“What could they be doing in there?” Soondeok asked on the morn of the fourth day. “When the tenth prince and I were married, he couldn’t wait to get out of the room.”

Myunghee wondered if she ought to tell the young woman just what Soo and the fourth prince could be doing. “Probably just getting to know each other.”

“They can do that outside the room, surely?” Soondeok shook her head, trying and failing to get back to her work. If Soo were here, Soondeok could have taught her how to fight, and then they would not have had to keep making all these clothes.

“Good morning,” Baek Ah greeted brightly, rounding the corner of the gazebo with Eun in tow. He squinted across the pond and saw that the window to their room was closed. “Ah," he remarked in amused spirits, “what say you, nui? Do you think it finally happened?”

Myunghee wondered the same thing. She did not like the thought of Soo being forced into physical intimacy, but it seemed as though the two had waited a time and therefore hoped that whatever happened between them had been consensual. “The ladies reported seeing Soo in nothing but their blanket yesterday,” she informed him with a knowing look.

“Oho!” he clapped his hands as he sat down. “And how did she look? Did they find her happy, sour, frightened?”

“She was on the floor, and they said she looked happy enough.”

Baek Ah burst out laughing. “Frisky! Well, with her nature and his temperament, I can’t imagine they’ll be satisfied with just the bed. The cold floor does seem like a more appropriate avenue.”

“Yah, keep your voice down,” Myunghee chided, her lip twitching. “That is not an appropriate thing to say!”

“Why? There is no one around but you and me, and these two who are married,” Baek Ah said, staring pointedly at Eun, who was as red as a mating blanket and considerably less experienced.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Soondeok admitted blankly.

"Pay no mind to Baek Ah,” Eun snapped, shoving his brother’s shoulder forward and getting up. “He likes to joke around.”

Baek Ah hurriedly excused himself to chase after Eun. “Hyung, come on. You’ve been married for years. At this rate, Soo will get pregnant well before you've even touched Soondeok!” He grabbed Eun’s arm and pulled him to a stop. “I thought you loved her.”

“I do,” Eun said defensively.

“Then what’s stopping you?”

His brother looked uncomfortable. “It’s just…” he sighed, “she’s so innocent. She grew up sheltered by her father, in an army camp full of men! I sometimes wonder how she doesn’t know what mating is. I even tried leaving some… books… lying around grandfather’s place, but then I learned that she isn’t one to read. I've pointed mating animals out to her, even passed by a gisaeng house once and… nothing. I tried helping her undress,” he said it with a look of absolute astoundment, “she flipped me over her shoulder and wrestled me until I apologized.

Baek Ah was stumped. All this time, he had thought the problem was his brother’s lack of initiative, rather than ignorance on the part of his wife. Because Eun was right… there was no way a woman could grow up in an army full of men and remain ignorant about coupling, unless she was extremely - extremely - sheltered. Knowing Grand General Park’s protectiveness over the poor girl, it was not a far-off assumption.

His poor hyung was repressed. It was no wonder he tended to lash out.

In a gesture of support, he cleared his throat and wrapped an arm around Eun’s shoulders. “We’ll just have to… expose her to the intricacies of married life. Gently. How often do you kiss her?” The redness of Eun’s nose told him… not often. In fact, probably never. With a sigh, he glanced up at the grey morning sky. “Cold weather today, is it not?”

Soo was this close to abandoning all self-respect.

It was no longer a question of decency, or awkwardness. It was a matter of survival. She may be immune to most diseases from this century, but she could still very well freeze to death.

The upside was… the prince no longer felt… very distant. He was not as cold as he used to be, ironically. The colder the weather became, the warmer he was, and not just physically, though that was good, too.

Listening to him talk, watching him write words on the floor between them… she thought to herself that he was rather charming. She always did have a weakness for smart men.

Whoa, no. Rewind. You're not supposed to get too attached to this life.

A sigh made her straighten up at once.

“Yah, are you even listening?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Your eyes were unfocused.”

“I was… concentrating.”

The prince was no fool. Looking irritable for the first time in a while, he got up, but she grabbed hold of him.

“Your Highness,” she said, barely able to suppress a shiver from escaping her lips when her blanket slipped off her shoulders. “I’m sorry. No matter how hard I try, I just… I can’t see the invisible characters you’re writing on the floor. I have very poor imagination.”

