“Quite easily.I think the dog wanted to be stolen.All it took was a bit of cooked chicken.Nico’s wife supplied it.Brought Nico along in case I needed him.I did not.Nico was upset things turned out so simply.You did not tell me Merlin was so big.When you were speaking of him this morning, I imagined a small thing, a lapdog.Or some hunting dog, fast and sleek.But Merlin is a monster.”
“He’s a little sweetheart.”Diana rubbed her cheek against the Saint Bernard’s face.
“Well, your little sweetheart is much too trusting of strangers.He followed me all the way into the carriage with only the promise of chicken.”
“He probably smelled me on you.Didn’t you, Merlin?”
The dog groaned and flopped at her feet, and she laughed.He stared up at her with an adoration that likely mirrored her own.
“I understand that dog entirely,” Temple murmured.“Shall we go inside?”
They did and Temple found some old bedding to make the dog a bed in the corner of their bedroom.Diana sat on the floor beside her old friend as he circled and sniffed and finally made himself at home.Oh, how she’d missed him.She’d not had time to think about missing him of course, but that didn’t mean the ache wasn’t there.Alone at night above the potion shop, no thick fur to cling to.Reading alone in the study when Temple was busy and no fluffy ears to confide in.It didn’t matter that Merlin could not answer, he’d never failed to give his full attention, to cock his head as if interested.
A little corner of her that she’d not known had been raw and aching healed.And it had been her husband’s doing.Somehow, he’d known exactly what she needed.She hugged Merlin one more time and stood.
Temple was laid out on their bed, propped against the headboard, ankles crossed and hands folded behind his head.She loved him in this position, not a little because it strained his muscles against the fabric of his shirt.But also because he seemed so very at ease and rarely seemed that way at other times.In his forge, he was tight and tense, his work pumping his body bigger.In public, he scanned every corner, every face, looking for threats.With his family, ghosts roamed his gaze, and she now knew they were the specters of duty and obligation.He felt himself responsible for their well-being, and he was inspecting them for any cracks, any weaknesses or wants he could tidy up and make better.
She must do that for him now.
“We should bring in a servant,” Temple said, swinging one foot back and forth in lazy arches, “to help care for Merlin.We’ll need a cook, too, and you’ll likely want a maid.”
Their little peaceful idyl was ending.No more hiding.
“Tell me what happened with the king,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
When he was done, she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly and tried not to let her fears make her hands tremble.
“You’re scared.”He settled one of his hands over hers.“I do not blame you.But the king promised he would give us his blessing.And I trust him with that.He’s not been a perfect leader, but he has allowed himself to be towed in the general direction of reform on occasion.I cannot believe I had not thought of it sooner.But the king’s blessing protects you.Surely your cousin will not disobey his majesty.”
Diana was not sure that Apollo was capable of thinking rationally when it came to her and what he thought of as the theft of his birthright.
“And,” Temple said, “word has reached even the king that your cousin is nothing but a sot these days.He has stopped all his old activities, does nothing but drink and smoke opium.That last bit Mr.Squires provided.”
“Poor Apollo.”
Temple snorted.“Hardly.I won’t have you pitying him.I certainly do not.”
“But I do.A little, as foolish as that is, considering.”She’d better not consider it out loud or the vein currently ticking in Temple’s neck might explode.“It is only that… I begin to think every life has many paths that lead to good or ill or somewhere in between.I used to think there was only one, and we trod our path diligently, dutifully, until the day we died.We had no choice.That path was set the day we were born.But… it’s not.I chose to buy a potion, and that has transmuted my life into something I’d never been able to imagine before.Do not look that way, Temple.It is a good transmutation.Despite the running for my life bit, I’ve done and seen and learned more than I ever thought possible.It is… a thing of beauty.”
“I’m going to kiss you now.”
She laughed.“Not yet.You also made a choice, to share something with the king that you were told not to.And it saved lives and it changed your own.”
“I knew how my life would change, though.I knew, and I still did it.”His foot froze in the middle of one of those lazy arches.
“Yes, you did.And I admire you all the more for it.”
Slowly, his lips curled into a smile.“Now I’m going to kiss you.”
“One more thing.”
He groaned.
“I hope that Apollo’s choices are not done, and that he makes a choice one day that sets him on a beautiful path.That is all.”
“Too forgiving,” he grumbled.
“Shall I tell you what I was doing while you were away for so long?”
