Welcome to the Moon, Roses Optional

"I had no idea my daughter was so interested in science! No wonder no one ever recalled seeing her around the palace!" Lord Peter was looking around in astonishment, and I warned him not to touch anything.

I spotted an open journal on the table, and gave a small cheer of triumph. If I was lucky... I scanned it, and exhaled in relief. As I suspected, she had needed to look through her old journals in order to locate the poison, and so the page with it was open for me to read.

The next page detailed the antidote, including where it was sitting on her shelves. I quickly located it, and prepared myself to sprint to the infirmary as quickly as I possibly could. Lord Peter followed me, and I had no time to prevent him from bringing Annissina's open journal with him.

The healer's assistant was waiting for me, and shouted, "He's finally here!"

I handed the antidote to the head healer, and then flopped onto an empty cot to rest from the exertion of running all over the city and palace that day. Lord Peter silently watched the healers go about their business for a while, and I think he was thinking about what would have happened if I had not been there to stop Annissina from drinking the poison herself. He eventually settled into a chair by the patient's bedside, and proceeded to read his daughter's journal from cover to cover.

Word spread that the maid was doing better, and that two of the Great Lords were anxiously awaiting her recovery. This news brought Annissina's mother to the infirmary to see if her missing husband was one of the Lords. She placed a hand on his shoulder, horrified that it could have been her daughter near death on the cot.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that had Annissina actually consumed the poison, there was only about 2 minutes in which the antidote could have been successfully administered. The only reason the maid had a chance was that she had only touched it. I felt horrible that I was responsible for it splashing onto the floor like that, but of all the poisons Annissina had made over the years, I really hadn't expected her to choose this one. I figured she would choose something pain-free...

I gradually became aware that Annissina's parents were staring at me with open-mouthed shock. I cast a curious glance at them, and then studied the floor. The Journal was open about half way, and I shuddered to think what they might have just read -- since Annissina's mother had obviously been reading it over her husband's shoulder.

Lord Peter slowly closed his mouth, but not before the head healer saw him gaping. "What's wrong?" She wondered.

He cleared his throat, and read from the journal. "Today I have decided that since Gwendol has returned from the war for a couple of days, I will use him in another of my brilliant experiments. He has proven himself an excellent test subject, and is surprisingly durable. I have created an explosive powder, and I need to see how effective it would be on the battlefield.

"To that end, I asked Gwendol to pour a small pile of the powder in front of a water barrel located in the test area of my lab. Then, once the pile was ready, he was to light it on fire, and then run for cover. I watched from the relative safety of the other side of my lab as he poured out almost twice as much powder than I had instructed him to, and then dropped a match onto it.

"The blast was magnificent! I swear that Gwendol flew clear across the lab! Water from the barrel sprayed everywhere, extinguishing the flames that would otherwise have burned down my entire lab. I quickly wrote the result on a scrap of paper so that I would remember it when I sat to write in my journal. 'I want you to do the experiment again, and this time, use the exact amount I told you too!' I berated.

"Gwendol carefully picked himself off the ground, and coughed. 'I thought you were exaggerating when you told me to use less than a spoonful. How in the world did you manage to get this powder so, well, powerful?' He asked me, and I explained everything I have already written here. He nodded in actual understanding, and then sprinkled a miniscule amount of powder in front of a new water barrel. This time, he stood a few feet away from the blast area, and tossed a match onto the explosive powder. I watched him dive for cover, but the blast still managed to throw him across the room.

"'Again!' I commanded excitedly. I wanted to know what was the absolute smallest amount we could use, and how big an explosion it would create. My goal was to blow the barrel up without damaging anything else around it.

"Gwendol was breathing hard, as if he had just run across the city, and I wondered if he needed to take a break. He didn't appear to have any bumps or bruises, but I imagine that his body must still ache a bit from the impact. 'Last time,' he stated in between breaths, and I nodded. I watched him place the barest pinch of powder in front of a new barrel, and tapped my foot as he stared at it apprehensively.

