The love and joy that I felt abated a bit as I remembered that there was information I still had to share with him. “I need to tell you something.”
“Is there another prophecy?” he teased.
“I told you that I promised the goddess to go back and reopen her temple in Locris. Reinstate her worship there. She said she would hold me to that promise but that there might be another way to accomplish it. She wouldn’t tell me what it was, though.”
When I’d imagined telling him this, I had thought he might get upset. But he looked utterly serene. “Then we’ll find out what the solution is. Together. I know that a king should put his people first, but they mean nothing to me without you. You have seared your name into my soul and I’ll never be whole again if you’re not with me.”
“This is why I love you. Because you’re so romantic.”
“And here I thought it was because of my talented tongue.”
Now it was my turn to laugh, and he chuckled along with me. “So you’re not worried?” I asked.
“You are the one who said the goddess told you that you would have children. How would that be possible if I was in Ilion and you were in Locris?”
Oh. He was right. I hadn’t thought of that.
“You know, Thrax told me what you wanted,” he said.
It was such a strange thing for him to say that I wasn’t sure how to respond.
“To be treated like the princess that you are, to never let you be unhappy, to make you feel loved and adored every day of your life.”
Then I remembered. “I was talking about Quynh.”
“I’m talking about you and how things are going to be with us. We will always be together, and I will give you everything you’ve ever wanted and needed.”
“I love you,” I told him.
“Not as much as I love you.”
I smiled. Was he going to make everything a competition? I feared that I would welcome it.
“Unfortunately, there are things I have to do today,” he said. “Training with the troops this morning and then war council in the afternoon, followed by a review of the defenses. Would you like to join me for the last two?”
“Yes.”
“But first we should probably take a bath and clean ourselves up.”
It was an excellent suggestion and we raced together into the washroom. Not much cleaning took place because, once we got into the pool, sliding against him in the water was every bit as pleasurable as I had once imagined it would be.
We finally did manage to bathe and get dressed, and it was disappointing that he had to wear clothing again.
A sentiment he shared. He pulled me into his arms to kiss me goodbye and said, “I’m looking forward to taking this off you later.”
I shivered. “Me too.”
“Where are you off to now?”
“My sisters need to know about what the goddess told me.”
“And about the unimaginable, exquisite pleasure you’ve recently discovered,” he added.
How could I still blush around him after all that we had done? He noticed and laughed, kissing me quickly before finally leaving.
I was still in a haze of bliss as I went next door to find my adelphia. The door was slightly ajar. I let myself in, but only Zalira and Ahyana were there.
“Where are Io and Suri?” I asked.
