The next morning brought a haze of confusion. Harper remembered getting drunk, but as he lay on the old, smelly cot from the inn, he struggled to piece together what else had happened the previous day.  

I remember throwing up a lot, and the two lords... Rule and Arthur came, with another man. 

Only the two had stayed, and while Rule was out doing something, Arthur had remained until Harper had fallen asleep. The details wouldn't return, but he understood enough to allow himself to sigh with relief. As long as the two had remained honorable gentleman, his secret should be safe. 

Risking finally opening his eyes to deal with the new day, Harper blinked in the dimly lit room to try and focus. His eyes ached, but he did feel much better than he had the previous day. His stomach was settled enough, if not gnawingly hungry. He wouldn't risk eating yet, however. He didn't want to trigger another bout of sickness, so he'd wait until evening, even if his belly was already growling. 

"Good morning, Hari. How are you feeling?" 

Rules whispered question, along with the feeling of his fingers sifting softly through his hair brought Harper's attention to where he knelt before him. 

I didn't even realize he was here. 

Licking his dry lips, Harper moved each of his limbs a little, testing their strength, before pushing himself up into a slightly off-balanced sitting position. Rule reached out just in time to keep him from flopping back down onto the pillows, a chuckle leaving his lips. 

"Do you require more rest, or would you like to start on our trip home?" He asked. 

His question immediately had Harper struggling to get himself fully awake. He shook his head a few times, then yawned and shook his head once more. 

"I cannot tell if you are disagreeing and would wish for more sleep, or if you are trying to wake yourself up in an insufficient manner." Rule said, a hint of humor in his voice. Harper ignored his tone and pushed himself to his feet. 

The floor was cold against his bare feet, bringing his mind a bit closer to reality. He looked around dumbly for his shoes, only to realize that Rule was holding them. "Let me help you, Hari. You don't seem fully awake yet and we can't have you returning with a left shoe upon your right foot, now can we?" 

Surely, he could, but Harper knew that arguing with Rule was pointless. If the man wanted to kneel before him and help him put his shoes on, then so be it. "I suppose you are correct." He said with a tired smile. The man looked tired, too, as if he had stayed up all night, so Harper had agreed quickly just to calm his nerves, if he was, for some reason, worried about him. 

Rule returned the smile, then got busy on Harper's shoes right as Arthur walked into the room carrying a large tray of breakfast items. Harper's stomach immediately soured and he considered lying back down and waiting until the afternoon to start heading home.   

"I don't think she'll be too interested in breakfast judging from how pale she just got when you walked in with it," Rule stated as he stood, done with his task remarkably quick. After a quick glance down to make sure that his shoes were indeed on the correct feet, Harper bit his lower lip as his stomach twisted again.

He made sure to keep his eyes away from the tray Arthur sat down on the small nightstand against the wall and headed straight for the door. Just the smell of the food was making him dizzy. 

"Hold on, hun." 

A firm hand grasped his arm, halting him but not pulling him backward. Another hand gently lifted his face up from beneath his chin as Rule and Arthur stepped around to his front. 

"She still doesn't look very well off... if we remain away for another day, however, sir Marksworth certainly won't be happy." Arthur mumbled, a frown marring his handsome face. 

Harper didn't want to even consider remaining. He needed to rest in the safety of his little bed in the servant's quarters. "I would very much like to return home, my lords." Hari said, doing his best to seem as well as he could with his stomach swimming uncertainly.

The two lords glanced at each other, then back to him before Arthur sighed. "I suppose we can start on our way back, and if things take a turn, we can deal with the situation at that time?" He suggested, getting an immediate nod from Harper. 

"Well, that settles that." Rule chimed, his normally-excitable tone back in his voice as he tugged Harper down the hall and out of the inn. He wondered if the two men even remembered they had gotten breakfast, but decided not to remind them, as he didn't want to wait another second to be on their way back. 

The ride itself was far more pleasant than the previous one. He rode with Arthur this time. The man was a complete gentleman and much more careful with his horses movements than Rule had been. His dog scouted far ahead, thankfully leaving them be. The countryside was just beginning to become alight with the oncoming sun, giving it a glow as the rays lit up the dew left by the evening's humidity. 

