"That's all I ask of you" Christine and Raul

  Victor

  Illiana and I had been walking for quite some time; I'd had a few and well while not drunk, I still had a slight buzz going on. Everything was a little hazy but, I suppose that had more to do with the unreal happiness I was feeling with her at my side. Yeah we were officially engaged now, I saw no point in delaying it any further. I had the king’s permission, after all. I reckoned I'd pick out a ring for her too, or whatever's traditional around these parts. I smiled. Just a few days ago we’d become boyfriend and girlfriend; now we’re fixin’ to get hitched. Fast cars make fast times, I suppose. I’d originally intended on making my proposal official after I’d gotten a ring, but then Hanzo went and gave me a push the other day when he dropped a bomb on all of us.

  "Sire, as of yesterday I am officially betrothed to High Inquisitrix Sarisiel and as soon as reasonable I shall be requesting permission to go on holiday so that we may visit her parents in Tor Imanuan."

  There was no excuse for not making it official at that point, so I did.

  “Well, congratulations!” I said, and snatched up Illiana’s hand. “We’re engaged to be married too.”

  Illiana gave a startle and a squeaky chirp, “Y-yes! Indeed we are! That’s right!”

  Hanzorian said, “Hm. As predicted. I congratulate you, in turn.”

  Were we seriously the only ones who didn’t see this coming? Good grief. While I was musing about this, suddenly I realized that we weren't anywhere near the palace at all, no, we'd turned into the foreign quarter at some point. Actually, this was my house with its short grass and well-trimmed hedges wasn't it? A cozy little place that I'll describe in detail later, if I remember. We were at my front door, and Illiana looked at me, smiling, her hands still in mine. Gah. I've been an idiot - let me guess, she'd wanted me to invite me in ever since we got here? Better make it up to her then. I opened the door and brought her inside, holding her hand, and closed the door behind us.

  We kissed passionately, longingly. She held her gaze upon me for a moment, with her arms wrapped around my neck, but then she turned her eyes towards something behind me and to my right. Getting the hint I nodded, kissed her once more, lifted her up, princess style, and carried her to the master bedroom. I gently sat her down, took my place beside her, pulled her close, and went for the neck - I'd thought elvish singing had been beautiful, but the sounds that issued from her lips when I kissed that sweet spot under her ear put even the most talented songstress to shame. She got me in the same spot, of course I growled approvingly, her ears twitched and she melted a little, but slid off me, stood up at the foot of the bed and locked her bright emerald eyes onto my comparatively dull blue ones.

  "I-" she said, hesitantly. "I am still a maiden. Tonight will be the first time I've ever - um -" she took a deep breath and smiled, "I'm ready for you, my love."

  The way she said those last two words had an instant and tremendous effect on me. The imaginary Duke, who usually scolded me at times like this, was on a horse - he tipped his hat, gave a victory sign, and rode off into the sunset. My Iron Maiden t-shirt flew the coop, her dress dropped to the floor, and I beheld an unimaginable sight.

  "My dear princess," I said, as she took my hand, "has your aura of majesty come in early?"

  "You're looking fairly majestic yourself," she said, as we lay down, facing each other, embracing closely.

  Illiana was pressed firmly against me. I could hear the beating of both our hearts, feel the heat of her body, and I could no longer think.

  She said, "And you're feeling that way too, Sir Victor."

  No further words were necessary.

  ***

  I awoke the next morning to the sound of music. There wasn't a whole awful lot of sunlight due to it being the dead of winter, but in my heart it felt like spring. Last night was pure magic - Iliana and I were united, body and spirit, in an act of undying passion. Afterwards we talked a little bit and then we went for a second round. When you're in love, everything hits differently and that includes matters of the bedroom. Nobody I'd shared a bed with, not even that heart-breakin' theater girl, could compare to what I felt last night with Illiana - reckon I'd never actually been in love, or been with someone who loved me back at any rate. Yeah, that’s what it was - I’d had sex before, but until that night I’d never truly made love.

  Ahh what a splendid day. The scent of bacon was wafting into the open door of my master bedroom, and as I said before, I could hear beautiful music, elvish singing in a woman's voice, plus something which sounded like sizzling. I stretched, put on a tanktop and pajama bottoms, and strode down the hall to the kitchen; ah there she was, my darling fiancee - the scene I saw before me was pure perfection. Illiana was standing in front of the stove, fairly obvious that she was making breakfast - as if my heart couldn't get warmer. Her ears twitched and she turned around, oh the cherry on top: she was wearing my Iron Maiden t-shirt as an improvised nightie!

  Her eyes sparkled. "Good morning, my love!"

  I hugged her from behind and kissed her neck, "mornin' hunny."

  "~Ah~ Sir Victor, I should burn our eggs if you continue to distract me so! Please, sit down a while. I shall attend to you shortly."

  "Yes, dear."

