Leonidas moved through the palace, idly reflecting on his words from the night before. He had been insulted by his wife's defensiveness, as if she had thought he would truly be inclined to mount her mere hours after birthing their son! The night before had been difficult for the both of them. Had Gorgo thought that he would be unaffected by it all? His helplessness during the birth, the first time he'd held their child and then the torture of standing by during his son's inspection?

He shook his head as he came to stand before the entrance to his bedchambers. I had allowed myself to give in to stress and I spoke without thought. Forgive me, my queen...

Leonidas glanced down at the flowers and the short, awkward prose he'd written for her while he was in the gardens. He was a warrior, not a poet, but he had hope that Gorgo would accept his remorse and appreciate the gesture of apology.

He shouldered the heavy door open and stopped in his tracks as he entered the room. Gorgo was out of bed, testing herself. Leonidas rushed forward to catch her, though she had not stumbled in the slightest. "Gorgo, what are you doing? You should be in bed!"

She struggled against him as he sat her on the edge of their bed and knelt at her feet. Her eyes spat green fire at him. "What are you doing here, sire?" She demanded, hissing the last word at him like a curse.

Leonidas put his hands over her knees, then moving them up to rest over her thighs. She was clad in modest linen robes, their folds so voluminous that no hint of the shape of her body was given to his eyes. "I came to see you, my love, and here I find you walking when you should be resting."

Gorgo rolled her eyes at him. "I can walk, Leonidas. I had a child, I did not go to war. Why are you here?"

Her anger was cutting. "I came to see you so that we might speak. I was..." Leonidas struggled for the right words, never his area of expertise. "I did not think of your stresses when I spoke last night, I did not understand. I am sorry, Gorgo."

He watched as her face softened. She raised a hand to him, stroking her fingers through his hair as she had countless times in the past. His eyes slipped closed for just a moment in remembered affection. "Leonidas...I am sorry as well. I should not have denied you, nor should I have ever accused you. I know that you are no animal."

Leonidas rose to sit beside her on the edge of their bed. He brought his arms around her and kissed the crown of her hair. She had had her servants weave the Spartan golden threads into her braids, and she still wore the necklace he'd gifted to her on their wedding night. Leonidas touched her hair, and realized how he had missed her in their angry time apart. He leaned down to kiss her, thrilling at her lips.

As she had been with child, kissing and soft caresses had been the only intimacies that Leonidas had ventured over her. He kissed her deeply and then moved down to kiss her cheek and the tender pulse point at her neck. "You have my heart, my king...you are my man..." Gorgo breathed against his ear.

Leonidas smiled and nuzzled her neck further, the way he knew she loved. "And you are my woman, Gorgo. The only queen of Sparta."

They remained on the bed for a time, silent and caressing. They had both been starved of full intimacy during the time that she had been with child, but after what had happened the night before, Leonidas dared not press for too much. He stroked his fingers through her hair as she so often did to him.

He found that, as always when it came to this woman, he was curious. "Gorgo. I'll not touch you, but may I see you as I wished to do last night?"

She paused, unsure if she should refuse him for her pride. "I...just for a moment, my king. And just remember, I will regain myself once I am able to take on the exercises that all Spartan women perform after giving birth..."

Leonidas watched as she moved further onto her back and untied the straps at her shoulders. She laid back against the bed and looked to him, giving her silent permission to him. He nodded his understanding and reached to her, drawing back the robe. His eyes absorbed her, one moment at a time. The golden blush of her skin remained, for which Leonidas was very grateful. Her breasts rose and fell with her shuddering breaths; they were full and proud, the tips tightening in the sudden exposure to his eyes. Her abdomen, the part of her he had longed to see, seemed deflated now that there was no child. Her stomach and the sides of her waist were now striped with lighter streaks of gold.

He laid a hand over her empty womb. No child stirred within.

Leonidas recognized the changes of her body, but she was in no way diminished to him.

"You are beautiful, Gorgo, never fear that I think otherwise."

He leaned down to kiss her once more.

Time passed, in which Leonidas and Gorgo continued their growth in adjustment to the seats of power in Sparta. Their son grew stronger every day, a blessing to the king and queen.

Gorgo had gone away on retreat with many Spartan women recent to have given birth. While away, they trained to recover their strength and shapes. While the queen had been away, Leonidas had taken over primary care of their son, yet he was not without the aid of several attendant women. He adored his son and took the gentle teasing of his father and Cadmus in stride; they were all infatuated with Sparta's prince.

Their son, Pleistarchos, had been over two months old by the time that Gorgo made her return to the palace. Where before she had been soft and womanly, she had returned to Leonidas sleek with lean muscle. She had been beautiful and much enhanced in all ways; in jest, Leonidas had challenged her to spar and she had proven herself to be nothing short of a Spartan gladiatrix. That night their passion had been reignited within their bedchambers, recalling the endless nights of love they had shared when their efforts had been to concieve. Where once their efforts were for an heir, they had began to make love for the pleasure found in each other.

Months passed.

Once he was able to walk and to keep steady on his little feet, Leonidas was eager to begin training sessions with their son. Gorgo kept a careful eye on father and son, pleased to see their progress and recognizing that their son had inherited all of Leonidas's aggression and cunning. She would not be wrong in thinking their bond grew stronger with every sparring session.

There was love within their house; strongest love for Sparta, the love between a man and wife, love between parents and their only child.

For a time, all things were peaceful, but as with all things, the harmony in Sparta soon came to an untimely and bloody end.