"'What the hell is taking you so long?' I demanded. 'Ignite it already!' He nodded, and took a few more steps back before tossing the match onto the pile. I watched the barrel go flying in all directions, but nothing else was affected by the blast. I squealed happily, and jumped for joy. My experiment was a success!

"Gwendol wiped some blood from his forehead, and grinned at me. 'It worked,' he stated. I realized that a part of the barrel must have hit him, but he didn't show the slightest hint of pain. 'Hey, you should go have the healers look at that wound on your head.' I suggested. 'We can't have the formidable Lord Gwendol suffering from brain damage the next time he steps foot on the battlefield.' He nodded, and quietly left my lab.

"I realized that with him gone, I couldn't conduct my next test, which was to see how big of an explosion I could create without destroying the palace, and so I shelved the rest of the powder and decided to work on something else until Gwendol came back. Knowing him, he won't find any time to return before he leaves for the battlefield in two days, so, I must remember to slip some of this powder into his supplies. I sincerely hope that it makes a difference in fighting the enemy."

Lord Peter stopped reading, and I silently tried to figure out if he was mad at me for claiming Annissina's invention as my own, but I honestly hadn't. My men assumed that it was my own invention, and I let them think whatever they wanted for morale's sake.

"Of all the stupid idiotic, inconceivable," the head healer ranted. "No wonder you come crawling to me at death's door practically every other day! I never could figure out what the hell you were doing! I should have you classified as mentally incompetent, and restrained before you manage to kill yourself!"

"That won't be necessary," I informed her calmly. "Lady Annissina ran away so that she could not be forced into an unwanted marriage, so she won't be here to experiment on me anymore."

I watched her mutter to herself as she stalked away, and was wise enough not to say anything. The way she tossed things around clearly indicated that she was irate over my senseless lack of concern for my own safety. I knew she would never understand that I felt it was worth it if something Annissina invented managed to win the war.

"Will you join us for dinner?" Lady Karbel -- Annissina's mother -- asked. I shrugged, and meekly followed them back to their apartment.

"After reading through my daughter's journal," Lord Peter began the moment the three of us were alone, "it has become obvious that you've been close to my daughter for a long time. Have the two of you conducted any other... experiments?"

I wanted to claim ignorance as to what he was inferring, but I was too honest for that. "No sir," I shook my head for emphasis.

"The thing that is driving me batty is that I just can't figure something out," Lord Peter informed me. "Why didn't you stay with my daughter when you absconded with her earlier?"

"My Lord?" I wondered, confused.

"It's obvious that you two have worked together in secret for years. You must feel something for her..." He was trying to delicately lead me in the right direction, and again I could not feign ignorance.

"I consider her to be my very good friend. It's thanks to her that I am considered such an exalted war hero. The moment I realized that she actually would kill herself rather than be forced into marriage, I knew I would do anything to stop her, and help her escape. I would rather -- if I truly never saw her again -- that the reason not be because she killed herself."

Lord Peter still looked concerned. "And it never occurred to you to marry her yourself?"

"What?!" I was entirely confused myself now. "You thought I ran away with her so that I could marry her?!" I couldn't stop myself from shuddering at the thought. If we were married, there would be nothing to stop Annissina from experimenting on me until she succeeded in killing me!

"Are you... Do you, perhaps, prefer... men?" Lady Karbel asked as politely as possible.

"What?!" I roared in outrage. "Why would you even think that?!"

They exchanged a look that plainly stated it should be obvious that most men cannot spend so much time alone with a woman without trying something ulterior. I rolled my eyes. They didn't understand.

"Every single time I ever saw your daughter, I almost died, and don't you dare ever tell her I admitted that. How can you possibly think that I would feel amorous about that?" I asked seriously. I wanted to know what kind of man could get blown up, and then want to jump in bed with the woman responsible.

"Um... son? Most men wouldn't continually let anyone nearly kill them on a regular basis unless they were in love with that person," Lord Peter informed me.

