A/N: I'm baack! I apologize for not writing over vacation, but there just wasn't anytime, as the weather was great and I had shopping to do! ; ) But I'm home and writing again, even though I'm a little bit sick from running on the beach when it was chilly out in just a tank top and shorts. I knew I should have listened to Mommy... On to the fic!

Oh, about a review I received. Wild Blood Rose- I might add in Ellimere and Sameth, or I might stop the fic with them finding out that she's pregnant...not certain yet. I'm kind of just letting the fic flow where it wants to go for right now. But I'm also trying to make it fit exactly in what Nix had previously set up. It does say in Lirael that Ellimere was born before Touchstone's reign officially began, three months before to be exact. So I probably will end up putting in their births, and that means that they'll need to be getting married shortly, if everything will fall into place the way I want it to. But I just wanted to clarify there.
F.Y.I. There is some mention of, shall we call it, sexual thoughts and some "checking". Just letting ya know.

A new day was dawning in the Old Kingdom, but the King and Abhorsen had yet to retire to their respectful beds. Daylight poured in through the eastern windows, illuminating the dying embers of the fire and two human forms, wrapped together in a blanket on the wooden floor. The duo were enfolded in each other's arms, their faces intimately close. Smiling at her, Touchstone nipped Sabriel's nose and covered her mouth for another long, drawn out kiss. As they separated, she sighed and rested her head on his chest, hugging his form closer. They had spent the entire night awake together, alternately kissing, caressing and talking. They had discussed the state of the kingdom, the lengths they would have to go to rebuild it to its original glory, and their relationship. Mostly they kissed, quickly bypassing the awkward state that normally befalls most couples when they let their relationships go further.
"Are you still so sure that you want to wait until we're married?" Sabriel asked, glancing up at his face. He growled and squeezed her, making her cry out softly.
"Yes, but I can tell you're determined to make it as difficult as possible for me," he whispered huskily, running his fingers through her hair, letting the strands fall idly through.
"Whatever you say dear," she murmured, snuggling closer to him and nodding off within moments. He held her lithe body against his muscular one and drifted off into the first peaceful sleep he'd had in two hundred years.

It was nearly noon when Sabriel awoke, bed sheets tangled about her legs and pillows askew. She didn't remember going to bed...then sat upright as she recalled lying in Touchstone's arms in front of the fireplace. They hadn't done anything, had they? Cringing and almost smiling at the thought, she reached down and felt for the protective membrane that should be there, relaxing some when she found it intact. Thank the Charter she hadn't done anything stupid. The night and its events were coming back to her now. She rubbed at her eyes and untwined herself from the sheets, padding barefooted to her water pitcher and bowl, where she washed her face and rid the caked sleep from her eyes.
Donning in a simple housedress, she ambled down the stairs to the kitchen to snitch a croissant for breakfast. She peeked into Touchstone's room on the way but didn't find him in there. Sighing softly, she sunk her teeth into the soft, doughy goodness of the almost-pastry and slipped out the door leading to the kitchen garden, moseying along to Alliel's fountain, where she found Touchstone perched and munching on an apple from the orchard.
"Good morning," she said cheerily.
"'Morning," he said around a mouthful of Macintosh. Swallowing, he added, "How'd you sleep?"
"Surprisingly well, considering I didn't make it into my bed until past dawn. And yourself?" she asked with a grin.
"Better than I have in a very long time." Finishing off his apple, he threw the core off into the grass and patted his lap. She plopped down and wrapped her arms around his neck. He grunted in reaction, sliding his hands about her waist and nuzzling her neck.
"Touchstone?"
"Hmm?"
"I don't want to wait to get married." He looked up at her, shock written all over his face.
"What do you mean?"
"That I want to get married now. I don't want to wait until you're officially King and the palace is rebuilt. That could take months, years even. I can't just hang on by a little thread while the women of Belisaere win your heart and seduce you into their beds. Just so they can be Queen."
"I, well, if that's what you really want. I haven't even properly proposed and we really don't know each other as well as we should..."
"It's what I want, more than anything in the world. And we have the rest of our lives to get to know each other."
"Then married we shall be. But on one condition." She looked at him inquisitively. "That we have the ceremony in Belisaere, our first act as King and Queen."
"Agreed!"
She grabbed his hand and shook it, grinning wildly.
"Of course, I'll need to get you a ring, so those Dead don't start asking for your hand before you bind them."
Laughing from deep inside, Touchstone beamed at her. She cuffed the side of his head lightly in retaliation, only to fall into a fit of giggles as he tickled her. Feigning seriousness, she jumped up and walked up the path towards the house. But even as she neared the door he could hear her singsong voice.
"I'm getting married, I'm getting married!"

A/N: I know, it was short, but I'm still tired and it's about 90 degrees here, more humid than Hell, and I have no air conditioning. So I hope you all understand. :D