Say No To This

@ sun spirit

Aerith's eyes softened as she watched him step closer, offering him a weak smile as he knelt down in front of her. Before she had time to think twice she all but tackled him to the ground, wrapping her arms around him tightly as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. He hadn't been lying. He loved her.

"I love you too, Nyrel." She whispered, holding onto him tightly as if she were afraid that he would leave her again if she let go. "I should have believed you. I'm so so sorry for what I said, and for not returning your letters... I-I didn't know you were sending them.. If I have, I would have come seen you as soon as I'd known you weren't lying.." She apologized, finally lifting her head to look up at him nervously, afraid he would be mad at her for having believed that he was lying and having said all those terrible things.

---

Elwin chuckled a little as she sat with him, smiling and nodding in agreement when she mentioned him coming to visit her home sometime in the future. "I think that would be lovely, Ceren. It would be nice to get away from the castle for a little vacation, and I'm sure your home is beautiful." He said, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek.

As he listened to her speak about her brother though, he frowned a little, looking at her skeptically. "Do you really think that he has changed? Or is it possible that he is just lying again, manipulating you into feeling guilty?"

@ katahdin

There was silence after Nyrel finished speaking, and just as he looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of what Aerith was thinking, she launched herself at him. He didn’t have time to brace himself, and they fell back onto the ground, although Aerith didn’t seem to care, holding on tightly enough to hurt.

And what she said... He wrapped his arms around her as well, holding her to him as she apologized, of all things. “Don’t apologize. After what I did, I can’t blame you for not believing me. And Ceren explained about the letters. I know you didn’t get to read them until today. I’m just... I’m so relived you don’t hate me, Aerith. I was so sure you did and you’d never forgive me.” He pulled her back down, hugging her to his chest. “I can’t believe you actually love me after everything,” he confessed with a little laugh.

---

Ceren curled into Elwin’s lap, their arms still tangled around each other, partially to keep her from falling off and partially, she was sure, because they’d missed each other. “One day then,” she affirmed with a smile. “No one will know what to do with the King visiting. They hardly knew what to do with me.”

Then they circled back to Nyrel, and she sighed. “I think he’s telling the truth. I made sure he didn’t know I was coming, just in case, so he wouldn’t have time to prepare anything. And... he told me what happened with Aerith last year and what he’s been writing in those letters to her. How she apparently visited him when he was in the dungeon and called him selfish and said she didn’t believe that he really cared about her. And... I believe him. I think he really loves her and has changed.”

@ sun spirit

Aerith let out a little laugh when she heard him laugh, smiling as he pulled her back down into a hug, keeping her arms around him tightly. She'd missed him so much, and it was taking everything she had not to cry, although her eyes were a little watery as she looked up at him from where here head rested against his chest.

"I never stopped loving you... I think I probably knew that you were telling the truth about your feelings for me, but I also knew that Ceren and Elwin wouldn't lie to me, and because of what you did to Ceren, it made sense to think you were lying. But I was wrong, and every day of the past year has been awful, because all I could think about was how I'd never see you again, and I'm just.. I'm so happy that you're here, Nyrel." She offered him a small smile as she looked up at him, a few tears threatening to spill, although they were tears of happiness.

---

Elwin smiled at his future wife, keeping his arms around her securely as he pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek. "Someday. I wish that I could travel more than I do, but with what happened to both of our parents.. The Council doesn't think it's a good idea to venture too far." He said with a sigh, glancing at the mountain of paperwork that he had waiting for him to deal with. But he pushed that thought aside when he looked back up at Ceren, smiling up at his beautiful future bride, having missed her and had been worried about her more than he would have liked to admit.

His smile was replaced with a frown when she spoke of how she thought that Nyrel was telling the truth, letting out a little sigh. "He may have changed, and he may have had time to reflect and realize his feelings for her were true, but that doesn't excuse what he did. He hurt you, Ceren. For years he hurt and used you for his own selfish needs. I'm not saying that he isn't genuine in his apology, but I believe that it's hard for someone to truly change who they are, and that if he were allowed to return, he might go back to being the same man he was a year ago."

