Attia and Mason were in her office, she seated behind her desk working through some paperwork, he standing in the corner behind her rather like a formal guard. A knock came at the door, and Attia called for whoever it was to enter without even peering up. She heard footsteps cross the room before she looked to see a messenger came into her office.

"The King has summoned you, Lady Attia," he said simply as he set a folded piece of paper on the desk for her to take.

"Summoned?" Attia repeated as she reached for the paper and unfolded it to read Finn's official office note. The messenger replied before leaving the office to continue his tasks. Attia groaned as she stood and pocketed the note. She nodded to Mason, who moved across the room to open the door for her. They walked to Finn's office, where, surprisingly, only Finn, Claudia, Keiro and their combined guards were present.

"Are you kidding me?" Finn asked as soon as Attia stepped into the office. Mason had shut the door behind them and remained near the wall.

"What?" Attia replied sharply.

"All you had to do was be nice to them!"

"I was nice," Attia replied. "I didn't tell her to get the hell out of Court, did I?"

"You told her you weren't married," Finn groaned as he looked away from Attia to focus too intently on the pages across his desk. "You know they aren't as open about gender roles."

"She asked, Finn. What was I supposed to do? Lie?"

"Yes," Finn answered sharply as he peered up at her. "Lie. You always lie to them. Was that so hard a concept?"

"She asked why I wasn't wearing my wedding ring, Finn! I don't have a damn wedding ring!"

"You admitted to openly enjoying a sexual relationship with a man you're not married to," Finn said, rephrasing what the problem was.

"Well, when you try to make it sound immoral, of course it sounds like I'm a whore," Attia shot back, and Keiro laughed at the comment, despite Finn's cold gaze in his direction.

"Those were her exact words to me about you."

"Oh come on, Finn. You're exaggerating."

"No, those were her exact words," Claudia put in, trying to sound stern, but obviously as entertained as Keiro was.

"She asked what was going to happen to my bastard children, Finn. She's lucky I didn't toss her bullshit tea set in her face."

"She didn't say that," Finn argued, but Attia only motioned to Claudia. Finn turned up to her for an explanation.

"She may have inquired about how Attia's children would fare in terms of their inheritances," Claudia explained and Finn groaned.

"You couldn't just say you were getting your ring cleaned?" he groaned as he turned to his desk again.

"She also added that Keiro was very kind in allowing me to continue working after marriage, even though it takes time away from my attending to him," Attia commented, her words heavy with sarcasm.

"Attending to?" Keiro questioned as he turned to her, eye brows raised, but her gaze remained hard.

"If you want attending to, call a maid hand," she told him sharply and he only laughed. "Better yet, I hear Morgan is still here."

"Oh come on," Keiro laughed as he stepped towards her and put his hand on her arm. "She's just some dumb bitch. Let it go."

"Keiro," Finn groaned again, but Keiro only shrugged as he turned back to him. "What part of be nice to them did neither of you understand?"

"Oh, just don't tell her I said that," Keiro replied as he rolled his eyes.

"What is the problem anyway?" Attia asked as she turned away from Keiro to look at Finn. "What difference does it make to her what kind of relationship I have?"

"King Logan is afraid this kind of environment is not suitable for their daughter," Finn answered and Attia rolled her eyes.

"No, much better for her to marry domestically and be a perfect little dotting wife," Attia replied sarcastically before she turned to leave the office without leave from Finn. Keiro followed her, their fingers intertwined on his own accord. Mason and Keiro's guard followed the pair from the room, and Finn let them go without so much a word.

"Did she really make you that mad, Attia?" Keiro asked as they walked down the hallway. Attia didn't respond to the comment at all, deciding to pretend he'd said nothing. He seemed to take the hint, since he didn't press for an answer, nor did he repeat the question.

"I made an appointment with the healer," she admitted after they'd walked down a number of hallways. He wasn't sure where she was leading him, but he didn't care anyway.

"For when?" he asked as he turned to her briefly, but she kept her gaze straight ahead.

"Tonight after dinner," she answered, feeling his fingers tighten around her hand.

"Where are we going?" Keiro finally asked when he realized they'd taken a different hallway instead of the one leading to her office.

"Check on Vivian," Attia answered as she slowed down to stop in front of a specific office door. She knocked loudly twice before she let herself into the room. Inside, Vivian was holding up a piece of fabric while Morgan twirled on a platform in front of three mirrors set at angles to each other. She was draped in a white wedding gown that was pinned together crudely rather than sewn appropriately. "You only have a week left in here," Attia told Vivian as she caught her step-sister's attention.

