Surprise!

Later that night, as the two lay naked in bed, Tyr was finishing up helping the woman take her hair down when she suddenly realized that she had court tomorrow and hadn't prepared for it.

"I have to go home," she said quietly, seemingly out of the blue.

"What did you say, Alhamia?" he asked, looking quite satisfied after a full day of lovemaking. (Protectress)

"I said 'I have to go home'," she said as she unplaited her last bundle of locs so that her hair hung free. The pins, beads, and everything else her mother put in her hair were in a baggie to be delivered home the next time she swung by her parents' house. "I have so much work to do to prepare for tomorrow's court appearance. God, I haven't even thought about Mr. Davenport's case since last week! I need to review my notes, I have to practice what I'm going to say… Oh my God! I don't have anything to wear home! I can't wear my wedding dress, it's… It's…" The lawyer jumped out of bed, in a panic over how to handle this situation. Swallowing back her tears, the woman started to gather her things together, only to be stopped by her husband.

"Relax, my love. Did you think I would leave you to face this alone? Omar gathered some clothes for you and your things are unpacked and readily accessible at our new place."

"Oh, thank you, Jaguar! I was worried about that - wait, what do you mean 'our new place'?" Tyr grinned like a little boy and hugged her tightly.

"I spent yesterday and the day before securing us an apartment in Nick's building. We have the one below his and Rachel's."

"You… You moved my stuff? But I had personal stuff that-"

"Don't worry about your bug-out bag, love. It's back in the closet. We can go there anytime you want."

"You can't just… You didn't even… Who said I wanted to move?"

"Your brothers helped me with the big things. They were proud that I was taking care of you. It was supposed to be a surprise." He deflated a little that she wasn't reacting to the news the way she was supposed to. She sighed and looked at him fondly.

"Thank you for the gesture, love. Just… I'm not too fond of those kinds of surprises. I like to be involved in the big decisions and situations; I'm not a child."

"No… You are all woman," he said flirtatiously. He leaned in for a kiss and pouted when she backed away.

"It takes hours to prep for my court cases. I should have started days ago! I need to go home and review this case."

So, no sex tonight?" He continued to pout.

"Tyr! We've been doing it all day. Why would we need to do it again? Tyr!" She squeaked as he encased her in his arms.

"I don't know if you've noticed how insatiable I am around you, Alhamia. You are perfect for me and I don't want anybody else," the man declared, nuzzling her neck. "However, I will behave myself this once." He released her and made a beeline for the door, grabbing his boxers off the floor on the way. (Protectress)

"Omar, where are the Lady's clothes? We leave for home as soon as she is ready." He came back to her frozen, naked form with a cloth bag full of a fresh set of clothes. She sighed happily to be back in her own things, slipping on the underwear and bra before quickly putting on a top with a religious slogan on it and a pair of black overall pants. The bodyguard had even included a pair of sneakers for her. Tyr quickly put on a pair of linen slacks and a casual shirt, ending with a pair of sandals. His locs were tied back with a leather throng. She looked him up and down, dazed that he was hers. "Ready to go, love?"

Landi shivered, but pulled herself together. "Y-yes," she stuttered, walking over to grab the baggie with her mother's things and put it in the bag with her own underclothes and jewelry from the reception. "I'm ready to go," she managed to get out, proud that her voice didn't wobble. Tyr flashed her a devilish grin, knowing exactly what he was doing to her hormones.

"Very well. Hazma, please go ahead and get the car."

"Yes, your Majesty," he said. Omar joined the couple in the room to get the last of the prince's things to bring to the car.

"You must be very bored today, Omar," she said with a warm smile for the man. The bodyguard tapped his chest meaningfully and she blushed prettily before deactivating the necklace. "Sorry about that."

"It is good to hear from you again, your Majesty," he said as he checked the room for anything else, but the Prince of Alibhai had been very thorough and precise in his packing. The outfit he had on was the last of his belongings in the suite. So, he bundled up their wedding clothes and put them in the garment bag. He then led the couple downstairs and to the concierge.

"We are sorry to see you go, your Majesty. You have been a very good and loyal customer these past ten years."

