This is a direct quote from KrisEleven, commanding me to write this. So it's all her fault. ;)

"I want you to write Raoul and Buri going to that party in Squire where she goes as his fake date and they end up in bed. She must be insufferable and REALLY PLAY UP the idea that they are together to bug him and shenanigans must ensue."

Here's what happened...I hope this is enough shenanigans for everyone!

Reading his note, Buri grinned. "Poor lad! A big man-creature like him, needing protection! Oh, I can't turn my back on him. Tell him I'll do it. A sacrifice for friendship-what's more appropriate at Midwinter?" –Squire, page 278.

Kel brought back Buri's reply to Raoul, who was practically pacing. "She's said she'll go," his squire told him, a small smile on her face. Raoul couldn't help his answering smile. "She wants you to meet her at her rooms at the time you mentioned in your note."

"Thank you. Have fun with your Yamanis while I hide behind Buri's skirts all night."

Kel's eyes glinted with humor at her knightmaster's dramatics. "Even if you could, do you think Buri would let you?"

Raoul glared at his squire. "Be off with you," he told her, making shooing motions in her direction. She went, shutting the door to her room behind her.

Half a bell later, Raoul stood in front of the mirror, freshly shaved and dressed. Currently, he was trying to get his hair into some semblance of order. If he didn't think Kel would break her Yamani face and laugh at him, he might have considered asking for her help. Instead, he scowled at his reflection and his unruly curls.

"It's isn't like Buri will care," he told himself. "She's seen worse." And that was the truth; in the years they had known each other, she had seen him covered in mud, blood, and sweat.

He walked to the Riders' stables, ignoring the men and women that whistled good-naturedly at him, and knocked on Buri's door. Whatever he was expecting, the commander in a golden velvet dress that matched the borders on his tunic was not it.

Her dark hair was down, tightly curled and pinned in a way that made the shining mass flow over one shoulder. She had on ruby earbobs that caught the light when she turned her head, and a delicate golden chain was wound around her neck.

"Buri..." Raoul could remember hundreds of occasions where he had seen Buri in her finery, but he couldn't remember her ever looking this way. But maybe he just hadn't quite seen her.

"My lord," she replied, and curtsied. She smiled when she caught sight of Raoul's completely blank face. "Are you ready?" She held out her hand imperiously, and Raoul must have misplaced his wits, because all he could do was stare until she took his arm.

He cleared his throat quickly and turned them away from her door once she'd closed and locked it behind her. The whistles and catcalls were louder this time, but Raoul and Buri ignored it. Raoul had already sent word to the Own's stables to have Amberfire saddled and brought to the Rider's stables, and he'd also made sure that Buri's pony Baim'wa was saddled and ready.

When they reached the stables, Raoul saw Amberfire and Baim'wa standing side-by-side. He was surprised to see that Buri's pony had a side-saddle, not the well-worn one he was used to. Buri let go of his arm and stood by her pony.

Raoul blinked at her, unsure of what she wanted until Buri's mouth twisted in a smile and she said, "Well? Aren't you going to help me up?"

He heard the ill-concealed laughter of some Rider or other, but paid them no attention. He stepped close to Buri, aware that his heart was beating faster than normal, and put his hands on her waist. She used his arms for balance as he lifted her into the saddle, and she was secretly thankful that he was strong enough to do so without any visible effort. She was short, it was true, but she was aware that her build was all muscle.

She watched him mount Amberfire, and he finally managed to regain a bit of his legendary composure. "This is your great-aunt we're going to see?" she asked, guiding the pony through the door of the stables.

Raoul nodded, following her. "And the rest of the local relatives. And whoever else she's managed to gather in her scheme to have me wed."

Buri smothered laughter, but couldn't hold it back when he glared at her. "I'll protect you, my lord." She waited until he had drawn up on her side before saying, "There's nothing I would rather do tonight than meet your family."

