What Were You Thinking?!

Ethyn gulped. "I can explain..."

Silver cut him off. "Why are you even out here?"

"We came for a picnic, brother." Rose tried, but the innocence in her voice only riled up the cloaked figure.

The fire in the Guardian's eyes looked like a storm of molten steel. "A PICNIC?! Out here? What in the blazes…" Silver inhaled sharply. "Did Katherine not warn you?" He tried to find some explanation. "I made Conall promise to give her the warning in case you should decide to come by the stables."

"We got a warning, but it could have easily been misunderstood." The young man tried to rationalize his actions.

"How so? What did Katherine say?" Silver was unwilling to let the knight go so easily.

"Well, it was actually Corey who gave us the message. He said to stay close and warned us there were bandits about..." Even as the words came out, Ethyn knew they were the wrong ones. He closed his eyes to block out Silver's condemnation.

The Guardian tapped his foot. "And what exactly was confusing about that?"

"Well…he winked at me when he said it." Ethyn bit his lip. Every inch of his body screamed to run before the other man took a swing at him.

"I…I don't even know what to do with that." Pinching his nose, Silver turned to his sister.

Surely she hadn't gone along on this plan willingly. Yet here she was in the middle of nowhere hiding on top of a rock from wicked men…

"Why did you come out with this miscreant?" He asked in disbelief. Silver's finger wagged faster than a puppy's tail.

"You told me to get along with him, didn't you?" Rose defended herself.

The forbidding finger wilted. "I, uh... Don't twist my words! This is clearly not what I meant. After all you have been through these past couple of days, I would have thought you would be more cautious."

"I am sorry I disappointed you." The princess's eyes welled with tears, causing the elder brother to quickly regret his words. Allowing the woman to fold into his arms, Silver stroked the princess's head, which was buried in his shoulder.

"I think you were being a little hard on Her Highness. She did advise me that we were going too far from home." Ethyn hated to see the pair argue. Especially when it was his fault.

The silver flash of the Guardian's eyes as he looked at the knight made Ethyn flinch. A low growl escaped Silver's lips.

"And you! Even barring the imminent danger I WARNED you about, what made you think it was a good idea for you to go gallivanting across the countryside with the PRINCESS and no escort?" The Guardian clutched his sister in his arms. "What if something had happened to her?!"

"I'm sorry," Ethyn tried. He really had no defense. Deep down he had fooled himself into thinking this was Silver's idea, when really it had been his own selfish design that had brought them there. The young man hung his head.

"W-why did you come here of all places? This is disputed territory!" Silver wanted to smack the knight upside the head.

"Really? I didn't know. I remembered you and Sage coming here once..." Ethyn clamped his mouth shut as he saw the other man's fiery glare.

"I won't ask how you know that. We only came once because Sage knew that this area was not a safe place. I didn't know then that she was wanted in Lakyle or I would have never put her in danger like that. Sage was on edge the entire time we were here and asked never to come back." Silver shook his head.

It seemed that both he and Ethyn had both put women in danger due to the call of the picturesque cove. Things would be easier if it had never existed. 'At least Ethyn wasn't using it as a romantic getaway. That really would have backfired.'

The thought made Silver growl again, causing Ethyn to take a step back.

"Neither of you listen. How did I help raise two such foolish people?" The Guardian sounded like an old mother hen, but he did not care. He had every right to nag after what he had witnessed.

"I will never make this mistake again. The cove is as good as forgotten." Ethyn crossed his heart, very happy that he could move it with only minimal pain.

"Good." Silver pursed his lips and looked down at the princess.

She wiped her eyes. "I will do better as well, brother."

Pulling back, the Guardian grasped his sister's shoulders. "Yes, you will. Though I will do better too. I will not leave your side again as long as you are in Rynnlee. You cannot get rid of me. I will be your shadow. You mean so much to me. I don't want to lose you: either of you." Silver shot the knight a knowing glance.

That is when a realization hit Ethyn like one of Courage's kicks. Silver wasn't mad at him for being an idiot and nearly getting the princess killed. Well, actually he was, but that was beside the point. The Guardian was upset because he was worried for Ethyn's safety.

The cloaked man nearly lost two of the people he cared about the most. It was impressive that Silver was showing as much restraint as he was.

"That's right. I'm glad you are alright, you fool." Silver reached over and tousled his friend's red hair like when he was a child. "Though if you bring my sister that close to death again, I will kill you myself."

"I wouldn't blame you." Ethyn escaped the Guardian's reach and tried to comb his hair with his fingers. "Though I do blame you for the crime against my head!"

"Trust me, it looks better this way. Who are you trying to impress anyway?" The Guardian raised one eyebrow.

Ethyn's hands immediately went to the pommel of his sword. Stumbling over his words, a tinge of pink came to his cheeks. "Impress? Why would you even ask that? You misunderstand. Uh, I am a knight of Birle! I have an image to maintain!"

"A knight for barely a week and already he has delusions of grandeur." Silver rolled his eyes.

"I noticed his delusions even before he became a knight." Rose smiled, happy to see the tension between the two men was gone. The princess had felt worse about hurting their relationship than she did about putting herself in danger. She grinned as Ethyn eagerly took up the plot.

The knight turned up his nose indignantly. "I will have you know that any delusions I may have I caught from being around two of the craziest, most headstrong people I have ever met. It is a wonder that I turned out as wise and good looking as I did."

"Ha! You have no wits of which to speak and the only good looking one around here is Haven." Silver smirked.

"I cannot agree on either of those." Ethyn shook his head gravely.

"You don't think Haven is beautiful?" The edge in the Guardian's voice was unmistakable.

"I did not say that!" The young man took an almost imperceptible step backwards as he held up his hands.

Silver flexed his fists. "Then what, pray tell, did you mean?"

"I mean I cannot speak to the beauty of the princess at all. For either I will risk breaking my promise or breaking my nose." Ethyn covered the offending part of his face when he saw Silver's scowl.

Rose's hand laid gently on her brother's arm as she giggled. "Do not be upset. It is a joke."

Seeming to ignore her, Silver shot his hand forward to the man. Ethyn winced. But instead of receiving a hit, he lost whatever progress he had made on straightening his hair as his head was roughly pushed to one side with Silver's open palm.

"Come on." The Guardian rolled his eyes one last time before flipping up his hood. "Let's go home. It's almost time for dinner."