The next morning I awoke to the sound of the door opening and fabric rustling as someone threw open the thin curtains. My mother-in-law's thin and high voice, however, forced me from my sleepy state. I opened my eyes and blearily surveyed my new surroundings. Everything seemed in order until I looked to my left and saw Kaddar's bare chest.

"Good morning! Come on, it's time to get up! You cannot stay in bed all day." Princess Fazia's cheery voice echoed throughout the room. Blood, I thought as panic overcame my senses, I forgot the blood. It was too late for it, so I reluctantly got out of bed. Kaddar was already standing and putting on his tunic which he must have removed before climbing into my bed.

The maids hustled over to remove our sheets as I stood in my rumpled wedding dress. Fazia watched them remove each sheet and then looked at me when she realized that they were still pristine white. I met her gaze while blushing furiously. It would be foolish to try and deny any suspicions they had when they had just found Kaddar in my bed, not to mention it would only embarrass Kaddar. I bet he thought nothing of it, being also exhausted and seeing nothing wrong with it at the time. After all, I was his wife and from the very little I knew of him, he appeared as my tutors said was normal: filled with Carthaki male ego. He would never want anyone to know that we did not sleep together the first night, foreign woman he had never met before or not. If I said anything to contradict whatever our audience thought had happened, it would possibly alienate Kaddar from me forever.

"Good morning, mother," Kaddar said and he kissed her cheek. "What's for breakfast?"

As Fazia made sure her imperial son had everything he could ever wish for, I listened to the secretary list my schedule for the day. As Empress I had certain roles and duties to fill, and once again the officials believed that I should step in immediately and competently to act as a beacon for the people. I ate little breakfast; having lost my appetite, and had my maids help me prepare for the day. As I was leaving for the university, I heard Kaddar interrupt the secretary.

"The Empress and I will have dinner alone tonight," he ordered the secretary. The man bit his lip, then hurriedly crossed something off and wrote it in the margin of the page.

"Of course, Your Imperial Majesty," he said with a nod.

"How was your day?" Kaddar asked as we sat in the private dining hall. Slaves silently slid beautifully prepared appetizers before us and bowed themselves out of the room. Despite Daine's request that slavery diminish, there were still plenty of slaves working at the palace. I had requested that none serve me privately, but they were not kept out of my sight.

I sighed. Overall it had been a pretty depressing day, but a part of me wanted to believe that I was settling into the role of Empress smoothly. "Tiring," I said, but then added, "But good. I learned so much about the Lung Sickness today." More than I wanted, I thought dryly to myself.

It was a huge epidemic in the eastern part of Carthak, and its victims suffered from breathing difficulties and rough coughing that produced blood and eventual death. Priestesses claimed that this epidemic was another example of how the gods had forsaken the country, and the people were starting to riot. The Sickness could not be cured by simple healers because the Lung Sickness infected them and spread to the next patient they tried to save. The death toll was not high yet, but the mages had yet to come up with a way to cure it. As a healer, I was the most reasonable choice to talk with the great mages, and I was secretly proud of myself for keeping up with the conversation and suggesting intelligent solutions.

"How was your day?" I asked, hoping his was better than mine. Receiving gifts from the nobles who came to gawk at their foreign white Empress had not been the most enjoyable experience of my life.

"Truthfully? I don't want to talk about it," Kaddar said lightly as he cut the watermelon and raised the red slice to his lips.

"That bad?" I removed my veil after a quick scan of the room. In Carthak it was only permissible to take off your veil in the presence of your husband or other women.

"Yes. Not only are we having riots in the Eastern lands," he nodded to me, "but now the Southern nobles think they can rule this country better than I can." He sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

The slaves came out with antelope and Kaddar smiled. "These are my favorite," he said.

I stared at the foreign food and forced myself to smile. I hadn't had Tortallan food in four weeks and never did I miss it more. My sister Lianne had also left today and I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye.

"I remember a few years ago when Daine came here, she refused to eat these because she once shape shifted into a deer," Kaddar continued. I think he was just trying to make conversation, but I grabbed the lifeline.

"She is such a character," I said with a laugh. "When I left, she was pregnant with her first child and she had to shape shift her bottom half so that the baby wouldn't kick itself out of her stomach. She was really upset because she had to wear only dresses for months. Ever since I met her she has always had a dozen animals hanging on to her."

"When she was here she insisted she visit all the cages of the menagerie and talk with them." He shook his head. "I wish I had her power. Even then, I was slightly worried that she'd get eaten. Have you visited the menagerie yet?"

I shook my head. "I've wanted to," I admitted, "but I just haven't had the time."

"It's the best," Kaddar said. "Do you want to go see it together sometime?"

"I'd like that," I said with a smile.

The days slowly faded into weeks and my initial homesickness started to pass. I discovered I enjoyed my life here far more than I expected I would. Often I would take moments off to walk through the streets with my escorts and visit marketplaces and temples. The Temple of the Graveyard Hag was a favorite site of mine because of its impressive displays, but I often ventured into the Temple of the Mother Goddess to pray and mediate.

