"Well, I have to admit, this is going better than I thought it would." Like an annoyed house cat seeking refuge from an overly affectionate master, Daria twisted into hiding alongside Savaran.

With the number of arrow shafts already protruding from it, the fallen tree protecting them resembled a porcupine. Savaran needed to crouch down and half lay on his side behind what was now acting as meager cover.

His next shot ready, the former general bolted up, levied his shot at the first one of the bandits he picked out against the light of their campfire, took aim, fired, and returned to cover just in time to avoid a return volley from his foes. Savaran was already well aware his shot had missed, hurried by the bandit marksman and his compatriots who had him pinned him down.

"Better?" he asked, genuinely curious about the statement. Grabbing for the next arrow from where the tips were pegged in a tight cluster in the dirt Savaran readied to try again.

"Yeah." An arrow thunked into the other side of the barrier of dead wood protecting them, causing Daria to flinch at the sound. "Considering this was your plan? I thought for sure we'd be dead by now." Daria whipped her hand over top the log and tore two arrows in quick succession from the bark to bolster her own dwindling supply.

"If you'd have just stayed in position—"

Daria's heavy exhale expressed her frustration. "My position was too exposed. I was a sitting duck. So spare me."

"It's that stupid necklace you took from the lich and refuse to get rid of. Damn thing's cursed."

Without a word of planning spoken between them, Daria and Savaran popped up in unison, loosed their arrows, and felled a pair of the bandit archers guarding the camp. It was the most progress they'd made since their initial surprise attack.

"What's that leave us with?" he asked as they retreated back to cover.

"Ten." Daria whipped disheveled hair out of her face, one marked with the creases of growing angst. "I think. Next time," she barked, "I make the plan. Got it? Not you. Me. Your plans always suck."

"I always make the plans," he reminded his partner in crime. "And we always come out alive."

"Because everyone else saves your stupid plans through their talent and sheer luck."

"Better to be lucky than good, I say. You got eyes on the prince?" Savaran, downplaying her complaint, was ready to deliver another volley.

"Haven't seen him. Or our new 'friend'. But I'm telling you. If Bennie harms a single hair on that boy's head, you'll answer to me."

"They'll be fine. Trust me."

"Oh yeah, trust you." Another arrow rammed into the opposite side of the log, enough to cause Daria to start once more. "Trusting you is working out real well for me right now, let me tell you. I rue the day I decided to invite you to join me in this little club of ours."

"You know, you're beautiful when you're frustrated."

Daria was halfway up to send her next shot down range when the comment froze her. The hitch in her motion was enough that she lost her concentration and was forced backed down through instincts. "What the fuck was that about?" She shook her head to clear the muddled thoughts running through her mind as an arrow whizzed by where her skull had just been moments before.

"What do you mean?" Savaran snuck a peak over the log. Exposing himself just enough that he wouldn't be seen by their foes.

Aided by the light of the bandit's campfire, he spotted the finely coifed hair of the lanky bandit Bennie had called Sal. The marksman had his arrow trained on their location, just waiting for either of them to poke a misfortunate head up enough for him to take a clear shot.

Daira punched Savaran in the arm. "Why would you even say some sappy shit like that?"

"Ow! Huh?" Savaran was busy trying to plan his next move, only half listening to Daria. But the sting from her swipe was enough to snap him out of his self-absorbed thoughts.

"Calling me beautiful," she explained, realizing he wasn't listening too intently. "What the fuck?"

Savaran sighed while still eyeballing his target from the safety of cover. "Hey, it's true."

"We swore we'd never go down that path again," Daria reminded him of their past. "Caused us both too much hurt the last time."

"What are you talking about? I only said you looked beautiful."

"It's the way you said it." Daria express dissatisfaction compounded by annoyance over his use of the term. "I could hear it in your voice. The L-word was implied."

"Daria, not now." Savaran returned to focusing on the camp and their targets. "Don't start reading into things."

She grabbed the former general, pulling him away from the task at hand, and forced him to look her in the eyes. Those deep, enticing eyes that forced him to clench his own shut and shake away dangerous thoughts. Distracted thoughts that would prevent him from getting out of this alive.

"Listen to me," Daria barked at him. "I'm fine with having extremely frequent, even rough and angry, rolls in the hay with you. But nothing more. You got that?"

"You know, we're a little busy here to be talking about us."

Daria rolled her eyes, stood, and sent her arrow into the camp. It exploded through Sal's skull with a shower of blood and brains out the back a mere second before he was able to react.

The major problem facing them now solved, the assassin returned to their hiding spot.

"Nice shot," Savaran complimented her, having caught sight of the impressive display.

"I'm warning you, Savaran. We've got great sexual chemistry, but we're too volatile to go beyond that. You hear me?"

Savaran popped up and took a shot of his own. This one was marked for Hvrick, the squad's double threat and currently with his bow at the ready looking for him and Daria. The arrow planted into the bandit's chest and flung the black-haired scoundrel backwards. No longer worried about being taken out at this distance by the group's marksman bought Savaran the extra second of concentration he needed.

"I told you," Savaran said, snatching up his remaining arrows. "Don't read into it, Daria. Damn, I always thought women liked being complimented on their appearance?"

"We do," she admitted. "That's not the point. What we don't like getting our hearts broken. Not by the same man—twice."

Savaran hurdled over the log, calling back to the flustered woman he'd left behind. "I seem to remember it as happening the other way around. We can bang this out later. Right now, there's business to finish. You coming?"

He was off, down the hillside, heading towards the camp. Another arrow flew from his bow, this time taking out one of the robbers brandishing a sword.

Daria slammed another arrow into her bow. Pulling the string back on her angrily notched missile, she trained the tip on the back of Savaran's head and tracked him with perfect precision, leading him ever so slightly. Preparing to allow him to run to where the shot would meet him and teach him a final lesson about trifling with her.

Her passions encouraged her to let it go. To end him and the distraction he posed.

She cursed herself for ever bringing him onboard to complete the mission of riding the countryside near Masterton of the lich. She seethed, wishing she'd have known someone else with his skills she could have trusted to help her instead.

But what was done, was done. She'd sauntered willingly back into his life and thus brought him back into hers.

Even as she wanted to allow her fingers to peel back and release the shot she now held in check, Daria's deeper emotions got the better of her. She instead chose to take her frustrations out on one of Bennie's former crew. One who foolishly poked his head out from behind a wagon at the most inopportune time. At least for him.

Although she continued to focus on Savaran, Daria twisted her bow towards her new target and took what any onlooker would have assumed was a blind shot. It wasn't. She saw her intended victim clearly from out of the corner of her eye.

There was some extra zing behind her release, the shot exploding clean through her victim's neck and imbedding itself somewhere beyond after killing him. The bandit flopped to the ground, the way part of Daria wished Savaran would have.

"Yeah," she growled under her breath, getting another arrow ready. "We'll talk about this later." Then she added an admission to herself. "You're damn lucky I love you, Savaran."

Raising her lips to the sky and cupping them with the hand not holding her weapon, Daria produced a high-pitched screech. Like a hawk spotting its prey. The signal for the prince and Bennie to move in and help them finish off the bandits.