Roran sat in his study, running his hands through his hair. He studied all of the documentation that was sprawled across his desk. The room suddenly went dark. Roran sighed and pulled a fresh candle from a drawer. He lit it, and continued his work. A board creaked and his head shot up as he reached for the knife on his belt. He looked up to find Katrina, standing in the doorway, one hand resting on her belly, smiling at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's alright. I've been that way ever since…"

She held up her hand. "I know."

He gestured for her to come to him. She sat on his lap and draped her arm across his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her waist and clasped his fingers. He was amazed at how light she was, even though she was six months pregnant.

She began shuffling the sheaths of paper on his desk. "What part of this is keeping you from our bed?"

"I'm sorry. I got so caught up." He picked up a parchment and handed it to her. "This is what's keeping me up."

She scrutinized the paper. "These numbers don't add up. What is this?"

"It's the ledger from the treasury. The inconstinencies have been written off as clerical errors, but there are far too many for it to be something that simple. The steward is much too smart a man for that to happen. I think that he may be lining his own purse with the money."

"What do you plan to do about it?" Katrina queried, her face sincere. It was one of the many things he loved about her. He knew whenever he was speaking to her about any problem, he had her undivided attention.

"I don't know. I will address the problem in the morning. Right now, I plan to go to bed. With you."

He stood up from the chair and took Katrina with him. She giggled as he walked down the hall toward their bedroom.