"Miss Cendres? That is my sister you are talking about, Sylvia." Aranhil chastised his wife gently. He had a smile in his eyes. "You do not need to try and fool me. I know she is no 'miss'. She is far from a lady. Save your titles and your respect. She is your sister now. Call her 'that bitch' like the rest of us." He laughed to himself, picking his wife up into his arms. Oh how he loved her. She was so sweet, and gentle. He could only love her more with every second he saw her. She was his gift from the gods, he was sure of it.

Carrying her over to a bench below a window, he listened as his pretty little wife went on about something or another. Now, there was nothing against her, and he didn't mean to be rude, but sometimes, she could talk all she wanted, and he never heard a word she said. It wasn't really his fault, though. When she spoke, he liked to watch her lips. He loved seeing how she formed the words, watching as she enunciated certain letters, or skipped over others. He especially loved 'Th' for some reason. The way she made that sound just thrilled him. Unfortunately, if he started watching her lips, he couldn't stop thinking about them. And if he started thinking about them, it was not long before he was dreaming of kissing her again.

Lately, he was thinking of kissing her a lot. He was pretty sure that a lack of kisses was driving him insane. Lately, he had been grumpy, and irritable. Since the very day she'd arrived, she'd been changing him. He'd gone from logical and reasoning, to running on emotions all the time. River was suppose to be the emotional, rash one. Aranhil had worked very hard at making sure he thought everything out first. Yet, Sylvia, of all people, could turn him into a raging demon, or a spoiled lap dog. Sometimes, that irritated him. Others, he just rolled over and begged for her to rub his belly.

Well, perhaps not literally. But he felt like he might as well be doing so.

Becoming aware that she had finished speaking, he opened his mouth to reply. "Sylvia, my love, you know very well that-"

[b]"Aranhil, I want to share a bed tonight," [/b]

"...What?" Blinking to clear his head, Sylvia's husband just stared at her. Had his sweet little wife really just said such a thing? He'd never heard her to say anything so bluntly, much less something of such a sensitive nature. So he did the only thing he knew how to do. He agreed. "Alright."

Wait, he agreed? Aranhil started to frown. Since when did he agree with anything? He was to be the king. He made the choices, and others agreed. Not the other way around. But now that he had agreed, he couldn't dare take it back. He sighed. "It does seem like you have been particularly....needy?...no..um....What word can I use that won't get me in trouble with you?" He inquired. If he'd learned one thing from watching his parents while he grew up, he knew not to anger his wife. An angry wife was worse than a thousand wars. "Well, you did get sick....and there was that storm.....and I think I heard Cendres say you wanted me to come sing you bedtime songs the one night. I am sorry I never did that, I had to attend to an important incident. There was a fight between two maids. One broke the other's wing. I had to sort out what that was all about. But anyway, I guess I have been neglecting you during the day."

Suddenly, he felt like a bad husband. 

[i]I'll roll over, here's my belly![/i] 

He sighed softly. "I'm sorry, Sylvia." 

[i]please rub my tummy?[/i] 

"I promise not to neglect you again. I guess it's only fair. If I haven't been with you in the day, it's natural you'd want my attention, instead, at night. I promise, I still will not risk your reputation, I know how much you need to stay pure like we agreed, but I won't be neglecting you any longer. In fact, I'll change that, starting now." 

[i]I'll be a good boy. Please, please rub my tummy?[/i]

He could just hear himself begging for her forgiveness. Instead, he drew her close and kissed her. "Come. I'll take you for a picnic lunch. Change into something suitable for the weather, my love. Today, I am yours." He swore with a bright smile. "I'll go tell the kitchens to make us up a nice basket. Meet me in the courtyard?"