LIX Happy
It’s our honeymoon, six months after our second wedding.
I have redecorated the stiff, cold sitting room downstairs, and it’s my first completed project in the keep.
Fire roars merrily in the fireplace, and Magnar lies among the cushions on the enormous, warm couch, covered by a blanket.
His head is in my lap, and I’m busy braiding his hair while he hums his courting song under his breath, his mouth soft with a small smile.
Outside, large, fluffy snowflakes fall, covering Raduna’s greenhouses.
Arvi’s ponds are frozen solid. Khay’s nieces play outside, sliding on the ice while Khay and Tasha watch over them.
They talk little. Tasha doesn’t smile often, but today, she has a faint smile on her face. Winter is her favorite season.
“Turn your head, my love,” I murmur, pulling Magnar’s pointy ear to get him to move. “I want to braid your other side.”
“My pleasure,” he says with a huff, pressing his face right between my legs.
My belly is in the way, but that doesn’t deter him. He kisses me where his mouth is pressed. I huff with amusement.
“Have I told you Molly got engaged?” I ask, reaching for the letter I got from the queen of Lovar today. “He’s a prince from one of the free cities overseas. She says he’s very handsome and seduced her with a dance. Just like you seduced me!”
Magnar purrs, putting his hand on my belly. “I danced for you after you were head over heels in love. First, I seduced you with my impeccable manners and gentle nature.”
I laugh heartily. The baby wakes up and kicks, and Magnar coos lovingly, stroking my belly where the tiny limb presses out through my flesh.
“And who’s a lively little baby? You heard mommy laughing, didn’t you? Oh yes, mommy has a pretty laugh. Wait till you see her. She’s the most beautiful woman in the world, she is.”
I laugh, tying off a braid before I start another. Raduna and Arvi step in, shaking snow off their heads. Arvi takes off his hat, this one dark green, and hangs it on a chair in front of the fireplace.
“Bad news, my king,” Raduna says with a salute. “Captain Hovar says he cracked a group of zealots plotting to overthrow you. You’ll have to preside over the trial, probably next week.”
Magnar groans, pressing his face to my belly. The baby kicks him in the nose, and he snickers, giving us a kiss.
“Already a fighter, just like her mommy. Can I sit at the trial in my bathrobe or would that be too much?”
“You’d be cold,” I say with a shrug. “Your throne room is drafty. I told you, it’s that one window that clatters when it’s windy. Someone needs to seal it with wax.”
“Ugh. Fine. Arvi, find someone who knows how to deal with drafty windows and get them to fix it. My queen said so.”
“Your laziness knows no bounds,” Arvi says with a scoff. “When will you finally itch for a fight, Magnar? I don’t want to lose my bet.”
“Raduna will win the bet,” Magnar says, waving his hand indolently. “Go off. Get the window fixed.”
“What did you bet on, Raduna?” I ask, genuinely curious.
I know Arvi and Khay gave Magnar two years of peace at most before they expected him to get swallowed by the urge to fight and conquer. I try not to think about it. For now, Magnar seems perfectly domestic and happy with his peaceful life.
Raduna takes off his coat and boots and dons a pair of comfortable, woolen slippers, sitting by my side with a happy sigh.
“I bet he’s never going to war again,” he says with a pleased smile. “Look at him. He’s happy right here. After warring for ten years, the man deserves at least as many years of peace, if not more.”
“Yes. What he said,” Magnar purrs, his breaths growing deep and even. I tie off the last braid and stroke his head, smiling at my sleeping husband. He naps a lot these days, because our nights tend to be busy.
Raduna smiles and puts his arm around me, and I lean against him, sighing happily.
I nod off, too, waking up half an hour later when Tasha’s girls run into the room, flinging snow out of their dark blue hair.
They are usually subdued and quiet, so my heart leaps with joy when I see the way they laugh, pointing their fingers at Khay, whose entire head and face drip with snow.
“I was defeated,” he says with mock despair. “Those two little warriors bested me!”
Tasha smiles faintly and gets to work preparing afternoon tea. She insists on helping around the keep, and Khay grudgingly lets her. She doesn’t have to work. Magnar took care of all the rescued women, making sure they have comfortable homes and good incomes. Most prefer to stay busy, though.
I smile and thank Tasha when she brings me my cup, and Raduna feeds me cakes, brushing crumbs off my belly with careful strokes of his fingers.
Arvi comes back and pulls the girls into a game of tag. Magnar wakes up with a sleepy murmur, and presses kisses into my belly before lifting his gaze to my face.
“Want to sit on that trial?”
I think about it, and nod in the end. “Of course. I have a reputation to uphold—after all, I am the merciless human queen who punishes injustice. Idrina’s spies say people fear me more than hate me these days. I can’t slack off.”
Magnar grins, showing off his teeth, still formidable, even if one is missing.
“Mmm. Remember that night in Farneer after we dealt with your governess and the rest of those fuckers who made you feel bad? I want another night like that after that trial and execution. Violence makes me horny.”
I huff, stroking the edge of his ear. “Breathing makes you horny.”
“Mmm. But you’ll agree serving justice adds a certain frisson.”
His smile is roguish, eyes dancing with mirth, and I can’t help but laugh. “Frisson. Have you been reading my filthy romance books?”
“Arvi is,” Magnar says with a chuckle. “He teaches me new words and ideas.”
“Like what?” I ask, sensing something deliciously scandalous.
“There’s that position that a woman can do with three lovers at once,” he murmurs, his eyes growing hooded. “Not now, of course, but after. You’ll like it. My pet likes to be full, doesn’t she?”
I swat his arm, pulling away when my face flames. He laughs and sits up, giving me a slow, sleepy kiss.
“She’s already pregnant, give her a break,” Idrina grumbles as Khay pushes her chair on wheels so she can join us for tea. “Where are my little angels? Come here, girls. Granny is going to teach you and your aunt some new words. Repeat after me.”
She teaches us for half an hour in between dainty bites of cakes. Idrina isn’t my only teacher now, I have an official Agnidari tutor, but I enjoy spending time with her. Her vocabulary is much less polished than his.
“Zandrahat ad ignat martus hal,” she says with a cackle. “Repeat.”
The girls do, and I do, too, even though I see the other Agnidari hiding smiles.
“What did that mean, Granny?” Alda asks.
“Move or I will chop off your balls.”
I huff under my breath, and the girls look at each other for a moment before bursting into giggles. They repeat the sentence a few more times, and Idrina nods and praises them.
“Let’s go to bed,” Magnar whispers, curling his arm around me.
“It’s not that late.”
“Don’t care. I want to be in our big bed with my wife. Come on. I’ll wash your hair and massage your shoulders. You know you want to.”
I stand up with a huff, but it’s wasted effort.
Magnar sweeps me off my feet and carries me out of the room, calling goodbyes over his shoulder.
We bathe together for a long time, embracing and sharing secrets.
I trace the marks on Magnar’s forearm with my fingertips, and they glitter in the light, his vows to me and mine to him.
He makes love to me in bed. We’re asleep when our knights arrive, and I wake to Raduna slipping inside me, Arvi’s hot, eager mouth on my breasts, while Khay strokes himself. They take turns having me, and I fall asleep full and sated.
And so it goes, one day at a time.
And so it goes.