Child of Fire, Child of Ice-A Sci-fi Romance Series

by JB Trepagnier

  “What couldn’t wait?” she demanded. “Just because we completed the bond like everyone wanted doesn’t mean we don’t still need time alone together.”

  Tati chuffed at her in annoyance, but didn’t answer, at least, not in Elan’s head. She padded over to Isolde and practically pushed Elan away from her with her nose. Tati was circling her and sniffing while Isolde had her hands on her hips demanding to know what she was doing. Elan joined Isolde. Whatever Tati was up to, she needed to start talking. She was agitating Isolde and Elan didn’t like it.

  Tati started rubbing her face against Isolde’s stomach while Isolde shot him a look for help. Tati walked away and just laid down like all of this was normal. She hadn’t said a thing to Elan and apparently not to Isolde either. She rested her head on her paws like she intended to take a nap.

  “You two may go, but if Isolde is not on Ragnis Crystal in a timely manner, you will need to come back.”

  “No! I’m not leaving until you explain why you had to sniff me and why you rubbed your face all over my stomach! And don’t tell me I’m not ready to hear it either!”

  “You’ll know soon enough, little warrior. My king, keep her close to you.”

  “You tell me now! I was brought here on lies and you and Soelva keep secrets. If you want me to cooperate, tell the truth.”

  “Elan, Isolde will not be able to fight with her fists soon because it can hurt the child she is carrying. If I tell her, will she demand the tea women take here to rid her of the baby? She cannot.”

  “How?” Elan sputtered. He had no doubt whatever pills she had brought from Avala with her were effective or she wouldn’t have brought them. He watched her take them every day with dinner. She took one that night. This wasn’t possible. She said she wanted to wait and this was a horrible time for her to be carrying his child. They weren’t even wed yet and the new moon was coming up. Would she want to keep it if he told her? If his people found out, they may try to burn her.

  Isolde was furious because she couldn’t hear what they were saying. She was pacing and ranting while he waited for Tati to answer. “Your bond is stronger than science. You set the moon aflame and you doubt you put your child in her that night?”

  “How can you tell?” he yelled. “Isn’t it too soon?”

  “Your child is going to be more powerful than both of you. Why do you think the moon set afire when he was conceived? I can feel his power vibrating, even if he hardly exists right now.”

  “What does that mean, Tati? The truth for once!”

  “Your queen loses patience and it’s not good for the baby. She can still defend herself for a few weeks, but after that, you must protect her and she cannot fight herself. The future of Ragnis Crystal lies in the two of you and that child. Take her back to your chambers and break the news to her. If she is upset, make it better. I do not believe the Cendis tea will do anything except make her ill. She cannot be sick while there are people here who would seek to burn her.”

  “Tati, you’re going to have to start explaining yourself, and soon!” he snapped.

  Isolde was already furious and it didn’t get much better when he told her he would tell her the news when they were back in his chambers. He had a feeling she was going to take it horribly when she refused to touch him the entire long walk back.

  Chapter 30

  Isolde had no idea what Tati had told Elan that he refused to tell her until they were back in his chambers. She just assumed it was bad because Elan kept yelling. She wanted him to tell her in front of Tati so she could fling her own questions at the cat. She didn’t like being angry with Elan for keeping secrets. It felt wrong and bad, but she couldn’t calm herself down. It seemed like nothing she knew was true anymore.

  The walk back was long and Elan finally tried to touch her. He slipped his arm around her waist and she felt warmth and the pleasant humming that came when he touched her. She leaned into him, finally relaxing.

  “Is it good news or bad news, Elan?”

  “It makes me happy, but Tati is worried about how you will react. She says I’ll need to protect you more.”

  “Why?” she asked, wrinkling her nose. “We protect each other and I know how to fight.”

  “Just wait until we can get back to my chambers and I can hold you to tell you, okay?”

