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Demon's Bride (Shadow x Nurse)

Her eyes were filled with awe as they walked towards the gardens. She could smell them from afar, she could feel the wonderful heat from the place. She'd been cold her entire time here and had been craving heat. Here in the gardens she could find it. Her face beamed when he finally reached them, feeling as if her entire body was uplifted by the smell and presence of the flowers and plants. She walked along the path that was there, her hands out on either side to stroke the flowers as she walked by them. The room was filled with brilliant colors, reds, pinks, yellows, blues, purples, and a thousand other hues surrounding her.

She laughed from pure joy, spinning around a couple of times, completely lost in the flowers. She walked the entire garden twice around, her mood high and happy the entire time. She could see him watching her from afar. He dampened her happiness a little, but only a little. She knew she could come here to get away from anything that bothered her. She walked back over to him and smiled a real genuine smile, "Thank you for taking me here."
 
As he watched her exploring the garden and acting a bit like a child in awe, he almost smiled, this was at least better than the downcast woman he had spent the rest of his day around. It was... nice seeing her smiling and happy, if only because he saw rather little of that in the dour castle, where most smiles were as false as any mask. He simply allowed her to spend what time she wished here, though he glanced up at the sky and knew he would have to move on soon. He was pleasantly surprised when she thanked him in such a genuine tone... and he had to admit her smile was rather nice as such things went. He allowed himself a small smile in return before responding.

"You are welcome, I will inform the sentries that you are to be allowed in at any time." He paused a moment before continuing, "You won't be bothered here either, I am the only one who really comes here anymore," Finally he added, as he turned away, "You may stay here rather than continuing to accompany me if you wish, I will return to collect you for this evenings court session if so."
 
She saw his small smile and appreciated it. She guessed that he probably didn't smile much, and the mere fact that she could make him smile made her smile even more. Then she realized that she was smiling at him...because of him, and that was a little strange to her. Had her new husband really just made her happy? She wasn't sure, but she decided not to dwell on it. Eza didn't like to be unhappy as it was, so she allowed this happiness to fill her as long as she possibly could.

She felt a little bad for him when he offered to allow her to stay in the gardens. Did he not want her to go with him, or did he know that she'd much rather be here in the gardens than with him? Her smile faded a little and she said, "I will accompany you if you want me to. If you don't, I would be glad to stay here." she didn't want him to think that she wanted him to go alone, though she sort of did.
 
His own smile drifted back into a neutral expression, as she asked her question. Why had he offered that? Was it too give her time in a place she obviously enjoyed more than his company? Or just to allow him to go about his business unimpeded? He couldn't say for sure and so when he spoke he worded his answer carefully. "I believe you would enjoy your time spent here more than accompanying me to inspect the few other places I need to go. I am not opposed to you coming with me though if you so desire." He had enjoyed that brief moment of mutual enjoyment but it seemed things were back to the way they had been before.

He turned then and began walking to the exit fully expecting her to stay behind in the garden, His expression shifting to a slight frown as he made his way back into the hall, he did not glance back even once though he felt the urge too.
 
She was torn. So much of her wanted to stay in the gardens, but she knew that it was wrong to. She knew that if she let him go on his review alone, she would be doing a disservice to him. As he walked away from her she felt her heart ache as she tried to decide what to do. He got all the way into the hall before she ran after him, picking up her skirts so that she would get to him faster. She stopped running once she reached his side and caught her breath, still walking briskly to keep up with him. She wouldn't have been able to let him leave without her. As much as she wanted to be in the gardens, she knew it was wrong and could not go against what she felt.

"A wife's place is beside her husband," she said to him when she had caught her breath. She smiled at him again, though this smile was softer and seemingly more intimate than the one she'd given him before.
 
His sharp hearing caught her running footsteps as they left the ground of the garden and struck the stone of the halls, causing him to pause for a moment as she caught up with him, As she spoke he turned to look at her, and found her smiling again as she spoke, and once again he found himself returning her small affection, he simply nodded in response, and slipped her hand into his being careful to hold it as lightly as possible to avoid hurting her. He slowed his pace slightly as well allowing her to keep up more easily, and spoke again, his voice a bit less toneless than before.