"Are you still feeling ill, Hari? Would you like to stop and rest for a bit?" Arthur asked as they began approaching the forest.

Hari had been so engrossed in just watching the scenery that he hadn't even thought about his upset stomach. Turning slightly in the saddle, he smiled up at the other man. "I am feeling much better. Perhaps I just needed some fresh air." The knowledge that he was going home, and soon would be free to rest for at least a short time away from the two lords, was also likely a cause of his feeling better. 

"I'm glad, you had us worried. We will not do something so rude again." He said with a sincerity that surprised Harper more than his shocking words. He called himself and Rule, rude. It was unheard of for a duke to berate himself, even if the words were deserved, yet Arthur had just stated that they had acted quite inappropriately, intentionally. 

"I... thank you for your reassurance." Harper said, struggling to find some way of responding to the man without actually agreeing with him, and possibly upsetting him by indirectly calling him rude. 

Arthur gave a quiet chuckle as Rule all-out laughed and nudged his horse close enough to them to take Harper's hand and lean over to kiss his knuckles. "Yes, we were quite ungentlemanly, I must admit. I do apologize." 

Feeling his face warm, Harper turned his gaze to the ground between the two animals and mumbled, "I accept your words, my lord." 

Silence settled over them as he returned his attention to the forest only a few short acres away. Hope that he would be home soon swelled in his chest at the same time Arthur nudged his horse into a gentle trot. The trip through the forest was much more pleasant than their first time, too. Harper was actually able to enjoy looking at the different plants and creatures, mainly a variety of birds, as they calmly made their way through the trail. 

Once free from the trees, Harper leaned forward, eagerly taking in the land that was so familiar to him in the distance. He'd often gotten homesick when he had gone away on his few excursions with other servants, but he had never felt such relief as he did when his master's home came into view moments later. 

"She is quite eager to be away with us." Rule mused somewhere behind him. Harper knew that he appeared somewhat rude with his overeager body language, but he couldn't help his excitement. He would return home and bid the lords farewell until evening, then draw himself a quick bath before climbing into bed. 

It was well accepted that if your duties took you off-property for any extended period of time, that you were permitted to rest until you were needed to perform your evening duties. He would have hours of free time to catch up on his rest, and he intended to use every second. Just the thought of crawling into his small bed made Harper yawn. 

"Now she is quite bored with us, whatever shall my poor heart do." Rule said with such false depression in his voice that Harper couldn't hide his laugh as he looked over to the lord. 

"Surely you are bored of me as well, my lord. As I do not remember being such a memorable guest." Harper replied as he returned his attention to his approaching home. 

"I do believe she just called us boring." Arthur said, drawing a chuckle from Rule as the other man nudged his horse a little closer and ahead of Arthur's. 

"So, Hari. Which of us do you prefer to spend time with?" He asked suddenly, shocking Harper out of his excitement to turn his attention back to Rule. 

"Which of you? I do not understand. I view you both as my master's beloved guests." He said, confused at the man's question. 

Rule didn't seem deterred. In fact, he nudged his horse a little further ahead, then cut off Arthur's for a moment as he made his steed dance across their path. He then pulled it up on the opposite side. The animal itself seemed to share in its master's odd game, as she swung her head up and down, snorted, and gave a slight jump with her front feet. Arthur's mount did not seem amused, but it also didn't seem to mind. Perhaps it was just used to the other animal's antics.

"If you had to spend time with one of us, which would it be?" Arthur asked from behind him, drawing Harper to look over his shoulder with a frown. 

Did he truly have to choose between them? Could he not just say neither? Of course not. Harper pursed his lips and faced forward, his brow furrowing with concentration. The two lords had always visited together, and, for the most part, acted quite similarly. Granted, Arthur was always the more reserved of the two, while Rule tended to break as many of his name-sakes as possible, but the two were almost a single entity in his mind. 

When he decided upon an answer, he hoped that it would do for both of them. "I believe I would not be able to choose, my lords." 

