Love and lust.

You step into your study, a freshly-clothed Vessa in tow. You turn to find your wife leaning against the window. She doesn't look flustered per se... but the flush of her cheeks belies that you'd walked in on something. You glance around the room, spotting your son's boot poking out from beneath the curtains. You glance at Marissa, who wore a murderous look on her face, and smile.

Your sons presence didn't change anything but the phrasing of what you were about to ask, "You mentioned having a plan for Lady Vessa after her long awaited return?"

Marissa's features relax as you fail to spoil her fun and she grins deviously, "I'm thinking: she was on a mission for the crown that required the utmost secrecy. Simple and cliche, I know, but it explains why you never replaced her." She rolls her eyes, "and it'll put the court in its place so they'll stop trying to slip things into your drink."

You blink, "They try to-?"

"Oh Bryce, I've saved your life, and dignity, so many times. All without so much as a-" You silence her by hauling her into a deep kiss. You try to pour all the lust you can into it, lifting her up and slamming her back on your desk. She purrs contentedly but you pull back before the kiss turned into something else.

"You never told me."

"I didn't think I had to, 'to love and protect till the end of your days' right?" She seems uncharacteristically startled by your sudden affection. You don't let her recover, pulling her back in for a more loving embrace.

When you pull back, Marissa is actually out of breath, her features aglow. Literally. She opens her mouth but only a shaky sigh escapes. She doesn't so much sit as slump back on the desk, eyes wide with surprise.

"It's good to see I can still surprise you." She lifts a hand to her lips as she grins, her expression what a naive man might call shy.

"You..." She almost seems to blush. A thought occurs to you as you try to decipher your wife's odd behavior; maybe if she could feel your lust, she could also feel your love?

"You wanted to know what Vessa's position in court was to be?"

"Yes. And you told me."

"Right." You stare at one another and after a moment she pushes off of the desk, "Well, let's not keep the court waiting." You follow your still-glowing wife, more satisfied than you had felt in years, a blank-faced Vessa trailing in your wake. You hear the curtains ruffle as you leave and you wonder what Donmal made of that exchange.

Vessa's return is met with incredulity by the court, especially those who remember her from before your reign. There aren't many of them left, considering their eventual suspicion of Marissa and her odd habits, but they are vocal. Fortunately, these particular courtiers have made it this far by not making too much of a fuss and by the time court is adjourned that evening you are confident they'll get over their ****.

Lady Vessa is much less puppetlike in the court setting and you have to wonder at your wife's craft. She appears much as she once did, cool and calculating, though with a tendency to stare off into space when not being addressed. You "discreetly" inform key members of your council whom you "trust" that she has been through a harrowing experience that bleached her appearance, and that her sacrifice for the crown is vast.

Naturally, the whole castle knows by the time you retire that evening with your wife and newfound concubine. After a relatively benign night of debauchery your thoughts once more turn to seducing your lovely daughter.