"I know," Vivian replied simply. "Mason offered me his office until the King approves one for me."

"Mason gave you-" Attia started but stopped as she turned over her shoulder to look at Mason. Since she turned, she missed the look Vivian sent Mason, but she did notice the color rising to Mason's face under her scrutiny. "So," Attia started as she turned back to Vivian. "You'll be designing dresses in Central Command? Did you clear that by Charles?"

"What?" Vivian replied and Attia groaned as she started to turn to Mason, but Keiro put his hand on the small of her back to refrain her.

"Head of the Royal Guard," Attia said as patiently as she could manage. "Mason's office is next to Charles' and I don't think he'll appreciate your fabrics falling out of every crack in the office."

"Well, surely Mason deserves a better office than that."

"Oh god," Attia rolled her eyes, but said nothing she was thinking. "Central Command was built first after Court collapsed. Of course it's shitty. When Mason becomes Head of the Royal Guard, he'll get the nice office."

"He's going to be Head of the Royal Guard?" Vivian replied, sounding excited. Attia let her head fall back as she drew in a deep breath. She just nodded before she turned to leave the room without saying anything else. Keiro walked beside her, his guard trailing behind. Mason, who lingered in the office for another minute longer, jogged down the hallway to catch up.

Later that night, Keiro was surprisingly ready for dinner before her, since she was still with Kyra putting the girl to sleep. Keiro stayed in the hallway out of the doorway so as not to bring attention to himself, but could still hear Attia's voice as she read a story to Kyra. After a few more minutes, Attia emerged from the bedroom, and was slightly surprised by Keiro standing in the hall.

"You should change," Keiro told her after she pulled shut the door to Kyra's bedroom.

"What?" she questioned as she turned to him and rose an eyebrow. He'd never made comments about her attire before, unless it was to request the blue dress he liked.

"Logan and Abigail will be there too, and Finn wanted you to salvage your image with a traditional dress," Keiro replied, his voice spouting out the parts of his sentence taken word-for-word from Finn with heavy sarcasm. Attia laughed as she followed him down the hall towards their bedroom. When she went into the closet, Keiro sat on the edge of their bed, his eyes following her into the closet. After some digging through the back of the closet, she returned to the bedroom holding a fairly conservative dress, though it was not in the traditional style.

She tossed it on the bed to the side of Keiro before she started to unbutton her blouse. Keiro stood and reached for her waist, his hands sliding to the front to unbutton her pants. As she slipped the blouse off of her shoulders, Keiro bent forward to press his lips to her shoulder, bare other than the thin straps of her bra and undershirt. "You're going to make us late," she accused, her voice calm and not at all accusatory. She could feel Keiro's lips turning up in a smile as he continued press kisses along her shoulder to her neck. After he'd unbuttoned her pants, he moved his hands to her undershirt, his fingers pulling up on the bottom as she wiggled to slip out of her pants.

"I don't think anyone will miss us," Keiro admitted as he wrapped one arm around her waist. His other hand managed to pull her undershirt over her head after she'd stepped out of her pants and kicked them to the side.

"Somehow, I doubt that," she told him as she pressed on his chest to put some space between them. Reluctantly, he stepped away to retrieve her dress, which he unzipped before he lowered it so she could step into it. As she turned her back to him, she used one hand to lift up her hair while he pulled the zipper up to the top. His hands returned to her waist as he stepped closer to her, pressing his chest into her beck, his lips lowering to her neck. "Keiro, stop," she groaned, though she made no attempt to stop him.

"You're the one who took off all your clothes," he replied, but she only laughed as she released her hair and stepped out of his embrace. He caught her hand before she could too far away, but she just pulled on his arm as she continued towards the door. Eventually, they made it into the hall and started towards the formal dining hall, their two night guards trailing behind them. Since neither knew their night shift guards particularly well, they stayed a good five steps behind the pair, and Attia and Keiro paid them no attention, their hands and kisses finding each other as though they had no audience at all.

Just outside the door to the formal dining hall, Keiro securely wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her back, then turned her to press her against the wall of the hallway. His lips found hers before she could protest, and since he was kissing her by then, she kissed him back. After a few moments, he pulled away from her and let her slip out from the space between him and wall, their fingers still intertwined as she took the two short steps to the doorway. Keiro pushed open the door above her, his eyes glued to her and oblivious to the others already in the dining hall who'd turned to see who was entering the room.

