expect you know the result of what ingredients thrown together come out as, after letting it sit in a hot oven for a while, and also that you can tell anyone how to make something without peeking in a book.?

?As for sneakin' out...well, I was figurin'...? Gnimish got that nervous look on his face again and fidgeted a little. ?Ya know...I've been comin' around yer home so much that maybe ya'd wanna come have a look around mine sometime.? He sneaked another glance at the door, and then looked back to her with a smile. Standing, he offered his hand to help her up.

?I would love to have a look around your home.? She smiled at his suggestion, grasped his offered hand and came to her feet. ?I didn't get to see much of it the last time I was there.? But oh, she wasn't dressed for going to the palace. She was wearing one of her oldest dresses, not having expected to be leaving her room at all this day. The books certainly didn't mind, but now Gnimish was looking at her! How embarrassing. Maybe he wouldn't notice. Nu uh, of course he did. Well, that washed out and mended rag would just get thrown out. He'd certainly not catch her wearing that shabby thing again, ever.

?Hm?? He couldn't help but see? something? in her expression. ?Somethin' wrong??

?No... err ... yes.? She gave him an apologetic grin and a little shrug. ?I'm not really dressed for visiting.? Gnimish, she thought, looked rather resplendid in his prismatic imperial robe.

?Oh...err...? He hadn't even noticed or thought about the suitability of her attire and felt silly now, not having considered that just because he didn't care what she was wearing that she might feel the need to have something more appropriate on. ?Oh, I'm sorry, I hadn't even thought... um... about, ya know... Do ya have somethin'... um... ya can change into? I mean, we don't have to go back home of course if ya don't... is okay, I'm sure Drakhan can't keep that matron occupied for so long anyway, and... err...? He realized that he was babbling again and stopped.

?Of course I have decent clothes. But?? She blushed a little. ?I can't really change with... uhm... you here. Of course I want to go.? She would be disappointed if he were to withdraw the invitation now.

?Oh, jeez...? He released her hand and slapped his forehead again. ?I'm sorry, um... I'll just be over there... yeah...? He pointed at the door before he turned and exited the room, quietly closing the door behind him in the hope that the matron didn't hear it being shut.

Mellisandre smiled at the shut door for a moment; Gnimish was really too cute. Then she hurried out of the shabby dress and into her Sunday-go-visiting best. She snapped up the green cap on the way to the door only a scant few minutes later and sat it on her head. She pulled the door open. ?All done!?

Gnimish was almost startled as she opened the door again. He had been lost in thought pondering his own thoughtlessness. ?Oh, much better... I mean, not that the other dress was bad or anythin'... well ya know...? He grinned, figuring he should just stop while he was ahead, and held his hand out to her again.

?Yes, much better.? With a happy smile she placed her hand trustingly in his.

Returning the smile, he tapped his amulet and poofed the pair out of the little house and just in front of the palace, the logical center of the Shylean Empire. Though there was no snow covering the ground yet, it was noticeably colder here than in Hirshberg.

?It is even more beautiful than I thought, and a lot bigger.? Mellisandre looked at the palace, a huge structure made of a blue crystal-like material and looking nearly like a natural formation sprouting from the ground beneath it, wide eyed. She had not really looked at the palace the last time she was here, having been way too busy arguing with the dragon at the time. She was way too excited to notice the chill to the air. More so because of the handsome Gnimish and that he wanted her to see his home than the location. Her excitement would be the same if he was about to show her a hovel.

?Somethin' like that... scale's not always important really, every command's got its own challenges. But I didn't bring ya here for a lecture on how to command.? He chuckled again and shook his head.

?Maybe I need such a lecture so I can hurry up and become a baker rather than remain an apprentice.? She wondered, laughing softly with him.

?Bah, nonsense... I'm sure you'll do great, yer an amazin' baker.? He looked her in the eye, very much meaning that.

?Thank you.? For a moment she just returned his look, extraordinarily pleased at his compliment. ?There's just a little more to it than just the baking part.?

?I wouldn't know really, I'm afraid...? He stood up and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. ?Ya know that arena place I took ya to before??

With his hand on her shoulder, and it did feel rather nice, she remained seated. She smiled up to him, but he already was walking toward a cabinet. ?Yes, I remember it fondly.?

?Good...? He smiled widely, though his back was to her as he opened the cabinet and removed a long, wooden box. ?I didn't want ya to think I had... um... forgotten about ya this last week soooo...? He returned to the table and sat the box down in front of her before he sat down again.

?Even to the emperor getting chased by an apprentice with a rolling pin can't be an every day thing and easily forgettable.? Mellisandre looked from Gnimish to the box and back. ?What is this??

?Oh, absolutely not.? He certainly wouldn't forget that night at all. ?Go ahead and open it!? He smiled nervously. He just couldn?t wait to see her reaction to the contents of the box.

Mellisandre opened the unwieldy looking box and peered inside. Her gaze was greeted by a highly polished, shining sword of the perfect size and length for a little gnomish princess. The grip was wrapped in a soft leather to accommodate her probably-not-so-familiar-with-swords hand, and a gleaming golden dragon, wings spread wide, made up the guard just under the blade. The scabbard for the sword rested just above the blade itself in the box.

Her lips formed a perfect O. After a quick glance to Gnimish, her gaze was drawn to the shiny steel again. She reached out and carefully brushed a fingertip over the soft leather, then the same fingertips hovered over the golden dragon, not quite daring to touch the piece of art.

?It is awesome!? Somehow that came out in an awed whisper rather than the resounding compliment she had meant the words to be.

?The armory wasn't exactly thrilled at gettin' an order for such a sword to be completed in such a short time, but I just had to insist... I didn't want ya runnin' around with a rollin' pin on our next visit and all, just seemed silly to make ya do that, and I didn't want ya to be annoyed with it and... err...? He stopped, realizing that he was babbling it again. He could hardly help it though, he wanted nothing more at that moment than to see her pleased with the sword. The anticipation of her reaction was more than he could take without getting all nervous.

?For me?? She sounded as incredulous as the look she regarded him with appeared. Then a wide smile parted her lips. Mellisandre blinked at him a few times as the meaning of his words started to become clear. ?Really? For me??

He just nodded his affirmation to her question, an absurdly pleased look on his face. Mellisandre jumped up from her seat and threw her arms around Gnimish's neck, hugging him tightly. Startled at the hug, but very much in a pleasant way, he hesitantly raised his arms to try to return it but he was too slow.

The Emperor With A Cheer At Atrebla

They had stopped at the bakery only long enough for Gnimish to retrieve Drakhan and to let Mrs. Moosegnobbler know that Mellisandre would be gone for the evening as well. Then Gnimish had taken her hand again and they were off to the Atrebla Arena to watch some sword fighting. Perhaps later there would be a chance to try out the new blade.

Gnimish poofed in, holding Drakhan's leash in one hand and the little baker lady's hand in the other, and was immediately greeted by his team mates.

?Gnimish! Quick! Cheer for Michelle!? Was the greeting from the tall bald man, and the fairy waved a greeting. ?Hullo! Who?s yer friend?? The carpenter stood with an uncertain grin. ?Go Michelle!?

The gnome would have waved back, but he was only blessed with two hands. ?'ey Rabs! 'ey, fairy!? Drakhan waddled over to greet Rab, who he just knew had fruit. ?Oh, this is Mellisandre... and, um... this is Rab!?

?Evening, Drakhan, Gnim, Mellisandre.? Rena offered and Mellisandre smiled back.

?Melish? Meriander ... err. ... Rab.?

?Nice to meet you.? Mellisandre had a hand free and accepted the offered one for a brief shake.

?Likelywise. Well met.? Rab kept a careful eye on Drakhan. ?Michelle! A slice of pie to her left eye, with force, make it ... a slice of creampuff pie.? Then he turned to Gnimish again. ?How's things, Gnimish? Got a new shirt there??

?'ey miss Rena!? He finally got around to giving Mellisandre her hand back and led the trio to a table to flop down into a chair. ?Err, no... um... same old outfit Rabs!?

He half-whispered to Mellisandre and pointed to the ring as soon as she was seated next to him. ?We're cheerin' for the pie lady there.?

Mellisandre?s eyes were promptly drawn to the ring and she watched with wide, curious eyes just in time to see a blade slice in a downward arc to catch the other dueler.

?Michelle make her smell smell smell ... bad!? With an apologetic grin he added, ?Sorry Rhi, but it rhymes right goodly...? Before he resumed rhyming, ?She can hit her high, she can hit her low, she can hit her in the face, with a pie that's fulla snow!?

?Does it have to rhyme?? Mellisandre whispered to Gnim while Rab continued his rhyming cheers.

?Ahhh....no...? He glanced at Rab and dropped Drakhan's leash on the floor, not really paying attention to the lizard. ?He's just kinda like that.? When Mellisandre asked if he was a bard, he shook his head and laughed. ?Nah, definitely not a bard, ya don?t wanna hear Rabs sing.?

?Don't ask him to sing, you got it.? She grinned back as an official called the man into a ring.

?Oh, now we get to cheer for the bard too...? Gnimish resumed the lowered voice. ?There's free pie too... If ya don't get enough of that at home, hah.?

?I do believe I get all the pie to eat I can handle.? Drakhan, of course, couldn't get enough free pie and waddled his way over to the pie table and looked up at it pathetically. The look worked on one of the uniformed lads and a moment later the lizard enjoyed another treat.

?If we're lucky Rab and Michelle will win fast and we can head to the Annex...can get yerself some practice in!?

The Princess, With A Shiny Sword, In The Arena

With a slight shimmer of white light the trio appeared in the Arena. Mellisandre was surprised to recognize some of the faces, and even a couple of Gnimish?s team mates were here already.

?Goood evenin', folks! Rabs! Rory! Other people!? Gnimish tossed the nightly quota of waves about.

?Gnimish again! Hullo Mellish. Well met again!? Rab grinned broadly, which made the boysenberry on his face itch, so he finally managed to wipe it off on his sleeve, but missed Mellisandre return his greeting. ?Ech.?

Gnimish and Mellisandre made their way over to a random table with the lizard. ?So, Princess... now the trick?s findin' someone to poke with that new toy of yers.? He grinned to her as soon as they were seated.

?You are not volunteering then?? She smiled back, hoping that he would. The other patrons present all seemed to be happily engaged in dueling in the various rings. Even if they were not, she didn?t think she was quite ready yet to duel a total stranger.

?Oh, of course! Jeez, how could I forget myself... lemme let Rory know!? Gnimish?s reply earned him a happy smile from Mellisandre.

?Let me know what?? The official promptly asked.

?Err, that me and Mellisandre here would like a swords duel, Rory!?

?Give him what-for, Mellish! Go down swingin, Gnimish!? Rab cheered, grinning to them from the ring he was in.

?Mellisandre, eh? That's a mouthful. We'll need to find a nickname for you pronto. I'm Rory. Nice to meet you. Mellisandre and Gnim!? She pointed at a ring for them.

?Nice to meet you Rory.? Mellisandre turned from the official to Gnimish and dropped her voice. ?Should we tell her what the missus calls me??

Gnimish paused and tilted his head thoughtfully before he peered at Drakhan. ?Wha'? Oh! 'Sandy'...? Then he nodded back to Mellisandre. ?Can't hurt!? But the official thought that the nickname was not exotic enough. ?Exotic? Now whaddya thinkin' there, Rory...?

Mellisandre followed Gnimish into the ring and then wrestled with hilt and sheath to get the shiny blade out. But, oh wonder, the blade slid so easily from its sheath that she would have sliced the ropes with her swing if it hadn?t been for Gnimish stepping in to get whacked in place of one of the ropes, his noble sacrifice saving the defenseless rope.

?Yes, that's the sword... still none of yer business where it came from, shush you!? Gnimish glared over to Drakhan for a moment.

?What about Mika? Let's try that this round. Mika shoots a low shot in as Gnim drops back defensively. Point to the woman!? Obviously the ropes? plight appeared to be something else entirely to the official.

?What the heck is a Mika, Rory?? Gnimish centered the scimitar.

?I don't know. I'm trying here! Ring Lawn Ornament, Round 2: The Gnome-ster backs away while Milli twirls a defense. No points.? Rory interpreted the none-action in the oddly named ring.

Mellisandre could have hugged him for his words, only there were swords in their hands. ?She really should have kept trying with the name thing.? She said instead, hoping the change of subject would do in lieu of a hug.

Rory giggled. ?We don't like Milli... Alright. We'll try something new.?

