"I wonder what is taking Kirin so long," Abel mused for what felt like the hundredth time as he helped Lady Lelynn prune Kirin's apple trees. They had grown quite a bit during the two months the man had been gone, off to the magistrate. Abel was just reaching up with a small blade to cut another overextending branch when something hard smacked him atop his head. He winced, turning to frown as Lady Lelynn wagged her finger at him.

"Worrying will do you no good, boy. Besides, the bloody chit bedded you so badly that you were unable to walk for two days! Two!" she ended with a shout. Abel had to force himself not to smile at the memory of that night.

Rubbing his head, he stepped down from the small chair he had been using and walked over to the woman. Leaning down, as he had gained a slight bit of height and weight with her shoving food at him at all hours, he pressed a light kiss to her cheek and chuckled.

"Twas a glorious night, my lady. I do regret being unable to assist you in the days after, though."

The baroness huffed, but Abel knew that she had enjoyed doting on him while his posterior healed from Kirin's affections. The man had definitely not be lying about his interest in bedding him the night of their wedding, yet Abel had not thought that Kirin had so much energy in him! The thought brought a blush to his face, which earned him another smack with the broomstick he noticed the baroness holding.

"I do not believe I deserve the reprimand, my lady," he scolded playfully. The hit had not truly hurt but would likely leave a bump that did.

"Oh do not try to play, you. I can see that you are smitten with him."

Unable to argue, Abel hurried to remove the broomstick from her hand, that did not even have any bristles upon it after a glance down. When he looked back up at Lady Lelynn with a raised brow, she smirked, only to roll her eyes a moment later and point at something behind him with the pruning blade she held in her other hand.

"Best turn yourself, young Squire. Your overaffectionate peacock seems to finally be home."

Her voice was taunting, but he knew that she meant well in her jests. He hurried to turn at her words, though, and immediately felt his heartbeat thrum with happiness at the sight of his lover astride his gorgeous mare. Ignoring the carriage he recognized far behind Asira, he quickly darted through the few trees between him and the worn path Kirin was heading down. Kirin had nudged his horse into a light gallop, likely having seen him. When Abel got close, Kirin gently pulled the horse's reins back and dismounted... Just in time to catch Abel as he jumped into the man's arms. Where he used to have to wrap his arms mainly around the man's upper torso, Abel could now easily twine them around his neck. When Kirin's arms closed tightly around him, he did just that.

"My have you grown in such a short time, my sweet Abel," Kirin whispered, slightly breathless as he leaned over and pressed a kiss to Abel's cheek.

"I missed you," Abel replied as he buried his nose into his lover's neck and inhaled his masculine, musky scent mixed with the smell of sweat. "You need to bathe," he added with a grin, getting a deserved nip to his nose from Kirin before they released each other.

"No wonder ye fought so long fer 'im. I never thought ye would be one t' bed a man, Squire," the magistrate said as his driver pulled his carriage to a stop next to them and he hobbled out. Abel wasn't sure what to make of the man being there, and awkwardly stepped behind Kirin.

"Hmph, don' look at me that way, boy. I ain' here to take ye. Thanks to ye lover, you are a free lad now."

Really?

Curious, Abel stepped back into view, though he left his hand grasping Kirin's arm as he stared at the magistrate. "Am I truly free?" he questioned, hesitant to believe.

"Ye are, Abel. It was quite the jest what Kirin had done t' secure it, too! Come! Your frustratingly persistent lover promised this ol', fat man a good bit o' wine to come explain everythin'," he said gruffly as he began to hobble down the remainder of the road, motioning for his driver to get the carriage to the front of the house and the horse taken care of.

"Is he being truthful, Kirin? Am I truly to be free?"

He knew that he was free from his father's cruel scheme, but that did not mean the man would not try to get back at him. With a playful smile, Kirin draped an arm around Abel's shoulders and hugged him to his side as they followed after the magistrate.

"Truly, Abel. It took me a deal of time to make sure everything was settled. The magistrate will speak with all of us over supper and explain," he said as he leaned down and stole a quick peck on the lips. Instead of answering with words, Abel just nodded and leaned into the man slightly. He had missed him greatly.

Being the best cook out of the small group, Abel hurried toward the kitchen when they stepped inside Kirin's home. The magistrate was already sitting on a comfortable chair in the main room, a goblet of wine from Lady Lelynn's vineyard in his hand. Abel gave him a small nod before slipping into the kitchen and beginning to cook. After being away from his love for so long, he wished to cook up everything. Of course, that would leave them with nothing for the winter and quite bad stomach cramps, so he held himself back and only used up the remaining pork, which would spoil soon if it was not salted more thoroughly. Kirin stepped into the kitchen after a few moments, bringing with him several different vegetables.

