Shara assured Alex that the weather was fine and warm, meaning that they only needed to change into trousers and stouter shoes before joining the leopard in the wilderness. Jamie assured Jack that they would be back well before darkness and that they were not going very far – not strictly true in an actual physical sense, but very true in terms of Alex’s vision and their ability to return immediately if needed.

Jack knew the pair of them well enough to meet them as they headed out into the private gardens at the back of the house with a small picnic basket and a blanket. “You didn’t have lunch, Highness,” he suggests to Jamie with a smile. “There’s a meat pie, some hard-boiled eggs and a good bottle of wine in there.”

“You’re getting dangerously close to spoiling us, Jack,” Jamie tells him as he accepts the basket and steps out to join Alex on the lawn. Alex has no difficulty shifting indoors, but he much prefers to do so from open ground. In his mind there just seems to be something impolite about vanishing or materialising in a room. All of the locations where they have set up ambassadorial residences have a similar open space available at all times.

Alex takes Jamie’s hand and, with a brief nod at the expectant Jack, the pair of them vanish, appearing moments later more-or-less three hundred miles to the east. The pair are so used to this mode of transport now that it takes barely a moment for them to check their surroundings and relax.

The air is a few degrees cooler than Fundis, but more because of the altitude than anything else. The steep-sided valley in which they stand is rugged and wild, heavily wooded with dense hardwood forest and even denser undergrowth. The entire valley seems to be surrounded by steep, rocky, snow-capped mountains of rugged beauty.

Off to their left, the valley drops perhaps a hundred feet to a rocky river-bed where a tumbling stream of icy water appears to flow in a boiling, bubbling white mass. They are, however, standing on a path or track of sorts, even if there’s little sign of recent traffic.

At the faintest hint of sound, Alex turns to see Shara join them on the track, slipping out of the dense undergrowth with barely a rustle. The huge cat walks towards them and pushes gently between the two men, rubbing his shoulders and head on their hips to make a little space.

Unconsciously, both men lower a hand to brush across the back of the leopard’s head in welcome, resulting in a comfortable rumble from the spotted cat. “How was your trip to the north?” Jamie asks softly as they begin to walk along the track, gently uphill but easy going.

“Relaxing. This is the sort of country that I think of as home. I can be myself here.”

“Well, I can see that it could be a relaxing place,” Alex agrees. “Did you accomplish all you set out to do on your journey?”

“Yes. I saw my mother and both of my sisters. They are all well. There was much to discuss with the humans of the community. They wished to know all about you both.”

“Perhaps we should visit them ourselves at some point in the near future?” Jamie asks.

“That would be well. They have many questions about the Flame of the West. Despite the prophecy of my birth and your success on the quest for it, the appearance of Alex is still very much unexpected.”

“Well, not today,” Alex tells them. “We are here to relax for a few hours before work tomorrow. I will make sure we can find time soon, though.”

“Where are we walking to, exactly?” Jamie asks as they stroll along. The valley is growing steeper and narrower as they continue gently uphill. The river, cascading over a series of small falls beside them is now somewhat closer to the track both vertically and horizontally.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Alex tells him with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, it is worth the walk.”

“You know,” Jamie tells him, “I really hate the fact that you can see what’s coming. What’s life like when you always know what’s around the corner?”

“Like Shara wants it to be. Relaxed.”

They continue to walk slowly up the slope for about a mile, talking quietly amongst themselves about Shara’s adventures with his people in the north. Soon enough the river is right alongside the track which begins to twist and turn to stay on the riverbank. The higher they go, the louder the thunderous roar of unseen falling water becomes, drowning out the lesser noise of the flowing river.

Finally, their destination appears in the distance as the ground opens out into a huge natural bowl perhaps a hundred feet deep and maybe as much as two hundred feet wide. The far wall of this bowl-shaped depression is practically vertical and much taller. From a point on the face of the cliff, the river erupts from the mouth of a cave, over a clear dividing line between two different types of rock, plummeting perhaps 120 feet into a vast pool at the rock-strewn base of the wall of rock.

Where the river leaves the pool and flows down beside them, the track opens out into a broad flat area with the pool on one side and the river on the other. It is grass-covered but has that look that suggests it might flood when the river runs high.

Alex takes the basket from Jamie’s hand and spreads the blanket out on the grass. Jamie takes a few steps further into the open space to stare in wonder at the power of the waterfall. The sun, just past mid-afternoon is already beginning to hide behind the western wall of the valley, but the air is still warm and pleasant.

“Where does the water come from?” Jamie asks as he finally joins Alex on the blanket and studies the food that Jack has provided for their lunch.

“The river disappears into the ground a mile or so further up the mountain,” Shara tells him. “Above that it is a normal river formed by several streams coming off the mountains.”

“There are caves,” Alex suggests, eyes closing for a moment as he concentrates his magical vision. “They are vast caverns, carved by the water over immeasurable time. I can make out their shapes, but all is in total darkness. They feel somehow cold and forbidding. The whole mountain is riddled with such caves and passages filled with water.”

“There is so much to explore,” Jamie wonders out loud as he takes a piece of the pie and bites into it with a nod of satisfaction. “We can go anywhere, but we have only seen a fraction of this vast continent, to say nothing of the rest of the world.”

“You have seen maps of the world?” Alex asks.

“Indeed. There are some in Father’s library in Tanis. The continent to the north of us is enormous – certainly more than five or six times as big as this continent. It has mountains that make our tallest look like small hills. Off to the east, across many thousands of miles of deep ocean is another vast continent. Apparently, it is dominated by dense forests and mostly drained by one great river.”

