Morning sunlight was streaming through the windows of the royal bedroom when Yunho woke up the next morning.  It had taken him a long time after Kari slept for him to fall asleep, mainly because it had been rather warm in the room.  The downy comforter trapped heat, but if he took the comforter off, it got too cold.  By the time he got comfortable, it was nearly dawn. 

His solution to the temperature problems was to take the downy comforter off his upper half, leaving only a thin silk sheet to cover his chest.  So why was there extra weight, and warmth on his legs?  He opened his eyes to find Kari’s very pale, very bare legs across his.  Yunho felt his face warming.  He couldn’t help but let his eyes follow the curve of her legs to where the rest of her was sprawled out.  She took up a good two-thirds of the extremely large bed just by spreading her arms and legs out as far as she could.  There were two things he noticed quickly: the first was that she had thrown her part of both the comforter and the sheets off of her, the second, that his shirt was not nearly long enough for the position she was in. 

Yunho averted his eyes as quickly as he could and sighed to himself, his pulse rising.  How did he manage to get into this mess and how was he going to get out of it without waking Kari up?  He definitely didn’t want her to wake up and find them in this position.  It was indecent.  Never mind the fact that they were married, now.  He sighed again and sat up, careful not to move too quickly.  He reached down and, as gently as he could, moved Kari’s legs off of him.  Once he was free, he got out of the bed and looked around for his jacket.  He had set it on a chair after handing Kari his shirt last night.  He couldn’t ask for his shirt back, but he wasn’t about to go walking around the palace with his chest completely . 

After he spotted the jacket on a chair near the doors, he hurried to it and  tripped over a pile of fabric in the middle of the floor.  Luckily, since the floors were stone, his landing was actually rather quiet.  But, he still froze as he heard Kari shifting on the bed.  Please don’t wake up, please don’t wake up.   She didn’t.  He got to his feet and glanced back at her.  She had curled up into a ball in the center of the bed, and she still didn’t have any of the covers on.  It really was hot in the room.  Yunho felt like he was burning up.  He felt like he had to get out of the room before he caught on fire.

Pulling on his jacket, he tentatively tried the door.  Good, it was unlocked.  Now, he could leave before Kari woke up.  He shut the door quietly behind him and nearly jumped back into the room in shock as he turned around.  A man he hadn’t seen before was standing in the middle of the sitting room, staring at him.

“Your Majesty?  Do you require something?”

Yunho really wanted to be rude to the man and say something like, “I require you people to go away and leave me alone” or, “Of course I require something.  I require a way back to my world”.  But, he wasn’t Changmin.  He wasn’t about to start his new relationships off on a bad foot just because he was a little (well, more than a little) cranky. 

“Is there anywhere I can get clean clothes and maybe a shower?”

The man looked pleased that he could be of service to his king.

“Of course, Majesty.  There are clothes for you in your dressing room and…what was your other request?”

Yunho sighed.  “A shower.  I guess you don’t have those here.  A bath, then?”

“Of course, Majesty.  Your bathing chamber is right through those doors.”  He pointed at the pair of doors to Yunho’s left.  “If you would like, I can show you how the bathing chamber works and fetch you your clothes for the day?”

Well, Yunho knew how to work a tub, but he guessed that this place didn’t have internal plumbing.  After all, the ‘privy’ was nothing more than a hole in the floor of a small room that was cleaned out by magic after you used it.  He nodded to the man and followed him into the ‘bathing chamber’.  That sounded like a really fancy name for someplace to take a bath.  Then again, everything here had a really fancy name. 

Yunho felt his jaw drop as he walked into the room.  It was larger than he had expected, with a swimming pool sized depression in the middle of the floor.  There was a tap at one end of the pool.  Instead of steps leading down into the pool, the floor sloped into it, kind of like a beach entry tub.  But, the pool was not what caught his eye.  Floor to ceiling windows looked out into what Yunho could only describe as a jungle. Light filtering through the foliage gave the massive amounts of white stone and silver in the room an otherworldly greenish glow.  Even though the windows only covered one wall, it felt like the pool was placed directly in the middle of the jungle and there were no walls at all.  Life-sized plants filled the room, making it look like the jungle never really ended, but continued on all around him.  This was a bathing chamber?  Did these people do everything to this extreme? 

The sound of running water brought his attention back to the man standing next to the pool.

“Majesty, the tub will be filled in a moment.  Will you require assistance?”

“No, it’s alright.  I can bathe myself.  Thanks.”

“Then, shall I bring your fresh clothes?”

“Yes, please.”

“I shall return shortly, Majesty.”

With that, the man bowed deeply and walked out of the room.  Yunho stared for a few more moments, then undressed and climbed into the now-full pool.  The water was steamy; but instead of fogging up the glass of the windows, it merely hung about in the room.  The steam rising from the pool did a very good job of blending with the steam that was already present in the jungle, making it look like it had just rained in some kind of tropical forest.  This was cool. 

He had been soaking for a good ten minutes before the servant came back.

“Majesty?  I have brought your clothes, and a message from High Wizard Yazin.  He would like you to meet him in your private dining hall when you are finished with your bath.  What shall I tell him, Majesty?”

Like Yunho had any choice in the matter.

“I’ll be there.”

“Very good, Majesty.  Do you require anything, or shall I leave?”

“I’m fine.  You go ahead.”

I hate the sun.  Kari had a huge window in her room at home, and every morning, even when she had no reason to wake up early, the sunlight shining through her window never failed to wake her up not long after sunrise.  Hmm, no else must be up, yet.  I don’t hear anything.  That was typical for…really any day of the week.  At least her cat hadn’t come banging on her door begging to be fed, yet.  Kari had never met a cat that had begged for food before.  It was…unnatural. 