"We have the training grounds and the library yet, to look over as well as a few other minor stops." he looks at her before speaking again, "And Eza, do keep my offer in mind, you may visit the gardens whenever you wish."
 
She held onto his hand tightly, a contrast from the light way he was holding hers. She couldn't hurt him, and she knew that. She appreciated the fact that he was clearly trying to avoid hurting her by not squeezing her hand too tightly. She had, so far, gotten two smiles out of him today. She felt very good about that. She walked beside him, going as quickly as she could. Even when he slowed down, his steps were so much larger and longer than hers that she had to take at least two to keep up with him. She felt a lot more confident about him now, about their relationship in general. They would undoubtedly have a million problems, but at least he knew that she didn't hate him.

"I will, Seiryu." she said, saying his name out loud for the very first time. She wasn't sure how he would react to her saying his name like that, without using something else before or after it. She didn't call him lord, or sir, or master, or even husband. He hadn't told her what to call him really, so she just said his name.
 
He nods easily again in response and doesn't overtly react to her use of his name, though he is glad to some degree to have her using it. As they begin to approach the training ground, the sound of practice weapons banging against one another can be heard, though before they reach the grounds he glances at her again and speaks, "While I do not mind you using my name so familiarly, I would remind you that in the public eye you should refer to me as Lord Seiryu, or simply Husband." he lapses into silence as they move out into the training grounds where a number of his soldiers and trainee's practice sword forms and other combat, he watches in silence for a moment, assessing the state of things, he finds a few nasty glances being tossed at the woman beside him, and feels himself react to their hostility with his own, flaring a spark of his demonic aura, which sends the ones its targeted at cringing away to the farther reaches of the grounds.

After a few more minutes he shakes his head, and turns, moving back into the halls, "Disapointing... I shall have to take some personal time to make sure that things are up to par tomorrow." he's speaking mostly to himself, but as he glances at her he adds in, "We have the library to check next," he pauses thinking for a moment, "Can you read Eza?" he asks,
 
"Yes, Husband," she said demurely as they came into earshot of the soldiers training on the field. She bent her head towards the ground and held his hand a little tighter, both for show to the soldiers and because they frightened her a little. She could feel their nasty glares on her, but at the same time she could feel Seiryu's anger. She glanced up just in time to see the soldiers who'd been glaring at her cringe and move away, no longer looking in her direction. She squeezed his hand to let him know silently that she appreciated what he'd done.

She follows him back to the hall, loosening her grip on his hand a little, but not much. She'd grown used to the slightly scaly texture of his hands, she no longer minded that it was different than a human hand. She nods vigorously, "Oh, yes. I love reading. Do...do you read often?" she asked, hoping the answer was yes. He seemed to be a skilled leader, and she knew that every human leader that was skilled was learned in ancient strategy, as he probably was.
 
He distantly felt her gesture of appreciation as they left, and would have responded in kind had he not been worried about harming her. "I enjoy reading on occasion, yes, though I find little enough time to do so in." he frowns a bit at the last as they continue one down another set of halls, past various doors and chambers, "I am glad you enjoy reading as well, the library is one of the things I take pride in, and is quite extensive.. though there are few enough human works here." he added absently. He adds though when he thinks about it, "We do have a few works by humans, mostly at Grandfathers insistence."

He frowns slightly in thought as they enter the vast hall of shelves where the scrolls and books are stored, "Grandfather is unussualy fond of humans, now that I think about it..."
 
"I can confidently say that I have never read anything that was not written by a human." she said with a little smile as they walked into the hall of books and scrolls. "I think I could recommend quite a few authors to you. War strategists, political theorists, and the like. If you're interested." she raised her head and scanned the high shelves piled with ancient looking scrolls and leather bound books. It would take a person forever to read all of the volumes kept here. Perhaps, she thought, they might be able to spend some time here together. The garden, she thought, was more of an alone place for her. This seemed to be a place that they could be together, if he had time.

"Maybe you could recommend to me a few demon authors?" she asked, genuinely interested. She wondered how different, if at all, demon literature would be from human. She thought it interesting too that his seemingly fully dragon grandfather would be so infatuated with humans.
 
