Winterfall

I walked down to the kitchen where I met up with Théoden for our date. My heart raced with excitement as our predicament brought a sense of thrill to our date.

“I’d say calm, but I think the ring is doing a good job at handling your emotions. However, I swear I could hear your heart from here.” Théoden pointed out.

“I’m sorry, it’s been a month since our last date. Not to mention it was our anniversary yesterday.”

“Fair point.” Théoden did a quick glance around the room to make sure no one was in the kitchen and swiftly kissed my lips.

“You know, I don’t think I ever told you yesterday, but happy anniversary dear.” I pressed my lips against his in turn and quickly pulled apart.

“Shall we get going?” Théoden questioned me and I nodded in agreement. “I’ll cast disguise on us first.” To which he did. “So, Elowen, I have one cast I have to make before we leave our home.”

“And what is that Arthur?”

“I need to turn us invisible so we can make it out of here without being spotted.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

He smiled down at me and just with a flick of his wrist he turned the both of us invisible Which meant we had about two minutes to walk out of the castle gates before the spell dropped.

He put his hand in mine and we rushed out of the castle in hopes of getting to the first ring before the spell dropped. Thankfully, we made it to an ally just a couple of blocks into the first ring.

“There you are my beautiful wife.” Theoden said as he smiled down at me and gave me a kiss.

In our Elowen and Arthur disguises we were married and lived in the second ring of the kingdom. I worked in a bakery that he built by hand. To make the disguise more believable, my bakery, The Sweet Spot, actually exists in the kingdom. Despite my protest with Theoden, he insisted as he worried if anyone questioned, we have documentation and a building to prove it. The shop is currently being run by a set of dedicated staff.

Our home also exists but he allows an elite guard to stay there. For his Arthur disguise, he de-promoted himself to an underling. In attempts not to draw attention with a new elite guard. Of course, a handful of the elites knew he was portraying as an underling known as Arthur but beyond that no one knew who Arthur was.

Theoden used his own money that he had saved to buy the bakery and the little home. Any income from the home is placed in a trust that is under Theoden’s name. Theoden at first told me, consider the bakery a gift as he knew how much of a sweet tooth I had. Despite my pleas that I didn’t need nor want gifts, he then told me to think of it as a cover and not a gift and that is what we have done as he had already purchased and hired staff before I could even tell him no.

With how frequently we utilize our disguises it was always nice to have these places to fall back to time and time again. So, having a handful of guards know about Arthur was a plus as it helped our disguises come to life. Not only that but if anyone had any questions for Arthur, the guards were quick to relay the questions and or concerns to Theoden. I know it may seem weird to have all of these tricks for these disguises but when your parents were the King and Queen and didn’t know you were dating your guard, a few tricks is what you needed to escape reality in a way.

“Ready for our date?”

“Of course my love, let's go to the Phoenix Inn and Tavern. I know that place is your favorite.”

The Phoenix Inn and Tavern was a Tavern nestled in the second ring. The tavern was well decorated with a statute of a large phoenix with glowing red eyes on the top. The doors to the tavern were large and wide as the tavern welcomed all race types. The interior of the tavern was cozy and inviting which made me fall in love with the place.

Once we arrived at the tavern after a ten minute walk we were greeted by the bartender. “Welcome! Were you the ones that reserved a table for two in the corner?” He pointed to the corner with a table that had a rose sitting on top of it.

“Yes, that was me, sir.” Théoden said.

“Right this way Arthur.” The man led us to the table. Once we took our seats he offered us a paper menu. “Can I start you two off with something to drink?”

I looked at Théoden with a plea in my eyes. It had been awhile since I drank any alcohol as it affected the both of us due to him siphoning the booze away through the bond. It also meant that he may not want any intimacy but I hoped he prepared the spell Lesser Restoration, a spell that removed the effects of alcohol.

He nodded and gave me the go ahead.

“Some of your fine elven wine please.”

The bartender nodded towards me, “I’ll have that right out to you Elowen.” I gave her a smile as he turned and walked away. To my surprise the bartender remembered my name from the last time we used our disguise.

