Illiana

  "You can't have him."

  There I was, staring over the Barbariccion River with its waters glowing in the light of the sunset. When I went out on this walk, Sir Victor was still sleeping soundly in his inn room with such a contented expression on his face. My sister assured me that he was merely exhausted and just needed some rest.

  "You can't have him."

  I had cried those four words at the moment that my holy powers had awoken. I was trapped in a powerful spell of binding, one that I thought that I had no hope of resisting. I felt like such an awful woman, such a terrible friend; to have chosen those specific words at that time. I hadn't shouted "I won't let you hurt him" or "nobody murders my friends", I had shouted "you can't have him". It was a selfish thing to say, because of the selfish thoughts that were running through my mind while Sir Victor was dying right before my eyes. That fiend, that hell-spawned incarnation of lust was touching him all over.

  I had struck out in anger and frustration, freed myself of the demon's magic, and then I became unto a fury - a being of pure holy wrath hell-bent on destroying the demon before me. Pure, did I call myself? No. The result may have been the same, but the thoughts that were racing through my mind were anything but pure. When I saw that creature pressing her breasts against his body, and kissing him passionately as she drained away his very life essence, my first thought wasn't concern for his life - I was of course in a state of panic and fear, for I knew that if Sir Victor died I'd be next, but, all the same what came to my mind at that time was something that I didn't understand.

  Rather than simply wishing to slay the demon, in my mind's eye I had replaced her. Yes. When I saw the succubus kissing Sir Victor, I superimposed myself upon the demon's lascivious form. I saw myself kissing Sir Victor. In that moment, I didn't want to kill the succubus.

  I wanted to be her.

  Did I…did I want to kiss Sir Victor?

  My heart stopped for a moment as that realization hit. I nodded. Yes - that was precisely it. All fell silent about me, even the wind that was now blowing my hair freely was quiet.

  I could hear the sound of my heart pounding. I could feel this tremendous heat radiating from deep within my breast. I started to think at an alarming rate until at last I came to an inescapable conclusion. Yes. I smiled, tears welling up within my eyes. That was it. I knew now. There was no other way to interpret it:

  I'm in love with Sir Victor.

  That's right - and this fluttering sensation was only growing stronger. When was it, exactly, that I started to feel this way about him? Before I knew it I'd just fallen so hard, so deep. I realized then and there down by the river that I wanted to be with him - yes, that includes everything that sentence implies - body and soul both, I wished to belong to him, and I wished for him to be mine.

  Ever since he had saved my life, of course I've cared for him. There was always a slight physical attraction as well, he is a man possessed of a certain primal magnetism that I can not explain rationally. But I'm not like Sylfie when she was younger, I thought that a princess should suppress those sorts of urges. It wasn't as though I'd never felt tempted: that first night at the Platinum Flagon, what if our butler hadn't knocked when we did? I had been twice since tempted to invite him to bed - first while we camped out waiting for the Black Order, and then after the queen's ball.

  Elianora preserve me that dance had put me in such a state that I did need to hie myself unto a cold bath. But Sir Victor was also a gentleman and never tried to flirt with me, always treating me like a close friend rather than someone he was interested in - he did at one point compliment my breasts, but that was because the Darkborn were giving me such a hard time; I really, truly appreciated it, actually. I had originally taken his hesitation as a sign that he wasn't attracted to me, but ah, back to the ball, he seemed taken aback by the sight of me in a dress - that made me happy for reasons I never realized until this moment.

  Sir Victor has many attributes apart from that, though. He was always brave, protecting me with his body, gallantly taking hits for me whenever he could. The way we worked so well as a team of adventurers on the battlefield put me at ease. He was also very kind to others, even showing compassion for animals like he did after Barber Hill. He had this way about him where you knew that you could trust him. Ah! I think I recall something. That night after saving Mister Popper's family he gave such a heartfelt speech about not needing a reason to help people - was that where it started, my budding love for Sir Victor?

  Or could it have been how he showed Malcolm such mercy and even became his friend? Sir Victor had also shown great cunning, trapping the Black Order with Big Brother's help, ah, and then there was the way he got along so well with Big Brother - yes, that did make me quite happy. It may have simply developed gradually during all of those adventures and the outings we had when we weren't fighting monsters - the plays, the festivals, our educational sessions, trying new types of food, that sort of thing.

  Gah! I had no idea what to even do with myself now - how do I tell him?

