SWEETEST COMPANY

Valerian enjoyed being the centre of attention for the days that followed.

He had Never been more thankful than he was then.

News of a royal pregnancy spread faster Than an epidermic or any wild fire.

It lingered through the ears of almost every Scoln and not long enough it reached the foreign lands as well.

Valerian was having a hard time adjusting to the foreign bit of attention and he spent more time with Alexander.

The Pregnancy made him more popular than he already was among the Scoln people and Alexander had to personally ensure that Valerian got everything that he wanted whenever he wished.

Valerian was having a walk with Alexander in the palace backyard and the two stopped in their foot steps when they approached the pond.

"What?" Alexander asked.

"I feel tired." Valerian replied.

"We could as well go inside for you to get some rest." Alexander said.

"I would be fine if I just hang out here a little bit more." Valerian said.

"But." Alexander was saying when Valerian placed a finger on his lips.

"Pregnant Queens must always be kept happy." Valerian said.

"You can not black mail me." Alexander said.

"Sadness gives me stress." Valerian said in his defence.

Alexander looked at Valerian a little bit puzzled.

"You are doing this deliberately." Alexander said.

"You keep me locked behind the palace doors, it gets so suffocating inside there." Valerian said.

"You heard the doctor that I must ensure you get adequate rest.

"Some fresh air is necessary, it makes me feel less nausea outside than in the palace." Valerian said in his defence.

"You really love having your way." Alexander said.

"I learnt that from my husband." Valerian said.

"Alright then." Alexander said with a gloomy face.

"Don't look gloomy, it makes me sad.

And if you are this sad when I am two months pregnant how will you be when I am seven or nine?" Valerian asked.

"Alright." Alexander said as he face was slowly conquered with a smile.

"Valerian sat down on the grass and  Alexander sat down beside him.

I want to rest my head on something." Valerian said.

Alexander moved Slightly behind Valerian and then he lay down in the grass.

"Rest here." He signalled to his stomach and Valerian responded by accepting.

He breathed in and out at the same time.

"Finally, I feel free." Valerian said.

"I know, I understand." Alexander said.

"Have you ever looked at the clouds?" Valerian asked.

"I see them every day." Alexander said.

"When I was very young, me and Sian, we loved to look at the clouds." Valerian said.

"What is so interesting about a large mass of thick white gas?" Alexander asked.

"We always saw the clouds on clear days and said what they really resembled to us." Valerian said.

"You were really that bored." Alexander said.

"Please do not be this heartless right now." Valerian said.

"Just give it a try." Valerian added.

"Look." Valerian said as he pointed towards the sky at one cloud.

Alexander shifted his gaze to the cloud.

"It looks like a swan." Valerian said.

"Are you actually that blind? Alexander asked.

"Why would you say that?" Valerian asked.

"It rather looks like a very long letter S with a long tail." Alexander replied.

"Look closer." Valerian demanded.

"It is the same." Alexander said.

"Do not really be so hopeless to believe that.

You see what you want to see and you are not trying to see what it could look like." Valerian replied.

Alexander stared at the cloud and keenly studied it to his very best.

At last he could see it, he could see the deformed swan since the clouds had shifted a little.

"When you take a very long time to recognize an opportunity sometimes, you might as well just miss it." Valerian said.

"Hmmm." Alexander muttered.

"Spot another cloud and tell me what it really looks like from your perspective." Valerian said.

"Alright." Alexander replied.

He then searched the skies and looked through all the clouds.

"There." Alexander said as he pointed to one of the clouds.

Valerian looked at the cloud.

It was large and round.

"What does it look like?" Valerian asked.

"It looks like a rock." Alexander replied.

Valerian laughed.

"Why, what is funny?" Alexander asked.

"You are simply not good at being creative, why a rock of all things?" Valerian asked.

"It looked like one rock that I really did remember." Alexander replied.

"Rocks have no definite forms you know." Valerian said.

"It is the closest I could possibly remember." Alexander said.

"How about that one." Valerian said as he pointed in a distance at another cloud.

Alexander looked.

"It looks like a scroll." Alexander said.

"Really?" Valerian asked.

"Yes." Alexander replied.

"It looks like a folded carpet to me." Valerian said.

"What is the difference?" Alexander asked.

"Our eyes." Valerian replied.

"You must be kidding with me." Alexander said.

"Actually, no." Valerian replied.

"Sometimes in life what makes things appear different is the way that we see them." Valerian added.

"For example?" Alexander asked.

"You." Valerian replied.

"Me what?" Alexander asked.

"When the world may see you as an autocrat or the King to be feared that you must be, I choose to see something else.

I choose to see you as the father of my children and the man I am willing to spend my eternity with.

I see the reason that I can hope that love is true and I see that there is beauty and amongst men you are my King." Valerian replied.

Alexander smiled.

"You are the first person to tell me this." Alexander said.

"Because I am the first and I am the only wife that you will ever have." Valerian replied.

"True." Alexander said.

"You are the only man and Queen I will ever have and love." Alexander added.

"Thank you." Valerian replied.

"So should we get inside right now?" Valerian asked.

"Actually, I'd prefer it if we stayed a little longer." Alexander replied.

"See, I knew it that you would certainly love it out here in the sun." Valerian said.

"You were right." Alexander said.

"The Palace can be suffocating and boring most of the time." Alexander added.