A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

The very thought made Nila shudder. "Impossible," she agreed. "He's the most frightening man I've ever met. I don't understand how Queen Asabel can have him so near to her, whilst being so calm… I suppose she is quite a frightening woman too, now that I say it. She's so kind, I feel like she could drown me if she wished to."

"She does have that effect," Oliver said. "But she's a fierce woman at times as well. Maybe one day you'll see that side of her."

"It would be a privilege…" Nila said. "But I wonder if I would get the chance to see her again? I'm so small in comparison to her. I doubt she has any interest in me at all. Besides, I'm just a peasant. It's even strange for a noble like you to meet with her."

"I think at most she's only a head taller than you," Oliver said.

"You know that isn't what I meant…" Nila sighed. "Must it be so difficult to have a serious conversation with you?"

"I suppose that would depend on which part that you are serious about," Oliver said.

"Well, let's see – you complimented her for being fierce," Nila said. "Is that something that you like?"

"Hm, well, I would suppose that I do," Oliver said, nodding. "A fierce woman, when the moment is right, does strike me as being a good thing."

Oliver could quite well tell that Nila was fishing for a compliment, and from the way Nila was going about it, she wasn't trying to hide that fact. She was all but pouting now, as she waited for her to say something. But being the huntress that she was, she knew that this part, for Oliver, would certainly be the most fun.

In dangling it before her, and stretching it out, there was enough amusant to be had that he could barely fight back a smile.

"And?" Nila said, glaring at him with those large round eyes of hers, so filled with sharpness.

"And, I suppose, you can be quite fierce yourself, sometimes," Oliver said.

"So half-hearted," Nila complained. "Imagine if I had agreed to marry you, rather than court you. How I would have suffered. You wouldn't have had to work for my affections at all – you would have just been the same you that you always are."

"Is that what you're trying to make me do? Work for your affections?" Oliver said.

Nila blushed lightly, realizing what she had said. "Aren't you?" She turned it back on him.

"I do wonder," Oliver said. "I had thought that we were just playing, before the sun comes up, and before we both need to attend to our duties. But if you would call it that, I wouldn't dare to disagree with you. After all, Nila Felder is terribly fierce, we've soon discovered."

"Yes, yes," Nila said impatiently, brushing him away. "So terribly fierce that I might bite you if you tease me anymore. Honestly, this was one of the worst ideas that you've had. I don't have the energy at all to deal with you before I've eaten."

"Is that right?" Oliver said. "I had quite enjoyed it."

"Well… I suppose, that's fine then," Nila said. "Next time, we'll do something different though. If someone were to walk by, we would look as stupid as could be, just standing and talking like this. When the air gets colder, we'll catch a chill just standing around."

"You think so?" Oliver said. "Well, if that is what the wise fox Nila Felder supposes, then perhaps that is the route that we'll have to follow."

"I've a feeling that you're making fun of me, and I'm not too pleased with that fact," Nila said. "How are my people meant to take me seriously, if the man that I'm meant to be close doesn't take me seriously?"

"I take you plenty seriously," Oliver said, putting a hand on her head.

She pouted at him, and glared at the palm, and the finger drooping down so that it almost poked her in her eye. "See, this is what I mean. At times, you treat me as if I'm a dog. Do you enjoy patting my head that much?"

"I do," Oliver said with a deal of sincerity.

Directness of that sort, Oliver was quickly discovering, was Nila's weakness. She wasn't able to brush him off nearly as easily when he was so honest. "…Fine, then, I suppose… I shall put up with it."

"Would you prefer that I didn't?" Oliver said.

"…I just don't know what you like about it," Nila said. "I'm not a dog. It's not as if my hair is all fluffy, so that it's fun to touch. It's just hair."

"Hm…" Oliver said. "It's got its own sort of charm. The red hair of Nila Felder. You could make a pair of gloves out of it, and they'd sell for a high price."

She swatted him away then. "See! This is why I never bother to let you have your way. You're just making fun of me! All the way through! Was anything that you said this morning serious at all?

Or am I just here for you to jest with?"

She was well and truly furious, showing that ferocity that Oliver had so quickly complimented her on earlier. He had to laugh at the sight of her. She was the sort of woman that could quite readily tear a man apart when she got like that.

"…And now you're laughing," she said, slumping with defeat. But beneath the cowl of the defeat, there was the smallest of smiles.

"I suppose I should leave you then," Oliver said. "Otherwise, I'll spend all morning teasing you."

"So you admit it," Nila said. "You're the most stupid man in the village, I do declare it. Who else would waste all their time just for that?"

"I think you would find there to be quite a line of people gathered for the opportunity to tease you," Oliver said. "It ought to become a village wide sport."