March 9, 1182
No, Zareth had not been dreaming. Someone had said his name, someone was in his room, someone was standing by his bed. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead."Spoken as if the sun had done the same--as if that was the strangest thing about this visit. "Did my guards let you in?"
"No. I climbed. I used to sneak out a lot back at home." Though there was little more than moonlight and his eyes were half-shut, there was no missing that smirk. Even though it was shortly replaced by a frown. "I'm tired of this. Don't tell me you're not tired of it too."
Tired of what? If Mona had to break into his castle in the middle of the night, she could have at least done him the courtesy of telling him why. "Well, I am tired...""That's not what I mean."
Zareth grunted and rolled over on his side. He wasn't sure why he was indulging her. He ought to have just gotten out of bed and shown her to a guest chamber. Hell, he would have been justified in just telling her to get out and leaving it at that. But of course he wouldn't, because that was the smart thing to do. "Then get to the point."
A quiet sounded for a second, oddly louder than any word before. Then--"Do you love me?"
Or maybe he was dreaming. Maybe it was a nightmare. "Mona, I'm an earl's bastard from a chambermaid who's only gotten as far in life as he has because his sister took pity on him. That and I'm twelve years older than you."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Some trace of annoyance in her tread--for all he wasn't sure how the hell he'd picked that up, she stepped away, around the bed and toward the empty hearth by the wall of the intended nursery--or, so Devidra had called it, as if the first thing he'd do upon moving in was sire a child. Sighing, he followed. "Mona--""Look, life is short, all right? Aren't we both lucky to be here?" So that was it. "Why aren't we doing something about it?"
"Your father--"
"I'm not here because of my father." She flicked at her hair with the sleeve of her cloak. Teal green. Her father's colors had been white and purple. "Maybe that was... a kick in the pants, so to speak. But this has been going on for longer than that and you know it."Zareth swallowed. "We can't--"
"And why not? Whatever you're about to say, my response is that I don't care!"
But why didn't she? Switch or not, she was still a princess. She could still do a thousand times better than him. "Mona--"
She grabbed him by the arm and yanked him forth into a hard, wet, perhaps stupidly unexpected kiss. He caught himself and only let it last a second.
But it wasn't a second he was about to forget. "What was that?""What do you think it was? I'm sure you've done that a thousand times."
"Not with you." At least, assuming that the mistletoe didn't count. "What the hell, Mona?"
"Just shut up." A small smile on her full lips, Mona took him by the shoulders and pulled herself nearer. "I love you. I love you so damn much, and I hate not doing anything about it. And I know you love me too."Oh, God. She made it sound too damn simple.
"Mona, I don't think..."
"Then don't think." Her finger caught on the laces of her cloak. "Not tonight."NEXT CHAPTER:
7 comments:
Thanks again to everyone who responded to my CC call on the last post! You guys are the best. :)
Oh you go, Mona! Go and get him! *does bunny dance*
And Zareth, relax! ^^ Nothing is quite as bad as you believe it to be.
Will we see the wedding? ^^ That would be grand!
Zareth is the king of people needing to relax. XD
If there is a wedding, we won't be seeing it. However, it would at least be worthy of an in-story mention if it happened. ;)
Hooray for Mona! And hooray for Zareth smiling - we need to see more of that because it's adorable. Neither of them is the easiest person in the world to get on with, but they work really well together. Mona has enough personality for both of them.
And since I'm ridiculously behind on commenting:
Octavius' face when he heard Renata was pregnant was brilliant, as was both of their reactions to her water breaking. Of course, Renata could probably deliver her own babies by now.
I hope she decides to go play baroness in Naroni. It would be nice to have her around. They've had such hideous times in that family; they could use a little Sadiel magic (the good kind, not the Laralita kind.)
Ah, the classic couple made up of the only people who can stand each other. XD
No worries about comments! I'm very bad about commenting on most of the stories I follow, to be completely honest, so I don't expect anyone else to comment on all of my posts.
Glad you liked that! I wasn't sure about his face--wondered if it might seem too neutral, but the alternative was crazy over-the-top Sim shock--so I'm glad you found it worked. But yeah, I don't think either of them are strangers to the labour routine at this point.
The Tamrions could absolutely use Renata in close proximity...
Go Mona! It's your birthday! ... Ok, not really ... but go Mona!
It is sooo past time that one of them (Mona) broke into the other's house and got them both to admit how they were feeling. It's sad that it was Roderick's death that was the kick in the pants to bring this about ...
... Ok, so maybe that's the least sad thing about Roderick's death. But still. At least now Mona is going to be happy, and she's living her life, and Zareth will be happy too if he knows what's good for him. ;)
Hooray for the happy couple!
It is sooo past time that one of them (Mona) broke into the other's house and got them both to admit how they were feeling.
Eeeheeee... so a break-in was the prescription from the beginning? :)
As painful a kick-in-the-pants it would have been, this is definitely the least sad thing about Roderick's death, the only thing it's caused for any of his family members that could ultimately turn out well (well... I'm sure Ietrin likes being king, no one else is so happy about that; this, I can just see Anna and Devidra jumping up and down yelling "Finally!", in addition to Mona and Zareth, of course).
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