They are so darling together, aren’t they? Let’s hope this bottle of gin doesn’t have a Tragic End at the bottom of it. I usually don’t. Usually. The end of one of my books is absolutely horrible. The end of Foes & Rivals is tragic as regards what Nichole 5’s mission was, but not horrid, as we get to see many of the players in later short stories and with walk-ons in a few novels. I don’t think that is where this going.

Even in A Texas Naval Affair, Fussy was faced with her cousin wanted to wed a former thug. Not exactly an adornment to the imperial family, but that mostly turned out well. Mostly.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Sensing he was tired and her having been on the base many times before, Liz led Josh past some legionary barracks to what looked like officer country.  With a nod to the junior centurion on duty, she took him to a room seconded to her.  The lock was electronic, so she opened it with her mind.  He quickly agreed to a nap, pausing only when she moved a chair next to the bed and sat.

“We are both relatively young, and in the first flush of love.  Even demis get carried away.  Witness my mother having sex several times before she got married.” A flash of yellow.  “And don’t tell people that.  If I lay down next to you?  Complicated.  I shall sit here and watch you.”

“I did mention,” he said with a sigh, leaning his head back, “you people can sound sinister sometimes…”

His eyes shut and breathing regular, she moved soundlessly, almost sinister, to touch her lips to his.  “I know.”

Splashing some water onto his face two hours later, Josh asked if there would be food when meeting her step-dad.

“Yes, but likely just scraps.  My mother cannot cook and from life in the legions, just scrounges,” Liz admitted.

“Not much of an imperial family y’all have here,” he smiled.

“We are, I admit, making it all up as we go.  First born, I will never be empress; I hate politics.  I like engineering.  And now, you.” He watched her tilt her head right just a little.  “My eldest brother?  That’s something else you can never discuss, but for that reason, will not be the heir.  Much like Octavian’s power, resting on the Legions and People, so, too, my mother’s.  She can pass her legal and extra-legal powers onto whoever she wants.”

“But still in the family?” he asked, toweling off and slipping back into his dress shoes.

“Yes.  I have a suspicion…”

“Hmm?”

“No.  I will never tell you a lie, but until we are married, I am still a Hartmann and there are some things I cannot discuss with you.”

“Geez.  Will I have to take your name, too?”

“No.  I will be Elizabeth Harvest.  However, any demi children of ours… we might have to use the empress’ surname.”

“Politics!” he breathed, leaning down to give her another kiss before helping her up.

“I’ve already told you,” she agreed, “I hate it, too.”

“But,” he went on as they left the room then the building, “you are, after all, a princess.  I suppose you, and if your mother agrees to all this, me, will have to at least be on the fringes of it.”

“You, Intended, make me want to go back to the moon,” she grumbled a little.  Josh laughed.