Raoul's eyebrows went down in a frown. This was completely unlike Buri. She was almost as good as he was at hiding during important royal functions. They'd spent many nights arguing with their monarchs about whether they really had to show up at some ball or feast. That she was seemingly eager to meet his great-aunt was very...odd.

As they continued off the palace grounds and down the road into the City, they were silent, and Raoul kept wondering about the almost coy way she had looked up at him beside her pony in the Rider stables, and the flirtatious comments she was making at every opportunity. All in all, though, Kel's suggestion had been a good one.

Despite Buri's sudden strangeness, she was the perfect choice. She'd known him for years, and she wouldn't get any ideas. Or so he hoped. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her try so hard to look like a Court lady than she was right now.

He wasn't sure what to make of this new Buri; he liked the old one more than well-enough. He supposed it was just the shock, but knew it couldn't be. She'd seen him at less than his best, and he could remember countless moments where Buri had been covered in dirt, grass, or dust, not to mention blood.

By the time they had reached his great-aunt Sebila's townhouse, Raoul had cottoned on to her act, he thought. He glared at her when she smiled slyly at him. "My lord, will you help me down?"

He did as she asked, and when her feet touched the ground, he kept his grip on her. "I'm warning you-" he started, his voice a mere growl, as he was aware that his aunt's servants were coming forward to lead the horses away.

Her dark eyes were lit with humor. "I can still mount up and go back to the palace, my lord."

He shut his eyes in exasperation. "Buri, please." In someone of a lesser rank, Buri would have said he was whining. "You don't understand. They'll believe you!"

Buri stifled her laughter. His dark eyes were pleading with her. "What's so bad about that?"

"Nothing!" He paused. "I'll have to live with it if you keep going. Aunt Sebila will never let me forget this." She watched as his gaze flickered up to the house behind her and then back to search her face. "Must you?"

Buri laughed and patted him on the arm. "I must," she assured him.

He sighed, but he let go of her and offered her arm. "My lady," he said. Buri took his arm and let him take her up the front steps and into the house.

It wasn't more than an hour before Buri was standing with Raoul in front of his great-aunt Sebila of Disart and others of the matron's acquaintance. "Aunt, you've not met my companion," Raoul said, ducking his head slightly. Buri's left hand was on his right arm, and he put his free hand over hers, giving it a slight warning squeeze. She just smiled up at him. "Aunt, this is Buriram Tourakom. Buri, my aunt, Sebila of Disart."

His aunt held out a bony-fingered hand, which Buri took as she curtsied. "My lady, it is a pleasure."

Great-aunt Sebila sniffed, but nodded politely. "Commander." Buri exchanged a glance with Raoul; neither of them knew that Sebila had any idea of who she was. "Tell me, how long have you and my nephew known each other?"

Raoul took a breath, preparing to whisk Buri away, but stopped himself when Buri replied, "Since the year that Her Majesty came to Tortall, my lady. I was her personal guard at the time."

Sebila nodded. "Very well. It's about time." She sniffed again and turned in a whirl of dark green skirts, leaving Buri and Raoul to the other guests.

"Commander Tourakom," one of the ladies started.

"Buri, please," she said, smiling politely. Raoul started to edge away from her, but she held onto his arm firmly, directing a false smile at him when he looked down at her.

"Buri, then." The lady smiled. "Tell us, how did you and Lord Raoul..." she motioned, losing her nerve at the sight of Raoul the Giantkiller's glare.

"Oh, it was perfect," Buri said, holding tightly to Raoul's arm. She could feel the tension running through him, and inwardly laughed. She so rarely got to play pranks on the Commander of the King's Own. Usually he was the one doing the pranking.

"He wrote me the loveliest letter," Buri went on, grinning up at him. "Remind me how it started, darling?" She fluttered her lashes at him. When he didn't immediately respond, she elbowed him inconspicuously.

"Dearest Buriram," Raoul stammered, fighting the urge to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder.

