Topic: Summer Kisses

Adelina · Date: 2015-07-10 10:22 EST

((Takes place about three months after Home.))

July 30th, 1614

The Duchy of Elan in Pasai was truly beautiful as spring melted away into summer. Greenery burst from the ground, the wheat in the fields began to turn golden, the days were long and warm. The people were still rejoicing in their new duke and the duchess he had brought to them, knowing they were blessed to live under the hand of a noble couple who truly seemed to care for their well-being. But as the days became hotter, it became more and more evident that Duchess Adelina was wilting in the unrelenting warmth. She was from Cicile, a city on the water, where even the hottest day was tempered by the softness of a sea breeze, cooled by the canals that passed between each house, each palace. Here, in a country that was virtually land-locked, she was starving for the sea, and though she tried to keep it hidden, she was clearly suffering with the growing heat.

It had become obvious enough that Mamita, the castle's housekeeper, had taken it up with Duke Leandro himself, in less gentle terms than anyone else might have. Though the hope had been to have the castle on the lake restored by the time summer reached its height, Adelina did not seem to be able to reach that intense season without some intervention first. Thus the ducal household sent them on their way, to the hunting lodge that lay nestled in the woods, on a plateau in the mountains, on the opposite side of the vast lake to the slowly rising castle. Adelina had still not overcome her aversion to traveling by carriage, but under Leandro's tutelage had become a competent rider. She fanned herself with one hand as they rode upward through the mountains, feeling ridiculous for having such a sensitivity to the warmth of summer at all.

The heat didn't seem to bother Leandro or most of the ducal household much, as accustomed to it as they were, but he had promised Adelina some respite from the heat and as a man of his word, he intended to keep that promise. He had left instructions with his advisors where he could be found if he was needed, ordered enough belongings and provisions packed to last them a few weeks, and set off with a small retinue toward the hunting lodge at the lake where he'd spent many a fine summer as a boy and young man. But even Leandro was sweating in the heat today as they made their way through the mountains, thankful at least for the trees to shade them from the sun. Thankfully, they were nearing their destination and none too soon. Adelina looked like she was about to melt.

A few months of marriage had not yet resulted in any sign of a child, but it had certainly seen Adelina's Pasan improve almost daily, to the point where she could now speak to the people in the town of Elana without needing Valeria, her lady, nearby at all times. Riding along beside Leandro, however, she had reverted somewhat, muttering mild curses on the weather in her native Cicilian. She did surface, however, as the shade cooled her skin. "How far is it now, my lord?"

Leandro couldn't help but overhear her muttering in Cicilian, and even though he didn't understand everything she was saying, he had a feeling it was none too pleasant. Even now, he had to force himself not to smirk at her question, caring for her enough not to insult her by laughing. He sympathized with her, knowing it hadn't been easy for her to leave her home behind and move to a strange land, where she didn't even know the language. He was hoping perhaps this little holiday would please her. "Not much farther," he replied. "We should be there before the sun reaches its zenith."

The relief on her face was too obvious not to be comical, though she seemed to rally now they were beneath the canopy of the trees. She would have been more comfortable still if she had been able to cast off the layers of over-dress and under-dress to spend her time in nothing more than her chemise, but she had been raised to be modest in company. So long as the eyes of their household were on them, Adelina would suffer the heat, no matter how thin those layers of cloth were. "Zenith, that is the word for where the sun is when it is noon, yes?" she asked, careful these days to always ask for clarification when she came to a word she didn't understand. There had been a few misunderstandings during her first weeks in Pasai.

"When it is at its highest point, si," he replied as he rode at her side, a loose grip on the horse's reins. The horse had been here before and practically knew the way by himself without his rider to lead him. Leandro glanced at the sky, gaging the distance and the time of day and figuring they had perhaps an hour more of travel. "Come," he told, her tugging at his horse's reins to lead him off the path. "I want to show you something."

"I see. Thank you." Despite her wilting in the heat, she smiled her familiar smile in thanks for his explanation. There was no one in their household, nor in Elana itself, who had not seen that smile by now. It had been her shield when she did not understand the language, and now it was their reward when something pleased her. Encouraged to follow, she gave her own reins a gentle tug, hoping the mare would fall into step beside Leandro's black. Adelina was a competent rider, not a confident one. "What is it that you would show me, mio caro?"

