Baudwin stood before the door to his wife's bedchamber, unsure of what he would find once inside. Rhiannon had looked so miserable during their wedding and the celebrities he worried she might cry. While it seemed quite out of character for her, today she had been more despondent than usual. And Baudwin was useless with crying women. He never knew whether to leave them alone or gently pat them on their backs and offer comfort. Probably the latter. Though the first sounded more appealing.

Reminding himself that he was the bloody king and a damn war hero who shouldn't fear a crying woman, he steeled himself and knocked. When there was no answer, he knocked again. Had she had enough of this farce and fled? With a rush of sudden panic, he opened the door and burst inside, only to feel like a fool when he found her standing by the window, looking out over the garden, her back to him.

She didn't even acknowledge his arrival. Well, this was a perfect start to their wedding night.

Leaning on his cane, he watched her for a moment. His wife. It didn't seem real. Probably because it wasn't. She had made him promise that this would be a marriage in name only. At least for now. She looked smaller and more fragile than he remembered, her shape illuminated by the many candles lit in the room, a stark contrast to the darkness outside. Her golden-red hair hung loose down her back, reaching all the way down below her waist. In the flickering light of the candles it appeared like spun gold, or the last glowing embers of sunlight on an autumn's night. Tendrils of fading sun that you could shift between your fingers.

"Rhiannon?" He put the package he'd brought on the bed and took a step towards her.

"I had forgotten how dark the evenings are up north." Her voice was quiet, contemplative. "In the swamps it doesn't get quite this dark. Definitely not until much later."

Coming up to stand behind her, Baudwin looked out the window. They were above the castle gardens, and lights carried by citizens still celebrating flitted around like fireflies between the hedges and flowerbeds. Beyond the castle grounds and the city sprawling beneath was only darkness, silhouettes of the forest against the night sky. Stars twinkled as if congratulating him on his nuptials, while a new moon offered hope of a new beginning.

"Do you miss it?" he asked. "The swamp?"

She turned her head slightly to look at him, and for a moment appeared surprised to find him so close. Their bodies were nearly touching, but he knew better than to brush up against her. She'd made it very clear she didn't want to be touched by him. If only his body would take the hint. He cursed the reaction he had even just standing behind her, ashamed to find he had no power over it. Her hair was still slightly damp, and there was a tantalising hint of bergamot and pine clinging to her.

"Sometimes."

It took him a moment to remember the question she was answering, his mind preoccupied with the intoxicating smell of her and resisting the memory of how she had felt in his arms.

"It was never quite home," she admitted. "But I liked it there."

"Where would you say home is?"

Taking a few steps back from her, he watched her profile as she stared out the window, a slight frown creasing her brow. He wished he could make it go away. He wished he could make everything better.

Eventually, she lifted one shoulder in a barely perceptible shrug, but it made her green dressing gown fall down her arm, revealing a pale shoulder and the thin strap of what must be her nightdress. Baudwin swallowed. From what little he could see, it was made of sheer silk and had she not had the dressing gown, he suspected it would have left little to the imagination. Despite his best efforts otherwise, his eyes followed the tantalising strap of fabric over her shoulder until it disappeared underneath the dressing gown on her back.

Something else caught his attention. What looked like a pale scar on her shoulder. But before he could look closer, Rhiannon pulled the dressing gown back up. Seeing the frown on his face and where his gaze rested, she pushed away from the window.

"Nowhere." She walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. "Nowhere has ever felt like home."

"There's a place near here called Nowhere." This tidbit of information was of no use to her, and he wasn't even sure why he offered it. But between his curiosity of the thin scar he'd seen and his body craving a far different wedding night than was on the table, he was happy to be stringing two words together. Gathering his wits—with some effort—he shook his head. "That's actually quite sad. Everyone should have somewhere to call home."

Seeing the haunted look in Rhiannon's moss green eyes dampened even his starving body's ardour. If only he could offer her that comfort. He would happily have given her somewhere she felt at home. Instead, he had trapped her in a marriage she had never wanted. Maybe Golen was right, and he was an ogre after all.

What had happened to the fierce woman who had kicked him awake in the swamps of Lyndor? Rhiannon was a pale shadow of herself. It couldn't only be from having to marry him, could it?

"Are you all right?" He'd asked earlier during the wedding feast, but he suspected she hadn't been entirely honest in her answer. She probably wouldn't be now either. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Her eyes snapped to his, and her mouth opened as if she was going to say something, then shut again. If he didn't know better, he'd have said she looked guilty. But what did she have to feel guilty about? He was the one who had put her in a position where she ended up married.

"I... No." She shook her head.

"Right. Well, if you don't want to tell me what's wrong, shall we play a game of chess?" When she only stared at him, he nodded towards the package he'd left on the bed when he first arrived. "I brought my set."

"Chess?"

"Yes." He pressed his lips together in a grim smile. "Since you made it abundantly clear that this will be a marriage in name only, I have no intentions of making any advances. I respect your wishes. However, everyone expects us to spend our wedding night together and the rumours will spread if we do not. I figured we could make the hours until morning go faster by playing a game or two."