"I have read very little human work, but perhaps I can acquire some from the next round of tribute." he muses as he wonders among the scrolls himself following her as she goes, "As for demonic authors, I suspect that it would depend on your tastes... we have our own war strategies and political theorems, but there are also treatises on rare plants, different aspects of nature, and numerous other things." he pauses her glancing toward a particularly dusty section of the library, "There is also a small fiction section, although its mostly for the children." He too is beginning to feel a bit better about this, having someone to speak with who isn't a two faced, back biting noble or a servile flunky.

"Perhaps when we have more time at our leisure we can explore a bit more." he finds himself giving her hand the lightest squeeze he can manage, as he speaks. glancing with annoyance through the window and finding that the sun has moved well past its zenith.
 
She appreciated his light squeeze of her hand, and though it hurt a little bit, she didn't mind. She knew he wasn't hurting her intentionally, so she could deal with it easily. She watched him look out the large window and frown at the position of the sun. She looked up at his face and understood that they had spent too long in both the gardens and the library. He still had other places he needed to review before the evening court session.

"If I am slowing you down, I can wait for you somewhere. Or I can just follow you to the best of my abilities, and you can do what you have to do and not stop for me. I understand," she gave him a little smile again, realizing that she was smiling at him quite often today. She didn't know if that was strange or not, that just seemed to be how it was.
 
He glanced at her and nodded slightly, "I do need to hurry and finish my review Eza, I apologize for leaving you behind in advance. Do you wish to spend the remaining time in the Library? I can come to get you for the court session when the time comes." He shifts his feet slightly, as he releases her hand regretfully. Moving toward the door, He added, "You were not a burden, I enjoyed this review more than I do most... but I need to finish this quickly, and I'm afraid you won't be able to keep up."

He opened the library door and looked back at her one more time, he was finding himself savoring those little smiles when they came, "I will see you in an hour or so." He called back to her and then left at a quick pace.
 
She nodded to him when he said he had to leave her behind. She completely understood, she knew she was a lot slower than he was, and she felt bad about it. There was nothing that she could do about it, she was human. She smiled at him softly, seeing in his face that he was appreciating her. "I have enjoyed it too," she said as he left, turning around and scanning the walls again. She sat down on a soft leather couch and pulled out a scroll, but realized it wasn't in her language. She pulled out another one and snuggled down into the couch and dug into it, quickly becoming enthralled in the scroll. The time passed by quickly for her, she didn't notice as the sun went down even further and the time passed by.
 
He strolled back to the library at a more sedate pace than he had left, his remaining list of places that needed inspecting had mostly been guard posts along the outer wall, a few areas dedicated to serving guests, as well as a few other miscellaneous places. All in all he was glad to be done... although it meant it was almost time for court. He sighed at that but soon had a neutral expression again as he opened the library door and spotted Eza on one of the reading couches. He found himself smiling for a moment as he saw her, and called out, "Time to leave I'm afraid, we need to report to the central court for the evening." As he walked closer he glanced at the scroll in her hands.

"So, what are you reading?" he leaned over slightly behind her to get a better look at the scroll, as the characters on it were rather small.
 
She looked up when he walked in, immediately aware that it was time to go. She hid the pout she wanted to give him, figuring that Seiryu wasn't one of those men that a woman could manipulate with a pout and batting of the eyes. They also weren't that close, and she wasn't sure if they ever would be. They seemed to reach some kind of nice accord today, but who knows how that would continue later when they had to be intimate again. Or, they didn't have to, but she didn't think that he would go without it.

She looked back down at the scroll again and sat up, rolling it up and replacing it on the shelf in the small hole that was left for it. "I'm not sure exactly. Something demonic, I know that. It was about religion. I didn't know demons had their own religion."
 
He offers her his hand as she stands, and replies, "Its not something many humans would know, Its a form of ancestor worship, and respect for various higher spirits." He takes her hand lightly as he begins leading her from the library, and into the halls, "We can discuss it more over our evening meal if you wish." His expression becomes more neutral as he continues, "We have a court session to attend first though I'm afraid."

As they continue through the halls and toward the central chamber he remains mostly silent, ordering his thoughts for dealing with th line of supplicants, and envoys he will likely have to deal with.
 