I also found that I started to like Kaddar more and more as time went on. I watched him often as he dealt with his subjects with kindness and fairness and tried his best to solve problems for those who came to him for help. He honestly loved his people and it was a trait I deeply admired. I found myself straying to his side like a butterfly attracted to a blooming flower, and found myself wishing he would treat me with even greater kindness and gentleness than he did with the Carthakis. He seemed to enjoy my company, but as two very busy royals it was difficult to test his acting skills.

A few weeks after our agreement to see the menagerie together, we were finally able to get our schedules to match. It was late afternoon and we saw very few people as we strolled around the menagerie.

"I enjoy coming here," Kaddar said. "I've reached a new level of interest in these animals since I became Emperor, and I think I'm starting to understand why my uncle loved his birds so much. Being near animals is a haven from people." Kaddar nodded regally to a mage by the exotic birds' cage. The man bowed deeply then scurried off, nose already lost in the scroll in his hand.

"I agree. No one could understand me like my horses, and it was the perfect escape from too many social situations. Animals don't have high expectations of us." I said. Kaddar glanced curiously at me.

"Yes," he said simply. "Exactly."

"What's your favorite animal?" I asked when we stopped by the monkey cage. They screeched at us angrily, so we continued on.

"It changes. This week, the giraffes."

"Well, come on! Where are they?" A strange sensation filled me, one I recognized but refused to identify. I wrestled with myself before finally acknowledging it: I wanted to make him happy.

"The giraffes?"

"No, the tigers. Of course, the giraffes!"

"Well, they're over there," he said and pointed along the way. I grabbed his hand and dragged him in the general direction, feeling less royal than I had in weeks. It was a good feeling.

"This isn't dignified, Kalasin," Kaddar remarked dryly, but I could tell he was amused. I was forcing him to half run, half skip with me once he told me exactly where the giraffes were.

"Yes, but hardly anyone's around and…" I hesitated, and then shrugged in a un-Empress like way.

"And what?" His eyebrows rose.

"I need a break from acting regal; otherwise I'm going to lose it. Acting like a child helps."

"That sounds like a good remedy," he said with a smile. "Lead the way." He stopped suddenly. "Actually, I'll race you."

"What? Are you serious?" He nodded while trying to hold back a grin. "I'm in a dress! That's an unfair advantage on your part, not to mention you know for certain where you're going."

"You're just afraid of losing," he teased.

I heaved a dramatic sigh then, without warning, dashed off. "Hey!" I heard him cry. It was nearing dinnertime now, and the menagerie was deserted. I raced around the bend, past the lion's and the hyena's enclosures when I spotted the long graceful necks of the giraffes. Kaddar appeared beside me and was running at my speed with ease.

"The one who touches the wall first wins," he instructed, and I hitched up my skirts so I could run faster. The wall edged closer, and in a burst of speed Kaddar sprinted past me and touched the wall three paces before me. He twisted around and caught me in his arms before I ran into the wall.

"Cheater," he gasped as I tried to soothe my heavy breathing.

"It was my only fighting chance. You did win, you know."

"I know," he said proudly and straightened. I jabbed him in the stomach lightly, making his shoulders curl in.

I wonder if I'm drunk, I thought to myself. I'd never act this relaxed with him unless someone's been slipping things into my wine.

We both stilled suddenly, realizing how close we were. I was still practically in his arms, and his hand drifted up to brush a loose curl from my cheek. My veil had whipped free of its pins in the race and was now covering the top of my head instead of my face.

This was it. Kaddar was too much of a gentleman to initiate the kiss, so I would have to do it. Caught up in the moment, I lifted my face up in a deliberate sign, and Kaddar's lips met mine. His arms tightened around me as the kiss deepened and my arms slid up his back to rest around his neck.

It wasn't my first kiss. When I was fifteen, a young squire by the name of Benyum of Longstat came to court and wooed me the best way he knew how. I was enchanted by him for one reason or another and one night at a ball, we escaped to the garden to share several passionate kisses before we were discovered. My father found out about us, and within a few short days, Benyum and his knight master received a firm request that they go. My father had a long lecture ready for me about how it wasn't fair to the young man that I led him on while I was already betrothed to another. I saw Benyum a year after and tried to talk to him but he waved me away from him, like wind blowing away gray smoke.

But this was different than Benyum's clumsy, juvenile kisses. This was…

Something long and wet was trying to pull my silvery veil from my hair. I pulled away from Kaddar reluctantly and reached up to touch a large furry head.

I screamed and ducked out of the way of the giraffe thief, who managed to steal my veil and lip at it with its tongue. Kaddar was laughing so hard that tears were coming to his eyes. I swatted his arm to make him stop, which only made him laugh harder.

I ripped the veil out of the giraffe's mouth and despite my determination to act indignant, I began to laugh too.

"I remember why I like them so much," Kaddar said as he wiped his eyes. I grinned with slight embarrassment and held up my soggy veil. "Come on," he said and offered his arm to me. "I know a back way to get inside so we won't be seen." I placed my arm on his, and despite feeling embarrassed the moment before, I was happier than I had been for weeks.