“Forcing my body on yours does not appeal,” he continued, and I clamped my mouth shut for I’d never entertained the idea he would do as such and was shocked that he had. “I also cannot force you to speak. I have made it more than clear I will listen to whatever it is that has taken you from me. You’ve denied me that privilege. I will not beg.”

I didn’t want him to beg.

I wanted what I could not have.

I wanted to go back to how we were when we first met when he was but a beautiful man who made me feel beautiful too for the first time in my life and the promise of us was and always would be just…us.

“Now,” he kept speaking, “I must consider my options. In considering these, I’ve realized those options are limited, which is something I do not like. But I will need to select one, and as matters as they are between us are vexing, I’ll need to do that in short order. In the meantime, I’ll protect you as best I can, by limiting your time with your father. And I’ll protect our marriage, such as it is, by limiting your time with Kyril.”

“Kyril is just a friend,” I shared.

“Kyril is not your friend,” he retorted. “He is a Trusted One. His life is yours. But more, his life is mine. Do not misconstrue who he is to you, Silence. He is your guard and I’ll allow a rapport. If I do not like where that goes, he will cease being one of the premier soldiers of his realm and will spend the rest of his enlistment cleaning latrines.”

I gasped.

Mars had one response to my stunned surprise.

He turned his back to me, slapped the tent open and strode out.

I stood, watching the flap settle into place, feeling a heat in my eyes and a prickle in my throat.

Now, in a way, my husband was taking my father from me and I felt not a vague sense of alarm for my father had made mention Mars intended to do just that.

And Kyril, who I felt was becoming a friend, was for all intents and purposes lost to me too.

I had few friends and Mars knew that.

It just seemed now, in a kingly pique, he did not care.

On our wedding night, he had told me he wanted to fill my life with laughter.

He was failing spectacularly at that and doing so without much of an effort to succeed.

And for all those reasons, and a number more, I felt like weeping.

However, I could not do that.

I was queen.

Queens did not weep.

Queens carried on.

And sadly, this made me need to weep all the more.

I did not do that.

I went to the tent flap, peeked out and saw Basil there.