His horse made its way slowly up a rise and out of the cover of trees to a small clearing that opened onto an outlook where they could view their surroundings - the lake crystal clear below them, surrounded by trees. The hunting lodge was hidden amidst the trees and could not be seen from this vantage point, but that was not what he wanted to show her. "There ..." he said, extending an arm to point to a particular spot beside the lake where the trees had been cleared and construction was well underway. "That is where we are building your castle."

Until the moment she felt the familiarity of a cool breeze over water on her face, Adelina had not had the first idea of where they might be heading, having thought that perhaps the air was cooler in the mountains. Her breath gasped from her throat as the vista opened up in front of her, her gaze sweeping across the wide plateau, the beauty of the lake and its waters, and there, in the distance, a place that bustled with workers and business. "Our castle," she corrected Leandro without even thinking, though everyone seemed to be calling the castle on the lake hers. "Leandro, it is so beautiful here. You did not tell me we were coming to the lake."

"I wanted it to be a surprise," he replied with a smile, glad she seemed to like the view and not missing how she referred to it as their castle, rather than hers. "It is for you, Lina," he explained further, wanting her to know that all of this was because of and for her.

Dragging her gaze from the waters below them once again, her smile grew as she met his eyes. "I am surprised," she promised him, each word still accented with her Cicilian tongue. "If it is for me, then it is also for you, mio caro. I am never so content as when I am near you."

The hunting lodge was big, but nowhere near as large as the castle would be once it was done. "This will be our summer home," he told her further. "It is cooler here. And we can swim and fish and boat. Do you like to swim?" he asked, as he tugged on the reins again to lead his horse back down the path. The hunting lodge wasn't far from here.

Gently urging her horse on to keep pace with him, secure in the knowledge that their small retinue were nothing if not focused on their task of arriving and settling their lord and lady into the lodge, Adelina chuckled softly as Leandro asked her that question. "I love to swim," she admitted warmly. "When I was child, we would - my sisters and I - we would scandalize the court by jumping into the Grand Canal the moment our lessons were finished at the height of summer."

"I'm afraid it's not the Grand Canal, but will the lake do' I spent many happy summers here as a boy, swimming and fishing. I would very much like to spend summers here again with you," he told her, with that warm smile on his face that he wore only for her.

Adelina · Date: 2015-07-10 10:23 EST

"No, it is cleaner than the Grand Canal," she giggled, reinvigorated, it seemed, by the mere thought of swimming in cold mountain water. "Of course we will spend summers here. You and I, and our children. It will be our escape." Her smile met his, loving and soft. She had not said those crucial words since their first evening in the Castile Elan, seeming to understand that it could not be real love when they had known so little about one another. But it had not prevented her from being a loving, obedient wife to him as they learned one another better.

"Si," he replied with a smile, the thought of starting a family with one that was dear to his heart, not only because he needed to provide an heir for the duchy, but because he wanted to provide her with children and love and raise them together as a family. "A boy and a girl," he decided, smiling over at her. Though she was not yet with child, he was hopeful she would be pregnant by the end of the summer, especially now that they were away from the heat of Elan.

"And will you ask the Goddess to provide them, just one of each?" she teased him fondly. As her grasp of Pasan had improved, so had his ability to gage her personality. The bold-eyed princess from Cicilia had turned out to be a playful, merry sort of duchess, perfectly suited to ridding their ducal seat of the ghosts of the women who had gone before her. "Perhaps we will be like my father ....nine daughters and a son."

Leandro laughed. He was slowly getting to know her better and had learned she was far more than just a pretty face. She was warm and caring and intelligent and had a good sense of humor, not to mention her beauty. She was everything he wanted in a woman and then some, and though he wasn't quite sure whether or not she loved him, he knew he was already falling in love with her. "Perhaps, so long as there is a son," he teased back.

"I will give you many sons," she promised him confidently. And she had reason to be confident, in a way. Seven of her sisters were married, and all had produced sons and daughters for their husbands - there was no reason to think Adelina would be any different. And though she had not yet conceived, they had not yet been married a year. She was young and strong; she was certain she would give her Leandro a son to love.

