by Sariah Skye
“Who was that?” Gabriel questioned.
“Lorusto. The dragon that tried to kill me in school.”
“The one you used your magic on? Wow…” Gabriel smacked me lightly in the arm. “Good going, highness. Still kicking butt and taking names, huh?” He added with a wink.
I rolled my eyes. “Stop.”
“Are you coming?” Link finally noticed from farther down the road that we had stopped following him.
“Coming!” Gabriel and I walked briskly to catch up with him, snickering along the way.
“You’re a better person than I am,” Gabriel said, as we reached the infirmary. “I wouldn’t have forgiven him.”
I shrugged. “I don’t want to be angry anymore. I don’t want to add to the storm.”
Gabriel smiled with admiration. “And this is why you are Queen.”
Chapter 26
I arrived back “home” that afternoon, feeling restless, yet exhausted.
Upon arriving to the bedchambers, I noticed Maxxus was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t too surprised; I’d just finished visiting Evie and gotten a clean bill of health. Surprising with some of the “morning sickness” I’d had, but it’d been about twenty-four hours since I’d thrown up last. I’d texted Maxxus the good news and he was organizing the throne room for the healings, that would start tomorrow afternoon. I’d offered to help but was quickly denied; he insisted I needed my rest.
Evie had given me sachets of supplements concocted by Esmé that were supposedly to help with pre-natal nutrition, energy and nausea. After taking a handful of them as prescribed, I felt right as rain—inside. Outside, my body just wanted to sleep, but my brain felt great; I wasn’t ready for rest yet but I didn’t want to run any marathons.
I sat at the edge of the bed, alone, scanning the opulent bedroom around me. Even with my computer, several of my Harry Potter fangirl-décor items hanging, my clothing in the wardrobe and all my things, it still did not feel like home. I assumed it never would.
I felt a lonely chill wrack my spine and I rubbed my forearms with my hands, trying to eliminate the sudden outbreak of goose pimples, caused by the cold of the stone room. Sighing, I slowly crossed the room to the fireplace under the window. Logs had already been neatly stacked but no fire had been lit, yet. I frowned, really missing good ol’ central heating right about now. I flicked my hand open and tossed a small ball of fire under the mantel; the kindling resting on top sparked and slowly smoldered before starting a full-on fire.
I changed out of my robes and clothing, opting for more homey and comfortable low-waisted sweats and a fitted graphic tee, with Kit’s coffeehouse logo emblazoned on it: Morningstar in scripty font, over a picture of a sunrise horizon, with the ‘I’ in Morningstar dotted with a star. I felt a sense of wistfulness as I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror; wistful for the way things were, when they were easier. Serving coffee for the residents and travelers through Pineville with Kit was a much easier job then queen of a dragon kingdom, that’s for sure.
I raised a brow slightly, catching my body’s profile in the mirror. “What?” My hands traveled to my belly, which I swore was ever so slightly protruding outwards. “That can’t be…I’m only…” I couldn’t think at the top of my head but I wasn’t very far along yet at all; there was no way I should be showing yet. I rubbed my hands over the mild swelling, feeling puzzled. I scoffed. “I must just be bloated.” But, to answer my question my stomach rumbled loudly, indicating that it was hard to be bloated when one was hungry. “If I’m this big already… what the hell will I look like full-term?” I grimaced in horror, leaning backwards and puffing out my stomach as far as it could go.
I grabbed for a velveteen throw pillow from the vanity chair nearby and, brushing off the cat hair I shoved it under my shirt and admired the view.
My eyes widened at the sight. I was huge. Huge and lumpy but my eyes focused on the huge.
I was pregnant.
Feeling a sense of panic, I quickly yanked the pillow out from under my shirt and tossed it across the room. I heard the scramble of paws and a hiss as Sona darted from the corner of the room for the bathroom. I bit my lip sheepishly. “Sorry! Didn’t see you there.”
Like she cared.
I remembered I was hungry and pushed further thoughts of my impending pregnancy out of my mind’s eye; for some reason, the idea was making me panic. I grabbed for my phone to text Kiarra but before I could send the message, there was a knock at the door.
