“I think we could end my quarantine early,” I told the young priestess.

  I had learned over the st days that her name was Unata. She was kind, calm, and helpful. She gave me a sympathetic smile.

  “Do you think so, Your Majesty?”

  “Yes, why not? I’m perfectly healthy, just having a bit of trouble sleeping.”

  “We are still having trouble understanding the king’s illness Your Majesty. Your insomnia might be a symptom.”

  I looked at her, a dull headache forming behind my brows.

  “But it’s not!” I whined.

  “Let’s at least stick to the original seven days,” she told me reassuringly. “Afterwards we’ll see.”

  The duchess had arrived on the third day of my quarantine. Four more and Virtus might fall right into her arms.

  Not that that was my most pressing issue. I had been pnning to leave with Alvar, but now that I was almost sure he had sughtered Prince Plinius, I was afraid of him. I wanted to avoid him, but I couldn’t tell anyone why.

  The day went on. I was getting nervous. Everything was cwing at my senses. I couldn’t sit still. I tried to read, I tried to chat with Unata, but nothing was working. I just became more and more distractible. Finally she just told me to rest, but that didn’t really work either. I just y staring at the ceiling at day like I did at night.

  I was brought handkerchief to embroider. I decided to make a flower pattern, a simple one that Penelope had taught me. A lovely blue flower with a yellow centre. I sat down to embroider, and finally I had a bit of peace of mind. I sat and focused on the flower for a while.

  “What is that?” Unata asked me after a while, looking up from her book.

  Was she stupid, couldn't she see that it was a flower? I looked at my creation again and saw what she was looking at. It looked nothing like a flower, rather smatterings of yellow and blue that made no comprehensible pattern. Tears started to fill my eyes.

  “Nothing, I was just messing around,” I told her.

  Otherwise she might start to think I was as mad as the king.

  In the evening at the changing of the guards, I heard a familiar voice at my door.

  “Good evening, Priestess, we’re having lovely weather today.”

  It was Alvar. My stomach knotted in on itself.

  “I’m so terribly sorry, but I’m very hungry,” he said in the High Tongue, with his strong accent. “Could you possibly go to the kitchen and get a little bread for me?”

  “Sure, Sir…”

  Unata was charmed. She would never have accepted such a request from any of my other guards.

  “Sir Alvar, it’s a pleasure to meet you…”

  “My name is Unata.”

  I could almost hear her blushing from inside the room. Her soft steps faded away. I was alone with him. He peeked his head in the door and spoke in our native tongue.

  “Your Highness, I have been meeting with Adora. We have been devising a pn to let us escape together.”

  “Alvar, I know what you did,” my voice was den with disgust. “I saw what you did to Plinius, I can’t bear that you did something like that.”

  There was a long silence. Then finally he replied.

  “Like what?”

  Was he just pying innocent?

  “You killed him, Alvar. You didn’t just kill him, you ripped him apart.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “What do you mean you didn’t?”

  “I didn’t do that, the prince is lost why do you think he’s murdered?”

  “I went to see him that night, the one where we got the blood. I found him butchered in the gardener’s hut.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t there. I was taking Izzy back to Adora. But isn’t that… good? Then he’s not our problem any more.”

  “Alvar you didn’t see him, it was awful.”

  “I saw a lot of things during the war.”

  There was another pause.

  “Talia, please listen to me. Adora has made a pn for us to leave. It would take pce in two weeks.”

  “Two weeks…”

  “That’s right, Your Majesty only two weeks. The pn is – Oh, the Prince is coming.”

  “Prince Plinius?” I asked.

  “My darling.”

  Virtus stood outside the door, beside Alvar. I could see the outline of the right side of his body, but not his face. It was uncomfortable to think of them standing side by side.

  “Did you say my brother’s name? Have you heard something about Plinius?” He asked me.

  “No, sorry I was just confused,” I said.

  “Right, I suppose that’s only to be expected,” he sounded like he was worried about me. “My father’s funeral will start tomorrow morning. I wanted to wait until your quarantine is over, but decomposition doesn’t wait for anyone, not even a king.”

  “Virtus, darling, are we sure the quarantine is necessary? I feel fine.”

  I tried to sound cheerful.

  “If you’re sure, we can ask the priests and priestesses,” he sounded uncertain.

  “Yes, you could tell them to end it.”

  “Talia…”

  “Yes,” I replied hopefully.

  “Let me look at you.”

  “Sure,” I said softly.

  Alvar pushed the door open slowly. They stood side by side, looking at me with the same worried expression. Both of the men I loved.

  “My love,” Virtus said, and I could see Alvar flinch ever so slightly. “You don’t look so good. I think it’s best if you rest a little longer.”

  “But I have been trying to rest!” I pouted. “I need to go outside I’m so tired of this room!”

  “My love –” his voice broke.

  Unata returned with Alvar’s bread. She bowed to Virtus as she arrived.