?I think princess will work fine, Rory.? Gnimish chuckled as Mellisandre smiled again, waving Kui-sa'kai about aimlessly.

?Oooh. I like Princess. Gnimmy drops back defensively while Princess does the ducking thingie. No points!?

?It's pretty, but I'm not a princess, just a baker's apprentice.? But she loved hearing Gnimish call her Princess. ?I was one for Halloween.?

?You can be a princess if you want to be.? Rory nodded sagely. ?Poor Gnimmy gets dissed. I'll kiss away your tears!?

?Maybe not, but it... well, I think it fits...? The gnome was grinning rather than crying, remembering fondly how that Halloween costume resulted in their meeting.

Mellisandre smiled back until she remembered to swing the shiny blade at Gnimish. Her effort came a little too late, though, along with Rory?s warning.

?The high blows seem to really be working over here. Keep your guard up, you two! Gnim keeps up that advantage by sending another in. Princess can't get low enough to avoid it. Great duel, you two!?

?That was wonderful! Thank you, Gnimish.? The blond gnome?s face shone bright with excitement. She was improving at getting the blade back into its sheath, too. ?I think I may get to really like this.?

?Was my pleasure, of course!? Gnimish waved a salute to Rory before he slipped Kui-sa'kai away with a half-bow to Mellisandre.

?Good. This place needs more women who know which end of the sword can keep a man in line.? Rory stated with a playfully with a wink to Princess.

Gnimish hopped out of the ring followed by Mellisandre, wondering what kind of influence Rory might be on the poor little baker girl. Back at their table he was greeted with a knowing look from Drakhan. ?Oh, what? You don't know nothin', now shush...?

?Dueling's thirsty fun, though.? Mellisandre reached for the mug as she sat down and drank deeply from it.

Gnimish turned back to Mellisandre with a smile. ?I'm glad yer enjoyin' this, no idea ya'd take to it so well.?

?What's not to love?? She giggled a little and dropped her voice. ?I get to swipe at you and everyone thinks that's all okay.? She found that amusing to no end, and just adding to the general fun of dueling.

He lowered his voice in kind. ?Not just okay, but expected...funny, ain't it? Ya wanna give it another try?? He so enjoyed the sound of her amusement.

?Yes, very funny.? She giggled again. ?Oh yes.? She nodded vigorously, making the blond braids swing.

?We'd have to find ya someone else though, I can't duel ya twice in a row... rules and all that?? Just then noticing that there was no one else eligible in the Arena.

?Oh. But there's no one else here but the nice the official and those two.? She nodded to the occupied ring.

?Aww...? That look made him wish he could oblige her with another duel. ?Well, maybe we oughta be callin' it a night then, eh? ?

?That appears to be sensible. I wonder what the missus will have to say.? That, and the official just had mentioned that the rings would be closed to more duels shortly.

?There's always another day!? Gnimish nodded before he turned away. ?Drakhan! Oh, yer right there...? He grabbed the leash, stood up and offered his hand to Sandy, which she took with a happy smile. ?G'night, folks!? He tapped the amulet and poofed the trio away once more.

Fortunately, no such creatures resided in the envelope to leap out at him, and the emperor gave her a little chuckle after giving the contents a looking over. ?Well... I'm not thinkin' it's "bad" at all!? To a nervous giggle from her he flipped the paper over. ?Ok... lessee... Mellisandre Gnoffeymel, it says..., 'ey, what's it mean when it's sayin' that ya got an eighty-nine-somethin' and they're sendin' yer certificate in the mail??

?What? Eighty-nine in what?? Mellisandre gave him a stunned look at first. Then the meaning of the rest of his words dawned on her. ?I got it then, really?? She took the paper from his hand to have a look herself and then danced, waving the paper and hugging him again - twice. ?I'm not a plain apprentice anymore!? She stopped dancing and hugging and smiled wide to Gnimish. ?At least I won't be once the associate certificate gets here.?

Gnimish laughed at her dancing and joy, ever so pleased to see that she passed... no, he was just happy to see her so happy, the reason was largely unimportant. ?So ya did it! Eh, what's the certificate got to do with it, ya passed whether it gets here or not!?

?I did, didn't I?? She chuckled happily. ?But it isn't official until the certificate is here. Then the missus is going to pay me more, too. The Moosegnobblers already said that they'd keep me on until I pass the master tests.?

He grinned at that, as he had just been about to ask how this would change her situation here. ?Good to hear ya won't be tossed out on the street... so when's yer own bakery openin' up?? He let out a bit of a laugh, really only half-joking with the question.

?I've not even thought that far yet. Mom and dad are sort of expecting me to help out with theirs for a while at least when the time comes. But that'll be a while yet.? The idea of having her own bakery to run had lost a lot of its appeal since she met Gnimish and she certainly couldn?t tell him the estimation her parents had for her future.

He nodded at her, he?d not even thought of the fact that there might be a family business already. Then he stepped beside her and placed an arm around her shoulders. ?Either way, I'm really happy for ya, Mellisandre... I mean, I knew ya'd do it, was obvious of course, ya know??

?Obvious to you, but not at all to me.? Leaning against him, she folded the paper and then put it away, certain that she was happier over his being there than the good news.

Again oblivious to the fact that they were standing in the middle of town, Gnimish just smiled as she leaned into him, completely ignoring anyone who may be being nosy. ?Oh, um...jeez, ya know, with all this I almost forgot the whole reason I dropped by...?

?Right, you must have had something else in mind besides rescuing me from whatever monster the board may have stuffed into that envelope.? He could not have known that the test results had arrived, if he even knew that they were being mailed to begin with. She looked up to him. ?What may have brought you out this way this evening??

Gnimish nodded, he did have something else in mind, though saving her from the envelope beast alone was worth the trip. ?I was comin' by to... well, ya know, see if ya wanted to drop by that duelin' place again... now I guess we'll be goin' to celebrate or somethin'!?

?Celebrate - that has a fine ring to it. I'd like that very much. Just give me a minute to fetch the shiny sword.? She gave him another wide and happy smile. That he had come to see her, that he was here, was plenty of celebration for her. That dueling place was fun, though perhaps a lot of that was due to his presence.

?Oh, yes of course, you'll be needin' that!? He withdrew his arm, releasing her with a smile so she could go to get that new toy of hers. He flopped down on the bench when she hurried off. But it was a short wait. Gnimish leapt right back to his feet as she returned with the sword in such a speedy fashion. Obviously she had managed to avoid any kind of attention from the household.

?I'm ready.? She held out her hand to Gnimish with a bright smile, which he took happily and with a tap of his amulet he sent them to the dueling annex.

?Oh, no one listens to that paper anyway.? Gnimish grabbed the last paper and threw it off the table, the publication disintegrating into blue mist before it even struck the floor. ?So what?s your point here, Chamberlain??

?My point?! My point is that this is entirely unacceptable, Lord Gnimoi! You have duties! Responsibilities! You simply cannot be running about with this commoner you?ve been seen with!?

Gnimish shook his head, beginning to get quite irritated with this subject, especially with the contempt in the tone of the Chamberlains voice when he referred to Mellisandre.

?Once again, I don?t see how my affairs are any of your concern, Chamberlain.? Gnimish asserted, his voice taking on the strong, commanding tone that was usually reserved for speaking to military personnel.

?Your affairs are the concern of *everyone*, Lord Gnimoi! And you need to be thinking of everyone when you choose to go gallivanting around the countryside, attracting attention such as this! You cannot be associated with such commoners; we simply will not have it! You need to seriously begin considering entering into a diplomatic marriage, Lord Gnimoi, consider the needs of the empire, not yourself!?

Gnimish not-so-patiently waited for Ka?ramey to finish his tirade. ?I?ll say again, this is none of your concern, Chamberlain. Let the papers say what they want, what?s the harm in it anyway.?

?The papers will most certainly not be saying what they want, Lord Gnimoi, I have already taken care of the matter.?

The Emperor?s expression darkened hearing that as he wondered what ?Taking care of the matter? meant.

?And how did you take care of it, Chamberlain??

?The official word, Lord Gnimoi, will be that you were simply visiting Hirshberg to personally take measure of the new Imperial Bakery there. A surprise visit, if you will, for publicity. There is *no* connection between the Emperor and this?common baker girl?and any assertions of such are pure absurdity.?

The gnome?s eyes widened as he shot up from his seat once again, ?You did WHAT? You will retract those statements immediately, Chamberlain! Now!?

Ka?ramey let a smug grin take over his face as he saw he had struck a nerve with the Emperor on this topic. ?My apologies, Your Highness, but it is too late. The papers will be printed tomorrow.? He replied, his tone almost mocking as he used the more formal address.

Livid, Gnimish sat back down in his seat, glaring daggers at Ka?ramey. It wasn?t the Chamberlain?s presumptuousness that angered him, he realized. Ka?ramey was like that all the time. His real concern was if Mellisandre saw such a declaration in a paper. An ?official? one at that, implying he had approved it himself. Hopefully she wouldn?t take it to mean he was simply toying with her all this time.

?Chamberlain, you are dismissed.? Gnimish growled. ?Close the door on your way out.?
Ka?ramey nodded and spun on his heel, exiting the Observatory and leaving the Emperor to his solitude once again as the doors slammed shut.

Gnimish thought that he would certainly have to make a point of returning to Hirshberg as soon as he could, though he would have done so even without this development. His visits with Mellisandre had been like moments of bliss within his otherwise routine days, and he found himself thinking that he would have Ka?rameys head on a pike if he did anything to endanger that.

"Err. Uhm. Can't he just..." Before Mellisandre could finish her sentence Mrs. Moosegnobbler interrupted her. "No. He's too tall to fit through the door. Get cleaned up. Better hurry too, he doesn't look to be the kind that'll enjoy the view while waiting." Not that there was much of a view in front of the bakery, unless one was interested in gnome architecture.

With a resigned sigh and not at all happy Mellisandre extracted herself from the bread dough and reached for a towel. "The reporters this morning were bad enough. There aren't any of those still standing outside, are there?"

?One can only hope.? Mrs. Moosegnobbler snapped up a towel and pressed into Mellisandre?s hands and pushed her out the door. ?Hurry now.?

Cleaning her hands and arms as well as possible with a dry towel, Mellisandre walked the rest of the way to the outside to see what the Chancellor could want from her. When she saw the soldiers looking all clean and pretty she wiped a still clean corner of the towel over her face, hopefully removing most of the flour dust, and then turned to the one human.

While awaiting Mellisandre's arrival, the Chancellor had dismissed his guards to the back of the carriage. Upon seeing the door open he assumed a warm, welcoming smile and a grandfatherly disposition, taking full advantage of his aged appearance, even letting his shoulders sag a bit and letting one of the guards take his rapier back to the carriage.

"Chancellor? You wished to see me?" She hoped very much that the Chancellor's appearance did not mean that something untoward had happened to Gnimish. The man's face was unreadable, though. She held her breath, fearing the worst.

"Ah, yes, Mellisandre. I apologize for my intrusion, please, call me Walter." He motioned to the bench in front of the bakery. "Do you mind if we sit? Standing for so long becomes uncomfortable at my age, you understand."

She raised a brow at his offer. What all had Gnimish told the royal that the royal was offering his first name to a mere baker?s apprentice?

"Walter, as you wish. Yes please, do have a seat." With a sweeping gesture she indicated the bench just outside the bakery. "Is he okay?"

"Thank you, young lady." Gingerly he took a seat on the bench, leaving ample space for her to join him. "Yes, the Emperor. This is why I've come to visit you today, I can only imagine what you've been put through recently, Mellisandre."

"The reporters, you mean? That's why you're here?" So Gnimish was all right, she thought with relieved. She started to move to sit down next to Walter when she remembered the state of her clothes. But that?s what he got for showing up without warning and interrupting folk at work. "Err, I had better not or you'll get a dusting on your pretty clothes. You took from the middle of work, so please excuse the messy look."

"That's quite alright, Mellisandre. No harm has befallen the Emperor, rest assured, but there are still matters I would speak with you about." Walter paused and took a deep breath. "The Emperor, how can I say this, we try to be respectful and discreet in regards to his highness in this matter. The Emperor has not been well, you see, and it appears his habits have caught up with him this time."

"Is he ill then?" She gave the chancellor a confused look. What an odd thing to do, to first say Gnimish was all right and then in the same breath say that he was ill. Anyway, Gnimish had looked quite well the last time she saw him. "You had better just come out with it."

