“No, my lady, I had no problem traveling with the men. They were all very respectful. Of course, there was the one incident at the river … Oh, hi Rezkin!” Reaylin beamed as Rezkin and Tam entered the parlor.

“Reaylin,” Rezkin said with a slight bow in greeting. “It is good to see you again.” Rezkin was not quite sure of the veracity of the statement, but it was a polite greeting, anyway.

“Not going to greet me, eh, Reaylin?” Tam scoffed.

“Oh, hi Tam,” Reaylin said with decidedly less enthusiasm. “I was just talking with Lady Adelina.”

“Yes, we heard,” Tam said. “Best not go into the river incident. I think it was embarrassing enough for everyone the first time.”

Reaylin’s face flushed. “Oh, right.”

Lady Adelina’s eyes sparkled as she asserted, “Oh, no, dear. You cannot leave off, now. You have already broached the subject, and now you simply must share.”

Reaylin flushed again, “Oh, um, well, you see … Frisha and I went to bathe upstream, and then when we were walking back, we came upon Rezkin. He was also bathing, but you know, the water wasn’t that deep, and anyway … well, then Frisha and I kind of fell in …”

Tam cleared his throat loudly, “If you’re going to tell an embarrassing story, you have to tell it right!”

Reaylin’s face was bright red as she darted a glance at Rezkin who was standing stoically waiting to hear the rest of the story. Actually, he had never asked what caused the fight in the first place, although Jimson had mentioned his hypothesis.

“Right, well, Frisha and I sort of got into a fight, and then we fell in the water and kept fighting … a lot,” Reaylin said as Lady Adelina gasped. “Rezkin heard one of us scream, so he came running to see what the problem was. Well, you know, he had been bathing, so he was completely naked.” Lady Adelina could not stop the giggle that bubbled up and had to cover her mouth to hide a smile as her eyes wandered over the handsome, well-defined young man. “So, then, all of a sudden, Tam and Jimson show up, and Jimson thinks Rezkin is trying to take advantage of us.”

Adelina gasped again. “No!”

Reaylin nodded emphatically. “Well, Rezkin did not take kindly to the accusation, and things weren’t so good between him and Jimson for a while, but they didn’t fight or anything. When it was all over, Rezkin was sweet enough to treat our wounds, and he gave us some herbs that really helped with the pain. We were all really embarrassed. Except Rezkin, I think, who was just mad, and Tam, I guess, who didn’t do anything.”