A servant came, offering wine. Mouse gladly accepted a cup and sipped at it. Wish I still had my book. Damn that Dayander. Where’s he get off ruining my fun, anyways?

A few hours and glasses of wine later, Eleda visibly drooped, ears hanging, hair limp. Felix grinned, a kid in a candy shop. “Could you do that dance again? And if you could, cast the spell.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. With effort, she drew herself up and assumed the first pose once more.

The door creaked open. A messenger rushed into the room. He crouched and whispered in Felix’s ear. Mouse’s ears twitched, adjusting to a better angle. “… ceremony at the end of the month,” he managed to catch, and then the messenger bowed and backed away.

Felix tipped his head to the messenger, then stood abruptly. “Ah, excuse me. I’ll be back soon. Please, feel free to treat this as your home.”

“Thank you,” Mouse replied graciously.

“Ah… thanks,” Eleda panted.

The second Felix vanished, Eleda flopped to the floor. Mopping her brow, she nodded at Mouse. “Just you wait.”

“You look ragged. Here, have some wine,” Mouse offered, scooting an empty glass and a carafe toward her.

Eleda nodded her thanks. She filled the glass and tossed it back, then poured another. “Damn. The Emperor doesn’t let up, does he?”

Mouse giggled. At some point, the world had gone light and fluffy, his chest warm. “Keep talking like that, and everyone will think something happened after all.”

She leaned back, propping herself on one arm, swishing the wine with the other. “I came here expecting it.”

Mouse blinked, startled. “You did?”

Eleda glanced at him and shrugged. “What? Don’t tell me you’re still a virgin.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Mouse glanced to the side, a blush on his cheeks that wasn’t entirely from the wine.

“You are? You are! Oh my, oh dear. Mouse, darling, why? Do you seriously want to remain a virgin for a few hundred years until your queen finally finds you a man?” Eleda reached out and pinched Mouse’s cheek.

“I… it, it’s only proper,” Mouse stuttered, flustered.

“Proper, pssh. Don’t give me that. No one stops the men from running off and fucking who they like. Why should we be held to higher standards? Here, let me teach you a spell. You’ll never have to worry about missing a month again.” Eleda gestured him closer.

“I, er, I’m fine,” he murmured.

Eleda grinned, amused for some reason. She leaned in. “So you came here, not wanting it? You don’t like His Majesty? But I thought you two were so close.”

“We, we’re not…”

“Felix, Felix,” Eleda replied, mimicking Mouse’s voice.

“I do not—he insisted I use his name, you know. He insisted!”

“Oooh? He insisted, did he?” Eleda’s eyes narrowed to half-moons. “What if he insisted…”

Mouse pushed her away. “I would not!”

“Are you sure?”

“No, I—”

“You’re not sure?”

“Eleda! Please,” Mouse begged, clutching his wine like a lifesaver in the ocean.

She leaned back, lips pursed unwillingly. “Fine, fine.”

There was a pause. Mouse lifted the wine, then gave it a glance and set it aside. Probably best to salvage my wits.

“He’s a fine man, anyways,” Eleda continued. She gestured with the cup. “Certainly more pleasant than that Reginald slime.”

Mouse snorted. If only you knew.

“A lady could do worse, you know what I’m saying? And anyways, let’s just think this out. We marry him, have a kid or two, he dies in sixty, a hundred years, we rake in a fortune from the human kingdom for our bereavement, and then we’re free women for the rest of our lives. Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it?”

“Shouldn’t we want… er, a man who’ll, uh, stay with us the rest of our lives and… be faithful?” Mouse suggested. Is that what women want? What Moussaesa wants? Fuck if I know.

He frowned. What do I want, for that matter? A political marriage to someone I barely know? To spend the rest of my life avoiding a woman I've never seen before, the way Mother and Father avoid each other? Mother hasn’t started pushing for my marriage yet, but it’s only a matter of time. My older sister has already been married off. Older brother and Moussaesa were sent to the Mage-Emperors. What about me? When she decides who I should marry, will I fall in line?

Eleda waved her hand. “Marriage gets stale after a dozen years, let alone a few hundred. I don’t want to be trapped with one man forever.”

“Plenty of royals remarry.”

Eleda shrugged. “Marriage. Ugh.”

Mouse leaned back in his chair. I don’t know what to say.

Eleda toyed with the wine and drank a few glasses. An awkward silence stretched between them. When the Mage-Emperor didn’t return after another fifteen minutes, Mouse yawned and sagged down in his chair. “Wake me up when he gets back.”

Eleda grunted.