Having fallen asleep so quickly, Julie woke early. She stared at Sammy and remembered everything that had happened the day before. A busy day with a little bit of everything. Sammy had spoken her mind, Julie had finally said she loved Sammy, and there had been the whole washing-Sammy’s-back part.

Even after a night’s rest, Julie didn’t know what to make of any of those. She still didn’t really understand how Sammy felt. Well, that seemed pretty obvious to her when she didn’t really know her own feelings.

And washing Sammy’s back…. It was strange, intimate because Sammy had been naked, but it hadn’t felt intimate to actually do. That didn’t seem right to Julie. At least, it didn’t until she remembered the dancing, and that made her think of their kisses—that they were sometimes warm and sometimes hot.

It didn’t take much longer for Sammy to wake up and ask for one of those warm kisses. Of course, she didn’t use words: she looked at Julie with a little pout, fluttering her eyelashes. Julie knew that look well and answered it appropriately.

So their morning got under way, following their separate routines until breakfast, after which they carried on their travels. Sammy hadn’t asked for help washing her back, though. Julie had sort of been anticipating it and was maybe just a little disappointed it hadn’t happened.

Julie’s mind circling that for the morning, she eventually remembered something Sammy had told her: that being more intimate wasn’t just about doing naughty things. Julie had kind of understood that before, but now realised it also meant that “naughty” things weren’t just about being more intimate.

That felt very right to Julie. How she felt when they held hands and hugged wasn’t always the same. Not every kiss made her feel hot, her skin flush, heart race. So maybe it was fine if Sammy was naked….

“Julie?”

Deep in thought, Julie near enough jumped—her heart certainly did. “Y-yes?”

Sammy wasn’t entirely sure what Julie had been thinking about all morning, but she now had some ideas seeing that Julie wouldn’t meet her gaze. “Let us stop for lunch.”

“Okay,” Julie said, a bit overeager in her nodding.

The town was rather tall and bustling. According to Sammy, there was a mine to the north and a lot of the “waste” clay and rock ended up as building material. It made sense, some walls brick and others stone, hardly any wood. Even the side-roads were well-paved with huge slabs.

None of that was really a thought, though, just Julie’s idle observations as they looked for somewhere to eat, the horses left at a stable on the outskirts. But Sammy spotted a bakery that served (or at least claimed to serve) authentic Formadgian food. At the back of this shop were open ovens where the roaring fires heated stone slabs.

Julie was quite in awe by the strange sight, watching as one of the bakers slid in a dough straight onto the stone, hissing and crackling as a few bits fell off the top of it. With the ovens open, the smell of cooking food filled the room—of toasting bread and melted cheese and all kinds of herbs. A fairly busy shop, she got to see a couple more go in and come out before it was almost their turn.

Sammy leant in close, quietly asking, “Have you seen any you like?”

Julie scrunched up her face in thought, not all that sure.

Seeing that, Sammy smiled and said, “Shall I choose?”

Julie gently nodded.

“Pu-ish voos ayudeh?” the young woman at the counter asked.

That wasn’t quite right, Sammy noticed, and matched the slight mistake with Formadgian. So she asked in Formadgian, “May I?”

Oh the young woman grinned. “Of course,” she said.

Sammy kept herself to a polite smile. “May we have two of the peetas with tomatoes and cheese?” she asked.

In an instant, the young woman’s grin disappeared and her brow knotted together, a huff escaping from her nose. “Tomatoes and cheese?” she sharply asked, then muttered something under her breath—Sammy was fairly confident it was a rather crude swear word.

Not exactly Sammy’s first time causing trouble, she feigned a moment of realisation and put on an apologetic expression. “Oh I am sorry—a lady cannot have authentic peeta without basil.”

The young woman managed to keep back the wince, but her pain still clearly showed.

As busy as the other workers were, one noticed the expression the young woman was making and, in quick and sharp Formadgian, said, “Beena! Is she paying you to look constipated?”

While “Beena” would usually be suitably mortified to be told off by her parents in public, it made all the difference that she knew Sammy understood exactly what had been said. In fact, Sammy didn’t—constipated was not the kind of word that came up in love poems or romantic letters—but Sammy was very good at looking like she knew everything. One thing she did know: Beena was a nickname for a daughter, but some of her pen pals had rather liked being called that by her too.

