Page 26 of Awariye

"Why can’t we visit them?"

This bright child was hitting me with Fermi's Paradox first thing in the morning. I referenced a twenty-first century book that had survived:Auroraby Kim Stanley Robinson. "The resources it takes to get there are one thing. People back then had high technology and very energy-dense fuel. But the problem becomes the fact that the human body is intimately connected with the biome here on Earth. There are thousands of species of bacteria and other creatures that interact with our bodies to help us stay healthy. To truly venture to a planet around another star would take many generations on a rocket, and even then, they would need to continually maintain all the microbial creatures that keep us alive or else the subsequent generations would get sick."

I worried I had not simplified it enough for her scientific knowledge at this point, but the princess nodded, seeming to understand. "They would look like you did, when you needed medicine and always slept."

I smiled. "Yes, indeed."

She nodded, sticking a pin in it. "I want to hear about the dragons on Pern."

A stressed, hushed voice came from the hallway. "Madam Evelyn, I think Eliana is in the bard's room. I'm sorry, she disappeared, and I couldn't find her."

"It's all right; I'll go get her."

The woman who had originally come to the capital in order to wed Ulbrecht and serve as the Danubian High Queen came into our room, the jewels glittering in her hair in the netting she wore to connect the virtues of good rulership to the energy centers on the head.

"Eliana, what have we discussed about you entering others' rooms?" she asked softly while Igor snored.

The little girl didn't react as if she were in trouble. "Wren tells me stories when I visit him, and I ride in on his dog."

"And what about our discussion regarding privacy, and you waiting for others to wake up so you can ask them questions at breakfast?"

Little Eliana glanced my way, her pout proof that she recognized she owed me an apology. "En-shudi-gung, Awroo. Wren was busy, so I thought I'd ask you. You're a storyteller."

This indeed was risky first thing in the morning, because how exactly did she know Wren was busy? And if the guard dogs just obeyed her, then she could potentially stumble upon something not fit for her young eyes.

"Kein Problem," I assured her. "I do know many stories, and I can tell you all of them as long as I'm not in bed or preoccupied, okay?"

Only then did I realize her “Awroo” had been an attempt to say my name, and it took genuine willpower to keep the giggles from bubbling out of me.

The precious little girl must have recognized it was time to go because she reached for her mother, and as Evelyn carried her out, the dog at her heels, Eliana whipped around and gave me a wave.

The door closed and I let out a breath, wondering if I could sneak in some sleep after all that. Igor rolled back over and sniggered. "Hallo, Awroo."

The giggle finally escaped. "That was so cute."

Igor still seemed sleepy too. He lay on his back, and I cuddled into his side. But he wanted me closer, pulling me so I lay with my head on his chest, my ear over his heart. With nowhere that we needed to be this early on a winter morning, we drifted off.

* * *

Sometime later I woke to my errant body humping Igor's side, and with some mental scolding, I rolled away and ran to use the facilities. When I came back, however, Igor had his arms folded behind his head, a bulge in his pants and fire in his eyes.

Bashfully I rubbed the back of my neck. "I think I was humping you in my sleep, sorry."

He smirked. "You did that so much while you were recovering. It took every bit of my self-control to not beg you to make out with me when you needed rest."

My cheeks burned. Even while I was sleeping off a fever and in deep recovery, my body subconsciously knew there was a very handsome man in bed with me.

"Is there anything I can do to make up for it?" I asked with a teasing lilt.

His eyes widened and he opened his arms. I slid back onto the bed and cupped his cheeks in my hands, kissing him and coaxing him to roll on top of me.

He pinned me down and kissed me breathless, just barely propping his weight off me with his forearms as I wrapped my arms and legs around him and whimpered into his mouth.

"Need you," Igor murmured on a growl.

"Anything," I promised. "Want me to fuck you? Or do you want me?"

"Fuck me first," he requested. "Your cock in my ass pounding my prostate is now my favorite foreplay."

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