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Thengel
Morwen was everything he was not.
She was tall, with a soft, white skin and tumbling black locks that, when left loose, tumbled over the expanse of her back like a waterfall. She was calm, almost ethereal. She did everything with grace; how she tucked her legs under a table, how she set her spoon and fork carefully over the plate, how she knelt and spoke softly in her child's ear. He felt like a stumbling old fool compared to her.
Old, he thought bitterly. He was old, and he was weak. Above all, he was selfish.
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt two slender arms wrap loosely around his neck. A voice spoke softly in his ear.
"My lord husband is rather displeased of late." His wife breathed. A mixture of love and self-hatred arose in him. "Have I done something to offend you, beloved?"
Her embrace was too welcoming and warm. There was no escape from it. Frankly, Thengel did not want to. He leaned back against her without realising it.
"I am afraid you have married a selfish man who only cares about his own desires."
There was a short pause and he sensed her silently working the problem.
"Oh," she said guardedly. "And why is that?"
"I married you for the preservation of my own heart, I think. I was too afraid to be alone. And when I looked upon you that day so many years ago, I wanted you for myself, even though you are far younger. I believe I am selfish, because I loved you too much to let you be free. And now when age will come upon us both, I am afraid I will leave you alone in this world. All because I was selfish!"
There was a long silence. He felt more and more wretched as it lengthened. Then Morwen surprised him with an amused laugh and a kiss on the crown of his head. Morwen walked around and faced him. He was caught again in her graceful beauty, her body changed with child-bearing and garbed in rich blue gown and edged with gems and silver thread.
"I see this is another bout of self-pity," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Once you are done wallowing in it, I would like to invite you to picnic in the garden. It will be just the two of us." Thengel stuttered, surprised she did not create a fuss. Morwen looked even more amused.
"Do you not see, beloved? I am deeply in love with you," she said. "Whether you die before me or I die before you, it does not matter to me as you and you alone are the love of my heart." She laughed. "And here I thought you would have known after bearing you five children."
