Eallair immediately knew there was something wrong when he entered the room. Madlenka was lying on the bed staring up at the ceiling, wearing a funereal expression on her face.

It had been quite a hard day for Eallair, out surveying the various building sites. Things had been more difficult since Garrick had collapsed. He was not as helpful as he once had been, and seemed unable to concentrate on the task at hand, like his mind was constantly wandering elsewhere. Eallair was one man down, when there were no more men to be had and he felt it keenly.

He lay on the bed next to his wife.

“So… are we staring aimlessly at anything particular”, he asked in a dry tone of voice.

Madlenka looked at him with irritation.

“Are you mocking me?” she cried, a slight bite of anger in her voice.

“Of course not my lovely Queen. Would I ever be one to tease? Now is there something I can do to cheer you up? You look as though someone has killed your cat.”

She could not keep a small giggle in at that, and he wrapped an arm cosily around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, nuzzling her soft cheek with his bristly one.

“Is there something I can do for you my Maddy”, he whispered close to her sorrowful little face. He gently rubbed his nose against hers, but her eyes were tightly shut.

When she opened them he could see they were brimming with tears, her mouth twisted into a strange smile in a desperate attempt to stop them from overflowing and running down her trembling cheeks. His heart beat uncomfortably in his chest.

“I have an idea”, he said cheerfully, to try and distract her. He knew how she hated to cry in front of him or anyone for that matter. She nodded, unable to say anything lest the tears come flooding out.

“Let us go outside and watch the sunset… it was particularly beautiful when I came in to find you”.

Now she spoke, “But I am wearing my nightgown! Someone might see!”

Eallair grinned and said, “I do not think anyone is on the deck at present. And if anyone does see you I strongly doubt they will be offended, rather I might have to fight them off with a stick”.

She looked cross.

“Oh you silly thing, do not worry about such things. Just trust me. Come outside. It will be beautiful”.

They stood outside on the deck watching the sun sink slowly below the horizon, splashing pink and golden hues over the canvas of the ocean.

Madlenka pressed her hands together and sighed, “Oh Eallair… it really is so very beautiful”.

She sighed again, this time more deeply. Eallair watched her as she gazed out to sea, a gentle, summer breeze stirring her hair, which was glowing a soft golden red in the fading light.

Eallair raised a hand to lovingly stroke that hair.

“Maddy love, please tell me what is wrong? You know I cannot tell. I am only a simple man and I cannot read your thoughts, though I wish I could”.

Madlenka turned towards him, her face soft, the last light staining her skin with the colours of the sky. She was so beautiful, a goddess walking the earth and he just a mere man trying to worship at her feet.

She sighed again and spoke, a tightly controlled sound the belied the tears hidden beneath it, waiting to surface at some unbidden moment, “I am afraid that I shall never have a child Eallair”.

He had been worrying sometimes of this too, but trying with all his might not to let his open face reveal this. But now it had been said and the surprise was so great it took every ounce of his control, to set his features into an expression of amused surprise.

“But Maddy, why would you worry such a thing?” he asked, the tone of his voice carefully regulated.

She did not answer, and looked at him helplessly. He could not bear this expression of vulnerability from his strong wife for very long so he tilted her chin up and gently kissed her trembling lips.

She kissed him back with such ferocity he was pushed up against the railing. Her body was trembling as she pressed against him and he felt his heart thumping against his ribcage so hard that he thought it would jump right out.

“Why Maddy”, he cried pulling away from her, “Are you trying to give this man a heartattack? Are you not worried someone might see?” He could not resist the opportunity to tease her.

She grinned at him sensually in the fading light, her lips turning up at the corners in the most delightful way. It was obvious to him that she had decided to set her worries aside for the moment, and so he too shoved his back from the place they had risen from.

“I would appreciate if his Majesty would deign to adjourn to the bedroom with me, where perhaps we can remedy this problem”.

“Well I definitely do not need to be told twice”, he grinned at her.