“I cannot see such distances, so if we ever wish to go to some of these places, we will have to travel conventionally.”

“Well, I can’t think of any reason for us to do so at the moment. There’s little for us to do in such far-away lands. No doubt they are filled with strange creatures and people with a culture far removed from our own.”

“Most of the ships that land a cargo in Fundis trade with the northern continent,” Alex says thoughtfully. “They talk of a great city called Mekalla. All describe it as the greatest city in the world. Five times bigger than Fundis and set at the mouth of a great river in a huge natural bay.”

“Eridan and Salicia are both bigger than Fundis, but not by much. I can’t imagine a city so large. How do they feed and house such a population.”

“Presumably with the resources of a vast land to supply their needs,” Alex suggests. “More people, more space, more of everything.”

“Well, for now, I am content where we are. There is still much to see and explore without going to strange continents across the sea.” Jamie indicates the waterfall behind them for emphasis.

“Indeed. Perhaps we spend too much time working? It might be nice to take a little bit of a break and explore a little?”

“Alex, do you miss your time as a travelling guard?”

“Perhaps. Although I have gained much,” Alex reaches out to rest a hand on Jamie’s knee and rub it softly. “I do feel that there is something missing in my life. Something that I have lost in the quieter, slower pace of life I now have.”

“I’m sorry, Alex.”

“No, it’s not something that you can take the blame for. You surely know that I make my own decisions and this is the greatest and happiest decision I have ever made. Still, I want to be honest with you. I do miss my old life – even the dangerous parts.”

“Well, I have to admit that I can see your point of view. There was something about being in a little danger on our journey to the west that I also miss. There was an urgency to life and a need to be alert that is missing now.”

“Then,” Alex murmurs, turning and adjusting his position to move closer to his husband. “Perhaps it is time to live a little more dangerously for a short while?”

“Perhaps,” Jamie agrees, leaning forward to kiss his husband on the lips.

“Humans!” Shara sends, standing from his comfortable position beside a nearby rock and bounding off back down the path. “Call if you need anything.”

“This is hardly the sort of dangerous living that I had in mind,” Alex mutters between kisses, “but I think I can go along with it.”

Leaning into their kiss more firmly, Alex pushes Jamie over onto his back, rolling with the push until he is straddling his husband’s waist, sitting comfortably and grinding their bodies together.

“Hmm…” Jamie moans as he works on the buttons of Alex’s shirt. “We need to get out of the embassy more often.”

“Hmm…” Alex manages in agreement as he sits back to shed the shirt and allow Jamie access to his own buttons. Alex squirms in discomfort, his growing arousal aching to be free from his confining lower garments. He reluctantly stands, long enough to remove all of his clothing before returning to his position astride Jamie who has managed to shed his shirt and haul trousers and pants down, freeing his own swelling erection.

Jamie tenses at a slight noise from the nearby forest, but Alex is quick to bring him back to the present with a touch that glides down from his throat to his chest then on to his waiting cock. “Relax, it’s just the wind,” Alex whispers. “Shara’s on guard down the track and there are no people for miles.”

As Jamie rests his hands on Alex’s hips, Alex wraps a fist lightly around their now touching shafts, stroking gently along their lengths, skin slipping smoothly over already moistening heads.

Smearing some of their stickiness on his fingertips, Alex moves a hand to his entrance, smearing their natural lubrication on his hole as his fingers begin to explore. Using his other hand to continue his mutual stroking, Jamie throws one hand back over his head with a deep sigh of aroused contentment.

It's been some time since they abandoned all caution and sought comfort out in the open, but memories of passionate encounters on their adventures drive them inexorably forward. Here, far from all civilisation, they can abandon their restraint completely.

Alex takes only a minute or so to prepare himself, moving from one inserted finger to two with practiced ease. With equal familiarity, Jamie’s hand moves down to Alex’s shaft as Alex repositions himself slightly, the head of Jamie’s now throbbing cock pushing against his waiting and slicked hole.

Alex lowers himself slowly onto his husband, savouring the pressure and sensation as Jamie fills his insides. He begins to move slowly, allowing himself to moan softly each time he pushes down and bends at the waist to maximise penetration. Each downward movement causes his own cock to pulse in Jamie’s grip as Jamie’s cock pushes against his pleasure spot deep inside him.

Alex continues to move slowly, lowering and raising his body in a smooth and consistent rhythm as Jamie’s single hand is joined by the other, grip tightening around Alex’s throbbing shaft, drawing his foreskin tightly back to reveal a pulsing purple-red tip slick with sticky juices.

Alex closes his eyes, savouring the pleasure of their joining, increasing his rhythmic movements with exquisite patience. Each controlled rise and fall infinitesimally faster than the one before, bringing ever-increasing levels of pleasure and stimulation. Jamie’s content to match Alex’s pace, merely having to hold his hands still and allow Alex to thrust into them on his upward movement.

Comfortable and practiced, they each sense the impending climax in the other, telltale ragged breathing from Jamie and a beginning of failing rhythm from Alex signal an impending release that forces a new level of urgency from both of them.

As Alex makes a few almost-uncontrolled bucking movements, Jamie tightens his grip. Pushed finally over the edge, Alex groans loudly as he releases, several spurts of come bursting from his cock and spraying across Jamie’s chest. As Alex collapses hard down onto Jamie’s cock, he too orgasms, pulsing and pumping his own release deep inside his husband.

Alex savours their joint climax, collapsing forward into the mess to kiss Jamie deeply with a sigh of contentment.