"I should get back to school; I..." She narrowed her eyes, trying to come up with an acceptable excuse, "I have a test to study for."

Matthias drummed his fingertips against the table top. He didn't want to tell her no, but he found that he really didn't want her to leave. He wanted to hold her right now, despite it not being the manliest of things to do, and he wanted to protect her. He didn't reply immediately only looked out the window idly.

When he touched her she flinched. He also flinched. He remembered the one and only time he had seen her do that, when he had first put her into her place back in the dungeons, when he had first met her. He realized now that while she was a wife, she was more than an accesory that walked behind him. He actually liked her, painful as it was to admit it. "Theo..." he looked at her with confusion.

"I... I think it would probably be best if I missed the next riding lesson."

This angered him more than anything, to see all the progress that had been made wasted by a single stupid boys actions. He leaned back and pushed a hand through his perfectly groomed hair, pieces of it falling into his eyes. For once he didn't look so clean cut. He gave her a long look. At last he said, "Take the time that you feel need, and I'll handle Haddock in the mean time."


i'll be sure to stay wary of you
love to save the pain of once my flame and twice my burn