@ katahdin

When Aerith looked up at him with eyes glazed like she would cry, Nyrel held her a little tighter, almost as if trying to convey reassurance and that everything would be fine. While he wasn’t nearly in tears, he felt like an emotional mess himself, and currently, it was almost like he was in shock. When he’d asked Ceren how she thought Aerith would react, she’d said she didn’t know, and he never imagined it would be this positive. He was over the moon to have her in his arms, saying she loved him too.

“It’s okay. I’m happy I’m here too. More than I can say. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank Ceren enough for this,” he said, rubbing a hand over her back soothingly. He didn’t care that he was laying on the ground in the middle of the forest; he was just glad to be there with Aerith. Slowly, he sat up with her, still holding her to him, until he was sitting with her cradled in his lap, a sudden urge overtaking him. He unwound his arms from around her and cupped her cheeks, staring down into her glazed, beautiful eyes. “Aerith, I love you, and I’ve spent the last year trying to figure out how to convince you of that and how I was going to apologize and try to earn your forgiveness. I kept trying, no matter how many letters went unanswered, and-and this is probably crazy and I don’t even have a ring to do it right, but would you do me the honor of letting me apologize and try to be worthy of you for the rest of my life? Aerith, would you marry me?”

---

“They have to calm down about it eventually. And hey, they let me go to Ashwick, so that’s already a step in the right direction,” Ceren reassured him, one hand running through the hair on the back of his head as she gave him a smile. When she caught him glancing at his desk though, she followed his gaze, soon finding the stacks of paperwork he should’ve been working on and was probably worrying about. She bit her lip, looking back to him. She didn’t want to leave, and since he hadn’t said anything, she guessed he felt the same way. She didn’t want him to stay up late trying to do it all though. “Have anything there you need my help with?” She asked, nodding to his desk, and offered him a smile. “Since I’m here already, we might as well make the most of it.”

Ceren bit her lip at the subject of Nyrel returning, not having brought it up, but guessing Elwin thought she might mention it. She wasn’t planning on it... but then again, she’d already done it. “That wasn’t what I was trying to say, El. I just think he’s changed, that’s all. Now c’mon, I’m sure something important about the wedding has come up since I left.” She pressed a kiss to his lips. “Why was the minister here?” Better to get off the subject of Nyrel now.

@ sun spirit

Aerith shifted a bit as he sat up with her to keep comfortable, keeping her arms around him as she looked up at him. She blinked a little in surprise when he moved his arms to cup her cheeks in his hands, looking up at him in surprise. Her eyes widened a little though as she listened to him speak, s slow smile spreading across her lips as she looked up at him, moving her hands to rest against his cheeks.

"You do..? You want to marry me..?" She asked breathlessly, the tears she had been trying to keep at bay finally running down her cheeks. "Of course.. Of course I'll marry you, Nyrel." She let out a little laugh, as she wiped her eyes. "I never thought that someone would want to marry me.." she admitted softly.

---

Elwin smiled a little at her offer to help him, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he nodded, reluctantly releasing her so that she could move to take a seat at his desk beside her. "That would be very helpful, actually. There is a lot to be done about the wedding, and the minister was here to talk about how the ceremony will go. It wasn't a big deal." He reassured her, returning her kiss before turning his attention back to the paperwork at his desk.

@ katahdin

Nyrel was nervous, asking out of the blue after the first time he’d seen her in a year, after everything that happened, but her smile gave her hope, and then then she said yes. And he was grinning foolishly and kissed her, unable to help himself. She was crying though, and when he pulled back, he tenderly wiped the tears away. “I can’t imagine anyone in the world I’d rather spend my life with,” he promised softly. “Are you sure about this though? I mean, I want you to be, of course, but I have to live in Ashwick. I can’t stay at the castle, and that means you’d have to leave, but your life is here... I mean, unless you want a secret husband who lives in the forest.”

---

In the past year, one of the chairs in the room had unofficially become Ceren’s and despite her being gone for a few days, Elwin had left it in its usual place against the wall behind his desk. When he agreed to let her help, she got out of his lap and pulled this chair up beside his while he pulled out the papers he needed her help with. “The ceremony? The wedding’s still months from now. You’d think that part of the planning would be a little later,” she said, still just as amazed as she’d been in the beginning with how soon some things were planned. When she looked at what he’d pulled in front of them, she wrinkled her nose, recognizing the seating chart they’d been fighting with for quite some time, especially whenever the guest list was revised. She would’ve been happy just letting people sit where they wanted, but as the Council had informed her, it was important where they put people. She couldn’t wait until they were finally done with it. “Me wanting Nyrel there means we have to change the seats, doesn’t it?” she guessed, looking to Elwin for confirmation.

