A/N: Hey all. I added a minor plot scene to the last... three or four paragraphs of the last chapter that I forgot to write in.

Chapter Fifteen

“Jay, this is a ball and you haven’t brought me out to dance once. Do you not like me enough? Do you not want to show me off to all these high class people?” Jay once again was left staring in complete confusion before chuckling absentmindedly. Where did the independent woman he was so used to dealing with run off to? And wasn’t this supposed to be a fake relationship? The sudden feeling of rapidly being drawn into a trap sprang up in Jay’s mind, but he had no choice but to charge straight through and hope to avoid it.

“You spoiled woman, no need to act like that. If I had known you wanted to dance I would have long ago brought you to the floor.” Jay tucked his arm around Talli’s waist as they threaded their way through the crowd and onto the ball room floor.

Jay kept a hand lightly on Talli’s waist as he slowly led her through the music. This would have been fine, keeping a respectable distance between the two as the gently twirled and rotated about the floor, however, Jay was subjected to another round of vicious torment as Talli suddenly pressed into him, laying her head on his chest as her perfect body rested against his own in the midst of a small spin.

Jay couldn’t help but mutter, “You mischievous, scheming, vixen. No wonder you’ve been acting so weird.” Talli held a light smile as a twinkling light glimmered in her eyes. Their sudden, intimate proximity was immediately recognized as they stepped lightly past the direct line of sight of the princess and her entourage. Talli took this opportunity to look directly up, the mischievous glint still present as Jay smirked in response. The music ended soon after, but Jay was still caught up in her big, green eyes, and so the two continued dancing straight through the second and then the third song.

‘If she is going to tease me like this all night, I might as well take back the advantage. Two can play this game, treacherous woman.’ As the third song ended, the two left their ‘lover’s trance’ as Jay leaned down with lightning speed, stealing a small kiss from the elf in front of everyone, before leading her off the floor and back to their seats at the edge of the room. He turned back to glance, only to find a cherry red face and an intense glare, which he only returned with a grin.

“Dearest, I’ll go and fetch a couple glasses of wine and snacks. I’ll return shortly.” Talli simply huffed in response as Jay made a quick escape. She never thought he’d not only catch on to her, but be even more shameless and take back the upper hand from her constant teasing, the bastard. She sat down moodily, slightly recriminating herself for her overly blatant actions, watching as Jay acquired food and drinks. The pouting must have tipped him off, but the close proximity of their dancing was definitely a perfect show for the princess. Talli unconsciously blushed once more as she remembered how warm Jay was.

As she was brooding, an overly fragrant glass of wine was proffered up and placed before her. Thinking it was Jay returning once more, she grabbed it in order to quickly assuage her frustration before realizing it was not Jay from the corner of her eye, but the prince, who had ‘come to make her acquaintance’. Casually lifting up the glass of wine, she inconspicuously smelled the fragrance. It was undoubtedly good wine, but it couldn’t cover up the scent of saffron, catalyzed with several other things she was unable to identify through the wine’s aroma, but was undoubtedly something to strengthen an aphrodisiac effect. This prince was either incredibly bold or immensely foolish to attempt to poison an accomplished herbalist with something as simple as saffron. It might work on those air-head noble girls, but for her, who was not only an herbalist, but also an elf, this was almost insulting.

“I hope you enjoy the flavor, Miss Talli. It’s my personal favorite. I was hoping to chat and perhaps dance once or twice, if your esteemed date doesn’t take offense, of course.” Talli nearly derisively snorted. ‘I bet it is your favorite, you pig.’ Jay was just returning with a lazy smile conveniently masking his killing intent as he set the refreshments down at their place. Talli gave a subtle signal with her eyes to the glass in her hand, pretending to take a sip and swallow before placing it on the table.

“A single dance couldn’t hurt. I appreciate your hospitality for a commoner such as myself, your highness.”

“It’s no trouble at all, Prince. Please take good care of her, I have to speak with the governor and your father for a few minutes as well.” Prince Darius took the opportunity to lead Talli out to the floor while Jay sniffed out the aphrodisiac, a dark smile briefly flashing across his face as he casually carried it with him. As if absolutely nothing was wrong, Jay went to speak with the governor and king in private at the head table once more. However, he was quickly intercepted by Princess Elise, who, after a bit of stubborn cajoling, promptly dragged a fearful Jay out to dance, dismissing his conversation duties as unimportant and draining the glass of wine in Jay’s hand before he even had a chance to protest.

