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Sevika knew you loved taking digs at her age, and she liked you enough to let you get away with it. A little lip from a fellow ranch hand was enough to get them the scolding of their life or their ass in the dust. But all you had to do was give her a smile and she was letting you pick and prod at her for fun.

“I’ll have you know this is a Glen Campbell song from 1967, thank you very much.” She said, batting your hand away and situating the volume where she wanted it.

“Yeah?” You asked with a small chuckle, leaning your cheek into your hand. “Bet that was a good year for you.”

Sevika didn’t even answer, just reaching out with her free hand to try and twist your arm as payback. You couldn’t help yourself, easily swatting her away while you laughed. It was just too easy with her.

You saw her take a slow drag off the cigarette in her hand, noting the slight curl in her lip as she exhaled the smoke through her nose, flicking the ash out the window.

“Let me try.” You said suddenly, reaching out to take the cigarette. But she was quick to hold it away from you before you could even touch it.

“Absolutely not.” Her voice was firm. “Your daddy would have my ass if he knew I let you smoke.”

“He’s not here, is he?” You countered, catching her eyes and the way her lips always tipped up just a bit when you said something she begrudgingly found amusing. “You know I won’t tell.”

“That don’t mean shit. You shouldn’t be touchin’ the stuff.”

“You are.”

“Not the point.” She said, making a pointed gesture with her cigarette, the smoke billowing up over her face. You reached out to try and take it from her hand, but her reflexes were faster. You tried again, sliding across the bench, invading her space.

“Will you knock it off? Can’t a woman smoke her damn cigarette in peace?“ Sevika tried batting you away, but being slumped in the driver’s seat didn’t give her much room to fend you off. “Darlin’, I mean it-“

Her words got cut off when you moved out from your seat, crawling your way on top of her until you were all but straddling her lap.

You two had exchanged fleeting touches before. Her hand sliding low on your back when she walked behind you or when you’d fix her neck scarf after she’d had a particularly tricky run-in with a new horse.

But you’d never just hopped up on her like this. Your soft and warm weight pressing right up against her in all the right places. Her hands went still as you slipped the cigarette from her metal fingers, looking at it like some foreign object.

Sevika kept her hands where they were for a brief moment before she settled them on your hips.

”How do I do it?”

“It’s a cigarette, darlin’. It ain’t exactly rocket science.”

You couldn’t help but laugh again, looking all too comfortable up on her lap like this. “Shut up.” You mused, placing the butt of it around your lips before taking an inhale.

Sevika watched, transfixed as the burnt end of it cast a warm glow over your pretty face. Her hands tightened just a fraction where he held them, too focused on watching how your lips wrapped around where her own had just been.

When you exhaled, you forgot it was common courtesy to turn your head before blowing smoke out and over her face. But she was too busy staring at you to even finch when it caressed her skin.

You coughed just a bit as the smoke recoiled from your throat, her hand gently patting at your back to help you settle.

“Atta girl.” She mused, a small laugh in her tone. “Not bad for a first timer.”

You rolled your eyes, letting out a small hum around the stick still in your mouth. When you looked down at her, you saw just how intently she was looking at you. Her organic hand slowly slid up your back, tracing the space between where your shirt had ridden up and the waist of your jeans started.

“Still with me, lady?” You asked, using the nickname you knew she hated just to see if you could get her attention.

”Hm?” Sevika hummed, clearly focused on more important things.

The music was still playing around you, the sound slightly crackling from her busted speakers she always said she never had the time to fix.

Though the wheat fields and the clotheslines…

And the junkyards and the highways come between us…

You took the cigarette from your lips, tapping off the smoke before taking another slow inhale off of it.

“Nothing.”

Her hand slid higher still when you didn’t call her out for it, slipping beneath the hem of cotton so she could slide her hand up your spine.

You could feel the worn-in callouses of her hand, the way they radiated such a warmth it made you shiver. You had seen her hands in action, wrung tight around rope or spread out flat against the flank of a horse. But you had never felt them on your skin like this. Like she wanted to memorize the feeling.

It was even better than you’d thought it would be.

