The longer she was on the boat, the more Matilda was reminded that she'd never liked being out at sea. She had been offshore a handful of times since her marriage to Domitian, but no more than was required of her. In truth, she enjoyed the idea of being out at sea, and each time before boarding reassured herself that it could not be that terrible, only to find herself overcome with nausea once they were a few miles from shore. But like a proper lady she had kept her vomiting in the privacy of her own cabin, and had tried to put on a smile for the sake of her husband and his two unmarried sisters.
She had just finished chatting with an old school friend who she'd reconnected with onboard when she made the decision to return to her cabin. She and Dom shared the one across the hall from his sisters—an awkward arrangement, given that they rarely even shared a bed nowadays to perform their marital duties—and after soothing her stomach with a potion she'd had brewed before setting off she thought to check on her sisters-in-law to see if either of them cared to promenade above deck.
She held her hand up to knock on the door, but was startled by the sound of a man. It was not a voice, but a noise—but it was distinctly masculine. Her first reaction was that one of the crew staff had barged their way in, or that her sisters were being robbed or worse, so with a rapid heartbeat she pushed the door open and—
Her face tensed up in horror. "Camilla," she gasped, her hand flying to her chest as it tightened. There here sister-in-law was, under the bedsheets, naked, next to the similarly naked body of... "- and Fitzroy?" she added, as if she were fourteen again and he was being an annoying little brat. Her own cousin, bare-chested and his most intimate bits barely covered by the white bedsheets, looked as though he'd just run a marathon. Her stomach was suddenly churning, but not from the boat's movements. She walked further in the room and closed the door behind her, not wanting to attract the attention of anyone who might decide to pass through.
She had just finished chatting with an old school friend who she'd reconnected with onboard when she made the decision to return to her cabin. She and Dom shared the one across the hall from his sisters—an awkward arrangement, given that they rarely even shared a bed nowadays to perform their marital duties—and after soothing her stomach with a potion she'd had brewed before setting off she thought to check on her sisters-in-law to see if either of them cared to promenade above deck.
She held her hand up to knock on the door, but was startled by the sound of a man. It was not a voice, but a noise—but it was distinctly masculine. Her first reaction was that one of the crew staff had barged their way in, or that her sisters were being robbed or worse, so with a rapid heartbeat she pushed the door open and—
Her face tensed up in horror. "Camilla," she gasped, her hand flying to her chest as it tightened. There here sister-in-law was, under the bedsheets, naked, next to the similarly naked body of... "- and Fitzroy?" she added, as if she were fourteen again and he was being an annoying little brat. Her own cousin, bare-chested and his most intimate bits barely covered by the white bedsheets, looked as though he'd just run a marathon. Her stomach was suddenly churning, but not from the boat's movements. She walked further in the room and closed the door behind her, not wanting to attract the attention of anyone who might decide to pass through.