  It seemed to take longer to get back to his chambers this time. She followed him into the bedroom and he started stripping off his clothes. She reacted how she normally did when she saw him nude. She felt a familiar tingle in her stomach and tried to push it away.

  “Are you trying to distract me so you don’t have to tell me?”

  “No, Isolde. Take your clothes off. I’m going to make it better after I’ve told you. I want to make you feel good again, like I did when we bonded.”

  She stripped her clothes off and joined him in bed. He ran his fingers through her hair and she felt herself calming. She could also feel him hesitating. She asked him to just spit it out. Whatever it was, she was tired of waiting.

  “Our bond, it’s bigger than us. Bigger than Avalian science. Those pills you brought with you. Isolde, I don’t know how to tell you this without upsetting you.”

  The bond overcame the pills? Was she? How could Tati tell this soon? She gulped. “I’m pregnant, Elan?”

  “Yes, Isolde. It’s a boy and he’s supposed to be more powerful than both of us. That’s all Tati would tell me. She said it’s safe for you to fight for a few weeks, but we need to get to Ragnis Crystal soon and I need to marry you.”

  She rolled on her back and put her hand on her flat stomach. It was way too soon, but she was happy about it? Would it look like a beautiful combination of her and Elan? She grabbed his hand and put it on top of hers.

  “We made a baby?” she asked. She still couldn’t believe it.

  “Yes, Isolde. You aren’t…angry? Tati thought you would try to get rid of it.”

  She growled. “That’s a product of you and me and a beautiful night in there. I’d never get rid of him. You can’t call him an it. Tati said he’s a boy. That night just ended up more beautiful than we thought. Should we come up with a name?”

  “His name is Pax. Tati just whispered it to me.”

  “That’s a strange name. It’s not Avalian or Cendian. We don’t we get to name him? Do we get to choose anything?”

  Elan cocked his head to the side. “I’m going to strangle Tati,” he muttered. “The girl is named Eireen. Tati didn’t feel the need to tell me you are having twins until she knew how you were going to react.”

  “Tati really thought I’d try to get rid of them? I’m angrier about that than being pregnant. It doesn’t have to be horrible timing either. The new moon is soon and we’ll have rounded all The Children up. From what you’ve told me so far, you don’t dally when it comes to justice. We have time before I start showing and I can still fight at the temple.”

  She saw the look on Elan’s face. He didn’t want her at the temple now. He was willing to sit the entire raid out just to keep her in bed. Maybe he didn’t understand?

  “Elan, I don’t know how Tati could tell. A doctor couldn’t tell yet. It was just two days ago. I know there will be a point that I can’t use my fists anymore and I swear to you, when we get there, you can spoil me as much as you like. I can still fight at the temple if I have to.”

  Elan started to nibble at her neck. She groaned. Was he really going to do this to change her mind? She’d probably agree to anything if he decided to go that route. “There’s one small problem, Isolde. I’ve been trying to spoil you since you got here. I’m just going to have to try harder. We’ll both be at the temple if you promise to sit back with me and observe. We only fight if something goes wrong. With Karta, it won’t. Everyone will be out in seconds and she can handle Koswara too.”

  “But where’s the fun in that, Elan?”

  He rolled her onto her back. “Oh, you want to have fun? I have some alternativ
es.” His thumb trailed over her lips. “You have this little bow at the top of your lips. I always want to kiss it.”

  Why did stupid Anders have to pop in her head right then? Elan saw the look on her face and asked. She might as well tell him. If Anders came with them to Ragnis Crystal, Elan would hear about it eventually. He still talked about it.

  “When I was fourteen, there was this boy, Anders. He was seventeen and apparently begging his father to arrange a marriage with me. Fjola must have known and was avoiding him. Anders thought it was a sure thing and I would be his wife as soon as I was old enough. He cornered me one day after I came back from a hunt. He was being horrible and claiming he couldn’t wait to have my mouth around his cock so he could teach me how he liked the courtesans to do it. I may have broken his nose and knocked out two of his teeth.”