And you thought about it a lot.

“This okay?” She asked, her voice soft and gentle in a way you almost didn’t recognize. Her fingertips were tracing soft circles into your flesh, just to feel the way it gave beneath her pressure. You were so close she could smell your perfume through the haze of tobacco, and she felt her heart race.

”I ain’t run away screamin’, have I?”

She smiled up at you in that crooked way that made you wonder what her tongue tasted like. How she’d breathe if you got even closer.

“No, I guess not.”

You leaned down close enough that your noses almost brushed against one another, just shy of feeling where her breath brushed against your skin.

“That a good thing?” You shifted further on her lap, making yourself nice and comfortable.

”Reckon so…” Her words trailed off as her fingers brushed against the edge of your bra. She backed off on instinct, but when you kept looking at her like you wanted to devour her, she had no choice but to carry on as she was.

You remained still, even when you felt her tracing the fastenings. She’d dig her thumb against the tiny metal clasps like she was going to take them off before running them along the lace edge instead.

Your own hand got curious, not wanting to be left out. With a slow drag, you let it fall low enough to trace the raised metal on her belt buckle with your thumb.

“You oughta slow down, darlin’.” She warned, but the way her breath caught told you she was trying to convince herself just as much as she was you.

”You started it.” You said around a coy smile, keeping your hand where it was as you gave an experimental roll of your hips down against her own.

The sudden movement made her jolt, accidentally sending your ass right back on the horn of the steering wheel. The sound made the dogs up on the porch start going off, and you could hear the distant shouting of your mama trying to get them to settle down.

You were both laughing as reality settled back in. The haze of desire slipped away even as she gave you one last squeeze of your hips.

”I should go.” You said, even as every iota of your being said to hell with it when you had her acting like that over a little touching. When you handed her back the cigarette, you could feel her fingers linger against your own.

”Yup.” She answered a little too quickly, and it only made you look more smug as she helped ease you off of her.

She gave your ass a small smack just as you crawled back over to the other side of the bench, opening the passenger door of the truck and hopping down.

Sevika watched you begin to trek up the hill, sliding her hand down her face and letting out a sigh so deep it nearly felt like a growl of frustration.

She glanced down at her cigarette, noting the soft pink sheen of your lipgloss where your mouth had been.

She smiled down at it, turning it in her hand to watch the sheen catch the light before placing it between her lips. She closed her eyes as she inhaled slow and deep just to feel the ghost of your touch.

She settled back against her seat once more, keeping her lips where they were even through her exhale as the radio music poured around her.

That you’re waitin’ from the back roads by the rivers of my memories…

Cecil shifted the weight of his belt, adjusting his footing as if not particularly willing to divulge that information. But he knew better. Denying your inquisitiveness usually only made you seek out your answers with even more insistence. “It's not a territory with sovereignty, my lady. You wouldn't have learned of it in your histories.”

The idea of any gaps in your education, especially on something as important as geography, brought a frown to your face. But you knew you'd have to deal with one inquiry at a time for now.

 “So, not titled. I'm surprised our aloof knight was even allowed through the gates.” The faint scalding in your tone slipped out without you realizing it.

He cast a disapproving look in your direction, his armor creaking with the shift of his movements as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Princess, His Majesty has already explained-”

“No matter.” You said, interrupting whatever lecture on the integrity and honor of knighthood he was bound to echo from your father before he could get the chance. “If I wished to hear my father's voice, I'd go to his chambers.”

You knew you were being a little unfair, but these sorts of affairs rarely left you in a good mood and he just so happened to be standing the closest to the mercy of your temper.  

Your fingers gently tapped along the armrest of the chair, your gaze once again drawn to the concealed knight. Your hands grabbed the skirts of your dress to stand just as the Herald was announcing the next man. You weren't about to sit through the next seven or so names of men to get to the object of your fascination.

The knight remained still even as you approached, the visor was made of intricate metalwork that made it nearly impossible for you to see the face behind the steel.

All eyes were upon the two of you, but you hardly noticed. 