At this point, even the normally calm and composed Jay was slightly panicking. This was not what he had planned at all. Inconspicuously poisoning the prince to have him make a fool of himself was one thing, but having the princess poisoned in his arms was a completely different affair, and not a good one either. He quickly directed their dancing direction towards the prince, who was still anxiously waiting for the elven beauty to start clinging to him, embarrassing Jay and allowing the prince to steal his woman at the same time. Jay muttered in a low voice as they brushed past Talli, “Elu numu suvuwi! Teludrüma!”

Talli cast a look of alarm, rapidly thinking before forcing herself to become flushed and excusing herself from the prince with the excuse of needing to rest. Quickly intercepting Jay and the princess, the three of them made their way as inconspicuously, yet as quickly as possible towards a servant’s entrance, leaving a somewhat confused prince in their wake.

Jay was practically carrying the princess through the rarely used servant’s passageways. Her red face and panting escalated as she began tugging at her dress, pawing and rubbing against Jay’s chest just as he finished leading them to a secluded courtyard at the side of the mansion grounds.

“Why did you bring us here!?” Talli hissed. “If people find us in such a secluded spot while she’s like this, it’ll be even worse than if it happened at the ball!” Jay just growled in irritation as he moved the princess to a trough of water and dropped her in. The shock of the cold water, mixed with the sudden lack of air, quickly brought the princess back to her senses as she looked around spluttering. Talli stifled her laughter at Jay’s crude actions, admiring the quick thinking despite the rough outcome. The princess quickly regained her bearings, slowly remembering the events prior.

“You drugged me!” She practically shouted.

Jay quickly covered her mouth to cut off any additional exclamations, hissing quietly in anger, “Oi, shut the fuck up little princess. If I was the one who drugged you, then why are you still clothed and soaking wet instead of underneath me on a bed?” The irritation accompanied by the logic in his words made her quickly settle down.

“Good girl. Now, I’m sure you have additional clothes you can change into in your room. We’ll escort you back, Talli will help you change, and then we’ll all return to the ball as fast as we can. I’ll explain what happened on the way.” Jay proceeded to scoop her up and carried her swiftly towards the guest wing of the mansion.

“Put me down, I can walk on my own!” Elise hissed with narrowed eyes.

“Relax and be quiet. You still have the drug in your system, the water was only a temporary measure to return your lucidity, so your body will still be a little unstable. You probably swallowed a few mouthfuls of water, so it should be ready to be flushed out by the time you’re out of these wet clothes. If you need to be angry, be angry at your brother. He’s the one who tried to drug my Talli with that glass of wine you snatched from my hands.” Jay both rebuked and explained simultaneously. His words rang true as less than a minute later, an itching warmth began to affect her lower body and a flush crept into her features once more.

Jay couldn’t help but curse this world for not having anything convenient readily available, like spatial storage accessories or mysterious old men that happen to have an aphrodisiac antidote on their person. As Jay continued walking he pondered for a brief moment… ‘Instead of mysterious old men, there were mysterious little girls and their apparently ancient and powerful grandmothers who gave out priceless dresses instead. Fucking fantasy worlds. I may actually have made something of myself in this world, but at least in my old one I didn’t have to bother with shit like poisoned royalty, people either loving me or hating me, many of which who have never even met me, and gods who apparently want me to do… something.’

‘Fuck all of this. I’m leaving this city tonight with the Drenz and never coming back. All my obligations to this place are tied up and finished. If I suddenly disappear, the king can’t force me to marry this brat, the gods of this world won’t be able to so easily influence my life and I’ll be able to do what I want. I saw Walter walk in with Heidi earlier. They’re a good match, I’m glad she’s found someone dependable. I’ll leave the Inn to Walter and head west. That will allow all those girls to continue living happily.’

‘I’ve been way too passive and accommodating out of necessity for acclimating to this world and its lifestyle, but now that my responsibilities are finished, I have no reason to stay any longer. I should have left even before this ball, but my feelings of responsibility to Ray kept me here.’ Jay glanced at Talli to his side who had been silently watching his shifting expressions.

“Ele denüsa.” Talli spoke. It wasn’t a question, she could see the typical lazy indifference Jay normally wore had melted off, and a cold, harsh light had replaced it. He was going to leave. Tonight’s events had broken the façade, overflowing what Jay was able to tolerate.