Instead of just setting them down beside him, Kirin grabbed a knife and carefully began cutting them after he rinsed them off. He knew he should wait, but as soon as Abel had the meat cooking on the stove, warmed by the fire within it, he hurried over to wrap his arms around Kirin's waist from behind. The man paused in his chopping and set down his knife to settle his rough hands over Abel's, then squeeze.

"You are going to get us into trouble with the baroness," he tutted. Although, he didn't remove his hands and instead began rubbing his thumbs over Abel's soft ones.

"You have clearly been working hard, yet your hands still feel like silk."

Kirin's words brought a quiet chuckle to Abel's lips as the larger man turned, taking Abel's hands in his before turning them palm up. "Ah, I see a small blister that has not healed back into soft skin like the others. Soon my poor lover with have hands as rough as my own," Kirin mused in a falsely dreading tone as he leaned over and kissed the small pucker of skin. The gesture brought a blush to Abel's cheeks right as the end of a broomstick whacked Kirin in the back of his head.

"Ouch! Blasted old woman," Kirin grumbled as Abel snickered, hurrying back to tend the cooking meat.

"Do not be seducing the poor lad again! And especially not while he is cooking supper!" Lady Lelynn grumbled as she walked over and took the knife from in front of Kirin. The man was quick to back away, afraid of the woman, for good reason. She always seemed to have something to hit him with in her hands, and because she leaned the broomstick, which Abel swore he had taken from her earlier, against the wall in order to free her hand for the knife, Kirin likely feared quite greatly at that moment for his manhood.

"Oh stop looking at me as if I plan to remove your bits. You are terrible at cutting vegetables. Go tend to the magistrate, you useless pervert of a man."

Her words made Abel burst into a fit of quiet laughter. Even over the two months Kirin had been away, Lady Lelynn was not satisfied with Abel's explanation of their relationship. It likely hadn't helped when Kirin made him unable to walk, but there was little they could do besides try to dodge the blows that came. Unfortunately, the elderly woman had quite a strong arm and somehow found plenty of things to bring down upon one's head.

"Will you ever be understanding of our relationship, my lady?" Abel asked as he removed the meat from the stove and began plating it on simple white dishes after Kirin had stalked out. Lady Lelynn didn't speak until she had all of the vegetables cut and in the pan he had used to cook the meat.

"Of course I understand your relationship, Abel," she replied with a humorous grin.

"Then why do you torment him so? I know that it is not, perhaps, normal to take a male suitor while being male as well, but surely there could have been far worse than Kirin for me?" Abel questioned, not really liking how he accidentally made it sound like he had others he could have chosen. He loved Kirin, and the man was all he wanted.

"Oh I know, sweetheart. That boy and I have been going back and forth for quite some years. He used to be quite the troublemaker. Why do you think he never returns any of my jabs?"

Perhaps because you are elderly, a woman, and a baroness? Abel thought. He was about to voice the words, but Lady Lelynn quickly held up a wrinkled hand. "Do not say it. That is part of it, of course, but if you knew the man's dastardly history, then you would say he deserves quite a bit more than what he is getting."

What could Kirin have done that warrants Lady Lelynn's wrath for all of these years? Abel thought with a frown as he stirred the vegetables once, then added them to the plates when they were just a tiny bit burnt.

"He has done many things, but the worst of it was when he burned down my barn when he was a boy after having stolen one of his father's prized cigars. The pup thought he would go smoke it in the hay loft!"

Abel covered his mouth with one hand, trying his hardest not to laugh at Kirin's childish foolery. To think that the lawman of the region had been so disobedient as a child!

"From that moment on, I would show him just how mature he was. Of course, his father paid for the barn to be fixed and the animals made it out safely, but Kirin was a tough lad. He needed tough lessons. Thus, whenever I saw the scamp, I would always try to knock some sense back into his blundering head."

Loud footsteps sounded as Kirin returned to the room. He sent Lady Lelynn a frustrated glance, but when his gaze landed on Abel, understanding widened his eyes.

"You did not tell him!" he said, turning to the baroness, who wore the most damned smirk Abel had ever seen.

"By god. When are you returning to your vineyard, my lady?" Kirin growled as he helped Abel carry the plates to the table.

"Oh hush. You love me, you stubborn bird," she retorted with a grin as she got a large container of wine and brought it to the table. "Besides, my workers are there, and my stable boy is watching them closely. I am not needed yet."

