Chapter 12:

It was the night after the weeding, and Eléonore was staring at the ceiling of her room, they had just consummated their marriage and she had to admit… it was amazing, sure it hurt a little in the beginning but later it felt great, like she could blow up at any second and in the end she exploded which such strength and intensity that... Anyway, seriously the fact that he was 'experienced' came as a blessing in disguise but the thing that made it so great was her mother 'lecture', thanks to that she could guide him to places that… get into positions that… well let's just say that it had been a wonderful experience and she was looking forward to repeat it in the future.

However she was curious, it had been great for her, but what about him, her mother warned her that just because she liked it, didn't mean that he had too, plus she wanted to know about how it compared to his previous experiences… she turned around to find him with his eyes lost in the ceiling just like hers were just a few second ago.

"Al, can I talk to you for a second?"

He turned around to see her and she noticed he had a big smile on his face.

"What is it sweetie?"

Sweetie…? Never mind that, she just had to ask.

"I was wondering… how was it? Did you like it?"

Al suddenly got on top of her, and looked at her directly in the eyes.

"Like it? ... It was superb, I have to admit you surprised me, I kind of expected it to be just 'good' until you got the hang of it… but it was magnificent, seriously the best"

He sounded way too excited and his eyes were looking at her with a mix of curiosity and lust.

"Tell me, just where did you learned all that stuff you did… I know for a fact that this was your first time, so there's no way its experience… and even if it were I doubt even 20 years of practice could teach someone all that…"

She doubted for a minute, but in order to avoid a misunderstanding it was better to tell him.

"Well…I'll tell but you have to keep it secret."

"Of course… I wouldn't want to go around telling people that my wife is this good… it might give them weird ideas… and I definitely don't want that."

Eléonore blushed a little and moved her eyes away from his.

"You see my mother gave me and Louise a little 'lecture' before we got married, it contained secrets that women from our family had been gathering for generations, it was actually pretty extensive, we haven't even scratched the surface of all the things we can do…"

Al was about to snap at her words, yet he managed to say something before he did.

"Honey, you father is a very lucky man, that Saito guy is lucky too, every man that has ever married a woman of your family is pretty lucky as well… but none of them is as lucky as me… now show me some more of that 'lecture' will ya…"

It seemed that Eléonore's wish of repeating the experience would become reality sooner that she expected… they were going to be late to the carriage… not that they cared…

The next morning several carriages were in front of Eléonore's house waiting for them to begin their travel to Germania.

"Come on love birds… time to go."

The queen of Germania herself was calling for them.

"But if you are 'planting the seeds' I don't mind waiting a little more."

Good to see she hadn't changed after their marriage, Al opened the front door of the house with all their luggage carried with magic and Eléonore only a few steps behind him.

"Mother please, not in public."

"Never mind that dear, anyway you and Elle chan go in that carriage, your luggage goes in that one, I'll be going in that other one with Kirche who's returning to Germania with us."

Not wanting to wait another second they boarded the carriage, luckily it was a normal one, knowing his mother Al kind of expected one with a bed on it… and just like that they were now on route to Al motherland… since they were alone Eléonore wanted to ask him a few things.

"Al honey, please tell me about your family"

Al turned around completely caught off guard that she called him honey.

"Well… we are three brothers plus my parents, but the only ones living in the castle right now are me, my mother, my older brother, his wife and their two kids."

Al then got serious all of the sudden, maybe she struck a nerve?

"You see my father the 'king' is far too busy in the army… no, to tell the truth it's Alfred that does all the job, while all he's doing is playing around with his mistresses, getting drunk, and leaving mother alone to rot…"

Yep she definitely struck a nerve with that question.

"The worst part is that everybody knows it, even her; right now there is plenty of opposition to his rule and he doesn't even care… he won't even cede the crown to Albert because then he wouldn't have an excuse to not be home anymore, as a result well, me and my brothers have to work extra hard to clean up his mess and mother now feels lonely and want tons of grandchildren as a result."

Al noticed he had gotten too carried away and regained his composure.

"But enough about him, you already meet my mother and there is also my little brother Alfred he is in the army right now keeping things under control, my older brother Albert and his wife Elizabeth, they are really nice people I'm sure you'll like them when you meet them, and my nephews are really cute, I can't wait to show them to you."

Eléonore was surprised, she knew some people in Tristain had problems with having a queen so young, but she'd never heard of problems at the other side of the border…"grass is always greener at the other side" she thought.

After that they kept talking about all the problems that afflicted Germania, Al thought that it was best she knew this things in advance, it seemed that there were several factions against the king and while most of them just wanted his older brother taking the crown, there were rumors that some of were aiming to dissolve the monarchy completely; now that she knew all this, she just had to ask something she was afraid of.

"How about me? I doubt the news of one of the princes marrying an older woman from another country would be received well. "

Al sighted.

"You're partially correct, there was some public opposition but most people just couldn't care any less of what I do… I'm not really as popular as my brothers are… if for some reason Albert couldn't take the crown chances are that Alfred would be the one the people would want as king."

Had she struck yet another nerve? No… somehow it didn't seemed like she did

"To be honest, I'm perfectly ok with that, I just don't want to be king… too much responsibility, I'm no good with that."

Eléonore breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's ok, I don't want to be a queen either for similar reasons, I just don't like to stand out"

Al chuckled a little… that was just so like her.

"Then I guess we are the same…"

After that they continued on their journey, now Eléonore knew that it wasn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows for now on… but somehow she was sure everything was going to work out in the end.