Brandon could see the tension rolling off his wife in waves as he caught sight of her leaving a meeting only to be inundated with advisors as she hurried along to her next appointment. He called over one of the stragglers who was typing furiously into her phone.
"What's her afternoon look like?" Brandon asked, nodding at Stella's retreating back.
The advisor blinked rapidly at him, probably an effect of too much coffee and not enough sleep Brandon thought, before rapidly scrolling through her phone. "After meeting with the Lynphean ambassador, Her Majesty has a conference with the head of palace security to go over the new changes, then she has some royal court documents to review."
"So, what I'm hearing is it can all be rescheduled?" Brandon asked with his trademark grin.
"Uhh, not really, Your Majesty, I'm sorry but tomorrow Her Majesty has-"
"Come on, Vera. You're the most brilliant advisor Stella has on her staff. If anyone can make this happen, you can."
Vera blushed at the compliment but still seemed unsure, and Brandon felt his smile dim slightly.
"Please. She needs this."
Vera squared her shoulders and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "You got it, Your Majesty. I'll make it work."
"Brandon, what is this?" Stella was saying tiredly as Brandon led her through their royal suite towards the bathroom. The exhaustion alone in her voice when usually she would have been more than up for blowing off a few royal meetings told Brandon how much she needed this. "I really don't have time- oh."
Stella's breath escaped her in a quiet puff as she took in the darkened room lit only by sweet smelling candles. Quiet music trilled throughout the room and the bathtub was filled to the brim, topped by a generous layer of bubbles.
"I just thought," Brandon said, easing Stella's blazer from her shoulders. She was so distracted that she didn't even notice when Brandon tossed it to the ground. "That you needed an afternoon off. You've been working so hard lately."
Stella turned to him, smiling begrudgingly. "What did I do to deserve you?"
"I am pretty great," Brandon admitted, slowly unbuttoning her top.
"One condition though: you get in with me."
"Deal."