Rule frowned at this reply while Arthur sighed, his breath rustling Harper's hair slightly. He considered revising his answer, but they were already entering the gates of the estate and stable-hands were walking over to assist with taking the lord's horses. 

Harper didn't wait for them to help him down. He hurried from the saddle, using the horn to swing down a bit more gracefully than his first attempt had been. He, at least, landed on his feet this time. He also took the opportunity to make a swift retreat from his two companions, worried that they might continue to question him or request he remain with them still. Neither option sounded appealing, so he carefully slipped back into the estate and made his way down to the servant's quarters. 

Not surprisingly, no one was around. With an excited grin, he filled the small tub in the back of the room with cold water from the pump their master had set up. It was more for them to wash their hands and clothing, as it was far from warm, but Harper was just eager to get a chance to clean himself without having to worry about anyone coming in. It had to be close to lunch time, judging from the sun's position in the sky before he'd come inside. It was the perfect time to wash up. 

He hurried to fill the tub just enough, then tugged the curtain hanging beside it to the side. Harper made sure that he had a set of spare clothing right next to the tub, then stripped his dirty outfit and hopped in. The water was quite chilly, but the allure of being clean made him carefully scrub his body with the small bar of soap until his skin was nearly red. 

With his task finally done, Harper leaned back against the edge of the bath, sighing out all of the stress he'd built up over the past day. He was just closing his eyes to take one more moment of peace, when he felt something push against his wet hair, then snort out a breath. Shocked and confused, Harper jerked up and whirled around, grabbing for the small towel that was hanging with the curtain. 

The dog jumped back and barked, likely surprised by Harper's sudden movement. With his heart hammering in his ears, Harper didn't hear the approaching men until the curtain was yanked back and both Arthur and Rule stood there, eyes wide and mouths hanging open. 

Harper sunk down into the water as much as he could manage as he did his best to use the towel to hide himself. Thankfully, the water was quite soapy and slightly dirty from his rigorous scrubbing, but he knew that he had to keep his chest hidden, too. He expected the two of them to apologize and excuse themselves, but when neither moved  muscle, Harper let out a quiet cry and sank a little further into the water. 

The sound seemed to bring the two men back to their minds, as they both whirled around, Rule running right into Arthur. The two scrambled to yank the curtain back into place. The sound of their hastily retreating footsteps were barely audible over the rush of blood in Harper's ears. His panic didn't clear until the dog ducked away a minute later, leaving him alone once more. 

Dear gods. I don't know what I am to do about that situation. 

He was terrified that they'd seen him, but they didn't appear to be any kind of victorious in their haste to leave. They had looked like two men that had accidentally walked in on a lady bathing and stumbled upon themselves to retreat. 

With a tired sigh, Harper climbed from the tub and got dressed, doing so as quickly as possible. He was just tugging his shirt over his head when he heard the sound of Maria's voice from the doorway. 

"Hari, are you in here?" 

Once he'd fixed his shirt, Hari turned around and offered Maria a small smile. "Yes, do you need my assistance?" He asked, hoping that she didn't. He still dared to hope that he could catch a bit more sleep before his evening duties. 

"Lord Rule and lord Arthur were quite in a hurry a moment ago. They ran into me and asked if I would pass along a message." 

Are they going to apologize? Surely they would... or perhaps they did see something?

"What message?" He asked as he dropped down onto his cot, his heart beating painfully against his chest. 

Maria frowned as she looked him over, likely noting how stressed he appeared, but she held her tongue and just replied to his question. "They said that once you were ready, to join them in our master's meeting chambers." 

Harper's small smile dropped into a worried frown. What more could they want with him? Maria offered him a hug and tried to kiss his cheek, but Harper ducked and started stalking toward the door. His mood had soured and he had no interest in her flirting at the moment. 

"Thank you for the message, I will be on my way now." 

He knew that he should have emptied his bathing tub, but surely this issue was far more important than leaving behind a bit of dirty water. 

Please do not be important. Please do not have seen anything! 

(Poor Harper can't catch a break lol)