An Idea Worth Celebrating

Nomar was happy to see that his student was learning the ropes of magic. He had expected it to be a challenge for her since she did not know anything about it before, but so far she had been doing well. There were other things he still needed to teach Beatrice, though. Now, they were done with harnessing water magic. The next one they would move to would have to be wind magic, followed by fire magic. But for now, the training session was over.

"There shall be no more training for today, Lady Beatrice," he said.

Beatrice stood up from her seat, shook off her skirts, and slipped her shoes on. They walked back into the keep, but to the eyes of all, only Lady Beatrice walked in. They did not know that she had personal protection and would remain so.

Beatrice went straight to Alexander's office. She did not encounter anyone on the way, and she was glad about that. An idea had come to her mind, and she wanted to tell Alexander about it.

When she got to the door, she executed their special knock on the door, but after getting no response, she pushed it open and found Alexander buried under a stack of papers, sleeping.

'Poor man,' she thought. 'He must have worked himself to the bone, hence his nap in the office.'

She pushed a stack of papers to the side, prodded him gently on the shoulders, and called for him to wake up.

"Alexander," she said. "You have fallen asleep at your desk. You must be very tired. Rise up so that we can go back to our chamber. It is almost time for the evening meal. After that, you can have a wash and go to sleep."

Alexander groaned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He got to his feet and took Beatrice's hand in his. Together, they walked to their chambers. Once they were inside, Alexander collapsed on the bed and immediately went to sleep. She lay down on the bed beside him, watching his chest rise and fall along with his breathing.

Once she felt sure it was time for dinner, she stood up and slipped off the bed. She did not wake Alexander up as she left the room. She would bring her own meal on the way back from the dining area after she had her own.

Beatrice went to the dining area and took a seat at the table in her rightful place. Fortunately for her, she had arrived early, so there was no one else at the table with her. She muttered a prayer of relief because she was not ready to make small talk. A maid brought food for her and Beatrice asked her to get Alexander's food ready before she was finished with her own meal.

She ate all the food, and as a maid came to clear the plates, she brought Lord Alexander's food along with her. Beatrice thanked her, collected the tray and was on her way back to their chamber before she had second thoughts. She called to the retreating form of the maid and asked her to bring two pails of hot water to the Marquess's chamber immediately.

When she got to the chamber, she took in the sleeping form of Alexander. Beatrice admired his handsome sculpted face, his muscled arms and his long-tapered legs. This man had been blessed in all the right places. His lips were also something to look at.

Beatrice could feel her growing feelings for him, but she pushed the thought away. She did not need this complication. The sooner she was done with her mission here, the better. Then she would find a way to get back home. Beatrice had not given up on the idea of returning to her life in the twenty-first century.

She tapped Alexander awake, and he yawned as he blinked his eyes open. She allowed him to wake up fully before speaking. When she was sure that he would hear her clearly, she spoke.

"Alexander, I have your meal here. Rise up properly and eat."

He rose to a sitting position and accepted the tray from Beatrice's outstretched hands. Without wasting much time, he had consumed the whole food. Seeing as he was tired and famished, Beatrice was not surprised. He let out a loud belch and Beatrice chuckled internally.

'Men of all generations and their eating habits,' she thought.

Beatrice took the tray from his hands and dropped it on the table. A knock sounded on the door, and she knew that it must be the maid with the hot water.

"Come in," Beatrice called out.

The door swung open, and two maids stepped inside. One was short with dark brown hair, and the other was tall with dark brown hair too. They took the buckets of water into the washroom, with Beatrice following closely behind them. After they had poured the water into the tub, they left.

Beatrice poured a pinch of red bath salt into the steaming water and called for Alexander. He arrived, and she pointed in the direction of the tub. Before he could strip his clothes off, she promptly left the room.

When Alexander came into the sleeping room after his bath, he was as clean as he could be and smelt of roses. The scent came from the bath salts that she had poured into his bath water. He was wearing only his breeches, so she gaped at his bare chest with trickles of water running down it straight into the waistband of his breeches. She stared at his taut nipples and his flat stomach strung with muscles. Beatrice tried to stop herself but could not. The sight was simply stunning. She was jostled from her reverie by the voice of Alexander.

"Do you like what you see, Beatrice?" he asked.

She flipped him off by waving her hand away and trying not to smile. He let the matter go and lay down on the bed. Beatrice suddenly remembered that she had something to tell him.

"Now that I remember, I have something to tell you. I had wanted to tell you earlier, but as I saw the way you were exhausted, I had to wait," she said.

"I also have something to say to you too. Tell me what you have to say first, then I will tell you what I have to say," Alexander said.

"I want to host a ball. A ball celebrating my recovery from the tragic fall down the stairs. I want to prepare for the ball myself. I shall send out the invitations and pick out the decorations for the great hall."

"Alright then. Tell me what you may need and I will ask the housekeeper to get it for you. Anything at all." He looked her straight in the eyes and continued.

"Now, it is my turn to tell you what I have to say," Alexander said. "It is nothing for you to be bothered about, but I just love the way we are with each other these days. It is just like when we first got married. I wish it could stay like this."

Beatrice smiled broadly. She was playing the part of Beatrice so well that it convinced Alexander that it had made him reminisce on events of over a year ago and conclude that these past days were just like those times.

Beatrice mentally congratulated herself. This was what she wanted. She wanted to be Beatrice totally without any doubt on her part or the part of any of the eyes watching her. Beatrice knew that some eyes had been watching her closely in the keep and they were being discreet about it. She just knew because she went out of her way to observe things without them coming to the notice of others. For now, she needed to reply to Alexander.

"Well Alexander, I enjoyed these past few days too. It feels just like the months after our marriage that I was tempted to remarry you."

She chuckled and looked at Alexander lovingly. He too returned her look with a loving gaze of his own. He moved closer to her and pressed her into his warm body. His scent enveloped both of them immediately, and it made her senses tingle with excitement.

With the embrace, Beatrice felt the growing embers of desire in her and she quickly quenched it down with the thought of her important mission here. She did not need any distractions at this point. She only had to focus on perfecting her magic abilities and learning how to control them as best as she could. Nomar had told her that she still had other aspects of magic to learn, including wind and fire magic, and she was looking forward to it.

She pulled away from the embrace and smiled widely at Alexander. She made a tired face and yawned loudly. She also stretched her arms and looked at Alexander with dizzy eyes.

"I am tired, my darling. I need to sleep."

"I am not too tired due to my short nap earlier. Go to sleep and I shall watch your beautiful face till I sleep myself," he said.

Beatrice crawled into the bed, and Alexander joined her too. He held her in his arms and pulled the covers over them both.

"Sleep well, my dear wife." He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Tomorrow, make a list of the items you shall need for the ball and hand it to me."

Beatrice closed her eyes and was fast asleep within seconds.