The gentle rock of the carriage which conveyed Maranya Valkonan to the mountain palazzo miles away from the hustle and bustle of town lulled her into a semi-dreamlike state. The moons hung in the velvet gray wintry night sky overhead like globes of cool light to guide the way home. She seized the opportunity to take time to contemplate her place in the scheme of the Universe.
So many things have changed over the past year. If someone had told me that not one, but two men would hold my heart in their hands, and I theirs, I would have denounced them as a liar, at the least. Yet, here I am, on the way to the bed of the man who grounds me like no other can. The man who does not ask me to choose, but allows me the freedom to love who I need to, whenever I have the need. The man who I will never ask to choose, but have given the freedom to love who he needs to, whenever he has need. Safe in the knowledge that both of us have a home, a heart, to return to. Together.
The Good Doctor's dark blond haired head rested against the buttery soft leather seat cushions. A soft sigh escaped from between lips made darker pink from the cold weather.
No one truly understands this kind of love, I fear, save the three of us. Perhaps four, if that one can be convinced, and brought into the fold, someday. Beyond willing.
Her half-drowse was abruptly interrupted by the stop of the carriage when it reached its destination for the night. She dredged up a slightly sleepy smile for the faithful Ernesto, who offered his hand to help her down the carriage stairs with his customary politeness.
The soul of discretion.
The ice and snow that crunched under Maranya's black leather riding boots soon gave way to smooth and untouched by weather ivory cobblestones, once she stepped past the thick walls that guarded the palazzo from intruders. Her smile curved her lips when the pulses of mystical energy that thrummed through the Gardens surrounded her. She stood there, arms akimbo, and let her body greedily soak up the waves of energy for a few moments, a balm to Senses stretched thin by the healing she had performed earlier in the Inn, as she felt too often lately when she used her Talents. Then she proceeded onward, toward the great house.
The sound of her boot heels on the marble floors echoed in the near stillness of the halls on the way to the master bedroom. She nodded to servants who silently nodded back, and went about their business as they always did, in routines worn to polished smoothness over time.
When I asked 'Tonio what his servants thought of this strange blond woman who wandered the halls, and shared his bed, he told me that as long as he was happy, the servants had no reason whatsoever to complain about my presence.
She shrugged off her heavy emerald wool long coat by the time she stepped into the master bedroom, and closed the door behind her. That and inner garments of coral pink wool knit and silk were soon draped neatly over a brocade upholstered chair off to the side, followed by her boots. Her breath caught in her throat when she stepped lightly on bare feet toward the bed, as it always did when her hazel eyed gaze fell upon the handsome male form draped in purple raw silk sheets upon the mattress. Moonlight that streamed in from a high window touched his classic Venetian features, which lent them an ethereal quality, and reflected off the faint strands of silver woven in through the tousled raven black hair.
"Lyublyu tebya vsem sertsem, vsey dyshoyu, 'Tonio moya. I love you with all my heart, with all my soul," she whispered softly, repeating the words first spoken in her native tongue in Common, as she slipped under the sheets, careful not to disturb her love's slumber.
So many things have changed over the past year. If someone had told me that not one, but two men would hold my heart in their hands, and I theirs, I would have denounced them as a liar, at the least. Yet, here I am, on the way to the bed of the man who grounds me like no other can. The man who does not ask me to choose, but allows me the freedom to love who I need to, whenever I have the need. The man who I will never ask to choose, but have given the freedom to love who he needs to, whenever he has need. Safe in the knowledge that both of us have a home, a heart, to return to. Together.
The Good Doctor's dark blond haired head rested against the buttery soft leather seat cushions. A soft sigh escaped from between lips made darker pink from the cold weather.
No one truly understands this kind of love, I fear, save the three of us. Perhaps four, if that one can be convinced, and brought into the fold, someday. Beyond willing.
Her half-drowse was abruptly interrupted by the stop of the carriage when it reached its destination for the night. She dredged up a slightly sleepy smile for the faithful Ernesto, who offered his hand to help her down the carriage stairs with his customary politeness.
The soul of discretion.
The ice and snow that crunched under Maranya's black leather riding boots soon gave way to smooth and untouched by weather ivory cobblestones, once she stepped past the thick walls that guarded the palazzo from intruders. Her smile curved her lips when the pulses of mystical energy that thrummed through the Gardens surrounded her. She stood there, arms akimbo, and let her body greedily soak up the waves of energy for a few moments, a balm to Senses stretched thin by the healing she had performed earlier in the Inn, as she felt too often lately when she used her Talents. Then she proceeded onward, toward the great house.
The sound of her boot heels on the marble floors echoed in the near stillness of the halls on the way to the master bedroom. She nodded to servants who silently nodded back, and went about their business as they always did, in routines worn to polished smoothness over time.
When I asked 'Tonio what his servants thought of this strange blond woman who wandered the halls, and shared his bed, he told me that as long as he was happy, the servants had no reason whatsoever to complain about my presence.
She shrugged off her heavy emerald wool long coat by the time she stepped into the master bedroom, and closed the door behind her. That and inner garments of coral pink wool knit and silk were soon draped neatly over a brocade upholstered chair off to the side, followed by her boots. Her breath caught in her throat when she stepped lightly on bare feet toward the bed, as it always did when her hazel eyed gaze fell upon the handsome male form draped in purple raw silk sheets upon the mattress. Moonlight that streamed in from a high window touched his classic Venetian features, which lent them an ethereal quality, and reflected off the faint strands of silver woven in through the tousled raven black hair.
"Lyublyu tebya vsem sertsem, vsey dyshoyu, 'Tonio moya. I love you with all my heart, with all my soul," she whispered softly, repeating the words first spoken in her native tongue in Common, as she slipped under the sheets, careful not to disturb her love's slumber.