Hello! I'm sorry that it's been so long, but school has taken over my life. But at least this chapter is a bit longer and I posted a song on this site the other day.

Remember, I'll take all feedback. Thanks for reading!

Warning, this has not been proofread. I wanted to get it posted immediately.

Chapter 5:

Tesia walked into the med-house dripping from the rain. Elle spotted her as soon as she walked in the door. "My goodness, Tesia." She handed the girl a large towel and tried not to laugh as Tesia wrung her hair out. "Dry off and we'll get you some clothes to wear. Then I'll show you around here."

Tesia thanked her and Melena brought a simple dress to wear while her clothes dried. Elle was about to start the tour of the building when she suddenly cried, "Oooh!" and touched her growing stomach.

"What's wrong?" asked Tesia. She had never been around a pregnant woman before and did not know what to expect.

"The baby just kicked me," said Elle with a mother's smile. Tesia's face gave away her amazement. "Would you like to feel it?"

"Can I?"

"Of course." Elle took Tesia's hand and set it palm-down on her belly.

Tesia immediately felt the movement. "Oh my goodness. Does the baby do that often?"

"More often as the days pass," answered Elle. "That means that it's healthy and will be coming out soon."

"That's wonderful, Elle."

"Well, we should start working. Not many people will come in today because of the rain so there will be plenty of time to explain everything that goes on in here."

Elle showed Tesia where all of the herbs are kept and how they are marked and sorted. They looked at closets where the extra sheets and bandages were kept. After the tour, Elle explain how they treated simple injuries and colds with herbs and what herbs can be used to help what ailments. Though only a few hours had past, Tesia felt like her head was spinning from all the knowledge she was trying to absorb.

Elle was also tiring and decided that a break was in order. She and Tesia sat on a bench near the door, where there was a stool Elle could set her sore feet on. As they listened to the rain beat the ground, the Elle gossiped to Tesia about all of the town's happenings.

"Most importantly," said Elle after telling stories of various people, "is the upcoming Spring Gala."

"What's that?" asked Tesia.

Elle tried to hide her surprise that Tesia didn't already know about the great party. "It's a yearly celebration here to welcome in the new growing season. The Gala is a huge, but very fancy party with people from all over the kingdom. A few members of neighboring royalty come and one of the King's siblings is always present. You'll come too, won't you? Everyone in town always goes."

"Me? At a huge gala? I've never been to anything like that before. And even if I were to go I don't have a dress worthy of such an event," said Tesia. And at my age I am expected to be on the arm of a man, worried Tesia.

"Don't worry about it. When the time comes I'm sure your mother will take care of everything. And you have me here."

Their talk was interrupted by the sound of a creaking door.

"Hello Dorian," said Tesia as a smile took over her fact at the sight of him.

"Ah, Tesia, just the person I was hoping to see," replied Dorian as he set down a basket and began to ring out his shirt.

Although Elle was happy to see the interaction between her two love birds, her mothering instincts kicked in. "Dorian!" she exclaimed. "Get in here and dry off right now before you catch your death."

Dorian stopped squishing in the doorway to stare at her with raised eyebrows and Tesia could not contain her giggles. "Well," Elle continued, "you should at least set a good example. You're the prince after all. Now, grab a towel. Did you bring extra clothes?"

"Yes, and some lunch to eat in the back room, if you don't mind me stealing your student for a while."

Tesia's giggles abruptly stopped and a smile instantly spread across Elle's face. "Of course," Elle replied. "You change and come for her whenever you're ready."

"Thanks Elle. I'll be back in a few minutest Tesia."

"Okay," Tesia replied softly with a shy smile. Even though she had been the one to initiate holding hands at their meeting, Tesia was not used to this kind of attention from a man and remained shy.

A trail of water followed Dorian as he walked into one of the rooms that had a door.

Tesia turned to Elle, the shock and excitement clear on her face. "He walked all the way over here in the pouring rain to surprise me with lunch?"

"That's what it looks like," replied Elle. She busied herself by folding some cloth.

"Does he do that often for people?" asked Tesia. She was almost afraid to hear the answer but had to know where she stood and Elle was the best source.

"I've known Dorian for a number of years now…and I don't believe I've ever seen him do something like this before. But then again, I've never seen him try to court a girl before.

Tesia gasped. "You really thing he wants to court me?" She leaned against a table to balance herself against the surprise.

Elle stopped her folding to address the nervous girl directly. "It's obvious that you two like each other. And you're the first girl he's ever expressed any real interest in. Has he asked your parents permission yet?"

"Yes, the first day we met," said Tesia. Her stomach filling with butterflies. Her face flushed with the heat of possibilities. Tesia didn't know what to expect, but had a feeling she would like it.

Dorian opened the door to the back room and stepped out a bit. "Would you please join me in here, Tesia?"

At that moment, he seemed very calm and sure of himself to Tesia. Inside, Dorian was shaking. From watching other couples, he knew that a private lunch was a nice, even romantic, way to begin a courtship. But he had never attempted such a thing.