He laughed again, feeling happy and content here with her away from the strain and pressure of court politics. "I would be happy with one healthy son, querida." Before she could reply, they were interrupted by one of his men, speaking so quickly in his native tongue, it would be hard for Adelina to make out more than a few words. Leandro waited for him to finish, then replied in the same language. From what she could make out of what was said, he was sending a few men on ahead to make sure it was safe and that the few servants who were in residence at the lodge knew they were about to arrive.

Adelina watched and listened, as she had grown used to doing, needing a few moments to be able to follow what was being said. In time, she would be able to follow such quick speech with ease, but for now, she had to be content with guessing. Her eyes turned to Leandro curiously. "Is there some thought of danger, il mio Duca""

"No, querida," he replied. "Not here, but it is ....how do you say' Better safe than sorry?" He smiled again, in part to reassure her and in part at what he was about to tell her. "I've been told those at the lodge are anxious to meet their new duchess."

"Did they not come to the city for the festival?" she asked, surprised to find that there were yet more people to meet, though it should not have been such a surprise. For a woman who had not set foot outside a single city for most of her lifetime, the sheer size of the duchy in which she now lived was almost beyond her, much less the country in which it resided. "I will be very glad to meet them. But I will swim, and scandalize them all."

Leandro laughed once again. His people were getting used to the sound of his laughter - a sound they had not been accustomed to hearing so much before Adelina had come to Elan. "We will scandalize them together," he told her, as the horses started a slow descent down the path that would take them to the hunting lodge.

For the nobility, a hunting lodge was far more than a mere cabin in the woods. It was a manor-house, large enough to hold the duke's family, and whatever personal servants they needed, as well as stables, and a separate building in which to garrison the guards that always accompanied them. Still, to Adelina's eyes, it was a hidden paradise, coming as it did with the promise of cool water and no prying eyes or unexpected visitors. "It is lovely, mio caro," she told him as they rode onto the grounds, a wry cast to her smile as she took note of the small knot of servants waiting nervously to greet them. "They look worried. Should I pretend to be an evil duchessa?"

"Not if you want them to like you," he replied with a grin, as he led her on horseback toward the lodge, stopping a little way off as several groomsmen came over to help them both down and collect their horses. "Shall we, querida?" he asked, offering her his arm once they had both dismounted. He would have helped her off the horse himself if the groomsmen weren't so quick and eager to make a good impression on their new duchess.

As much as she might have enjoyed teasing this eager little group, Adelina was incapable of meanness, already thanking the groom who helped her down with a smile before she took Leandro's arm. She could smell the lake now, eager to cast off the layers of her clothing and bathe in the cold water, but she schooled herself to be introduced to the housekeeper and her small staff.

Once the introductions had been made, the pair were led to the ducal quarters inside the lodge, which were only a little smaller than the quarters they enjoyed at the castle. A simple meal had been laid out in their quarters, and fresh flowers had been placed here and there to welcome them and add color to the space. The windows were thrown open, and a cool breeze was wafting in from the lake. Their trunks would be brought up later and their clothing carefully put away for the summer. There were fresh, crisp sheets on the bed and sumptuously stuffed pillows. Everything seemed to have been carefully thought out, as if their arrival had been expected.

There were no ghosts here, no sad memories of women trapped by marriage. Adelina smiled as she stood at the window, looking out through the trees to where she could see sunlight glistening on the surface of the lake. "The housekeeper," she said, turning away from the window as she untied the laces holding her over-dress in place. "She is familiar. Is she, perhaps, related to Mamita and Carlos?"

"Their daughter," he explained, as he moved over to the table where a small meal had been prepared and left for them. He filled two glasses of cool, clear water from a pitcher while she made herself more comfortable. "Her name is Silvia," he told her further.

"Silvia ..." Shedding the heavy outer layer of her dress, the young duchess smiled, nodding as she memorized the name. "She is very much like her mother, is she not' And the head groundsman - her husband?" She considered this for a long moment, contemplating whether or not to unpin her heavy length of golden hair just yet. "Yes, it makes sense. Mamita would certainly trust no one but her own daughter with the care of her duke."