Her pitiful look and self-deprecation almost made him laugh. Hiding his amusement behind a scoff, he sat back down and drew her hand to him.

She felt tingles when his finger began tracing lines on her palm. “Each character represents a word. This character is the sun… 日. Day.” He jerked his head towards the closed window. “Just imagine the sun rising beyond that window, signaling daytime.”

She retraced the word on her palm with a frown. “But why would there be a line in the middle? Shouldn’t it be like this? ." For that was how the window in the room looked.

“That’s the character for mouth,” he explained.

“But see, if you lift your tongue and open your mouth wide like this… then it’ll look more like the character for sun. I think it should be the other way around. Are you teaching me right?”

One look at his dour expression and she immediately retracted. “But of course there are many types of windows, and I can’t imagine anyone actually speaking with their tongues raised like that, so you’re probably right.”

A corner of his lips twitched but he decided to ignore her comments and continued, “If you add the sun to this character, you get warmth. 暖.”

“What does it mean without the sun? 爰.”

“To lead.”

He can see by her blank look that she's trying to understand it. “The sun brings warmth. This character is made up of other characters, too. This at the top is a claw 爪, over the character for friend 友, so-”

“The sun… chasing after a claw that is holding up a friend… is warm?”

It sounded silly when she said it like that.

“Forget the claw, just think of how the day is warmer when you have a friend around.”

The night could be warmer with a friend, too. Friendship. Warmth. No two words have ever sounded so good to her numb ears.

She was still trying to think of a way to get him to sleep with- beside her later. Should she shamelessly ask him like she did last night, and then slowly cuddle up to him, without saying anything? Should she seek his permission first? Should she make a list of all the reasons why having her freeze to death on their marriage bed was a bad idea?

Bother. Who knew this aspect of married life could be so complicated?

“Your eyes are unfocused again.”

She snapped to attention. “Sorry.”

He sighed. “I think we’ve covered enough for one day.”

It was a pity he thought so as she found she liked having him write on her palm. Also, the halting of lessons meant they were back to doing nothing.

“It’s getting dark, maybe that’s why I’m getting drowsy,” she said, walking to the window, thinking she would rather enjoy the last few hours of cold light than endure additional hours in pure, cold darkness.

With a grunt, she forced the window open and slowly inhaled the chilly, fresh air. She looked at the dark waters of the pond far below, wondering how deep it was, and if there were any fish left alive.

And that’s when she saw them.

She saw the first over the pond water’s reflection - a little snowflake undulating in the air, leading the descent of thousands. Surprised, Soo looked up in time to see a mosaic of white crystals against the grey sky.

“Omo,” she couldn’t help but gasp, stretching out a hand in the hopes of catching one, a difficult feat despite there being so many. They swayed and danced and generally kept out of her reach, but she didn’t mind. She liked the challenge. “Wah, it’s so beautiful…”

Seeing her so enthusiastic made So wonder if this was her first time seeing snow since she lost her memories. She was completely engrossed in them and seemed to have forgotten all about how cold she was, a state augmented by the darkening of her pale lips.

With an inward sigh, So stood behind her, bracing himself against the window frame and eyeing the vestiges of that year’s first snow. This was not his first time seeing it, and he knew it would not be his last. The first snow only served to remind him of the cold days of his past, and the colder days to come, but her enthusiasm was catching, and he had to hide a smile.

When she turned abruptly, he flinched and took a step back, but then he saw the pure joy on her face as she beamed at him, palm spread out in front of her to reveal a tiny crystal melting into her skin. Her bright eyes moved up to look into his. “Snow. What’s the character for snow?”

He took her hand gently but firmly, noticing how cold it was, and began to write. 雪. “The first is rain 雨.”

She nodded. That made sense. “And the one under it? Wind? Cold?”

He really did smile then. “彐. Snout.”

“What?” she exclaimed, flabbergasted. When she saw that he was smiling, she couldn’t help but admonish, “Now I know you’re making fun of me.”

“I’m not,” he promised, forcing down his laughter. It was a foreign feeling - this sudden desire to laugh. He was not entirely sure he knew how to. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he had done so… but he supposed he must have, a long time ago.

“How do rain and snout make snow?” she demanded shrewdly.

He swiped a finger across her nose and shut the window. “Your nose is dripping and your lips are blue. Focus on staying alive first before you start questioning how the world works.”

