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Karis could see Sayana was unhappy. She’d been unhappy for a few days now. “My heart, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, Karis.” Sayana obviously didn’t want to talk about it. “I’m tired and I think I’m just going to go to bed.” She kissed him and went into their bedroom. Her servants followed her in and a short while later they returned. The two younger ones left but Ardatha remained behind.

“Your Imperial Majesty, may I say something?” Ardatha looked at him uneasily.

“What is it Ardatha?” Karis set down his pad and looked at her.

“I know why Her Imperial Majesty is so upset.” Ardatha regarded him solemnly.

“Why? And why won’t she talk to me about it?” Karis asked.

“She feels that she can’t talk to you about it because she doesn’t want to seem selfish, but she’s feeling a little underappreciated. You seem to take it for granted that she’s going to do the work but don’t seem to appreciate the fact that she does it anymore.” Ardatha looked nervous as she spoke. “I know you do. Imre knows you do. But Her Imperial Majesty doesn’t.”

“Of course I appreciate the work she does. I’d be overworking again without her,” Karis said.

“Show her how much you appreciate her, Your Imperial Majesty,” Ardatha said. “Give her an indication of how much you love her and value her. She needs that affirmation once in a while.” She blushed. “She’d probably have something to say to me for even telling you this.”

“No, I appreciate you saying something. I’d never have known and she’d have continued being miserable.” Karis finished his paperwork and then sat up and thought about what he could do until his midnight curfew. Then he went to bed. He took one of his sleeping pills and continued thinking about it until the medicine kicked in and he fell asleep.

In the morning, he woke up with a brilliant idea. Sayana was already up. She always woke up before him. But that gave him privacy with Imre and Adem, and as they got him dressed he set things in motion.

They went through their day dealing with the council, their paperwork, and the audiences as they usually did. As dinner grew close, Sayana looked curiously at Karis. “Shouldn’t we be getting dressed? The court will be expecting us,” she said.

“I have something else in mind. I already told the boys they can have a night off from being on display,” Karis said with a mischievous grin. “Come with me.” He held out his hand.

“All right.” Sayana took it, her curiosity piqued.

Karis led her out of the suite. They were surrounded by their usual guards. He took her out into the garden. There, he led her to an area that had been recently segregated for the use of the Imperial family now that the courtesan garden was off limits due to it being used for their daughters.

The garden was beautifully lit with lanterns of all colors. A table was set up with all of Sayana’s favorite foods waiting for them. Sayana looked around delightedly at the scene. “I realized I haven’t been as appreciative as I could have been lately,” Karis said. “I wanted to do something special for you to show how much you mean to me.”

“Oh Karis,” Sayana said, her eyes filling with tears. She kissed him. “This is beautiful.”

They sat and ate in the early summer evening, enjoying each other’s company and the fine foods. They chatted amiably about anything but work as they took the night off from their duties and just existed as a married couple having a romantic night together.