"It was very kind of you to go through all the trouble on my behalf. Please don't feel like it's necessary to take your old bones out this way again." She returned the nod. "Of course, just between you, me, and his imperial highness. Certainly you'll have to report back to him.? She already had a few ideas of what she would tell the reporters if she heard that he spoke of the Emperor?s alleged insanity to anyone else, and she would certainly mention the Chancellor?s visit to Gnimish.

The Chancellor gave another nod at the mention of a report. "His furthered well-being is always foremost in my thoughts, Mellisandre, of course. I must be on my way now, Mellisandre. I look forward to seeing an end put to these rumors in tomorrow's papers."

"Of course, Walter." But not nearly as much as your own furthered well-being, you weasel, she thought to herself. She?d do well to keep the bakery?s well-being in mind, she remembered the admonishments from the missus. "Do have a pleasant trip back to the palace. Perhaps the trip would be a little easier on you with a baked sweet?"

"Oh no, my dear." He shook his head at the offer. "I must be mindful of my diet at my age. Please consider what we have discussed, and have a pleasant evening."

The guards on the back of the carriage leapt off in great haste, opening the door to the carriage and lowering the stairs for the Chancellor.

Their conversation so far had been quiet, so that no one would overhear any of their words, but now Mellisandre raised her voice a little. Just loud enough so any reporters among the small crowd would hear - by now quite a few people had gathered to gawk ? she said, "Thank you, Chancellor. We will most certainly have some sugar free sweets for you with the next delivery to the imperial castle." She curtseyed before the Walter turned to the carriage. The missus would be proud of her, at least.

He offered her a smile of thanks, supposedly for her thoughtfulness, before he vanished into the carriage. The guards closed the door behind him and rushed to take their place upon the back.

"By Shylasa, get me out of this slum, driver." The Chancellor demanded and the driver cracked the reins and sent the carriage speeding out of Hirshberg.

Mellisandre made sure to smile to the little crowd before she went back inside to return to work, letting any reporters that may be in the group think what they would.

"Well, my lord?" asked a previously unnoticed figure seated across from the Chancellor as they sped away.

"We will see. If we do not catch the flies with honey we shall simply try the vinegar next time." Ka'ramey answered, fairly certain the commoner was more astute than he had given her credit for.

?Oh, jeez...? Gnimish shook his head. ?Ya know what, I'm gonna be dealin' with him later, ain't lettin' it get to me right now. ? He would most certainly let it get to him later, but for now he wasn?t going to let it get in the way of enjoying his time with her. ?Ya wanna try yer hand at another duel??

?That's a great idea. We came for dueling, didn't we? In fact, maybe not dealing him is the wiser thing to do.? With that she put Walter firmly from her mind and focused on enjoying her time with Gnimish.

?Yup...? He smiled to her before he turned to the Druid. ?'ey! Druid! Ya got a ring for us over there?? At the official?s confirmative nod he added with a mirthful wink to Mellisandre, ?Me an' princess Mellisandre here.?

They stood and started heading to the ring, but Gnimish paused and whispered to Mellisandre when he noticed Cory staring at them with his head canted just so. ?Watch that one...he's got a taste fer gnomes...?

Mellisandre looked wide eyed to Cory who promptly made chomping motions at Gnimish and her. Curious she watched the gnome-eater descend the stairs as she whispered back. ?I always thought cannibals were to have pointy teeth.?

?I dunno about bein' pointy, but they hurt!? Gnimish got himself in-between her and the gnome-eating crazy man. Then they turned their focus to dueling.

?Aw, not gonna be lettin' me have any fun!? Gnimish commented as she managed to evade his early attacks. That was a blatant lie, of course, as her being here with him was all the fun he could ask for in a night, though he certainly couldn't go saying something so mushy in front of anyone.

But his next attack she didn?t manage to avoid and he bopped her lightly on the head with the scimitar, grinning.

?I will eventually get better at this.? She grinned back.

?Looks like ya already are!? He watched her smile widen at his compliment and nodded. ?Yer fun to duel anyway, ya make the whole 'keep yer eye on yer opponent' thing so easy.? He blinked at his own comment, hoping no one else heard it.

?Yes, of course, keep my eyes on my opponent.? She blushed handsomely, not sure if it was a compliment or a very nice way to remind her to keep her focus on the duel. Of course she also welcomed the perfectly good excuse to keep looking at the eye-candy. ?Marvelous concept.?

All too soon the duel was over. Mellisandre had lost, of course, but she was getting very good at sliding the shiny sword back into its sheath.

?That was fun!? She said with shining eyes and bowed. ?Thank you.?

?Nice one!? Gnimish agreed with a wide smile. ?Always is!? Happily he hopped out of the ring, followed by Mellisandre, and they headed back to their table, flopping down in their seats.

The Official With A Metallic Glob On The Isle

Drakhan charged from the portal with Mellisandre in tow and led her right to the grinning official. Gnimish was appreciative of the haste the lizard managed in the task.

?Hey, slow down you monster!? The young gnome woman with the blond braids looked up when Drakhan finally followed her command. With a slightly sheepish grin she greeted Gnimish and handed him the leash. ?Hullo again. I thought he was supposed to be waddling slowly. ?Now look at him. One would believe he couldn't make it from here to the portal in anything less than ten minutes.? Mellisandre chuckled as she shook her head.

?'ey, Sandy! You be gentle, Drakhan...? Gnimish patted the place on the couch beside him. ?Yet somehow he finds the energy to zip around when there's caramels involved.?

?Little fiend.? Mellisandre turned around slowly to take in the sights before she sat down beside him. ?So this is the isle.?

?Yep! Weird place if yer askin' me, but suppose it's nice either way.? Drakhan flopped down on the ground in front of the couch, looking quite displeased that he didn't even get a treat for making such a fine delivery to Gnimish.

?It's comfortably warm. I like that.?

?Pretty sure it never changes either... will be warm tomorrow, was warm yesterday... so I guess that means any time is a good time to be visitin', eh?? He wondered if the hint was a bit too obvious.

?Anytime, really?? She asked with soft chuckle. Could it be that he was fishing for another date?

?Yep, anytime! Might not be too interestin' when no one else is around and there's no blowin' up goin' on in the ring, but still might make for a nice quiet place to stop by now and then.? He was apparently oblivious to the fact that he seems to have just suggested that they come by the isle alone.

?And no reporter with a paper to publish articles in Shylasa on it. I do believe that sounds just about perfect.? That sounded like he had many dates in mind, not just one, she grinned. ?They didn't get you into more trouble with Walter, did they??

?Me? In trouble with Walter? Humfph... we'll see who's in trouble with who...?

Mellisandre grinned at that and with a nod to the ring put that subject of Walter and pesky reporters aside. ?So, what are they doing there??

?Oh, they're duelin' just like we do in the arena, but with magic instead of swords!? Gnimish tilted his head when she wanted to know how that was done. Ya know, I'm not entirely sure? Probably drawin' on whatever it is on this isle that messes with my powers. I'd give it a try with ya, but... well, ya know.? He looked down at his calling sheets.

?They don't look much like sorcerers.? She whispered. Sorcerers were to be in long flowing robes and wild white hair and beards, or so she had always pictured them. ?Me? I sure don't have a white beard down to my knees either.?

?That's the beauty of the place, somethin' about it lets any folk go around castin' spells... not sure what it is, but folks like it!? He bopped Drakhan on the noggin. ?Foo, if yer so darn smart, why don't you explain it??

He snickered at the idea of everyone taking a bite out of a ?Ka'ramey?. ?Maybe it ain't such a bad idea after all...?

?I think so.? She said with a merry chuckle.

Gnimish looked over at the portal. ?Jeez, guess no on wants me to be callin' their duels...?

?It's not because of me being here, I hope.?

He grinned and shook his head before he hugged her tighter and planted a quick smooch on the side of her head. ?Of course not... I'm thinkin' ya'd be a draw if anythin'! Bad news is, ain't no one even droppin' by to see ya in the first place!?

?That's a very nice thought.? Mellisandre blushed prettily and snaked her arm around his middle. She rather liked that there was no one around. ?Maybe it's not all that bad, I'm thinking.?

?Ya don't? Hm, but we need folks to come to the duelin'...? He blinked and looked at Drakhan. ?Oh... um... I knew that's what she meant...? He bopped the nosy lizard on the head again. Though it might do the gnome some good to listen to the lizard sometimes, as popular as he was with the ladies. Yet somehow, Drakhan failed to be quite as popular with the little baker girl as he was with the other ladies.

Mellisandre glared at Drakhan - he wasn't supposed to give everything away. ?It would make sense of course to have people dueling when you're here to see to it that they're doing it right.?

?Yep... folks can't be duelin' without an official... but I think I'd rather no one showed up for now.? He nodded, having figured out that much. ?Shift is almost over too...: He cleared his throat. ?Queue closes in 15!?

Mellisandre smiled and nodded, suspecting there'd not have been a kiss or his arm around her shoulder had there been witnesses.

?Ya wantin' me to get ya back home when my shift is over? Gonna have some reports to be fillin' out and such, borin' things...? He was very much content and comfortable with the situation.

?That would probably be best.? She certainly could not get home from here on her own. ?I have to be up early.?

?Yep.? Best perhaps, but certainly not as appealing as the alternative of staying put right here with her.

?But I'd love to see the isle with you when you're free to go exploring it, though.? She was quick to remind him of his earlier idea.

?Oh, yes, that'd be great...? Reluctantly he withdrew his arm and stood, instantly missing her warmth. ?Guess we oughta be headin' back then.? Mellisandre rose and when she held out her hand with a smile he took it.

?Drakhan? ...oh, fine, go bother some folks on yer own then, I'll see ya later...? Without further formalities he tapped his amulet, poofing the pair and leaving the drooling beastie behind.

?Holidays aren't much fun when there's no one to share them with. Is Drakhan's friend not also your friend??

?Heh, that was usually my excuse for never goin'...can't be expectin' me to be runnin' around to parties alone!? Gnimish grinned nervously, hoping she can't see his expression too well in the dark as he realizes he just implied that he thought he did have someone to go with now.

His words did have her turn her face in his direction. ?If you wanted to go to the party, you'd not have to go alone. That is, if the party isn't in the afternoon like those I'm catering are.? With her not being able to see his face, he'd not be able to see hers all that clearly either. To judge by the heat in her cheeks, that was a good thing, she thought.

Gnimish nervously cleared his throat a bit, ?I know, I mean...that's what I was meanin' when I said I was runnin' out of excuses and...heh, well...I'd love it if ya came with me. Not sure when it is though.?

?Thank you.? She gently exhaled the breath she'd been holding ever since it occured to her that offering her company like that might be a tad forward. But she really wanted to go with him. And a party somewhere else would be lot ?easier? on everyone than inviting him to come home with her to her family's celebration. ?It'll be fun, you'll see.?

?I'm sure it will be, now?. He smiled and squeezed her tighter. ?As for who's holdin' it...well, sure, I'd call 'er a friend, but ya gotta understand, Drakhan's got a weakness fer ladies and sweets, and when ya got a lady who's givin' him sweets...well...?

Mellisandre chuckled softly and squeezed him a little in return. ?So the beasty will insist to get to come along. Maybe that's why he's choosing to walk around as the little drooling thing.?

?It's probably where he went when we left the isle...over to the Old Temple manor to go pester her, hah. Oh yes, ya can be certain he'll be taggin' along...ladies, food, and me to pester...?

?Perhaps.? Though Mellisandre suspected that the lizard, wherever he was, was now wearing a smug grin. ?He's welcome to it too.? Her her voice dropped low and turned bashful. ?I am rather enjoying being all alone with you in the dark.?

Gnimish shook his head. ?He wouldn't miss it for anythin'.?

Mellisandre wondered if he even heard her quiet whisper, but wasn't quite brave enough to ask. Maybe it was for the best if he had not. She chuckled softly. ?I would hate to miss it, too.?

Gnimish had indeed heard and expected to find himself nervous and stammering, hearing her comment, but surprisingly didn?t. ?I am too...really no place I'd rather be right now, Mellisandre.? He peered up at the starlit sky for a moment, thinking that it probably wasn?t the most poetic thing he could have said, but what it lacked in eloquence it made up for in sincerity. ?Can hardly believe it's so late already...?

?Mmm?? So he had heard. ?Time does seem to go fast when one is enjoying oneself.?