  Elan laughed. “Good! He deserved it. I hope Fjola told your doctors to leave him toothless with a crooked nose.”

  “She yelled at me for an hour straight then had me beaten because I refused to apologize to him. Jovin couldn’t decide if it was perfect because it would give people pause at asking or he wanted to have me beaten too.”

  “Did it stop other people from asking? I don’t want to think about other men wanting you like that.”

  “Anders wasn’t ashamed a girl beat him like that. He told everyone he tried to romance me and told me all the things he would do to me to make me feel good. He told everyone I don’t even like the idea of having sex and gave me the nickname The Frigid Shrill. No one dares call me that to my face, but I know Anders and several males around my age do after everything he’s said.”

  “Why did you think of Anders when I was trying to seduce you? I’d never say anything that crass to you.”

  “I know, Elan. Anders liked the way my lips looked too. Particularly the way they looked in his head doing that. I’ve no idea why he jumped in my head. I try to avoid thinking about him. I couldn’t help it.”

  “Do you want to keep talking about Anders and those horrible men back home or do you want me to go back to telling you how beautiful you are?”

  Anders puffed out of her head just as quickly as he got there. She pulled him down for a kiss and the next thing she knew, someone was pounding on the door. Isolde and Elan both groaned. The new moon was coming and now Elan was king. Whoever it was, they couldn’t ignore it. She hid like she always did when he answered the door, but she heard both Sartika and Galih screaming for her like they wanted to blow her cover.

  Sartika ran over to her and nearly knocked her over with a hug. Her hand immediately went to Isolde’s stomach. “The two of you didn’t feel the need to come tell me as soon as you found out?”

  Sartika looked ecstatic and Galih was back to his usual grumpy self. She didn’t even get a chance to ask how either of them knew. “We need a good story as to why the two of you are getting married now. Yesterday. As soon as it happened.”

  “Are you trying to get me burned, Galih?” she demanded. “I won’t be showing for a while. How do both of you even know?”

  “The bond animals have apparently been chattering about it and told their people. If your babies are giving off something Tati can sense this early and all the bond animals are talking about how powerful they are, how do you know you aren’t going to start showing tomorrow? Have you thought of that?”

  “You won’t, little warrior,” Soelva said in her head. “You will have a totally normal pregnancy, but you and Elan need to wed as soon as possible. It’s not part of your trial, but the Cendian people. They are behind Elan, they must be behind you now.”

  “Soelva, I’m tired of secrets. I’m a slave here, not a princess.”

  “You are a slave that saved a king in front of his entire people. There was no natural way for you to hear the gunshot on that platform. Use that.”

  Soelva was gone in an instant, even though Isolde kept calling for her to explain. This was clearly part of some trial for her as well. She already knew neither Tati nor Soelva were going to explain why it was so important she do this now and not once they were on Ragnis Crystal. The gears in her head started whirring and she tuned out everyone in the room. She came up empty for once. She couldn’t come up with one good cover story that wouldn’t have people rioting if she married Elan right now.

  When she finally concentrated on the room again, Sartika was beaming at Elan and Galih was scratching his chin, claiming his plan could work. Elan met her eyes and apparently knew she spent half his plan arguing with Soelva and the other half plotting.

  “Soelva spoke to me too. Almost no one in the crowd heard the gunshot unless they were right near Hog. No one knew I had been shot at until you knocked me out the way and they noticed Hound took out Hog. You couldn’t have known you needed to save me unless Fia was speaking to you too. We’ll tell everyone Fia advised me to keep you close and that was why you’ve been spending so much time in my chambers. After you saved me, I questioned you and Fia has been speaking to you too. After we both knew, Fia advised both of us to wed. Fia thinks it will bring about a better Cendis because I understand how to rule and you understand the plight of the suffering. Together, we will bring Cendis into a new age.”

  “That would make sense if I was a Cendian who lived in the slums, not an Avalian slave. They know we don’t worship Fia.”

