He slept, wrapped around me.
I didn't think I would ever be able to sleep again. My stomach kept knotting up tighter and tighter with each mere moment that passed.
Saymar was probably telling the others, right now, how I had fallen for the Master of the Realm. They would never trust me again.
But the plan was on. It had to be on.
I looked at his sleeping face. His breath was warm and his brow relaxed. The last decade of my life had not been a waste. I had seduced him and now I would get my revenge. I looked at his lips. I could still taste him in my mouth. I closed my eyes and remembered that this was what I wanted.
Mom had been a jokester; she loved pulling pranks on her daughters and husband King. Dad pretended he didn't approve; he'd sit on his throne and shake his head and tell her that Queens should not pull pranks. Of course he couldn't keep a straight face when a bucket of water would mysteriously spill over his head. And he would chase her through the castle and the guards would look like they didn't know what to do, and the rest of us would roll on the ground laughing.
My father loved my mother in a quantity larger than could be considered within the bounds of the universe.
My eldest sister, Ilsara was going to be married. There was a prince nearly an entire continent away named Mavgor; he wanted to marry her. I thought Mavgor was a hideous name at the time and told her often it was a bad idea. She always seemed a little sad that I wasn't happy for her, but there it was. A terrible name is a terrible name, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Still, when she was gone, killed before she had a chance to meet her groom, I wished I hadn't said anything. I could still remember brushing out her long golden hair, jealous because mine was so different -- dark and curly, and telling her what a mistake she was making. Imagine! A twelve-year-old talking to an adult like that; but I guess that was classic me. My mouth worked better than I did. Why didn't I just tell her how happy I was for her? How beautiful she was? My sister Ilsara had been a girl who had never, and would never do the wrong thing once in her life. Why couldn't I have taken her place? Why couldn't she have been the one to survive?
Ilsara wouldn't be lying in bed with the Master of the Realm. Ilsara wouldn't be plotting to kill him, or anyone. Ilsara wouldn't have betrayed the resistance to him. --Or him to the resistance, for that matter. Ilsara would have known what to do.
And whatever she did, she would have been graceful about it.
Eric pulled me tighter, sleep-mumbling, "Mine," and burying his face in my neck. His smell was intoxicating, and I was depressed though not shocked to discover that I wanted him carnally, again, already. How did divorce happen? Surely no one had the complaints I did, and still I was overwhelmed, drowning, in the force of our mating. Even justified, I would go to hell for betraying a bond this strong.
But this was the plan and it was going to work.
Somehow.
Obviously the resistance would suspect that if I was in love with Eric, I would warn Eric. Couldn't really blame them for that leap of logic, seeing as how I had told Eric everything even before... before whatever this was... happened.
Would they still bother to kidnap me?
Would I be dead to them, or maybe, maybe the plan would change, had already changed. Maybe they still meant to take me away but now kill me, for the betrayal.
Gravlor's Peak.
The Master of the Realm's power would be lessened on Gravlor's Peak. Perhaps, perhaps if the resistance wouldn't meet him there, perhaps I still could. I would have to stay out of the resistance's hands long enough to do the job myself.
"Dor," he whispered into my skin. "You said you'd tell me what was wrong when we were done."
"Who said we were done?" I asked. And I kissed him, pulling him on top of me.
"More?" he asked, unable to help the smile in his voice.
I nodded, adding, "In my father's day, devoted couples would have to stay in bed for two weeks straight after their first mating, otherwise they weren't allowed to marry."
"How did they eat? Or go to the restroom?" Eric asked, chuckling.
"They could go to a restroom if it was close to the bed, but a lot of them used chamber pots. And as for food, well -- people in those days were allowed to marry whoever they wanted, but in those two weeks the couples had to rely on the support of their families and friends to bring them food and water. If their loved ones didn't approve, well, those couples didn't make it."
"They had to give up?"
"In some cases. But the ones that were really in love, well, a lot of them just died."
Eric was quiet a moment, simply looking at me under the light of the moon. Then he said, "You want to stay here for two weeks?"
"We'd never make it," I laughed.
"Yes we would," he said.
"You have work to do," I replied.
"What if," he began, then he paused. He leaned in and gently caressed his face against my own. "What if we get up tomorrow, and do all the work we can, set up some spells to keep the place running on its own for a while? Then jump back in bed for two weeks. --That's not too much of a cheat, is it?"
"It's not... I was just telling you a story. --To point out that I'm being exactly insatiable here. It's just a story about how things used to be," I replied.
"Marry me," Eric said.
"You know that on this planet, that's just a formality," I said, shaking my head. He was just staring at me though, wanting an answer. Quietly, I pointed out, "When you took me, I became yours." I poked him in the chest with my index finger.
He kissed me then, suddenly and deeply.
I felt almost as if I was disappearing, dispersing into the air -
"I'm glad you know that," he said. "Still, I like formalities."
I took a breath, thinking.
He began kissing me, which was way too distracting.
Gravlor's Peak.
A kidnapped bride.
Oh Eric tasted good.
I could kidnap myself, if necessary, I guessed.
And his hands...
I realized that I would need to figure out what Eric had originally planned for Gravlor's Peak.
He got into position between my legs, then spread his hands through my hair.
...Damn, if only I had found out what the resistance had originally planned, this would all be a lot simpler. I hadn't wanted to know the details though; I had figured they would handle it... and I suppose I really hadn't wanted to know in any case.
Eric's mouth pulled off mine, and he looked pissed. "WHAT is bothering you?" he demanded.
"I'm just thinking about the Plan."
"No! No way, Dor -- we're done with the plan. Those bastards want me, they can come get me. They're leaving you the hell out of it."