Ephemeral Affairs [MXM]

Once More to Thempolis

Maeve is alone in his thoughts after Nillin has fallen asleep with his arms around his wife.

He can hear the guards outside their tent speaking their minds.

"If the King hadn't married a dark skinned wife, other important people wouldn't scavenge the world to find a similar creature for their harem."

"Yes. I feel the pressure to marry a dark skinned wife so that others would think I'm important."

"Hey, did you hear? The Regent of Kalor had one in his harem too."

"Why am I not even surprised? I think everyone got one by now... Well, except for us."

Maeve covers his ears, not wanting to listen to another word.

He thought he was unliked by the nobles and royals, but he does not want to believe that others who simply have his skin color are treated as trophies, a badge of prestige.

'I need to sleep,' Maeve thinks to himself.

"Why don't you just kidnap a dark skinned man as your bride? It's not like it has to be a dark skinned girl, right? I mean the Queen is a man or so I heard."

"I'm quite sure the Queen is a fucking woman. Can't your eyes see how beautiful the Queen is in her gowns?"

Maeve swiftly gets out of bed and makes his way to the washroom.

They avert their eyes and tell one another to shut up after they see Maeve go to the washroom.

The washroom is lit all around from the outside so that the figure isn't exposed.

Maeve finds himself disgorging a foul color and texture. After rinsing his mouth, he sits quietly in the washroom, feeling exhausted.

"What's going on with this broken body?" Maeve pinches the bridge of his nose. The he heaved a soft sound, "How do I fix this before Nillin knows?"

After some time, Maeve finally mustered the energy to return to bed.

As he enters the tent, for the first time since a long time, his sleepy son wakes up waiting for him.

"You're up?" Maeve picks up the grumpy child. "Are you having a fever?"

Maeve checks his temperature, "It seems normal to me."

Niran's mouth twitches in a sucking manner, searching for a midnight snack.

"Good thing your father was persistent," Maeve opens a box beside Niran's crib and pulls out a cold cup of milk and a spoon. "Be nice to me until the milk has reached room temperature, okay?"

Niran is barely awake, but he keeps his mouth twitching for something to suck on.

"I'm sorry that I can't breastfeed you anymore. I don't know what's wrong with me," Maeve sighs softly as he brushes the baby's cheek. "Please continue to be a healthy and strong baby."

Although Maeve is speaking quietly, his voice alone wakes up his older son from his crib. The boy crawls over his father in search of his mother.

"Mama?" Nisara asks after he reaches the other side of bed with his mother nowhere in sight.

"Sorry, did Niran and I woke you up?" Maeve goes to bring Nisara to sit with them.

And as soon as Nisara lies on Maeve's lap, the boy falls asleep again.

Maeve chuckles and then feeds the younger brother a spoon of room temperature rich milk.

Niran flinches and spits the milk out.