--Happier times ahead--

"Why the giggling my Queen?" I said, as we strolled through the meadow.
She looked at me with those beautiful eyes and focused on mine, gripping our hands together.

"My dear newly minted King" she said after a pause, "How does that feel with me locking away the royal - scepter?" as she burst into a another fit of giggles.

"A bit of a tight fit" I said, while looking down at the cage the Queen had talked me into wearing for the whole month.

"My love" she said, "are you really going to show it off to the council while you petition for changing the law to make them, voluntary, for former slaves?"

He looked back up at me giving my hand another squeeze.

"I want happier times in the Kingdom, my love. Its time we moved on."

Looking off in the distance, He sighed and continued.

"You do not know this yet, but I am also going to wear it to the negotiations I am attending in Kanistan at the end of February. We have been making great strides in a mutual peace between our Kingdoms as we both have realized how stupid the tensions we have had for years has only hurt us all."

I leaned in for a kiss, and after a long pause, I could not stand to have it unspoken anymore.

In a lowered voice and slipping his hand out of mine, he gently grasped the cage that has been on me for over a decade.

"I, I might have a selfish reason as well," He said.