Finally, my beautiful wife, my flower, my meeting is done. I have about an... hour, such as it is, before the next begins. I will see you in our room. I need a snack, his famous non-sequitur begins, perhaps some of the finger sandwiches. And so they appear in the chamber. Hmm... no... rabbit pies. And the sandwiches magically (quite) become rabbit stuffed pastries.
     Gruffydd's long legs cover distance quickly in his hasty stride. He is dressed as a working prince today, in deep blue leathers and the serviceable shirt of rough violet silk, long-sleeved. Over this is the ornate captain's coat, its brocade and velvet fabric quite peacock like in coloration. His hair is cut neatly these days but still long enough that his cupidic midnight curls can have their way. And as he shall do for years to come, he is multi-tasking even in his walk to his own bedroom.
     He is reading a report...
     Marching down the hall...
     And eating a biscuit...
     He opens the door to his chambers without looking up. His ears will tell him if he's walked in on anything particularly delightful. He pauses at the door, turning to close it before taking a look around.

     Your wife is alone; silks are pooled about her, but she is undressed. No, that is incorrect; she is not undressed. She is devoid of clothing. She has been painted with silver stars against a midnight and cobalt blue backing everywhere that skin shows; the triangle between her legs has been removed save for a downy cloud of gilded silver as well. The black of her hair is hung with constellations of milky-white pearls, and she is curled around a silver platter on which rests a flagon of spiced wine.
     "I'm glad you're here," Maria murmurs, lips barely breaking apart. The pink inside of her mouth shows as shockingly bright against the blue of her skin and her lips. Her eyes are closed so that the full artistry of the moment won't be lost; now they open, crooking black lashes against the blue skin as she looks to you. "We have a lot to discuss, my love. I do hope that this will not distract you too much from it, but," she drops a shoulder in a lazy shrug, "the girls insisted."
     She takes the flagon up from the tray, holding it out to you. And I love you, by the way. I hope my news won't put you off too much.

     He takes a moment to enjoy you, the dreamy firmament that is your body. Gruffydd pauses by the bed, his weight given to the nearest carved bedpost, and he takes the wine as you offer it. "You are the Queen of the Night," Gruffydd murmurs. "It is not fair that I have only one hour to gaze at the stars. That is not enough time to study your constellations as I would like." He smiles to you, and while it is partly in humor at his metaphor, it is also a quiet smile of great affection. "You are so beautiful. I would weep if I had but time."
     Turning, Gruffydd unstops the wine and he pours two glasses. "Give the girls my thanks. So... we have much to discuss. I apologize for not answering you earlier. I am simply going to have to get better at having three or four conversations at once." A glass is offered to you. "And I love you," he reassures. "You seem to be a bit pensive. What's the matter? Rabbit pie?" he offers suddenly, taking one of the miraculously appearing, meat-filled pastry delights from the tray next to the bed. He promptly takes one for himself, and his glass of wine, and settles on the bed beside you.
     "Have I told you yet, how much I love you? And how grateful I am, how happy I am that you are here with me? If I have not, shame on me. These pies are exquisite. I think I shall have yam-filled pies for dessert..."

     "It is quite all right, my love." She gives you a fluttering look and smiles. She takes the glass you offer and takes a sip. "I am pensive because I have some new things on my mind. I am worried that I might have scared off Preston, or put him off; or moved too fast, though all I did was be honest with him. No orgies," she assures you, setting the glass aside. "Just..."
     She sighs, sitting up. "Madison seems a sweet girl but in desperate need of polish. And somewhere along the way, someone told her she is stupid, and she believed them. I'm uncertain how to get around that." Maria frowns, listing on her fingers, "Oh, and Anierin is sensitive; likely with the changes, but also being in a class where everyone is older and, dare I say, sexually active - talk of politics cannot entirely steer away from the topic, only around."
     Maria smiles, accepting the rabbit pie as she curls against you, resting her head on your shoulder. "Some days I worry that I am not the queen you need and only the queen you have," she says wistfully. "I am trying, but I don't know that I am doing well enough."

