It was amazing what the right pain management could do. Baudwin had marvelled over this every day since Rhiannon had given him the elixir in their chambers. While he still experienced some pain and discomfort, the difference was night and day. He still used the cane, but it was more out of habit than anything else. The limp would never be fully gone, but he could go through his day without constant pain.

Maybe he had done something right for the Gods to send Rhiannon into his life with this blessing. She'd warned him not to overexert himself, and he'd made that mistake a few times, but he quickly learnt his new limits and pushed them as far as he could.

He whistled as he walked down the steps to the undercroft where he had once helped his sister set up a secret training room. This new version of him was still something he was getting used to himself, and he didn't want to make it public until he knew if it would last. So he'd taken to doing his training and exercise down here, away from inquisitive eyes.

As he reached the first chamber with its arched ceilings and wooden beams, he frowned when he heard noises coming from the training room off to the side. A moment later he discovered his sister, Braithe, dressed only in her camisole and hoses, attacking her husband with a quarterstaff.

"I thought the advice was for you to not exercise too vigorously?" He raised an eyebrow at his sister who only gave him a cursory glance before making a swiping movement towards Aurelian who had to quickly parry with his own staff.

She huffed. "I'd hardly call this vigorously. I'm barely moving."

"I'm surprised you're allowing this."

The mocking comment made Aurelian glare at him, the momentary lapse in attention resulting in him being knocked off his feet when Braithe swung low, striking his ankles.

"Oof!" The knight stood back up, rubbing his backside. "Have you tried stopping your sister from doing anything? It's about as easy as catching a wild boar with your hands."

"Are you calling me a pig?" Braithe asked, leaning on her wooden staff, a teasing grin on her lips.

Aurelian grinned back. "A very beautiful pig." He turned back to Baudwin. "Honestly, I'm mainly here so I can catch her if she faints."

"I never fainted!"

The knight evaded a jab from her staff by stepping back two steps. "Of course not. You just fell asleep while standing. And I had to catch you."

Braithe grumbled a little, but didn't argue his point, instead looking at Baudwin. "Anyway, what are you doing down here?"

"I've been coming down to train," he admitted, leaning his cane against a wall before walking over to grab a sword and shield, pretending he didn't notice them staring at him moving about without the aid of his cane.

"Well... This is new." Aurelian leaned back against a stack of crates and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Rhiannon is helping me manage my pain." He hefted the sword, weighing it in his hand, then rolled his shoulders and moved over to a training dummy to land a few easy blows.

"Obviously." The other man chuckled. "Are you sure she's not a witch?"

He smiled over his shoulder. "So she tells me."

"How is she helping? Is it the healing power of lov—Ouch!" Aurelian rubbed his upper arm where his wife had punched it.

"An elixir. Potion. Whatever you want to call it. She says it's something any apothecary could cook up if they knew the ingredients." Baudwin shrugged and turned to look at them since they obviously would not leave him alone. "She knows her herbs, my wife."

"That she does," Aurelian agreed. "Like a witch." He stepped out of the way for his wife's next punch.

"Witch or not," Braithe said after a glare in her husband's direction. "I like Rhiannon."

"I never said I didn't like her!" Aurelian protested. "I just said she's a bit... You know... Witchy."

"Witchy?"

"Yes... She knows a lot of... Things. And she can do a lot of... you know..." Aurelian wiggled his fingers in the air.

"What does that mean?" Braithe looked amused while mimicking his wiggling fingers.

Aurelian made a face. "Well, how did she know Braithe is with child? All she did was touch her and ask some questions."

Baudwin frowned. "She's a woman, I guess she knows the signs. Things a medic might have missed."

"True," Aurelian allowed. "But the signs didn't seem all that obvious to me. She definitely seems to be correct though."

"Yes, I still haven't had my monthlies and I can no longer wear my old breeches that I used down here." Braithe sounded halfway happy and halfway annoyed about this.

"I was wondering why you weren't wearing them," Baudwin admitted. "And I don't really care if she's a witch, but she seems adamant that she's not. I see no reason for her to hide it. While some might try to take advantage of someone with even very limited magic, she should know we never would."

"You're right," Aurelian said, raising his hands in defeat. "I admit she's not a witch."

Possibly sensing that he wanted to change the subject, Braithe swung her staff around. "Spar with me, brother?"

He laughed. "And risk you fainting and claiming foul? No, definitely not."

"Spoilsport." She pouted, but soon broke into a smile as Aurelian bowed in gratitude. "Fine. Come then, husband. We shall leave my boring brother to his training."

"As you wish." The knight grinned as he helped her back into her dress.

Baudwin continued training for some time after they left, enjoying the rigorous exercise and the freedom of movement without crippling pain. Having worked up quite a sweat, he returned to the royal quarters after finishing and rang for a bath. A quick investigation showed that Rhiannon was not present, only her lady's maid who was busy rearranging the closets and clothing chests.

Servants were quick about bringing his bath around, and he soon sank down in the hot water. The large copper tub was much larger than the one at the Inn when Rhiannon had helped clean the ointment off his leg and able to fit him comfortably. His wife wasn't big, he could probably fit her in there too. Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes and enjoyed that thought for a moment.

