Knights and Eros Bound
Chapter 11
They stood there, the three of them stunned into momentary silence. Wordlessly, Kampher rose and stepped out of the door.
"Kam…" Anakin called, intending to go after her, Schurke but a gentle hand on his shoulder. He shook his head.
"Give her some time[,] Toboo… Anakin…" Schurke said softly. "It's a lot to take in, especially for her…"
Anakin pursed his lips, but nodded his assent. Kampher and Gris had been… close. Perhaps even as close as he and Obi-Wan were. Schurke seemed to sense his concern. Brightly, he changed the subject. "And if you're worried about our presence being missed… I took care of that already…"
"How?" Anakin asked, puzzled.
"Oh come now!" Schurke began to laugh. "You can't honestly believe you have the sole proprietorship on bad behavior can you? Do you really think all of my time spent in the Jedi library was really spent looking for…"
"Alien sexual images…" Anakin interrupted him with a grin, catching on.
"Well yes…" Schurke confessed with a gleam in his eye. "That too… but mostly ways to, well, shall we say, cover our tracks? According to the records, the four of us are on a mission to escort a small convoy of Senatorial aids…"
The inclusion of Gris in this plan was not lost on Anakin, and he nodded in agreement.
"How long do we have before we're missed?" he asked.
"Two weeks…" Schurke grinned broadly. "And just to be safe, I added some names to the data base… I trust you are fluent in Gotalize?"
Anakin offered a wry smile in return. "I'll learn…"
Kampher returned a few minutes later, the tears still drying on her face. Anakin and Schurke opened their arms to take her into an embrace. She held them close for a moment, then pulled away reluctantly,
"I want to try something… tonight[,] after supper." Her voice was soft, but full of conviction. "The three of us…"
"Anakin will never agree to it!" Schurke giggled. "He says he belongs to only…"
Anakin rolled his eyes. "Schurke, must everything be… well you know…" He blushed to the roots of his hair. Schurke's propensity to have lovers of any type unnerved him sometimes. "I mean…"
Schurke regained a little self-control as Kampher shook her head again. The look on her face was a mixture of bemusement and frustration. "Nothing like that[,] Anakin…" She sighed. "But it is… like a bonding…"
"It's not sexual[,] Toboo…" Schurke assured him. "Unless of course…"
"Stop it Schurke!" snapped Kampher, her irritation finally reaching its peak. She turned to Anakin with a much kinder look on her face. "You know Schurke… he just can't get over the idea that you have a lover…"
"She's not my lover…" Anakin interrupted her softly. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard before continuing. "She's… she's my wife…"