Thus reminded of how frozen she was, Soo hitched the blanket back around her shoulders and clambered into bed, burying deep beneath the covers in the hopes of finding even just a modicum of warmth. The first snow was a beautiful sight… but the cold it brought with it was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

Try as she might not to, she found herself thinking of modern heaters, hot showers, furnaces, hot coffee. Ah, she hasn't had coffee in so long. She vowed then and there that the first thing she would do upon returning to her time would be to get herself a cup of freshly brewed, hot coffee.

Assuming she could live through tonight, something she seriously doubted. She was going to die. She just knew it.

No sooner had she thought this than the space beside her dipped, and the blanket lifted, buffeting her temporarily with frigid air, before falling into place again.

Her heart leapt. It was now or never.

At least , she reasoned to herself in an attempt at optimism as she edged ever so discreetly his way, you didn’t have to lure him into bed this time.

“Did you know,” her teeth chattered, “that men have… more blood in their bodies… than women?”

He was silent for a moment. “We are bigger.”

“Yes. Exactly,” she agreed. “That means that… nature… made you to be warmer than women.”

He grunted, knowing where she was going with this statement - literally, which meant he was mentally and physically prepared by the time she reached him.

“It is a fluke of nature and must be shared with the less fortunate,” she declared stoutly. The poor thing was shivering so badly, he didn’t have the heart to refuse her. Not that he was going to, in any case, as he much preferred alive Hae Soo to frozen Hae Soo.

It seemed that no amount of squirming and burrowing on her part was thawing her out quickly enough, and So, afraid that her restless limbs might encounter aspects of his person that he knew neither of them currently wished to acknowledge, decided to help her.

“Keep still and just breathe,” he instructed, keeping his arm firmly about her shoulders and lifting the sheets up to cover her head.

Soo would never say it out loud… but she liked this new sleeping arrangement quite a lot. Her 21st century body just was not used to sleeping in forests, in moist caves, on rocky terrain, sometimes wet with rain and plagued by insects. On many occasions, she had cried for her soft, warm bed with its soft, warm sheets and pillows, wondering if she was ever going to get a good night’s rest ever again…

But this night, with the silk and cotton sheets around them, his arm warming her back, the rest of his body warming her front, and the strong beating of his heart warming her ear and face, she discovered to no surprise and a bit of sheepishness on her part that she felt completely content and comfortable.

Thinking it would be unbecoming of her to fall asleep in that fashion without saying anything, she uncovered her head and looked up at him, trying to see his face in the suddenly very dense blackness. Evidently, the sun had finished setting whilst she was being warmed. “Your Highness,” she began, but paused. What she should say? Would a thank you suffice?

However, he spoke first. “Better?”

“Much,” she replied at once, then paused again, wondering if admitting to this improvement in her circumstances meant it was time for her to go - back to her uninvitingly cold side of the bed.

With more than a tinge of regret, she thanked him and made to sit upright, except his hand on her shoulder pulled her back down again.

“Where are you going?”

“Oh, I was just… going to…” she twisted her body in the opposite direction, but one strong tug and she was back in his arms. She swallowed hard. “What if I punch you again?”

“Your punches don’t hurt.”

“Then what if I kick you?”

“Only your arms move when you sleep.”

“But what if-”

“Soo-yah,” he interrupted, “if you go away, you’ll just freeze and crawl back, and then I’ll have to warm you up again. It’s better this way.”

Instead of feeling touched by his concern and forethought, she was mortified by the underlying meaning behind such words. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

He sighed. There was no denying it was inconvenient, but it was something that she could not help, after all, and therefore warranted no apology. To take her mind off her self-pity, he offered her his palm. “Write down all the words you learned today.”

She did it eagerly, rolling onto her back so she could free her dominant right hand and use her left to hold his steady.

“And… friend.” She felt proud when she finished and returned to lying on her side. “Two moons chasing each other. I would have thought them lovers more than friends.”

He smirked, thinking she had a point there. Then, opening her left hand, which she had left on his chest, he wrote on its palm the actual symbol of love. 愛.

“Heart,” she whispered, recognizing the middle character. “Heart between what?”

“冖 cover-cloth. 夂 moving slowly.”

Internally, she cursed her dirty thoughts and fought to close her mind so as to curb her emotions. Friend. He’s just a friend. Your marriage is temporary.

