Approaching the staircase, Orion glimpsed toward his attendant and asked, “You care to say something?”  A simple head shake was his only answer.  “Bullshit, Bernard.  We’ve known each other far too long for me not be able to read you like a book,” the Prince said.  “Go ahead, spit it out, and please, be as frank as you wish.”<br/><br/>“Very well,” Bernard responded with a deep inhalation.  “You seem to be getting rather chummy with the Princess.  Going out on a ride with her was one thing.  Then teaching her how to throw a rugby ball was quite the other.  But now this?!”  The man seemed truly exasperated, and for the life of him, Orion couldn’t understand why.  “The two of you were so . . . so lip-locked that I thought you might swallow her whole.”  The Prince gave that scenario some thought, positive that the Princess would be quite the tasty morsel.<br/><br/>“What if it had been Mother or Father who had walked in on you both, instead of me?” Bernard enquired, still somewhat distraught.  Orion shrugged, and with an amused smirk, said, “I dunno.  I would imagine they’d say<i>Bravo! </i>or something to that effect.”<br/><br/>Bernard stopped mid-step, and turned to face him, annoyance clearly etched on his face.  “How do you make light of this, Orion?  You were so deep into her mouth, you probably know every contour of her teeth.”  The Prince chuckled at this, and then replied, “Well, I’m not too sure about that.  I was more focused on that ravenous tongue of hers.”<br/><br/>“Again, you jest!” Bernard discreetly snapped.  Orion was on it faster than Pooh Bear on honey.  “Oh, what is your fucking problem with this, Bernard?  I’ve never seen you act this way before.”<br/><br/>“And I you, Orion.  I’m surprised you didn’t grab her ass,” the attendant accused.  The Prince stopped them in their tracks, a few feet from his bedroom.  “Oh trust me, Bernard, I so thought of that and wanted to.  And if my hands had a mind of their own, they would have been all over that sweet ass of hers.”  Seeing another protest brewing, Orion cut him off.  “And another thing.  You do recall that we are to be wed, right?”  A reluctant nod from Bernard, and he continued, “I believe I speak for Cassiopeia on this, in that if it were up to the two of us, we would just have our dalliances between the sheets or elsewhere, if you know what I’m saying.  And the wedding be damned”<br/><br/>With a wink, the Prince put a comforting arm around his troubled valet and said, “C’mon, guess I could use a shower, huh?  Can’t be smelling like sweat and Shade at dinner, now can I?”  Bernard managed a smile, and that alone made things right again between the two long-time companions.