Ginny

GINNY

I 've had some good times with Asteron. He is a considerate lover, worshiping my body with everything he has, and he loves to get me to try new foods, but today…today has been different. He has been different, more at ease, as we walked around the shopping district of Mazos.

The pale-colored buildings were airy and everyone welcoming. They seemed genuinely pleased and honored their king was visiting, but there was no fuss. Just simple, easy hospitality as Asteron insisted I look at shoes, more clothing, underwear (he enjoyed that part considerably), and jewelry.

Finally, we ended up in a restaurant which was suspiciously empty of other diners, but the owner beamed at us as dish after dish was brought out.

Xnossons prefer to eat lying down for most meals and Asteron chose a secluded spot where we could still see out into the street but were mostly hidden from view. He delighted in explaining the dishes, offering me up morsels to try and practically coming in his pants every time my lips touched his fingers.

My massive Minotaur king is a complete cinnamon roll and he makes my heart hurt with utter joy.

"Have you enjoyed yourself, little queen?" he asks, reclining against the comfortable cushions with me lying against him while he strokes my hair.

"It's been so nice to do this, Asteron. I've never been shopping, not while I've been an adult."

"You haven't?" he queries.

"The place I was born on Earth, England, was a disaster zone when we were evacuated onto the star cruisers. Rising sea levels and flooding meant my family had been living in a single room in a grim tower block for months, rarely going outside, using the food dispensers installed by the government and which provided us with rations which were barely edible and not enough." I sigh. "I have vague memories of my mum taking me to a shopping center when I was little. It was a huge place, filled with life and bright things, but that's all."

"I am sorry for you and your planet," Asteron says.

"Don't be. We brought it on ourselves. Britannia and Albion were to be our saviors. They were anything but…" I can feel the tears choking me and I don't want to give in to them.

"You are loyal to your family." He wraps a big arm around my shoulder and across my chest. "If I didn't already love you so much I want to burst, I'd love you more for it."

A tear slips from my eye, rolling down my cheek until it drops onto his hide.

"Little queen." He turns me to face him. "If I could bring back your family, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"I know," I say as he swipes a thumb over my cheek, wiping away the tear. "It's been a long time, and I thought I'd come to terms with losing them, but perhaps today, of all days"—I think about my stomach, filled with food…and more—"I'd have liked to be able to speak to my mum. To tell her about you and the baby."

"I have a present for you," Asteron says.

"You already bought me all those clothes and everything else," I half sob, half laugh. "I don't need anything."

"My queen needs a crown," Asteron says, delving behind him and pulling out a round box. "She should have jewels." He pulls out another box, this time square.

"Asteron!" I say, exasperated. "When did you get all of these?"

He ignores me, pulling out more boxes which he sets down in front of me before starting to open them all. Flashes of light hit the gems inside and they sparkle like stars.

"Really! This is too much."

"It is never enough. You outshine them all, my ."

He opens the final box, the round one, and dips in both hands, bringing out a crown.

I've never seen a crown in real life. Asteron doesn't wear one, and the only other place I've had a glimpse of one is on old vids from the very early twenty-first century, back when we thought we had time to stop our country sinking beneath the waves.

This one is incredibly delicate in Asteron's big hands. It looks like it's been spun out of precious metals and whipped into a sculpture of light. White gems, astro-diamonds, dot every inch, interspersed with galactic sapphires and emeralds.

"Let me." He leans in and reverentially places it on my head.

It fits perfectly.

"My queen." He gives me a slightly awkward, seated bow. "My reason for being. My light, my fire, and my heart."

I put up a hand to touch the jeweled headpiece, not knowing what to say and almost terrified by it.

"It's beautiful and those words too, they're beautiful," I say, only just managing to push out a hoarse whisper.

"It is the last thing my mother said to me," Asteron says. "She always had a way with words."

"She must have loved you very much."

"As did your family." He smiles sadly.

I grip at his hand.

"We have each other now, and a baby too," I say with a fierceness I thought was only temporary, and yet has come back with full force.

"We do, don't we?" Asteron says, his entire face lighting up as he reaches through all the jewelry to place his hand over my stomach. "I can't wait."

Tears are falling again, but this time I let them.

"Neither can I."