Once he left Theoden whispered, “His name is Sawyer.” I nodded, as his name slipped my mind. To be fair, it has been roughly a year since we were in this set of disguises.

“Thank you for letting me have a drink.”

“You deserve it my love. Besides, I have come prepared.”

“You..”

“Yes, I have the spell prepared. I was thinking you were going to want a drink or two. And you know I do not like taking advantage of you.”

Théoden always felt that when I drank and we had intimacy he was taking advantage of me. So he insisted on either casting the spell or not doing anything at all. He was always a gentleman.

“I know my dear.”

The bartender came back with two very full glasses of wine. “I hope you like your wine strong.” The bartender said, “Now do you know what you two would like to eat?”

“What is special tonight?” I asked him.

The tavern often had specials throughout the week. Often what some of the hunters in the kingdom sold them. Sometimes they served some rare dishes.

“There is squid served with a creamy sauce. One of the hunters brought in bear meat, so we have that paired with sweet potatoes and greens. We also have some Giant Eagle served with bacon and a salad.”

Those all did sound good. Though not too rare, hunting must be hurting right now. “I’ll take the bear.” I said, surprising Theo.

“Really?” Théoden questioned me.

“Try something new?” I shrugged. “It sounds good.”

Is it the sweet potatoes that sound good to you?

That was part of it. But I need to branch out in my food more.

Fair enough.

“And you sir?”

“May I have three orders of the bear? More meat for me. You can give my sweet potatoes to my wife.”

“Three? They are fifteen gold a plate.” It was a bit more pricey than normal as bear wasn’t a typical dish. And bears around these parts can be quite the task to hunt and kill. Especially after coming out of hibernation.

“Yes, three. Money isn’t a problem.”

“Alright, I will have the four plates ready in thirty minutes.”

The bartender walked back to the kitchen and put in our order.

“Everyone is surprised when I order.”

“Well, typically a normal humanoid doesn’t order three plates of food.” I pointed out.

“Fair point.”

“Thanks for giving me your sweet potatoes.” I smiled at him, “If I don’t like the bear you can have it.”

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

After thirty minutes and a second glass of wine later we received the portions of bear that we ordered. To my surprise the bear was done well and I actually enjoyed it. Enough to where I ate half the bear and gave the rest to Theo. After all, I had four servings of sweet potatoes to eat.

The bear was surprisingly good.

I’m just surprised you tasted it.

Care to taste a sweet potato?

He narrowed his eyes at me, “sweet is in the name.”

“Please you can not hate all foods with the word sweet in it.”

He sighed, “fine give me a bit of the orange potatoes.”

I cut him a slice and dipped it in the caramel sauce that was served with them. He took the fork and tasted them. He made a face of disgust but finished eating the bite. “Not my favorite thing in the world.” He handed my fork back to me.

“At least you tried.”

After we were about half way through our meal the bartender came back with our third glass of wine. Théoden denied his and asked for water.

I’m getting enough through the bond.

Should I not--- My mind trailed off. Yeah, now that he was talking about it I could definitely feel it.

He chuckled and went on ahead. I can cast the spell when we get to our room if we still feel like doing anything tonight.

Y---

Even in our telepathic communication my words were incomplete and slurred. Normally I would only have one glass but I knew with Théoden, I was safe and he wouldn’t let me do anything stupid.

He gave me a smile, “normally I would say take it easy but I am curious. May I see the ring?”

I nodded and showed him the ring. All the gems were glistening in a variety of strengths. The greenish one glowing a bit more than others. “Well?”

He kissed my hand before he gave it back to me. “Green usually indicates poison. The alcohol is slowly charging that gem.”

“Huh.” I said as I stared at the ring. “Enough of that, do you want dessert or should we go up to our room?” Théoden asked me.

I thought about it for a moment and surprised him with my answer, “room please. The sweet potatoes hit my sweet tooth.”

He motioned for the bartender and gave him one hundred and fifty gold for the food and drinks. “Keep the rest for you.” He said as the total came to around one hundred and ten gold pieces.