He jerked awake from the sound of arguing voices. Looking around his room, bleary-eyed, it took him a moment to realise he must have nodded off. The water was cooling, but not cold, so he'd not slept for too long. Getting out of the tub, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist as he frowned and tried to hear what was going on.

It sounded like Rhiannon and her lady's maid were having another argument. The thick wooden door muffled their voices to the point the words were indistinguishable. This was the second time in as many weeks they did this. What was the woman doing to anger his wife to this degree?

Deciding to step in, he opened the door and crossed the length of the sitting room so he could stop by the open door to Rhiannon's chambers. The two women were standing on either side of the wide bed, Rhiannon gesturing to the items spilled over nearly every surface of the room.

"I've told you, it's not here!" she snapped at the lady's maid.

"I'm not sure I believe you," Ayala said. Alya? Ailla? He could never remember the young woman's name. "We need it back. If it's not here, then where?"

Surprised by the insolent tone the lady's maid used to her queen, he cleared his throat, making both women's heads whip around to stare at him.

"Can I assist you in any way?" he asked, suddenly very aware of the fact that he was only wearing a towel around his hips. Something both women seemed acutely aware of as well, as their gazes drifted down along his bare, wet chest.

Rhiannon was the first to recover, her eyes snapping back to his. "Thank you, but everything is fine. We just lost something."

The lady's maid nodded, her cheeks staining red as she tore her gaze from his near-naked body to stare on the floor. "Yes, Your Majesty. Everything is well. I am very sorry if we disturbed you."

"All right then." He nodded as regally as one could while wearing only a towel.

"I'll come with you," Rhiannon told him before her eyes bore into the other woman. "And you. You will clean up this mess."

A glint of defiance glittered in the maid's eyes, but she nodded demurely and bobbed a curtsy. "Yes, Your Majesty."

With a final long look at the young woman, Rhiannon left the room with Baudwin and walked over to his chambers. Once inside, she stopped for a moment as her eyes took it all in. He realised that this was the first time she'd been in there. They had always ended up in her chambers until now, while he'd only entered his for baths and getting dressed, or dealing with correspondence.

The chamber, while large, wasn't the most regal one. He'd done away with most of the overdone furnishings his parents had favoured, trading the gold-painted furniture for sturdy pieces beautifully carved out of dark Breoch wood. His favourite might be the enormous four-poster bed with the posts created as elaborate tree trunks, complete with a squirrel and woodpecker. Drapes, curtains and cushions were all in the Breoch colours of dark red and gold, and on the walls he'd hung oil paintings of beautiful landscapes found throughout his kingdom.

An open fireplace dominated the wall opposite his bed, a bear fur on the floor before it. There was a second door leading to his study where he would spend time when he was tired of advisers hovering around him for every letter he had to write. Possibly the least kingly feature was the fact that every surface of the chamber had a pile of books on it. He looked at Rhiannon's face as she took in the details of his private room, wondering what she was thinking.

Looking from one of the book piles to his face, she smiled. "Are you sure you have enough books in here?"

He grinned. "I could probably fit a few more. But there are things I prefer instead of reading these days."

"Oh, really?" Her eyes strayed from his down to his bare chest, following a bead of water on its journey down his sternum, over his stomach and abdomen, finally getting soaked up by the towel wrapped around his hips.

"Definitely," he murmured as he bent his head and kissed her.

She slid her arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss; her dress absorbing some droplets from his body as she pressed against him. The simple gesture rekindled his desire, which always seemed to smoulder close to the surface these days, and he pulled her closer, circling his arms around her waist. Her touch was desperate and urgent, as if she worried it was the last time she'd have him close. She shouldn't worry, he would never stop kissing her. Her urgency spurred his own, and he kicked the door closed and pushed her up against the wall, trapping her between the cold stone and his body.

He nearly lost his footing when Rhiannon violently shoved him away. Staring at each other, their breaths laboured, he mentally kicked himself when he saw the wild look in her eyes. Orc's ass! He should have remembered.

"Rhiannon," he said, reaching out his arm. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking..."

She nodded before taking his stretched out hand and pulling him back to her. He held still, not wanting to startle her again, their bodies mere inches apart. With her back against the wall, she tilted her head up, her tongue darting out to wet her lower lip.

"Do it again."

With a groan, he closed the small distance between them and captured her mouth in a searing kiss. This time, she didn't push him away, but wound her arms around his neck, holding on like he was the safe port in a storm, while her lips met his stroke by stroke. Reaching down to cup her bottom, he shifted her slightly, allowing him to push his leg between hers. She gasped when his thigh brushed against her sensitive spot, her fingers digging into the hair at his nape.

Her low moans were like music to his ears, as he helped her ride his thigh, his hands guiding her hips and his mouth nipping and kissing her neck. But it wasn't enough, he wanted more. He wanted all of her. Pulling away, he looked down at her upturned face, her moss-green eyes hooded.

"Rhiannon, I would like to try something... Do you trust me?"

~~~~~~