I'm alive! Here's the next chapter:

Lily stormed into the meeting room of the palace, where the council was. Nuada was following her calmly, eager to watch this play out.

"You are all INSANE if you think that I'm going to have a child because YOU want me to. Are you serious? Telling me to produce heirs before I turn old and ugly? How vain can you get? Worried about appearances! Just look at the Queen of England! They're not afraid to show her in public! And there's also the slight fact that the King won't even look at me that way since the last time we had sex caused his sister to lose her virginity! And-" Nuada, who was previously watching this exchange with satisfaction, held his hand firmly over Lily's mouth once she began to rant about Nuala. Lily tried to yank his hands off of her, but he was too strong.

The council stared at the couple with wide eyes, not expecting that outburst at all. The head council member rose from his seat.

"I understand your concern, Your Highness, but you must understand what needs to be done. And this kingdom needs an heir and a beautiful queen. You can see the dilemma." He explained.

Lily stared angrily at him and managed to pry Nuada's hand off of her face.

"Well I'm not going to have sex with my husband because you tell me to! No matter how essential it is!" Lily retorted, stomping her foot like a 3-year-old.

"Queen Lillian-" He tried to placate her.

"And if you want to talk about our sex life, discuss it with HIM!" Lily fiercely pointed at Nuada. "I've been more than willing, but HE has been the one putting the brakes on sex!"

Nuada glared at Lily for saying that this was his fault. Another council member stood up.

"I'm certain that we could reach some type of agreement . . . " She said.

"Yes. A compromise. How long of a time do you need to produce a child?" The head member asked Lily.

"What?" She shrieked at his choice of words.

"He means how long do you want to have to be able to have a child before we start to pressure the necessity of an heir and your physical looks?" The other council member quickly covered.

Lily paused for a moment. They were letting her choose. How long would she need? She quietly began to calculate in her head. She factored in her age, looks now, Nuada's stubbornness, and the chance of getting pregnant after having sex.

"Five years." She told them.

"FIVE-" The head member started, shocked. The other standing council member clamped her hand over his mouth quickly.

"It's a deal. We will discuss this issue with you again in five years time." She quickly accepted.

Lily nodded, satisfied, and left the room. Nuada followed her out.

"You made a fool of yourself." He told her as they walked.

"Yet I still got what I wanted." She answered smugly.

They walked in silence for a minute before she grabbed him and pushed him against the wall.

"Now you must realize that you have to have sex with me now. No more pouting over Nuala's lost innocence. I bet her and Abe have been at it ever since you caught them, not caring anymore." Lily told him.

Nuada sneered at her. She spoke the truth; he did have to sleep with her now AND she had even been right about Nuala and Abe. He was beginning to like her less and less.

"Very well." He said.

Lily let him go and began walking again.

"Now then, do you want to get a head start on that child?" She said seductively, looking over her shoulder at him.

He brushed off his sleeves as he considered this. She WAS still a human, but he had been yearning for sex with her again since their wedding night. He growled low and ran at her. She recognized the growl as one of an aroused male who wanted his prey. She laughed as she sprinted down the hall away from him; he was not winning that easily.

They ran down the halls toward their bedroom. Lily looked over her shoulder to see how close Nuada was, he was catching up, and had just turned around to see Meldiron in front of her coming from outside. She ran right into him since he didn't see her in time to move out of the way. They fell to the ground, stunned.

"We have GOT to stop doing this." Lily joked. She grabbed her dress and stood up, ready to run from Nuada again.

However, Nuada had caught up in that time and grabbed her around the waist. He threw her over his shoulder and held his hand out to Meldiron. Meldiron accepted it and stood up. He brushed the dirt off of his clothes.

"May I ask what Queen Lillian has done that deserves such a chase?" Meldiron asked once he was situated.

"She needs to fulfill her queenly duties." Nuada told him. "Now if you pardon me, I must help her fulfill them."

Nuada continued down the hallway with Lily over his shoulder. Meldiron watched them go. His heart hurt for just a moment as he realized what they were going to do and the look on Lily's face as she had ran into him. It was one of joy. She felt joy from interaction with Nuada. And now she was going to have sex with him, her "queenly duties". Lily waved at him from Nuada's shoulder, the fun of the chase still on her face. He waved back half-heartedly then turned the opposite direction and continued down the hallway.

Nuada briskly walked the rest of the way to their room. Lily was still slung over his shoulder as he pushed open the doors to their bedroom. Maerwen was inside, shocked by their situation.

"I'm sorry. I'll leave you two alone." Maerwen said, piecing things together and hurriedly rushing out, head bowed.

Once the doors closed behind her, Nuada let Lily down. She stood still for a while, letting the blood rush from her head to the rest of her body. Nuada began stripping himself of his clothes and walking towards the bed. Lily quickly recovered at the sight and began doing the same. Soon they were both unclothed and kissing fiercely.