and thinking. He finally stood, grabbed his sword and headed to the stables. He threw himself into his work, trying to ignore the throbbing in his hand as he shoveled out the stalls and brought feed and water to Dontas and Shadow. Once he finished, he headed out, passing by Armartas' office. Armartas, occupied with a couple of soldiers in his office, saw Jake and gave him a quick wave, which Jake returned.
The sun was low on the horizon when he entered the palace courtyards, weaving his way through the crowd as he headed to the Temple. He was not really paying attention to his surroundings when a woman's silky voice called out. "Jake, is that you?"
Surprised to hear his name, he stopped and looked around. Coming towards him from the direction of the palace was the princess Keria, surrounded by four armed Palace Guards and walking next to a young man in chainmail and a breastplate. He was slightly taller than Jake, muscular with a handsome face that bordered on pretty, with dark curly hair, and brown eyes. He was armed with a sword and had a shield strapped to his back.
Jake felt tongue-tied and awkward as the princess approached. Sweaty, with some straw still on his clothes, he felt completely unprepared to meet her. He tried to subtlety sniff to make sure that he did not have any horse manure on him. She seemed more beautiful than he remembered, her red hair catching the light of the setting sun, those bright green eyes shining and a welcoming smile on her face. She stopped in front of him, still smiling. Jake grinned foolishly back at her, captivated by her beauty.
"The princess acknowledged you, stranger." The young man growled at Jake, face unfriendly. "A bow would be the proper response." Jake turned to face him, meeting his eyes and returning the unfriendly look.
"Enough, Marcus." Keria chided the young man. "Jake is a guest here, welcomed personally by my father. He does not need to bow to me." Marcus gave a short nod in acknowledgment, but kept staring at Jake.
Keria turned back to Jake, smiling brightly. "I almost did not recognize you, Jake. I heard that you were training in arms with Lord Dominic." Marcus gave a small start at Dominic's name. "How is that going?"
"So far, so good, Princess." Jake replied, focusing on Keria and trying to ignore Marcus. "It is hard, but I will probably survive. Where I come from, I didn't need training like this." Inwardly, he grimaced; he was sure he sounded like an idiot.
"Please call me by my name. I would very much like to hear more about where you come from, Jake." Keria said, reaching out to take Jake's hand into hers. Unfortunately, it was the injured one, but Jake stifled a groan, not wanting the contact to end. He could smell her perfume as she stepped closer. "I believe that you said you would come to the palace."
Jake smiled at her, enjoying the feel of her hand in his. "I would like that, Keria, but I'll need to coordinate that with Dominic or Jonas."
"I will make sure that we can set that meeting, Jake." The princess said warmly.
One of the guards leaned in before she could say anything more. "Princess, we need to continue." He said respectfully.
"Of course, Costuas." The princess said, nodding. She gave Jake another wide smile as she disengaged her hand. "Until next time, Jake."
"I look forward to it, Keria." Jake replied, giving her a small bow. Laughing lightly, she headed off with her guards surrounding her.
Marcus stayed back from moment. He came up to Jake, stopping only a foot or so away. He glared at Jake, eyes hard and angry. "Keria is mine, stranger." He said quietly, his hand resting on his sword. "I don't care who you are training with. If you try to step between us, that decision will be bad for your health. You would do well to remember that." With that, he spun and strode off to catch up with the princess.
Jake stood there for moment, stunned by the threat and shaking his head in disbelief at his luck with women. Even on a completely different world, he still had to deal with a stupidly jealous boyfriend. Throwing up his hands and suppressing the urge to yell random obscenities, he continued towards the Temple.
When he arrived at the Temple, he was surprised to find Hailyn waiting for him near the main doors. She greeted him with