Leandro smiled softly at the mention of his household, who were really more like family to him than servants, as he moved over to help her get the outer layer of her dress off. Though it was usually her maid who helped her from her clothes, he was not a stranger to it, and he had learned how to free her of the many layers of clothing. "Her husband, si. Antonio." He settled his hands against her slim waist, resisting the urge to kiss her neck and unpin her hair. "Are you hungry, querida?"

Adelina · Date: 2015-07-10 10:24 EST

Relieved of that heavier layer, she sighed contentedly, enjoying the feeling of air on her bare arms as she leaned back into him, her head turning toward his. "I should eat," she mused, almost reluctantly. "The lake will still be there if I wait a while, after all." She laughed softly, turning to face him as her arms wound about his waist. "I do not have words to thank you for this, mio caro. It is wonderful."

"There is no need to thank me. I only wish to make you happy," he told her, smiling softly and adoringly at her. "I intend to name the castle Castile Adelina, after you," he told her further, a teasing gleam in his eyes, though he was perfectly serious. While it seemed there was really no need to build an entirely new structure, the castle would be even closer to the lake, more like a palace than a fortification - a place where they could live in comfort and ease.

She laughed disbelievingly. "You would leave my name upon your lakeside castle, my duke?" she asked in amazement. "It will be there for all time. Would you not rather name it for your mother, or for yourself" I am just your wife, nothing more." She smiled, touched that he would go so far for her as to name an immutable part of his duchy after her.

"Not for myself," he replied, taking her hands and kissing the knuckles of one, then the other. "I would honor you, Adelina. So long as the castle stands, you will always be remembered." Besides, Castile Leandro didn't quite have the same ring to it, and as far as his mother was concerned, he would name something else for her.

She watched him, that playful humor of hers in her green eyes as he painted her fingers with kisses. "Am I so easy to forget, mio caro?" she asked softly, drawing his hands to her, to touch a kiss to each palm. "I do not mind if you call your castle after me. But it is not my castile. It is ours, and it always will be."

"No, querida, but the castle is for you. I would name it for you because ....because I want everyone to know how much you mean to me and ..." He frowned a little, at a loss for words or perhaps just afraid to say what was in his heart, afraid she might think him foolish, but they had been together long enough now that she should know his feelings. He had said it once already. Did he need to say it again? "Our children will be our legacy, Adelina, and this will be their home. Is it so wrong of me to want to name the castile for the woman it was built for?"

"I did not say it was wrong." She rose up onto her toes, brushing her lips to his as she smiled once again. "We are talking in circles. I do not mind it. I am moved that you would have a such a wish. But I would have you eat, and then I will show you how your duchess swims."

Leandro thought on that a moment before a smile appeared on his face once again. He returned her kiss before breaking away to head toward the door. "I have a better idea," he told her. Opening the door, he beckoned a servant and issued a request, speaking too quickly and quietly for her to follow what was being said.

The bemused smile on her face was more than evidence enough that she did not have the first idea what he was about. All she really knew was that he had abandoned her embrace to speak to one of the servants too quickly for her to follow. "And what, mio caro, are you plotting now, I wonder?"

"A picnic!" he exclaimed, happily, hoping that would please her. "Why should we eat here when we can take it with us to the lake?" he reasoned. Though his quarters were comfortable, he had a feeling she wouldn't turn down the chance for a little fresh air.

Her face lit up with delight at this prospect, though fell a moment later as she considered the tumble of fabric on the floor. "I will have to put that back on," she sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Unless ..." Green eyes turned hopefully toward her husband. "Would they mind, do you think, if their duchess was not entirely modest all the time?"

He laughed at her reasoning. "You will only have to take it off again to go swimming, querida. Do not worry," he assured her, taking hold of her hands once again, his smile softening. "We are not at court and no one here will care." It was his way of saying that the protocol expected back in the capital was unnecessary here where the only people who would see them were those he trusted most.

Adelina's eyes sparkled with pleasure at the prospect of seeing the lake close to. "Then we should go, mio caro," she declared, seizing his hand as she slipped past him and out through the door. It didn't take a genius to guess which direction to go to find the lake once they were out of the house, the staff treated to the sight of the duchess they had only just met pulling their duke along half-dressed as she giggled in excitement.