However, Sammy still had rather the soft spot for women and, seeing “Beena” look like that, stopped her teasing. More comfortable with food in Sonlettian, she switched to that and said, “One peeta with tomato, basil, and garlic; another with cheese and salt.”

“Yes, madam. Coming right up, madam,” was the monotonous reply, accompanied by a forced smile.

Their order placed, Sammy and Julie shuffled to the side and watched as the peetas were prepared. First, some ready-to-go dough was rolled out and baked for just a couple of minutes, puffing up. It was then cut in half, making two flat, round pieces of bread with a lip around the edge. The toppings were then added to each and slid back into the oven.

It only took a few minutes, but Julie felt all the more hungry for watching the food cook, every breath bringing in more of that smell. Hot as it was, she had to wait a little longer for it to cool enough to hold. So, by the time she and Sammy left, she was near enough drooling.

Reading a sign, Sammy said, “There is a plaza down the road.”

“Okay.”

There wasn’t anything remarkable about the plaza, nothing more than an empty space with benches along the edges. It didn’t even have a fountain or flowerbeds or trees. Still, it was busy, most of the seats already taken and children playing around in the centre, chasing each other or throwing “balls” (leather pouches stuffed with dirt). Noisy.

Only the early afternoon, Sammy and Julie couldn’t get a bench in the shade. But it wasn’t so hot as to be unpleasant. Besides, Julie would have happily sat on the ground if it meant they could finally eat.

Before Julie could start to eat, Sammy said, “Here, try some,” and tore-off a piece of the tomato peeta.

Julie was annoyed for a flicker, upset that another thing was getting in the way of eating, but she caught herself in the next moment. “Okay,” she said and tried to take the piece.

Sammy didn’t let Julie, bringing it to Julie’s lips herself. Julie, although a bit embarrassed, gave in and opened her mouth, tried to stifle the shiver that ran through her as Sammy’s fingernail brushed her lip.

“How is it?” Sammy asked.

Julie belatedly realised she was chewing, forced herself to quickly finish and swallow the piece, then answered, “Good.”

Sammy smiled, such a beautiful smile. It was enough for Julie to forget all about her hunger until Sammy closed her eyes and parted her lips. So well trained, Julie leaned in and nearly kissed Sammy, at the last moment thinking Sammy probably wanted to try some of the cheese peeta.

“Here,” Julie said, awkwardly pushing a small piece into Sammy’s mouth.

For a moment, Sammy pouted, but then chewed and went back to a soft smile. “Oh it is lovely.”

In the end, it wasn’t clear whether they had eaten more of their own peeta or the other’s, but both peetas were gone and they were both satisfied. The heat building, they soon left the plaza and found a nearby pub for a refreshing mug of small beer.

Needing to carry their packs around, they didn’t wander much after that, but Sammy always made sure they visited clothing shops and today was no different. Compared to the steady climate of the south, the changing seasons of the north led to quite the range of fashion. In the middling of spring, there were in particular many thin cardigans on display, fairly cool to wear while keeping away any chilly breezes.

Sammy rather liked how they looked on Julie. They were a bit loose, but adding a fabric belt gave a very feminine outline, Sammy thought, drew her gaze to Julie’s waist, enticing her to hold it. Though used to these little games of dress-up, Julie still felt fidgety whenever Sammy stared at her like that, but she didn’t hate it.

Once they’d gone through a handful of colours, Sammy actually bought one, which really spoke to just how much she liked the look.

By now, Julie had forgotten about her thoughts from the morning. She very much was someone who lived in the moment and Sammy often made sure that the moment was very lively. But their break came to an end, their travels continued, the road a mostly quiet place interspersed with bits of small talk.

So Julie eventually ended up where she’d left off. There was still something wrong to her about how she’d come to the conclusion that it was okay for Sammy to, maybe sometimes, be naked.

Julie couldn’t really focus on it, though. That was because it was hard to think about Sammy being naked without thinking about Sammy being naked. Julie hadn’t thought of herself as particularly curious, but the journey had shown she was. In most cases, it was a shallow curiousness where she would ask Sammy and listen to the answer and leave it at that. Like when she had asked about the fields here in the north—one question, one answer, nothing more.