“Yes?” I called to whoever was on the other side.
Not bothering to reply, the door opened a crack, and Kiarra poked her head through. She glanced around briefly before seeing me in the center of the room, alone—probably looking sheepish but still, very much alone.
“Just making sure you’re decent and not…umm…” she made a suggestive motion with her hand.
I snorted. “Do you see Maxx anywhere in here?”
“Ha. Who needs a man for that?” She grinned evilly.
I rolled my eyes and grimaced. “Now there’s a thought…”
She chuckled. “You up for some visitors? We come bearing gifts!”
“Visitors? Gifts?”
Kiarra opened the door widely and in burst Kit, followed by Braeden, Daniel and Gabriel, each carrying various food items. But Kit carried the most beautiful item of all.
I practically salivated, seeing the two two-liter bottles of Mountain Dew under her arms.
I jumped up and down and squealed as she handed them to me, not before giving me a big hug. “Are you sure you should be drinking this?” she asked cautiously, softly patting my belly. “Little baby dragon in there won’t hate Auntie Kit for it, will she?”
“Or he!” Daniel insisted. He grinned, showing off boxes of pizza stacked in his arms.
I grinned at them both. “I’ll be fine, caffeine has little effect on dragons as you know,” I said to Kit with a wink. “This is the equivalent of a cup of decaf for me!”
Kit tittered, taking a couple of the pizza boxes from Daniel and spreading them out on various surfaces in the bedroom. “You know it all makes sense now. I never saw anyone in all my years of barista-ing pack away the espresso like you do.” She turned to the group and grinned. “Did you know I’d make her drinks, and she’d request five shots of espresso?”
“Five?” Daniel spat, in shock.
Kit nodded insistently. “Oh yes. She always asked for more but I refused, because I was afraid she’d have a heart attack with that much caffeine!”
I snorted. “Yeah, but I used to sneak another five more in the cup when you’d leave the room.”
“Oh you.” She pretended to scold me. “It all makes sense now.”
“You think that’s something? Have you ever seen her pound down the wine?” My brother let out a low whistle. “Damn!”
“Hey Brae—” I raised my hand high and flashed him the one-finger salute.
“If there is anything dragons are good at besides being crabby and loud, it’s imbibing,” Kiarra kidded, taking a stack of paper plates and cups from Gabriel.
Gabriel eyed me carefully. “Are you all right? Sure you’re up for visitors?”
“I’m fine,” I replied, giving him a thankful smile.
“Yeah, and where’s that hot mate of yours?” Daniel piped up next, wiggling his eyebrows. “You think he’d be here since you’re alone, having his way with you.”
“Geez is that all you think mated dragons do?” I wrinkled my nose, and thumped him on the shoulder as he passed me, with armfuls of other various junk food and candies and dumped them on the bed.
“That’s all I’d do,” my brother said, shooting Kiarra a coy grin.
“Oh gods.” I pointed down my throat and make gagging sounds. Unfortunately, it prompted actual gagging and I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to prevent anything disgusting coming out.
Kiarra rubbed my back gently. “Aw, how are you feeling?”
“Fine, as long as I don’t
pretend to throw up, I guess. I did enough of that this week already,” I said, with a grossed-out sigh.
“Feeling up to pizza?” Kiarra asked. “We have bread and soup in the kitchen too if you don’t think you can stomach it.”
I shook my head rapidly. “No way, a bunch of nasty human junk food sounds like just the ticket.”
“Here you go, your queenliness.” Daniel gave a mocking bow as he handed me a plate with four slices of pizza on it. “I won’t bother with a napkin, since I know that’s not your thing.”
“Nope.” I unceremoniously stuffed my face with a large amount of pizza and grinned, pointedly and obnoxiously wiping the sauce off my face with the back of my hand.
“So nasty…” he murmured.
“So, what do you want to do?” Gabriel began to sit next to me at the edge of the bed but thought twice about it, opting instead for the lounge at the end. “Movies? Poker?”