"Don't you want to wait for the food?" Leandro called as he was tugged along behind her, which made the servants chuckle and wonder just who was in charge. One of them called after him in his native tongue, assuring him they'd be along with food and drink and linens. Leandro couldn't help laughing himself, wondering what life was going to be like here away from the prying eyes of court with this tiny spitfire of a wife to keep him entertained.

"I want to swim!" Adelina called back to him in a laughing tone, picking her way over brush and grass to the sand that lined the shore of the lake in the full glare of the sun. Once there, she paused, not foolish enough to plunge in as she was. Leandro was offered a coy little smile as she slipped her under-dress from her shoulders, revealing the diaphanous chemise that was usually for his eyes only. A moment later, she had said chemise hiked to her thighs, tugging at the ribbons holding her stockings in place, as well. "Will you not join me, mio duca?"

Leandro laughed again as his wife stripped down to her underthings right there in the light of day and in full view of any servants or guards who might be watching. It was scandalous, but he didn't much care. This was exactly why he'd brought her here - to get away from the stuffiness of court and enjoy the quiet and solitude of the hunting lodge that was really more a country manor. "I will join you, if you promise not to take off your chemise." That was one vision he wanted reserved for his own eyes only.

She offered him a sweet smile, shuffling out of her slippers and stockings with a sigh of relief. "I promise," she assured him. "And I will wear ....thicker cloth ....next time." Because the chemises she wore beneath her clothes would be utterly useless in disguising the view that belonged entirely to him. Her last act was to raise her hands to unpin the twisted collection of braids that held her hair up and off her neck, watching him as though challenging him to join her in her state of almost-undress. "The water will be cool."

"Let me," he told her, unable to resist the urge to touch her, if only to unpin her hair from the intricate twist of braids. "No, querida," he chuckled at her remark. "The water will be cold." But he was just as sweaty as she was and looking forward to immersing himself in the cool, clean water, if only for a few minutes.

It never ceased to surprise her the way he was always so eager to help her unpin her hair, or to brush the heavy length. Mamita had said it was because very few women in Pasai were blessed with blond hair, and fewer still with the golden sheen that was Adelina's rather glorious mane, but she wasn't so sure. Letting her hands fall to allow him to release her hair from its confines, she smiled, looking out over the water. "Cold or cool, or even warm, I do not mind," she sighed contentedly. "I have missed the water, mio caro."

"It will get warmer," he assured her as his fingers worked the braids loose and combed through her hair. Though Mamita was partially right in that Leandro was fascinated by Adelina's hair, it was not so much because that blond mane of hers was so unique as it was that he loved any excuse to touch her, to caress her, to enjoy the closeness of her. He loved the silken feel of her hair and savored the scent that could only belong to his Adelina. "I am sorry we are so far from the sea, Lina, but I hope you can be happy here."

Adelina · Date: 2015-07-10 10:24 EST

She laughed softly, turning about to face him as her hands cradled his jaw. "I am happy here, my love," she promised him fervently. "If I were not, you would know it. I have missed the water, but I do not need it to survive. I do not need it, to be happy. And you have brought me to the water. It is you. Do you truly think that you are not enough enough for my happiness?"

He dropped his hands from her hair, a small frown touching his face, unsure of his answer. "I do not know, Adelina. I only know I want you to be happy. Perhaps it is foolish of me, but I do not want a wife only for political reasons. I want a wife who is a companion and a friend and a lover." And it went without saying that he wanted a woman who would not only give him children but be a mother to those children.

"If you would have a companion, a friend, a lover, then you must learn to believe me when I speak," she told him gently. "I thought I loved you, when you first brought me to Pasai, when we first entered Elana. But I know now that was not love. It was a pale shadow." Her fingers stroked against his cheek as she smiled at him fondly. "Can you not see love when it looks you in the eye, mio caro" Look into my eyes. There is love, mine for you. How can I be unhappy, when I have such love?"

