“So since she has red hair and pays attention, that makes you believe she’s a spy for the Mages?” I continued.
“That’s not all. I just have this gut feeling. I can’t read her. I can’t see her soul and mind. So far, those I can’t read have turned out to be Mages as it is a powerful spell to block someone like me. Only you and the Dark Princeling have been exceptions to that rule,” he said as he rolled over and propped himself on his elbows at eye level with my stomach. “You’ve grown a lot this week; have you talked to Eliran about it?” he asked carefully.
“Yes; we’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve had my womb invaded by aliens which have now decided to use it to start a colony of clones,” I said as I tried to keep as straight of a face as I could manage while speaking of aliens.
“Ha-ha,” he snapped as he rolled his eyes and tried to focus on my belly that continued to wobble with the squirming babies. “I’m serious; you’re as big as a house.”
“Thanks for the confidence booster,” I replied, shaking my head at him. “You think it’s managed to slip my notice that I have a wide-load sticker on my ass?” I spoke in a heated tone, and then exhaled deeply. “Sorry, it’s kind of a sore subject with me at the moment, Demon.”
“Has Eliran seen the genders yet?” he continued, ignoring my outburst.
“No, they seem to prefer to hide it. Every time we try, it’s the same thing: either baby will have his or her rear end in the way, or a leg is blocking us, or an entire fetus. I seriously don’t care what they are though, Demon, as long as they are healthy.”
“And Ryder? How has he been these days?” I awarded him with a sour look that gave him his answer. “Don’t give me that look, Flower. Must I remind you that he’s—”
“Fae and love isn’t something you guys do a lot? No, I get it. Really, I do. The thing is, I wasn’t raised Fae and even if I had been, I’d still want love. Maybe it’s a female thing, but the Blood King and Queen, they have love. Actually, even Kier admitted he loves his wife so that’s two couples that I know of that don’t follow the norm. Ryder’s turned me into a giant beached whale and lately, he barely sticks around to do more than feed me. He was making an effort before, and now, nothing. I get that’s he’s super busy, but I need him right now, too.”
“You do know he’s preparing for war, right?” Ristan said as he placed his palm over my swollen stomach. His eyes lit up with wonder as one of the babes kicked him. “That one must be female like her mother; she’s got spunk and an attitude behind that kick.”
“Well, at least we already know that I have one boy inside there,” I said with a soft grin.
“Just because the vision showed you handing Adam a son, doesn’t mean they will both be males. After all, I was wrong about who had sired them; I could be wrong about the sex of the child as well.”
“True, since you didn’t see both of them in the vision,” I whispered. I was afraid to say it out loud, but we both knew that the chance of both babies making it out alive was slim. I’d conceived them immediately after Transition which was unheard of by Fae standards, and no one knew what it meant, or how it would affect them. Not even Danu had an answer to that question.
“Don’t go there,” Ristan said softly as he nodded to Zahruk, who had made an impatient noise indicating that he felt my playtime among the lesser Fae was over. “I haven’t seen them die,” he said as his eyes tightened as he watched me. His hand continued to stroke where the babe had yet to stop kicking.