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Tru kissed me passionately and thoroughly the moment that Haral had pronounced us husband and wife. This was the first time that we had kissed in public, but it only the beginning of Tru's public displays of affection towards me. After receiving everyone's good wishes, Tru requested that we go to the great hall where he had called a general meeting for everyone in the compound.

When we entered the great hall, the large room was packed with people waiting for Tru to show up. Izshaq herded the children to the back of the room, so that he could keep an eye on them but still hear what was going on at the same time. Tru, Haral and I went to the front of the room and stood in front of everyone.

“Thank you for coming, everyone. The reason I have called this meeting is two-fold. First, it is with the greatest of pleasure for me to announce that, thirty minutes ago, Lady Patra did me the honor of becoming my wife. My brother presided over the ceremony for us.”

Tru paused for a moment to let his announcement sink in. I could see many faces that looked happy for us. I saw an equal amount of faces who looked shocked and disgusted. That saddened me.

“Second,the real reason for the hasty wedding has nothing to do with us, but rather it has everything to do with you. Your atrocious behavior towards Patra and her children these past few weeks has been appalling. I am very disappointed in and very ashamed of you all. I thought you were better people than this. You have proven to me how wrong I was. I am hereby giving everyone fair warning. If anyone acts disgracefully towards Patra or her children in any way, you will be summarily dismissed from my company and will be evicted from the compound, without references or severance pay. And this goes also to my relatives, doubly so.”

Tru then turned his attention to his stable master. “Faschur, earlier today, your son Lestor tried to sexually assault two of my step-daughters. He didn't succeed because the girls have been given training in self-defense. That is how his arm got broken. They weren't bullying him. They were protecting themselves against his bullying. If I get word that this boy tries this again with any girl, be she my step-daughter or not, I will have that boy arrested and charged for his crimes. If I find that you have encouraged such disgusting behavior in your son, you will be dismissed. You are warned.

“My brother, Haral has things to say to you all and you may direct any questions to him. I am leaving now and taking my wife to bed.”

Tru took my hand and led me out of the hall. He then took me to his suite and to the bedroom. I must have looked surprised because he looked at me and said, “I want us to be alone on our wedding night. I don't want to have to worry if there are little pairs of eyes watching us.”

“You knew?” I asked astounded.

“No. Izshaq told me everything that was said earlier today with the twins. He wanted me to be aware of what that boy was up to, to make me aware of what the children had been doing and seeing and to inform me of the situation that you were suffering through because of my actions. That is why I decided to ask you to marry me today and to rush the wedding. I don't want you to be the object of scorn ever. I love you too much to see you being hurt so much. Fortunately for me, you said 'yes'. I don't know what I would have done if you had turned me down. But you didn't and you have made me the happiest man in the world.

“I am making it my goal to show you every day how much you are loved, how much you mean to me, and to make myself worthy of your love. I don't know how you came to love an old man like me, but I am so glad that you have. Every time we make love, your love for me energizes me and makes me feel so young. Thank you, dear heart, thank you for loving me and becoming my wife.”

Without letting me respond, Tru started to kiss me. His kisses were so mind boggling arousing that I could barely stand up. He stopped after a few minutes, but only to slowly undress me. Every body part he revealed got equal attention from him. Kissing, touching, and teasing me with his tongue. It took every ounce of will power that I possessed to remain standing as he gave me so much pleasure. When I was finally undressed, Tru then picked me up and carried me over to the bed and gently laid me down. He quickly threw off his clothes and proceeded to make magnificent, agonizingly wonderful love to me.

As we lay together afterwards basking in the afterglow of our love making, Tru explored my body with his hand and with his eyes. When he came to my belly, now bulging with my baby, he caressed it gently. The baby seemingly obliged him and began to move around. Tru's face looked so in wonder as the baby made his presence known to Tru. “I haven't felt a baby moving inside its mother in many decades, since just before Eoin was born. I am looking forward to watching you and your baby grow. I promise you that I will be the best father I can be for it. As I want to be for all your children, my darling girl.”

“You already are. The children adore you. And because of you, they have a stable home. I know that they are missing Donal a lot. Having another man in their life to love them, help them and guide them through life is just what they need. Thank you!”

“That is nothing. Your children are so easy to love; just as their mother is.”

