Age of War

Chapter 39

Albrihn held Vion in his arms for a long time as they both lay on the bed breathing hard. He ran his hands over her body, now glistening with sweat like his own and met her eyes. She smiled at him. His wife. The idea was dizzying. Despite everything happening outside this room, he had to laugh. She gave him a flat look. “Something funny, Lord Albrihn?”

“No, that wasn’t what I meant I…did you say lord?”

“Of course.” She lifted herself off him and collapsed down onto the mattress. Rolling onto her side, she began to twine her fingers through the dark hair on his chest. “You’re the Imperial consort. You’re nobility now.”

“I suppose I am.”

“No suppose about it, Rayke. Simply by marrying me, you’ve accepted the title.”

“What a strange day.” He lifted his hand and looked at the ring on his finger. Its weight was oddly unfamiliar, but he found he liked the feel of it. He clenched and unclenched his fist experimentally.

“Like it?”

“I do.” That made him chuckle. “You know, that’s what they say in the mainlands when they marry.”

“What?”

It would take a while to explain. He tried to summarise. “They have a ceremony and make vows. They’re asked if they intend to love and honour their spouse for the rest of their lives and they each answer ‘I do’. In some places anyway.”

She looked baffled. “Why would they be getting married if they didn’t plan to do that?”

“Don’t ask me. They seem to place a lot of stock in the words.”

“Strange people.”

“Well, as I say, that was only in some places. They might be more rational elsewhere. The mainlands is a big place.”

“I’ve never been.”

“Not many Atlantians have.” Vion was lying on her front now, and she’d lifted her feet and waved them back and forth. The curve of her buttocks caught the light just so and he found himself hardening again. He wanted to pull her into another embrace, but he was aware that the afternoon was wearing away, and he had no time to idle in bed with his wife. His wife! Each time he thought those words, he got an odd lurch in his stomach. It didn’t feel real yet.

Vion finally clambered up and sat on the edge of the bed. She peeked over her shoulder, watching him as he examined the ring again. “My mother gave me that.”

It was his turn to demonstrate his ignorance. “I never knew her.”

“You’d have liked her. She was a remarkable woman.”

“I’m sure she was, to marry an Emperor. We consorts are rare creatures, you know.”

That made her laugh. “She was a great source of strength for him,” she said, sounding a little wistful, “after she died, he changed. He was never quite the man he’d been.”

“He was still a great man…”

“Of course,” she said, almost automatically. She looked around the room. “Are you hungry?”

“No. I ate not long ago.”

“Sex always makes me hungry.”

Albrihn considered. “Actually, I suppose I could eat something…”

Vion walked over to a table set with various dishes and plates. “What would you like?”

“What is there?”