Zemnian Nights

Chapter Fourteen

The rain hammered against the roof of the carriage as he attempted to center his thoughts. Knowing now what he did, he realized he was so very ignorant of his bride. What made her who she was. Seeing her so pale, hauled away from the carriage limp and unconscious, he had known it was his fault. When he saw the goblin chasing her, he had been too terrified to move, and he cursed himself for that frailty. It had been self-directed fury, at his impotence and his inability to keep her safe that had fed his temper. It had been a desire to keep her safe that had made him slide the dagger into the latch. Locking her into what so nearly became her coffin.

"I do, indeed, command honesty, My Lady. Do know, however, I do not demand what I will not myself give. I have three coins to your one, I believe. I want very much to take the last." He looked across at her, eyes trailing over her face, the open parting of her undone collar leaving her throat still visible, his body keenly aware still of her skin against his lips. "I began last time..." he tore his eyes away. "You may begin this round."

She seemed to be unsure. "My Lord, I have questions that are not ... game-related. Well, I suppose they are, but they are about the game and not so much part of the actual questions that make up the game..." She bit her lip. "Forgive me. I sometimes run on when I am nervous."

"What are your questions?" He had noticed her babbling tendencies and he had not minded too much. It had always given him a small twinge of something pleasant to see her a bit off-kilter.

"While I understand that the first to hold all four wins, I do not know what the prize is."

"That is for the winner to choose. What would you choose if you won? " He smiled, very curious as to what she'd ask for.

"I ... " she blushed a bit and shook her head. "I hadn't thought of anything." She fidgeted a bit. "I suppose I would do all I could to never win, so I could always have the chance to have my questions answered."

"I see." He nodded. "Well I am not so magnanimous. I have a very specific prize in mind when I take that last copper from your fingers."

"And what is that?"

He smiled and steepled his fingertips before his lips, brows lifted in inquiry as he held her blues with his own. "I will take that to be your choice to start the game. Very well." He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees, fingers interlacing between them. He had two choices. He could be honest. Tell her that he had determined he would have her in his lap, skirt up, losing herself to pleasure at her husband's hand as they passed through the gates of Ravenswood... or he could refrain and give her back a copper, thus making them even again. It would have been pleasant to see her cheek redden and the shock in her eyes if he confessed his thoughts, but he wanted the game to last, and so he slid his fingers into his own purse and laid out the three coppers, taking one between index and second. "I choose to keep that secret, for now. You will learn of it soon enough anyway."

He noted her hand shaking as she reached up and took it, turning it over in her palm and adding the one she had already. "As you have already answered the question, I will allow you to pose me another."

She nodded. "Something simple then. Do you have any pursuits you find diverting, My Lord von Freidrich?"

"I do." He nodded once. "Though you did not ask what they might be, I will infer that was included. I enjoy solitude and so most of what diversions I have from work reflect this. I take pleasure in walking in the mountains, in my library, in riding. When I do venture into more public places, I tend to withdraw and take my enjoyment by watching others and lingering in the background."

"Ah." She nodded slowly. "I am somewhat similar I suppose. I enjoy quiet pursuits. I expect we will spend many an hour sitting quietly in the library, enjoying our solitude together." She chuckled softly. "An oxymoron, is it not? Solitude together?" Still smiling she shook her head. "I will not intrude on you, My Lord. I understand very much how vital peaceful coexistence is."