?Yes, it does...but...? He stopped and chuckled, shaking his head. ?I'm not supposin' it would make for good headlines if I fell asleep on the bench outside yer bakery.?

She chuckled with him, ?No, not at all. They'd come with something horrid like Emperor evicted from the palace. The state of the empire, read all about it. And then Walter would come over again.?

?Walter...reporters...heh.? Gnimish was still quite irritated at the actions of the Chancellor but was doing his best not to bite the old man?s head off. ?Ya know, I wasn't kiddin', I could have that taken care of for ya. I don't think the reporters would be wantin' to pester Kuriyama so much, and not even Walter has authority to pass him if I assign him...well, anyway, ya said ya had it under control, I shouldn't interfere in yer household an' all.?

?I'm sure Walter will just try to think up something nastier the next time he's given an opportunity and that he's best left to think he was successful. But he's your household, not mine. I certainly don't envy you having to run into him on a daily basis.?

Gnimish nodded in agreement, then sighed and gave her one last squeeze before reluctantly withdrawing his arm. ?I suppose I should be lettin' ya get some sleep then, I know ya got an early mornin' to be dealin' with.?

She withdrew her arm as well, if a little reluctantly. ?You're right, of course. There can't be that many hours of the night left.? She?d love to sit with him until dawn, but she appreciated his thoughtfulness. A night of lost sleep wasn?t something she couldn?t afford at this time.

He stood up from the bench and nodded, however useless that may be in the darkness, before he offered both his hands to her. Mellisande placed one of her hands into each of the offered ones as she got to her feet. ?A very good night to you, Gnimish. ?

Gnimish gently pulled her closer, looking down at her and hesitating for a long moment before he slowly leaned in and brought his lips to hers, hoping in the darkness he dosen't miss or something and make a buffoon out of himself in the process. The long look served as a little warning as well as gained her cooperation. She gave his fingers a gentle squeeze as she felt his warm lips against hers.

He lingered in the kiss for just a moment, a moment entirely too short for his liking, before he drew back and looked at what little of her he could see. ?I...um...I'm sorry if that was...ahem...goodnight, Mellisandre. I'm hopin' ya enjoyed tonight as much as I did.?

She whispered softly, ?I did.? His beard was a lot softer than it looked, and it didn't tickle at all. She decided that she'd like this kissing business. Before she could say something to the fact that would only embarass them both, she turned and slipped inside the bakery.

Gnimish watched her head into the bakery with a smile and reached up for his amulet, whispering to the darkness. ?I will see ya soon, Mellisandre...? Then he tapped the the amulet, vanishing.

"That I did." She gave him a wide smile and with a gentle squeeze of his fingers let go of his hand again before she turned to fetch the promised cookies from one of the cabinets.

"There's no coffee this evening though. Everything's put up already. But wait, there's still some milk." She handed him the cookie jar - it was a rather large jar - and went to fetch the milk. " Have a seat, I'll be right back."

True to her word she was back from the pantry with the milk already in cups before he got completely comfortable at the table.

"Here we go." She plopped into other chair as she set down the cups and beamed him a smile. "I still can't quite believe my luck that you're really here.

"Ooo...ok!" He took the large jar and flopped down on one of the chairs, looking rather like the jar had just fallen into his lap from the sky. "That's... a lotta cookies." said as she returned with the milk, and he hoisted the jar up onto the table.

"Eh, luck got nothin' to do with it, ya really though I could be stayin' away?" He chuckled at the absurdity of the thought as he removed the lid from the cookie jar.

"I just put in a few of each in as I was making them." She had picked the prettiest out of every batch in the hope that he would find a chance to visit again before she had to leave so that she could give them to him.

"You were cutting it awfully close, though. "She chuckled. "Another day and I'd have missed you. Tomorrow after breakfast I'm to head home for a week."

"Oh, hm... another week..." He didn't really mean to say it out loud, but it slipped out anyway, brining out a nervous smile on his face. "I'm glad I could drop by when I did then, thinkin' tackin' another week onto missin' ya woulda been terrible. What kinda cookies ya got hidin' in here?"

"Why don't you try whatever comes out first? There at least a dozen different kinds." She had been talking so much ever since she had pulled him into the store, she had to pause to catch her breath, and to order her thoughts. With a somewhat silly grin she just gazed at him for a long moment.

"Ya got a cookie grab bag here, do ya?" So he did just that and reached into the jar. "So... is home, ya know, far from here?" And he pulled out a little snowflake-shaped sugar cookie.

"No, not at all far, just down the hill in Hirsdale. Only far enough to keep me going home all the time." She watched him bite into the cookie. "How is it?"

"Great!" Then he paused and remembered something, looking down at the milk. "Might be helpin' if I did this right."

A bit distracted with the hundred thoughts in his head regarding a possible visit to this Hirsdale, he had forgotten all about the milk. He took the half-eaten cookie and tried dipping it this time.

Just then Rodney came bouncing in. "Mums said... Oh. Hi. " The little face turned to Mellisandre again. "I guess you don't be needed t'help. Mums wanted to know what's keeping ya." Belatedly the little flace flushed. "Hey, you're the emperor!" And he dropped a deep bow.

Then he bent again to pick up the cap that had fallen off when he bowed. "Oops." For a moment he kneaded the cap in his hands before he once again sat it on his head.

It had, indeed, been far, far too long since he gazed upon that face. Some days he wished that he could just come and take her home to keep all to himself, but somehow even he knew that wouldn't exactly be 'proper'.

"I would, um...like to be meetin' yer family sometime..." The comment just awkwardly came blurting out and he mentally winced as soon as he heard it.

"Really? Whatever f -" She broke off and blushed. "Erm." Then she chuckled. "You know they're going to be thinking all kinds of things. If you don't mind that, I'd love for you to meet them.?

"Well... ya know... gotta be doin' it eventually, right? Yep. Can't just be hidin' me in a kitchen forever, eh?" He laughed nervously, not really having an answer to her question, his real motive just being that he was unwilling to go yet another week without seeing her.

"I guess so." She chuckled happily. "At least that way I get to see you. I hope they won't make a fuss."

"Hm... maybe I oughta just drop by unannounced, eh?" He figured that was the best way to prevent a fuss from being made, though he didn't quite get that someone just dropping by a family dinner unannounced might be taken as rude.

"That's probably best. Maybe they won't even notice who you are what with all the family and friends usually dropping in." Yes, that would work. The emperor wasn't the only one wearing prismatic robes, right? She didn't examine her reason's too closely why she wanted her parents to think he just a regular beau.

"Yep, yep. Maybe they won't even be noticin'!" He reached back into the cookie jar and pulled out a little star-shaped cookie, eager to get something in his mouth to keep him from saying any more awkward things for the moment. Of course, he didn't even consider the little flaws in their plan, like the family asking him his name.

"So that's settled then, yep! Honestly, I was just not wantin' to be goin' another whole week without seein' ya." Sure, Gnimish, now you can just come out and say it, he thought to himself.

"If you ever knew when you can get away from the palace we could just agree to meet somewhere. Then no one would have to know but us." She remembered the milk in front of her and braught the cup up to drink some of it.

"Oh...hm...hadn't thought of that. That's soundin' far less awkward...I can arrange somethin', of course. Will just have to be gettin' away from the bodyguards for a bit." He took a deep breath and smiled at her appreciatively, nodding at the jar. "Ya know those are the best cookies... ya think I can be takin' a few with me later?"

"The jar is yours. It's not much as presents go, but I didn't have time to get anything else finished." She would have loved to have a 'real' gift for him, one that didn't spoil, but there had not even been enough free time during the last couple of weeks to go to a store while they were open.

"Really? I, um... well, I didn't actually..." He turned a bit red, remembering that he didn't get her anything beforehand either, and now he felt quite guilty. But that gave him an idea too. " 'ey, how'd ya like to be goin' for a little ride?"

"A ride, like on a horse? Is that very difficult? I've never done that before." But the excited gleam to her eyes made it obvious that she loved the idea.

Once on the deck of the ship Gnimish turned toward the enclosed room on the center of the ship and called out, "Magus! Whenever you're ready!" Before he led Mellisandre to the front of the ship to look over the railing.

In a few moments the propellers of the ship began to spin, slowly at first and then with a great speed and noise as the ship slowly began to left itself off the ground of the shipyard.

"What a view!" And they had not taken off yet. "Oh, this is amazing, Gnimish." Her fingers were squeezing his again but her gaze remained on the ground.

"I'm glad ya approve..." He squeezed right back, looking over the railing as the ship lifted itself to cruising altitude, then turned his head toward the center of the deck again. "Magus! Four hills!"

Then, with their destination decided, he turned his full attention back to Mellisandre, releasing her hand and putting the cookie jar down on the surprisingly stable deck before he rose back up and placed an arm around her shoulders.

She slipped an arm around his waist and leaned close. It was a little chilly up here and once again she had not thought to stop for a cloak. At least she would tell anyone who asked that it was for warmth, but she really just liked feeling his arm around her.

"Of course I approve. What's not to like?" She turned her head to face him and beam him a smile.

Gnimish let out a contented sigh and smiled happily, pleased that he could have her all to himself up here. "There's the palace now, heh...that little blue dot..."

"It looks so tiny from here." She chuckled softly.

"Sure does!" He squeezed her even closer to him as the ship began to turn, heading to the southeast at a surprising speed, the dampening shields absorbing much of the force of the wind though they were invisible to the eye.

"This is truely amazing." Secretly she thought it was like Gnimish had put Shylasa at her feet. A little giggle escaped her at the private thought.

He smiled and dared place a little kiss on her cheek before gazing down at the landscape whizzing by. "The least I could do for ya, Mellisandre... hard to believe the same tinkerer's guild that spends a decade perfectin' ale was the one that designed these ships, eh?"

She turned her face to him after the little kiss, smiling brightly. "Aye, that is hard to believe. It doesn't even sound like anything's about to blow up." Though her heart beating loud and fast may have made that last statement less than perfectly true.

Gazing into her eyes, he was almost disappointed when he felt the ship begin to slow and descend to viewing altitude, meaning they had reached their destination.

There was a brief flicker of the same disappointment in her eyes just before she turned her gaze to look toward their landing spot: A quiet area with large, rolling hills and what appeared to once be a great keep, now broken and in ruins. But when she saw the ruin in its perfect setting there was nothing but joy and appreciation in her features.

"That is lovely. Are we to go see it up close?"

"Now I'm thinkin' the version they were teachin' ya in the history books starts off by sayin' this was a big epic battle for the fate of Shylasa or somethin' silly like that. Truth is, we'd already broken 'em at the battle of Four Hills, a couple days earlier." He motioned to the west, though the battlefield itself wasn't visible from their location. "Takin' the palace was really just a formality at that point, ya see."

She nodded again and looked where he was pointing before turning her attentive gaze back to him. Gnimish leaned back on his elbows, looking up at the dimming sky as he continued.

"Thing is, we knew Zartirish was a crafty old one, so we were takin' it slow. The songs an' the books all say we came rushin' in with a great charge and stormed the place, but really we camped out in front of the place for a night gettin' prepared and waitin' for our plants inside to get out an' back to us."

Mellisandre watched him as he told the story, but as he continued to paint the picture of days long gone she saw the people and actions he was telling about rather than him. She even shivered when he mentioned Drakhan actually meaning to scare people.

"Once the sun came up and we got reports in on just how many men he was hidin' in there, we started movin' in... I was wantin' a surrender more than wantin' to do away with everyone in the place though, and so we tried breakin' their morale right off, and this is somethin' the songs and books actually got right, sendin' Drakhan right up to the front gate of the place and knockin' in half down, though really it was the noise and mess he was makin' that we were hopin' would have the real effect."

"Sadly, it didn't do any such thing, the men were holdin' out to the last in there. We weren't havin' much of a choice but to be knockin' the walls down and comin' in the hard way, and that's what we were doin'. Now here's where the songs an' the books go on tellin' about how the fight lasted two days, or a week, or some such silly number, it changes all the time. Really they were pitifully low on supplies and arms and men and the fight hardly lasted a few hours." Gnimish glanced over at the ruins thoughtfully for a moment before continuing.

"Next they'll be tellin' ya that I rode in through the broken walls of the place an' met Zartirish in single combat, besting him handily and slaying him on the spot...again, truth is, I've never set foot in that place there. Never wanted to really. Zartirish was captured by regular old soldiers, holdin' out in his chambers with his bodyguards."

"You made it sound like you are sorry things turned out as they did. What would Shylasa look like had Zatirish won?" She wanted to hug Gnimish though to comfort him. Instead she found his hand to hold.