"Avi.” His response was a short affirmation. A shadow of sadness shrouded Talli’s features as they reached the princess’ room. Jay set the girl down, ushering both women inside and standing guard by the door. Several minutes later, both returned, the shadow still present on Talli’s beautiful face.

“Princess, please apologize to your father and the governor for me. I just remembered some important business I need to handle and won’t be able to return to the festivities tonight.” Jay’s words were neither harsh, nor overbearing, but the young woman felt as though the temperature of the hall had still managed to drop a few degrees, leaving a chill creeping down her spine.

“Very well. Thank y-” Jay cut her off with a small gesture.

“No thanks is needed, Princess. It was partially my fault for not being careful in the first place. Consider us even.” Jay slipped his hand into Talli’s. “My apologies for not escorting you back, but we are desperately needed elsewhere.” Jay gave a slight bow and led Talli in the opposite direction of the ballroom, leaving a despondent girl in their wake.

Princess Elise watched their departing backs, fully realizing that it would likely be a long time before ever again meeting the man who made the stone princess laugh and sigh. She stood there in the hall for a while before turning around, a fierce glint of her own in her eyes. ‘Jay Trinity, I will wait. You think you’re escaping, but I’m the Stone Princess. Stone weathers all things, and time is just one of them. Next time, I won’t be so naïve.’

As the princess was resolving her conflicting emotions, Jay had led Talli back through the mansion, departing unnoticed, returning to her small apothecary by the wall in silence. Jay never once let go of her hand, lightly pulling the elf along. When they finally walked through the doors of the darkened shop, Jay led her by memory through the moonlit darkness into the back room where he suddenly stopped and rapidly turned, pulling her towards him and wrapping her in an embrace. For a long time, the two simply stood, feeling the warmth of the other.

Jay suddenly shifted, feeling his shirt wet from the silent tears Talli was shedding. He was leaving. Her best and only friend for the past four years, who made her laugh, made her delicious food in the mornings and helped her in his spare time, learning all she could teach in the process. The man who always came to her at the end of every week, battered and bruised nearly beyond recognition for so many weeks, only to make her worry melt away, as he made her laugh once again with his over exaggerated moaning as she applied medicine to his bruising. He was leaving, and her heart felt like a piece of it was leaving with him. Jay pulled away slightly, a warm look in his eyes as he cupped her beautiful face, wiping the tears away.

“You’re even beautiful when you cry, what kind of unfair world is this?” Jay joked as he continuously stroked the tears from her face. Talli simply clung to his chest tighter, not wanting to let this abominable man who wormed his way into her heart leave her alone. “Don’t cry anymore tears for me. I’m an incredibly selfish person; but I can promise you, I will come back and find you once I have the answers I need. Wait for me.” Jay continued staring into those big, green eyes, etching every curve, every angle of that beautiful face into his mind before leaning down and kissing her soft lips.

Talli wrapped her arms around Jay’s neck, forcing him to stay longer as she breathed in his forest scent and tasted nature on his lips before finally breaking apart. Jay stroked her face once more, kissing both cheeks and her nose in rapid succession, involuntarily causing Talli to giggle like a little girl while at the same time cursing his name. Flashing a bright smile, Jay took one last lingering look before pulling away, blending into the darkness of the building, rapidly leaving, returning to Drenz Rest.

Drenz Rest was too true of a name, and they had all been resting for much too long.

A/N: Somewhat long and important note incoming:

First:

I definitely want a lot of opinions about this chapter. This was not what I originally had planned for this scene and it just kind of spontaneously flowed out and I decided I actually really liked it instead of the more traditional crap I was planning. Please let me know what you all think, I really appreciate it.

Second:

I have absolutely nothing planned for the story from here to the ending of the first book (which I do actually have planned... heh.), so it'll be an adventure for both of us. As for the second book, I have a ton of stuff that I think is going to be great content planned out for it, but I have to get there first. In all honesty, this first book is primarily world building and character introductions for the second book, which is where a ton of the questions and plot strings that have been brought up so far will be answered, many of which occur in a single scene which will lay the foundation for the rest of the series.

As always, thanks for reading my story! I immensely appreciate all the feedback I get, especially ratings and reviews! They're a huge motivator and they help spread the story.