She blushed and thanked the darkness that he couldn’t see her face because not only were they currently under layers of cloth, but this relationship they had - if it were ever to come to fruition - was certainly taking its time getting there. Or was it?

Was the character for love formed with lovemaking in mind, with two hearts directly over each other, moving the relationship from the confines of friendship into something more? If that were the case, she was inclined to disagree. Love was more than , she always thought. Love, to her, was choosing heart over friendship. It was a decision… just like it had been a bad decision on her part to fall in love with her ex.

He cleared his throat. “Moving more in context of walking. If you view it in your mind, the character rather resembles a person walking at leisure.”

“Does it?” she mumbled, distracted. She tried to imagine what he could mean. “Yes, I suppose it does.” Perhaps she had misjudged the character. Perhaps what it meant was two people decently clothed, getting acquainted with each others’ hearts while ambling together, even metaphorically through life. That certainly painted a different image, one vastly more wholesome than the previous. It also encompassed more than just love between man and woman.

Embarrassed by her unwholesome musings from earlier, she said nothing more, and neither did he.

Still, she felt she had to show her appreciation for his understanding and patience over the past few days, and decided that once they were out again, she would spend her time thinking up ways to make it up to him.

But for now…

She impressed a quick kiss upon his cheek, hoping it would suffice as her apology for their present circumstances and for when she would have to leave them all, as well as her gratitude for all he’s done for her and their companions thus far.

“Goodnight,” was all she said as she pulled the sheets up over her head to cover her embarrassment. She noted how fast his heart was beating under her ear, and had to suppress a smile at the knowledge that she had caught him off-guard.

Later, though the servants would knock and call for them repeatedly, the door to the fourth prince’s room would remain closed, and their dinner left untouched ‘til morning.

Hae Hanjae’s lazy smile upon hearing this report over breakfast was not shared by his brother, who raised his eyebrows and asked, “Are you certain they are even still alive?”

“For sure, master,” the head maid replied obsequiously, “the ladies reported hearing Lady Hae shouting when they exchanged the dinner tray for breakfast.”

Hae Hajin merely snorted and resumed eating, ignoring his younger brother's look of triumph.

“Then I think better conditions are in order,” Hanjae remarked imperiously, turning to the head maid. “You know what to do.”

She bowed her head. “Yes, master.”

“In addition, inform Grand General Park that I wish to speak with him. It is about time we fulfilled our end of the bargain.”

When he fell asleep last night, So never imagined he would be woken up the next morning by an alarming shriek and, if that was not enough to fully jolt him into consciousness, a familiar little body landing squarely on his person.

For her part, Soo had never intended to wake him so rudely, but all her delicate maneuvering over and around his body proved pointless the moment her bare toes came in contact with the icy floor. It seemed to have reached subzero temperature overnight, a distinction heightened by her comfortably warmed feet.

“Omo,” she gasped in horror, hearing him audibly grunt and double over. “Are you alright?”

‘What…” he grumbled, falling back onto the bed with a sigh after a precursory survey around the room revealed no overt dangers, “what happened?”

Sheepishly, she tucked her offended toes beneath her. “I did not expect the floor to be so cold.”

He fixed her with a flat stare.

"Sorry,” she mumbled in embarrassment before hastily getting off him and tumbling to the floor. She hissed at the cold and wondered if running to the loo would be better than crawling there.

So took notice of the subtle sunlight being filtered in through the hanji covering the upper walls of the room, which should not have been this bright, unless…

A knock on the door forced him to sit up. Attendants called on them from beyond, but So was too flummoxed to immediately open it.

It was not so much the fact that he had been woken up by Soo falling all over him that bothered him… but the fact that it had taken that much to wake him at all, when he normally would have woken up at the barest of movements. Unless Soo was incredibly careful and light on her feet, which she wasn’t, her waking and stretching alone should have woken him up… but not only did he sleep through that, he had even slept through her skirting around him to the floor.

He glanced up at the hanji a second time, just as another knock broke through the quiet in her temporary absence.

Opening the door, he was greeted by the same ladies who brought in their food every morning.

They bowed as low as can be managed while holding onto trays of hot food, and filed in when he wordlessly bade them entry.

