Spinning Fate's Threads

Yes, I know it\'s been a small forever. RL tends to get in the way.



***





Tres and Takara stood near the center of the large formal garden, partially hidden by plants. Tres had one hand over his lover\'s mouth to prevent the sound of her giggling from reaching the young couple kissing and snuggling on one of the benches. He dragged her backward until he was certain they were out of hearing range before releasing her. She leaned against him, still giggling.



“They\'ll hear you, Princess,” Tres warned, trying to suppress the little half smile.



She leaned up, kissed his cheek and smiled. “I\'m positive Seth heard me,” she said. “I\'m not so sure about Alessandro.”



“This could surely cause an international incident,” Tres said thoughtfully. “The Empress and the Pope.”



Taka laughed again. “Ah, the songs that will be sung about this one,” she said as they walked still further away from the couple on the bench.



Tres frowned a little as they walked deeper into the garden. “Do you think they\'ll be able to stay together? The implications of such a union even in the short term are mind boggling.”



“Don\'t overheat your processors, dear. I\'m sure Seth will think of something. She\'s been the Empress since the dawn of forever now. Alessandro isn\'t nearly as weak willed and stupid as people like to think he is. He\'s just a very young man trying to keep control of something that doesn\'t really want to be controlled.”



“Speaking of control, Princess . . .” Tres said, eyes narrowing.



“What might that be?”



“Stop being deliberately obtuse. You know what and whom I was referring to.”



“I do. I also know that he would never harm her.”



“You can\'t be absolutely certain of that, Princess.”



“I can and I am, Tres. He loves her and she loves him as well.”



Tres stopped walking abruptly and turned to stare at her. “I\'m not so sure you\'re correct about that.”



“I am,” she said confidently. Looping her arm through his and starting to walk again. “Think about it, Tres. How many men have been interested in Catarina over the years?”



“Many,” he said truthfully.



“How many of them have been strong enough for her? To accept her exactly as she is without trying to change her or make her less?”



“I do see your point, Princess. However, he is a Methuselah and until very recently, an enemy of the Vatican. Those old prejudices won\'t simply remove themselves because you say so.”



“I\'m aware of that, Tres. I\'m also aware that if the head of a government is the first to instigate something unusual, others tend to follow.”



“At times but not always.”



“Pessimist.”



“Realist. I don\'t believe I\'m capable of pessimism.”



She leaned on him a little heavier. “You also believed yourself incapable of love until a very short while ago,” she pointed out.



“That is true enough. I was quite wrong in my assessment of that particular situation.”



Taka grinned and put her arms around his neck. “Yes. I do believe you were wrong in that assessment. Catarina, Isaak, Seth and Alessandro are all technically adults, they can take care of their own love lives.”



“Just as we can take care of ours?” he suggested.



“Is there something about ours that needs to be taken care of just now?” she asked, smirking slightly.



“I can think of several things,” he said, lifting her off of her feet and spinning them both around.



Taka laughed. “Who would have ever guessed the hot bot would be a romantic?”



“I am simply taking advantage of the garden in moonlight, Princess,” he said, leaning down to kiss her.



***

“Do you think they saw us?” Alessandro asked.



“I\'m fairly certain of it. We were being obvious, after all.”



“That\'s because we didn\'t think anyone would be out in the garden after midnight.”



“That\'s true,” Seth laughed. “Are you ashamed of me? Of us?” she asked, for the first time in all her long years, feeling insecure about a lover\'s opinion.



He laughed and pulled her closer to him. “Not at all.”



“Hmm. We probably do need to think about how to swing this though,” Seth said.



Alessandro shrugged. “What\'s to think about? You can\'t very well step down from your position. Mine on the other hand . . . I\'ll be perfectly happy to leave.”



Seth pulled back a little and stared at him for a moment. “Sandro, are you sure?”



“I\'m sure. I\'ve thought about it a lot since we started this. Really, I\'ve been a puppet for Catarina and my brother all this time. With him gone, she\'s clear to take the power outright. I was never very interested in being the Pope anyway. I think I\'ll do much better as Consort to the Empress.”



Seth\'s eyebrows went up in question. “Is that a proposal?”



“Only if you intend to say yes.”