  Hey at least I didn't go for the ear nibble this time. I sat down at the nice polished wood table, the one we'd confiscated from Expanius' dungeon. As a matter of fact, I'd outfitted this house with quite a few of the things we found in the Gaian ruin. The cookware, for example, was of superb quality and I wasn't about to let it go to waste. The rest of the furniture we found there wasn't really to my liking, to be honest, so for the living room I found some nice elf-style comfort. Nothing terribly fancy, just cozy cushions set into smooth n' curvy wooden frames resembling the branches of trees. The bed was also elf style; since elf men are taller on average than most humans in this world, barring outliers such as Hylarians and Rayna’s folk, they tend to make their beds extra long. The frame had a spiral motif and I had selected a fastidious black sheet set made for comfort more than style.

  I wasn't sure exactly how much home improvement I wanted to get into while I was here since I was planning on going on more adventures but, yeah actually, this seemed like the perfect time to ask my darling fiancee - she'd just plated our breakfast and was heading over, smiling.

  "So," I said, "What's next for us anyway?"

  She tilted her head, "Well, breakfast."

  That was true, of course, and oh yes, I say in my best impression of Orson Welles. The yolk was just the level of cooked that I liked the most.

  "I meant after that," she glanced at the bedroom and smiled at me with a mouth full of bacon and a hopeful look in her emerald-green eyes. "After that too, sorry, I meant longer term stuff. So Tor Anaura is beautiful but, well, a city is still a city. I kinda wanna get outta here and see more of the world; with you by my side of course."

  She swallowed "Oh! Yes, naturally, I would like to continue being an adventurer! But, um, if it's all right with you, I'd like to rest for a while - maybe until the start of spring?"

  "That sounds reasonable," I said, nodding, "in the meantime then," I finished off them lightly salted eggs, and I waited for her to wipe her mouth before continuing my thought, in order to forestall potential spit takes. "Why not live with me during that time?"

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  She started. "Huh? Well," the initial surprise faded, and she smiled. "Yes. I'd be delighted to move in with you, Sir Victor. After all, it isn't as though we haven't shared a living space before - the only difference is that now we can share it somewhat closer."

  She scratched her cheek and giggled; that was so cute that I couldn't resist the urge to start making out with her. We um, never made it to the bedroom - that kitchen table was christened on the spot…

  ***

  "You truly are a beast, Sir Victor," she said, joke-scoldingly, as we dressed ourselves.

  Dedicated to the bit, I stood erect and placed my hat over my heart, "Forgive me Princess for I am weak!"

  She giggled, "Well, as am I - in that particular matter at the very least. But, having been so deeply satisfied, I don't feel nearly as desperate for your touch as I had been upon our drive to Kurvania."

  "Huh, so Sylfie was exaggerating, I suppose."

  She nodded. "I'm certain the mood shall strike again and then I'll-" she stopped herself. "Ah, forgive me, if I start thinking about it again 'tis likely that we'll never get out to pick up my belongings."

  I nodded, smiling, "It's nice and cold outside and we can sit in the snow if it comes to it," with my boots finally on, I opened the door. Huh?

  Why were my nice waist-high hedges looking feral all of a sudden? For that matter, the short grass that I was assured wouldn't get terribly long in the winter was now looking more like baseball players were about to start walking out of it. I looked to the right, where I'd planted a peach tree sapling - that wasn't a sapling, that was a full-on peach tree towering over my head. As a matter of fact, it wasn't just the front yard, I realized that the yard of our next-door neighbors had also turned into a veritable jungle and the lawns across the street had also sprouted up.

  Huh? Illiana was blushing for some reason. No way. I looked at her, and back to the lawn, and back to her again. It's exactly like I'm thinking, isn't it.

  "Um," she said, "This may actually have been my fault. What you did to me last night felt so good that - well - I suppose I exploded."

  I shrugged, "Technically that makes it my fault," I smiled, and sighed. "Well, I can think of no better compliment - I'll trim this grass with pride! Oh look, fresh peaches!"

  With a basket full of fruit we drove on down to the palace. We didn't talk much because her mouth was somewhat occupied with coffee - she'd been practicing that spell of course, using a single bean as a spell component to impart coffee upon created water using pattern magic if you'll recall, and it had improved somewhat. It still wasn't as good as French Press coffee but it did the job and since Illiana liked it with exactly two lumps of sugar and roughly a tablespoon of cream per mugful at least she could get it right for herself. What? I told you I had a near photographic memory regarding the interests of people dear to me you know.

  Soon enough I was in her bedroom - it was pretty much everything I expected a princess' room to be, but that's not important - and I was helping her pack. By this point my trunk was completely empty because I'd been slowly migrating everything to the house - so we had plenty of room to load all of Illiana's things. But while we were up to this, who should appear but my sister-in-law to be Sylfie!

  "Oh, you're back," she said.

