He was entirely serious. She heard it in his voice. “Is this a fairy thing?” she asked, then inwardly cringed. “I mean…a Fae thing?”
He lovingly placed his hand on her stomach again. “I dinna ken. I only know what I know, and I know I hear new life in yer womb—the life of our child.”
The excitement and depth of his sincerity made her heart ache and swell with more love than she had ever felt before. She pulled him down to rest his head on her chest and laced her fingers into his hair. “I love you more than you will ever know,” she whispered, “and I hope what you say is true—but if it is, I am afraid, and you know why.”
He shifted and pulled her into a comforting, protective embrace. “Our bairn is strong and will have met yer sweet Cara before coming to us. All will be well, my love. I swear it.”
She hoped he was right. With all her heart, she hoped he was right, because other than him, she had no one in this time and place that she could lean upon and trust to get her through this should something go wrong. Inalfi had lied to her, and she had trouble getting past that.
“Ye dinna believe me,” he said softly. “I hear the doubt whirring through ye.”
“Overcoming fear is kind of like eating an entire elephant. At one bite at a time, it takes a while to finish it off.”
“What is an elephant?”
“An enormous animal that is about three times the size of your horse.”
“Ahh.”
“And I have no one here other than you—not that you’re not enough—but I have no female friends. No one to talk to. Like you have Ferris when you need to talk to someone to work through your problems.”
“Ye have Inalfi. As yer personal maid, ye should be able to speak with her about anything. She considers yer confidence sacred.”
She clenched her teeth, unwilling to tattle through implication any more than she already had. Inalfi’s current behavior stemmed from loyalty to him. Something for which the maid should not be punished. “Let’s just go back to sleep. I’m sure you’re right. It’ll be fine. I’ll just make a point to mingle more with the women of the clan. I am sure I’ll make friends.” She sounded like a nervous kid trying to fit in at a new school, for good reason. She had met several ladies of the clan, but they all seemed leery about getting too close to the chieftain’s one.
He rolled away from her, left the bed, and lit a fresh candle on the mantel. Then he stood at the foot of their bed, magnificent in his nakedness, and gave her a stern look. “Tell me. Now.”
“Tell you what?”
“Ye ken verra well what. We will not be sleeping until ye tell me what has happened between yerself and yer maid that makes ye unable to look upon her as not only a servant but a confidante and companion.”
“Nothing has happened,” she lied and immediately regretted it because his glower darkened.
Arms folded across his irresistible chest, he paced back and forth at the foot of the bed like a war general planning a major attack. “Would ye care to answer my question again, my love? Preferably with the truth this time?”
“Inalfi is very protective of you. As she should be.” There. Maybe that would satisfy him.
“Protective how?” He jutted his chin higher, studying her with a look that made her nervous. His head slowly tilted to the side, and his eyes narrowed. “When ye came to find me in my solar, ye mentioned wards set to keep ye out. Who put that worry into yer head?”
She tugged the covers up to her chin, rolled over onto her side, and adjusted her pillow. “Come to bed. I’m cold.”
“Inalfi lied to ye, and now, ye dinna trust her.”
Doing her best to hide any reaction to his irritating accuracy at reading her, Emily closed her eyes and wiggled deeper into the pillows. “Come to bed.”
Suprisingly, he did just that, sliding under the covers and curling his warmth around her. “At first light, I shall have her removed and returned to the kingdom. Grennove’s assistant, Breenoa, can attend ye until we find a maid better suited to serve ye.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No—I don’t want her punished for being loyal to you. She was angry with me for hurting you in the Dreaming. Just leave her alone.” Unless Inalfi didn’t want to be her maid anymore? Maybe she didn’t like her. Maybe she never had. The young Fae woman had often struggled with understanding her. “I’ll ask her if she wants to go. If she does, then she can go of her own free will. Not because she’s fired.”
“Fired?”
“Dismissed.”
“Ahh.” He kissed the back of her shoulder. “Why do ye care about what the maid wants or needs? Especially after she lied to ye?”