"I know. But my place is with my wife now." Tyr said forcefully. The man gave him the total for this last month and the prince paid for it as if it was nothing. He smirked at his princess' bulging eyes. "I'm very rich, Alhamia," he whispered against her ear before kissing it. "Let's go. Our new life awaits." (Protectress)

The two walked hand in hand to the front of the hotel, ignoring the reporters and paparazzi this time as they went to the waiting car. Tyr nuzzled his bride all the way to the apartment, smiling at her soft humming. He was tempted to call the Youngs about their good fortune. But he knew that they would want to visit and his wife had work to do. The building had underground parking and he'd paid for two spots, so they went right in. Landi passed into the elevator and was amazed that it worked this late. Tyr followed her with an amused smile on his face, pressing the button for their floor. He swept her up into his arms and carried her over the threshold after the bodyguards inspected the place. It was large and lavish, but had her things in familiar places so that the surroundings weren't alien to her. After placing her things in the bedroom, the lawyer got right to work, reviewing the case and pulling the appropriate books out for reference. She faced away from the men as she rehearsed for tomorrow's trial. She went over her questions and answers determined to prove that she could handle married life and still win cases.

It was after midnight when she was finally fully prepped for her court appearance. She put her things away and yawned tiredly as she stretched.

"All finished?" The voice of her husband broke her concentration. She'd managed to forget all about him during her preparation.

"Mr. Anasazi, I-" the man backed her up against the wall with just his presence, running his hands and mouth over her body sensually.

"None of that, little one," he whispered against her ear as he leaned into her. "We're married now. I don't like a lot of formality in our dealings with each other. Not unless you're interested in being spanked while I violate you from behind." The woman shivered and bucked weakly against him.

"I-I… I have to go to court tomorrow," she protested weakly. He continued caressing her sensitive body as her feeble protests continued.

"You're not making a very good case, counselor," he whispered against her lips before taking them. Landi whimpered and wrapped herself around him tightly. Tyr chuckled softly and finally pulled back. "Fine. Let's get you to bed, my lovely one." With that, he picked her up and carried her to their bed. After giving her time to change into her pajamas, he placed her under the covers and kissed her forehead tenderly before going around to his side, stripping naked, and getting in. He noticed that she angled herself away from him, her face a dull red under her skin tone. "You might as well get used to it," the man said, reaching out for her. "I've never slept with clothes on." Then he settled her body so that she would sleep against him once her stiff body relaxed.

A few minutes later she was dead asleep. The prince stayed like this a little longer, caressing her, before he too went to sleep. He was a little disoriented when her alarm went off at six the next morning, but quickly remembered himself as his wife snuggled up against him.

"Good morning, Landi," he said flirtatiously. His girl squirmed to be let up, muttering about needing to shower and dress for work. Chuckling, he released her, getting up to join her in the shower. She didn't seem to notice him following her until she went to close the door.

"Tyr! I need to get ready for work."

"And you shall," he returned nonchalantly. "But first I need some quality time with my wife. He backed her into the room and closed the door behind him. Her shower included an erotic rubdown and a quick sexual encounter. After that, he decided to 'help' her dress for work, touching her all over. He was just as distracting in the kitchen, almost causing her to burn her food for the day. He probably would have managed to get her back in bed if not for her court appearance today. As it was, he took great pleasure in packing her up for the shift while she ate. Many of the things ended up back on the table as the woman checked everything over for her job.

"Why would I ever need this at the courthouse?" she asked her companion. In her hand she held a blender bottle.

"You might need a place to store a blended drink." the man told her with a guileless grin. The woman came very close to throwing the bottle at him. In fact, if Omar hadn't grabbed the hard plastic bottle from her hand, he would have been sporting an interesting dent in his forehead. Now that her bag was in order, she rushed to the door, only to be stopped by her husband once again.

"This is serious, Tyr. I'm going to be late if-" He ravaged her mouth hungrily but quickly before releasing her. She looked up at him with dazed eyes and he grinned ear to ear.