“Is that food?” Soo asked, returning upon their exit. Quick as she could, she crossed the room to the table and sat down, tucking her cold feet beneath her legs. They had gone to bed without dinner last night and she was famished. The stir fried fish laden with vegetables looked scrumptious, and the piping hot fish soup that accompanied it demanded her immediate attention. “I suppose we won’t be having too much fresh vegetables soon,” she mumbled on account of the many vegetable side dishes laid before her. The kitchens would likely dispense of them before they spoiled, or else preserve them in brine. She wondered if making kimchi before its invention would alter the world’s future for the worse. She decided not to test it. “Shall we?”

She put vegetables and chunks of fish on his rice as he sat down, completely oblivious to his internal dilemma.

Putting her chopsticks to her lips, she sheepishly asked, “Did I hit you at all last night?”

“No,” he replied, wondering if that was the actual truth as he had no recollection of any physical assault other than the one that woke him.

“Oh!” she said, brightening. That was an improvement. Coloring slightly, she thought the reason for her good behavior was likely that she had been too comfortable in her sleep for her body to complain. As a discrete form of thanks, she ceremoniously poured him a cup of tea.

Midway through breakfast, there was another knock on their door. As this was the first time anyone has bothered them outside delivering them food, they exchanged puzzled looks.

“More vegetables?” she hazarded.

Not likely , he thought in amusement, getting up. He took the blanket off the bed as an afterthought and gave it to her. Once she had covered herself with it, he opened the door.

To their surprise, they were greeted by a dozen ladies, all of them bearing things on their arms.

“Good morning,” the head maid greeted, entering first. With a wave of her hand, the ladies filed in and immediately got to work around the room.

Afraid that they might inspect her and find her still untouched, Soo quickly got off her seat and hid behind the prince, hoping his intimidating aura might dissuade them from coming near.

“My masters wish to have an audience with the fourth prince this morning at his earliest convenience,” the head maid said with deference.

So frowned but did not say anything.

They watched in silence as the ladies busied themselves - replacing old candles, inserting hot stones beneath newly changed sheets, cleaning the floor and furniture, and even stocking the cabinet at the far corner with fresh robes and linens.

“You would be much more comfortable going outside in fresh clothes,” the head maid said suddenly, addressing Soo.

At this, she panicked, knowing full well that they intended to undress her. From there, it would be all too easy for them to feel her up.

But her prince, in a voice as severe as the frown upon his face, warned, "Do what you must... but I will not tolerate any indecencies performed on her person."

The head maid had expected resistance and smiled benignly. "I will personally see to it that such a violation does not occur."

Evidently, her word was not enough to satisfy the prince, who commanded in a tone that demanded obedience, "Let her undress in private. Her sokchima she can don herself."

Soo watched this silent battle of wills between her husband and the head maid, wondering who would win. To the surprise of no one, the former won, by both rank and virtue of intimidation. Thus, Soo gratefully accepted the sokchima and padded quickly to the backroom to change.

It was only as they were dressing her that she wondered... when was it that she started thinking of him as her prince? And, perhaps more importantly, her husband? She met his watchful gaze from across the room and found herself blushing. Love was a choice, she had always believed that, and, on account of all that had transpired and would transpire in days to come, it was imperative for her to draw the line now and decide to see him as just a good friend.

Soo was grateful for Myunghee's tact. It was past noon and all the princes had been summoned to a meeting, of which the women were unwelcome. So there they were, sitting in the kitchen and passing the time by grinding up herbs, curing meat and vegetables, and there was Myunghee, occasionally stealing covert glances Soo's way, but not saying anything until most of the help had gone out to deliver trays of sweets and refreshments to the men.

"Here," she said in a low voice, pressing a tiny jar into Soo's hand. "I know it must have been uncomfortable and even painful, so I had this prepared. It always helped me after contact with my own husband. You'll feel better after a while."

Soo was not sure what to feel first. Of course, she was grateful for Myunghee's thoughtfulness, guilty about the deceit, and felt awful about what this meant for Myunghee's marital life. Either the eighth prince did not know how to bed a woman properly, or he simply didn't care enough about his wife to do it. Providing him with an heir had been Myunghee's top duty, and Soo wondered if their lack of success had caused the prince to stop caring about his wife's comfort altogether, or if it meant he had taken her every night in the hope that whatever they could not achieve through quality congress, they might through quantity. Whatever the scenario, he had caused her cousin pain and discomfort, and Soo hated him all the more for it.

thick with angry tears, she hugged Myunghee fiercely and thanked her. At night before bed, she would make it a point to add to her prayers for Myunghee to find a man who can treat her right, the way she deserves to be treated.