His heart froze as she spoke, preparing himself for the disappointment when she told him she was wrong - that she hadn't loved him, that she never would - but then she was telling him just the opposite, and it was more than he could have ever hoped for. He drew her hand away from his cheek and brought it to his lips for a kiss, lowering his gaze for a moment so that she wouldn't see the soft sheen of tears in his eyes. Was it true that she loved him, just as he loved her" Could he truly be that lucky' He lifted his gaze to search her eyes for the love she spoke of, his own feelings for her only to clear to see. "I did not dare hope for love when we met, querida. I would have been happy with friendship, but it is not friendship I feel for you now or ever. I love you, Adelina, and I no longer imagine a life without you in it."

"Then do not ask me if I am happy, querido," she told him, attempting the sweet endearment in Pasan for the first time. "I am very happy." Rising up onto her bare toes, she curled her arms about him, heedless of the heat or the sweat that stuck her hair to their skin, her lips finding his in a slow, tender kiss.

His shirt was stuck to his chest and he smelled of sweat and horse and leather, but at that moment, all he could think of was her. He drew her into his embrace, heedless of the eyes that were now watching as his servants arrived with food and drink and linens for bathing. They laid a blanket out on the soft, cool grass, and left a basket filled with cheese and bread and fruit and wine, exchanging smile as they left the duke and his new bride alone to enjoy each other's company without interruption.

Gently drawing back, Adelina shared her smile with him, bright and open and filled with the love he had not recognized until she told him of it. Then she bounced up to kiss the tip of his nose playfully. "Now we swim!" With a laughing pat to his cheek, she whirled away, lifting her chemise just enough to let her legs bear her with ease into the icy cold mountain waters of the lake, releasing a shriek at the temperature that soon faded into laughter once again.

It had been too long since laughter had been heard in the duke's household. Perhaps not since Leandro's mother had died had there been such lighthearted merriment, and it was all because of the new duchess. All of the servants knew it, as did the guards and the soldiers. Adelina had not only charmed their duke, but she was well on her way to charming the entire household. Though they were alone on the beach, their laughter carried back toward the house and made many a man and woman smile with warmth and gratitude.

As for the duke, he was laughing uproariously at his wife's shriek. He had warned her, after all, that the water would too cold. Thankfully, his servants had gotten a small fire going for them on the beach and left them with a blanket and plenty of linens. He stood on the beach, arms crossed in front of his chest, not making a move to join her. "Now you swim!" he called to her with a grin.

The sun was warm enough that she would not freeze, and Adelina was stubborn enough not to rush from the water the moment she stepped into it. Instead, she dove into the crystal clear waters of the lake, disappearing from view for far longer than most would deem comfortable. When she resurfaced, she was quite some distance from the shore, turning where she trod water to wave and laugh. "Come and join me, Leandro!"

The duke watched from the shore. Worried for a moment when she went under and failed to surface, he took a step closer, the waves lapping at his boots, holding his breath with her until she finally surfaced. He drew a sigh of relief, smiling as she beckoned for him to join her. "It's cold!" he called back, as if that was a worthy excuse.

"It is not so cold," she called to him, swimming easily toward him where he edged the shore. "Are you afraid of a little chill against your skin, querido?" Now that was a tease, and he knew exactly what part of his skin she was referring to. If she'd been closer, he would have been able to see the mischief in her eyes as she giggled at him.

"You are baiting me, wife," he replied, waggling a finger at her. He wasn't afraid of the water; it was only that he preferred his water warm. Huffing a breath, he tugged his tunic over his head, knowing he was never going to hear the end of it if he didn't join her, and though the water was a little too cold, the sun was a little too hot. He pulled off his boots and tossed them a little further up on the beach so they wouldn't get washed away with the tide and then plunged into the water, howling with laughter to find just how cold it really was.

What must the household staff of the lodge think, Adelina wondered, hearing their duke laughing like a child as he splashed into the water to join her" Mamita had been full of stories about their somber lord, who barely cracked a smile, yet Adelina had never known Leandro not close to a smile or a laugh. She reveled in each sound of happiness, glad to be a part of their making. Diving once again beneath the water, she swam easily toward him, catching hold of his lower legs in the shallows to pull him off his feet before she broke the surface in a spluttering rain of laughter.