"Have a good day at work, love." He nodded for her bodyguard to lead the way to the car. Once she was gone, Tyr settled down to eat and dress so that he could join the audience at the courthouse. Unfortunately, someone found out about the trial and decided to crash it. Before you knew it, that person told someone else, who told someone else… By the time the trial started, the press was crowding the courtroom and those who couldn't get in because of space constraints or the metal in their cameras, surrounded the building, waiting for the chance to get a statement from the new princess of Alibhai. Tyr was in the audience inside the court house, but he knew that his wife was not going to appreciate this. Before he could think of a way to empty the courtroom, the judge came in and so did the lawyers from last minute talks with their clients. Landi's entrance caused a screaming frenzy with everyone attempting to ask her questions all at once. No one was paying attention to the judge, who was banging his gavel so hard it looked like it might break.

Tyr could tell that his woman was shaken at first, her eyes wide and startled. Then her client shook her and said something cutting in her ear, and she turned a glare on the media hounds. They all quieted down instinctively, knowing that she was about to say something.

"You are all disturbing me in my place of business. And none of you are respecting the rules of law set forth by Judge Calmar. Either shut up and watch the trial or leave. I will not answer questions while I'm working." This stopped the onslaught of questions and comments coming from the audience. Even the jury calmed down and order was restored to Judge Calmar's courtroom. No one left and the trial began. Compared to the media circus the woman had just quelled, the trial itself was pretty boring. Mr. Davenport was suing the former Mrs. Davenport for breach of contract, which - if upheld - would cost the defendant tens of thousands. Tens of thousands that neither person could afford at this time. The plaintiff had the floor for the majority of the morning after opening statements. Landi took advantage of that to lay down a solid case for her client, one that even the defendant's lawyer couldn't tear apart in cross-examination.

The business that the couple ran had been rock solid until the wife got it in her head that it was her personal piggy bank. She'd bought everything from a swimming pool to several dozen pairs of expensive shoes on the company's dime. When the couple divorced last year, all of this had come to light and Mrs. Davenport had been expected to pay back her debt. But she refused, stating that the purchases were made for him and therefore were his responsibility to pay back. Mrs. Davenport, now Ms. Turner, looked embarrassed as the facts of her embezzlement came to light. It was evident that the woman was greedy by nature and that she was in the wrong. At two o'clock, the judge called for a recess before Ms. Turner could begin her defense. The bailiff escorted Landi and her client out of the room, where people were starting to get loud now that the trial was on pause. Mr. Davenport was quite pleased with the way the trial was going so far, but knew that the worst was yet to come.

"Sandra was always a drama queen. I used to love that about her, but now… I just want this over with." He took a bite of his club sandwich that the law firm was paying for.

"We've established a strong, multifaceted argument for your case. Jeffrey will attempt to punch holes in our argument this afternoon. The trick is to keep calm and collected when he comes after you this afternoon," Landi said while sipping on her soda.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle whatever Sandy can dish out at me." They ate in comfortable silence and returned to the courtroom just as the recess was over. The defense came up with an emotionally charged story of physical and emotional abuse in which her husband manipulated her into buying the merchandise she did. No one was buying it and Landi easily destroyed her story in cross-examination.

"Ms. Turner, if this was happening, this abuse, why didn't you report it? Why would you wait until now to even bring it up?"

"You don't understand what he's like! He only granted me a divorce because 'I no longer amused him'! He's a monster!"

"A monster that granted you a divorce and half his assets uncontested?"

"Yes! I mean no! I mean… I didn't feel safe!"

"Yet you feel safe enough now to share this story. Is there anyone who can collaborate on your story, Ms. Turner? The woman looked up at Landi with tears in her eyes.

"You don't know what you're doing," Sandra said softly. "You're defending the man who beat me physically throughout our fifteen years of marriage! He-"

"I asked about collaborators, Ms. Turner. Did you confide in anyone over your fifteen years of marriage? A friend? A coworker? Anyone at all?" the defendant shook her head miserably. "It seems like an awfully long time to go along without telling anyone of your marriage woes. You understand how we could be skeptical of your claims don't you?" the woman started sobbing.

"Prosecution rests," Landi said, not feeling the need to crush the woman utterly. She sat down at her desk and was immediately set upon by her client, who grabbed her arm almost hard enough to bruise.

