The Morning After

Chapter 2   

By: Shiral

Morgan guiltily set down his amber sphere and came back to bed, chuckling.

"Caught out, what is my penance, Madame?"

"I'll tell you when you get here."

Richenda tilted her head and smiled up at him as Alaric slid back under the sheet. The morning was too warm for sleeping furs. He nuzzled Richenda as he had seen Kelson do to Araxie.

"What did you see?" Richenda asked.

"NOW who isn't respecting Kelson's privacy?" Alaric teased.

"Well as long as you looked, you might at least tell me!" Richenda gave his ear a painful tweak.

"They were just waking up," Morgan confessed. "And it looked as if they were about to get right back to the business at hand."

"And what sort of figure does our new young queen have?"

"She's....well, she's young, slim and graceful, but I'd say her figure is a bit fuller and more womanly than Ro--" his next words were muffled by a sound blow from a pillow wielded by Richenda.

"You looked at her figure, you lecherous man!" Richenda laughed. "How will I ever be able to trust you?"

Alaric neatly twitched the pillow out of her hands and set it behind his head as he lay down. Richenda curled contentedly beside him, her head on his shoulder.

"I didn't look, but I couldn't help seeing. They WERE lying very close together."

"That sounds promising," Richenda answered, her voice drowsy and contented. "Are you pleased?"

Morgan smiled, twisting a bit of her hair in his fingers. "Aye. She's a fine intelligent girl, and the more I see of her, the better I like her. She's well suited to him, and he to her, and I think she'll give him plenty of children. Best of all, she is not Rothana."

"Much as Kelson loved her, I too am glad he did not marry Rothana," Richenda said. "I wonder Alaric, whether her being here at the schola was the wisest plan. Araxie regards Rothana nearly as her own sister, and yet..."

"I know," Alaric replied quietly. "What effect will that have, and will it put too much strain on Kelson and Araxie's marriage right at the beginning?"

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