     "That is a lot of news," he says softly to you. He turns his head to kiss your forehead. "You are just the queen I need. For a thousand reasons. The most important, of course, is that I love you. So... in order?"
     Gruffydd pauses a moment to get halfway through the first pie. He sets down the other half, licking his fingers and then letting the wine wash it all down. "Preston is hard to scare. Sensory overload, however, is relatively easy to achieve." He smiles at you as he settles back, his body sinking into the cushions and pillows, and he slides his free arm around you to hold you close. "I think.... perhaps with you... the best tactic with Preston is to meet with him one-on-one. No servants. No maidens. Just you and just him. Or, if you like, you and I can meet with him. As for your concerns, I will see him later and will let you know if he's troubled. I do not sense that he is."
     Another swallow of wine is needed. "Madison is very young. Seventeen there is not like seventeen here. It will take time. She needs to grow, she needs to push herself. She needs some success and she needs some failure. That is just part of life. I would imagine that it is hard for her to get her footing and establish equilibrium when she is around Balthazar." He chuckles into his wine glass, on the edge of another sip. "She is so rarely on her feet when he is around. Give her time. And yourself time. Perhaps change the setting. Young girls like to shop. Perhaps you take her shopping with Sabira..."
     There is a softening of his feature at the mention of his baby brother, the youngest by far. "I do feel for Ani. The youngest always seems to be the last to know, the last to be included. I think he feels a bit forgotten. I think I will setup a lads' night. Not tonight. Perhaps in a couple of days. He is so smart, but I think his intelligence makes him feel foreign in some ways. Not that we are not intelligent, but he is ...not the average twelve year old."
     Gruffydd takes another bite of pie and another swallow of wine. He looks to you. "What do you think, my future queen?" he wonders softly. "Of all of them?" His free hand lifts to your hair, his fingers padding against your scalp.

     "I hope that he is not. I do not want to push him away from you." She reclines up against you, voice quiet and a bit wistful. "I would have a hard time forgiving myself."
     She listens to you, rubbing her cheek against your arm. The blue does not streak, nor does it transfer; her ladies have done an excellent job. "I will try the shopping idea. But she is clearly not at ease in a classroom. There is nothing wrong with her brain - but she thinks she isn't smart enough to handle it. She is visibly insecure and unhappy with being asked questions - I could see the panic in her, although she tried, very hard, to answer and to sound like she was trying. I just also could hear how much she didn't want to be there..."
     Her hand lifts, skimming over your ribs. "Madison did make efforts to keep Anierin involved, and Preston was wonderful with him," Maria informs you. She kisses you between sips of wine, bites of pie. "He will be going to the games tomorrow with Sabira and Madison, and Madison has invited him to come to the suite she is sharing with Balthazar for card and board games 'any time'. I hope that doesn't come back to bite her." She chuckles, draping her thigh over yours and closing her eyes as your fingers move in her hair.
     I think that Madison needs to learn that she is smart after all, from someone who is not her lover. I think that she and Preston need to talk with one another; she did not recognize him at first, and he was quite shaken by it. I do not know why that occurred. I think that Madison needs to find some success which is hers, that she can claim ownership of, and both recognize it and have it recognized; I think that Anierin needs to spend more time with others around his own age. Ideally those who will not easily be impressed by rank and station, but that might be difficult. And, Maria sighs out loud, setting aside wine and food alike in favor of encircling you as best she can with her arms, I think that Preston doesn't like me very much. He accused me of acting like his older sister. I did manage to counter that, but I am not sure how he feels. One of these things that I think might be wrong, but not all of them.