"Oh, here you both are," Soondeok said, entering the kitchen looking relieved though slightly distracted. "It's good to see you outside again, Soo-yah."

"It's good to see you, too. Is something the matter?" Soo asked, pocketing the little jar carefully.

Myunghee also picked up on Soondeok's apprehension. "It's alright, Soondeok-ah, you can tell us what's bothering you. There is no one nearby to eavesdrop."

"Unnie... Soo-yah..." she said, lips quivering. "I think I might be pregnant."

Such was their shock that Soo and Myunghee exclaimed at once, "What?!"

Soo had no idea Eun and Soondeok had even, finally, consummated their marriage, much more that they had done it often enough for the young woman to suspect herself pregnant. Although, she supposed, for some people, it only takes once to get the work done.

"What makes you say that?" Soo asked, bewildered, unable to stop her eyes from traveling downwards. Soondeok had neither winced uncomfortably, nor waddled upon entering, the way a true might after first time , which meant whenever they had , it wasn't recent. "Do you feel nauseous? Have your monthly cycles stopped? Do your s hurt?"

Soondeok looked scandalized. "No."

"Then... what makes you think you're-?"

"He kissed me."

The silence that followed this statement was so pronounced, Soo thought she must have gone deaf. "Er... kissed you where?" she decided to ask to be sure, but Soondeok only looked at her like she was stupid for asking such a question, which told Soo one thing: Soondeok was as innocent as they came.

"Wait, so your husband kissed you?" Myunghee clarified, to which Soondeok nodded. "Did he do... anything else?"

"No," Soondeok said, relaxing slightly. "Should he have done?"

Soo thought better about laughing. With a genial pat of the hand, she said, "Don't worry, Soondeok-ah... you're not pregnant."

"Deok-ah, when a man and woman consummate their marriage..." Myunghee sighed. Since they were on the subject, it had become incumbent upon her and Soo to explain to their innocent sister-in-law exactly what had to be done for a woman to get with child. Someone should have done so before the marriage, but since the poor girl was without a mother or a sister to turn to, Soo couldn't fault her for her ignorance.

Afterwards, Soo and Myunghee hoped, as they watched Soondeok flee, that the horrified look on her face would abate by evening, especially now that it seemed the tenth prince was finally willing to take his role as husband seriously.

"We leave tomorrow."

Surprised by the sudden announcement, Soo stopped brushing her hair and turned to her husband. "That soon."

"The fortress at Pyongyang is growing by the day. We can no longer afford to dally," he explained, looking up from the map on the table for the first time that evening. Getting to his feet, he walked over to her and said in a low voice, "I'll be frank. We've managed to fool them for now... but if by the time I return, you aren't with child, they will likely demand that we sleep in the same room again for some days."

Soo had to prioritize this information. "How long will you be gone, exactly?"

"A moon's cycle, at least."

So long. She tried to adjust her feelings as she was feeling confused, sorrowful, and anxious all at once. "Do you think we can fool them a second time?" For the lack of bodily fluids from their sheets was suspicious enough this time... a second time and her uncles would know for sure that the marriage had not yet been legalized.

He pursed his lips. "I do not know."

She nodded, expecting the answer. And then, steeling her nerves, she said quietly, "In any case... I don't mind." She wondered if he understood what she was implying, but they were both silent, assessing each other. Soo had Myunghee's gift and, currently, the right disposition. If tonight he wished to further things between them... she knew she would not stop him.

"A month, then," he said quietly at last, turning away. "Sleep, Soo-yah. Don't wait for me."

Trying not to think too much into the conversation, Soo finished brushing her hair and got into bed. He had extinguished all candlelight earlier, save for the one he had on the table with him, but the room was no longer so cold as to warrant him lying beside her. The hot stones beneath their bed provided a comfortable heat, as did the brazier by the wall. Still, she found, as she tossed and turned, she was not comfortable at all.

At length, she did find sleep... and when the next day she woke, it was to discover the space beside her cold and untouched, and, even without taking that solemn turn around the room, she knew that he had already gone.