Chapter 32 Pillow Talk

"Robert, why haven't you talked to me about the voyage?" "It isn't for a lady's ears."
"Not any of it? Was it all bad?"
Robert paused. He didn't want to frighten his wife by telling her of all he had seen. Neither did he want to frighten her by leaving her to imagine what could be so terrible he wouldn't speak of it.
"No, it wasn't all bad. Are you so eager to hear?"
Robert reached for her as he spoke. Swan snuggled into him.
"I hope you don't mind if I leave out the parts unfit for ladies."
"Such as?"
"A bunch of sweaty men on a ship-"
"That doesn't sound so bad."
"A-hem. Stinky, sweaty men on a ship, a seasick king, peeing out a porthole...."
"I see why you didn't want to tell me."
"Heard enough then?"
"Hardly. Did you travel very far? You were gone all summer."
"Yes, we traveled over most of the known world."
Swan reached her arm out, gesturing like her husband. "Across the whole thing?"
"According to Sven if you travel all the way across you end up on the other side. He claims the world is a circle of some sort. Vikings!" The couple chuckled.
"We went everywhere we thought may be inhabited. We skipped places anyone had been and could say there was no one left. We also visited only parts of kingdoms. King Lovejoy was looking for life, not to see every aspect of every kingdom."
"Good thing, I may not have ever seen you again!"
Robert was quiet a moment. There were times he had feared this very thing.
"I missed you Robert."
Robert squeezed his wife. "I missed you too."
"Please, tell me more. Is everyplace just like here?"
"There were some things the same, some different."
"How was it different? Could you tell me about some of the places? Please?"
"First we came to the Ottoman kingdom. It's a desert place, more sand than grass."
"And the people?"
"They wear vibrant colors."
"Then where did you go?"
"Some of us went on foot to the orient. It's a little more like here. They have a very rich culture. The people there have black hair and slanted eyes, like they are squinting in the sun. Most of the time they were decorated robes for clothes they call kimonos - the men and the women." Robert thought of Buddha. "There are exceptions."
Swan stayed silent, waiting for more.
"Next we went to the land of Egypt. This is also a desert, very few plants. There are great triangles there that rise into the sky."
Swan was entranced.
"Then we traveled to a tropical place with primitive people."
Robert stopped. He had no desire to tell Swan of the next 2 kingdoms.

"The best kingdom of all is here with my Swan."

"Here with your Swan?"

"Are you trying to seduce your husband?" "I was hoping you were trying to seduce me."

"I am glad I married a smart woman."