When I reach the carriage, my Duke has already prepared everything. The only problem is that he didn't let me change. He's in such a hurry that he asked me to come here straight after the meeting with the Emperor.

«Have you sobered a bit?» I inquire while walking to him.

Alexander steps in my direction and hugs me tightly. His arms use so much strength that I can hear my bones crunch. Unfortunately, this can't be used as a signal of his drunkenness. He would do this in any situation.

«I'm sorry, Thea,» he whispers. «I haven't protected you enough.»

What? He was the one that saved my life.

«Are we going to leave?» I inquire. «Are you feeling well enough to travel?»

«I'm fine,» he nods. «Just let the charioteer time to fix the seat.»

Fix what? Do we have a broken carriage? Seriously?

I glance at the coach, and I notice that what the charioteer is doing is moving one of the seats.

With a mechanism, he drags the lower part towards the back of the carriage, making the seat larger and hopefully more comfortable. The end result looks like a bed, but shorter.

The seat on the back remains of the same size, though. It looks like only the one on the front can be enlarged.

«Amazing,» I clap. This way, I can let Alexander rest instead of guarding him while he sleeps.

I already knew he was drunk, but I didn't notice how unstable he was until he called my name. He's still hugging me, even though his head is now resting on my shoulder.

«Shall we go?» I ask while taking a step towards the carriage.

He follows me without letting go.

Only when we reach the door, he pretends to be all right and offers me his hand. I can't trust his balance now, so I get on by myself and pray he can do the same.

After a quick jump, the Duke sits by my side.

«You should lie down,» I start. «It's more comfortable, and you can sleep.»

«I want to stay by your side,» he pouts. If it wasn't for the smell of wine, I would think he was kind of cute.

I move on the other side of the carriage and lift my legs. When I find a comfortable position, I pat on the spot next to me.

Alexander immediately reaches me, and he looks for a way to get his hands on my body without bothering me too much. He can't figure out how to sit, so he stares at me with a desperate face.

I reach out for his face and peck his cheek.

«Come here,» I whisper. I make Alexander lean his head on my lap.

«I'm sorry for what happened, Thea,» he repeats, and I can see that his eyes are wet. It's probably because of the wine.

I sink my fingers in his hair, pleased that I can touch as much as I want. The Duke is so tired and distracted that he won't ask me to stop.

«When I saw you weren't at your place, I worried, and I came looking for you. I should have been faster...»

«You were fast enough, Alexander,» I point out.

He gets up and brings his face closer to mine.

«I was so scared of losing you, after everything I did! I couldn't bear to see you hurt in front of me, not again!»

«I didn't get hurt,» I whisper.

Instead of calming down, the Duke pulls me in his embrace once more.

«I can't live without you, Thea. Promise me you will be careful and won't get hurt, all right?»

What is this?

«I'll be careful,» I accept.

«I'm so happy to have married you again,» he smiles.

«It's the same marriage, my Duke,» I chuckle. «We just celebrated it later. We've been married for a while, now.»

«You're right,» he nods. «It's the same thing.»

His fingers move a lock of hair that has escaped the hairpins, and his lips get closer to mines. He leaves just a peck on my lips and smiles content.

«I feared you would hate me for what I've done, and for how you were forced to accept me,» he continues. His heart became so transparent, this night.

«Is that so?» I mutter. Shall I take the chance to interrogate my husband?

«But I was relieved that I could see you, and touch you... And hear you speak, and get beaten at chess... It's all so pleasurable if it's done by you...»

«You like to lose at chess?» I stutter. What the heck? What kind of fetish is that?

«Not really. I've tried hard against my Queen, but you're too skilled for me.»

«What?»

«I won't repeat it again. You've heard enough.»

His mouth moves on my neck, and I tilt my head, still confused. His teeth bite me, but I don't care about any mark he might leave. We're leaving the Palace right now. There's no need to keep up appearances anymore. No one, in the north, will question the lord for the way he treats his prisoner wife.

He starts to kiss my neck until he finds a spot to his taste. He sucks and licks, and I let a sigh leave my lungs.

He moves the sleeve of my dress and nibbles my shoulder, leaving a wet trace of kisses. I moan in pleasure and lean back, letting him do whatever crosses his clouded mind.

I startle when I hear the sound of ripped clothes. My sleeve is gone.

«Alexander!» I scold him. This is my bridal gown, for goodness.

Instead of controlling his actions, he surrounds my waist with an arm and pulls me in his lap. He uses the sleeve to cover my eyes, but he repeatedly fails at tying it behind my head.

I can feel his breath between my hair, and I can imagine his focused expression. Still, he's too drunk to succeed.

«Let me do it,» I offer, and I swiftly tie a knot on the back of my head.

«I'll know if you peep,» he utters, and I chuckle.

«All right,» I say.

His hands are just surrounding my hips, but his mouth explores my neck once again. This time, I have no choice but to clench his shirt.

With my eyes closed, all I can feel is his touch and warmth.

The corset doesn't let him get rid of the dress, so he can just kiss the part of my chest exposed. Still, it's enough to make me moan a couple of times.

His right arm stays around my waist as if he's scared I'll move away if he doesn't hold me tight. His left hand, though, wanders down. He finds the way under my skirts and squeezes my bottom.

«You've worn underwear,» he comments displeased.

I laugh, amused by the spoiled tone he used.

«I asked Princess Lyland about that custom. She said she's never heard of it. I decided to follow her guide and do everything properly.»

«So, you preferred to listen to her instead of your husband...»

«Is it such an obstacle, Alexander?»

«It is,» he whispers to my ear.

The carriage sped up, sign that we left the Palace's walls. We should be passing through the city right now. It's actually stable, but it's not like sitting leisurely on a couch or a bed.

I reach out to remove the improvised blindfold from my eyes, but a warm hand stops me.

«I haven't given you permission to remove it yet,» he states.

I thrill at his threat, and I fail at hiding a wily grin.

It's weird: it wasn't this exciting and pleasing, at the beginning. The Duke's actions are exactly the same as before, yet my reactions are way more extreme than usual.

Am I the one that is changing, here?

«Aren't you going to reprimand me for being too controlling, now?» he asks. His tone is mischievous and ironic. As if he's reminding me of the way I used to frown at him. It happened just once or twice, yet he's holding the grudge as if I've always complained about it.

Also, we're in a different situation right now.

«This time, I'll let my Duke take control of anything he wants,» I spit out, in the end. He saved my life, even though he's so drunk that I can assume he didn't do it on purpose. It was more like an innate instinct than conscious action.

However, the result was the same: I'm alive and blindfolded in his arms, instead of lying dead on a cold red floor.

Instead of ripping my underwear as he did with the sleeve, he just removes the blindfold from my eyes.

«I don't want to play anymore,» he says. «I just want to look at you.»

«That is fine as well,» I nod.

«But I'm tired,» he sulks.

Oh, finally! He's going to sleep, right?

I sit back at my place, and the Duke's head naturally lands where it was earlier. I stroke his hair until he closes his eyes and falls asleep like a child.