Morven stood before the bookcase trying to choose a book. She was not certain if she was in the mood for a Ulaanbaatese historical text or some Itruskan poetry. She could not decide so she picked one of the two with her eyes closed. She was not feeling very well today. She hadn’t been feeling so well since they arrived on Mhalwae. Perhaps it was the weather.

She walked towards her desk but was stopped by a sudden sharp pain in her chest. She clasped her hand to her breast waiting for the fluttering of her heart to die down. This was happening more frequently as the days went by. She remembered her father used to say he sometimes got the feeling that someone was walking on his grave. She understood what he meant by that now. She breathed deeply as the pain subsided.

She sat down and was soon engrossed in her book. So engrossed that she did not notice Alexis coming quietly into the room.

“Morven, my darling, my dearheart”, he crooned to her.

She looked up from her book, “Oh hello dear, how has your day been so far?”.

“Oh, it’s been fine, I was just wondering if you are busy right now?”.

“Well, yes dear, I was hoping to finish reading this set of poems before dinner”. She turned back to her book.

Alexis dropped to one knee and began to serenade her. His voice was quite terrible, but he made up for it with enthusiasm.

“Oh lovely darling, you are such a sweet little starling. If you come and give me a kiss, I am sure you won’t miss… out on anything”.

She looked at him incredulously. His rhyming was also dreadful and Morven turned back to the French poetry which was really a lot better.

“Morven, your smile is like the sun, and I must say that I think you are the one… who will make me very happy”.

Morven had managed to block him out quite effectively, a skill she had possessed since she was very small. Once she began reading she became so involved that she would not notice things around her. And although she was fond of Alexis he could be quite bothersome when he was in one of his silly moods.

The next time she looked up Alexis certainly got her attention. He stood before her completely naked and with a huge grin on his face. She could see that she had his attention too.

Perhaps she was not so interested in her book after all now that she thought about it. She snapped it shut and stood up.

She went to put the book away on the shelf but he grabbed her in an embrace as she walked past, causing it to fall out of her grasp and onto the floor with a thud.

“So, now you’re wanting to pay some attention to me after all”, he smiled cheekily at her.

“No, I just thought it is rather cold in her and it was my duty to warm you up a bit”, she said grabbing his behind not too gently and leaning in to kiss him. Hi skin felt cold under her hand after all, but she knew her embrace was warm.

Suddenly she felt the sharp pain again and her hand flew unthinkingly to her chest as she gasped. Her heart was pounding in her chest. It seemed as loud as the book hitting the floor over and over to her, but Alexis did not seem to hear it.

However, his smile fell when he noticed the look of pain on her face. He looked at her with concern spreading over his face. “Are you alright Morven love?”, he asked.

Cursing herself for being so obvious she tried to speak brightly “Yes, I’m fine dear, I just had a bit of a hiccup”.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to her to hide the worry on her face. But he did notice that she clutched at him a little tighter than usual.