[center][i][u]Synopsis:[/u]
Aranhil is moving along too slowly for Sylvia. The marriage of the crown prince & his princess solidifies the kingdoms of Dragon & Elf, & while Sylvia is ready to jump headlong into discovering intimacy & becoming closer to Aranhil, he doesn't want to hurt her or make her feel rushed, so he dodges her & tries to make her focus on less bedroom-related issues. But the more Aranhil tries to soothe Sylvia & assure her that they should wait, the more insecure she becomes, worrying that he husband doesn't feel the attraction she hoped he had.

Meanwhile, River is slowly wooing Emera. he wears his dragon armor much less, doesn't keep the company of other women anymore, & it happy to just be around the Elven woman he fell for. But Emera is worried that River is only changing to please her, & becomes nervous that he'll switch back to his old self. River will have to prove to his stubborn lover once & for all that he chose her over all others, & that he isn't going to let her go no matter what.[/i][/center]

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[b]"I don't think I'm ever going to get my husband to share a bed with me, Cendres," Sylvia told her sister-in-law forlornly, slumping into her chair with a rather unladylike sigh. She just couldn't believe that with the combined efforts of Cendres' ideas & her feminine wiles, Aranhil still kept firm & insisted that the two of them sleep in their separate beds & remain chaste. Sylvia didn't know where she went wrong; she & Aranhil already loved each other & spent every waking hour together, so why did they have to bother with "taking it slow"?

With another sigh, Sylvia thought of the things Cendres had already suggested, but failed horribly. There was the ploy to convince Aranhil that Sylvia was ill one evening, & although Aranhil stayed with her all night, he insisted on staying in the bedside chair. Her fear or lightning & thunder (though to be completely fair, the thunder storms in Dragon country were much more violent than the Elven kingdoms) also resulted in her husband staying in her bedside chair, though he held her hand that time.

The last stunt was wearing a dress with a low neckline. That particular incident ended with Aranhil tossing his wife over his shoulder & giving her a long, drawn out lecture about how she put her purity in danger when she did things like that. It took all of Sylvia's inner strength not to bitterly tell her stubborn husband that she didn't want her silly purity anymore, but to share a bed with him.

"I will go to the library for now," Sylvia murmured after a bit, "I should probably write a letter to Emera & see what she thinks; she's always been really good about getting her way. Let me know if you can think of anything else."[/b]