[imgleft]http://www.iaza.com/work/100728C/sleeping_dragon8505329683-iaza.jpg[/imgleft] "Love, you awake?" The duke opened an eye and shifted from tiger to human before kissing his wife loving on the cheek. She blushed and kissed his cheek. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck a few times before sitting in the shade with her in his lap.
"Zuko." She said loking up at him.
"Yes love?" He asked stroking his silky black hair. She wispered something into his ear and the duke froze before blacking out.

~~~*

When his consiousness returned Zuko sat up and rubbed his head. His mistress stepped in and sat beside him, she kissed his cheek and he kissed her forehead.
"Are you afarid?" She asked.
"No," Zuko replied.
"Just shocked, it's been two months already?"
"Yes love." She said leaning against him, Zuko lay back on the bed and hugged his wife. The two had ben wed a year before, Zuko had been married four times before, each had lasted about ninteen months, and had all died in childbirth.
Zuko had been cursed by the mother of his first love that every wife before the death of his brother would die birthing his children.
His brother was a lord, whom was frequent to marry beautiful but infertile women whom he'd get rid of quickly after the first month. His brother lacked a wife at the moment but was calling together a court for some reason. It was probably a marrige to some exotic lord's daughter.

* a series of ~'s usually means a timeskip for me the more ~'s the long the timeskip.

Maryanne lived with her caretaker in a small, homey house. Her inheritance was wasted by the man years before she could gain legal rights to it, she the two were forced to make do in their controversial situation. The older man refused to find a job so the girl was forced to find one for herself. Luckily, one of the King's couriers who came down to the village hinted to her that the King's wife was looking for a maid. The girl became intrigued with what the young man was implying as she barely every had the opportunity of leaving the small village she was forced to live in. It didn't strike her that maybe the man was trying to take advantage of her, as Maryanne never socialized with manipulative people. He caretaker was lazy and air-headed but far from being so cruel. In fact he cared for the girl enough to make her go into pilgrimage for most of her life.

"I can take you there tomorrow if you like, Maryanne."

"Oh please do," the girl nodded her head with a sparkle in her eye.

Zuko stood before kissing his wife on the cheek.
"I need to go love, don't want to be late for the court meeting." He said before heading outside. When he was away from his mannor he shifted into a tiger and ran.
Zuko lived in the fartherest north areas of the kingdom, as far from his brother as possible. In his tiger form he covered ground quickly, farther than he could go in a day than on horse. In the orth it was known well that Zuko and his brother could shape shift so the white feline was welcome the dash down the streets. It was when he got farther south he had to be more cautious, taking a route around towns and cities.
At about noon he had to slow down and rest. He lay at the edge of a lake on the outskirts of Maryanne's home town. Zuko lapped up some water and took a spot in the shade of a few trees. He closed his eyes and rested shortly, his yes opened eyer few minutes to make sure he wasn't being watched.