Finn, Claudia, Casper, and Anne were already seated on the far side of the table, two seats still open on the other side of Finn. Charles was seated on the other side of the empty seats for Keiro and Attia, with King Logan's advisors seated on the other side of him. Keiro sat beside Finn, while Attia sat beside Charles.

"Nice of you to show up," Finn commented, since King Logan and Queen Abigail hadn't yet arrived. Attia turned to Finn with narrowed eyes, while Keiro ignored the comment.

"Just be glad we did, Finn," Attia replied sharply, her smile softening when she felt Keiro's hand slide over to her leg beneath the table. Before Finn could make a comment, the door opened with two servants on the other side, King Logan and Queen Abigail standing behind them. As the servants stepped to the side, the royals stepped into the room and took their seats on the far side of the table. During the small talk between Finn, Claudia, Queen Abigail, and King Logan, the servants wheeled carts into the room, carrying the night's dinner.

"So, how have you enjoyed your stay so far?" Anne asked sweetly as she turned to Queen Abigail. Her gaze shifted slightly to King Logan, her smile remaining present.

"I think Court is lovely," Queen Abigail responded as she held her wine glass between her fingers. "And the country side was quite beautiful during our trip here. It's a shame we won't see more of your kingdom," she added as she turned her gaze to Finn. She was so sweet and genuine that Attia just didn't like her, even though those same qualities were what made Anne so likable.

"Yes, I hear Incarceron is quite the vacation spot," King Logan added as he lifted his wine glass toward Finn. Attia and Keiro averted their gazes so quickly, only Claudia had noticed the changes in their expression. Of course, she was the only one other than Finn to know to look, and Finn was preoccupied with keeping his own face straight as he held King Logan's gaze.

"Perhaps we can arrange a short visit during our stay?" Queen Abigail asked, pulling Finn's gaze to her. Finn simply stared at them, well aware they expected some kind of response, and yet he couldn't get himself to form any words. Desperately, he reached out to his side, his hand grasping Claudia's knee more tightly than necessary to get her attention.

"We'd have to get into contact with the Sapphique Assembly to arrange a visit. They govern Incarceron nearly completely on their own now."

"Well, don't they answer to you?" King Logan replied, eyes narrowed as he questioned whether or not Finn really did control all his lands, Incarceron included.

"They answer to me," Claudia answered, sensing Finn still had not gained control of his speech in his shock. She had a feeling he, as well as Attia and Keiro, was also working through more than a few memories that had been locked away then sudden released at the mention of the Prison. "I am standing Warden of Incarceron, and will be in name after my father. I control Incarceron and the Sapphique Assembly."

"Then, surely, you can arrange a short stay," King Logan replied, his gaze then shifting to Claudia. With the other man's gaze shifted, Finn's grasp on Claudia's knee loosened, but his hand did not move from her leg entirely.

"I will contact them in the morning and see if the proper arrangements can be made," Claudia said, knowing King Logan would not accept a rejection of his request to see Incarceron. He was right that it had become a vacation spot over the last ten years Claudia had been in control of it, but in all the years Finn, Keiro, and Attia had been at Court, they'd refused to step foot within its walls again. Only Finn had gone in for two short days to find her father, and Claudia remembered how difficult that experience had been for him.

"I think we're going to retire for the night," Attia said suddenly, even though neither she nor Keiro had even touched their dinners. Keiro's wineglass, however, was bone dry and Attia had eyed Charles' rather possessively until he moved it to his other side causally.

"But you've hardly eaten," Queen Abigail protested as she turned to Attia. If she did have any ill will towards the marital situation between Keiro and Attia, or lack thereof, it didn't show in her gaze. "Surely you need to nourish the baby."

Attia's eyes shot to her, shocked that she knew of Attia's pregnancy. Before Attia said anything, she felt another stab of pain in her abdomen, her hand flying to her stomach as a reaction, though she forced the other to stay on the table top. Keiro had noticed the gesture, as had Charles and Finn, all their eyes glued to her as she cleared her throat and forced her arm to relax.

"We'll have dinner sent to our room," Keiro explained finally as he looked up at Queen Abigail briefly. As he stood up, he held out a hand for Attia to take as she stood once the pain subsided. Before they could leave the room, Charles extended his arm and wrapped his hand around Keiro's wrist tightly. Keiro turned back to him and Charles stood before he leaned down to whisper in Keiro's ear. Nobody could hear the words spoken between them, but Keiro nodded as he pulled away and met Charles' gaze. Keiro and Attia left the room swiftly without any formal goodbyes to any of the royals seated at the table.