But Julie’s curiosity about Sammy was different. She had seen Sammy’s back, felt it (albeit through a cloth), and yet she didn’t forget about it like all the other things. That, even in moments like now where they were simply riding alongside each other, her thoughts still drifted back to it.

Not only that, but she wanted to know more. Intrusive thoughts would come to her and she would wonder if Sammy’s back felt as soft as her hands, if it was firm to the touch, what it would feel like to run a finger down her spine.

That all felt innocent to Julie. She’d sort of accepted that Sammy could be naked, and her wondering wasn’t really beyond what she had done before.

So it was that, after they finished travelling for the day and found somewhere to stay for the night, and after they ate dinner and retired to their room, Julie asked, “Do you want me to wash your back?”

Sammy smiled and simply nodded in reply.

Julie didn’t watch Sammy undress, but Sammy soon called her. Like the last time, Sammy held up a towel to cover her front, sitting tall on the stool. Like the last time, Julie was gentle and thorough in her wiping.

However, unlike the last time, Julie wasn’t so tired. She was so very conscious of how beautiful the sight was. Flawless skin, even more pale from the cold water—just like how every princess was described in stories. What wasn’t written about was the shape. Julie couldn’t have hoped to explain why she liked the shape, but she liked following the curve down from Sammy’s neck and the small bumps on Sammy’s back.

The more Julie saw, the more she wanted to feel, the more the cloth felt like it was getting in the way. Her heart beat that little faster in her chest, that little harder, her breath a touch more shallow, gaze intense. A heat barely above warm, but it was above warm.

Fed up with the frustration, Julie quietly asked, “Can I touch you?”

“Yes.”

Julie didn’t waste any time, the cloth falling into the bucket with a splash. One hand fell to her lap while the other rose up, fingers settling on Sammy’s shoulder, pushing down. It was soft, her fingers sinking in easily. But she knew there was a muscle there. “Can you tense it?”

Sammy did and Julie almost giggled, something about feeling the muscle tense under her touch making her giddy. That giddiness spurred her on to feel the other parts of Sammy’s back—the shoulder blades, the spine. So lost in the exploration, Julie made her way down to the small of Sammy’s back before coming to her senses.

Turning away with prickling cheeks, Julie cleared her throat. If she would have looked at Sammy’s face, she would have seen she wasn’t the only one with a growing flush, but she didn’t.

“Thank you,” Julie awkwardly said; nothing else made any sense for her to say.

“The pleasure was mine,” Sammy said, her voice a touch deeper than usual, smoother.

So another night came to an end.

In the morning, after finishing their routines, Julie didn’t offer to wash Sammy’s back. Even though she thought of it as innocent, it felt like something that should only be done at night.

What did happen was Sammy chose an outfit for her to wear. Julie didn’t find that quite so intense this time, more like their “games” of dress-up than anything intimate. But there was something nice about wearing the clothes that Sammy had picked out for her. She knew she wasn’t any good at being pretty, but she knew Sammy was, so it was very easy to think of the outfit as pretty. She could at least feel half-pretty from wearing such pretty clothes.

Well, it was more like a third pretty because Julie still only felt comfortable wearing trousers, especially since she had to ride a horse. Sammy had a small collection of riding habits, but Julie couldn’t imagine walking around with such a long skirt and not tripping every other step.

“Here we are,” Sammy said, presenting Julie with a small pile of clothes, before then turning away.

Julie turned away too before stripping down to her binding. First to put on was a simple, white shirt, next a red vest, last of all the recently-bought cardigan, soft pink in colour. “I’m done,” she said as she turned back.

After a second, Sammy turned too and immediately burst into a smile, her fingers excitedly tapping together. “Oh how beautiful,” she murmured.

Julie felt a rush of embarrassment at those words, still not used to compliments despite being treated to them often.

In a couple of strides, Sammy brought herself to Julie, her hand coming up to gently trace along Julie’s jaw until it disappeared into her hair, softly curling strands around her fingers. “Red and all its shades truly are a good colour for you,” she whispered, punctuating her statement with a kiss.