The Herald turned to the Cecil in confusion, his words still hanging on the tip of tongue from where he had been interrupted by this unorthodox display. Every other knight exchanged curious glances, some more furious than others at an unknown being granted the grace of the princess's attention. 

“Who are you?” You asked, despite knowing the answer. Part of you was merely curious to get even a glimpse of the person behind such an impressive build. They seemed even larger now that you stood before them, looming above you before dropping to one knee upon the stone below to address you.

“Ser Sevika of Zaun, Your Highness.” The deep and smooth voice echoed inside the metal of the suit, frustratingly continuing to conceal them further. 

“Hm…” You hummed, your head tilting to one side as you debated your next move. The air was still, as if the whole world slowed just to see what would happen next. 

“Remove your helm, Ser Sevika.” 

The knight stilled further, if that was even possible. Their head lifting to regard you as if surprised by the question.

“My lady?”

The thought of catching such an imposing figure off guard delighted you immensely, and it showed in the lilt of your voice as you answered. “Your princess demands you remove your helm, Ser.”

Something that faintly sounded like a chuckle slips from between the gaps of the metal visor. 

“Do my skills alone not impress you, Your Highness? Or is it necessary to reveal my face to win your favor?”

Now you're the one who's laughing under her breath. What a delightful response. So unlike the immediate supplication and fumbling for your approval you were used to.

“Oh, but of course.” You said, folding your hands behind your back as if to capture the very essence of innocent intent. “Perhaps you are a beast beneath all that metal? How can I expect you to protect me if I don't know for certain?” You knew they were looking into your eyes without seeing them, so you leaned ever so slightly closer as her hesitation continued. 

“Or shall you deny me?”

There was a small pause. And for a moment you're weren’t certain if they'll actually follow through with it. Not until they rose to their full height, two hands grasping the bottom of the helm to pull it from their head in one smooth motion. No longer obscured by steel, the knight, the *woman* behind the helmet now stood before you.

It was her eyes you noticed first. Two pools of silver that almost glowed against the contrast of her warm toned skin and darkly lined lashes. You hadn't expected her to be older. Especially given the crowd of green boys looking eager to prove themselves men that surrounded her.

Sevika, with the hardened lines upon her eyes and the faint scar that split her upper lip, radiated an easy confidence. Her strength was not proven, it emanated from her very being.

She was almost too beautiful to look at, the expression upon her face so earnest it made you feel like telling all of your deepest secrets to her just because you knew she'd keep them. 

“Still think me a beast, my lady?” She asked, her voice now ringing clear from her lips as it broke through your thoughts. You could hear the smirk even if her face remained respectful, like she had caught you staring and wanted to tell you in unspoken words.

Your heart stuttered in your chest. Was she teasing you? The very idea thrilled, but you weren't one to be beaten at your own game. “That remains to be seen.” You said, giving her another once over. “I shall have to keep a close eye on you to be certain.”

You stepped closer to her under the guise of turning. “Though I have my hopes.” You mused quietly, enjoying the way she once again attempted to hide her amusement. 

“Captain Cecil.” You called, not taking my eyes away from her until you heard the older man's armor clatter behind you as he approached. “I don't need to hear anything more today. I have decided this Sevika of Zaun shall be my new guard.”

There was commotion from the other knights, most clearly bothered they hadn't been introduced properly. But it became abundantly clear that you had made up your mind on the matter. And even the lowliest of sons from the farthest of lands knew that the princess was not to be questioned once you had. 

Cecil simply sighed, bowing his head. “I shall inform his Majesty.” He said before turning to take his leave.

“Gods help me…” He mumbled under his breath, nodding at the Herald to begin sending the lads back wherever they came from.

Thoroughly pleased with yourself, you gathered your skirts once more and began heading off towards the stables, pausing when you failed to hear anyone behind you. With a turn, you saw Sevilla still standing where you had left her, looking just as bewildered as everyone else.

“Come along.” You said, gesturing towards the stone archways. "I have things to do, and I expect you to keep up with me.” You watched her brows lift just a fraction, and something about her expression made you feel like prodding her. “I trust that won’t be a problem, ser?”