  “It’s actually perfect, Isolde,” Galih said. “They’ve been trying to convert the slaves for centuries. It will give them validation Fia is real and blesses anyone worthy if she chose to speak to you. We’ll just say the freeze was also a sign to follow you.”

  “When do you plan on doing this? The new moon is just days away. Shouldn’t you be plotting that?” Isolde knew everything he was saying was logical to her, but there was no logic behind most of the things she had seen since she got here.

  “In the time it takes to call another arena,” Sartika said. “Wear one of the Cendian dresses. If you look in the lower drawer, you’ll find jewelry I had made for you. I have a feeling you prefer the other clothing I got bizarre looks when I gave the ideas for, but can you wear a dress this time?”

  “And if I have to fight?”

  “Ace, Stretch, Boomer, Viper, Crash, and Hound will be there protecting you so you don’t have to. I imagine Hound will toss you over his shoulder and carry you out if you try when he finds out your condition.”

  Chapter 31

  Fjola squealed and grabbed Viljar for a kiss when Sartika called to tell her Isolde was carrying powerful twins. When she finally settled down, it hit her. Isolde hadn’t called to tell her. If Fjola hadn’t thought she needed to treat her a certain way, maybe she would be hearing this directly from her daughter instead of Sartika.

  Sartika saw the look on her face. “My son didn’t tell me either. They found out and immediately went back to his chambers like they intended to keep it a secret until her belly started getting big. I only found out because the bond animals spilled their secret while Galih was around the sixteen and they told him.”

  “Did they not tell us because they are unhappy? She insisted on bringing those capsules because she didn’t want children right away.”

  “No, the two of them are even more in love than they were before. I think Elan is over the moon and Isolde is at least accepting it.”

  Fjola clucked her tongue. “If Isolde was unhappy about it or just accepting it, every single one of you would know. She has exactly two modes when she doesn’t like something. She tells you flat to your face or she gets this look where it’s pretty obvious she hates every minute and you have to deal with a freezing room.”

  “Yes, she’s quite blunt and some of the things that come out her mouth are shocking, but she really is brilliant and amazing to watch when she fights. You should be proud of her.”

  “I am. I just can’t tell her because she doesn’t want to hear it.”

  “Didn’t she agree to hear you out in person? Let’s focus on that right now. Is everything falli
ng into place on Avala?”

  “Yes. We found the leader of The Children of Fia here. After we questioned him, he confessed to being a distant relative of your Hikmat and they talk over COMM. He had no idea what he was doing with the stolen tech. Hikmat told him things had changed with his leadership. It was just COMMs before so they could talk to their families. Hikmat told Petruk he was trying to bring Cendis up to the same level of technology as Avala and that was why he wanted all the information sent to him. Petruk has been under the impression once the two planets were on equal footing, Hikmat would negotiate the trade of slaves and they could all go home.”

  “They risked their lives because they just want to go home? It’s been so long, none of them have seen Cendis. Don’t they know about the swarms?”

  “Hikmat lied. He said he had already found a solution and the planet was totally safe now. Much better than the freezing weather on Avala. I imagine your slaves on Cendis just want to come home as well.”

  “Well, what did this Petruk do when you told him the truth?”

  “He didn’t believe me at first. I did the only thing I could think of. I asked the interrogator to strap me in a chair next to him and inject me with the same drug so he could question me where I couldn’t lie. He knows the truth now and he was despondent to find out his relative had lied to him.”

  “Did you get a chance to run Isolde’s theory on him? I still think it may have been a bad idea.”

  “Please,” Fjola scoffed. “None of her ideas are bad. She knew what she was doing when she suggested that. We let Isolde believe that lie, but she still prepared for coming. She spent a lot of time with our slaves, getting to know them and asking what they knew of their home. She had every intention of doing away with slavery when she was queen. She never outright promised them that, but she always swore to them one day, things would be different. She’s already set the scene for this, even if she had no idea what was going to happen when she got to Cendis.”