Vejiita was asleep in bed.  It was quite late, and the wedding night had gone quite well.  Nenai smiled a little wickedly to herself in the dark.  No matter how strong he was, and how much...stamina...he had, she would always be able to wear him out.

    She shuffled her keishiva pensively.  It was a kiri, a time of great change, and an ideal time to read the cards.  Closing her eyes, she laid out five cards, then took a deep breath and looked at them.

    The card of current state was Fertility, one of the Seasonal Attributes.  Nenai felt a brief flicker of worry.  What will I do with a child in this place?  I don't want my babies to be sent off to colonize planets!

    The next card, positivity or negativity, was Summer.  She smiled, knowing that the card of sublime happiness indicated Vejiita.  How long will the summer last? she thought.

    Surprisingly, the influences card was Nanyatenei once again.  Now she knew that this also referred to Vejiita, who certainly walked on the side of darkness, and had taken some of the demon's importance to Nenai into himself.

    The future card was the Raven, symbolizing airborne danger.  This puzzled the girl, not because of the danger, but because of the airborne component.  It was an odd card that one seldom drew in a reading.

    Musing, she saw that the last card was Lady Meridis, the Goddess-consort of Nanyatenei.  As the Autumn Queen, she signified fertility (there it was again!) and true love.

    All in all, it seemed to be a message of happiness, but the Raven worried Nenai.  Who or what could it signify?

    "Mm, little bird," Vejiita murmured sleepily.  "Come to bed.  It's already late and you get shrewish without sleep."  He punctuated that with a yawn.

    "All right, in a moment."  Nenai carefully put her cards away and turned off the nightlight, then slipped into bed, snuggling up to Vejiita's warm, muscular frame.

    "Damn it, woman!  You're cold!" he said with a shiver, but he still held her closely, as if...

    As if he were afraid someone would take me away, Nenai thought.  He's never been so happy, and now he's afraid.  She kissed him softly.  "I love you...good night, Vejiita."

    "Good night, Nenai..."

    The girl was almost asleep when she heard Vejiita's soft reply:  "I love you too, little bird."