He smiled and squeezed her hand, looking from the ruins to her eyes. "I can't tell ya how it woulda been, but it wouldn't have been a bad place." He shook his head a little before he continued.

"So they brought 'im, all disarmed an' shackled to our camp outside. I let 'im loose, he wasn't any threat to anyone anymore. We ate dinner together, traded a few tales...really just pointless banter honestly. The kinda stuff they won't be tellin' ya in any of the books, ya know? Just ain't excitin'."

"We finished eatin', an' I finally got to the point. I was wantin' 'im to join us, whatever position he was wantin', I woulda given it. He turned me down though, yep. I knew he would, really. We never coulda seen eye to eye on things. He looked me in the eye, just like we're doin' now and told me right up front that there was really only one way it could be endin', that as long as he was drawin' breath that he'd fight against the empire I was buildin'."

"That does sound very different from the history books." She turned the story over in her head.

"So long as I'm not missing when mother wakes everyone up for breakfast in the morning it doesn't really matter when I take off either. The house will be so full, I doubt anyone would even notice were I to slip away for a few hours."

Gnimish smiled and nodded, glad that the thought of missing her for another whole week was banished from his thoughts. "A couple days from now then, in the evenin'...Hirsdale, ya said it was? I'll be able to find ya, I'm sure."

"It's the brick house with a pretzel hanging over the door on Hunters Lane." She grinned, already looking forward to their next meeting.

"A pretzel..." He chuckled at the thought, finding it funny, apparently forgetting for a moment that it was a family of bakers they were talking about.

"What's so funny?"

He coughed a bit nervously as he remembered that fact and looked back to her. "I? um... well. Nothin' really, just kinda thought a pretzel was odd until I remembered who we were talkin' about... well, never mind me, bein' silly..."

"It would be funny hanging over a smithy or a tinker shop." She chuckled softly as she got the joke.

"Indeed... it would." The last nervous chuckle escaped his mouth and his face took on an expression more akin to adoration as he raised his left hand up to brush the side of her face before he slowly leaned in toward her, nervously hoping that his attempt as a kiss would go as well this time as it did the last.

Her chuckle quieted at the expression on his face. It quite took her breath away and she tilted her face up to him.

Slowly he brought his lips to hers, ever so gently at first but quickly becoming completely immersed in the kiss. With no one around to be spying on them or being nosy, he could let himself relax, and it made this second kiss all the most fantastic.

Both her hands came up in search for something to hold on to as her world started to spin. His arm and shoulder were convenient. He wrapped his left arm around her as well, holding her firmly to him for what seemed like mere seconds but could have been hours for all he knew, before finally breaking the kiss.

He leaned his head back just far enough to be able to get her eyes into proper focus. Her face was flushed and her eyes had a dazed look to them as she blinked them open before they focused. And there was a most pleasing smile on her lips.

Slowly the smile turned into a happy grin. "It's a good thing we were sitting down already."

Gnimish simply nodded his agreement, twirling one of her braids between her fingers and staring for a time. She too looked to be content to simply gaze at him. Unfortunately it was getting very, very late as the darkening sky seemed to insist on reminding them.

"I suppose we should..." he paused, seemingly to catch his breath. "...be thinkin' about headin' back."

The tall man shrugged and nodded at the odd request before turning and heading toward the waiting ship.

"It's the, erm, imperial cookie jar." She nooded and gave Gnimish's fingers an answering squeeze.

Gnimish snickered a bit as Mellisandre gave the "order" to Kuriyama, quickly tapping his amulet and sending them back to the bakery in Hirshberg before the bodyguard could react.

When she found herself back at the bakery she giggled. "Oh, did you see that look on his face?"

He laughed out loud, perhaps a bit too loud given the hour, and quickly quieted himself, grinning widely. "He'll be shakin' his head about that for the next hour or so."

Mellisandre's mien sobered a little. Gnimish had to return to the palace. "I hope he'll be over it by the time he got the ship back."

"Eh, if he isn't, too bad... I guess they're wantin' me for something now though. This really was the most wonderful night, Mellisandre, thank ya for spendin' it with me."

"I alway enjoy your company. Tonight was very special, though." She gave him a wide a smile, her gaze briefly dropped to his lips before she looked into his eyes again.

Still holding her hand in his, he took a step closer and gave her one last, woefully short, kiss goodnight.

"Be safe, Gnimish, and sleep well once they let you." Her voice twice as soft now.

"Goodnight, Mellisandre..." He released her hand and took a step back, taking one last admiring look at her before tapping his amulet, heading back home.

She pressed her fingers to her lips and looked at the spot he had occupied for some time before she turned to go up to her room, already looking forward to seeing him again in only two days' time.

"In the roots of a tree, eh? So none of them bats or nothin' then?" He realized he had never went back to watching where he was going, still looking at her as they walked. He turned his eyes back to the road before them, figuring he'd best pay attention before he fell into a ditch or something. "Well that's soundin' better by the minute, can't stand them critters..."

"No, there are no bats there. I don't think it's big enough to suit bats. And it should be fairly dry." Already they had left the houses and lights of Hirsdale behind them. Ahead of them and a little ways uphill the forest started.

"It's right there, the second tree." Mellisandre pointed with her free hand.

"Oh, wow...I gotta get outta that palace more often..." It was just an old, hollow root structure and maybe to a human it might not have seemed quite as grand, but Gnimish found it quite impressive as he approached. Probably due to the fact that he hadn't taken the time to even really look at a forest in quite some time.

Mellisandre led Gnimish off the road as they came close. "It appeared huge when we played here some years ago. But it's still kind of cool."

"No, no, this is amazin'..." He released her hand to stoop down a bit and peek inside with a chuckle, seeming to be inordinately excited about a hollow tree. "Sorry, just...ya know...not every day I get to do somethin' like this."

"Go in then." She chuckled. "You don't need to worry about getting your pretty robe dirty, the dirts pretty packed from decades of kids using the fort, castle, tent, ship, or whatever it happened to be at the time."

Gnimish did just that, crawling into the hollow tree and setting himself onto the ground with a wide smile on his face.

"This feels much better, being out of the wind." Mellisandre ducked inside and then got comfortable next to him. In fact, she started to feel quite warm sitting so close to Gnim.

With a chuckle he cozied up next to her then took a look around their tiny little shelter. "Ya know what this is needin'..." He rose one hand palm-up and a little cloud of mist began to swirl in it, forming into a ball and giving off a slight glow before he sent it off to float just above the entrance of the tree. "There we go, can actually see ya now!"

"Marvelous, now we have a chandelier. I swear it never before looked this luxurious." She chuckled happily. "Or maybe it's the light from the pirate ship we're hiding from in a fog bank."

The glowing ball turned from blue to red for a bit, the wisps of mist dancing around inside. "Best keep yer head down, lookin' like the torches of the King's men out searchin' for us..." He chuckled at the silliness, changing the globe back to blue again before turning to her with a smile. "Now this was a good idea ya had."

"You picked the way, I just pointed out the sights." There really wasn't much worth seeing in Hirsdale and the little hollow did not quallify as a tourist attraction. She snuggled closer and picked up his hand to take into hers. "But I'm sure glad we ended up here. That should give your babysitters a challenge. Which one did you have to escape from tonight?"

"Babysitters..." He grinned and nudged her playfully, a smile making its way to his face as he felt her take his hand again. "Is the big grumpy guy again...kinda hard to take Drakhan on long trips really, we don't like havin' too many folks seein' 'im in that form. Don't do much for the livin' legend status and whatnot. I figure this'll throw the babysitter off long enough for us to be havin' some fun, eh?"

"Didn't take too long to be findin' out though...I'm diggin' and diggin' and makin' all sorts of a mess out of these pretty piles of stuff when I hear all sorts of racket comin' from outside the cave like someone was tearin' the place down..." In truth, he didn't know why he was sent to just get one item either, and it was generally not looked kindly upon when operatives took a little for themselves. "So I turn to look back at the entrace of the cave, because it's pretty darn dark in there all of a sudden, and here's this giant beast of a dragon, black as night, makin' it's way into this cave. I'm tellin' ya, rocks are fallin' from the ceilin', the piles of gold coins are all shakin' about...and me, I did what any brave little gnome would be doin', I opened up a chest and crawled inside!"

She chuckled at that image. "So all that was Drakhan's stuff."

"Weeelll..." He paused and chuckled for a moment, figuring he won't spoil the story too soon. "So I'm hidin' in this box...it's a nice hidin' spot, all dark and quiet and who's gonna look in a chest, right? Well, I'll tell ya a secret, dragons got noses. Big, huge, good, workin' noses. Sure enough this black beast starts sniffin' around and musta gotten a whiff of gnome because she comes right up to that chest and with one claw knocks the whole thing right over, sendin' me rollin' out of it and onto the piles of coins!"

"Did you say 'she'?" Mellisandre lifted her head in surprise.

"Did I? Hm, guess I did...well, we'll get to that, yep!"

She leaned her head against his shoulder once more to listen to the rest of the story.

Gnimish smiled happily as she placed her head back on his shoulder, giving her a little squeeze before continuing. "Now at this point ya gotta figure I'm in trouble. I'm lookin' at this beast, she's lookin' at me, I'm swallowin' my tongue, she's lickin' her lips...basically I'm lookin' at bein' a bit of dinner here.

She shivered a little and then reminded herself that he couldn't have been dragon dinner because he was sitting right next to her.

He shifted his arm just a bit and felt out of her braids in the darkness and twirled it through his fingers a few times. "So she's rearin' back to take a nice bite outta me and I turn my head away and hold my little sword up at her and next thing I know I hear this terribly loud boomin' sound and the room lights up with this huge flash! Takes about thirty seconds for me to finally realize that I hadn't been eaten yet, and I turn my head and here's this big smokin' pile of dragon in front of me! Now I didn't have a clue as to what was goin' on and I looked down at my little sword in amazement, but it turned out in all the commotion I had dropped it and picked up this weird lookin' wand by mistake."

"You smoked the dragon." Mellisandre chuckled. Not only was 'her' Gnimish an emperor and a thief, he also was a dragon slayer. "Way to go."

He chuckled at that and shrugged just a little as to not disturb her resting place. "I didn't know what I was doin', that wand musta went off and blasted that thing right in the head. I'd say it was a pity, but she was tryin' to eat me! Fortunately in all the mess we made, that necklace musta popped outta somethin' because there it was, just sittin' on the top of one of the piles!"
"So I go over to pick it up, still shakin' like a leaf, and that's when I saw somethin' movin' in the corner of my eye..."

Mellisandre gasped and held her breath.

"Not a chance. There's so many people in the house, one less will not be noticed. I'm rather glad I've a reason to run off. It gets rather noisy." She loved each and every one of her family, but she enjoyed them better in smaller doses - much smaller doses.

"Good..." That had been exactly what he wanted to hear, not in the least ready to give up his place with her in their little hiding place just yet, and he squeezed her close to him, placing a kiss atop her head again.

"Agreed." She searched for his free hand and when she found gently squeezed his fingers.

In the darkness he could barely see her, but he had no trouble feeling her as he moved his hand from her braid to wrap around her before turning slightly to face her and lowering his head, slowly moving his lips to hers.

She tilted her face up to meet him part way, reaching to hug him as their lips met.

Perhaps there was something to the darkness of the hour and seclusion of their sanctuary that made this kiss far better than even the first. For that moment, to him, there was no tree, or Hirsdale, or tales of dragons and treasure, just Gnimish and Mellisandre in their embrace, and he held to it as long as he could.

When he lifted his head, before he could pull away completely, she rubbed her nose against his, making a little sound of contentment.

He let his forehead rest against hers, caressing her back and letting out a happy sigh that turned into an amused chuckle. "Thank ya for showin' me around yer ship tonight, Captain..."

"Anytime." Gently she touched her fingertips to his beard.

"Anytime...I'd be likin' that..." One certainly might have found the idea of the Emperor of Shylasa wanting to hang out inside a tree odd, but the fact never crossed his mind. He'd rather be here than in the warm palace as long as it meant she was here with him. Unfortunately for him, life did have a habit of rudely gnawing its way into perfectly pleasurable situations just like this, and he knew the hour was beginning to get quite late.

"Me too." Getting to see Gnimish once or twice a week was far too little by her estimation. "It's so incredibly soft."

Missing the obvious, he tilted his head a bit with a smile and asked, "What's soft?"