“What do you normally do during these weird mytho gatherings?” Braeden asked. He’d produced several of the large, plush cushions from the sitting room outside the door and tossed them in various spots on the floor. He took one, and Kiarra took another, scooting it close to his and resting her head happily on his shoulder.
“Oh the usual. Drunken orgies and sacrifices to the gods.” Gabriel scoffed indifferently. “No big whoop.”
“Sorry I missed it,” my brother replied with a chuckle.
“Where is Maxxus?” Gabriel inquired.
I shrugged. “I figured he was doing some kingly stuff; I haven’t seen him.”
Kiarra shook her head. “Well if he is, he’s not in the castle. I just came from there.”
“And he’s not at home,” Braeden added.
“Weird.” I huffed it off, diving into another piece of pizza and chugging the pop, grinning happily as the carbonation burned down my throat.
“Everything all right with you two?” Gabriel inquired.
“Sure. Why wouldn’t it be?” I eyed the sorcerer oddly. “Something I should know?”
“No!” Gabriel said quickly. “I just…sense a bit of…tension?”
“Oh,” I said with a chuckle. “We’re just worried about the baby and how we’re going to deal with it, and the Shadows and…well everything.”
Gabriel looked upon me with sympathy. “Sorry. It’s a lot to handle.”
“He’s a saint compared to some guys I’ve known that learn they’re about to become Dads,” Daniel said, daintily nibbling on his thin-crust, veggie-topped pizza. “Some men become complete assholes under the pressure, and run or…worse. I read somewhere that homicide is the number one killer of pregnant women? Well, human women anyway.”
Braeden looked up from his quiet conversing with Kiarra to glare. “What is wrong with human men?”
Daniel snorted. “So much…”
Gabriel chuckled. “He’d know! He’s dated lots of them.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what, I find out that mate of yours, Leo, is acting like a douche? King or not, I’ll tear his head off!” Braeden said angrily, cracking the knuckles of his fingers in front of him.
“He’ll have to get in line,” Gabriel said sternly.
“Behind me.” I said pointedly at him, but grinned. “Nah, he’s fine. We’re both just worried.”
“You don’t have to worry for too much longer; Finnian is putting things together. It might require more help than what he expected before, but he’ll get it done,” Kit said knowingly.
I lifted a brow at her. “I’d really like to hear what this training entails.”
She smiled, smugly. “And, I’d really like to tell you but I can’t. Just yet.”
I sighed, defeated but not surprised. “I know…I know.”
Kit patted my hand. “Trust me, we’ve got your back.”
I smiled at her in appreciation. “Thanks.”
“I also wanted to chat with you about something. Now that Castle Danger is slowly getting fixed up, I scoped out a new spot for the coffee house.” Kit reached into a pocket in her long, brightly printed skirt and pulled out a worn paper. She unfolded it and set it on the bed, and I realized it was a hand drawn map of Castle Danger. I recognized the town square, the Loremasters’ headquarters off to the east and nearby, Kit had a small square circled in red. “This used to be a café, owned by a handful of fae and nymphs but they left for their home realm awhile ago.”
“There hasn’t been an official coffeeshop in Castle Danger for some time. It’s perfect, has a lot of the things you already need, and what you don’t have can be retrieved from your shop in Pineville,” Kiarra said. “Or we can build brand new; it is pretty small.”
I eyed the map, nodding slowly. “Can you just add on? Seems a waste if the building is still okay?”
“It was damaged pretty heavily, so we’ll see,” Kit said, with a sigh. “But I just wanted to hear your opinion on it, since one day it’ll be yours, too.”
“One day…” I said, trailing off. “It was simpler then, wasn’t it?”
“But, not necessarily better,” Kit corrected.
“You almost died, Kit,” I protested.
“But you saved me, and we’ll always save you,” Kit said. “That’s what friends are for.”
“Friends? We’re family.” Daniel sauntered across the room with a plate of cookies. My eyes widened and I grabbed several. “Besides, you don’t really want to not know us, right?” His lip trembled as he pretended to cry.
I rolled my eyes. “No, of course not,” I said, giving Daniel a playful shove. “It’s just…” I sighed, trying to find the words. “It doesn’t feel like…home.”