Buri smiled indulgently at him before turning back to the ladies. "Poor dear, he always gets a little flustered." She grinned at the ladies surrounding them as they giggled behind their hands. "Go on, love."

Raoul couldn't contain his glare. "Dearest Buriram, I cannot stop thinking about you, the poise you demonstrate in every situation, the kind words you seem to have an endless supply of, the way that you stand by your friends."

Buri was sure she was the only one who heard the stress on that last part. But she was in too deep now, and had to continue or make the both of them look like fools. She smiled up at Raoul, and nodded at the other ladies, who were holding their hands to their hearts as if it were the most romantic thing they'd ever heard.

"I knew from the moment you fluttered your eyelashes at me that I was in trouble. Deep trouble. The kind of trouble that one does not emerge from unscathed..." He looked down at her as he continued, "But it didn't take long before I knew that there was no place I'd rather be than beside you."

Buri blinked up at him, unsure of where he was going from here.

"And I remember that even when I'm in a situation that I would joust Wyldon of Cavall to get out of..." One dark eyebrow rose significantly. "...You have a knack for finding a most creative way to make me see the bright side of things. Would that I were a poet, but I have only my own words to lay before you. My darling Buriram, dearest love, I beg of you, do not forsake me now."

His sloe-black eyes bore into hers, and she couldn't breathe for a moment, seeing the true emotion in his eyes. She hitched a breath in and dipped her chin in a slight nod before turning to the assembled audience. "You see, ladies? Perfect." She glanced over the shoulder of one of the others. "Raoul, darling, would you accompany me to the terrace? It's a bit warm in here."

Taking her hint, Raoul nodded. "Of course." When they were away from the crowd, he steered them outside, though he doubted that was Buri's true goal. "What is this about?" he whispered angrily, towering over her in a way only a man who was a full foot taller than her could. "A love letter? Couldn't it have been a duel for your favors or something?"

"No doubt you'll find a way to pay me back soon enough," she told him archly, lifting her chin in the defiant way Thayet used to use on her. If she couldn't intimidate him with her height, she'd have to find some other way; at least until he could remember where he left his sense of humor.

"Oh, no you don't," Raoul said, gripping her wrists. "I assumed that you wouldn't get the wrong idea if I asked you here with me tonight. And instead, you make a fool of me."

"Oh, come off it, Raoul, it was a joke." She pulled her wrists free and walked over to the edge of the terrace. Facing the back garden of the house, unlit by anything but a few dim torches along the balustrade, she waited for him to say something.

"A joke?" His voice nearly broke, he was so angry. Buri closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for the explosion. His hand landed on her shoulder and turned her to face him; her eyes flew open.

He was staring down at her with all the intensity he had in the ballroom. "Buri, is this what you really think of me?"

She saw the hurt in his eyes, and hastened to reassure him. "It was a joke," she stuttered out, voice soft. "Those ladies are doubtless telling everyone how romantic you are, and how they wish they were on your arm tonight." Her dress was suddenly too tight around her ribs and chest, constricting her until she couldn't breathe. "No one thinks you a fool, Raoul. Least of all me." Growing slightly bolder, she took one of his hands in hers, tangling their fingers together.

"Were I to have received a letter like that from you, I would be no better than the fluttering ladies in there." She swallowed thickly, trying to gauge his mood.

His fingers tightened on hers, and the hand on her shoulder slid slowly up over her collarbone and neck until he cradled her cheek in his large palm. He tilted her face up toward his, leaning down to catch her lips with his. When he stood straight again, he let out a shuddery breath.

"I believe I've done my duty by my aunt," he murmured, stroking Buri's cheekbone with his thumb.

"Have you?"

With a sly smile, Raoul stepped back from her. "Oh, yes." He wrapped her arm around his and took her through the house, signaling a servant to ready their mounts.

A/N: I hope everyone liked this. It was the product of two days' hard work and KrisEleven's beta-ing. Thanks so much for reading, I know I've been absent from the site for a while, but I'm working on it! I promise! Love to everyone!