She nodded, but didn't move, so he got the chess set and set it up on a table, then sat down on a chair and motioned for her to join him.

"Black or white?" he asked when she sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the table.

"Black."

Shifting the board around to have the white pieces before him, Baudwin moved one of his pawns. After a moment, Rhiannon moved one of hers and they played in silence for a while. He wasn't sure what he'd expected, but his new wife was skilled at the game. Not quite to his level, but he presumed that might be from her apparent lack of focus. Had she been fully concentrating, he suspected she'd trash him.

"He's alive."

The quiet statement surprised him, and he looked up from the pieces on the board. Rhiannon had her index finger on one of her knights, tilting it slightly as she kept her eyes on the board, a small line between her brows as she contemplated her move.

Unsure if she would reply, he kept his voice light. "Who?"

"The man I was meant to marry who attacked me. I thought perhaps I killed him when I escaped, but apparently he's alive."

A surge of unease washed over him at the memory of what she'd endured. It was amazing that she'd defended herself well enough to flee, even if her stepfather had eventually caught her.

"Was he at the wedding?" The possibility made him feel sick to his stomach, but it would explain her morose state throughout the day. He'd chalked it up to her having to marry him, but maybe there was more to it.

She shook her head as she moved her knight into a position where she would take his queen in two moves if he wasn't careful. "No. My stepfather told me. Giving me his regards."

"By the Gods, what a bastard!" The more he learnt of Lord Delen, the less he liked the man.

"And yet he is one you are now in league with."

"Not exactly by choice." Baudwin sat back, crossing his arms. "If he and some other nobles rebelled, there would be too much loss of life. I do not want to see good men and women die if I can avoid it. I saw enough of that during the war."

"It's better than the alternative," she agreed. "Just don't give him too much power."

"I never intended to. But hopefully having his daughter as the queen will be enough of a status boost to satisfy him."

Rhiannon took his queen. He'd forgotten to defend it during their discussion. Looking up to meet his eyes, she smiled grimly. "One would hope. Don't expect too much from Lord Delen. He is not stupid and will quickly catch on."

"It wouldn't look well for him to attack a king married to his daughter." Baudwin moved a rook into a defensive position, trying to protect his vulnerable king.

A short, harsh laugh escaped Rhiannon. "He doesn't care what happens to me. I was missing for a decade. Did you ever see them looking for me or worrying about my safety? Did you even remember that they had a daughter?"

He grunted. She had a point. "I had a vague recollection."

She moved her queen. "Checkmate."

Staring down at the board, he almost laughed. He'd been so distracted that he'd never even noticed her queen lying in wait for the opening.

Rhiannon stood and tossed his queen back to him, and he caught it in his hands. "Lord Delen won't care that I'm the queen anymore than you'd care about a chess piece. Trust me, you'll want to watch your back."

Turning the white piece over in his hand, Baudwin frowned. Would marrying Rhiannon not matter in the long run? He surely hoped it would, because having forced her into a marriage she didn't want for nothing didn't sit well with him.

Packing away the chess game, he saw that Rhiannon was standing at the window again. Was she looking outside, wishing she was elsewhere? Could he even blame her if that was the case? Her back was rigid, her shoulders tense. Did she already regret agreeing to the marriage?

"Rhiannon? Is there anything I can do for you?" He might not have been looking to get married yet, but eventually he would have had to pick a young lady to marry. To him, this wasn't much different from where he'd have ended up, anyway. For her, it was the opposite of what she wanted.

She lifted her face towards the new moon above and laughed, but it sounded hollow. Devoid of joy. "No."

"There must be something. I hate seeing you this unhappy." He took a step towards her, but stopped when she whirled around to stare at him, her moss green eyes angry and haunted at the same time.

"Stop being kind to me!" she snapped.

Baudwin frowned in the face of her outrage. "Why?"

Her eyes glittered dangerously, but she didn't look away. "Because I don't deserve it."

Taking the steps separating them as quickly as he could, Baudwin dropped the cane and took her hands in his, expecting her to pull away. To his surprise, she remained. "Why would you say that?"

She shook her head. "I... I'm not a good person."

"You've been good to me." He squeezed her hands. "Helping me with the pain in my leg. And you selflessly agreed to marry me to save the kingdom from open rebellion."

"No, I..." She sighed. "You don't understand."

Moving a hand away from hers, he tucked it under her chin and lifted her face so she could see his sincerity. "Make me."

They stared at each other in silence for what seemed like an eternity. The look in Rhiannon's eyes tugged at his heartstrings. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and he might have stopped breathing in anticipation of what she would do next. When her arms came up to circle his shoulders and her fingers buried in the hair at the back of his neck he swallowed.

"Rhiannon...?" As of their own volition, his hands moved to rest on her hips. "You said you wanted a marriage in name only."

A small frown creased her brow. "Shut up, Sir Baudwin."

Before he could reply, she pulled him down and pressed her lips against his. If any part of him had planned to deny her, any resistance was gone the moment he felt her body push up against him. He was lost.

~~~~~~