“Now that I can understand,” Gabriel said, sympathetically. “I sort of feel like a vagabond.”
“Hey, it won’t be long and you’ll find your place, Leo,” Braeden insisted.
“Besides, what’s the old saying? Home is where the heart is? That cheesy shit,” Daniel said. “Let’s face it, you and Maxx could be living in a cave and still be home.”
My demeanor brightened. “Yeah, you’re right. Speaking of…there’s something I’ve been meaning to do for some time but have been putting it off for awhile.”
“What’s that?” Kit asked.
I slid off the bed and went to the nightstand next to my side of the bed, and pulled out Maxxus and my handfasting cord from our Bonding ceremony. “I was going to wait to hang this because—I don’t know really. But you’re right, home is wherever your family is right?” With little effort, I stood on the bed and stretched it over the headboard, weaving it through a handful of nails, where Valessia and Athalos’ once was. I sat back, satisfied.
Kit snaked her arm across my shoulders. “That a girl.”
I reached for my pizza on my plate, noticing it was empty. Gabriel was by my side with another plateful.
“Hungry?” he said with a wink.
I grinned smugly at him. “Why yes, yes I am. What are you all doing here, anyway?” I asked, confused. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the pizza and junk, but you didn’t have to hang out with me or anything.”
Daniel snorted. “Nonsense. It’s our job, isn’t it? To keep you happy?”
“We’ve all been worried about you,” Gabriel said, exchanging a glance with his brother. “Even before the pregnancy announcement.”
“I know it’s been stressful for you,” Kiarra said, expression solemn. “We need to make sure you have a little relaxation time, too.”
I glanced around at everyone, gathered in my—well, Maxxus and my—bedroom. My eyes blurred with happy tears as emotion welled up in my chest. “You guys…”
“Only thing missing is Maxx, but I guess one of us has to be responsible,” I said, with a gloomy sigh. “I’m worried about him, too.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much, he’s a tough bastard,” Braeden said reluctantly.
“He’s been acting sorta weird.” I shrugged. “It’s probably just male PMS, right?”
Daniel chuckled. “I know it well.”
<
br /> “You would.” Gabriel retorted.
Daniel shot a glare at his brother. “Bro, come at me,” he said, making a taunting gesture.
Gabriel rolled his eyes, and with a flick of the wrist, shot a ball of unruly wind at him.
“My hair!” Daniel grumbled, as the magic flew right over his head, tousling his carefully constructed hair.
Gabriel facepalmed himself. “Good lord…”
Kit stifled a giggle. “So what’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” she asked me, trying to ignore the two squabbling brothers.
I swallowed nervously. “Try to heal the Shadowtouched Court members.”
“Tomorrow?” Kiarra, who had been deep in conversation with my brother, shot her head up. “Already?”
“Sooner the better.”
Gabriel halted his horseplay. He brushed off his taunting brother and sat next to me on the bed, grasping my hand comfortingly. He smiled, turning my palm over in his, tracing the Celtic ‘scar’ design of the magic-family bonding spell he’d done the other night. It was very faded by now, but still there, as was his. “It’ll be okay. Promise.”
I smiled at him gratefully. “Thank you.”
“I’ll be there every step of the way.” I caught his stare and noticed his deep brown eyes shimmer with emotion briefly. My heart fluttered quickly before he turned away, embarrassed. “We should probably let you rest.”
“No!” I insisted. “Stay! Please! At least until Maxx gets here! Having you all here makes me feel better; I don’t think as much. I don’t worry. Please?”
“How can we say no to that?” Gabriel said, elbowing me gently.
Chapter 27
It was late before Maxxus finally arrived back to the castle; Kit, Kiarra and Braeden had left, claiming various reasons (but judging by the flirtation between my brother and Kiarra and Kit’s wistful watching of them, I figured it had to do with amorous ones…). Daniel and Gabriel stayed behind dutifully, even after I dozed off as we attempted to watch the newest Star Trek reboot movie. The brothers argued about which version was actually better: new cast, or old cast as I drifted off. Normally, I’m glued to anything Star Trek of course but the pregnancy still had me feeling more worn out than usual.