"Your beard." She grinned and moved her fingertips over the hair along his chin bone.

"Oh..silly me, thank ya..." He realized that he couldn't remember ever offering her a compliment, except on her baking, and if there was ever someone deserving to be showered with them it was certainly her. That injustice weighed on him for a moment until he opened his mouth and blurted out, "Yer hair is...really long, yep." It was a good thing it was nice and dark in the little hollow, because he instantly winced at the questionable compliment, asking himself what exactly he was thinking there.

She chuckled softly, not quite ready to stop touching his face. "But you seem to like it that way."

Hoping there was something salvageable in the awkward line, he moved his hand back to touch one of her braids and said quietly, "Oh, I do...it's beautiful."

The Mage-Lord With The Spaatadd in the Bedroom

As another dark, moonless night fell upon Shylasa, a gnomish Self-Propelled Airborne Automatic Transportation and Delivery Device (which was a long name for a box with a propeller on it) flew through the base camp of Mage-Lord Victor Kirnov seeking out the residence of the ruler.

The base camp was not unlike other camps set up by the tribes populating the western continent of Shylasa, a strange combination of seemingly primitive residences and trappings combined with vast amounts of magic used to aid in everything from the most mundane of everyday tasks to the constant warfare between the various tribes. Like his domain, Mage-Lord Victor Kirnov was not unlike the other Mage-Lords that ruled the tribes. Highly intelligent, skilled in all matters arcane, but above all, power hungry.

What separated Victor Kirnov from other Mage-Lords in his region was desperation. A series of recent defeats in battle, mostly due to ill fortune, had left his tribe weakened and vulnerable. Perhaps this was why he was the first chosen to hear the message contained within the strange flying box that had found its way to his small but heavily fortified house and settled gently upon his doorstep, letting out a series of loud, piercing beeps before falling silent.

A servant to the Mage-Lord opened the door to the residence hesitantly, peering at the box for a moment before reaching down and carrying it into the household to deliver to his master. Fearful of interrupting his masters? nightly meditations, the servant silently crept into the Mage-Lord?s chambers and set the box upon a table before scurrying out and closing the door without taking so much as a glance at the utterly silent red-robed figure seated cross-legged on the floor.

Completely aware of the presence of the servant but not wishing to acknowledge it, Mage-Lord Kirnov waited for him to leave before opening his eyes and peering at the unmarked box. Rising to his feet he made his way to the table the box was resting on and waved his hand over it, a white glow encasing the box for a moment. Had it been trapped in some way the box would have glowed red instead in reaction to the spell, and with any fear of the box exploding now out of the way he curiously unwrapped the box and opened it.

Inside he found what he immediately recognized as a scrying crystal of some sort. The design was unfamiliar to him, but the function was clear. He placed the crystal on the table and tried looking into it to activate it and an image burst into view, but rather than a small image within the crystal he was greeted by a large image floating in the air above it. This certainly was something far beyond what the tribes were capable of making, and Victor immediately assumed it must be a product of the Shylean Empire.

?Mage-Lord Victor Kirnov.? The image stated. The voice and image of the man on the other end of the crystal were badly distorted and impossible to recognize, but the distortion was consistent enough for Victor to know it was intentional.

?Simple.? The image repeated. ?The bakery in Hirshberg. You will want to make your move in the morning, when she is opening the shop. Any later and you run the risk of the Emperor being there to visit.?

The image did not need to further elaborate on the problems that would present. Victor already knew that any attempt made in the gnome?s presence would end in the deaths of any foolish enough to have tried. Certainly, catching the girl without the gnome or his bodyguards nearby would be the only way.

?And how can I be sure your words are nothing but deception? Perhaps if I at least knew your face??

Victor was again cut off by the image, irritation creeping into the voice. ?Mage-Lord, I am currently in a position to aid us both greatly. Exposing myself now does nothing but undermine that position. Can you take the chance of losing my assistance at this point?? Victor nodded, having to admit the image was correct.

?I will await your notification that you have the girl. Make haste, Mage-Lord.? The image flickered and vanished, leaving nothing but the crystal on the table.

Victor did not like this one bit. Were the image on the other side of the crystal lying then accepting would mean the end of his tribe. Were he to decline then the deal would be offered to one of his rivals and anyone of them accepting would mean the end of his tribe. Were the image truthful but wrong or had the man miscalculated or if the Emperor learned of the plot? The problems raced through Victor?s head and he took his seat on the floor, spending many hours in meditation.

Finally he summoned his best assassins to his chambers. He had a job for them.

Apparently the other four men did think it was funny, because they were snickering quite loudly at the whole scene between Ran and the gnome. Ran, however, wasn't quite as amused when she slapped his hand and found the situation downright infuriating as Mellisandre kicked his shin.

Ran bent forward slightly from the pain for a moment, then growled and took a few steps forward, knocking the cart aside with one hand and swinging a backhand at her with the other. "Damn runt, ya keep your filthy hands off of me!" The other four men came rushing forward, not quite as amused at the scene as they were a minute ago.

"You leave that cart be! Ouw!" Though she ducked, she didn't entirely avoid contact with the swing and her cap sailed through the air. "Your mum didn't make you bite down hard enough on that soap." With that Mellisandre turned to pick up her cap, muttering about ill behaved youths with no respect for working folk.

"You had better do something to keep your friend from getting into trouble." She addressed the other four as she shoved the cap back onto her braids.

The man who had spoken up before stepped up and laid a hand on Ran's shoulder. "Ran, knock it off man, Victor is going to have our hides if we screw this up! Lets just get her and go already!" but Ran just angrily shrugged his hand off and stalked toward the feisty little gnome, pulling a balled fist back to swing.

He never got the chance to use it though as a figure appeared between Ran and Mellisandre, a clawed hand snapping out and grasping Ran's throat, lifting him an inch off the ground. Kuriyama had seen just about all he needed to see at this point, and his initial impression that these men were just a little drunk and causing trouble was clearly false.

"Well, I'll be..." Mellisandre looked on with wide-eyed surprised as Ran levitated. What was Gnimish's babysitter doing here of all places? She looked around for Gnimish when another thought hit her. "Hey, wait a minute. There's no one getting me. There's clean up waiting."

Ran opened and closed his mouth a few times to try to say something, but Kuriyama wasn't particularly interested and flung Ran aside and into one of the tables. Ran just laid there for a moment as the other four men stood with their mouths half-open, and Kuriyama turned his head a bit so he could see Mellisandre out of the corner of his eye.

"Lady Gnoffeymel. My apologies in advance for the mess, are you injured?"

"Not yet." She found time to smile to Kuriyama before she armed herself with the stack of dirty dishes she had just shoved into the cart. His presence along with his treatment of the ruffian suggested that the current situation was serious trouble.

Kuriyama would have chuckled at her reply, were he the sort to do so. Instead he just nodded before turning back to the other four men.

Ran was finally shaking the impact of the throw off and pointed at the lone bodyguard. "Oh look, the runts got herself a little knight to rescue her. You should have just stayed out of this stranger, don't just stand there you idiots, bust him up!"

The four men began to draw their own swords, but Kuriyama was neither fair nor honorable about the whole thing and darted forward at an inhuman speed, drawing his katana Perditor and slamming the pommel into the face of one of the four in one motion, knocking him a good four feet back and flat onto the floor before facing the other three.

Mellisandre had recovered from the surprise as well and now was throwing the dirty plates like Frisbees at the suddenly rather intimidating appearing men.

"Oh that's quite all right, my dear." The mage smiled and floated her directly in front of him. "You won't be needing it for too long anyway."

"It's not proper for a gnome to run around without her cap, you uneducated dolt." Mellisandre snapped her head forward, banging the mage's nose with her forehead.

The mage reeled back a few inches from the blow, then simply looked up and gave Mellisandre another sugar-sweet smile. "Oh, Victor is going to just adore you, my dear."

"Oh no, he won't because I am not going to meet your Victor." The silly looking red coil appeared to be quite stubborn. No amount or wriggling or straining against them did her any good, so she ceased to try.

Shaking off the effects of yet another throw, Ran stood up and stalked toward the mage and his companion, glaring daggers at Mellisandre. "That wench kicked me, damn it!"

The mage turned toward him and his smile melted into a glare as he pointed a finger at Ran. A silvery bolt streaked out and struck him in the chest then burst out of his back. The would-be kidnapper crumpled to the ground. "Shut up, Ran." he said simply and turned back to Mellisandre before Ran's corpse had even hit the floor.

"Oh, but you will. Very soon in fact, because we need to be leaving before your little knight wakes up from the wonderful little dreamland I've given him to play in."

The mage apparently spoke the truth, Kuriyama did seem to be in another world as he darted around the room, seeming to be looking for something and whipping Perditor at seemingly nothing, cleaving chairs and tables into pieces. Finally his gaze fell upon the remaining four of the original would-be kidnappers and he stalked toward them, Perditor raised, a boundless hatred in his eyes as he closed in.

"You got one part right, I need to be leaving. The missus will have me scrubbing pans for weeks if I don't have the cart back by supper time. Now, you'll take these silly coils off - whoever heard of red coils anyway? - and if you help me clean up this mess I just might put in a good word for you."

"Oh, you will indeed be putting in a good word for me, Mellisandre. With Victor at least, just by being our honored guest." The mage then turned to see Kuriyama bearing down on the four kidnappers and grinned. "Looks like your knight will be taking care of the rest of my disposables for me. That would be our cue."

"You got it all wrong. That isn't my knight and I'm not interested in meeting your Victor, and if I do and you leave this mess, I'm telling him how messy you are." She would tell his boss quite a view things, and none of them designed to make this mage look good.

"And you had better pick up that cap, laddy." She only called him laddy to irk him, though. He didn't look like a lad at all, rather old really with a wizened beard and a few teeth missing. His smiles were anything but pleasant.

The mage nodded toward his silent companion and a shimmering silver portal appeared behind them as he spoke again. "Oh yes, that's right. Your 'knight' would be that fool of an Emperor. Too bad for you he's not around to save the day, my dear. And I'm so very sorry, let me get that cap for you." he bent slightly, reaching a hand out toward the cap, which burst into flames before his hand got to it.

"What a shame, it seems I can't quite reach it all the way down there, my dear Mellisandre." The mage cackled and turned toward the portal.

"Meanie." Sadly the mage wasn't close enough for her to do him any harm now. Her Gnimish was anything but a fool. But this Victor, whoever he was, would certainly get to hear about the incompetence of his lackey who couldn't even pull off a decent kid-napping or pick up an innocent little cap without destroying it. She hoped she had at least broken his nose.

Without another word the mage and his companion stepped through the portal, followed by their floating prey. The silvery portal snapped shut behind them, cutting off the panicked cries of the other four kidnappers.

Karazanoth tossed Gnosh aside and snarled, swinging his sword to meet Kuriyama but the archdemon was much, much too slow. Kuriyama slashed Perditor cleanly across the throat of the archdemon, sending him reeling back in shock before delivering a series a cuts to the archdemons chest and finally plunging Perditor straight through the heart of the massive beast.

Karazanoth howled in pain and fury and vanished in a burst of flame, leaving Kuriyama to rush to Gnosh, casting Perditor aside as he lifted her from the floor. He held her in his arms for what might have been minutes, might have been days, he didn?t know. He didn?t care.

That moment was all he had wanted for years since Gnosh was executed by the insurgent forces, and the spell from the mage had been designed to give just that. An illusion of what he wanted most. Another flash of light blinded him for a moment and he opened his eyes to find himself back in the banqet hall standing over the corpses of five of the kidnappers, their bodies slashed to ribbons. The illusion must have only lasted for a matter of minutes, it was barely nighttime outside and the hall was still very much empty.

His lips curled into a snarl, Kuriyama picked Perditor up off the floor of the hall and wiped the blood from the blade. He had failed the Emperor again, Mellisandre was gone. But this wasn?t just business to him anymore either, it was personal. Kuriyama would never forget the face of the mage that cast him into that cruel dream of false hope, and he would make sure the fiend would pay for it.

Victor began to find himself wishing that Alexander had thought to stuff one of those coils into the gnome's mouth but he didn't bother saying so. Alexander was right, he really needed to contact whoever was on the other side of that scrying crystal to get further orders. Perhaps some direction in all this would help against that feeling of uneasiness building in his gut.

"My dear Mellisandre..." Again it was Alexander speaking up. "You would do well to have some respect for your hosts, don't you think?"

