Anastasia shook her head. Her husband was simply too lusty. He could change anything and everything into a conversation about sex.
"Let's place a bet, honey," Ileus coerced. "I will make you come at least five times. How many times can you make me come tonight?"
Anastasia tapped her chin to play along with him. "At least a dozen times," she said. "All I have to do is drop my clothes on the floor and shimmy my hips." She saw his jaw slacking. "And oh, cupping my breasts. I can even dance that way. Do you want me to?"
"Damn it, woman!" Ileus rasped. "You really make me randy around you." He rubbed his erection. "I think we can't have dinner with the rest of them because I am going to take you straight to our room."
Anastasia bit her lip and looked at him with hooded eyes. "Sorry, my dear," she said. "But I want to be with your great-grandfather and talk to him."
"No sweetheart, the only man you are going to be with tonight is me," said Ileus in a hoarse voice.
Anastasia pulled her hand out from his and started to run. He dashed after her through the corridors. The guards saw the two of them and smiled. Young love! Ah!
All at once Anastasia came to a halt. From the corner of her eye, she saw a blur of paintings that Iona had created. Breathless, Ileus came and stood next to her and said, "What is it, honey?" He followed her gaze. "Iona's paintings…" he murmured.
She walked closer to them and stood in front of the largest. It was a 4 feet by 5 feet painting that had abstract art that was extremely difficult to understand. It was framed in heavy imposing wood that almost gobbled the painting. Every object that Iona tried to make was blurred and then roughly painted. The gray color was predominant. She stared at it with concentration and in a disembodied voice said, "Can you make out the table, the chair, the closet and the curtains swaying in the window?"
Ileus tilted his head to the right and then slowly to the left. "Nope. All I see are some blotches of colors here and there."
"How old was she when she started making this painting?"
He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest as if trying to remember. "Iona was ten years younger than me. I remember teasing her all the time about her paintings. Mother used to bring her canvas and oil paints and she would just draw something so abstract that all of us would pester her till she was annoyed. Once I even placed a flower vase on the table and told her to paint it. All she came up with was blotches of color instead of blooms. Look," he said pointing to the next painting. "This one here. The flowers are all messed up. It looks like it's been painted by an untrained child." He let out a soft laugh recalling his sister. "I can tell you countless instances when I would stand next to her and try to reason with her to draw better, but she wouldn't listen."
Anastasia stared at it and then walked along the row to see all of them.
"Sometimes I feel that my sister forgot what she was painting and she just did it because she wanted to spend the paint mother bought for her."
Anastasia hummed a low "maybe" and then stopped to look at the last one. The corridors lights were dim to actually understand the paintings that lined the wall. The moonlight crept in the corridor and so did the aroma of the night blooming flowers as chilly wind flow gently. She came back to where he was standing. "Ileus," Anastasia said, pointing at the center of the painting. "See there's a table over there, hidden behind that cluster of color. She must have drawn the outline of the table and then fill it with colors." Then she pointed at the far top right. "That's the window and— and—" she tilted her head to see it closely. "What was the color of her curtains?"
"Mother liked to use a pink theme for her room, but she started hating pink and chose black and gray and whites." Ileus shook his head.
"Hmm. Now look at the color of the curtains over here. They are blurred and steel gray."
Ileus stepped a little closer and found that what Anastasia just said was right. "They indeed look like curtains. Look at them fluttering! She captured them well."
"I told you," Anastasia said with pride. "Her paintings may be abstract but she drew inspiration from her room or things around the room. Most of her paintings were based on inanimate objects. Now look at the closet beside the window."
Ileus narrowed his eyes once again to find the closet. "Which closet?" he asked. "There was an armoire there."
"Anastasia! Ileus!" Dmitri's voice boomed in the corridor. "We are waiting near the portal for you!"
"Sorry Father!" said Ileus and urged Anastasia to walk.
"Can you take these paintings to Draoidh?" Anastasia muttered under her breath.
Ileus lifted his eyebrow. "Let's see," he replied with a naughty hint in his eyes. They followed Dmitri outside to the gardens when Adrianna was talking to Ed.
"Where were you two?" she asked with a frown. "Come fast. I am hungry as hell!"
Anastasia giggled and they all stepped in the portal she had created. They came right into the dining hall where the table was laden with a variety of food. Feeling hungry, Anastasia simply walked their first, picked up a roasted chicken leg and dug her teeth in the succulent meat. "Mmm," she said as her shoulders sagged with admiration. "The cook here is excellent," she said and sat right next to where the serving plates were. "But how did they know that we were coming?"
Adrianna sat next to her and smiled as she watched her eating. "The kitchen is preparing food all the time. We have too many guests that keep visiting us at all times of the day. That's why it is necessary for the kitchen to never stop working."
"Oh!" Anastasia replied with surprise.
"You should know everything about the palace, my dear," Adrianna's pleasant voice made her feel comfortable.
"I would love to," she replied, picking a cheese cube. She remembered the cold cheese cubes they used to eat during their journey in Sgiath Biò and a smile crept on her lips. "But tomorrow I am going to the temple…"
"Yes, that is essential," Adrianna said in a clipped voice. She called Dmitri and Ed who were lurking at the bar along with Ileus who was flaunting his collection of whiskey.
"When did you manage to get it?" asked Dmitri, totally puzzled. "And why couldn't I see it all the time you weren't here?"
Ileus wiggled his eyebrows. "I know you father. I had hidden these bottles for special occasions." And it was a special occasion. "They were having dinner together as a family for the first time." He poured the whiskey in the crystal glasses.
Ed picked up the first one. He took a large swig and smacked his lips. "Ah! This is what I miss in the Mountains of Tibris."
Adrianna rolled her eyes. "Men!"
After dinner when Anastasia walked in her room, her eyes widened at what she saw.