  "Y-yeah," said Illiana.

  I smiled, "good morning Sylfie."

  "Ah, good morning Victor, or should I start calling you little brother?"

  I laughed, "either one works for me. I never had any brothers or sisters growing up, ya know."

  She did the gunfinger over the chin pose, "In that case I'll need to dote on you a little. Lean forward. I'm short."

  I did as I was told and got patted on the head; I made sure to give Sylfie the largest peach. We explained the fact that Illiana was moving in with me and she started to help us with the packing.

  While she was busy folding a dress, Sylfaena said "Sis, I have an important question to-"

  Illiana cut in abruptly, blushing and speaking frantically. "Yes! We made love last night! Twice! And once this morning!"

  Sylfie groaned. "You really need to learn to let people finish their questions before you blurt out an answer."

  I nodded, and stroked Illiana's hair, "She sure does."

  Her face was smouldering with embarrassment, "Pray, continue, Sylfie."

  Sylfaena began again, "The question is are the two of you planning to get into any trouble that might require me in my capacity as a mage?"

  Illiana shook her head, "Ah, nay, we were planning on wintering here and not taking any more adventurer jobs until the spring."

  "I see," Sylfaena smiled, "Well then, that settles it. Lord Hanzorian has a mission for Nenewyn and I would accompany her, you see."

  I asked, "What kinda mission is it?"

  "The sort that requires us to teleport to every little nation in the Titanvale, including Kurvania, to deliver some important information related to what you two found in the Mastermind's lair."

  I thumbed my chest, "Why didn't he ask me to just drive it all up there?"

  "He wanted to leave you to your respite," she shrugged, "I agreed with him, of course, you two deserve some time off after all you've been through."

  Illiana hugged Sylfaena, as usual, "Well, be sure to send for us if there's trouble and we'll come to you, all right?"

  "It's a promise."

  It didn't take long after that for us to finish packing up. Once everything was loaded we sped off - but we didn't go home immediately. Ah, did you think I'd forgotten about our two horses? Yes, we still had them, currently stabled at one of the inns near my - our house; it still felt unreal. Anyways, I made sure to pay well in advance for their care just in case we wound up going out for months on end and they were looking as healthy as ever. Sparkle was Illiana's dapple gray mare with a black mane, and Whiskey was my chestnut stallion - as you may recall they were sturdy warhorses that we confiscated from the Black Order. There was a third horse being kept here, a black stallion named Coffeebreak, who belonged to Mal; ah actually it seemed like the White Wolves were keeping steeds here as well but I didn't know the names of those horses.

  Once done with that errand, we proceeded to start unpacking all of Illiana's clothes and other belongings. We spent some time talking about additional furniture that we might need - yeah a nice armoire could be useful here, and a second chest of drawers for; easily done. Incidentally, she had changed into a casual winter robe which I had never seen her in; I'd gotten so used to her adventuring outfit that I assumed it was the only thing she ever put on. This type of outfit was apparently typical of elvish fashion this time of year, which was good to know - golly, maybe I should buy some elf-style clothes too. I mean it couldn't hurt right? After all, I had only brought very few articles of clothing with me on my trip. The only clothes I'd purchased in this world so far was that fancy suit I wore to the ball - I was checking it out and smiling; that dance, with Illiana. Sure it had been a part of a trap I was setting but it really brought us closer I think, even if we didn't realize it at the time.

  We got everything done, and then it was time for me to start trimming the lawn again, or so I thought. Illiana wanted to try some nature magic so I just leaned against the doorframe, munching on a peach, and watched. It had been a while since she'd showcased one of her new spells and I was eager. She stood in the walkway between the two sections of lawn, facing the hedges, gripped her new staff firmly, and began to incant. Then she began to twirl and spin around kicking up wispy green streams of magic all around her in a tornado of arcane power. The incantation intensified and picked up in pace, then she spun the staff around in her hands and struck the ground with it - suddenly, all of the grass in her immediate vicinity was sheared down to just a few inches, then she did a swish with her fingers; all of the clippings flew into the air and followed where she was pointing. They all fell into a neat little pile right outside our hedge.

  I clapped. "Bravo! That was amazing! When did you learn how to do that?"

  Illiana blushed, scratched her cheek and said, "It was just a little something I came up with on the drive to the palace, actually. I can do the backyard as well but the hedges are a different story."

  I nodded, "I can still do those. Well after the yard work is done, how about a hot bath?"

  That got her approval, and so she went to take care of that while I started trimming the hedges; good grief, I hoped this wouldn't happen every time she - er - crested passion's summit as it were. Well she was done with her work long before I was and a couple of hours later, I was surprised to see Mal and the White Wolves coming down the street! I waved of course and greeted them with a smile. Indeed, I understood the implications of their fortuitous arrival, and the opportunity it presented. Our first chance to entertain guests as a couple!

  It was a very lively dinner.