okay! so i copied and pasted my wip whev into a new post and tumblr still shook its finger at me so i'm doing screenshots? i will not be deterred. ch 15 first and the missing scene second. taking @nadas-dirthalen's open tag and running with it (gracias!)--the other half of the ch 15 excerpt and the honeymoon excerpt below the readmore!
and the honeymoon scene:
tags out to @jaeheydaris @statichvm @vice-president-galade @mxanigel @mathlann @lordcaptains @florbelles @imogenkol @fassina @ziskandra @zirrah-writes @dangerousdan-dan @captastra @andordean @herblinz @lasersinthejungle @tkwritesdumbassassins and anyone else who has something they'd like to share!
tagged by my most beloved @vice-president-galade to share words. the brain is sluggish and the chapter doesn't want to cooperate but i do indeed have words. ch 15: honeymoon is over and our newlyweds are back in pales! 431 words, vina/axel, no warnings apply, the rest under the readmore.
"Welcome home," Axel said as the doors to Castle Reinhart shut behind them. He brought Vina's hand to his smiling lips and added in Palean, "Your Grace."
"It's good to be home," she replied in Palean. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and smiled back. "Your Grace."
The tranquility of their honeymoon had lulled Vina into forgetting that returning to Pales as Axel's grand duchess would inevitably be something of a spectacle. They'd been spared a real public appearance fresh off the plane, but the route to Castle Reinhart from the outskirts of the city had been cleared of traffic for their drive. Their driver had taken it at a crawl, offering the spectators lining the streets plenty of time to catch a glimpse of the two of them through the town car's back windows.
"Tired?" he asked as he set his hand at the small of her back, gently steering them both toward the staircase on the right. "Don't worry, the tour will be much shorter this time."
"If we're headed where I think we are, I could stand to freshen up," she said. "But I'll be fine with a cup of tea."
"That's exactly where we're headed." He paused and added, a spark of mischief in his voice, "With a brief detour to take care of a small matter."
Vina laughed. "Another 'small matter'? I suppose this one is in your office, too."
"Not quite," he told her. "It's in your office."
"I am going to need one, aren't I?" She brushed a kiss across his cheek as they reached the top of the stairs. "Thank you."
"It's my pleasure," he said, thumb stroking across the tiny buttons on the back of her dress. "I can't wait to share the work with you."
The sight of the door to Axel's office drew a reflexive smile from Vina as they walked past. "Father's signing the papers to return the Pales Administrative District this week, isn't he? We should arrange another visit to Terador and Fort Ales."
"My council will probably insist on it," he said. They drew to a stop at the next door, and he reached for the handle. "A nice formal show of the region being handed back over will go a long way toward placating the rest of my family."
"Mm, and it'll be good to start familiarizing ourselves with what we'll need to do to integrate the Rizians who intend to stay," Vina started to say as she stepped inside. She broke off immediately and turned back to Axel. "Oh—oh, Axel. This is lovely."
tagging @statichvm @adelaidedrubman @mxanigel @mathlann @lordcaptains @dangerousdan-dan @imogenkol @time-adrift @zirrah-writes @ziskandra @andordean @cassandra-pentughasst @yunessa @tkwritesdumbassassins @schoute @lasersinthejungle @kuwdora @captastra and anyone else if they have something they'd like to share!
since i'm finally back in ch 13's weddingville and actually making progress, i've got big gushy royal wedding stuff to share. i also...have a bit of ch 22's m-rated boatsex. for the nautically inclined. sharing that below 13 as an easy skip if desired. ch 13 excerpt 343 words ch 22 excerpt 427 words.
ch 13:
"My daughter." He leaned in and pressed a careful kiss to her forehead through the veil. "This is the proudest day of my life."
"Not the coronation?" she asked, mildly surprised. "Not—"
Her father followed her brief glance to the door and smiled. "That's one of them," he said in answer to her unspoken question. "And ascending to the throne is nothing more than the inevitability of time progressing. But my daughter marrying someone she loves, growing into such an admirable woman…I couldn't be more proud."
