Re: Health is the greatest gift.
The first trapping of Queen Eva Odinson by the adviser Nathaniel Zale, had ended less dramatically than he'd expected. He felt the chill of the Yule air, then the nakedness of Eva's departure from him. She'd confirmed the vaguely prophesized 'later' he'd mentioned, but her mind was clearly somewhere else. Nate took in a calming breath of the fresh air and pushed down the desire that had ruled momentarily ruled him.
Eva signaled for him, he lingered and surveyed the people around them. They're weren't many, more of the queen's peacocks mulled about than anything else. His slept-in business causal had been replaced by a clean set of robes, which Nathaniel was secretly thankful for. He couldn't have just anybody seeing him that disheveled. Which Eva understood, being his dark soulmate.
His hands smoothed out the front of his royal adviser robes and he strolled, briskly, to catch up with his queen. Caltrops offered his bent arm for the queen to hold and he matched his pace with her. "Your hat game is strong," he needlessly informed her - which caused his thoughts to re-form around Brayden. "If they're permanent," the horns, "I supposed I need to invest in more hats," it was awkward enough without horns to be a teenage boy, Nate understood that from experience. "I can't decide if he'll take this in stride or..." The boy was resourceful, but volatile. He looked sideways to the woman he'd proudly declared Brayden's step-mother with uncertainty in his eyes and the need for her second opinion. All while they strode, unabashedly closer and more intimately then ever before.