@ sun spirit

Aerith was shocked when he kissed her, having never been kissed by anyone before. But it was everything she had imagined and more, and she happily kissed him back, laughing a little when he wiped her tears away, leaning her head into his hands. "Of course I want to marry you.. I've always wanted as secret forest husband." She teased softly, pressing another kiss to his lips before sighing a little. "But I'm sure Elwin will reconsider... You've changed so much, and he's bound to forgive you." She reassured him.

---

Elwin began dividing up his paperwork between them, giving her things that he knew that she could handle, all of it related to the wedding. He sighed a little when she asked about rearranging the seating for her brother to be able to come, nodding. "Yes, unfortunately.. I'm sure the Council will hate that we're adjusting the guest list again, but.. It'll be fine." He gave her a reassuring smile, pressing a gentle kiss to her lip and squeezing her hand. "We'll make it work, though. It's no problem."

@ katahdin

"Your wish is my command," Nyrel returned with a chuckle, smiling a little wider when she kissed him back. "We'll build a little cabin, and I'll take care of it while you're away, and you'll bring food from the kitchens every day because I haven't the slightest idea how to cook." He sobered at the mention of Elwin though, shaking his head a little. "I'm lucky you and Ceren have forgiven me. He won't be so easy. He doesn't really know me, and more than that, I hurt the person he's in love with. If he'll forgive me, it'll take a long time. And I doubt hearing that I snuck back here and asked you marry me is going to help matters." He smiled down at her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "We'll figure it out though. Even if I do have to sleep out here."

---

Ceren smiled at his reassurances and kissed him back. "I know, and I've done it to myself. Now I have to be an adult and deal with the consequences," she said. Even so, when she turned back to the paperwork Elwin had separated for her, a nice bit of the large pile he'd had stacked on his desk, she not-so-subtly shifted the seating chart to the bottom to be dealt with last. Anything was better than that--even choosing between three napkin colors that looked practically identical to her.

@ sun spirit

Aerith giggled a little as he spoke about their theoretical forest life, finding that she didn't think it was as bad of an idea as he made it sound. "I can teach you how to cook.. And maybe we can keep a little garden, with chickens and things. And once you know how to cook, you can make me those honey tarts that I like." She smiled up at him, feeling amazed that after such a miserable year, she was sitting with the love of her life talking about their future together.

She sighed a little though when he expressed his doubts about Elwin, shaking her head a little. "But Ceren believes you.. And if she's on your side, then she'll be able to convince him that you've changed, and maybe if you tell him how you feel about me, he'll believe you." She tried to reassure him, remaining seated in his arms for a few more minutes before she stood, holding her arms out to him to help him up. "Come on, let's get you inside and fed. It looks like you haven't eaten all year." She said teasingly, although her eyes gave away how worried she was about him.

---

Elwin smiled, pressing a kiss to her cheek before turning back to his work, going over the various requests for meetings with him that had been sent in from people all over the kingdom and outside of it. They ranged from diplomats and royalty from other kingdoms wanting to discuss politics, to farmers who were upset about their crop yields. He always hated turning people away, especially those who seemed like they could use the help, but the Council always insisted that he prioritize other things, like foreign policy. He would occasionally glance up from whatever he was working on to check on Ceren, offering her a faint smile whenever he caught her eye, glad that she didn't seem to mind all of the paperwork too much.

@ katahdin

"You know how to cook?" Nyrel asked, finding himself surprised. He guessed he shouldn't be; though she'd grown up in the castle, she was far from how others would've been in the same situation. She never would've needed to know how to cook, but he guessed she'd wanted to learn at some point. Of course, then she went on about a garden and chickens and honey tarts, and he laughed. "If you teach me to cook, I'll make you honey tarts, but I'm afraid I'll have to draw the line at butchering and killing chickens," he said, kissing the top of her head.

