The Warrior and Calissande

Chapter 7: I Did Not Like That I Liked It

I awoke three mornings later and the warrior slumbered on beside me, one of his massive arms flung over me, right below his child in my belly, his hand curled around my hip. I did not like that he was still insisting we share the same bed chamber. It angered me that I was in his bed only because he did not have her around to sleep with.

Quietly, like a mouse, I tried to move out from under his arm. Never had we woken up together in the same bed, except for these past few nights, and I did not like that I liked it. I could not get used to this because of her, and I found I was still bitter that she had awoken in my husband's arms like this many, many times. Just as I thought myself free from his arm, it closed tightly around me and pulled me closer to him. The warrior propped himself up on his arm and looked down on me. 

"Good morning, Calissande," he smiled gently at me before I looked away without returning his smile. "I do not believe I have ever rested as well as I have since we began sharing a bed."

"My sincerest apologies for not being more exciting in bed and thus able to prevent you from resting like her."

His brows pulled down over his eyes. "I am unclear as to the meaning of that, but it sounds like an insult, my lady wife."

"Never mind. The meaning matters not. I shall sleep in my own chamber tonight. I do not wish a habit to form before you remind of my place and return to having her in your bed."

"She is gone, my lady wife. She will be with me no more." 

"Where has she gone? To one of your other estates to wait for your return?"

"No, Calissande. When I left for court with her that day, I was...angry with you, and I let you think she was accompanying me to court. She was not."

He looked momentarily chagrined for allowing his temper to get the better of him and deliberately misleading me, but then his face returned to its normal stern look. 

"A camaspoza would never be allowed at court, a fact you did not know because you knew nothing of camaspozas, much less the protocols surrounding them. When I realized you were serious in your distaste and dislike of the situation, she was returned to the training center without censure, meaning she had done nothing wrong, had broken no rules and could be reassigned. Sir Alcarn handled the business for me as the King wanted me at the palace posthaste."

"There are protocols for camaspozas?" I was astounded at this. How difficult was it to be a common whore?

The warrior looked at me as if he couldn't believe what I was asking. "Of course. Very strict rules that must be followed so as not to interfere with the marriage relationship or the household."

"My, we can see just how well that has worked out for you!" I told him in falsely sweet tones.

Those serious eyes pierced me. "My lady wife mocks me, I think."

"How you must miss her, the woman you put above me. The warrior is now desperate enough to allow his wife into his bed instead of the one he truly desires."

"I never put her above you, Calissande. Never. Not once. That would be unthinkable."

"You put her above me every single day that you allowed her to take my place in your bedchamber. Why, you couldn't wait to introduce her to me the very first day we arrived at Bellford Keep. You humiliated me immediately upon my arrival at my new home."

He reared back. "Never, Calissande. That first meeting was conducted perfectly; it went exactly according to protocol."

"There are protocols for introducing your mistress to your wife?" This was unbelievable to me.