"Love?!" I scoffed. Love huh? That was an amusing thought, enough to make me laugh out loud.

They exchanged another -- this time worried -- look. "So, there really is no chance that you would consider marrying Annissina?"

My blood ran cold, and I stood in an attempt to escape the mild panic. "Oh no! No no no no no! Haven't you been paying attention? Annissina would rather die than get married, and I... I do not want to die! Marriage to her would kill me for sure!"

To my utter shock, Annissina strode into the room from a dark hallway, and then slapped my face. "How dare you!" She demanded.

"How dare I what?" I wondered. I was baffled again, and honestly couldn't figure out what she was doing here.

"I got on the boat, and just as they were ready to set sail, I realized that I couldn't leave. Without you to experiment on, there's nothing I can do! You helped me escape so that I would live, but I can't imagine that I would survive an explosion like you can. When I realized that, I instantly knew that if I was going to keep my promise not to kill myself, I could never experiment again! I don't know who I am without my experiments!" She shouted.

I sent her a confused expression. Seriously, I was lost. Did she mean that she came back here to get married after all? It seemed her choices were marriage, death, or running away, and standing here meant that she hadn't run away. Also she never broke a promise, so marriage was the only choice left to her.

Her eyes drilled into me, and I think my expression changed to show how nauseous I was. I looked to her parents only to discover that they were both staring at me again. I backed away from all three of them as it dawned on me that they wanted me to sacrifice my life for the so-called greater good of social expectations.

I started shaking my head, and backed a few steps father away. I held up my hands in the universal "can't we talk about this?" gesture.

"Fine!" Annissina ground out in determination.

If there was any blood left in my face, in drained away as I watched her pull out a small handheld device she had invented not too long ago. It was forged from iron -- she had smithed it herself -- and when loaded with explosive powder and small pointed iron cylinders, it could be quite deadly. We had been forced to shelf it with the other failed experiments when it proved too difficult to control the device without danger to the wielder. It exploded in my face just as often as it worked properly.

I was certain that she was going to shoot me for some reason, but she pointed it at her own head. My first response was to clutch my chest. My heart seemed to have stopped, and I growled with anger.

"You promised that you wouldn't try to kill yourself anymore!"

"What choice do I have?! If I can't be me, then I don't want to go on living!" She wailed. She was always so cold and emotionless that I was honestly surprised that she was capable of such melodrama.

She pulled the activator, and I leapt into action. It took every ounce of training I possessed to wrestle the loaded weapon away from her, and point it in a relatively safe direction as it discharged. We both stared at the hole in the wall for a moment before glaring at each other.

"Stop interfering!" She screamed at me.

At the exact same time, I shouted, "Fine! I'll marry you!"

We both fell silent in shock at that, and I abruptly let her go. I backed away from her to the other side of the room, and since I had kept hold of the invention, I checked it to see if it was still loaded. It was, so I unloaded it.

She was pacing her side of the room like a caged tigress, and I was trying my best not to watch her. I finally looked at her parents to see what they were thinking, but they were both staring at the device in my hands. I can't imagine how it felt to learn that their innocent daughter had created such a deadly thing.

I took the time to think things through a bit more carefully. "Wait a minute!" I blurted out. "Did you admit earlier that you didn't want to run away because of me?"

"Yes," Annissina mumbled, not hesitating in her pacing for a moment.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think it means? You idiot! It means that all I want to do with my life is invent new things, and I can't do that without you!"

"You mean because no one else is crazy enough to let you blow them up?" I asked for clarification.

"Exactly!" She stated emphatically as if I finally comprehended her. She stopped pacing to look at me. "Plus, no one else understands what I am talking about. If I were to tell anyone else, 'so then I mixed 3 parts flour to 1 part salt peter,' they would have no idea what I was talking about."

I saw her parents exchange a confused look that turned to enlightenment as they remembered some of the journal they had read. She had just listed two ingredients of her explosive powder, and the thought that she might actually tell someone her deadly formula in casual conversation gave me horrified shivers again. It slowly occurred to me that she was right...