As if trying to please Sammy, Julie knew her skin was turning red. And Sammy could see that, feel that, was pleased by that. Her precious jewel looked most beautiful when alight, whether that was from the sun’s light or a roaring fire inside.

Well, Sammy was sure that a roaring fire would make Julie look so very beautiful, but had so far only been treated to a modest flame. How she hoped to soon see an immodest flame in Julie’s heart.

For now, Sammy, made do with a few more kisses upon Julie’s face, feeling the heat on those cheeks, not at all jealous that the sun had kissed them first.

Once Sammy was done, Julie shyly looked down with an equally shy smile. “Why d’you kiss me all over?” she whispered, a question that had been on her mind for a while.

“I want every bit of my body to know every bit of yours.”

Sammy had certainly said similar things before, but Julie hadn’t exactly understood; it was a lot more clear now. Just that Julie’s understanding went straight to her imagination, thinking about Sammy’s kisses trailing down her neck to her shoulders. Only, her thoughts shifted, and now she was the one trailing kisses down Sammy’s back.

If Sammy knew what Julie was thinking, she would have been rather pleased and offered up her back. However, she could only see what Julie was feeling, no way to know that the flush adding to Julie’s warmth wasn’t exactly because of the “subtly” erotic phrase Sammy had just uttered.

Moments of flirting were hardly rare, so Sammy did not try to prolong the moment and soon moved them on.

Another morning calmly passed. For lunch, they stopped at a village and it so happened a merchant from Formadgo was selling some produce, Sammy pulling the young man into a conversation before moving onto his wife. In the end, Sammy bought just a few things.

“I have been told of a marvellous recipe,” Sammy said to Julie.

“Really?” Julie asked, eyeing the basket with an inquisitive gaze.

They led the horses beyond the village’s outskirts to a relatively flat and barren patch. It had been a while since they’d last set up a fire, but it was as easy as ever to do, Sammy lighting a small pot of water. They put some sticks over the top and the divine flames soon lit them, at which point Sammy extinguished the pot. A few more sticks got the cooking fire roaring.

While they’d mostly just made porridges and stews and soups before, their pack had a few bits and pieces for other kinds of cooking. In particular, there was a kind of thick mesh and it could sit over the fire with the help of some chains with hooks on the end—the ones they often used to hold the pots.

Julie was left to set up the mesh and Sammy prepared the food. With a sharp knife, she neatly cut the tomatoes in half and sprinkled them with salt, then sliced the mushrooms, and finally drizzled some kind of cooking oil over everything.

Nothing else to wait for, Sammy carefully placed the pieces onto the mesh. It was tricky and frantic and she quickly realised it would have been easier if they’d attached the mesh after putting on the food, but life was all about learning from mistakes, so she made sure to make the most of this particular mistake. By the time she’d put them all on, the first ones needed to be turned over and, by the time she’d turned them all over, the first ones were ready to come off.

It had only been some five minutes in all, but Sammy had been rushing the entire time. So, with everything off the fire, a giggle bubbled up and out of her as the tension finally left her. The first pieces she’d taken off already cool, she picked up a piece of tomato and fed it to Julie, softly asking, “How is it?”

Julie quickly chewed and swallowed. “Good,” she said.

Sammy smiled and, not one to miss a chance, she poked a mushroom slice onto her fork and fed it to Julie. “And this one?” she asked.

Julie dutifully chewed, swallowed, then said, “It’s good too.”

Sammy’s smile grew.

Their small lunch gave way to some time idly spent lying under a tree’s shade, holding hands, speaking softly or not at all, listening to the wind. Peace. Eventually, their horses grazed up to their side and the snorts and swishing tails were somewhat distracting.

So they got up, Julie checked over the horses, then they went back to the town for a drink of small beer before continuing along the merchants’ highway. They passed through little hamlets and a village and stopped at another town for the night. Sammy chose a quiet tavern for them, the food hearty, petty wine sweet, and water warm. Julie took the opportunity to wash some of their clothes. When she came back, she was greeted to Sammy’s long legs.

“Don’t mind me,” Sammy said, her gaze focused as she carefully ran the straight razor down her leg.

Julie’s own gaze lingered before her mind caught up. Then a rush of embarrassment overwhelmed her, knowing full well that, well, she had been putting that off since she always wore trousers.