"Of course. You would do well showing some too. Did it ever occur to you clowns that the emperor is setting you up?" It was a shot in the dark, but she doubted they had ever met their contact.

Victor paused, looking over at the talkative gnome. That made no sense at all... did it? Apparently the idea of being set up unsettled him even more and he realized he was still staring at Mellisandre with who knows what expression on his face when Alexander cleared his throat and spoke up again.

"Victor, you're not listening to her, are you? Of course the Emperor isn't setting us up, you think he'd put her in harm's way just to get at us?"

"I don't know..." Victor finally turned away from her. "If she's like this *all* the time, maybe he did..."

"There you go." Mellisandre nodded, pleased for the moment. The less the kidnappers trusted each other the better it would it be for her, or so she hoped. "Of course you should believe that incompetent, lazy fool over me. I'm just the kid-napped baker after all, and a gnome to boot."

Alexander was clearly getting irritated with Mellisandre, sending another glare her way before he addressed Victor in a less than patient tone. "Enough of this foolishness, Victor. Contact your man and show her to him so we can throw her in a dungeon already!"

"How about some dinner instead? Unless, of course, starving the captive is part of the plan. In that case a glass of water would do just nicely. Wouldn't want to upset your pretty plan." She really did want to upset their plan, of course, whatever that plan was.

"And Victor, may I call you that, throwing a gnome into a dungeon isn't a good idea either. Gnomes can dig through solid stone, you heard that, right? You really oughta scan your lackey's better. Alexander is going to get you nothing but trouble." She'd really rather be offered a nice guest chamber while she was here instead of sharing a dark damp cell with rats and hoped he had heard all the silly stories about gnomes.

"Oh, for the love of...dinner, fine, Alexander, get her a roll or something and shut her up with it..." Victor finally made his way to a little box and opened it, pulling out the large scrying crystal while Alexander grabbed a roll from Victor?s unfinished dinner and stalked over to Mellisandre, grabbing a braid with one hand and trying to stuff the roll into her mouth with the other.

Though the yank hurt, Mellisandre kept her mouth firmly closed. She had asked for food and a glass of water to be rid of the coils, not to be shut up. Alexander gave it his best, but couldn't quite get the roll stuffed in that always-running mouth.

"Fine, have it your way..." Frustrated he gave the braid he was holding a rough yank and dropped the roll into her lap where she'd not be able to eat it even if she wanted to. Alexander frowned and turned to join Victor as the Mage-Lord placed the crystal onto the table and activated it.

"So darling of you to get me out of the clean up chores and to provide me with a nice little vacation. Though the transportation and accommodations are not exactly the five star kind. Did the no sugar cookies arrive all right, the ones you liked so much over the holidays?"

Walter snorted at her greeting, thoroughly unamused. "You should know by now that your disrespect does you no service, gnome. It does not matter though. You should see that your actions have caused events to move far beyond your control now." Walter turned away from Mellisandre, addressing Victor.

"Mage-Lord Kirnov. Your next step is to send the ransom note to the Emperor, demanding military assistance in exchange for her safe return, understood?"

Victor nodded his reply, the conversation not offering the relief that he had hoped. The figure had never mentioned that he knew Mellisandre personally. If that were the case maybe they really were being set up somehow. This whole thing just made him feel entirely too uneasy.

"Darling Walter, there's really no need to pretend. Oh, and before you disappear again, could you ask the kind gentleman to see to it that I'll get to have something to eat and drink that wasn't thrown on the floor first?" She had noted the uneasy looks and wouldn't mind at all if all three were to feel even more uneasy - and her less so, of course.

"Of course, it will be done." Alexander added to Victor's nod.

Walter then turned back to Mellisandre, seeming offended that she would dare make any request of him. Mellisandre hoped that Victor at least would misinterpret the look and silence. He did not waste the breath on a reply though, simply turning back to Victor. "I will contact you again once I learn that the demands have been delivered, Mage-Lord. Do not contact me."

"Enjoy the pie, too, Walter. Bye bye." The image flickered and vanished, leaving the three alone in the room. Walter would sooner or later give the command to kill her, of that Mellisandre was certain now. She had better devise a means of escape before he issued that command.

"There, that wasn't so bad, now was it Victor?" Alexander asked. "I can see to it that she's given proper accommodations until we get further instructions."

Victor nodded his permission, still feeling very uneasy with the entire situation as he began to ask himself what his way out was once it was all over. He couldn't think of one and it began to dawn on him that maybe Mellisandre was right after all, that he was indeed being set up somehow. It was too late now though to decline the offer.

At least it appeared that Victor had bought a closer relationship between the Chancellor and her, to judge by his worried expression. So far so good. "The coils are really not needed either. It's not like I would magic myself out of here anytime soon."

"Oh now my dear Mellisandre..." Alexander smiled that disgusting smile at her. "I would think you've become accustomed to them by now! They go so well with your outfit, don't you think?" He cackled as he floated her out of her chair to follow him as he left Victor's room and headed for one of the dungeons within the encampment, dumping her unceremoniously inside and releasing the coils, though one coil remained firmly wrapped around her waist with a strand running to a metal ring on the wall and stubbornly tying itself around it.

"Being carried around like this does have its advantages, I'll give you that. So sweet of you, too, to drop me in here after all. And here I was regretting having given you a fair warning. No need for a pick either. Thanks." At least she had her hands and feet free again. The dungeon was definitely not what she considered ?proper accommodations?, but she had weaseled a few amenities out of her kidnappers. "Better send that note quick, or I'll be home before it arrives."

"Keep up that chatter and you might be out of here sooner than you think!" Alexander smiled again, though it was never anything remotely approaching pleasant, and he grabbed the chair on his way out of the cell, slamming the door shut behind him.

The Baker With The Soap In The Mess Hall

Her kidnappers appeared to be novices at the business and over confident on top of that, Mellisandre thought. They had not even thought to put a decent guard outside the dungeon. The three rooms she found after having snuck out of her own, one of them a storage room, and not a single of the doors locked, were not really deserving of the word dungeon. The guard she did find outside sat slumped on the dirt, lightly snoring, and would have missed an army of dwarfs marching by.

Mellisandre looked around. The camp, a rag-tag assortment of tents and shoddy buildings, was quiet this time of night, but lanterns hung here and there to shed some light on her surroundings. They certainly did not appear to expect any trouble. Yet they were supposed to be at war with other Mage-Lords in the area.

It was fairly easy to pick out the mess hall - someone had been so kind to hang a sign over the door. The one decently built house was the Mage-Lord's. But she would make use of the one with the sign 'latrines' first as her ?appropriate? accommodations did not include ?conveniences? of any kind.

Her business completed, she snooped around for anything useful she might find there. She found soap, lots of it, and even a bucket to carry it in. Mellisandre was sure that she could put that to could use in the mess hall, the place she had a mind to visit next. Perhaps she could yet device a way to make up for the lack of soap in Alexander?s education.

She kept to the shadows, just in case. It would put a kink into her plans were she to be discovered now. But everyone seemed to be sleeping. A glance toward the dungeon door before she slipped into the mess hall told her that the guard was still sleeping, too.

"Oh my." Mellisandre let out with a soft snicker, hardly believing her luck, when she saw the huge cans obviously meant for coffee. She pulled over a chair and climbed upon it - she couldn't have reached the lids to remove them otherwise - and then proceeded to drop a bar of soap into each of the cans. That should improve everyone?s language or at least clean out everyone?s stomachs.

Her stomach sent her to explore the kitchen next, in the hope that the cook had left something out that was more palatable than the sloppy stew. Sadly, all she found already prepared was more of the rather horrid stew. Perhaps a little salt would improve it. She found the salt and some other spices and went to work giving the stew some flavor.

Though the people were all asleep, the little magical gadgets and tools that Victor's camp employed were not, as evidenced by the little floating orb with a green eye that floated over to the coffee-tainting gnome in the mess hall.

"Good evening miss. May I place an order for you?" It began to go through its programmed motions, asking in a rather pleasant voice. Apparently the orb wasn't programmed for after-hours use as it seemed unaware that the kitchen was quite closed.

"Sure, I'd like a steak, well done and a potato, baked, sour cream on the side." The orb gave her another idea altogether. Though she couldn't be sure if Victor and Alexander ate the stew or if the cook prepared special meals for the mages, it could certainly only be good for her and bad for them if their soldier's went hungry or got sick. But perhaps she should wait dumping the found spices into the stew until she saw if the orb delivered on its generous offer or not.

When she was done eating and had deposited the canned goods she went outside again to find the bedding Alexander had failed to put into the 'appropriate accommodations' for her. Sneaking into one of the barracks was going to be risky. But perhaps they had a store room somewhere with extras.

Meanwhile Kuriyama was well into his journey to recover Mellisandre. His quarry had quite a head start what with the portal magic, but he had his own ways of covering distances rather quickly as well. The thugs had mentioned ?Victor? quite a few times, and given the presence of a decently powerful mage Kuriyama could only assume they referred to one of the eastern Mage-Lords, and only one was named Victor that he knew of. Victor Kirnov.

As he flickered between the material plane and his native plane, streaking across the landscape by ?jumping? from shadow to shadow, a voice in the back of his mind told him that he should be reporting to the Emperor, but Alexander had made this personal. The demon wasn't even exactly sure at this point which mission he considered to be more important. Failing the Emperor by letting Mellisandre be taken was something that he couldn't let pass, but Alexander had struck a chord in the demon and it resounded soundly throughout his being.

It perhaps wasn't even all that fair really; Alexander probably thought the spell entranced Kuriyama with visions of gold and jewels and other riches of that sort. Kuriyama didn't really consider that sufficient for consideration though. Knowingly or not, Alexander had crossed a line with the demonic bodyguard and he would pay for it.

By the time Mellisandre returned to her dungeon cell again, she had managed to arrange quite a few surprises for her hosts. She had not found the wished for stack of blankets or a storage room, but she head found the armory. There was little she could do to destroy any of the steel weapons, but she had cut the strings on every bow she could get to and snapped every arrow she could find in half.

It had been a rather satisfying bit of work, but it wasn't the same as sleeping in a comfortable bed. As she had surveyed the damage she decided that entering Victor's house should be less risky than taking a blanket from a sleeping soldier.

Mellisandre had been correct. There, too, none of the doors had been locked, and the house even had the luxury of a linen closet, stacked not only with fine linens befitting a Mage-Lord, but also a couple of spare down filled pillows and a luxuriously soft blanket.

She giggled softly to herself while she arranged both in her cell, imagining the reaction of whoever would find their new supply of bandages. It had taken some time to tear all the lines into strips and she had not bothered to roll up the strips.

The ?spirits? had certainly been busy this night. Mellisandre hoped that her efforts would be interpreted as omens of horrible things to come should they persist in keeping her prisoner. The spirits would also serve well as an explanation as to how she had gotten the bedding, should anyone ask.

Lastly, before she laid down for a well deserved rest, she re-attached the iron ring to the wall. If possible, she wanted to keep her freedom, however limited, a secret from her kidnappers. She had a few more ideas to act upon to show the spirits continued displeasure, too.

?Buggin? me at this hour. For a letter. I?m havin? a talk with someone tomorrow?? Gnimish knew it wasn?t the boy?s fault. Someone had to have sent him, but he?d worry about it later. Instead he was far too curious to see what was so important to have risked waking him up, so he grabbed the letter off the tray.

It was more of a small package than a letter, really. There wasn?t any indication of the source on the letter itself, so he simply ripped it open. Apparently he chose the wrong side to rip open and something small fell from the envelope and slowly sunk to the floor.

??ey, what?s that?? Gnimish glanced down at the fallen object and reached to pick it up. It was a lock of hair, nicely tied with a little piece of string, and somehow Gnimish instantly recognized it. The odd nature of such a ?gift? escaped him and a little smile made his way onto his face as he tore open the rest of the envelope to see what else was inside.

A letter was all that remained in the package, and he carefully removed it, taking a quick scan of it. Funny, he thought, that?s not at all how he imagined Mellisandre?s handwriting. His expression quickly darkened as he actually read the words of the letter though, and the boy standing there realized that from the looks of things he shouldn?t say a word about who sent him, nor was it likely he was getting knighted tonight. Instead he snuck out the door much quieter than he had entered.

?Drakhan?? He didn?t really have to say anything, their mental link told the dragon all he needed to know, he knew the contents of the ransom note the instant Gnimish read the words. A wave of rage passed through the link from the dragon with such force that it made Gnimish feel nauseous. Or perhaps the words of the ransom note had done that already.

