Linne focuses on you and Doe rather than herself

Every week you have to go out with Doe for one thing or another, usually for exercises with the army or for various appearances. As time wears on a pattern emerges - Linne will find any excuse to stay home. She's not a total shut-in, when you and Doe are gone she always goes out to get supplies and to volunteer at the orphanage. But she always finds a reason not to be seen together with you and Doe.

At first you believed she was doing this because she was worried about how other people would treat you because of your strange three-way marriage. Then you thought that perhaps she was worried that with her pregnancy she would slow you two down. But that didn't make sense either - Linne has stayed very energetic, even as she enters her eighth month.

Doe has worried too. After all, both of you care deeply for Linne, it's just that you haven't been able to figure out what's got into her. Whenever you and Doe get home Linne is there to welcome you with food, a clean house, freshly laundered clothes, sometimes even a few surprising presents she's picked up. And in bed! Wow, Linne never shies away from showing how much she loves you both in bed. So it's a strange situation and despite your great experience and even with magic at your fingertips you're stumped.

Until one day, by fluke, the answer falls into your lap. You and Doe were coming back from the latest exercise. The ground has become cold with the coming winter and Doe was getting sluggish. You know that Linne is often helping at the orphanage around this time - she's become a well loved regular there - so you suggest paying them a visit. Warming up against the back wall of the building, where the hearth is, should give Doe the extra heat she needs to get home. And watching Linne with the children is always a treat, a reminder of what an amazing mother she's sure to be.

But Linne isn't there. She left early to take care of other things. Still, the nuns don't mind Doe soaking up some warmth. Though she's prickly with lots of people Doe is always kind to the orphans. It's funny in a way. Many priests and other religious types grumble and moan about your marriage, about how your 'taurs are all 'against God' and look warily at any mage. But here at this orphanage you and your 'taurs get treated more normally. Most of that stuff gets swept under the rug since the kids seem to like you and, importantly, you've been supplying lots of food and clothing. Some of the centaurs have even been allowed to come by, giving the kids more rides and more chances to check out these new beings.

Some of it boils down to self-interest, but a lot of it is simply because you love to see Linne smile and very little makes her smile more than patting the head of some little orphan boy or girl. There's also a possible benefit down the road - with Linne as a role model maybe some of these kids will want to 'grow up' to be a centaur or a cataur, or something else. But on this day a different kind of windfall appears.

Vellemia, the tough looking girl who was one of the first to meet Linne, goes and checks on Doe. More than most Vellemia took to your wives and she refuses to be intimidated by anyone, not even if they're a 27 foot long snake woman. Because of that Doe really likes her. But while your wife talks with Vellemia you get a small tug on your elbow.

It's the girl's older sister, Sarannis, a very quiet 17 year old who's probably still at the orphanage mainly because she's too shy to talk to most people. She's slowly moved into the role of a helper at the orphanage, which you know means she's something of a failure for them. She's a very kind person, she's taken all kinds of good lessons to heart, but it would be better if she got a job as a maid or a worker in a crafting house or as a nursemaid for some rich merchant or noble's growing family. But most people wouldn't want to take in Vellemia as well, so...

Hmmm, you're not most people. And unlike some other maids you've tried you doubt Linne would end up driving Sarannis off. You start assuming that the girl is going to ask about a job, you get all set to agree, but Sarannis surprises you by saying, "Lady Linne worries a lot about you and lady Doe."

"Oh? We worry about her too."

Sarannis casts her eyes down and brushes back some of her fine brown hair. "She talks to me because I know I'm a bother for everyone. And... she thinks she is too."

You're about to assure her that neither she nor Linne are a bother when it hits you. She's right. Everything Linne does is aimed at making you and Doe more and more the couple, while she retreats into the role of maid, servant and surrogate. As much as she loves to make love, Linne just isn't really accepting that she's a part of your marriage. Even though Doe and you have both made it clear that she is. Or, have you only really made it clear in bed? In public it's always you two going out for events... because Linne is 'feeling ill' or 'needs to get something done'. A self-perpetuating cycle.

"Thank you Sarannis," you say, warmly, and she beams.

"Most people don't listen."

"That's because you're so quiet. But maybe I need a very quiet girl at my tower. Preferably one with a noisy little sister who has a chip on her shoulder. Even better if this quiet girl and her sister don't mind escorting my wife to an orphanage most days."

Sarannis immediately starts crying and pleading that she wasn't trying to trick you into hiring her or anything.

You finally stop her crying by patting the top of her head. "No wonder you understood what Linne was doing. You two are so alike."

It doesn't take much to convince the nuns and matron to release Sarannis and Vellemia to you. It's a win for them, especially if Sarannis will probably be coming by and helping despite her employment. And as soon as you tell Doe about both what Sarannis said and about the idea of hiring them your lamia smiles fondly and insists that the girls are going to get a ride back to your tower. "Now that I know what kind of silly ideas Linne's been keeping in her head I'm going to make sure she hasn't got any excuses. There's a big party tomorrow night and we, all three of us, are going!"