When Sheik Amar and his men find Dastan and Tamina at the oasis he says that he was tracking them for a week. So, this story is set in that week. It can also be seen as a company/continuation for my story, "Change".

English is not my first language so I ask you to be kind with the grammatical mistakes.

Notturno, by Corah

Chapter 1 - Romance

"I'm desperate for real sleep, in a real and warm bed! I can't stand spending another night freezing on the cold sand!" Tamina grumbled as they prepared for another day of journey, loading the sac in Aksh´s back with their scarce belongings.

"God, can you stop complaining for a second? It's not like I have forced you to come along! You barely awoke and are alredy whining." Dastan answered through gritted teeth. In moments like this one he wishes he could have left her behind when she did her little faint act. "I felt cold as well, but contrary to your highness I'm not making a fuss about it."

Tamina wanted to slap him on the face. She was hungry, thirsty and so tired that at the end of the day even the chilly desert wind couldn't prevent her from succumbing to slumber. "You Persians barbarians are used to the wilderness. As I told you my constitution is more delicate".

"And as I also said before, I think you mean spoiled. Despite being magical I don´t think your bloody dagger can make money appear out of nowhere." he shot back as he mounted Aksh.

But she was right. Despite having no difficulty at sleeping anywhere or anytime (he was a soldier, after all, and a street rat before that) he longed for a night without worrying about vipers and scorpions in the sand. He was accustomed to temperature changes in the desert, crossing it regularly since he became a member of the Persian army, but never in such harsh conditions as now. And she was a princess. He was almost sure that these were the first nights she had to spend in the open air in her life. They are running away with little food or water and barely have the essentials to keep themselves warm during the night. He could see the dark circles growing around her eyes and the weariness of her complexion. Unfortunately, he tought, those things did not diminished the allure she has over him. Only makes her resemble a tragic beauty, like the ones in the epic stories the old preceptor made Tus, Garsiv and him study when they were younger. He's affraid he'll regret what he says to her as she accommodates herself upon the horse's back:

"There's a small city if we go east, but will took us some hours to reach it. I think we won't be reconized there. We can find a tavern or something to sleep, if we get some money. We have also to get supplies."

Tamina answers, animated with the idea. "We won't stop to eat, so we'll go faster. There isn't enough bread to make a decent lunch, anyway. Aksh will be a little worn out, but he will rest better under a roof, just as we'll do".

"Why are you always trying to boss me around?" Dastan meant to sound offended, but couldn't help smirking.

"Well, you have great obedience skills" she grins back with a satisfied look on her face.

He shakes his head smiling while Aksh starts galloping heading east.

-x - x - x - x-

They reach the "little city" a couple of hours past noon. Maybe little if compared to something as huge as Nasaf, because it was almost the same size as Alamut. As they entered the gates with a crowd of merchants and travelers, Tamina almost panicked with the idea that they could be reconized by the soldiers that watched the place.

"You must be joking! This is not "little"! There must be hundreds of Persian guards here!"

"The governor is one of Tus' fathers-in-law. There are no Persian soldiers inside the city, the wedding contract prevented that. The locals organize the guard. We are safe here for a while, but we must be discrete and try to not draw attention to ourselves."

They dismounted and passed the gates with their heads downcast, just for precaution.

As they crossed the market place the smells of food and spices filled their noses, making their stomachs hurt even more. Water was not a problem anymore, they soon found a public fountain and drank from it with abandon. Dastan even gave himself the luxury of pouring a whole flask of water on his head and scrubbed the travel's dirt away. Tamina haven't seen many men shirtless before, but she could say that he is handsome. She wondered how he wasn't embarrassed being like that, half naked in front of everyone. She tried to look away when he caught her observing him.

"See something you like, Princess?" He said with humour on his voice. Her cheeks became visibly red and that made him laugh even more.

"As if I would be interested in a scoundrel like you! You think too much of yourself, Prince!" She answered in a displeased tone.

"Liar." was his simply reply. He could see in her actions that she wasn't indifferent to him. Like when she closed the distance between them another night while pretending to be asleep. But he decided to keep quiet for now as there are other things more urgent to think about. Like eating.

They filled their water flasks and went further into the marketplace. The few coins they had could only buy some apples, pomegranates and dates, but those weren't enough to appease the hunger of days eating only dry bread and cheese.