  I froze. No. I can't afford to tell him now. Not while the mastermind draws breath, I realized. I can ill afford to distract him with romantic gestures. I clenched my fists and resolved myself, though I was still an emotional wreck. I was worried about Sir Victor, whom I'd just realized is and always will be the man I love. Just as I was getting lost in thought again, I heard his voice:

  "Yo, princess! Steak's on, you hungry?"

  I laughed, quietly, "Of course that's the first thing you did when you woke up," I thought, "Making me breakfast. That's right, I hadn't eaten all day."

  I turned around and smiled at him, a facial expression that suits a hero best. I still wished he'd use my name every once in a while but, there was real, true care in the way he called me "princess". The drive from Fortuna to Tor Anaura was unbearable, for his thick masculine thighs were pressed against mine the whole time; the cold bath didn’t help this time. Time went on, and I managed to hold my tongue - Elianora preserve, it was all I could do to not confess my feelings for those months we spent waiting for Lord Hanzorian to finish his investigations…

  …And then came the battle with the Mastermind.

  I had been leaping around the battlefield, keeping the monster's attention. I'd just found out that the supreme-devil was the god of the Black Order and that raised the stakes significantly. I hated him. But I supposed I should be thankful for one thing. Were it not for his heinous plans, I never would have been in such danger that the divines needed to send me a hero - I never would have met Sir Victor, I never would have gone on so many adventures with him, I would never have learned so much, and I never would have fallen in love with him. Thanks to those plans I knew what it meant to love someone romantically, having experienced the familial sort for centuries.

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  All the same, my resolve was strong - I knew that I had to help destroy the Mastermind. I stood by Sir Victor's side even as Malcolm lay on the ground - I looked into his eyes, those cool confident eyes, and I told him what he needed to hear: "I believe in you." Then - then he went and called me cute with a straight face. That was when we had won I think; yes the way his own resolve showed through in that moment right before that shot, that was our victory.

  The others joined us in Hylaria, though I knew that eventually Nenewyn would need to head back to Tor Anaura and Sylfie to Kurvania. I had already told my sister that my feelings for Sir Victor had developed, she chided me for not realizing it sooner. Then, I saw my opportunity - the moons were in the exact state that they were the night we first met. I took the initiative, took the risk, and I kissed him. But then my heart wavered and I ran away, I thought far away. I heard his voice in the distance, and I found myself alone - I was crying. What had I done? I feared that I had ruined everything. Then, suddenly, Sir Victor had caught up to me. Of course he would know where to find me, it was my room at the inn that I'd run to after all. He, too, was sweating and panting, but he was also smiling.

  Victor

  I’d finally caught up to her. After she kissed me the princess had run off and of course I chased her all the way back to the inn. I didn’t know what to make of what just happened but I got the feelin’ regret it if I didn’t go after her - so without really thinking about it my legs just moved faster than they’d ever moved before.

  "Hey, princess," I said, "Why'd ya run off like that?"

  "I-I was embarrassed. I'm sorry!"

  I clicked my tongue, "Ya can't just drop something on a guy like that and run away when he ain't even had the time to give you an answer. Especially since I don't reckon I understand the message."

  She frowned, "The words won't come, I'm afraid, I just don't know how to say it."

  "Then try puttin' on airs," I suggested, I'd noticed before how much acting all courtly seemed to ground her, improve her focus. "The moons are right, why don't cha just put on that royal charm you did when we first met?"

  The princess smiled and nodded before taking a curtsy, "Sir Victor Alexander Kirkland of Texas, United States of America, brave hero torn from the heavens, party leader of Red Lightning, and elf-friend. I, Illiana Verissa tael Anaura, fourth princess of the elvish kingdom of Anaura, daughter of King Illorend II and Queen Varielle…" She dipped her head, paused, and raised it, her eyes glossy with tears, "Have fallen deeply in love with you."

  I kinda guessed it was somethin' like that. I smiled. Damn. It ain't like the thought of dating the princess hadn't crossed my mind. Every time it did the imaginary Duke would remind me that it wasn’t proper to think of her that way. There wasn’t any way that a princess would be interested in a guy like me, I thought, and I reckoned I had to maintain a certain level of decorum. Besides I’d been so focused on the task of stopping the Black Order that romance was kind of the furthest thing from my mind.

  But I'd be a lyin' son of a bitch if I said I didn't feel the same as her, now that she'd poured so much passion into that kiss, and spoken so earnestly just now. I couldn’t say when my feelings for her had gotten so strong, but that kick in the head she gave me a few minutes ago was the clincher. Yeah. I did love her back, now that I had a chance to think about it - simple as that, no need to wax poetic.