She held onto his hand and walked him him out of the library and into the hall. Their religion was very interesting to her. She wanted to know more about it. She didn't really have much of a religion, the people in her village spent most of their time thinking about their crops or worrying over attacks from the demon lord to pray to anyone else. She knew that the court session was a time when she needed to be absolutely silent. She had to give him deference in everything especially in the court.

"Yes, Husband." she said softly as they came nearer to the main chamber. She knew that there could be demons lurking anywhere, listening, and the last thing she wanted was for him to be seen being mouthed at by his puny human wife. Appearances were important in human society, but even more so with demons.
 
He nods silent as well now as they approach the doors once again, the huge stone gates swinging open slowly as they approach, the room has been rearranged slightly with a throne-like chair, on the dais, and a simple silk cushion behind it and a bit to the left. Beyond the dais The massive dragon that was his grandfather lay, head still resting on his front claws, though from the rhythmic breathing and closed eyes, it was clear the aged creature was asleep. Besides him the room was still mostly empty with a few early arrivals straggling in and finding seats.

He lead her up the carpeted stairs of the dais, in silence and gestured for her to use the cushion, while he took his seat on the throne. settling into the somewhat uncomfortable chair and watching as his own court filed in taking their places across from him, and leaving the large carpeted area free for any supplicants.
 
She sat on the cushion behind the thrown, folding her legs underneath her. She glanced behind her and saw the immense sleeping dragon there. He looked kind, though he was larger in size than almost her entire village. His scales were old, she could tell just by looking at him. She didn't know just how old he was, but she knew that demons generally lived much longer than humans did. She wondered how old Seiryu was, and how much longer he would live after she died, as she inevitably would. She looked around the room once as demons began to file in, but turned her eyes down quickly. She didn't want to see their glares.
 
It took another twenty minutes or so for all the court attendees to arrive and take their place, most of them pointedly ignored her presence beside him, since these were higher nobles they knew better than to express their displeasure in such a public forum. Soon enough though the line of supplicants formed to address the Lord, most being demons from outlying areas of his territory asking for aid with their problems, or requesting positions for themselves or their children at various posts, serving and military in the castle. Needless to say it was quite boring and the hours seemed to drag on and on before finally the last supplicant left, and the court was adjourned.

Still they had to wait for the rest of the nobles to leave before they did. When they were finally able to leave Seiryu stood, stretching the stiffness from his limbs, "Come, Wife, let us retire and take our evening meal." he kept his tone formal in case of any listeners.
 
Eza nearly fell asleep several times during the hours of the court session. However boring it'd been for her husband, at least he knew what the demons were talking about and had decisions to make. Eza just sat there next to the throne, trying her absolute best not to lilt to the side and tumble off of the dias. Finally the last supplicant left and then the noble demons began to final out. She stood after he did, stretching her limbs as well. She already loathed the court session, she was going to have to do this every day of her life? Ugh.

She extended her hand to him to take if he wanted to hold it (and secretly, she hoped that he did) and followed him out of the central chamber.
 
He took her offered hand, as his eyes roved over the empty courtroom, he then lead her carefully down the stairs of the dais. Truly court was his least favorite duty of being Lord, so many of the supplicants wished for trivial things, things that could be handled by any number of lesser functionaries, but tradition stated that he must listen to the pleas of his people in person. He lead her off to his chamber, passing his still sleeping grandfather, who hadn't awoken once, during the proceedings. When he left the hall and entered the hall leading to their chamber he finally allowed himself to relax with a slight sigh, and glanced at her.

"So how did you like your first court session Eza?" he asked a hint of amusement in his tone as if he already knew the answer to the question.. which really he did, "You did well at not falling asleep I remember barely holding on to consciousness when it was my father running things and I simply observing."
 
She felt some relief when they left the main chamber and walked back to his private ones. The central chamber seemed to be oppressive to her, to hold down any kind of spirits she might be able to have. Perhaps it was the fact that they'd been sitting in the same place he'd taken her the day before, but she hadn't thought of that once during the entire session. Perhaps it was the hundreds of demons who were in the room. Maybe they were making her feel that way on purpose, she knew demons had some kind of magical abilities that humans could only ever dream of.

She smiled and laughed softly when he asked her how she liked it. "It was...long. It seems a pity that hours of the lord's day should be wasted with such trivial matters. But humans have such traditions too,"
 
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