“So, they’ll leave us alone now?” Emily asked.
“They should,” Mairwen said. “But remember, it was they who brought ye here and shielded ye from us only to try to rip ye apart once more.”
“About that,” Nicnevin said, her expression a bit sheepish as she shimmered into view.
“Has my feckin’ bedchamber taken the place of the great meeting hall?” Gryffe scooted back beside Emily and hugged her close. “And which one of ye stripped me down afore putting me to bed like a bairn?”
“I believe ye already know the answer to that,” Nicnevin said as she sat on the edge of the bed. “If not, I sorely misjudged yer intelligence.” She offered an apologetic tip of her head. “I thought it time to confess. Now that everything has come to pass so beautifully.”
“Ye brought her here, and then ye lied about it.” Gryffe stabbed his finger in the air, pointing at his mother. “I knew it was yer doing. I knew it.”
“The mother goddesses never would have allowed yer fated mate to come to ye because of her ancestry,” she said quietly. “I had no choice.”
“Ye knew about her ancestry as well.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed the inner corners of his tired, gritty eyes. “And ye thought not to mention that?”
Nicnevin shrugged again. “I had heard rumors—nothing substantial, you understand. I didna wish to cloud yer reasoning with such things in case they held no truth.”
“We have been manipulated into marriage and parenthood,” Emily said, directing her words to him alone. But she didn’t sound angry or filled with regret. She seemed almost…contented. “So, are we expected to do stuff like this to our children so they know how much we love them?”
The uncertainty weighing so heavily on his heart slipped away, leaving him in peace. He gifted her one of his rare smiles and kissed her forehead. “I suppose so.” He shot a sideways glance at his mother. “We shall have to consult with the expert on manipulation.”
“Absolutely, my darling daughter, and never fear,” Nicnevin said to Emily, “I shall be most happy to help.”
“Feckin’ hell.” Gryffe scrubbed his face. “She’ll have our daughter fully turned to the dark side afore we know it.”
“I thought we were having a son?” Emily arched a brow at him. “Or are you admitting that Tayda was right? We’re getting one of each?”
“Aye, one of each.”
“I see.”
Something in her tone raked across his senses, pleading for help and comfort. “Leave us,” he told everyone in the room. “My dear one and I have much to discuss.”
“I shall go to make the salve,” Grennove said. “Fresh is best for those markings. We dinna wish to fade them.”
“I shall help with the herbs,” Mairwen said. “This time of year, fresh herbs are rare as hen’s teeth.”
“I suppose I shall just go,” Nicnevin said, and promptly disappeared.
Gryffe turned to Emily. “What is it, my love? When ye first awakened, ye were at peace—but now?” The way she stared at him, pensive and hesitant as though afraid to speak, alarmed him even more. “Please, Emily. Tell me.”
She stared down at her hands in her lap. “I know they were just trying to manipulate me, but…”
He held his breath, waiting and worrying about what the mothers he had once admired had done to put such fear into his own. “But?” he gently encouraged.
She twitched a shrug, then flinched and squirmed, gingerly rolling her shoulder. “Damn. I keep forgetting about that until I hit it.”
He laid his hand atop hers. “What did they do, my own? What did they say to ye?”
Head bowed, she released a heavy sigh. “The babies will live, but I won’t.”
Terror shot through him, rending his heart in two. “What?”
She lifted her head, chewing her bottom lip with a nervous frenzy. “They said I won’t survive the birth.”
“They lied. Ye will survive. I will not think otherwise, and ye should not dwell on it a moment longer. Ye ken well enough I refuse to allow ye to leave me.” Emotions throbbing into a choking knot in his throat, he gathered her close and kissed her forehead. “Both yerself and the wee ones will be well,” he whispered. “I swear ye will be finer than fine.”
She hiccupped, a sure sign she was struggling not to sob. “I told them all that mattered was that the babies lived. I told them you would love them enough for both of us, and Nicnevin would spoil them rotten.” She sniffed, fighting back the tears. “I also told them I didn’t believe what they said.” She hugged him tighter and whispered, “If I don’t believe, then it can’t happen. Right?”
