Capable

Prologue

Varian sighed, setting down his quill. "Is that the last one?"

Craig cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, "hey! Is that the last one, man?"

Jonah opened the door to reveal only Cassandra. "I think this is the last one," he laughed, grinning, "am I correct?"

Cass nodded, patting the young guard's shoulder. "I do believe that's about right. Now... What's the proper way to say it? 'I request an audience with the king' or something like that?"

Varian chuckled a little, standing up to join his wife. "Something like that. And permission granted."

Cass smiled as Varian took her hand in his. "You two are dismissed. Should we plan on seeing you at dinner tonight?"

Jonah nodded, but Craig shook his head.

"My sister and her husband are in town this week," he explained quickly, "with my newborn nephew. So... I was going to have supper with them tonight."

"Oh, my gosh! Clara and Pete... I almost forgot!" Cass exclaimed, "tell them that we said hello."

"Will do," Craig said with a goofy little salute, "now... If you'll excuse me, I'd like to go and start preparing for tonight."

"Go on ahead," Varian said, "we'll see you tomorrow morning."

Craig nodded and ran out. Jonah followed him with his eyes, looking like he was trying to figure something out.

"Is everything okay, Jonah?" Varian asked, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, "you've been pretty quiet lately."

In fact, neither Craig nor Jonah had been themselves for the past few weeks. Jonah had mellowed out and become quite a bit more quiet, whereas Craig had suddenly become more spontaneous and outgoing. They had even seemed to be growing apart from each other. It kind of worried Varian and Cassandra- the two people that they had on staff, the two others who lived in the newly restored palace, suddenly becoming their own polar opposites- but they had decided to let it be. If Craig or Jonah were being bothered by something, it was their choice whether or not they wanted to address it- and with whom.

"I- I'm fine," Jonah replied stiffly, not even bothering to face them again, "I- I'll be at dinner. I'll see you then."

And he walked right out of the throne room, leaving the young king and queen alone. Varian watched his friend's retreating back for a minute before turning to face Cass.

"Well... That was weird."

She nodded in agreement. "It was. But let's focus on us now, okay?"

Varian smiled a little, gently squeezing her hand. "How was your day, Cassie?"

"Good. We're finally done planning for Dad's retirement party-"

"You're done?"

"I just said that, silly," she exclaimed, playfully shoving him in the chest, "so... Unless any kinks show themselves in the next month, we should be fine."

Varian heaved an overexaggerated sigh of relief, pretending to wipe his brow. "Thank heavens! I was getting lonely in here."

"You have Craig and Jonah," she reminded him, "it's not like I'm the only person here."

"Yeah, but... You're the same Cass as you were before. You're the one constant in this crazy, ever-changing life of mine. And, well, I don't think Craig and Jonah could help me handle the king stuff like you do."

Cassandra grinned at him. "Tough day, huh?"

He waved his hand a little bit. "So-so."

"Just so-so? Not good, not bad? Just mediocre?"

"Well, yeah," he replied, getting that mischievous glint in his eyes, "I mean, nothing burned down, so it wasn't bad. But you weren't here with me today, so... It wasn't good, either."

There used to be a time where, if Varian ever said anything like that to her, Cass would straight-up slap him in the face. Luckily, she had gotten better at that, learning to channel everything into a shy blush as she dug her toe 'into' the floor.

"Oh, shut up," she muttered, again shoving his chest, "you're embarrassing me."

Varian looked around as if checking for other people. "I'm going to let you in on something," he whispered, "there's nobody else here."

"Yeah, well, you're still embarrassing me."

"I know," he murmured into her hair, "and I'm never going to stop doing it. As long as you're mine to embarrass, I'll do it."

"Wow. I can feel the love."

He laughed, holding her close. "Maybe someday, I'll let off. Only a little bit, but still, it's better than nothing."

"Someday?"

"Don't worry, you won't be replaced completely," he said softly, "I'll just have someone else to embarrass."

Cassandra knew what he was inferring here. For whatever reason, neither of them could ever bring the idea up out loud, but they had their ways of hinting. And, after two years of marriage, they understood each other- for the most part.

"About that," she said after awhile, burying her face in his chest, "I've got something to say."

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head. "Yes, milady?"

Internally, she rolled her eyes, but she continued on anyways. "That 'someday' of yours?"

He nodded, closing his eyes and starting to sway around as if dancing.

"It's actually coming sooner than you think," she finished off, "like... Sometime before the end of the year, maybe?"

He stopped what he was doing, pulling apart to closely study his wife. "Really?"

Cass nodded.

Varian smiled a little bit, hugging her close once again. He was excited to see what the future might hold for them, and he realized that it was only just beginning.