Once all of the food was at the table, Abel got several glasses for the wine, then everyone sat down. The first few minutes of the meal were silent except for the scraping of the utensils upon the plates. When the magistrate finished his meal, he finally began his story about what himself and Kirin had done about Abel's father and their situation over the past two months.

"Ye see. Your father did have the church send me the official document that ye have all signed. They were not happy 'bout it, especially considerin' the wedding had just occurred. They did so anyways, because yer father stated some legal issues with it. The church, bein' the annoying old coots that they were, wanted t' know why. Thankfully, ye father said nothin' t' give anythin' away."

He took a moment to sip from his second glass of wine, then continued.

"I got the document. Quite surprisingly, it arrived the same day Kirin did, yet the paper had been delivered earlier. I was quite surprised by it, considerin' I never thought anyone would tolerate the man. Then I noticed the young lady's name."

Everyone turned their attention to Abel, who felt his cheeks warm as he paid special attention to his plate of food.

"The next several weeks, I corresponded with yer father. Quite a nasty little flit, if I do say so myself," the man said before taking a long drink from his wine glass.

"He first claimed that ye had been forced t' sign the document."

Abel rolled his eyes, noticing a smirk on Kirin's lips as the man listened but also picked at his food.

"When I replied t' that message, I simply asked for his daughter's full name and a copy of her signature, so that I may verify it on the document."

"So the man sent me what I asked for. Now I have t' tell ye. As soon as Kirin and I saw it, we could n' stop laughin'."

Abel raised his brows, not sure what the man would find funny about his signature.

"Boy, you signed the marriage document as Abel Squire. Yer father sent us a signature for Ariella Hallerd."

Shaking his head, Abel let a small smile slip.

"Yes. He had just ruined his chance of settin' ye up pretty darn good. Of course, I have t' be thorough."

Kirin rolled his eyes at that, getting an elbow to his ribs for the gesture by the hefty man.

"Hush ye. He paid me good. Anyhow, we spoke several times durin' the first month through letters, but when I finally sent the document back t' the church, I had decided what t' tell him. So I penned my official letter on the matter's handling, then sent it."

Curious, Abel lifted his eyes to the man's. "What did it say, sir?"

"It said, lad, that I am unaware of the whereabouts of an Ariella Hallerd and that the document given for us t' discuss claimed t' wed one Kirin Squire t' one Abel Squire."

Abel's mouth dropped open.

"He did not read the signature?" Abel gasped as everyone else at the table laughed quite hysterically.

"No, lad. Yer father seemed t' have forgotten t' do such an important thing before asking fer the thing t' be sent in the first place. Well, when he replied, he was furious."

Abel bit his lower lip, suddenly feeling worried again.

"Don' give me that look, boy. He said that Abel Squire was the one t' steal his daughter away. Of course, I was gettin' annoyed by this time, and a certain lawman was quite frantic t' return t' your side." He paused for a moment and finished his glass of wine. "So, I wrote back one final time. I told him that I know nothin' of his daughter and that the marriage document clearly states that ye and Kirin were wed, under his approval. I also made it very clear, that if he continues to question the document or if he ever tries to find his daughter, then I would have no choice but t' notify the church of his poor choice in his part of deceivin' them and wedding such an atrocity as two males."

Feeling a strong hand take his a moment later, Abel let Kirin pull him out of the room and into the beginnings of evening. The air was crisp and cool against his skin. It stirred around his hair and silently told him that he was crying as it began to dry the tears trailing down his cheeks. They walked over to the barn, then climbed the old ladder into the hay loft. Abel remained hunched near the entrance they had climbed through until Kirin sat next to the square opening that overlooked the orchard and patted his leg with a smile.

"Come here, Abel," he said warmly. Abel slowly walked over, allowing the man to gently tug him down into his lap before their attention turned to the fields of apple trees and Abel rested his head against Kirin's strong chest.

"Abel?" Kirin finally said after they sat quietly for several moments, just enjoying the cool breeze.

"Yes, Kirin?" Abel replied while snuggling in a little closer.

"Did you allow Lady Lelynn to trim my experiment trees?"

His voice was quite dull as he stared at the poor, butchered branches of his special trees. His tone made Abel try to hide a grin, yet fail. He knew that it was okay, however, when Kirin's strong arms hugged him close. Closing his eyes and taking a deep, content breath, Abel quietly replied with a sleepy voice.

"I apologize, Kirin. She is quite terrifying when in possession of a pruning blade."

-End

Book 2: Retrace!

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