***
Alric stood by the door and watched Kyrin and the nicker sleep on the floor in front of the roaring fireplace. She was cuddled next to the gray, wrinkled creature, which was sucking his thumb in his sleep. His tall, pointed ears twitched when Alric first came into the room, but it didn’t fully wake him.
He studied her closely, trying to figure out how to lessen her fears and repulsion of children. He wasn’t determined to have children but did realize the necessity of carrying on the noble bloodline of Valharan royalty.
Alric wondered how to get her out of the Lady’s chamber and back up into their bedroom where she belonged. Now that she knew how children were made, he was pretty sure she’d be sleeping on the floor again. He’d rather have her on his floor than in this room though.
He crossed his arms and looked around her room. The sun was up enough that he could see now, and he saw the pile of gold set off in the corner, along with four pitchers of water, all almost full.
Something in the nicker’s hand caught his eye, and he moved forward enough to see it. The tiny gray hand held one of Sithias’ crosses firmly in its grip. Alric gently pulled it out of his hand and then stood up to study it. It was one of the priest’s amulets that normally hung in the castle’s temple. He wondered where the nicker had gotten it but was brought out of thought when the nicker began to wake up.
The ugly creature sat up and yawned, and then looked up at Alric. When he saw the amulet in the king’s hand, the nicker began to shake with fear and quickly shook Kyrin awake.
She sat up and looked at the nicker, who pointed to Alric. Kyrin looked over at him.
“What did you do?” she asked as the nicker crawled onto her lap.
Alric held up the amulet. “I just pulled this out of his hand. Care to explain?”
“Not really.”
“Is he a thief?”
She smiled slightly. “He’s a nicker.”
“I’ve never heard of that kind of creature.”
“Well, no, he’s not a thief,” Kyrin explained. She reached over and put the nicker next to the pile of gold in the corner before continuing. “Nickers like to borrow things.”
“You mean steal.”
“No, they don’t mean to keep them. They are masters at their ability to borrow, and it’s rumored they can take the gold from a pirate’s teeth without them knowing. It’s not done maliciously though, it’s done out of curiosity and appreciation of shiny things.”
Alric sighed. “So why is he here?”
“He followed me.”
“Can we send him home?”
“I guess I could take him back to Terrahaut where he belongs.”
“Never mind. If it’s between him stealing things and you disappearing, we’ll just watch him,” Alric told her.
“Not stealing… borrowing.”
He reached out and helped her to her feet. “Either way, he can’t take things that aren’t his.”
“That’s just what he does. He’s harmless though.”
They both watched the nicker in awkward silence, not sure exactly where to go from there.
Finally, Alric turned to Kyrin. “Are you sure you’re going to stay for a while?”
“Probably”
“It makes me nervous that you’ll disappear, and I won’t know if you’re captured, dead, or just decided not to return.”
“What’s been going on here?” Kyrin asked. It didn’t escape Alric’s notice that she ignored his concern.
“Qualsax is acting up. We’ve been having little skirmishes almost every week.”
“We? You go to them?”
“Of course I do.”
She smiled. “It’s nice of the knights to let you go.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a king. I’m sure your skills are adequate, but my guess is that the knights do most of the work, and you just get in the way.”
He frowned. “Excuse me?”
“No offense intended.”
“It’s hard not to get offended. I can fight.”
She put her hand on his arm. “I’m sure you can.”
“What was that?!”
“What?”
“How you said that. You don’t think I can fight.”
“You’re a great king, but you have a kingdom to run and don’t have time to master a sword.”
“I’m better than any knight in my kingdom.”
“Don’t get all offended! You’re a king, not a knight.”
“I’m a Holy Knight.”
“Right, bent on theology and not skill with a weapon.”
Alric tensed suddenly. “That’s it. Get dressed.”
“I was going to take it easy today.”
“No, you can’t say that about me and then not let me prove you wrong. Get dressed.”
She shrugged, stretched, and then disappeared behind the dressing curtain. “I didn’t realize you had ego issues.”
“I don’t have ego issues.”
“Sure you do.”
He watched as she slung her nightgown over the dressing curtain. Alric smiled and moved so he could see behind the curtain. He watched as she pulled on one of the short dresses and then began to untie her hair.
“Hey!” Kyrin yelled when she saw him watching. “What are you doing?”
“Watching”
“Why?”
“Because I can.”
She finished her hair and then pulled on the belt for her flail, and slipped it into place. As she turned around, Alric pinned her against the wall and trapped her hands at her sides before kissing her softly.
It felt good to be near him again, and she pulled close against him, though she still tried to get her hands free.
Alric moved back from her slightly. “I guess I can prove my fighting skills to you later.”
She shook her head and then pressed her lips against his as her body curled to fit close to his.