Despite her reassurances about Elwin, Nyrel still had his doubts. If he were in Elwin's place, he doubted he would be able to forgive so easily. He didn't express his continued doubts as Aerith stood though and offered him a hand up. "Aerith, I don't think I can just go wandering around the castle..." he frowned as he stood, brushing off his clothes in the front--though he was unaware of the hefty layer of dust and dirt coating his back. "If someone recognizes me and tells Elwin, I'll just be arrested again." His eyes softened as he saw the way she was looking at him, and he wrapped her in a hug. "Don't look at me like that. I haven't lost that much weight."

---

Things were peaceful for a while, as Elwin worked on his duties and Ceren went through the paperwork for the wedding. Some of it, he'd already looked at and written down his thoughts for her, while others were blank, indicating he hadn't seen it yet. And since they were doing this as a team, she only wrote down her thoughts for him on the blank ones, for him to look over and complete later, while she finished what he'd already started. Luckily, the pile was big enough that there wasn't any danger of her getting back to the seating chart quickly, though it was amazing what had piled up since she'd been gone. Even the most mundane detail was to be discussed.

Eventually, she came to a piece of paper that made her frown. "Elwin, have you seen this?" she asked, pushing the paper in front of him. "The Council apparently set the date with the dressmaker we picked. It was supposed to be an hour ago! They knew I wasn't getting back until today; what were they thinking? For all they knew, I wouldn't be here until tonight because a tree fell into the road or something! And they sent a note instead of telling you in person? They know how much paperwork you have to go through!" She wasn't upset about missing the appointment; she was upset about the Council and their silly or otherwise paranoid decisions.

@ sun spirit

Aerith laughed a little when he set his limit on slaughtering chickens, shaking her head a little as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "The chickens aren't for killing, silly. We'll just keep them around, for pets." She smiled, blushing a little as he kissed the top of her head. "You're kind.. No one ever likes making me honey tarts."

She frowned a little though as he stood and told her he didn't think it was a good idea, holding her hands out for his. "It's ok, Nyrel.. I'll sneak you in, and you can hide in my room, and no one will see you.." She promised, giving his hands a little squeeze. "Beside, it's barely spring, and when it gets dark it'll be too cold for you to be out here all alone.. Please come inside, Nyrel. You shouldn't be out here alone.." She tucked her face into his chest when he hugged her, hugging him back tightly. "But you did lose weight, and it's all my fault.." She murmured softly, unable to help but feel guilty.

---

Elwin turned to look at her in surprise when she mentioned the appointment for her dress, taking the paper when she handed it to him, eyes scanning over the note before letting out a long sigh. "That's terrible, they should have known better those fools." He groaned in frustration, running a hand through his hair. "I'll reschedule the dress fitting for tomorrow afternoon, that way you can get a good night's sleep before having to deal with some crazy seamstress." He teased her gently, smiling a little before leaning over to press a kiss to her cheek.

"Besides, even if you wear what you're wearing now, you'll still be beautiful, and I'd still be willing to marry you." He gave her hand a squeeze.

@ katahdin

"As long as we can agree they don't stay in the house, then," Nyrel chuckled. It wouldn't have occurred to him to keep chickens as pets, but then again, this was Aerith, who kept a huge frog and seemed to genuinely love him. He wouldn't be surprised to learn that she'd gotten a chicken from somewhere while he was gone. He smiled down at her when she called him kind. "No one's ever asked you to marry them either, I'll bet. You can't just lump me in with everyone else anymore."

Nyrel considered what she'd said as she hugged him back. He'd thought he would be on his way back to Ashwick by now, so what he would do for the night hadn't really crossed his mind. Maybe stay in the stables and leave in the morning. "Okay, I'll come, but we have to talk to Elwin soon. Tonight or tomorrow morning. I have a feeling it'll go better that way than him finding me hiding out in your room." He smiled down at her softly, though the expression faltered when she expressed her guilt. "Aerith, look at me." Though she held on tightly, he managed to pull her back so that she could look at him. "None of what happened is your fault. I did what I did, and I'm probably lucky I was only sent away for it. And even if you want to insist anything is your fault somehow, look at me. It isn't exactly like I'm wasting away or the wind could push me over. I'm still a healthy weight; I bet you Ceren would tell you the same thing. Okay?" He searched her eyes, hoping to see her relax.

