It would seem she wished to get to know him better in ways that did not make him groan.

He like that very much too.

His wife had not asked much about him. They not only had not had the time, when they did, she’d had other things plaguing her mind.

Mars had not realized, until that moment, that he’d felt it hurtful that she had not.

“I wasn’t snooping,” she said quickly. “I saw them that night that I was, uh…”

“There is nothing of me you cannot know,” he said gently.

The worry transforming her features disappeared.

“And nothing of me you cannot ask,” he went on.

“Thank you, husband,” she said softly.

“The snake is for personal matters. The fire is official,” he shared.

“And the wax?”

“The wax?”

“You have four colors of wax. Green, red, black and gold.”

He found this question intensely interesting.

“You remember well matters which are not significant,” he noted.

“Everything about you is, um…significant.”

This made Mars growl again, give her a squeeze and he lifted his head to press a hard kiss on her mouth.

When he settled back, she’d assumed her slightly dazed look, and it was then he gave her answers, doing so settling into the knowledge that his Silence might not have asked, but from nearly the beginning, she’d been interested in knowing her king.

“The green is for personal correspondence. The black indicates military matters. The gold is a royal summons. The red is governmental. Such as endorsements. Sanctions. Proclamations. In short, general, but official, correspondence from the king.”

“That’s very…orderly,” she remarked, and he again grinned.

“For a savage?” he teased.

“No, Mars,” she said. “But maybe…yes.”

“It was all red under my grandfather’s reign,” he explained. “It was my father who created the system.”

“But…why?” she asked.

“Why?”

“Every missive from a king is important,” she explained.

“It is, amore, and none of this indicates that it should be ignored. But the clans, specifically, and some tribes, have structures. There are barons, but in many cases, they will have a man that is head of their warriors. They will have another man, or sometimes a woman, who is in charge of sharing information with their people. They will further have a secretary who handles their diary. Gold will be opened by secretaries. Black should be seen by no one but the chieftain, baron or their top general. Red would be understood to bear information that will be distributed. It allows leaders to delegate and it makes the demands of a king seem less demanding, even if they are still demands.”

“That is very clever,” she murmured.

“My father was that,” he replied.

“You speak of him with much respect,” she said searchingly.

“I wish you would have known him. He would have come to care for you greatly.”

This brightened her eyes exorbitantly. “Do you think?”