"We need money. But I don't have the slightest idea at the moment about how we can get some unless stealing it. And I don't like that". Tamina said as she finished the last apple they had.

"Funny, you neither had a conscience when you stole that cloak when I met with Nizam nor when you hit me on the head and left me alone in the desert. In fact, you hadn't it in any other time you fooled me. You have very twisted notions of morals, Princess."

"I did those things out of necessity. I need to protect the dagger and you were in my way!" she protested. They walked past the market and found a field of grass were Aksh could eat. Dastan pointed at a large stone and said to Tamina:

"Stay here. I know how to get the money. I'll be back in two hours, so don't think about doing anything stupid. Besides, your precious dagger is with me."

"The only one prone to stupid things here is you. Who attacked an innocent and holy city?" she was furious with his patronizing voice, but also curious and preocuppied.

"Dastan, what are you going to do?"

"Just stay here and avoid trouble. I'll be back soon." The Prince walked back to the market and Tamina released a sigh and sat on the stone.

The grassland was situated almost at the outskirts of the city. From there she could see the farms and the tiny houses of the people who lived in the contryside. The view made her nostalgic and evoked her childhood, before her parents passed away. She used to go to Alamut's orchads and fields with her mother and other priestesses to bless the crops and the earth. She would smush the grapes with her bare feet with other children and eat fresh fruit and vegetables by the fire. She thought about how idyllic was her life then and the mess it is now.

-x - x - x - x-

The sun was setting when she felt a strong hand shaking her shoulder.

"Tamina... Tamina! Wake up!"

She lazily opened her eyes to see Dastan in front of her looking furious.

"You just can't fall asleep here! Suppose someone wanted to attack you?" he shouted at her.

"I didn't want to sleep, but I'm exhausted". I'm fine and you don't need to scream..." she was regaining counsciousness.

"What happened to you?!" she looked at him horrified.

The left corner of his mouth was bruised and there was dried blood in his nostrils. He washed himself before, but now his hair and face were dirty with dust.

"You were fighting! Why?" She asked, startled by the sight of his state.

"It's nothing. At least I won this." He showed her a little pouch bag heavy with coins. "So, tonight you'll sleep in a warm bed, Princess." he smirked.

She fetches a piece of cloth inside the bag attached to Aksh's torso and pours water on it. She makes Dastan sit and starts to clean his face. He jerks when she touches his nose with the cloth, but she doesn't stop.

"You didn´t have to do it." She said in a low voice, almost to herself, but he listened. "To fight for money because of me."

The bruises itched, but her hand on his face was so cool and tender he almost closed his eyes with pleasure.

"It's quite romantic, isn't it? A prince fighting for a princess well-being..." He smiled at her. She was so close he could see the freckles on her face and smell the apples in her breath. Her parted lips seemed so soft...

She inhaled deeply when he said that. His words were playfull, but his eyes were serious. She felt like drowning into those blue orbs. His right hand flew from his knee to the hand she pressed on his face. He gets up, closing the distance between them. Her eyes are wide with antecipation and his gaze is focused on her mouth. Tamina feels like closing her eyes...

"Hey, what are you two doing here? This is private property!" A short old man yells at the young pair.

Dastan and Tamina quickly move away from each other and she goes to Aksh, too flustered to face the old man. Or Dastan. She puts the cloth inside the bag as the prince stops behind her:

"I almost forgot." he says and she turns her face to him, but doesn't look into his eyes.

"I bought you this." He gives her a heavy and new wool blanket that seemed much warmer than the ones they are using to sleep. "I hope you'll stop complaining now."

He means to tease her, but she can feel that he is just as embarrassed as she is.

"Thank you." She gives him a swift look before getting the blanket into the bag. Gods, she can feel her cheeks burning. She never was the "blushing" kind of girl!

Dastan takes Aksh's reins and shouts to the old man as he walks:

"All right, we are going now!"

She wants to ask him why he did those things, why he has been so kind to her lately. They leave the little grassfield walking in silence, the city bursting with life in front of them.

I was going to do a one-shot with this story, but I think it will be better to divide it in two chapters. I hope I'll update it soon, but I am dreadfully busy with academic stuff.

It would be lovely if you tell me what you think about this piece. So, please, review!