After a long dinner, Tyrion and Penelope retired to their room. They had their bath, which was prepared by the servants.
Tyrion was the first one to lie down on the bed, and to his surprise, Penelope followed him shortly to straddle his lap. His hands instinctively went to her waist.
"You didn’t want to soak with me, but you’ll do this. What are you plotting?" Tyrion asked, suspecting she was up to no good.
Penelope placed her hands on Tyrion’s bare chest. "Why must it be that I am plotting something?"
"Because you are. I know you like the back of my hand," said Tyrion.
"No, you do not. I assure you that I am full of surprises. If you understood me, then your courting would have worked long ago. There is something I must speak of," Penelope said, moving her hands to pin Tyrion’s to the bed. "I should have saved one of my ribbons for your hands."
"You’re starting something that you’re going to have to see all the way through to the end," Tyrion warned Penelope.
"I can feel what I am starting," Penelope said, bringing attention to his growing erection beneath her. "I have the remedy for it, and no, it is not what you are thinking. I want to speak about your mother."
Tyrion’s interest immediately went away, and he was quite ready to move Penelope.
"You are evil," Tyrion said. "Perhaps I should have listened to your brother."
"Be careful with what you say. I want to speak about the gathering the queen will host in the palace. Before we wed, I was invited and I intended to go. I want to go now, but I didn’t want to tell anyone before I spoke to you," Penelope explained.
"You want to know if I think you should go?" Tyrion asked.
"You know better than I do if the palace is safe. I would be at your mother’s side for most of the gathering, but I want to hear it from you."
"You should go," Tyrion answered. He noticed Penelope’s surprise. "The court will be dealt with by then. It is only a few men who remain. My father will have the court settled by the time my mother’s gathering starts, and I will be in the palace that day."
Penelope squinted her eyes, suspicious. "Did you always have plans to be in the palace that day?"
"No, but when my wife is there, you cannot expect me to be out of the palace. Even though the court will not be an issue anymore, many others plot in the palace. Danger lurks because there are fathers doing anything to get their daughters on the throne," Tyrion said.
Tyrion couldn’t trust most of the maids, guards, and common folk who entered the palace. He couldn’t get what happened to his mother out of his mind.
Penelope moved her hands so Tyrion’s wouldn’t be pinned down anymore.
"You must be careful with what you eat or drink. My mother is already paranoid, so she has guards watch over the food, but you must be careful. Promise me that you will," said Tyrion.
"I will be careful," Penelope promised, but there were some concerns.
Penelope couldn’t confidently say that what happened to the queen wouldn’t happen to her. She couldn’t think of any reason why anyone would try to stop her from having a baby with Tyrion. Or, if someone were to trouble her food, would it be to kill her?
"The town already seems to think that I was carrying your child before we wed. I have been to other gatherings around the town. Perhaps I should be careful even then. Still, I cannot think of any reason for anyone not to want us to have a child," Penelope said, nothing coming to mind.
Tyrion placed his hands on Penelope’s waist. "There is always something they think of. Rather than thinking of their reasons, we should be safe. Who is it that speaks of you being pregnant before you were married?"
Penelope was silent for a moment, then said, "It doesn’t matter."
"It matters to me because they are trying to spoil your name. You know what happens when they accuse a woman of having a child before she is married. This will follow you for a long time, and I will not stand for it. So, tell me," Tyiron urged Penelope.
"Truthfully, I don’t know who started the rumour, but if I had to guess, I would assume it is Amelia and her friends. They will claim that they know nothing of it and heard it from someone else. This rumour will go away once it is apparent that I am not pregnant," Penelope said confidently.
"Or, there will be new gossip that you got rid of the child to hide the ugly truth," Tyrion said, thinking like the townspeople.
Penelope frowned. "I would never do that."
"It doesn’t matter what you wouldn’t do. The town has an opinion of you in their minds, and they expect you to act as they imagine. Talk of a curse is going away, but gossip of what we were before we wed remains," said Tyrion.
Tyrion was worried about the wrong person believing that Penelope was pregnant and wanting to hurt her to either hurt Tyrion or Edgar. No one was off-limits in this town. Not even an unborn child.
"Do you regret it? Running off," Penelope clarified. "I don’t regret it despite all that has followed."
"I had more time than you to consider what would come from running away. I don’t regret it. I do have something important to say. If I had said no to you going to the palace, would you have seduced me to get your way?" Tyrion asked, drawing attention back to their current predicament.
Penelope laughed. "No, because I planned to get my way and I did. I already told you that nothing will happen while we are in my parents’ home. So, I suggest you think of a way to get rid of what I am feeling."
"You are cruel, Penelope. First, you excite me and then you leave to take care of it by myself. You wouldn’t have to be ashamed to face anyone tomorrow as long as you keep your voice down," Tyrion said, his hands moving to the hem of her dress.
Tyrion continued to say, "It feels to be a waste if we do not spoil this room."
Penelope leaned forward to leave a quick peck on Tyrion’s lips, then moved so she no longer straddled him. "Goodnight, Tyrion."