In Which Thetis Retreats to Their Bedroom

February 16, 1159

After the ceremony, Thetis had begun to feel rather tired, so while the guests danced outside, she had taken refuge in Florian's bedroom--their bedroom, she corrected herself. She didn't feel as though she was missing anything outside; with her belly as large as it was, there was no possible way she could have danced. And really, Thetis had never been one for crowds, even though the guests at this wedding were of a much more pleasant sort than those at her previous one. No, while she'd had a lovely time, she was feeling rather worn.

Yawning, she peered out the window, somewhat disappointed to see that the sky was still the pale blue of midday. How long would it be until sundown? When would Florian tire? When would he come and take her to bed? She supposed if she wanted, she could just go to sleep without him... but what if she didn't wake by the time he came? Besides, it couldn't have been good luck to go to bed without one's husband on one's own wedding day.

Her husband. Florian was her husband. It was such an odd thought--for so long, she had been Norwan's, owned by him in every sense of the word. Now... she was free. Florian, she knew, did not own her; as sparing as he was with romantic sentiments, she could tell through his own snarky brand of affection that he loved her.

Yes, suddenly, everything was just... better. Even her new wedding band felt much more comfortable than her old one; now, she could truly begin to heal.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a sudden knock at the door. "Florian?" she inquired instinctively, before realizing that it had been a woman's light tap.

"Yes," boomed a falsely masculine voice, followed by some giggling. "Can I come in?"

"Of course... Arydath?" Thetis wagered a quick guess.

"No, it was me," Lady Alina announced as she filed in, followed by Arydath, Honora, and the duchess. The duchess! And a lady! And the baron had attended the wedding as well! If someone had told her years ago that she would have such esteemed, noble guests at her second wedding, she probably would have died of shock.

Arydath chuckled. "I thought she sounded rather more like Halford than Florian myself--I might have mistaken her for my husband."

"This is lovely paneling," mused Honora out-of-the-blue. "Do you know where Florian got this? I've been bothering Adonis about new paneling for several months now."

Had they always been so loud? Or was that just the result of how tired and light-headed she felt right now?

Nonetheless, it would have been rude to ask them to leave--especially since there was a duchess and lady among them, and she was only the new bride of the baron's steward.

So instead, she merely smiled. "Hello. Surely you aren't all tired of dancing already? We can't leave the men without partners, you know."

"Maybe they'll start dancing with each other," joked the duchess with a shy grin.

Laughing slightly, Honora nodded. "Now that I think about it, I did see Adonis eyeing Severin rather hungrily."

"Last I heard, Severin was dancing with Dalston. Maybe Halford can occupy Adonis for the time being."

"Well, Arydath and I are in the same boat as you, Thetis," replied Lady Alina after a quick bout of giggling. "We can't exactly dance right now, can we?"

"We certainly can't leap," Arydath agreed.

"And we figured we wouldn't let those two have all the fun, stealing off to see the young bride without us," added Honora on behalf of herself and the duchess.

So they'd come to gossip with her--wonderful. Ordinarily she would have been quite happy to receive them, and she did feel very flattered that they would come to her, but not now. She was too tired.

Not to mention... she was beginning to feel a little ill. And she was beginning to periodically ache somewhat.

"Thetis?" Honora addressed her, sounding both concerned and confused. "Are you all right?"

Arydath, meanwhile, only chuckled. "Wait for it, Honora. Wait for it..."

Oh God! Arydath was good--Arydath was very, very good.

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