Tru kissed me again and one thing led to another. We made love again. My body was becoming so used to his touch that it didn't take much effort to arouse me and send me into ecstasy.

As we once more laid panting in each others arms, Tru said to me, “I could make love to you all night and not get tired. Have you placed a spell on me? I haven't been this horny since I was a young man. And I haven't begun to tire yet. Please tell me if you have? I don't mind. Not one bit.” He chortled.

I debated about telling him about the geasa, but decided not to. I felt that he would be very hurt if he believed that my love was coerced and not freely given. At that moment, I couldn't tell the difference myself. My love for him felt genuine. The only thing that I could believe was forced was the timing. I believe that I would have married Tru eventually, without the geasa, but it would have been much, much longer after Donal's death. The only thing that the geasa did was speed up the process, not force me to love someone I would never have loved anyway. And so I said to Tru, “No, dearest, I have put no spell on you that I know of. Perhaps this is because what we have is true love? I am very happy that you are my husband and lover. I am very happy that my body stimulates you so.”

“Indeed, it does.” he replied. We then made love yet again. Almost instantly I found my ecstasy and Tru knew it. He spent the entire time seeing how many times he could make me come. I lost track after twenty-five. At the end, my pinnacle was so intense and so overwhelming that I lost consciousness for a moment. When I came to, Tru was shaking me. There was a look of horror on his face. “Patra? Sweetheart? Please wake up? Oh, ghods, what have I done to you?”

“Nothing bad, dearest. This was just a little too intense for me, that is all. I am feeling very tired right now.”

Tru face showed his relief. He took me into his arms and held me so closely. “I thought that I had hurt you or hurt the baby. I am sorry if my need for you has become too much for you. We will stop now.”

“I am too awake to sleep right now,” I replied. “Perhaps we could just spoon for a while?”

“All right.” We lay there spooning and we talked. “Patra, tomorrow I will be sending for my lawyer. I am going to amend my will to include you and the children.”

“What? I don't need anything from you but your love, Tru. And besides, you are going to live a long time. The shape you are in, you may outlive me.” I replied.

“No. I am serious, sweetheart. I don't intend to die any time soon, but I am an old man. I want to be sure that you and the children are well taken care of in case something should happen.”

“But Tru, I don't want to take anything away from your own children. That wouldn't be right or fair.”

“Patra, my dear girl, I am an extremely wealthy man. I have so much money that I could divide my fortune amongst a hundred people and their inheritance would still make them very wealthy people.

“Just to let you know, I have, years ago, put the company into a trust, so that after my death, it will not be divided up, but the profits will be shared equally amongst my legitimate children. And after their deaths, to their legitimate children. And on down the line, in perpetuity. The family will still run the company, but no individual will own it in part or in whole.

“It is my own personal property and fortune that I will be changing the will over. I am going to have my personal wealth divided into four parts. You will be getting one part. My legitimate children will divide one part. Your children will divide one part. The last part will go to specific bequests and to fund a charitable endowment, so that poor students can get funds to allow them to receive higher educations. Of my personal properties, I am going to leave the compound to you. My other properties will be divided up amongst my legitimate children. No one will want for anything after I am gone.”

“Tru, why are you tell me this, on our wedding night?”

“Because I am an old man. It is a fact. I have been keeping myself active and fit so that I can lead a good long life. But the fact still remains that I am old. I have outlived almost all of my siblings, with the exception of Haral, and he is ten years younger than I am. I have even outlived two of my children.”

“Aren't you afraid that I am a gold-digger? That I might have married you for your wealth? That now that I know of your plans, I might kill you off for my inheritance?”

Tru laughed very heartily at my words. When he could control himself, he said, with a chuckle in he voice, “You, Patra, my dearest girl? You are the most selfless, giving person that I have ever known. Loving you has inspired me to be a better man. You are not capable of deceit. And if you are, then I would happily die to give you whatever you wanted. If you are truly a gold-digger, then you had better kill me soon. Right now, before I change my will, you will be entitled to everything, except the company, as my lawful wife. So what is it to be? Poison? A knife to my heart? Push me from the nearest tower?"

He smiled at me laughing. All I could do was look at him in horror and start to weep.

“There, there, my dearest girl. I was joking. I know you well enough to know that you are not capable of being greedy or avaricious. I have known many women who desired my wealth and tried to lure me into marriage using their bodies as bait. I can recognize those types a mile away. But you, my sweet wife, possess none of those traits. I wouldn't have married you if you had.”