---

Elwin took the news better than she had and seemed overall calm, as always, and Ceren's face heated a bit, even as he teased her. "No, no, I'm not upset about missing the appointment or anything like that. You know I'd be happy even if we walked out of this room right now, got Aerith, and got married," she defended. "It's just the Council. They frustrate me with the things they do sometimes. I don't know how you're always so calm with them, especially since you deal with them three times as much as me."

Ceren squeezed his hand, her gaze falling on their joined hands as she admitted softly, "I don't like how overworked you are either. And since I left for the Academy, I didn't learn the sort of things you or Nyrel did, and I can't help you. I know I go over the wedding stuff, but you do too, so it doesn't count." Her eyebrows creased in frustration. "Even though I went to the library and found books so I could teach myself some of it in my free time and I've been studying for months, there's still so much I don't understand and can't help with."

@ sun spirit

Aerith smiled up at him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "And now that you have asked me, there's not take backs. You're stuck with me." She teased softly as she tucked her face into his chest, hugging him tightly. She frowned a little when he pulled her away, looking up at him. "Ok, I'll tell Elwin as soon as I can.. I promise. But if he's just going to send you away again, I don't want to tell him right away. Maybe I'll just wait a little while so that Ceren and I can come up with a plan... And so that I can spend time with you.." She offered him a weak smile, shaking her head a little when he tried to tell her not to worry, although the concern disappeared from her eyes. "But I'm supposed to worry.. That's what people who love each other are supposed to do, worry." She explained softly as she squirmed her way out of his arms to hug him again, tucking her face back in against his chest.

---

Elwin chuckled a little, shaking his head. "I would be fine with doing that too, just taking Aerith and getting married somewhere private, but I don't think the Council would approve of that." He smiled, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he squeezed her hands, although he frowned when she spoke of how overworked he was and how she felt bad about not being able to help. He shook his head, pulling her into his arms as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Hey, no it's ok. I don't expect you to know everything when you have never done this before. I know that all of this isn't really your thing, but I'm just happy to have you around, Cer." He said, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "At least if you're here working with me, I know that you're not overworking yourself in the infirmary." He teased, chuckling a little.

@ katahdin

Nyrel grinned down at her, hugging her back as he said, "Trust me, I've never been happier to be stuck with someone in my life." He was glad of her promise to tell Elwin soon, even though she argued for time, and really, he couldn't argue against getting to spend time with her, especially with the possibility of him getting sent back to Ashwick when Elwin found out about his presence at the castle. "Okay, it can wait a little while," he agreed, smiling as she forced herself back against him and into a hug, which he willingly embraced. "Well, I'm the exception," he teased her with a quiet chuckle. "So you can't worry about me." Without pulling away, he let out a quiet sigh against the top of her head and said, "Okay, let's sneak into the castle."

---

Ceren smiled in return, shaking her head. "I think they'd explode if we even mentioned it to them. They weren't exactly happy with us insisting on waiting to begin with, especially since we wouldn't give them a reason." Thankfully, Elwin had been sweet enough to help save her some embarrassment, meaning neither of them had said a word to the Council about her cycles or why, after a year, they'd suddenly decided they were ready to set a date. "I know you don't," she said softly, leaning into his embrace, "but even if I didn't want to help you out, I'd at least want to be useful as a queen. I can't just spend all my time in the infirmary and leave everything to you." At his teasing, she rolled her eyes. "Once!" she argued. "It was only once! Or twice. Five times tops."

@ sun spirit

Aerith grinned up at him when he agreed to sneak into the castle, standing on her toes to press a kiss to his lips before reluctantly pulling away to lead him back to the castle. Luckily, she knew every secret passage and deserted hallway in the castle, and managed to sneak him in without much trouble, only having to hide from passing guards and servants twice before they finally made it to her room. It hadn't changed much in the last year, and was still filled with various creatures and plants that she had found on her adventures, including Theseus, who had gotten bigger, and had been upgraded to a larger enclosure.

She moved to her bookshelf to put away the letters that he had sent her in a little secret box that she kept, moving back over once she had finished, smiling up at him sheepishly. "Welcome back... Um.. Should I go find Ceren, now? Or should I get you something to eat? Or I can get you some new clothes? Or.. something?" She asked, looking up at him, suddenly unsure of what she should do now that they were here. Now that they were technically engaged, she worried that having him in her room wasn't a good idea. She had heard Elwin complain about how strict the Council was being with him and Ceren about them being alone together before the wedding, and she worried that there was some rule she didn't know about regarding engagements.After all, she had never thought that she would be in this position, and hadn't bothered to learn or ask about these things.