     For all of that, you receive the press of his lips upon your forehead. He sets his wine aside and surrounds you in a warm embrace. Arms...and then with grand wings. "You could not push hm away from me," Gruffydd assures you quietly. "He is made of harder stuff than to break after one conversation. You are being too critical of yourself, I think. And... my dear... he doesn't know you. Give him time. You've only met him twice, and never alone. Meet with him, without your girls. It can be... too much to grasp... with so much to look upon. Give that a try. And I will speak with him. If he has concerns, I will allay them."
     A hand moves lightly over and through your hair.
     "Hmm... I do not know either. Preston is much changed, however. And she has been sequestered, remember, in the temples of love and desire. Perhaps it was shock. I would like you to take more of a lead role in Madison's education. Formal education, she will have in university. But she needs to be more polished than she is. And your expert hands are just the ones to do it. She needs assurance, reassurance. Until which time she can nourish her own soul. You are right to say that it cannot come from Balthazar."
     Gruffydd makes a sound in his throat: it is half sigh, half chuckle. "Anierin does need friends of his own. I think he is naturally shy, which hinders him. And he is prone to father's too-intense focus. It is a tough combination. I will see what I can do to help. But I am glad to hear that he and Preston are bonding. And that he and Madison have met. I think... Balthazar's ascension has created a rift of circumstance. It cannot be helped. Balthazar is twenty; Anierin is twelve. Those are two different universes."
     "Try not to worry too much, my little star," his fingers skim over the blue of your skin, to trace the trajectory of one of the stars painted there. "Would you prefer it if I asked Preston to join us in here tonight? Perhaps the three of us can discuss the matter over dinner..."

     "I will do all that I can," she promises. As you knew that she would. She smiles, nestling in with you and snuggling. "It is the way of things. He is isolated because he is alone," Maria says of Anierin. "He has no true contemporaries. He has relied upon family for all his friendships and interactions, and he has encountered the pitfall of it."
     Maria coos as your fingers track her constellation, eyelids falling heavy for a moment. "I think ... I think that he should speak with you first, before we reintroduce me to the mixture. He has had time to meet me twice; once under conditions which were very overwhelming, and today - I do not know if I overwhelmed him or no. He knows that I am part of this picture, no matter what the picture itself ends up being. I have no concerns on that front. I think, ultimately, that he needs time to come to terms with things without being confronted by my presence yet again. He will feel pressured, even if no pressure is meant. Let us dine together and after dinner, if you have time and energy to do so, and if he has made no other plans - go to him, or call him to you."
     She seems satisfied with her advice; she lets you consider it, grabbing your hand and dragging it to her breast in unspoken invitation. "He has had much to learn and become accustomed to. His entire way of life is changing, if he remains with us. Within that he still has choices as to how things will be; in some ways, more choice than either of us, but it has to be a little frightening to him. He's young, and he is in love. Let him savor that a bit before we start trying to straighten his path too much."

     His fingers move, skimming your breast as he thinks. "Could I have done more for Ani?" he wonders softly. "We were all so close, and there were so many of us. I think we have taken one another for granted. And now the youngest is so much younger than we. It saddens me to think that he feels so isolated. He is such a good boy. He has such a good heart, and such a quick mind."
     "I will see him after my meeting." He smiles when you say that Preston is in love. It is that guilty smile, dimples and blush and all. "I will. I just... do not want to leave you out. Or to neglect you. You will let me know," his fingers lightly stroke circles around the star that shines, an aurora around the areola. "...if I become distracted. Balance is important."
     "We would do well not to force the matter. It is a good reminder to me. In haste to have what I want, both of you with me, I should take care and move quite deliberately." Gruffydd tips his head so he might look at you. "We will be here to love Preston. That is really the only way to confront fear. Use love. As for Anierin, perhaps we should poll the court, quietly, for young men of the same approximate age."

