Moments like this

Reminder

Sometimes she stayed with him, while he was working. In the beginning it was very distracting, because most of the time she would sit in the armchair across the room and watch him. Well, it looked like she would. When he spoke to her, she always seem to "wake up".
Still, it was not really comfortable – it was even more uncomfortable.

Sometimes when she stayed with him, she read the scrolls that were laying around. In the beginning he had watched her doing so and it was very interesting from time to time. The way she sit, the way her expression changed, the way she held the scroll, the way she looked in the far distance, when she thought about something.

Now everything was more or less normal. She would do her thing, he would do his.
Today was one of those days in which she was watching him doing his work. He wasn't bothered by it anymore. He wasn't until she was standing in front of his desk and seemed like she wanted to talk or at least was interested in what he was doing.
By now he knew that mostly it was the first option. Political stuff did not interested her that much. It was annoying and stressful for her. She couldn't handle stress very well. Her energy was used up pretty fast. Also her concentration was extremely bad. He learned how to handle all these things by now.

He laid down his pen and looked up to her. They looked into each other's eyes until she decided that she wanted to sit on his lap, and so she did.
While she was sitting in his lap, he would tell her about his work. She would listen until it was too much. She didn't like talking – most of the time. Sometimes it didn't bother her how much someone would talk to her, but most of the time she would be totally annoyed, when someone said more than ten sentences – not that he counted the sentences.

There were so many things he had to understand and watch out. And there were so many exceptions to the rules he thought he figured out. Maybe more than one life was needed to fully understand and bring happiness to her. He didn't know, if he get the chance to be with her for more than one life. Therefore all he could do was to try his best and make everything as perfect as possible for her.

Some people asked him what she did for him in return. He always could only look at them. Not because he did not have an answer, but because he did not have the right words for it. She gave him a family, a home, a place where he could be himself without being judged. She gave him a warmth that came from the inside not the outside. She gave him a smile, a future. She understood him and would stay by his side 'till the end. All those things were very simple and were something natural for most people around him, but for him they were things that he had lost inside the fire that took everything away from him.

Sometimes he wonders, what his brothers would think of his wife. Would they like her? What about his father?
Questions that he would never know the answer to, but it was alright. They weren't here anymore, but he was and he had to go on. With her!

Working after the short cuddling was nice. He was calmer and he was able to focus better on what he was doing. Maybe because it reminded him, that he was doing all those stuff in front of him for a particular reason. The citizen of his empire wanted the same – more or less at least – as him. They all wanted a peaceful life with the people they loved. His job was to make sure that they could live this life.

It was easy to forget this simple aspect when all you see is a piece of paper with lifeless words on it about matters that did not affect yourself directly. The question, what the hell you are even doing, would cross your mind more than one time. Having someone that reminded you about the real meaning behind those words was so unbelievable important and in his case even more important. Life hated him and he hated life, but that should not affect his work! He loved her for being his reminder!