---

Elwin grinned when she attempted to defend herself, squeezing her a bit in his arms. "I can't have you overworking yourself when you're queen. The Council won't be happy if you're constantly working yourself to death, especially because they wanted you to start having children yesterday." He teased, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "But I'm grateful for your help, and I know that we're going to wait to have children for a while, but still. If anything happened to you, I don't know what I would do with myself."

@ katahdin

Aerith never ceased to amaze. Nyrel expected it to be harder to sneak into the castle, but she managed to get him into her room while only shoving him into an empty room to avoid people twice. Sure, the castle was bound to have unused areas and secret passages, but somehow, it never crossed his mind that she would know all of them. When they got to her room, he took in the familiar space and frowned as his gaze landed on her frog. "I've got to be imagining this, but I swear Theseus has gotten bigger in the last year. Are you positive he's not a magic frog?" He stopped squinting at Theseus when she approached again, immediately noticing how awkward she was. "I think the better is, are you okay?" He reached out, taking her hand. "If you're worried I'll mess with your things, I promise I won't. Or if you're having second thoughts about getting caught... I could stay in one of those abandoned rooms we passed or something. Or maybe in Ceren's room. I know she isn't there much because of how much time she spends in the infirmary." He didn't want to consider that maybe things were sinking in and she was having second thoughts about him.

---

Ceren laughed, shaking her head. "You're just afraid they'll make you try to talk sense into me," she accused teasingly, poking his chest lightly. Her smile softened as his words, and she leaned into him, kissing him softly. "How about this? I'll figure out a way to split my time so I can help and you don't have to worry about me overworking. And if anything ever did happen, not that it will, you'd take care of Aerith. Or our children and Aerith. And I'm sure they'd take care of you too."

@ sun spirit

Aerith smiled faintly as he mentioned Theseus, looking over at the large frog before looking back over at him. "Elwin finally got around to telling me that I have magic, and can use it to grow plants and get along with animals... And in practicing I may or may not have made him bigger." She smiled up at him sheepishly, although the smile disappeared as he asked if she was alright and took her hand. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, biting her lip as she looked up at him, shaking her head quickly when he suggested sleeping in a different room. "No. Ceren spends more time in her room now, and Elwin is always in there, so you'll get caught. And if you're in one of the abandoned rooms, there's a chance of one of the servants catching you. Besides, I'd rather have you here.. I haven't seen you in a year, and I've missed you so much.." She admitted softly, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she looked away for a moment before looking back up at him. "It's just that everyone keeps making a big deal about Elwin and Ceren not being alone together without someone nearby because they're engaged, but I don't understand why, no one has ever mentioned the reason behind it, and it's not like I thought I would ever have a future husband that I wouldn't be able to be around without supervision... If there's some important rule about us not being alone before we're married, I don't want to break it and get in trouble.." She explained, giving his hands another squeeze, trying to reassure herself that everything was fine.

---

Elwin grinned a little as she poked his chest, chuckling. "You got me, Ceren. I'm just trying to avoid them forcing me to tell you to stay put all day." He wrapped his arms around her as she leaned closer, happily returning her kiss before studying her face as she proposed her idea. He nodded a little at her suggestion, pressing another kiss to her lips. "That sounds like a good plan, that way the Council can see you doing some work with me, and you still get to do what you love and help people. And as for children, I thought you didn't even want to think about having any until a long time from now." He said teasingly, poking her sides with a grin, although the subject of having children was a semi-serious one, and they hadn't really talked about it further since that night over a year ago, and so he was interested in what she would have to say.