It was true, though there had been a time when Leandro had been happy, but all that had changed when his mother had died. He had become a serious young man, more interested in learning how to fill his father's shoes than in having fun, but all that had changed when he'd met Adelina. It wasn't that he no longer took his responsibilities seriously, but that he had learned to make time for more than just duty and work. This new Leandro was often found smiling and laughing, just as he was now, sliding beneath the surface to emerge near his wife and tug her beneath the water with him.

She yelped as his arms came about her, the water swallowing her laughter as they both disappeared beneath the surface. It was only too easy to imagine the addition of a child or three to the silly playing going on in the lake, a scene that would become more and more tenable as children grew older with their parents. Twisting in his arms, Leandro's wife kissed him beneath the water, teasing tickling fingers against his sides as she grinned, striking out for the surface once more.

He smiled against her lips, even as the cold water seemed to steal his breath and chill his lungs. His hands reached for her, but too soon she was gone, slipping away and out of his grasp. He followed her to the surface, gasping for breath. He was adequate in the water, but she was a far better swimmer, far more accustomed to it than he was. "Is the water warm in Cicilia?"

Adelina · Date: 2015-07-10 10:26 EST

Treading water with him, she smiled, shaking her head. "No, not always," she admitted. "In summer, it was warmer than in winter - currents in the sea, the captains said. But I prefer this ....sweeter, not salty. No fear of serpents to catch us and drag us down to the depths."

"No, there aren't any of those," he replied with a chuckle. He felt relieved she was happy and that she seemed to like it there, from what she had seen so far, anyway. He knew his staff had gone to great lengths to make the place warm and welcoming for her. It had been a long time since it had been home to a woman. Not even Alys had spent any time here during the short time she'd been married to his father, and after his mother had died his father had refused to come here. It had become his place, his refuge - quiet and peaceful as it was - but it had been lonely, too. He wondered if he was making a mistake building a castle here; if a castle would ruin it somehow.

Yet the castle was on the far shore - far enough away that the village that would inevitably grow up near it would not intrude upon the peace of this place. From shore to shore, it was a vast lake, room enough for many such retreats along its sandy edge. Easing close in the water, Adelina drew her arms about Leandro's neck, smiling as she nuzzled to him. "How long will we stay here, mio caro?"

She distracted him from his worries with her question, as she often did, but it was a good thing. He needed a pleasant distraction to keep him from getting buried in the everyday stress that came with running a duchy. His arms went around her waist as she eased closer, a teasing gleam in his eyes at her question. "Is the rest of summer too long?"

Green eyes lit up with delight at the thought of having him entirely to herself for an entire summer. "The king will not require you at court?" she asked hopefully, teasing her fingers through his wet hair, coiling a curling hank about her thumb. "No ....painted butterflies, or silly little girls whose mothers thought they could be wed to you?" It said a lot about the Pasan court that this was her enduring memory of the two weeks they had spent there in spring. She had been formally presented, and she had not been impressed with the simpering ladies of the court. Only the princess herself had earned Adelina's admiration, and that was purely because Tiera was a willful young woman who had been spoiled to the point where no one was willing to risk her temper.

"If the king requires my presence, he can send for me. Otherwise, no ....I intend to spend the summer here with you, unless I am needed elsewhere." He did not say it, but he was hoping that by the time they returned to Elana in the fall, she would be with child, even if they weren't aware of it yet. "You know I have eyes for no one but you," he reminded her, kissing her cheek, his lips trailing down her neck.

She laughed softly, truly pleased with his answer, though she did not need him to tell her his heart. She had learned to see it in every moment he spent with her over the past months. It was only too easy to warm to his affections, even in the chill of the lake, her passions roused by his touch, his care, each time he touched her. "I know it," she promised him, her breath cool in the summer heat against his ear as her arms tightened about him. Her fingers clenched in his hair, drawing him up to meet her kiss as they bobbed on the surface of the lake.

He warmed to her kisses, hardly feeling the chill of the water that lapped around them. It was moments like these when he thought she was all he needed, when he thought he could forgo food and even sleep, and exist on her kisses alone. It wasn't true, of course - not physically, anyway - but she had healed his heart and soothed his loneliness and was all his heart ever needed to feel happy. Children would come in time, or so he hoped, but for now, he was happy and content just to share these moments and this place with her.