I had always assumed that she was the brilliant one and I was the idiot that just went along with her, but it was true that I could understand what she was talking about. When I was on the battlefield, I often lay awake at night thinking about her inventions. I didn't just think of ways to use them, I constantly thought of ways to improve them, and that meant that I understood the mechanics of them well enough to make adjustments. I almost always came back with useful feedback.

Like I said, I let her experiment on me because her science fascinated me. It always had. Why had it taken me this long to realize that it fascinated me because I had a mind capable of understanding it?

"So... what now?" Lady Karbel wondered. It occurred to me that they completely understood that there was no way they could force their daughter to get married if she really would rather die. I breathed a sigh of relief that I wouldn't have to go through with it after all.

Annissina smirked. "Well, you heard him. He said he would marry me. You already have all the preparations set for the ceremony to be held tonight, so we may as well not let it go to waste."

I wanted to vomit, my stomach churned so suddenly at her statement. "I said that, but... but... that was..." I stammered. The look on Annissina's face was so hopeful that I suddenly understood that she actually wanted this. No matter what she had said, it wasn't that she didn't want to get married, it was that she didn't want to marry anyone other than me.

I sighed in defeat, and then smiled. "If that's what you really want, I am at your service," I said with a formal bow.

She frowned, and glared at me again. What now? Her parents were just as confused as I was judging by the looks on their faces.

"If that's what I want..." she murmured. She took a deep breath, preparing herself to make a huge confession. "It is, but... what about what you want?"

I was pretty darn stoic by nature. In her journal, she had admitted that I never showed signs of pain even when I knew I was badly injured. Well... the same was true for all of my other feelings as well. I couldn't just admit that the thought of marrying her -- after I got past the terrifying aspects of it -- made me happy.

I looked away from them all, and focused on the floor. "I want... ... ... ..."

She was infuriated by my hesitation, and proved it by grabbing me by my collar. She shook me forcefully, the only person I had ever allowed to do so, by the way. "What?! What do you want?!"

Her mother was obviously scandalized over her behavior, but I think her father was covering the urge to laugh. Having them there made the task of admitting what I wanted all the harder. I grabbed her hands in mine, forced her to stop shaking me, and stepped back.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. "To marry you."

She slapped me across the face with all her strength once more. I may not have made this clear earlier, but her experiments often required physical strength -- such as blacksmithing. Therefore, saying that she slapped me with all her strength was no light matter.

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?" She demanded, and resumed shaking me by the collar. I think her parents were relieved that I didn't physically hurt her in return.

"I didn't know!" I finally admitted. Truth be told, I hadn't realized it at all until I saw her try to blast a hole through her skull.

She sighed in acceptance, nodded, and let me go.

Two hours later, we were married in a small ceremony in front of the King, Queen, and everyone other noble who happened to be in the palace at the time. I still can't figure out how Lady Karbel could call this ceremony small or private, but it didn't matter; the result was the same.

In our ten years as friends, Annissina and I had hugged exactly once, and had never kissed. When the time came to kiss at the end of the ceremony, I sincerely wished that our first kiss was not about to occur in public for all to see, but she solved the problem for me. She threw her arms around me, and kissed me until I couldn't remember what we were doing.

Oh! ...Right; we were sealing our vows with a kiss. I cleared my throat to interrupt her after the priest tapped my shoulder. She stepped back with a lovely blush, and I swear I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life.

We sat down to a feast -- Lord Randal assuring me that there was no hard feelings, and I had time to absorb the events of the day. So much had occurred that my head was spinning. I watched Annissina, and realized that the day wasn't over yet. That thought made me panic again.

Between leading my men in battle, getting blown up when I was on leave, and then lying in the infirmary to recover -- well, I'm sure you can imagine that I rarely found time to bed a woman. I had, of course, but I was not at all confident in my ability to please my new wife.