“Why not?” he whispered into her ear.
“You know why not.”
He smiled and kissed her neck softly. “You know, it might help me forget you insulted me.”
Kyrin pulled back and her eyes narrowed. “No.”
Alric nodded. “Can we at least discuss it?”
“No”
He studied her and then let go of her left hand and started toward the door, still holding her right. “Fine, let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, following him out of the room.
“To prove to you that I can handle a sword.”
“I didn’t know I would be fighting, or I wouldn’t have worn a dress.”
“I’m not fighting you.”
“Why not?”
Alric didn’t answer but instead pulled her out toward the knight’s quarters.
Finn looked up when the king entered, and the knights all stood suddenly. “Is everything okay?”
“No, it’s not,” Alric said, walking over to him. He’d let go of Kyrin, and she stood back by the door, watching him.
“Are we heading out again?”
“No. Someone thinks I can’t fight.”
Finn laughed. “Kyrin has a way with words.”
“She thinks the knights allow me to go with them to fights and then do all of the fighting while I get in the way.”
The captain tried to stop laughing. “Okay.”
“So how do I prove differently?”
“Fight her. That’s what I had to do.”
Alric glanced at Kyrin. “She said that about you too?”
“Not exactly. She did tell me that I’m not a master of my sword though.”
“Do you just like making enemies?” Alric asked her.
She smiled. “No, but I’m not one to pad your ego either. Everyone knows that kings rule but have no fighting ability.”
Finn nodded. “Yeah, you need to take her down.”
“He can try,” Kyrin said.
“I can?
??t fight my wife,” Alric told him.
Kyrin rolled her eyes. “I’m not afraid of you.”
Finn thought for a moment. “We could put you up against one of the knights. Course, I could do it.”
“That’s a good idea,” Alric said.
Kyrin interrupted, “No, it’s not. He would be honor-bound to let you win.”
“There’s no way to prove this.”
“Send her into the next fight, and you can show her,” Finn suggested.
“I’m game,” Kyrin said.
Alric thought for a moment. “I don’t want her fighting Qualsax. It’s not her fight.”
“Then I’m not sure,” Finn said, and turned to Kyrin. “I don’t suppose you’d take my word for it?”
“Nope”
“I don’t lie.”
“No, but you aren’t going to tell me your king couldn’t hit the broad side of a mountain.”
Alric looked up toward the heavens and then turned to Kyrin. “You come up with a way. I’m not going to have you thinking I can’t hold my own in battle.”
“Fight me.”
“No”
“Why not? Are you afraid I’ll hurt you?”
“No! I’ve seen you fight, and you take things too far. I won’t hit you, so I’d get pummeled.”
“Why won’t you hit me?”
“You’re a woman, and my wife.”
“That’s stupid.”
“No, it’s not. You just grew up in an uncivilized world.”
Kyrin crossed her arms. “You’re then under the impression you could hit me if you wanted.”
“Maybe a non-weapon fight,” one of the knights suggested.
She smiled. “Magic only?”
“No, it’s a hand-to-hand fight, sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“Well it is, but your strong-hands are tied together.”
“So you tie our right hands together, and we fight?”
“Yep”
“Why?” Kyrin asked.
She saw no good reason to have a fight that way. Never, in all of her battles, had she had her strong-hand restrained to her opponent, and she saw no value in fighting if it wasn’t as real as possible.
“It doesn’t matter. I still won’t hit her,” Alric reminded him.
“Sir!” one of the servants yelled, running into the quarters. “Trox needs you inside immediately.”
“What happened?” Alric asked, studying him.
“The royal crowns are missing, sir. He thinks we have a thief.”
Kyrin cringed and immediately ran for the castle. Alric and Finn passed her, but she entered the castle just seconds behind them. She ran up to the crown room, which was full of knights and castle staff.
“Sir,” Trox said when Alric entered. “They were here this morning. Now they are missing from under the locked glass.”
Kyrin took a step back and then turned and ran up the stairs to her room. She had a good idea who in the castle could steal the crowns out from under locked glass.
“Nicker, no!” she whispered, and knelt down beside where he was playing with the crowns. Alric’s crown was crookedly placed on his head, and her crown was in his hands.
The nicker looked up at her questioningly.
“No, bad nicker,” she said, and took the crowns from him.
He reached up to take them back, but she held them above her head.
“You have to stop borrowing things.”
Both Kyrin and the nicker turned when someone cleared their throat. Alric, Trox, and Finn were standing in the doorway, watching them.
The nicker held his hands up for Kyrin, who picked him up and then looked at the others. “He didn’t steal them.”
“I know you keep saying he doesn’t steal, but by my definition, he is,” Alric said. He held his hand out, and Kyrin handed him the crowns.
“He doesn’t mean anything bad though. He just sees something shiny, and he wants to look at it closer.”