Only sensing her own nervousness, Tesia's feet moved to his voice as though it was a magnet. The simple dress swished around her legs. Tesia's hair was dry now and floated around her shoulders as she walked. Dorian absorbed the sight, not caring at all about the plain dress. Tesia recognized this now, and blushed a little at his intense gaze, but did not care about the dress. If pants had not mattered to him, than why should a plain dress? Dorian took her hand and guided her to a back corner of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Candles had been placed around the room, specifically highlighting a picnic lunch laid across a blanket on the floor. A soft, glowing light surrounded them as Dorian pulled Tesia to sit on the blanket next to him. Shock was obvious on her face. "Oh, Dorian. It's beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it." Tesia turned to look at Dorian and saw that his clothes were now dry, but damp bangs clung to his forehead. His dimples framed his smile, a look Tesia now loved and always wanted to see. But his eyes were darker than usual, as if a cloud was plaguing him. Such a look could not have been caused by the dimness of a room; it went too deep. Tesia could already guess it was caused by the visit from Jove, but she decided to let it be for now.

He began laying out the meal in front of her. Dorian could hardly contain his excitement. "Let's eat. I've brought roast chicken, big, juicy grapes, and apple pie."

As they ate they spoke of everything except the visit from Jove. Tesia told Dorian about her visit to the temple of Alaistar and Dorian shared a few stories he knew about the god. They discussed her first day at the med-house and what techniques she should learn next. Dorian also invited her on another horse-back ride and described other paths they could take around the town.

Throughout their conversation, Dorian seemed to be avoiding the topic of Jove. Tesia was worried about him and moved closer to the man as he changed the subject yet again. They were almost finished with lunch when she decided to at least broach the issue while they were sill alone.

"Dorian, are you all right?" she asked him tentatively.

The usually light-hearted man forced a smile on his face. "Of course. Why do you ask?" Dorian thought that he had done well hiding his concern. The last thing he wanted to do was to worry or scare away the first girl he was interested in. But at the same time, he badly wanted to share what happened yesterday with her and he couldn't bear lying to Tesia for much longer. Dorian hated lying to begin with; it was wrong to be dishonest, especially with those you love. And lying to Tesia right now seemed like the worst thing he could possibly do.

"I can tell that something is bothering you." She turned to stare into his melancholy eyes with a frown. "I can see it in your eyes."

Dorian broke from her intense gaze with a sigh and shifted his eyes to the ground. Tesia wanted badly for him to confide in her if only to see him happy again. "Dorian, I promise that whatever it is, I won't tell anyone if that's what you want."

Dorian smiled at her. "It's not that I don't trust you, Tesia. And it's not that I don't want to tell you." How could he explain everything that had been swirling in his mind since last night? But if she was this concerned, how could he not?

"Then what is it?" Tesia asked, now desperate to help him.

"I didn't want to worry you," answered Dorian. "But now I see that you will be worried either way…You know, my father knew that I would tell you everything."

Tesia relaxed a bit as a blush crept up her face from the confidence of Arion.

Dorian took a deep breath. "As I'm sure you've already guessed, the heaviness in me was brought by Jove. Every time Jove comes to our kingdom he is angry, but yesterday was the worst I had ever seen. I overheard the end of an argument that he and my father were having. It was over me. Jove insisted that my father make me stop healing people. My father refused. Even if he hadn't, I could never stop.

"My father all but threw Jove out of the kingdom when Jove threatened me. He is stronger than my father. He could fulfill his threats. To make this worse, Father had a dream of lightning bolts falling upon me like rain from the sky. His prophecies always come true. And he says that this one will be soon."

"Dorian," Tesia whispered. Fear filled her at the thought of Dorian being taken away.

He quickly took her hand in his own and kissed it. He then interlaced their fingers. He was determined to be brave for her. "I thought that I was to die at first, too. But Father did not see my death. He believes that I will live."

"How can you be so confident?" asked Tesia.

"For now, I just have to know that I will live through it. There is no guarantee, but I will be strong and I will fight."

"Yes. You are the most amazing person I've ever met Dorian. And though I am scared, I know that you will somehow live through this."

Tesia knew she had to be strong for Dorian just as he was for her. And

Though he was still shaken by the entire ordeal, telling Tesia lifted some pressure off of him and brought him new hope.

"I do ask that you not tell anyone," said Dorian. "If the people found out about this prophecy they would be very difficult to calm. I don't know what they would do in response.

Tesia nodded her understanding. "Will you tell Elle?"

"No, she has enough to worry about with the baby coming soon. She doesn't need me to add to the stress."

Tesia realized then that Dorian only intended to tell her about the prophecy. And although she was worried about him, she couldn't help but smile at the thought that he trusted and cared for her so much.

Dorian noticed the grin immediately and could not help but smile with her. "And what has brought on this change in mood?" he asked teasingly.

"I'm just glad you told me."

"As am I," Dorian said. Then a brighter light entered his eyes. The heaviness had bee, at least, momentarily lifted and replaced by a remembered thought. "On to happier things now."

Tesia's stomach jumped in anticipation of the question she wanted so badly to come.

"You have heard the town talking about the Spring Gala, haven't you?"

"Yes," said Tesia coyly. "Elle and I were discussing it before you arrived."

"Well, I realize that this is very late notice…" began Dorian, suddenly nervous, "and maybe someone else has already asked you, but would you like to go to the gala with me?"

"I would love to!" said Tesia, trying her best not to scream her joy to the world.