  "Well. I reckon I'll have to give you my answer then," I said.

  I like to pretend like I'm pretty glib, but really, I'm more of a man of action. So rather than stagger about for the right words to say, I took one. That irrepressible smile of hers was warming my implacable heart so there was only one thing to do. I held her with one hand on the small of her back, the other on her shoulder, and went for the full dip as I kissed her passionately, square on the lips. The princess melted in my arms. I picked her back up and embraced her, real tight like, inhaling her vaguely herbal scent as my hands found a place to rest. She wrapped her arms around my neck and looked into my eyes.

  "Sir Victor, my word!" She said, tearfully. "Is that how all American men kiss?"

  I shrugged, "Just the real ones. Princess-" I felt a finger on my lips.

  "I am sorry, would you call me by my name every once in a while? At least while we're alone like this? I’ve wanted you to say my name since…well since long before I realized how I felt about you."

  I nodded, "Sorry…Illiana." I pulled away and bowed, "May I at this time officially begin courting you?"

  Illiana laughed, and took me back into her arms, kissing me again, "I don't think much courting is necessary. I have already made my decision. I love you, Sir Victor...I already want to be your wife."

  If she ain’t one for mincing words, then neither will I. “Reckon I wanna marry you too.” I nuzzled her. This felt unreal. "I love you, Illiana Verissa tael Anaura, fourth-"

  She giggled and shut me up with another kiss. “Just Illiana…the litany of epithets is unnecessary, Sir Victor. Oh! Should I not start referring to you as darling?”

  “I’d like that, although I reckon I wouldn’t mind if you kept calling me Sir Victor too,” I said, caressing the side of her face. “It’s grown on me a fair bit.”

  Illiana giggled again, “Truthfully, so has Princess upon me. When you say it, well, ‘tis as though you think of it less as a title and more of a term of endearment.”

  She wasn’t far off, actually. I laughed, rubbing her shoulders, “If I’m ever at a loss for something sweet to call ya, honey, I’ll default to Princess.”

  We deepened our embrace. I think that our hands began to wander slowly, but then Illiana stopped cold.

  Shit, did I cross a line? “Ahh,” I said, “Sorry…you’re right, it’s probably too soon for that.”

  "It isn't that! I-," she said, hesitantly. "Pray do not misinterpret me - I do want you to throw me onto yonder bed and f-" She squeaked, and regained her composure. "I-I mean it is my fervent desire that we make love at some juncture, but tonight- "

  I knew what she meant, actually, "You're worried about Mal."

  She nodded, "Aye. I want to give myself fully to you, and yet his condition doth weigh heavily upon mine conscience."

  I agreed actually, "Yeah, I don't think I could concentrate with somethin' like that hangin' over my head either - call me old fashioned but I’d like our first time together to be free of distractions." Oh wait, there was another good reason. “Besides, shouldn’t I be asking your father whether he’s all right with us possibly gettin’ hitched before we go all the way?”

  Huh? She was looking away sheepishly. “I, um, doubt that’s going to be a-” She stopped and then smiled at me and put on airs. “Aye, ‘twould seem to be important to thee that you seek his majesty’s blessing so I shall refrain from calling myself thine fiancee for the moment.”

  “Until then,” I said, looking into her eyes, holding her hands, “I guess we’re boyfriend and girlfriend, then.”

  Illiana giggled, “Aye.” She nestled her face in my chest, "But although we shan’t make love tonight…leastways, may we cuddle?"

  I squeezed her and said, "You didn't have to ask me twice."

  So there it was, me and Illiana were what you might call “official”. Of course we kind of were doing all the sorts of things couples normally did even before the kissing started; going to fairs, eating dinner, clearing dungeons, killing monsters - you know, normal dating stuff. Yeah over the course of, what, eight months and some change we’d gotten to know each other and slowly fallen in love without even really pursuing each other. It may not have been much time in the grand scheme of things but you know what they say: quality over quantity. I’m usually a first move kind of guy and I suppose if this had gone on longer I’d eventually have caved myself - but that’s a moot point now.

  We settled into bed, where I was on my back and she was on her side draped over me. It didn't take long for us to fall asleep, for she was warm, soft, comfortable beyond belief. All was silent, save only for the slow rhythm of her gentle breath. They were cute little breaths, nothing like the beastly long ones I was drawing - she smelled nice too. Yeah I could get used to this. Reckoned I'd never felt more at home than I did right then and there in that pitch-black inn room.

  Good night, everybody.