“If he can’t stop borrowing things, then he’ll have to go.”
“I told you, I can return him to Terrahaut any time.”
“I will talk to Sithias and see if he can take the nicker home,” Alric told her.
“No!”
“No? Why not?”
“I don’t trust Sithias not to drop him off in some unknown dimension. If he must go, then I’ll have to take him back myself.”
“How can you not trust Sithias? What’s he ever done?” Trox asked her.
“Why should I trust him? I’ve not forgotten that he punished me for no reason.”
“When?”
“By making me get married!”
Alric sighed. “I thought we were over that.”
“I am, but I still don’t trust him.”
“But you’ll trust Daemionis?”
“About as far as I can throw him.”
Finn walked over to look at the nicker in Kyrin’s arms. “How can we keep him from stealing things around the castle?”
“He doesn’t…”
“Borrow… how can we stop him from borrowing things around the castle?”
“I don’t know why this is a big deal. He isn’t hurting anyone.”
“It’s breaking tradition for anyone but royalty to touch those crowns,” Trox explained. “Sithias will need to re-bless them now.”
“He didn’t mean any harm.”
“It doesn’t matter what he means,” Alric said. “Let’s just keep him in a cage if you must keep him as a pet.”
“I’m not keeping him in a cage!”
“Why not? A lot of pets are kept in cages.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve been kept in a cage, and it’s humiliating! I’m not putting him in a cage.”
Alric was too shocked to speak.
Finn stepped forward. “What about just keeping him in your room when you aren’t with him then?”
“He picks locks.”
“Of course he does. Can you reason with him?”
“I tried,” she explained.
“I need to return these to the crown room so Sithias can bless them,” Alric said, and headed for the door. He was obviously upset about Kyrin being kept in a cage, and it only reminded him how little he actually knew about his own wife.
“I’ll have dinner brought up, okay?” Finn asked. He saw Kyrin starting to panic and didn’t want to upset her anymore. He also wondered if she was going to regret telling them about her time in a cage and didn’t want to dig the wound any deeper.
Kyrin nodded and then watched as the others left.
Trox and Finn met up with Alric in the crown room.
Finn watched him replace the crowns and lock the glass. “You know, she may not have been pregnant when she left, but she still managed to bring home a baby.”
Trox smiled slightly. “I wasn’t going to point that out.”
Alric turned to them. “How much about her do I not know?”
“I would imagine a lot.”
“I mean, how can we expect her to trust us if we don’t know even a fraction of what she’s seen and been through?”
“We can’t expect her to trust. All we can do is keep trying to gain it and hope that someday she learns.”
“She’s going to be sorry she told us about the cage. She doesn’t like divulging personal information,” Trox told them.
“I wish I could figure out how to lower her tough façade and get in touch with the side of her that feels vulnerable and soft emotions,” Alric said, deep in thought.
“Maybe she doesn’t have one.”
“She does, and I want to be a part of it. She can’t be hard as steel all of the time. At what point does humanity kick in?”
“You give an evil a lot of credit,” Trox said.
“She is human. There’s a part of her that wants to be a woman, wants taken care of, and wants to just relax.”
“Is there?”
“Yes, I’m sure of it.?
??
“If she has a vulnerable side, it may be buried too deeply behind emotional scars and self-defensive thoughts.”
“I’m going to get to it.”
“It’s a good thing you have patience.”
Alric finally smiled. “Yes, it is, isn’t it?”
“He’s sorry,” Kyrin said from behind them.
They all turned to face her, and Alric smiled. “No harm done.”
“He just wants to see everything.”
“I noticed.”
“He’s not my pet.”
“What is he then?”
“I’m not sure, but if you want him gone, I’ll take him.”
“I do, but I don’t want you to shift out again,” Alric told her.
She nodded and still seemed upset about something. Alric motioned to Finn and Trox, and they both left quickly.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” Alric said, taking her hand.
“I can’t trust Sithias.”
“Why not?”
“I just can’t.”
“I think he knows that. Why is it upsetting you?”
She shrugged. “What makes you think I’m upset?”
Alric kissed her softly and then whispered, “I can see it in your eyes. Is it the cage problem?”
“I didn’t mean that.”
“So it’s not true?”
Kyrin met his eyes only briefly before starting for the door. “I heard the chef made something called an apple tart.”
Just as she stepped out into the hallway, Alric pinned her against the wall and trapped her hands at her sides before kissing her more passionately.
Kyrin pulled back when a servant walked by. “Alric, people are watching.”
“So?” he asked, kissing her again.
She turned her face. “So! Stop it.”
“I’m the king. I can do what I want.”
“Well at least stop holding my hands when we kiss!”
Alric smiled. “I like to do that because it makes you mad.”