Chapter Seventeen

By Genavere

A couple of months had passed since the 'occurrence,' as they were referring to it, had happened and Munto was relieved that they were able to come out of it stronger together. Finding a councilor had not been too difficult. The nurse had a friend who did both marriage and grief counseling that she recommended.

"She does both because you cannot be married and not suffer grief at some point. There are times that is the straw that breaks many couples apart." She had said, then gave them the number to reach Dr. Tanaka.

As standing monarchs, recommended by an old colleague, and, much to Munto's surprise, the hottest celebrity couple in the Lower World, it took little for them to get a spot with the good doctor for an initial appointment. Then after that, it became a biweekly appointment they made time to go to.

Those days became a routine of them away from royal duties and just to spend time together. They would go to their appointment early in the morning for an hour, sometimes two, and then spend the day browsing stores, checking out food vendors, and just walking around hand in hand.

It helped them to take a step back and remember each other and not the grief or the guilt.

When they saw a mother playing with a child or comforting their baby, Yumemi's breath would hitch, eyes become storms of emotion covered in a mist, and a hand would grip her stomach.

When he would catch a glimpse of the dotted scars on her limbs, the star shaped one below her sternum, or what her fingers graze lightly across the one on her check, Munto's eyes would darken, fists clenched, and his body would tense as if waiting for an attack.

They learned how to pull each other out of these grips of darkness. A soft caress, gentle words, even tearing at each other's clothes when they were alone to share their grief in a physical release.

Together, they were pulling through. The kingdom had shown its strength and prospered, letting all those on the outside know they would not falter from an attack so easily. More, it made them realize their shortcomings and worked to fix them.

Ideas and new foundations had been established, training had changed, protocols had been enforced. Even those who were citizens helped to keep their kingdom safer with the continued watches and a spy network established to seek those who might harm them.

And the security had not stopped just on the main land. Each of the surrounding islands in their boundaries had been searched thoroughly, inside and out. The ship Gntarl used was being monitored and checked for any technology that could be used to their advantage, along with gathering any information it had stored.

Information that was held in the arms of a blue mage.

"Munto," Rue shut the door behind him as he approached the large desk. It was a relief to no longer see the high piles of work that needed to be done, even if they were now short piles. Golden eyes met his and narrowed in understanding.

"What have you found?"

A set of nine tablets were set on the desk. "This is all the data taken from the commander's ship. They date back to the start of the United Armies."

All this information…it meant that there would be plans and secrets that had never been carried out, or intel that they had stored away to use against their enemies. Namely, the Magical Kingdom. Munto took them and set them into a drawer in his desk he sealed closed with his magic.

No one else would be allowed access to these until he had gone through them all himself.

"Anything else?"

Rue straightened as his eyes narrowed and lips pressed into a thin line. "I seek permission to lead a raid on an establishment in the lower city region of the kingdom. Our spy network has brought concrete evidence that there have been meetings held there by insurgents."

"Granted," Munto nodded. "But keep it as quiet as possible. I want no news of this to spread, and if we can keep the enemy in the dark for as long as possible, it will be to our benefit."

"Understood."

######

Even in the dark of the night and through the dust window across the street, the hooded figure could see the tavern being infiltrated by guards and mages of the kingdom.

If he had not set up his alarms around the area…

It mattered not. None of the people there knew what he looked like or his real name. Only select people were privy to that information and the main was one now dead.

This set back was merely that. A set back. It did little to dampen his plans to take the young king down, along with the Magical Kingdom.

######

Nighttime was one of Yumemi's favorite times up in the palace, especially when she was able to watch Munto's fame lit by the glow of the fire. The muscles of his back danced in shadows and highlighted his strength. Her eyes trailed over him and a need grew in her belly.

"Munto," she called quietly, reaching out to him from where she laid on the bed. "Come to bed."

He turned to face her, the glow threw shadows and deepened the v of his hips as they disappeared into the black pajama pants she had bought him awhile ago. She bit her lower lip, eyes taking him in.

When he saw her look, he let out a chuckle. "Does my queen desire something?" In the depths of the city, he knew there were raids being led by Rue to take down their enemies, but no matter how hard he tried, there would be no way he would see anything where they were. It was something he trusted his friend to handle.

And he would take care of things here.

"Your queen desires her king." She watched him stalk towards her, the look he gave her sent a thrill through her.

The bed dipped from his weight and he quickly boxed her in with his arms over her. A molten gaze swept over her and her breath caught as he leaned down. Breathe caressed her ear and she shivered. "Your wish is my command."

Lips met, deepening as tongues fought for dominance. Chests pressed together and limbs wrapped around each other as he pressed down into her core between their clothes and the blankets. Whimpers escaped her and he grinned at her need.

"I hope you plan to sleep in tomorrow," he spoke between kisses down her neck. His hands pulled the blankets between them away and found access to the skin beneath her night shirt.

"Why do you say that?" She let out a breath as his fingers pinched a nipple between them.

Lips moved from her neck to the shoulder and further down. A hand slipped into her shorts and caressed her need, felt the slickness from her desire. Pride swept through him at her reaction. "Because," his fingers found her other nipple as the others slipped inside her, "you won't be sleeping until morning."

And true to his promise, neither of them woke until long after noon the next day.


A/N: Thank you everyone who has read this story! I hope it was worth the time from start to finish and all the waiting in between. Eventually, I will add more to this by way of a series, just stories that can be read alone, but all share the same time line and happenings.

Thank you very much to Ari for encouraging me, and for being so excited each time a new chapter popped up. More will come, I promise. But some personal projects need to start being worked on first, and I need to finally start preparing for Tough Mudder in July.

For those who have read the chapters already, I did re-write Chapter Eleven, so please go back and re-read that. It did not sit with me as well as the rest of them, so I wanted to fix it.

Again, thank you for reading my story!