Tru then distracted me from this conversation by whispering sweet nothings into my ear. I could feel that he wanted to make love again, but I was truly exhausted and couldn't find the energy to accommodate him. He didn't say anything or start anything. But as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard him pleasuring himself.

I awoke in the morning, with Tru draped heavily around me. There was someone knocking at the bedroom door. I tried to carefully extricate myself from his hold without wakening him, but either the continued knocking woke him, or the movement of my body did so. He woke up instantly. “Just a minute, Orson. We are not decent at the moment,” he called out. He then pulled up the comforters to hide my nudity. He sat up but still maintained his modesty. “You may come in now, Orson,” Tru called out.

Orson peered around the door and looked relieved that we would covered. “Pardon me for intruding in on you at this time, sir, milady. Captain Quinton has sent word that there is someone at the gates asking to see Lady Patra. It is some old lady who says she is here to tutor her children. The captain is concerned because Lady Patra didn't send him word that she was expecting any visitors.”

Tru looked at me. “I have no idea who this is. I am not expecting anyone.” I replied.

Tru looked thoughtful for a moment or two and then said, “Have Captain Quinton escort the woman personally to one of the sitting rooms and remain there with her until we arrive. In the mean time, send a servant to Orlando to fetch him here. I guess it is time for me to get up.” He threw back his covers and walked naked over to the privy. From Orson's lack of reaction, this wasn't the first time he had seen his master naked.

“Will your ladyship be requiring your maids?” Orson asked.

Before I could say anything, Tru said, “Yes, she will, but only after I am dressed and you are gone, Orson.”

“Very good, sir, I will have her maids here and with the appropriate clothing.” Orson left briefly, and then returned to bring out Tru's clothing from the closet. Within ten minutes, Tru was completely dressed. Orson then left the room.

“You are not leaving also?” I asked.

“No, my lovely wife, I am not. One of the best perks of being a husband is to look at his wife's body and watch her dress. I intend to do this as often as possible. If you don't like it, tough. Get over it.” He said with a leer.

Before I could answer him, Mahli and Ellyn came in. As I got up and also walked naked to the privy, I asked them to draw me a bath. All the while, the women kept stealing glances at Tru. Mahli kept giggling, while Ellyn looked annoyed, but said nothing.

After my bath, Ellyn said, “I found a trunk of some of your maternity clothes from when you were carrying Eryssa. I hope you approve of my selection.”

Ellyn brought out a dress that I remembered well. It was a lavender wool gown with tight sleeves and a tight bodice, but had yards of fabric flowing from just under my bosom. It once had been decorated with white velvet trim and white satin ribbon roses. But those had been replaced with black velvet trim and black satin ribbon roses. Ellyn must have spent hours working on making these changes. It was so lovely. And the cut of the skirts was such that I could continue wearing this dress up until the time I gave birth.

“It is wonderful! Thank you, Ellyn, for all your hard work on it. I cannot thank you enough for all that you do for me.”

Ellyn blushed. “It's not difficult to do things for a great lady like yourself, my lady. I enjoyed doing it and the look on your face thanks me many times over.”

When I was dressed, Mahli started brushing my hair, while Ellyn went around gathering my garments and jewelry that lay on the floor where they had been shed last night. She left carrying them.

“How would you like your hair done, ma'am?” inquired Mahli.

But before I could answer, Tru said, “I would like to see her with her hair simply braided down her back. If you don't mind, my dearest?”

“No. That will be fine with me.”

As Mahli started braiding, Tru went out and returned a few minutes later. When she was finished, we both looked to Tru for approval.

“You are as beautiful as ever, Patra.” He leaned down and kissed me on me neck. He then attached a set of black pearl earrings to my ears.

“Oh, Tru, they are lovely! But I couldn't wear Anya's jewelry...”

“Why not? It would give me a lot of pleasure seeing you in them. But to be completely honest, these earrings were never Anya's. They were my mother's. I know that she would be pleased to have you wear them. She would have loved you a lot. You two would have had a lot in common. Mother gave my father twelve living children. She, like you, loved children and always surrounded herself with them.”

“Thank you, Tru. I will cherish them.”

“Come, my dear, let us go and find out who this visitor is.”