However, Sammy had noticed where those eyes had looked. “Do you want to touch me?”

Julie’s heart pounded in her chest and she had to swallow the lump in her throat before she could reply. “Do you want me to touch you?” she asked.

Sammy waited until Julie looked over, only then running a finger down the length of her bare leg as she said, “I want you to want to touch me.”

Julie couldn’t help but follow Sammy’s finger, those words so very tempting. But every second cooled the heat until Julie felt like there was nothing strange about it.

“I do want to,” Julie whispered.

Sammy said nothing and patted her thigh. Julie understood, walking over before kneeling down. It was a strange position, but she was the right height to reach out and touch Sammy’s leg.

Julie started at the knee and was, by her own admission, stupidly surprised to find that even princesses had somewhat knobbly and wrinkled knees. For a moment, she played around with the loose skin. Catching herself, she hesitated about whether to go up or down, quickly realised that, even though most of Sammy’s thighs were bared, she couldn’t bare to touch them. So her fingertips slid down Sammy’s shin, the skin so very smooth.

Once at the ankle, Julie paused, then her hand followed her gaze back up, this time along the back of Sammy’s leg. Slim as Sammy’s legs were, there was still the lump of a muscle and that was where Julie stopped. Knowing what Julie wanted, Sammy tensed her muscles until she found the one Julie was touching, keeping it firm.

Oh Julie smiled, Sammy too. Although not something Sammy had thought much about before, she wondered if it was simply nature that (as far as most people were concerned) women had soft bodies and liked the firmness of a man’s body (and vice versa). Authors certainly liked to describe a woman by her bosom and a man by his muscles—or their lack thereof.

Not that Sammy had any way to know, but Julie wasn’t quite so simple. A fascination that had begun with their first embrace, Julie simply loved the feeling of something both soft and firm, her hands all too happy to squeeze and rub the tensed muscle like it was a toy.

Just that, as innocent of a touch as it was, Sammy quickly found her thoughts thinning, her breaths deepening, and her other leg was growing rather jealous. She told Julie that last part, her voice coming out a touch deeper and slower.

Julie chuckled, not noticing the subtle change to Sammy’s voice, but indulged Sammy nonetheless and shuffled around to feel the other leg. More conscious of what she was feeling this time, Julie felt the tickle of some hairs that had yet to be shaved. Curious, she tried to look, but they were so fair and fine that she struggled to see them.

“I don’t think anyone would notice if you didn’t shave,” Julie joked.

Sammy chuckled. “It is… more due to my personal preference,” she said, running her hand down her thigh. “Especially back at the palace, I liked how silk felt on smooth skin.”

Despite being the one to bring it up, Julie felt embarrassed—but not because of Sammy’s answer. After a long pause, she quietly asked, “Do you… want your lover to be well-groomed?”

“I want her to take care of her personal hygiene. Otherwise, I would say it is up to her.”

Anxious to get a real answer, Julie said, “But if you had to choose.”

Sammy smiled, her mind whirring. Eventually, she leant forward and left a kiss on the top of Julie’s head, her hand coming down to hold Julie’s. “I love you so much that I simply don’t care. As long as they aren’t stubbly, I would be delighted to have any chance to caress your legs.”

“You don’t like stubble?” Julie asked.

“Mm. I’ve read that word in regards to men’s chins so much, but mostly I just don’t like the feel,” Sammy said.

Julie nodded along, then squeezed Sammy’s hand. “You… can touch my legs… one day.”

“One day,” Sammy repeated with a smile.

“Soon,” Julie said, though she couldn’t say how soon.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Julie smiled at that, a bit of a giddy smile. Even if doing it was too much for her right now, she liked hearing that Sammy wanted to do it, anticipated doing it.

For tonight, though, they just kissed and cuddled and Julie helped wash Sammy’s back along with a few innocent touches, then they went to bed.

“I love you, my precious jewel,” Sammy whispered.

Julie tried to meet Sammy’s gaze, but was too shy with what she was preparing to say. So she whispered back, “I love you too,” then covered her face with the duvet.

“I love you more.”

Julie didn’t have an answer to that at this time, couldn’t help but grin to herself.

Another peaceful night for them.