     "You are not neglecting me," Maria demurs. "It is a question of what we want; and what he wants. We know what we want. He must decide what he wants, now." She smiles at you, although there is wistfulness and potential regret. "We can hope that he will decide to want what we want. But if he decides that he does not, then I will accept what he chooses to give me. I would not deny you him just because he does not find me to his liking."
     "I know he finds women attractive," she remarks idly. Her thigh rubs against your own, enjoying the contrast. "But he might not choose to take that route; he has things on his mind. I don't think it is just about me - or even just about you. I don't know what is on his mind, and he isn't ready to spill all his secrets, I suspect. So we will have to wait - both of us, and for many things."
     Her voice goes a trifle breathless as you move from breast to breast. "Just young men? Don't you think that there should be young women as well, as long as they are not the simpering type? No matter how he develops, he will have to adjust to both men and women as he moves through life. I do not think you've neglected him. But things have changed, and ... what he needs now is not what we can give him, not as easily as when you were younger, when we were younger. Polling the court, though, might not be a bad idea. I think he will be ready to put the lessons into order. Madison actually gave him some very good advice for that. Sabira and Preston did as well."

     Gruffydd smiles, his eyes drifting downward to watch his fingers. "And girls, yes. Though, I was thinking more for friendships. But you are right. He will have to adjust to them as well. He should be well-rounded." His hands move idly, simply enjoying the feel of you in his palm, his fingers. Fingers squeeze and press, roll and tickle as he thinks, as he speaks. "I will begin to put feelers out."
     There is quiet, filled with just the sounds of your joined breathing as he says nothing for a time. Gruffydd kisses you lightly. "For all of your worry, it sounds as though the lesson was a great success," he grins. "Madison met Ani, and likes him and helped him. Preston and Ani get along. Sabira was engaged in the conversation and compassionate, as i would expect her to be. "Do not worry," he plucks a kiss from your lips again. "You are sweet and wise and delightful." Gruffydd sighs and smiles. "And I wish I had more time to ...adequately honor and enjoy you."
     One hand remains at your breasts, his fingers teasing as he reaches for another rabbit pie. "Especially when you are so beautifully painted. They truly outdid themselves..."

     "I will try not to worry." Maria halfway closes her eyes, lying back against the pillows and cushions that abound. "Would you like me to call in the girls? I could send you a play-by-play while you are in your meeting," she teases. She parts her thighs for a moment, spreading her legs for a flash of pinker flesh behind the silver and blue.
     I will meet with Madison later. And with Anierin, and Sabira. There is still much to be done. But I will give Preston some time and some space.
     "Do you think I should broach the topic of Madison with Balthazar?" Maria wonders. "I do not want him to feel defensive. But I think that he should be informed of where her mind is - especially since I do not think that she knows, herself, how she has been turned."

     "Balthazar is not prone to defensiveness, in general. I think it would be good to bring it to his attention. It is quite possible, given how busy he is and how they tend to spend their time," he grins, his hand leaving your breast, "that he does not know the extent to which Madison is hurting. Though, he is extremely perceptive. He may still lack the proper context."
     Gruffydd chuckles, his smile wide and quite delighted, "I would like that, oes. I want to hear every detail, my little galaxy. Hmm... actually, I do have a bit of time. Perhaps you should call them in now." He brushes his lips against your own. "I want to watch you... I have at least a half hour before I am expected anywhere."
     His hand lifts away from you and he rolls back, finishing his rabbit pie. He reaches for his wine. "I would appreciate your meeting with Ani. I know he adores you. See if you can give some ease to his heart and mind."

     "I will see about meeting with Balthazar and with Anierin," Maria murmurs, squirming as her thighs close around your hand. She sighs as you pull away, biting at her lower lip as she gives you a decidedly come-hitheresque look. "Would you like me to call the girls in now, then?"
     You slide away, and she leans forward to pounce, fingers plucking at your clothes to part them enough for her to nuzzle and nip at your skin with greedy demanding little love bites. Or would you prefer I keep you all for myself...

     Gruffydd chuckles softly, his wings and arms embracing you. "I should like nothing more than that. But, my love, you know I will need more than half an hour. There is no need for you to wait."

Posted by rowan at October 17, 2009 06:21 PM