@ katahdin

The admission that she had magic surprised Nyrel, though when he considered it, it did make sense. She had dozens of plants that were difficult to cultivate and several creatures such as Theseus that she kept in her room. And that she'd accidentally made the frog grow made more sense than the alternative, so Nyrel found himself nodding, even as he cast another sideways glance at Theseus. Then Aerith, in her own roundabout way, told him what was bothering her. He blinked as he realized that she really didn't know why Elwin and Ceren were supervised and cleared his throat. "Well, this is going to be an odd conversation..." He led her over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it with her. "So, there's really a few reasons for it. The primary one would be that they aren't supposed to... umm, have sex before they get married. And in Ceren's case... it would protect her prospects if for some reason, she didn't marry Elwin. It's much harder for a woman to find a husband if she isn't a virgin. There's probably another layer in this case though. Elwin is a young king with no siblings, meaning he needs an heir. If Ceren were to get pregnant before they were married, technically, the child would be a bastard and couldn't take the throne. It's more of an understanding that nearly everyone follows than a set-in-stone rule."

---

"I knew it!" Ceren grinned, leaning into him and wrapping her arms around his waist as he held her. "As long as you know I'm doing it because I want to help you and not to impress the Council," she said. As he teased her and poked her sides, she squirmed a little as he briefly touched a tickle spot and giggled. "Stop!" She swatted his hands away. "I never said I wanted children right now!" Her expression turned a little more serious. "I've been thinking about it a lot over the past year though, I guess... I kind of realized having a family again sounds nice. Maybe even a big one."

@ sun spirit

Aerith frowned a little as she followed Nyrel, taking a seat next to him as she kept a hold on his hands, a faint blush on her cheeks when he prefaced his explanation by saying it would be odd. Her cheeks only grew redder and redder as he explained, feeling foolish for having not known something like that. She knew what sex was, mostly thanks to hearing the guards and soldiers she trained with bragging about whoever or whatever they had slept with the previous night, but she didn't know a lot about the specifics, and she felt incredibly embarrassed and incredibly dumb for having Nyrel explain this to her. "O-Oh.. Um, I knew that." She tried to recover her dignity, staring down at her lap for a long while, pursing her lips in thought, kind of hoping that if she sat there long enough, he would either change the subject or leave.

After a while though her brows furrowed in thought, and she looked back up at him. "Are we going to have sex?" She hadn't thought much of it until now, but now that the topic had come up, she might as well ask. "And do you follow that rule? Because if you do, I don't think Theseus counts as supervision, and I don't want to sleep on the floor.."

---

Elwin laughed and wrapped his arms around her, attempting to tickle her again before leaning back in his chair, keeping her close. His eyes brightened as she spoke of having a big family, pressing a kiss to her lips before pulling back. "That sounds wonderful... But I have to ask, how big is big?" He grinned a little, obviously getting ready to tease her. "Some people think a big family is having more than three children, but then others think a big family is ten or more... Not that I'm saying having that many would be bad, especially if that's what you want, but I'm just wondering for logistical reasons." He pressed a kiss to her cheek, squeezing her a little in his arms. "I'm sure the council would prefer the latter."

@ katahdin

Nyrel studied Aerith as he spoke, and though he tried to keep as much to the facts as possible and not make it too awkward, her face was bright red by the time he finished, and she was staring in her lap. The fact that she didn’t know about it when it was such a huge custom that was commonplace and general knowledge had him wondering what other sorts of things would come up in the course of their relationship that had somehow skipped by her. Nothing as awkward as this, he hoped. Still, he tried to help save her some dignity, by replying, “I was sure you did. You were probably just a troublesome kid and forgot because you were thinking about something else.”

She threw him for a loop when she so blatantly asked if they were going to have sex though, the casualness of the question at odds with her previously red face. Nyrel coughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Umm, I hope we do one day when we’re married but I wasn’t planning on taking advantage of-of being here with you.” Abruptly, he got to his feet. “You know what? Let’s just go find Ceren and Elwin and explain what’s going on. That way I can have my own room, and we don’t have to worry about anything. I mean, I’ve missed you and want to spend time with you, but it’s better not to tempt fate and do things right.”

---

Ceren squirmed more as Elwin continued trying to tickle her, trying to push him away, and when he finally stopped, holding her close, she glared at him playfully in warning against doing it again. Thankfully, he seemed to move on, instead choosing to focus on her response about children. He seemed okay with the idea of a big family, which warmed her inside, but then he started talking about ten kids. She shook her head at him, though it was with a laugh. “You’re an only child, so’s Aerith, and I only have one brother. Three or more is big,” she clarified. “But if you’re going to insist on being logistical about it, we could have 12 by the time I’m 30 if we started today,” she teased, leaning in to kiss his cheek.