"C'mon, Gorim, it'll be fun." Sereda bounced up from the sofa, grinning. "We haven't been to the market in ages."

Gorim looked over at her. "The market, my lady? Surely you can get anything you want sent to the palace."

She shook her head, soft brown hair swinging past her chin. "It's not the same as getting my hands on the merchandise, if you get my meaning." She winked, and then her expression sobered. "And I've told you a hundred times, knock it off with the 'my lady' business already. There's really no need."

Gorim sighed. "You may see it that way, but I doubt your lord father would agree. You're fourteen now, my lady, and certain rules must be followed. Rules about obeying the law, and setting a good example for the common people." He lowered his eyes. "Not to mention rules about being alone with lower-caste gentlemen."

Sereda waved off his concern, as she had every time before. "You're not getting rid of me that easily," she said, grinning, a warm smile that hit Gorim in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to go to her, to pull her in his arms... but that was the surest way to get himself thrown out of the palace for good. Taking a deep breath and a moment to master himself, he looked at the floor and scratched his still-patchy beard.

"Propriety aside, I'm still not sure we should go to the market. Disguised, you are at risk; if you go openly, you'll attract too much attention to get away with anything."

"Which is why we go disguised. The risk is part of the game." Sereda raised an eyebrow at him. "Stone and steel, Gorim, when did you get to be such a spoilsport? You're fifteen, not a hundred and fifty."

Gorim stood and faced her, straight into her beautiful brown eyes. "When the king named me your second and charged me with your safety. A duty I take seriously, even if you don't."

Her eyes softened. "Of course I take it seriously. But it's not at if we're heading for the Deep Roads. I trust you to be able to take care of anything that might come up."

Despite himself, Gorim felt his chest swell with pride. "Including getting chased out of the markets by the city guard?"

She laughed. "Especially that."

Gorim found there was a smile on his face, and he made one last attempt to talk her out of it. "Stealing is wrong, my lady."

"I find most things are more fun when there's a little wrongness to them, don't you?" Sereda bounced across the room and right into him, pressing her lips to his in a swift kiss, brushing past so fast that he didn't have time to react before she pulled away. "Now let's get down there before market day crowds die down and it becomes harder to sneak by." She grabbed her daggers and went out the door, leaving Gorim behind.

He stood still, just for a moment, lifting his fingers to his lips as if to recapture the feeling of her kiss. Had he imagined it? No, he decided as his fingertips came away with a smear of lipstick, it had been real enough. Perhaps in the market she would steal another kiss. To go with the heart she had made off with, long ago. Smiling, he fastened his sword to his back and followed her out of the palace. Yes, this just might be the day.