Fine By Me

"Lie to her? I wouldn't lie, especially not to the queen!" Simone was outraged at the accusation Shayn had leveled at her. 

"A lie by omission is still a lie. You made it sound like I rushed through danger to help you pick up your books!" Shayn shook a finger at her as if she were worthy of a good scolding.

"I didn't want to make either of us look bad," Simone defended herself, "We both behaved with less than amazing manners that day." 

Shayn's face darkened. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" 

The librarian blinked at him, confused. "Um, no?" 

The man took a deep breath, looking like he was trying to suppress unfounded anger. "I come from, unfortunately, a family of intensive and meddling matchmakers. My sister, you may recall, was the official matchmaker between Rhone and Ceto for the arranged marriage treaty. It's genetic. They can't help it, all of them." 

"So?" Simone failed to see where this lesson on family history was leading.

"So," His words became clipped and condescending, as if he were explaining something to a child. A very dumb child. "Your little story about my gallantry will make it back to their ears. I guarantee it. And then, I get to show up to my own welcome party escorting you…" 

"Oh. Oh!" Simone paled. "I can't… I love my work at the library, I have no interest in…" Her words faltered, and she struggled with how to continue. 

He was incredibly attractive, if she were honest with herself. His eyes were a peculiar shade of striking green that demanded attention. But his arrogance! It was atrocious and off-putting. Yet, she couldn't insult the man–

"Just say it." His eyes narrowed at her. 

"Pardon?" 

"You didn't finish your sentence." He prompted with irritation in his eyes, and her ire rose. 

"I have no interest in a boorish, self-absorbed wild man who talks about people behind their backs!" She felt horrified as the words left her mouth. This was the queen's stepbrother! The General's brother! She was offending the highest levels of government with every word! 

She could be fired, easily. Or executed, or banished. What had gotten into her? 

Shayn's mouth flattened into a displeased line. 

"Then we're in agreement," He said, plunging her into confusion. 

"About what, exactly?" She asked quietly. 

"I have no interest in an eavesdropping, social-climbing bookworm with no manners!" 

"How dare you!" Her hands clenched in outrage, and a librarian nearby shushed them both. 

Simone's face immediately fell in shame. She was better than this! She could behave beautifully! 

The Treasurer, head over the library, taxes, and other similar parts of the government, emerged from the back entrance. The day's Council meeting must have finished a little early today. He beckoned her over, and dread formed in the pit of her stomach. 

Had he overheard her outburst? She ducked her head and avoided looking at Shayn as she went over to talk to the bespectacled older man. 

"Yes, Sir?" She whispered. 

"I have a new assignment for you, Simone," He said, and her heart rate slowed since she wasn't being fired on the spot. 

It was an irrational fear, really. She'd done so much good for the library and the nation. She was a competent library assistant, one of the best! They wouldn't fire her for so small an offense. Yet, she still felt that pang of fear every time the Councilman wanted to speak with her. 

"Yes, Sir," She tried to keep from frowning at the thought of spending months working with Shayn, "I just gave the new books to Queen Serafina, and I was thinking that next, I could–" 

"Work with the newly returned surveyors to update the kingdom's maps and intelligence about the anomalies." The Treasurer's tone did not brook disagreement, and Simone cowed under his authority. 

"Sir, I am…" She tried to backtrack out of the ordeal. 

"Eager to get started, of course. I see you've already met your partner for the project. He and his brother look much alike! I'll leave you to it." The Treasurer nodded. "Update me on your progress once a week or if you have any major revelations. The atlases are in the usual place, with clean paper for you to work with in the supply room." 

The older man nudged her towards her table and walked away, leaving Simone to press her palms to her cheeks and rub her temples in frustration. This was going to be a long project. 

"Everything all right?" A quiet voice next to her ear made her jump. 

"Don't do that!" She cried, glaring at Shayn. 

"We just got shushed a moment ago," He whispered loudly, "I thought you might want me to be quieter." 

Simone's eyes narrowed in suspicion, while Shayn's eyebrows rose mockingly. 

"Why don't you show me what you brought, and I'll take stock of what needs doing," She cut straight to business instead of lingering in conversation with the man. 

He shrugged and opened his knapsack, spreading out his things across the table. She marveled at the dense notes and wonderful lines of artistry in the depictions of the topography.

"You made all these?" She asked softly. 

"Kyler did his share. We split the work; I did most of the measuring, and he took all the notes. The drawings we each did half." He looked as if he were preparing for her to insult his efforts. 

"They are… higher quality than much of the other work I've seen." She smiled tightly. 

"Thank you," He said as if it should be obvious that his work would be top tier. 

In fact, it was. She was impressed in spite of herself. She wanted to be able to grumble internally about being stuck with someone rude who didn't even know how to do his own job, but he very clearly did. 

"With this area, the atlases should be able to be fully updated. You're the last ones back from the expeditions, I believe." She leaned forward to study one intricate drawing. 

"We didn't do it halfway," Shayn cut in. "We did our work thoroughly. And it was the furthest and least-mapped territory assigned." 

"Of course," She said absently, looking at the outline of the base of a mountain, "I'm sure it was very difficult…" She trailed off as she traced her finger to a sudden valley.

"You mean because of Kyler's crutches? He didn't slow us down at all," Shayn's voice took on a vicious edge. "He's a better surveyor than all the rest of those men put together." 

Simone shook her head and looked Shayn in the eye. 

"I didn't mean that at all. I simply was commenting on the difficulty of the territory you covered. The topography of the base of the mountain range looks complex, especially adjacent to a desert which can have constantly shifting dunes making the terrain arduous and potentially problematic… yet the pair of you brought back such detail as would take quite a while to collect and document." 

Her assessment seemed to catch him off guard. "You know about mapping?" 

"Did you think they would assign you some ignorant fool to compile your work?" She asked with irritation. 

"I suppose not," He conceded. "I just thought that…" 

"You thought that I would be mind-numbingly dull and simply copy your notes and findings down." Simone smiled sarcastically. "It's a common misconception, I assure you." 

Shayn's eyes narrowed. She could tell he was wondering just how commonly she'd had to disprove the misconception, and how many men she'd worked alongside before. She tucked a stray hair back into her sensible bun, glad that she'd taken the trouble to scrub her golden locks to a pristine shine after her trip. 

His brother had called her 'pretty' at the inn, even if she hadn't been meant to overhear. Perhaps Shayn shared that opinion. If he did, maybe she could leverage that into gaining enough of his good favor to make working with him a little bit easier. 

She turned a charming smile on him, despite her frustration over his attitude and arrogance. "Shall we get started?" 

He frowned. "Don't do that." 

"Do what?" She asked innocently. 

"Don't…. That," He gestured at her. "Just because I've been away from female company for over three years doesn't mean I'll immediately fall victim to your charms for you to manipulate however you please. I won't be prey to your smiles, you'll have to be competent and work hard to impress me. You won't slide by on looks." 

"Ah, yes, impressing you is clearly my goal in life," Simone rolled her eyes. "Obviously I'm positively desperate for your favor given that I just tried my hardest to get out of being stuck working with you." 

That was a slight exaggeration. She had tried, and had wanted to try harder, but the Treasurer hadn't given her the opportunity. Shayn rose to the taunt and delivered his own. 

"Well, I was guilted into taking this assignment, so you aren't the only one that would rather not be here." He shot back at her. She stared up into his green eyes with fire in hers, not bothering to hide her frustration. 

"So, how about we both just be quiet and get through all this as quickly as we can so we have to spend as little time together as possible?" She challenged. 

"Fine by me."