The total was due to the four plates of bear, and the wine was top shelf quality and imported from another kingdom. Even at the cost, the richness of the ruby red wine was worth it. This one in particular was in the noble class district making it a bit more pricey than our typical taverns that are more inward. Due to the tavern’s location is one of the main reasons why this one was more pricey than the others.

“Thank you sir. Here is your room key.”

“Thank you. The food was delicious.”

Théoden finished off what I didn’t eat so there wasn’t much left. And I drank any wine that was left on the table. I was drunk enough to the point when I started to walk I stumbled. Causing Theoden to carry me to our first floor room.

He unlocked and opened the door with ease and closed it behind him and locked it. He laid me down gently on the bed and gave me a stare. “I probably should have cut you off. I’ll have to cast the spell three times if we were to do anything tonight.” He sighed and sat beside me.

“I--still want---to.” I mumbled as I sat up and leaned against him. “P---please?”

He smiled at me and began to cast the spell. The alcohol effects quickly left my system with each cast. Eventually to the point where I was sober. He casted it on himself once and was fine after that.

“Are you sure you are up for a little fun tonight?”

“Of course I am dear.” I said and kissed him.

“Then let me drop our disguises, I prefer to see you for you.”

The disguises fell and we were our true selves once more.

I looked at him with a smile, “Now, before things get too heated, I believe I have a question to answer.” I said as he arched his eyebrow in curiosity. I felt him search my mind for context clues and watched as a smile fell on his face.

He arched his eyebrow in curiosity and searched my mind. He smiled once he found what I was referencing.

“The question if I would marry you. The answer to that, is yes.”

He kissed my lips and laid me back down on the bed.

~Skip the rest of chapter if you do not want to read sexual content~

I gave him a bit of foreplay, first with my hands, then mouth. Something I didn't do every time, but I knew it was something he quite enjoyed.

He finished before we started anything else and that was alright; I knew he could go a few rounds before running out of energy. As he finished, he pushed me off of him and onto the bed. "Your turn…" he said, pulling off my dress and stripped me of my undergarments. He started with my lips, then moved to my neck; as he kissed my neck softly, he started my foreplay with his fingers. As he moved his lips down from my neck to my chest, he caressed me with his wonderful lips. He intensified his play with his fingers as he traced the rest of my body with his lips.

He stopped with his fingers and moved to using his lips where his fingers once were. As I was close, he stared at me with contentment. "Are you sure?" he asked me before he enjoyed himself with my body. He was gentle at first, but then became more forceful as time passed.

As time lapsed, he finished, and with me being close, he pushed himself for a third round. This round is more forceful. As he pushed against me, he moved one of his hands down there for more stimulation. Something that I quite enjoyed. He did everything right. As I finished, he finished a few moments later.

He bent down and kissed my lips firmly. "I love you, Maria," he said as he rested his head against mine, catching his breath. "I love you," he repeated, kissing my lips again.

"I love you, Theo." I brushed my hand against his face, "With all I am." He stared at me for a moment longer before he collapsed on the bed beside me. I curled my body into his and rested my head against his chest

“Let’s rest, we need to go to the castle within the next few hours." Théoden reminded me.

"Back to reality soon?"

"I'm afraid so, but please let's rest first. You were me out." He said as he was just finally able to catch his breath.

"Okay, okay, fair." I said, "Can I ask you something before we rest?"

"Mhm."

"Once we return to the castle, will you be too exhausted for a dream tonight?"

Théoden thought about it for a moment before he answered, “what did you have in mind?” He sounded exhausted. “If it is more late night activity, the answer is no.”

“Please, I'm worn out too. I was thinking you would like to take a flight?”

He sat up a bit in bed and looked at me with a glint of happiness in his blue eyes, “a dragon’s dream?”

“A dragon’s dream.”

It’s been awhile since he took flight. To be fair, I think the last time was when we snuck out to that secluded cove. So I knew he would jump on the chance if he could.

“That would make my night Maria.” He kissed my cheek and laid back down in bed. “Let’s rest for one more hour before I teleport us back to the castle.”

I looked down at him with a grin on my face. “Knew you couldn’t resist flight.” I bent down and kissed his forehead, to which he grappled me in his arms and held me close.