"Why didn't you-"

"Take your hand off of me," she commanded coldly. He released her arm and she took some time to inspect it while Sandra was being led back to her seat by the bailiff. "As for the reason I didn't humiliate your ex-wife more than I had to, it's a question of image. We've already won. We've proven our point. There's such a thing as being a bad winner. That kind of thing can cause a negative reaction with a jury. By being gracious in victory, we've secured our place in the hearts of the jurors. Or weren't you looking at them when I stopped?" The man looked at the jury box and finally noticed the looks of approval on the jurors' faces. He smiled charmingly and settled down. The closing arguments were almost superfluous; they didn't deliberate for more than a half hour to find the defendant guilty. She was to pay Zachary Davenport the full amount of money and attend a certain amount of court-appointed therapy sessions. This made the plaintiff very happy and he attempted to hug his lawyer. The woman backed away from him, offering a hand.

"Congratulations on winning your case, Mr. Davenport." Something about the way he shook her hand told her that Ms. Turner had been telling the truth all along and that he'd just gotten away with his crimes.

"Is everything okay?" He asked with a devilish smirk. She pulled away from him.

"Enjoy your money, Mr. Davenport," she said coldly, causing his eyes to widen as he realized that he was caught. Landi packed up her suitcase and left him standing there without a word. Tyr walked up to her out of the audience, but she passed him by without a word either. The woman was exhausted, yes. But she was also furious at having just defended the guilty. Hazma caught up with her at the front doors which opened to reveal cameras everywhere. Bodies pressed in to question her but her bodyguard cleared a space for her.

"Please stop hounding me," the exhausted woman shouted. "I'm not that interesting."

"On the contrary," someone shouted from the crowd. "You are a bona-fide princess who insists on acting like a working girl. That makes you the most interesting-"

"Wrong!" she shouted over the noise coming from the crowd. "I'm a working girl who just happens to be a princess. Stop bothering me! I have nothing interesting to say about anything! I just want to go home and sleep." This had the opposite effect on the crowd, who once again started shouting questions in her face. Hazma stopped them from getting too close, forcing his way through the crowd as his charge refused to answer questions. Once the silent duo cleared the ravenous hordes, they made a beeline for their car, driving away to her and Tyr's apartment. Some of the reporters who were quick or smart enough were gathered at her front door, pestering her neighbors, but she and her bodyguard were smart enough to drive straight into the underground parking lot. They bypassed the crowd and ran to the elevators to get to the apartment. Once there, she finally released her pent up anger on the punching bag hanging in the small makeshift gym she hadn't noticed the night before.

"What's the matter?" Hazma asked curiously. Landi ripped off her jacket and walked away to her bedroom to change.

"I'll tell you what's wrong. That bastard was guilty and I helped him get away with it! His ex wife was telling the truth all along. And if she was truthful about the abuse… That means that she was being honest about her reasons behind the purchases! Dammit! I was on the wrong side of this case all along!" When she emerged from the bedroom she was dressed in her workout clothes. She attacked the equipment angrily, furious at herself for not seeing it earlier.

"Wait! What makes you think that he's guilty?"

"I get hunches, Hazma. It's how I live my life."

"So, he never confessed to the crimes or anything, you just have a feeling that he's guilty?" He waited until he had her attention to address her. "Alandra, there's no evidence that the man is guilty. Until there is, you should relax and enjoy your victory today. You are quite an impressive lawyer. Your husband would likely say the same."

"I would," Tyr interjected into the conversation. He came over and pulled his reluctant woman into his arms. "Is that why you stormed out of the courthouse, love? Because you think that your client is a guilty man?"

"I just… I know that he's guilty. This was the first I'd heard of abuse in this case and I don't have a way to prove that he did it! I'm so tired…"

"Then take a nap, my love," he said with a fond smile. He picked her up and took her into the bedroom. "You're always so busy trying to save the world, Alhamia. You should save some of that energy for yourself." (Protectress)

"I don't know how to put any less of myself into my work," she yawned as he put her in the king-sized bed. "My clients deserve my best." The woman snuggled against her man as he went to get up from the bed. "Stay with me?"

"Always, darling," he smiled at her. Landi slipped into slumber a few minutes later. "Wake us in two hours," he told the bodyguards.

"Yes, your Majesty," they said respectfully.