And so, time went on. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, but the relationship between the young prince and his princess went virtually unchanged, if not, a little worse. As it turned out, both Artemis and Avalon had strong personalities, but in different ways. Artemis was confident, as well as a little arrogant. Avalon was determined and perhaps a bit stubborn. The two butted heads more than once, with Avalon usually coming out the victor of their little rows.

Things became particularly difficult when Avalon came into estrus. Artemis had been around his mother and sister, but being related by blood, he doesn't have a reaction to either of them. When female palace servants came into season, they are excused from work and encouraged to stay home, so he is not exposed to them, either. Of course, home for Avalon was the palace, so her nearness to her husband was unavoidable...and extremely frustrating...for both of them.

This is the norm for females, in general. Their enhanced, perfumed scent is terribly distracting to unrelated males for an assortment of reasons, not the least of which being unwanted physical arousal. It's not their fault, of course, as the reaction is chemical, similarly to how a person salavates when they are in the vicinity of the aroma of something savory. It is not intentional, and it is not something that they can control any more than females can control when they come into estrus.

An estrus cycle occurs every 3 months for approximately 3 days. There is no "season" for queens to come into heat and every girl/woman's cycle is different. In other words, it is possible for at least one female to be in estrus every day of every year. To keep a town, or a palace from dissenting into pandemonium, girls/women are encouraged to stay home...for everyone's benefit.