For the next few days, Thayet tried desperately to avoid her dear husband. The lying, cheating devil. She thought bitterly as she made her way down a hallway to have a private dinner without him. And I thought he love me! What a fool I was to marry him.

The week before, Jonathan had announced their big news alone, not knowing where Thayet was. He made an excuse like she was sick and tired, since she was pregnant. He had been embarrassed, but what else could he do? He had looked for her everywhere and didn't get any sleep because he worried about her all night.

A maid took her inside a room, seated her comfortably and brought her dinner. A lovely dinner.

"Wine, your Majesty?"

"Yes, thank you." She started to leave with the bottle and Thayet stopped her. "Oh, you can just leave that for me." She picked at her dinner for hours, thinking instead of eating. The maids had been dismissed only because she needed to be alone and think about what she would do. She took a large drink of her wine, drowning in it as she thought. I'm going to have to talk to him sometime. There will be a time when I have to face him, but what will I say? She downed her glass and reached for the bottle. Instead of pouring it into her glass, she drank directly from the bottle. Hardly a lady's manners. She didn't care. No one was around to tell her it's wrong.

After she had finished the bottle, she got another one, not noticing that she was getting herself drunk. She slumped on the bed in the room and drank more, making herself sick with the problem thinking about it. A knock at the door an hour later was answered by a stumbling, giddy Thayet, completely drunk. It was none other than the last person she wanted to see. Jonathan.

"Jonnn, I sshould ha-ave knownnn..." She stumbled towards him, bottle in hand, taking a swig every now and then. He looked completely dumbfounded and worried. This was not normal for Thayet to get drunk. She was pregnant, for Goddess sake! What was she thinking?

"I meeeann, I'vve triied too aavvoidd youu all dayy... howw diddd yyou finnd mee?" Her word slurred together and she stubled and fell all over the place, Jonathan catching her every single time.

"Thayet, what are you doing?"

She laughed at him differently. Did he know this woman anymore? "Whhy, Jonn, youu..." She collapsed into his arms with a puzzled look on her face. Passed out from all the alcohol. Tomorrow she'd wonder what happened the night before, and he would ask her then what the problem was. Right now, he had to get her somewhere to sleep. He brought her to their bedchambers.

"Goodnight, darling. You scared me tonight. What's going on with you?" He wiped away an unshed, worried tear and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you."

What did I do to myself last night? Thayet asked herself when she got up in the morning. Her head was spinning and she felt as though she would throw up. She held her head and tried to think about what she had done the night before. She couldn't think. Jonathan came into the room with a glass of water. All of the memories of last night came back to her suddenly. She felt horrified and embarrassed. How could she ever act that way? She didn't want to be near him, but she knew that the time had come when she would have to face him.

He handed her the glass as he sat down next to her and put his hand on her back. It made her uncomfortable. She downed the glass of water. "Thanks."

There was a long silence that made Thayet want to cry, but she held the tears in. What was he going to say to her?

"You feeling alright?" Well, that was a reasonable question.

"I'm okay."

"You scared me last night." His searching eyes made her look at him and held her there. His worried gaze was unbearable. "What made you do that, huh? There's something wrong."

It took all of Thayet's strength and courage to answer him. She stood up. "What's wrong with me? I should be asking you, Jon. What's wrong with you?" She waited for his answer and knew he had no clue what he had done wrong. What he ahd done wrong was so much worse than what she had done wrong. They were far from even.

"What are you talking about? What did I do? I'm asking you why you did this to yourself..." He stood up and she backed away.

"Of course you don't know what you did wrong. You're clueless. Why I did what I did was because of what you did." Tears of anger rolled down her face. She stared at him, trying to get it out of him. "You don't have a clue?" She asked when he was silent. "Well, why don't I just remind you of the night of the ball then, huh? You and Alanna... the courtyard..." She started breathing heavily and caught her breath. "...you're little love affair? Do you remember now?" She watched as his face went white with fear and then red with embarassment. He remembered and had no idea that Thayet was there.

"Thayet... I, I can explain..."

"No, you can't! It's too late, Jon. The damage is done!" She started sobbing uncontrollably. "I don't care about your little love affair... just leave me alone!" She ran out of the room and down the hall. Jonathan didn't even try to stop her. He was guilty. Even though Alanna and him had sorted everything out - they decided that they were better off with who they were with from the start - he was guilty. And stupid. Stupid to allow himself to kiss her one more time. Stupid to talk to her in the palace when Thayet could have heard - had heard - their conversation. Thayet would probably leave him now. Go to another place and try to live by herself. Maybe even find another husband. What of the child? He loved that baby dearly, even though it was only 3 months old. He hardly knew it.

Jonathan thought for a long time. It's funny, he thought. how one minute she loves me, the next she hates me. Hardly funny at all.