Gareth sighed with relief as he laid down on the bed. The beds in the harem chambers had been elaborately decorated, with all manner of fancy silken sheets and designs, but he thought this simple one might be the most comfortable one he’d laid down on in weeks. The room they had been given had a number of bookshelves filled with stories of the heroic deeds of past generations of knights, and Gareth spent some time reading as he waited for Janessa to return to their room.
A candle flickered against the doorframe, and Gareth looked up to see Janessa smiling at him. She was clad in a simple black dress, and the happy smile that stretched across her face caused Gareth to smile back in turn. The fact that Anya was uncertain as to whether the prince could ever be returned to normal filled him with sorrow, but he knew he had to put up a brave front for Janessa.
Think about Anya! He told himself fiercely. Janessa has no memory of ever having been a man, only sees her as her best friend. It must be much harder for her, yet she plays along with Janessa’s false memories. You have to do the same.
Returning his focus to the princess, Gareth realized she hadn’t seemed to notice his hesitation, instead having wandered over to a mirror Anya had hung in a corner of the room to check her reflection. Turning her attention back to the bed, she moved to join him, moving with a lithe grace as she did. Soon Janessa had joined Gareth on the bed, lying in his arms as he lay still, almost frozen in uncertainty.
For what seemed like hours they simply lay there, a slight tension hanging in the air. The only thing that could be heard when the occasion footsteps of sentries making their patrols down the halls and the chirping of insects and other nocturnal life outside.
Gareth almost wasn’t even sure how it happened. Once second, the two of them were still just lying there; the next, as if on an unspoken signal they were kissing, Janessa’s chest heaving. Days upon days of fear and tension finally seemed to break for her, and she clung desperately to the man she thought was to be her husband as they continued to make out. Just like before, Gareth’s reluctance was soon overwhelmed.
Gareth utterly lost track of time, and even when the room’s candles went out, he barely noticed. His focus was solely on the beautiful young woman in his arms, who was technically his prince, but who acted only like she wished for him to be her husband.
The next morning Gareth woke early and simply lay there, staring up at the room’s ceiling and trying to make sense of his racing thoughts.
Reluctantly he rose from the bed, doing his best not to wake Janessa, and headed for the hallway. Anya, one of her brothers, and several other royalist leaders had set up a command center on the building’s first floor, and he passed several groups of soldiers heading to their rooms or down the steps. All of the men looked happy and optimistic; the war was going the royalists’ way. As Gareth soon learned, another major town had just been captured by their forces, and the rebels were struggling to reorganize their defenses.
Anya looked happy to see him, and quietly asked if he and Janessa enjoyed their new room. Gareth smiled and flushed a bit, and a sad look crossed Anya’s face so quickly he almost thought he imagined it.
Changing the subject, she gestured towards a large map the local town’s council had had made many years ago of the surrounding region, and asked if Gareth was ready to work.