Alexander sighs again, and he pecks my forehead.

«Are you pretending or did you really forget?» he inquires. He would have wiped away my tears if his arms weren't busy carrying me.

We walk inside the central hut, and he leans me on a table.

«Warm water, some clean fabric and aquavit,» he orders a woman passing by. She bows her head and runs away with haste.

Oh, aquavit? What for?

At first, my Duke cleans my hands with the water. He wipes them carefully, while I just observe his expression in a daze. He's so distracting that I almost don't notice when he's done.

The second phase of the treatment is painful.

My Duke takes the aquavit and pours it all over my wounded hands with no mercy.

«It hurts,» I point out.

«Bear with it,» he sighs.

«Why are you punishing this Duchess, hubby?» I ask, crying anew.

I thought he was going to take care of me, yet he's disciplining me for something I don't know.

«Thea!» he murmurs. «Why are you teasing me now?»

«I'm not,» I gasp. «It really hurts.»

«I'm not punishing you. I'm just cleaning your wounds. If I don't do it, this time they'll definitely infect.»

«Oh, is that so?»

«However, you've never called me hubby.»

I've never called you husband either, but you've never tortured me before.

«It's true that you've never been this drunk either,» he realises.

«Do you hate it?» I inquire. He doesn't seem angry, but he's a bit too insistent on a single word.

«I don't,» he chuckles. «But I'm surprised. Is it an effect of the wine?»

«Sweet wine makes wife sweeter,» I nod.

It's better if I just throw the guilt on something that can't be hurt by the Duke's fury.

When he finishes cleaning the wounds, Alexander wraps my hands in some clean clothes. He kisses on top of it, to make the injuries heal faster.

One of his knights comes in, and he stops two metres from us.

«My Lord, we calmed down the horses. They're all in good shape, except for the one the Lady used today. What do we do with it?»

«Dispose of it,» Alexander sentences in a cold tone.

«No!» I exclaim. I clench my Duke's arm with my bandaged hands, and I return to sobbing. I also lean my face on it, so that my tears flow on his shirt. He has to feel how much pain it causes me, to hear of the fate of that poor horse.

«Thea, don't be unreasonable. A horse that turns against its owner has to be...»

«No!» I stop him. «I'm not the owner.»

«It doesn't change the facts. What if it does something like that again?»

«He's still nervous, isn't he?»

«It's an it, not a he,» Alexander frowns, losing a bit of his calm.

«Regardless, you can't kill someone just for this!»

«It's not a someone, Thea.»

«It's not the horse's fault, Alexander. What if there's another reason for this?» I try. «He's... It's still behaving nervously, isn't it? Maybe, there's something in the hoof that's annoying it, or he ate something bad...»

As if struck by a realisation, Alexander grabs my arms and looks at me directly in the eyes.

«Do not get more than a step away from me!» he orders. «Not even if you get angry, all right?»

I just nod. What reason could I possibly have to stay far from this handsomeness? Getting mad would be such a waste.

«You can cling on me if you feel unstable,» he continues, and I bite my lower lip to hide a wily grin.

«This Duchess will do her best,» I affirm with a tone that implies that it's a very very difficult task for me. «Also, I want the horse alive. I'll check tomorrow, and if I don't find it in the stables...»

Oh, I don't really know what I can do in that case.

«What?» Alexander presses me.

I look at him with a wounded expression, and I straighten my back.

«I won't call you hubby ever again!»

The knight that came to ask about the fate of the animals drops his shoulder and looks at me as if I'm a crazy woman, while some of the men behind him snigger.

In the end, Alexander won't accept in exchange for something so small, they're right. I bend over, to get closer to his ear. If I have to offer more, I better do it quietly...

«Fine,» my husband says before I can talk. He's just taken his time to think about the matter more seriously, seemingly.

I don't even have time to add some meat to the fire.

«However, you better remember how patient and understanding I am.»

«Of course,» I exclaim. «My hubby is very, very understanding!»

I hug him tightly, smearing the front of my dress with the stains that I left on Alexander's shirt. Still, I don't retreat. I am all dirty, already, so there's no reason to.

I glance at the men, and they're staring at us with dumbfounded expressions. They seem surprised.

Alexander splits from me and helps me down from the table.

«Let's go now. We should treat this matter with caution. Also, avoid spreading rumours about it. Keep everything reserved.»

Oh, he's talking to his men, not to me...

However, I agree. There's no need for the whole Empire to hear how dumb his wife is.

His steps are longer than mine, so I have to reach out for his sleeve way sooner than planned. I was going to get my hands on him anyway, but it happens before I can find a reason to.

«I can't walk that fast,» I pout. The bandages are in my way and make it difficult to actually feel anything. There's no point to cling on my Duke, this way.

Alexander slows down, and he leans a hand on my back.

«Come here,» he whispers. «We're going home right now. The guards will find out what happened to the horse, my dear. If someone dared to mess with it, it means that they're after your life.»

«But the horse is yours,» I remind him.

«You came on that one, Thea. Ah, please, just...»

He covers his eyes with a hand.

«The world is spinning,» I frown. Why isn't my hubby as stable as always?

«I knew it,» he gasps. «You're dead drunk.»

«I feel alive. A bit nauseous, but alive.»

«Let's walk to the carriage. Do you feel like you can make it?»

Of course, I can! What am I, a toddler?

I just swing after my husband, and we soon reach that coveted carriage. I sit on the back seat and wait for Alexander. He orders me not to move an inch and disappears for a few minutes.

I stiffen my muscles and clench my fists, focused on my movements. Only a few seconds before my Duke is back, I realise that I've been blinking all this time. Oh, I couldn't follow my husband's orders... He won't scold me, now, will he?

I don't have to tell him, though. I can hope he won't notice. Even though it's hard since he can read my mind.

He sits next to me, and then he circles me with his arms.

«Oh, Thea, you were right,» he whispers to my ear while the carriage starts moving.

«I know,» I shrug.

Alexander insisted so much that he didn't gift that horse to me and that he's the rightful owner. He said he was just lending it to me. He said it so many times that I wonder how come he forgot about it.

«The horse has been drugged. Someone tried to kill you, Thea.»

«All right,» I nod. What does this have to do with our conversation, though?

«We haven't found who it was, but I don't think it's someone from the village. They lack motive. It's someone else, which means that they'll try again since they failed.»

«Why?» I inquire, rather confused.

«I don't know, but I suspect it has something to do with what's happening now in the capital.»

«What is happening?» I ask, widening my eyes.

«His majesty has been offered to choose a bride, and he declared he would decide by the end of next summer. It's a year's time. The nobles are now competing for his attention and sympathies, and offering their daughters as candidates.»

«Why would they kill me, though? I already have a husband!»

«Because you're his counsellor on the matter.»

«That's not a reason enough.»

«No, but they know you'll press him to bring in a bride from a foreign nation. They don't want you to go back and mess with their plans.»

«What a sick reason for killing. By the way, Asteria is too much of a hassle. It's better to choose a smaller state.»

Alexander nods, and I tilt my head.

«Will you protect me?» I ask.

He lifts his eyebrows, and then he pecks my temple.

«With all I've got.»

«You're good at that,» I giggle. «You always appear when I'm in danger!»

«I forgot that you don't know what you're saying,» he sighs. «However, I ordered a thousand bottles of that sweet wine that my wife likes so much.»