All at once every thought Gnimish should have had before this point came rushing in. What was he thinking, being so careless and letting them be seen in public so much? How could he have not known something like this would happen? A thousand different should-haves and could-haves ran through his mind until a thought from Drakhan helped calm him.

?You?re right?the article in the paper about the dead bodies in that hall. Kuriyama was there...he must have?he would have been mentioned in the paper if he were there?where is he now? We should?ve known that?s what the article was about?dammit, if Kuriyama is safe, why haven?t we heard from him?!? Gnimish was struggling to even get a coherent thought out of his mouth, it was fortunate that Drakhan could pluck the important parts out through the link.

The ransom letter from this Mage-Lord Victor Kirnov demanded military support from the Empire in exchange for Mellisandre?s safe return. Who the hell did this clown think he was, Gnimish thought to himself as he slammed the door of his bedroom open. Drakhan would have to stay behind for now as Gnimish stalked out, pointing a finger at the first guard he saw.

?Corporal, get me the Chancellor and Grand Admiral Wilson, tell them to meet me in the council chambers.?

?But Your Majesty, they have all retired for the eve ? ?

?NOW!?

Gnimish didn?t even break his stride as he barked out the order, making his way straight to the great chambers where the Imperial Council met once every few months. He flung the doors open and began pacing back and forth inside, impatiently waiting on the officials he had summoned. Almost a full ten minutes passed before Grand Admiral Wilson entered, followed seconds later by Walter. The Admiral seemed confused by the summons, Walter simply appeared irritated.

?Your Majesty.? The Admiral half-bowed to Gnimish then straightened. ?What is of such urgency that ? ?

The Baker with the Torch in the Armory

Alexander stormed into Victor's office. "You have got to ? " He had meant to insist that the cook be fired. Not only had the coffee been horrible that morning, but lunch had been inedible and dinner had maggots on it. But he broke off when he saw the mess in Victor's office. "Are you looking for something?"

Victor rummaged through drawer after drawer, tossing papers onto the already sizable mess. A glance shot up at Alexander told the elder mage that he was at least aware of his presence, but hadn't really heard a word he had said. "Where is it, Alexander? It was right on my desk when we were in here last, and now it's vanished!"

"How should I know? Maybe Mrs. Druther just moved it when she dusted. But do you have to make such a mess of it?" Alexander bent to pick up one of the maps and set it on top of the desk.

"I didn't make the mess, dammit!" Victor abandoned his search for a moment, standing up straight and slamming a hand down on his desk. "It was like this when I got here, and the crystal is gone. That ransom note should have been delivered by now, and I'm waiting for word from that... Walter or whatever the gnome called him! It's like a damn tornado hit this place!"

"And Mrs Druthers left, if you'll remember, when she found the linen closet stuffed with bandages, groaning and moaning about bad omens.? Victor appeared to get increasingly agitated with every passing second as he went back to throwing papers and pens and boxes left and right, desperately digging for the lost scrying crystal.

?Omens. Spirits." Alexander shook his head. "You should let me interrogate the troops. I'll bet my right hand all this is them playing pranks. Who ever heard of boots shrinking over night anyway?"

?Spirits? Spirits...omens..." Victor paused in his search once again, glancing up at Alexander. He nearly collapsed back in his chair repeating the words a few more times; he didn't even seem to hear the bit about interrogating troops. "What if that's really what all this is? It's that damn gnome, that gnome... I should have known this was a bad idea."

"You can't tell me you actually believed that guard about the spirits brought her the bedding? He probably got them for her himself." Alexander shook his head again.

"Even if he did, how do you explain the rest? Do you think the troops all just decided to turn into practical jokesters the moment we tossed that gnome in a dungeon?" Victor shook his head, seeming to be irritated by the fact that Alexander was trying to explain everything away so easily. "No, something isn't right. This *all* isn't right. We've made a mistake here, Alexander..."

Finally having arrived at what he hoped was the correct encampment, Kuriyama made his way through the shadows while Victor and Alexander continued their discussion. Kyriyama was searching for any indication of the location of Mellisandre or the mage whose existence he intended to cut very short. It only took a few eavesdropping sessions for him to glean that this, indeed, was the camp of Mage-Lord Victor Kirnov.

They kept her in the 'dungeon', a newly remodeled vegetable cellar if the whining cook was to be believed. A group of soldiers were conversing just outside the door. He paused to listen to them for a moment - invisibility had its advantages. But as distracted as they were, he could have probably just walked by them fully visible without being noticed. They were complaining about everything and appeared to weigh if desertion, mutiny or appeasing the spirits would be better for them. He wondered what big event had happened recently to have them this agitated as he slipped inside in search of Mellisandre.

Alexander and Victor both barked orders at the terrified soldiers. Some of them actually managed to form a waterline in an attempt to do something about the various fires. Then the two mages turned their attention on the dragon, weaving spells.

Kuriyama nodded his agreement to Drakhan before he turned to watch their rear while the dragon retrieved Mellisandre. It didn't take long for his eyes to catch sight of the one he had a score to settle with and he once again faded from view, streaking through the camp toward his target. He weaved here and there, avoiding bystanders that made obstacles of themselves while fire balls and lightning streaked from the hands of the mages toward the black dragon.

In Kuriyama's absence, Drakhan's tail did a fine job of covering his rear as he gingerly reached for Mellisandre to pull her from the rubble, hoping she was not terribly injured. Before he had a chance to assess her state, the spells from the two mages slammed into his flank, eliciting a roar of anger from the great black. This really wasn't serving to do much for his already foul mood, and he made a point of moving himself between Mellisandre and the attackers to ensure no stray spells made her their target.

"Oh, Hello there Drakhan. What are you doing here?" Mellisandre said more than a little dazed as soon as she could breathe again. Her voice sounded a bit strange to her own ears, though. "What's this awful ringing noise?"

"You bit off a bit more than you could chew while giving your captors a hard time it seems, Mellisandre. As for what we're doing, we're going home." The words from the dragon rumbled through the air like a dull thunder as he turned his enraged attention to the two mages. But before he could return fire Kuriyama appeared between the two, slamming the pommel of Perditor into Victor's face and spinning around, severing Alexander's extended casting hand at the wrist.

"Going home sounds like a good idea. Eh, would you look at that. It appears I missed quite a bit of the fun." She commented as she took a look at the pandemonium, all the while rubbing and poking at her ears in an attempt to make the ringing stop. "You're not going to carry me like a sack of potatoes again, are you?"

Drakhan turned his attention back to Mellisandre, assuming that her mood was a fair indication of her well-being, and lowered a claw to her to give her something to climb up on. Yet another guard decided to try his hand at sneaking up on the dragon, and the great black's tail snapped to the side, taking out half of the neighboring building along with the would-be assailant. "Not today. Find a couple loose scales and hang on."

"That sounds much better." With that she climbed up the dragon's leg - a bit shakily, but she managed. Once she had figured out that sitting on his toe wasn't all that different from sitting astride on a chair she wrapped her arms tightly around his leg and called up, "I'm ready!"

Victor slumped back against the wall of his residence, clearly unconscious while Alexander cried out in pain and shock. A cry that was quickly cut short as Kuriyama growled and sent Perditor slicing through flesh and bone straight at the mage's heart. Alexander didn't deserve a dramatic death or even the recognition given a fallen foe, so Kuriyama simply turned and walked away before the lifeless body hit the ground. With an approving nod he watched as Drakhan lifted off with Mellisandre in tow and turned his attention to the approaching soldiers that had finally begun to organize into some sort of resistance.

Both missions accomplished, Kuriyama saw no reason to deliver anymore of his wrath to the residents of the camp. As the soldiers approached the demon simply vanished from sight, leaving the burning camp and its terrified, confused residents to wonder what they had brought upon themselves.

Gnimish just shook his head, running a hand over her hair as she spoke. "It's okay, it's okay, none of this is yer fault..." He sighed as Drakhan flew off then turned back to her. "I'm just happy yer back, I hope those clowns paid fer all this."

"I woulda came myself, was worried an' scared an'..." It all felt so awkward to him, trying to put his feelings into words. At least his face showed that he was all at once happy and relieved and just overjoyed to see her again.

"Well, the powder exploding early may have been my fault. Then again, Victor could have gotten slower burning strings.? Then she giggled. "Yes, the clowns - what a fitting word - I'm sure they were made to pay well. But one of those clowns is here and he didn't pay anything yet. Uhm, you got to close your eyes. You wanted to come? Whatever for? There's nothing there but rude people and ramshakle barracks and dilapidated tents and a lot of dirt."

"Powder explodin' an'...? He just grinned for a moment, staring admiringly at her. "You'll have to be tellin' me all about it later...wait, here? Whaddya mean here? What's this I gotta be closin' my eyes for??

"Because you're not supposed to watch." Mellisandre turned her back to Gnimish and pulled up her skirt. She had hidden the crystal she liberated from Victor's office when she had 'played' tornado in a little bag attached to the underside of her skirt.

?Eh, um....oh." He quickly snapped his eyes shut as soon as he saw what she was up to, standing there with a nervous chuckle escaping his mouth. "Er...ok."

After a moment of fumbeling to get to it she turned to face Gnimish again, the crystal in her hand.
"Walter didn't even mind that I knew it was him who was talking with Victor. And I really didn't want Walter talking to Victor again before Victor had a chance to send me home, so I took his little crystal." She finished with a shiver and held out the crystal to Gnimish.

" 'ey, whaddya got there?" He blinked at the crystal after opening his eyes, recognizing the design. "Walter? Wait, why's Walter talkin' to Victor?"

"Yes, I did say that. He comes afloating over the crystal no bigger than a thumb, rather neat realy, but it's definitely Walter. That oaf didn't even say thank you for the pies." Perhaps her flow of information would make more sense to Gnimish if she got around to telling him about all of the events of the last few days, and in some semblance of order.

"Whatever it is, it can't be all that important just yet, can it?" He really would prefer to get her somewhere warm and safe and quiet where they could just sit and be together, but this crystal and Walter and Victor were all starting to come together in his head the more she talked about it.

She nodded at that, rather out of words now after that waterfall of them.

"Wait a sec." He turned the crystal over in his hand a couple times, his eyes starting to narrow at it. "Walter, if you..." He finally just shook his head and placed the crystal in his palm, giving it a little touch with his other hand to activate it. Mellisandre watched wondering what Gnimish would say to the chancellor.

Sure enough, after a short wait, the image of the Chancellor appeared in the air above the crystal. "Mage-Lord Kirnov, I thought I told you not to... Mellisandre Gnoffeymel? Where is the Mage-Lord, what is this?!"

Gnimish was gone before she could open her mouth to say that she really didn't want him to leave her alone. So she tried sitting on the chair to wait for his return. But her bum protested the hard surface after the long ride on Drakhan's foot and made her put propriety aside in favor of the much better cushioned bed to sit on.

It wasn't much more than a moment before Gnimish returned through the door, locking it firmly shut behind him with a shake of his head. He was clearly disturbed at the events of the day and the orders he just had to give. A small smile quickly replaced that expression though as he saw her resting on the bed.

It was about that time that it struck him that maybe she'd appreciate a bath and a meal and a change of clothes and who knows what else after her ordeal. "Um, is there anythin' I can get ya? Or ya just gonna take a nap there?"

"A nap would be nice." She beamed a thankful but tired smile his way. In truth, she could probably do with a bath or at least clean clothes. But with the last of the adrenaline draining away, it was questionable that she would remain awake through either. "I was way too busy at that camp to get any decent sleep. Thank you for offering, though. You're not going away again, are you?"

"No, no... I'm not goin' anywhere, folks have their orders..." He stared at her there for a long moment, knowing there was nothing that would make him leave her side. In truth he was still a little afraid too, he just couldn't fathom leaving her alone and unprotected again. "I'd um...I'd really like for ya to just stay here tonight. We can get ya back home tomorrow, but just for tonight..."

"Good. Thank you." She murmered as she reached for his hand and then curled up on the bed, holding his fingers tight.

Gnimish wasn't truly tired, at least he didn?t think he was. But he sat there on the bed nonetheless, just holding her hand as she slept and watching over her for now. The whole thing was still all so unbelievable, and he hoped she'd be ready to talk about it later.

A little yawn escaped his mouth, suggesting that perhaps he was a little more worn out than he thought. Just how long had he been waiting outside? Without even realizing it he too started to doze off, still holding her hand tightly.