She opened her eyes and stared in shock at the room around her.  What?  Where was this place?  Memory came crashing back, along with a pretty decent headache.  Oh yeah.  She was the queen of some country on some other planetand she was married.  To Yunho.  She had really hoped that this whole thing was a coma-induced dream and that she would wake up in her own bed on her own planet.  But, she had no such luck.  It was looking more and more like she was really here.  So, she had better make the best of it.

Kari hopped out of the bed.  Apparently, Yunho had woken up and left before she did, because he definitely was not in the room.  That was a good thing, though.  She smoothed his shirt down over her bottom where it had flown up when she jumped out of the bed, blushing.  At least he hadn’t seen that. 

The door was unlocked, so she walked out into the empty sitting room.  There were doors on every wall of the room.  How to tell where each one went?  Oh well, she would just have to explore a little.  She was pretty sure that the doors on the wall directly in front of her lead to their entry, so she would be sure to avoid those.  She didn’t want anyone to see her wearing only a shirt and not even her own.  That wouldn’t look good.  Not that anyone was expecting her to be a anymore.  That thought brought heat to her face again, this time with a little bit of anger.  Just because she was married to someone did not mean that she had to sleep with him.  Beside, she doubted Yunho would have slept with her even if she had wanted him to.  He was too…gentlemanly?  Yes, gentlemanly, to do that when he barely even knew her and knew she was forced into marrying him.  Or, respectful would’ve worked, too.  Or chivalrous?  She started going through growing list of adjectives she could use to describe Yunho, and forced herself to stop when she got to alluring.  She shook her head.  That train of thought was not helping her cause. 

The doors to her right looked as good a place as any to start her exploring.  Kari opened them and stepped into what had to be the best walk-in closet ever.  It was huge.  Seriously.  It had to have been the size of the bedroom she just came from and it was filled with clothes.  Ball gowns, slightly less ornate gowns, silk shirts, silk pants, riding outfits, you name it, it was probably in here.  There were all kinds of shoes, from slippers to heels to boots, each pair lovelier than the last.  And the jewelry.  Just staring at all the jewelry, Kari thought she had died and gone to heaven.  There were necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, tiaras.  There was enough jewelry in that one room that if she wore five different pieces everyday, it would take her six months to wear all of them.  She wasn’t complaining, but just how much jewelry did one person need, anyway?

“Your Majesty?  Would you like assistance in getting dressed?”

Kari turned to find Mair standing in the open doorway to the closet.  I guess it’s not really a closet.  That would imply a certain level of smallness or compactness that just isn’t present here.  This is a…hmmm…a dressing room.  Yep, that’s it.  A dressing room.

“Well, I think I’d like to get something to eat, first.”

“Of course, Majesty.  I can have your breakfast sent to the sitting room if you like.”

“Sounds great.  I’m famished.  What’s available?”

“You may have anything you wish, Majesty.”

She actually looked a little shocked at Kari’s question.  Maybe monarchs here were allowed to choose their own menu.  All the better for Kari, then.

“Hmmm.  Surprise me.  But no spicy food.  I really hate spicy food.”

That caused Mair to smile.

“Yes, Majesty.  I will tell the runner to send for some non-spicy food.”

Kari raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were mocking me.”

Mair’s eyes widened and she covered with her hands.

“Forgive me, Majesty.  I did not mean to mock.  Please, forgive me.”

“Mair, it’s okay.  I was only joking.  Really.  I like picking on my friends.  It’s perfectly okay.  I promise.”

Poor Mair looked so upset.  Now what?  She had ruined the good thing she had going with her maid and, judging by the look on Mair’s face, the woman might not ever joke around with her again.  Why did she have to open her sarcastic mouth?  Why couldn’t she just keep it inside?  She sighed.

“Okay, Mair.  Go send for the food.”

The maid gave a shaky curtsy and practically fled the room.  Just great.  Now, how was Kari going to make friends here?

She turned her attention back to the contents of the dressing room, hoping to take her mind off what had just happened.  There were so many outfits in so many different colors and styles that Kari was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed.  It was nice having choices, but this was a little much.  A lot sooner than she would have thought, Mair came back into the dressing room with news that her breakfast was laid out in the sitting room.  The maid was somber, quiet, respectful.  There was no hint of their earlier camaraderie. 

Kari followed Mair into the sitting room without a single word and sat down at the table.  She couldn’t even begin to describe how good the food looked an smelled.  There were all kinds of fruits that she had no name for and some kind of rice or porridge looking stuff to put them in.  Bowls filled with nuts, meat, sauces, and a whole host of weird things took up the entire table.  There was way too much food for her to eat by herself.  Maybe someone else was joining her.

“Mair?  Is Yunho coming?”

“No, Majesty.”

“Oh.”

Kari would’ve offered for Mair to eat with her, but after her screw up a little while ago, she didn’t think the maid would take her up on her offer.  So, she settled into a chair and pretty much stuffed herself.  The food was delicious, and even with eating as much as she could, Kari felt like she didn’t make a dent in the amount of food on the table. 

As soon as she felt like she was about to burst from eating too much, she decided it was time to get clean.  Mair had washed her hair the day before, but she hadn’t actually had a shower, yet.  She felt really grimy.

“Where’s the bathroom?”

“You wish to take a bath, Majesty?”

“Yes.”

“It is just through those doors, Majesty.  Shall I fill the pool for you?”

“No, I’ll figure it out myself.  Thanks, though.”

Kari stood and walked to the doors Mair had pointed out.  It was time to get clean.  She opened the doors and froze in her tracks.