And so they might have gone on, forgetting the public place, had not the denizens of the lake come looking to see whether or not toes were edible. Adelina let out a loud squeak as a toothless mouth latched onto her toes, sucking hard, and pulled away to look down into the water, only to find a large eel quite happily sucking on her foot. She looked at Leandro in amused astonishment, torn between disgust and laughter. "What is this?"

Leandro laughed at the interruption, gazing into the crystal clear water to see the eel that had latched onto her toes. "Lake creatures," he replied. "Harmless, really. That one is called an eel. He must think you taste good, but he will have to compete with me if he wants you," Leandro replied with a teasing grin. "Shall I save you from him?"

"Yes, you should," she informed him in amusement. "A gentleman should not stand by and laugh while his lady is attacked by a ....an eel." She was hardly frightened, though; infinitely more amused than anything. She'd encountered worse things in the salt water of Cicile, after all. This was merely strange, by comparison.

"Perhaps, but I am not standing," he pointed out with a grin. He didn't bother to argue that he wasn't a gentleman as she would likely disagree with him there and, being the gentleman he was, he took a deep breath and disappeared beneath the water to dislodge the creature from his wife's foot.

Of course, under the water, he didn't get to see the way she squirmed as the gummy mouth was dislodged, or hear her slightly disgusted giggles at the odd sensation it caused. He did, however, get his reward when he surfaced, kissed once again before she eased away. "I think, perhaps, we should eat, before anything else decides to try and eat me."

He kissed her again as he surfaced - or found himself being kissed - a small smirk on his face as he suddenly held up the creature that had been sucking on her toe. "He wants a kiss, too!" he teased, holding the wriggling eel in his hand.

The squeal that erupted from Adelina's throat was loud enough to send the birds into the air from the trees as she lurched away from Leandro and his new friend, splashing water toward him as she attempted to escape. Up close, the thing was even more ugly than it had looked through the water, and slimy, too!

It was only more proof that the usually somber duke was mellowing, the wall around his heart collapsing as he learned to love and trust again - as he learned to laugh again. He hoped her squeal didn't bring the guards running, but even if it did, he found that now that he'd started laughing, he couldn't stop, even she splashed him and he set the poor creature free. "Perhaps I should try to eat you," he warned her, treading closer, puckering his lips like an eel and making a sucking sound.

Giggling, she let herself be captured once the disgusting creature was set loose once again, pressing her fingertips against Leandro's puckered lips. "Not in the lake, you will not," she informed him. "Nor anywhere your men might see. If I am for your eyes alone, then the sounds I make should be for your ears only, yes?"

His arms went around her again, kissing her fingers as she touched his lips. "Yes," he answered her question without hesitation. He did not want anyone witnessing what was for his eyes only. She belonged to him and no one else, and as much as he wanted to make love to her, she was worth waiting for. He didn't bother to argue that there was no one there now, no one who would see them, no one who mattered, but instead, he only touched a kiss to her lips, warm and soft and loving.

"One night," she murmured against his lips, "we will come back to the lake. Then you can play." Her smile captured his once again as she caressed his shoulders, her toes stirring the sand beneath them. "But now ....I am hungry, querido."

He could have teased her further; he could have talked of another kind of hunger, but he was starting to shiver and his stomach was growling in complaint. "One night when the water is warmer," he added, smiling as he touched his nose to hers. "Come along, then, querida. We have all summer to explore the lake."

It was a world away from the stuffiness of the king's court, or even the regimented days of their own ducal seat in Elana. But this easy-going way of life - everyone needed it, from time to time, this ease to simply be themselves without conforming to the expectations of a people or a court. The house on the lake would ring with laughter for months to come, it was almost guaranteed, the coolness of the water the perfect panacea for the heat of the plains below that would have wilted the pretty duchess through summer. With their first summer, they were setting the lines for all the summers of their lives together, whether children came to them or not. But it was only the first days of their first summer together. There would be plenty of time for children; for now, all that mattered was that they were together, away from the prying eyes of court, taking their first steps together not as the Duke and Duchess of Elan, but as husband and wife.

((I freely admit, this one was inspired by the heatwave that nearly did for me last week! Fun, though ....As always, enormous throbbing thank yous to Leandro's player!))