I have no complaints and can’t wait to share all with my sisters, except for the strange way he’s been acting. Let’s just see how much he wants to hang around me and not let me even go out the door without him there to hold my hand.
“Paint my toes!” I was trying to get a rise out of him since he’s been mister stoic all morning, in fact he’s been this way ever since we came back from the bathing pool two days ago. Except in bed, there he’s the same beast he always is.
I growled and threw a pillow at him when he actually left the settee where we were both sitting to go get the polish; is he for real? “What’s the matter with you? Where are you going?”
“Didn’t you say…?”
“I can paint my own toes I’m trying to shake you out of whatever fugue state you’re in.”
“Oh, I’m fine, I’m just thinking about the ceremony in a few days that’s all. I want everything to be perfect for you.” I bet! That much is true I’m sure but I’m not convinced. He came back and sat beside me to do his new favorite thing, rubbing my tummy with this long forlorn look on his face.
“Lucien, if you don’t tell me what’s bothering you I’m going home.” Yep, that did it.
“Settle down, you’re not going anywhere.”
“There he is, there’s that pompous ass I know and love.” We both came to a standstill at my words, words I had not meant to say out loud, and didn’t even know they were in me.
I saw the first real smile cross his face for the first time in days and then he was taking me down. “Wait, I didn’t say….” I was laughing too hard by now to get the words out. Mr. Horn Dog was at it again. “What about the servants?” I barely got the words out as I looked around while he was busy pushing the silk robe off my shoulders.
“They wouldn’t dare come in here without being summoned.” Fine, if this is the only way I can get him to lighten up then I’ll take one for the team. Oh the sacrifices I make.
“What are you thinking about? What sacrifice?”
He slid into me just then and all thoughts left my head. “Oh nothing, keep going.” I grabbed onto his shoulders and wrapped my legs around him suddenly ravenous for the feel of him, like we hadn’t just done this less than an hour ago.
LUCIEN
Good, she hasn’t caught on and I aim to keep it that way. I’d searched for the hag upon our return from the bathing pool that day with no success. There wasn’t even a whiff of her presence in the kingdom which signaled danger. I’ve already alerted the sky monarch who like me, wanted to keep it as low key as possible so as not to cause any alarm, especially so close to our marriage ceremony.
The other heads of state and lesser rulers of their individual kingdoms will be here any day now, and we’d both played around with the idea that they could be the target, but that didn’t play out well for me. Not since she’d also shown up at Natalia’s home not too long ago.
I know I’m making her crazy by not letting her run free like she wanted but not until I find out what’s going on. She’s asleep now thank heaven and not up to one of her tricks.
While I’ve been keeping watch over her and my son the past two days it’s been fun watching her come up with ways to entertain herself, all of which involved tormenting me in some way or another. She’s rather enterprising this one.
The fairy I’m sure would’ve accepted my reasoning without question, but the nymph plays by a whole different set of rules. I on the other hand am learning as I go along. I knew before she came that I would be protective of my mate, what I didn’t know was how protective, or that I’d have a new kind of fear dogging m heels.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, mom had really put her foot in it this time. That day of my run-in with the hag after I’d gotten Natalia settled with her new guard stationed around the palace I’d gone to see my grandfather to let him in on what was going on.
On my way back I’d ran into mom and the conversation we had still pisses me off. She too has been acting rather strange come to think of it. But I’ve been too preoccupied with my wife and child to notice. I can still recall every word and it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
I looked at Natalia now as my mind went over and over it again and it finally dawned on me that something was very wrong there. Sure mom had once broached the subject of me taking Sabrina as a side consort, but that had been a long-long time ago, and I’d told her then in no uncertain terms that it wouldn’t be happening, so why…?
I sat forward on the settee where she was asleep with her legs on my lap. That day mom had approached me with a smile and before I could get two words out she’d brought up the issue again. What was is she’d said? “Son, now that you have found your mate, why don’t you take Sabrina as well? You know she’s been waiting for you.”
“Mom, we’ve already been over this, I don’t think of her that way. T0 me she’s just the child you brought home years ago, nothing more nothing less. I’ve never seen her as anything more than that.”
“I know but, she’s so pitiful; have you even seen her since you came home? You two use to be so close. And now with you getting married I can’t imagine how broken hearted she must be.” I’d missed it that day because my mind had been on other things, but now that I think back on it, that didn’t seem like the mother I know and love.
Mom wouldn’t be so callous as to ask me to take another woman to my bed just days before my nuptial ceremony. No way, it can’t be…I moved her feet off of me as lightly as possible so as not to wake her, then pulled the light Afghan over her to keep her warm. It wasn’t exactly cold here but she was still getting use to the change in weather.
All in all she’s acclimated herself rather nicely to being here. Too bad I’ve had to curtail her enthusiasm so soon after we arrived. I had a few words with her staff who were ensconced in my palace since I had yet to take her to hers. I wasn’t quite ready yet for the separate living quarters. I gave them strict orders not to leave her alone before giving her guards the same speech.
I didn’t send a servant to warn mom that I was coming as protocol dictates that I should, and I didn’t walk over. Instead I just appeared in her living room, shielding myself from her as I stood in the middle of the room and watched her, looking for any signs that something was off.
“Do you think she’s ill? Or that something is wrong with the baby? Oh no!” She put her hand to her mouth as dad walked over to comfort her. “Now-now, don’t go borrowing trouble. It could be just as he’s said, that he’s giving her time to get use to being here. You must remember, she’s been raised to think of us as the enemy, it can’t be easy for the poor girl being here.”
“You’re right, of course you’re right. I just feel so odd, like I haven’t done my duties as a mother in law. I wonder what she must be thinking. He wouldn’t even let us give her the welcome she’s due.”
‘”Now dear, he did say we can do all of that the day of the ceremony, make it less taxing for her, and the monarch already okayed everything.” He rubbed her shoulders and kissed her forehead as their conversation left me confused. This did not sound like the same woman who’d bombarded me that day.