Thus, the monkey scuttled away.

Through this, Silence had made the journey slowly to her side of the bed. She’d thrown back the silks and had sat her arse on the side in preparation to fully enter it.

“You will not lie down in our bed.”

It did not elude Mars’s notice, the rumbling quality of his voice.

It did not elude his wife’s either, for she turned to look over her shoulder at him.

“Come around to this side,” he ordered.

“My king, I am tired.”

It struck him then that, even in company, from the moment he’d shouted at her, she had not addressed him as anything but “my king.”

“Come around to this side,” he repeated.

“Perhaps we can—”

“Do it.”

In the now, his tone brooked no argument, and although she appeared for a moment as if she would disagree with that notion, she did not.

She stood and walked to his side of the bed.

As she did, he sat up and twisted so he was seated with his legs splayed wide.

When she was before him, he commanded, “Come here,” explaining “here” by pointing at the floor between his feet.

Silence hesitated but moved there.

He did not touch her.

What he did was tilt his head to look at her.

“It was not so long ago, no? Not so long ago when I removed my wedding chain even though we had promised always to remove one another’s before sleep,” he reminded her.

“It was not so long ago,” she replied. “No.”

That was all she said.

Mars felt that pit that had developed in his stomach earlier start to burn.

“Therefore, it was not so long ago you felt what I am feeling right now,” he continued.

“You’re right. It was not so long ago.”

And again, that was all she said.

He did not have vast reserves in this situation, but he gathered what patience he could muster. And he did this primarily because of what he said next.

“It was much I shared with you this morning,” he told her softly. “It was bad timing. Not my timing, I will remind you. But bad, for we had both been away long, and there was much to see to, and due to that, I could not see to you after sharing what had to be confusing and upsetting news.”

“I have had time to think on it during the day, my king.”

My king.

Mars clenched his teeth.

“And I will admit to a bevy of emotion felt throughout this day,” she carried on. “Including upset and concern, that mostly for my mother, and anger, that mostly for my father. But in the end, I found you were right. It explains a great many things in my life as pertains to my place in the house where I was raised. So, although I am not unaware that these emotions will likely careen for some time, I feel strong in saying that I will settle on simply being relieved that I was unloved not because I was unlovable, but my father is the man he is.”