The fire began to die and the comfortable warmth started fading. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Finding them still sitting on the floor, she looked up at the man holding her. He was sound asleep and looked at peace. Silently she slid out of his hold and climbed to her feet. Her hip ached but she bit back the scream. Walking over to the window, she found the sun rising above the ocean and let the morning breeze into the room. Glancing back at the man, she left the room and walked quietly down the hall. She left the West Wing and heard soft music coming from downstairs. Stopping at the top of the stairs, she took a deep breath and descended. She stepped silently into the first floor and found the music coming from the parlor. Creeping past the shut doors, she walked through the castle and stopped inside the kitchen. No sign of anyone up caught her attention and she walked over to a cabinet. Grabbing a clean towel, she slipped outside and walked down the quiet beach. She rounded the bend and walked over to a soft spot of sand. Sitting down, she stretched the towel out and began slipping her boots off. They rested in the warm sand and she uncuffed her shirt sleeves. Running her fingers through her hair, she pulled her blonde locks free and dropped the hair tie onto her towel. She took a deep breath and rolled her pants up above her kneecaps. Standing up, she slid her socks off and left them tucked into her boots. She walked over to the ocean waves and let the warm water pull her away from the shore. When the water rested above her hips, she closed her eyes and let her body dive beneath the surface. The ocean music echoed through her head and she felt the pain slip from her body. She swam under the surface and allowed her longing to pull her further away from the shore. Calls from her old friends drifted to her and she swam up to the surface. Breaking the surface, she took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. A light burning stretched across the horizon and she relaxed on her back. The waves rocked her into a state of tranquility and she watched birds begin their morning flight. She could hear the distant calls still and took another deep breath. Dipping below the surface, she swam back to the shore and forced herself away from her home. Wading up onto shore, she let out a sigh and picked up her towel. She wrung her hair out and ran the towel over her wet skin. Grabbing her hair tie, she pulled her wet hair back and stretched the towel back out. She sat down and let the sun begin to dry her soaked clothes. Silently she dug her feet into the warm sand and closed her eyes. This time of morning was her favorite and she let the quiet air wrap around her. How she missed these simple moments. Opening her eyes, she looked back at the waves and tried to remember when her life hadn't become so complicated. Since her childhood she had something demanding of her time and even now that wasn't different. Since Sile's death, she had been the healer of her people and had the boys requesting her hand as they had grown up. How she missed just being able to play with her friends. All those young men were like brothers while she was a child. Now they were suitors that she had to constantly turn away. Each time she rejected someone, she could feel her friendships dying off and it left her feeling empty. Sighing, she raked her hands through her wet hair and rested her arms on bent knees. Barking came from around the bend and she couldn't fight back the small smirk. Tanner always brought a smile to her face, even if he was ruining her quiet moment. He rounded the bed and made a mad path straight for her. When he bounded onto her, she caught him and he knocked her onto her back. He sniffed her, looking for any signs of injury, and she pushed him off her lap. The animal was growing fast and she couldn't take much more of his lap dancing. Quietly he turned his attention to the morning waves. She watched him begin to chase the waves and shook her head. A very familiar stare rested on her and she looked down the beach. She met the brown stare and watched the man silently approach. He swept his gaze over her and she looked back at the water. She could only imagine how annoyed he was with her taking off like she did. Silently he took a seat in the sand beside her and focused his intense gaze on Tanner. "Feeling better?" She nodded and kept quiet. When he had looked her over, she had felt that spark return and needed the time to keep her emotions in check. He leaned forward on his arms like her and slowly looked back at her. "Yes?" His eyes narrowed at her simple response and he looked back at Tanner. The dog was getting soaked with the waves and would need a good towel drying before Abigail would allow him out of the kitchen. "He wanted to see you." She shot him a brief look and he caught it. Her blue eyes captured his attention again and he could hear the ocean pounding in his ears. Silently she looked away and let the sun rest on her face once more. She seemed better but he wasn't sure. His cousin had done something unexplainable to her and it had made him see to her all night long. "I'm surprised he stayed in your room all night." He felt a ghost of smirk cross his face and felt her eyes narrow in on him. Looking back at her, he could see the same smirk capturing her face. "So you can smirk." He rolled his eyes and looked away. Her soft laughter followed and he fought back the smile. It sounded good after the long night and he watched Tanner finally give up on the water. The pup came up to them and collapsed on her buried feet. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes. "Tired himself out." He glanced back at her and found her quietly removing her feet. She wiped them off and slid her socks back on. Silently she rolled her dried pants down and slid into her black boots. Her hair had lightened as it dried and now reflected the sunlight. She took a deep breath and slowly looked back at him. "I guess I should go see to breakfast." He watched her stand and shake the sand out of the towel. Tanner let out a sigh and rolled onto his feet. The puppy stretched his tired limbs and Johnathan stood up. He brushed his pants off and watched the woman begin walking. Silently he fell in step with her and the dog ran contently after them. When they entered the kitchen, she left the towel in a dirty basket and walked over to the ice box. He stood leaning against the counter and watched her dig out some eggs and meat. Tanner collapsed by the door and let out another sigh. He shook his head and listened to the woman begin to cook. She cracked eggs into a warming skillet and he saw the slight bruising still on her hands as she reached for a spatula. He took the utensil from her and she turned her ocean eyes on him. His pulse jumped as he found her pulling him in and she slowly stepped aside. He watched her fix up some breakfast for Tanner and tended to the eggs. When the bowl hit the floor, the pup jumped up and chomped down on his breakfast. She took a seat at the counter and rested her head on her hand. He could feel her watching him and fought back the growing fire. Silently he transferred the eggs onto some plates and grabbed some utensils. Handing her a plate, he poured juice into two glasses and took the seat next to her. Her eyes focused on the food when they were seated next to each other and he let the reprieve calm the growing fire. The door swung open as she finished her food and stood up. Oric entered the kitchen and smiled at the scene before him. Seeing the lad spending time with his kitchen assistant was a relief. Eve washed her dishes and turned back to the man to take his. He carefully caught her hand to stop her and their eyes met when the spark flew through them again. He pulled back first and stood up. She watched him come around the counter and drop his stuff in the sink. Slipping around the counter, she watched him do up his dishes and spotted Oric. The cook was beaming with pride and she frowned. The man could have intervened on her behalf but of course he wanted her to become close to Johnathan. Unfortunately the man was getting what he wanted, much to her struggling. "Have a good breakfast, did you?" Johnathan glanced back at the old man and sent him a warning look. Oric knew well enough to not say a word until she was out of the kitchen. Slowly she left and he waited for her footsteps to disappear. "I heard you spent the night in the West Wing." He dried the dishes and said "She needed help." Oric chuckled and asked "Just help and not someone comforting her?" The plate smashed against the counter top and he felt his controlled temper peaking. Oric watched him take a deep breath and placed fists on the counter. "Easy there. I didn't mean to upset you." Silently he looked up at the man and growled "I'm going to kill that bastard." "What did he do?" He shook his head and raked his hands through his brown hair. Getting this upset wasn't like him at all. Eve was driving him down roads he didn't need to be going but he found himself unable to stop her. She didn't know what she was doing to him, he was sure of it. Sometimes he felt like she was just as unsure of this thing between them as he was. He was almost positive she was. Her slow glances at times showed her curiosity. The banter that had only occurs in private gave way to a comfortable companionship. But yesterday was leaving him dangling in a new world of uncertainty. "Jonathan, what did Christopher do to Eve?" He forced himself out of his thoughts and growled "I don't know." He wanted to know more than anything else. The need to defend this blonde woman was clawing at his gut and leaving him simmering. He already hated his cousin but now that Eve was involved in this war, he was dreaming of killing the man. "I think you better go upstairs and get control of yourself." The quiet command wasn't lost on him and he stepped past the man. He heard Oric cleaning up the broken pieces and sighed. Shoving the door open, he walked out of the kitchen and didn't catch the quiet chuckle. Oric couldn't hold back the smile any longer. Eve was exactly the person he had hoped to be and his lord was being pulled into a primitive world totally new and strange to him.