They began their slow progress out the door, the footmen gathering the end of her train and following with exactingly rehearsed steps.
Vina squeezed her father's arm as they entered the vestibule, and he paused for an obliging moment as the footmen quietly organized the two page boys who'd been sitting idly on the bench waiting for them—Norus, a young Toras cousin, and Oskar, a Reinhart.
She gestured with her bouquet to Pabel with a sheepish smile. "My hands are full, or I'd give you this one."
Pabel chuckled and bowed. "I'm honored regardless, Your Highness."
"Thank you for staying on to see my wedding through," she continued softly. "Lord Adria."
The warmth in his eyes still made her chest ache. "I wouldn't trust it to anyone else."
"We'll miss the cue," her father said quietly, as much to Pabel as to her.
Vina nodded and adjusted her hold on his arm as the music changed. Pabel gestured past them to the footmen at the doors, their train carrying duties handed off to the children, and at the first triumphant chord, they bowed and opened them in unison for her father to escort her inside.
Axel was there.
The packed archsanctuary seats fell away into cheerful dots of color and dabs of grays in the corners of her eyes. The long, petal-strewn aisle drew a line right to him in scattered handfuls of purple and white. And at the end of it—Axel was there.
Staring right back at her with the brightest, widest smile.
ch 22:
"Pretend you find this very seductive," Axel said when he regained control of himself, "and not an utter farce."
Manus sat upright, blinking away tears of laughter. His wide smile faded into something small and intimate, and he reached down and touched the arch of Axel's cheekbone with his fingertips, running them down the side of his face to the corner of his jaw.
"Very," he murmured. He sighed from the bottom of his lungs and shifted again as Axel took him back in hand. "Endlessly seductive, so-oh—"
The rest of his sentence was lost to Axel's mouth.
Her husband's hand came up to grip Manus' thigh at the first ginger rock of his hips. Vina kissed the underside of Manus' jaw again and rested her hand on his other leg, pinning him in place. His groan vibrated up his throat and against her lips, and she smiled and pressed another kiss to it, her eyes on the dark head moving between his legs.
Manus' fingers slid from Axel's jaw, back up the side of his face, past the cheekbone he'd caressed, and sank into his hair. Axel made a soft sound as Manus tugged gently, and Manus bit his lip and started to let go.
"Sorry, I didn't—"
"Don't stop," Vina told him. Axel glanced up at her with laughter in his eyes. "He likes that."
Manus exhaled unsteadily and settled his hand back in Axel's hair, fingers threading through the black strands. "I would…love to see a reenactment. Of how you learned this."
"You want to watch, love?" she said into the too-warm side of his throat. Her eyes met Axel's again, just for a moment, before his slid shut at another brief tug to his hair. "You want to watch my husband pleasure me?"
"God." Manus' arm tightened around her reflexively. His hard swallow pulsed against her lips. "It's only fair."
"And you're a champion of democratic values," she agreed with a soft squeeze of his thigh.
A choked sound of amusement escaped Axel. He pulled back, a flush high on his cheeks and his lips wet. "Don't make me laugh with my mouth full, beautiful. Someone's going to get hurt."
"I'll behave," she said, stifling a laugh. She reached out to swipe his lower lip with the pad of her thumb.
He kissed it softly and winked as he leaned back in. "Not too well, I hope."
"Just enough to not be a choking hazard," she promised, settling her hand back on Manus' thigh in time to feel it tense up again.
tags out to @vice-president-galade @statichvm @adelaidedrubman @dangerousdan-dan @mxanigel @zirrah-writes @mathlann @time-adrift @lordcaptains @andordean @cassandra-pentughasst @captastra @lasersinthejungle @tkwritesdumbassassins @ziskandra @yunessa @spindleweedss @kuwdora @schoute and anyone else who has something to share <3
you need to know that i wrote the dance scene in ch 5 of three to a marriage before i reached the updated epilogue slides in rizia. giggling, blushing, twirling my hair. they did this for me.