  “Your Majesty, I assume you’re here to see your wife.”

  “Will she be all right?” he asked her.

  “We hope so.”

  I didn’t understand. Did I look that bad?

  He stayed a little longer and talked to me, but seemed even more worried when he went away.

  When he was gone I asked Alvar in Haverish.

  “Sir Alvar, do I really look that bad?”

  “You don’t look great Your Highness,” he replied, a bit careful just in case Unata understood anything. “But I have heard about your troubles and yesterday I met with our… friend, and she prepared something you could eat to help you sleep.”

  We waited for a while. I did my usual things, trying to read, trying to embroider. After a while I asked Unata to fetch me another colour of thread for my embroidery and Alvar handed me a little round thing. It was a round little ball, about the size of a walnut. It looked like dirt.

  “What is it?” I asked him.

  “I don’t know,” he replied. “She only told me that it will help you sleep.”

  Desperate to rest, and to get out of my imprisonment, I put it in my mouth. I had to chew it a couple of times to be able to swallow it. It tasted like dirt too. Maybe that was all it was. At first nothing happened. Unata returned, and I sat on the bed trying to embroider, but even the simplest cross stitches were coming out wrong. Then the world turned on it’s side. I fell on the bed, Alvar and Unata rushed to my side and helped me lie down.

  The bed turned into a big hole, and I fell right through it. Alvar and Unata got further and further away, their worried faces fading into the distance as I plunged down into the abyss.

  I nded in a dark forest. I looked around me. The sky was full of stars. I felt like I recognized the pce, but I didn’t know where from.

  “Your Higness,” a voice said behind me.

  I turned around. It was Alvar.

  “Come with me,” he said.

  He took my hand and led me forward. It was then that I realized where we were. It was the forest where I had first been with Alvar. The pce where I lost my virginity. I looked down and I was no longer wearing my daytime gown, but the chemise I had worn that night. I let Alvar lead me into that clearing.

  He stopped and kissed me.

  "Your Highness, are you sure you want to do this?"

  I remembered this moment. I nodded as I had done then.

  "I need more than that, answer me with words," he whispered firmly.

  "Yes," I whispered, "yes I'm sure."

  He kissed me, and I felt the warmth of his body pressed against mine. I still knew it was a dream. I had never known I was dreaming before. I felt his hardness pressing against my belly.

  He pulled open the string at the top, pulling it down to run his hand over my breast. My nipple perked up in his hand and I moaned softly into his mouth.

  He paused for a second to spread out the mat that he had brought with him. Then he guided me to lie down. He y on top of me and kissed me slowly, starting with my lips and moving down my neck, my colrbone, my breasts.

  Then something unexpected happened. Something that hadn’t happened that night. Someone was coming.

  “Hello?” I called into the night.

  “Hi my darling,” a familiar voice replied.

  It was Virtus. I saw his shape walking towards us, and scrambled to get away from under Alvar, who moved away confused.

  Virtus did not seem angry, and approached us, as we sat on the mat, Alvar on his knees, and me half propped up from lying on my back.

  He came to the mat as well, knelt down beside me and kissed me. His lips were warm and familiar. Then he sat behind me and held me, pcing me between his legs. Alvar kissed me again, tenderly, then passionately, as Virtus held me from behind. Virtus loosened the top of my chemise, and put his hands down, stroking my breasts. I could feel him harden against my back.

  I turned around to kiss Virtus, and straddled him as he sat. Now it was Alvar’s turn to touch me from behind. His hands moved to my breasts, then to my clit. I moaned as he fingered me. I dug my hands into Virtus’s beautiful curly hair, and kissed his soft lips. Then gently, Alvar pushed both of us down on the mattress.

  I continued to kiss Virtus passionately as Alvar lifted up my chemise and pushed himself into me. I moaned into Virtus’s mouth as Alvar filled me up. He thrust into me, deeply, passionately. Virtus opened the front of his pants and started stroking himself. I moved with Alvar’s thrusth over Virtus as I kept making out with him. Alvar held my hips, Virtus stroked my back and breasts.

  Alvar paused, and went out of me, but as soon as he had Virtus pulled me down on him. I moaned again, now riding Virtus. What a dream!

  I started moving on top of him, moaning into his mouth. I couldn’t feel Alvar any more behind me, maybe he was taking a break. Virtus felt so good inside me, so hot, so right. He grabbed my hips and guided up and down. I moved with his hands, kissing him, pying with his curls between my fingers.

  It was starting to feel very good. I sped up, each movement increasing the heat between my legs, bringing me closer to orgasm.

  Thud!

  A sword stuck through Virtus’s gut. I screamed and looked in the direction from where it had come. Alvar’s face was staring back at us, cold and unfeeling. He pulled up his sword again, leaving a huge hole through his stomach.

  I stayed sitting on Virtus, trying to stop the bleeding from his wound as he slid out of consciousness. Alvar had disappeared.