"Talk later." Tess was struggling, tugging at Apollo, trying to get him out of the mud. "Help me."

Galen pushed her aside, grabbed the wolfhound by the shoulders, and lifted him from the muck onto safe ground.

The borzoi immediately repaid him by shaking his lean body, sending mud flying in all directions.

"Ungrateful wretch." Galen wiped a splotch of mud from his cheek.

"He couldn't help it," Tess defended the animal fiercely. "Dogs do that. You can't expect—" She rounded on Sacha fiercely. "Stop laughing at him. My lord Ben Raschid was very brave and does not deserve this from you."

Sacha's blue eyes gleamed with mischief. "Another conquest, Galen. A little young, but in a few years she'll blossom into—"

"Pay no attention to him," Tess told Galen in disgust.

"Have no fear." Galen cast Sacha a disparaging glance. "I do not."

"Where is Pauline, Tess?" Sacha asked. "I trust you're not wandering in the forest alone?"

"Of course not." Tess didn't look at him as she knelt by Apollo and tried futilely to scrape some of the mud off his long hair. "But she and Mandle are busy. They stopped as soon as we entered the forest and won't miss me for a while."

"Busy?"

"Fornicating."

Sacha chuckled as he saw the faint ripple of shock cross Galen's face. "That certainly should keep her busy enough. Once is never enough for Pauline. "

"Who is this Pauline?" Galen asked.

"Pauline Calbren is Tess's loyal and virtuous nurse," Sacha said. "And Mandle is one of my dear uncle's grooms."

"This is doing no good." Tess gave up on Apollo's coat, stood, and slipped her hand into Galen's. "Come with me. There's a lake beyond that hill where we can bathe off this mud." She turned toward his horse and stopped short, her eyes widening in delight. "Sweet Mary, he's beautiful." She dropped Galen's hand and took a step closer to the stallion, who shied away from her. "Why didn't I notice how lovely he was?"

"It's understandable. You were a tad busy trying to stay alive," Sacha said.

Tess ignored his flippancy. "What's his name?"

"Telzan,” Galen answered.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Telzan," she crooned softly as she took another step forward. The horse gazed at her uncertainly and then stood still under her hand as she touched the white diamond on his muzzle.

"Amazing," the young sheikh murmured. "He doesn't usually let strangers touch him."

"He knows I like him." She rubbed the spot between the horse's eyes that was particularly sensitive. "He wouldn't have shied away from me in the first place if I didn't smell so foul from that bog."

"Now that you've brought it to my attention…" Sacha wrinkled his nose. "I believe I would shy away from you too."

Galen smiled quizzically. "You're very good with horses."

"When she's not falling into bogs, the brat spends most of her time sneaking away to the palace stables,” Sacha said.

"This horse wasn't in the stables." Tess's tone was positive as she turned to glance at Galen. “I would have noticed him."

"I've been keeping him near my lodging in town. I arrived at the palace today."

"Is he from Sedikhan?"

"Yes."

"I've never seen a horse that has so much power and grace. Are there other horses like this in—"

"Tess." Sacha wrinkled his nose again. "Now!"

Tess nodded. "We'll walk to the lake. You won't want to mount your horse and get him all muddy."

"Yes, heaven forbid you should get your horse muddy, Galen," Sacha said solemnly.

"I believe you're enjoying this a little too much," Galen said silkily. "I may have to toss you into that bog to even matters out." He lifted Tess easily in his arms and set her on his horse, then mounted behind her. "But not until I can get clean enough to feel properly superior."

"I'm dripping that funny green slime on your saddle," Tess protested. "I told you we should walk."

He kicked the horse into a gallop and headed toward the hill she had indicated. Apollo skittered after them, barking joyously. "A little mud on his withers? That's as nothing to Telzan. He's accustomed to far rougher treatment."

She looked disapprovingly at him over her shoulder. "You don't use spurs?"

"No, and I don't make it a practice to listen to the commands of children."

"I didn't command you. I simply told you it would be better."

"It's much the same thing." Galen rounded the hill and a moment later stopped before the small lake bordered by stands of tall pines. "Is the water deep here?"

"No."

"Good." He scooped her from the horse and dropped her into the lake.

The cold took her breath as she fought her way to the surface.

He was still sitting his horse, watching her with a faint expectant smile on his face.

"Oh, that's good." She gasped. "Thank you."

His smile faded, and he looked at her speculatively. "It appears you have more gratitude than your hound. I expected you to be outraged."

Apollo jumped into the lake after her, splattering mud and water in her face. She laughed and ducked her face and head in the water again. Then, shaking water from her hair, she asked, "Why?" She gazed at him, the water running down her cheeks, her face alight with laughter. "I was muddy, and you took care of the matter. Why should I mind?"

"Let's just say I haven't found the ladies of the Tamrovian court to have your lack of sensibility."

"But I'm not a lady of the court." She ducked her head into the water again and then briskly wrung out her mop of auburn curls. "And I won't have to worry about being one for at least four years. I'm still in the schoolroom."

"I see." He swung off the black stallion. "Then you won't be offended if I bathe with you." He jumped into the lake and waded out farther into the water until it crested his chin. "Lord, it's cold."

"It's only April." She scrubbed her hair thoroughly and then ducked her head again. "Are the lakes not still cold in your country?"

"Not this cold. Tamrovia is in the Balkans, and Sedikhan is principally desert country." He dipped his head into the water and scrubbed it as vigorously as Tess had hers. "Though the lakes in the hills near Zalandan are not over warm."

His wet hair shone ebony in the sunlight, and his face was ruddy with cold beneath a rich tan. The strong rays burnished his bronze skin to a shade nearer to gold, and Tess found herself staring at him in fascination. The sheikh's features were not comely as Sacha's were. His high cheekbones seemed carved with the same boldness as the granite of the rocks scattered around the lake's edge, and his dark eyes were deep-set and heavy lidded. He looked as different from the other courtiers as the wolves her father hunted were different from her gentle Apollo: harder, stronger, fiercer. Galen's actions also set him apart. He had not hesitated to plunge into the smelly bog to save her, any more than she had hesitated going in after Apollo. Even Sacha, who was fond of her, had tried to find a way of avoiding the quicksand.

Galen startled her by asking suddenly, "Why are you gazing so intently at me, kilen?"

"Kilen?"