“With the princess,” Kaley replied. “How do you think they got along these last days?” She sounded hopeful.
“Don’t forget that she’s to marry Prince Nessa.”
“Who calls Aradella ‘Princess Bitchy,’” Kaley said. “Maybe we can—”
Tanek halted and looked at her. “It’s enough that men are being allowed on this island. You cannot interfere in this marriage.”
She gave him an innocent look. “You mean likeyouinterfered in it? You declared that you and I made vows while we were alone in a cave. What I remember is that you went to sleep while Arit and Tibby and I—” She didn’t want to remind him of what they’d seen that night. When she’d told him about it, it had been hard for him to hear.
Tanek let out his breath. “I don’t think wives are supposed to—” He broke off.
“Contradict the wisdom of men?” She batted her lashes at him. “I wouldneverdo that.”
Tanek shook his head. “Come on, let’s find the children.” They could hear the waterfall. “I hope Mekos got a gift for myfather. He—” Tanek had parted the tall reeds and when he saw the waterfall, he froze.
“What is it?” She moved to stand beside him. “Oh my goodness.”
Soaring very high up in the water were Mekos and Aradella. They were both nude, her legs wrapped around him.
Tanek stepped back behind the tall reeds and looked at Kaley. There were tears in his eyes.
She put her arms around him.
“My son has become a man,” he said.
She held him, feeling his strong heartbeat. She said nothing but waited for him to pull away and they started to walk back the way they’d come.
“She’s so small—I almost didn’t recognize her.” Kaley’s head came up. “After this, she could be pregnant!” She’d said that before, but if the child was obviously not Nessa’s, there could be repercussions.
“No,” Tanek said. “Not unless he allows it.”
“You mean withdrawal?”
“I don’t know what that is. He must choose to release what is necessary.”
Kaley was trying to figure that out. “You mean a man can choose when he impregnates a woman?”
“Yes, of course.”
“What about me? Us?”
He glanced back at her. “Not yet. I want to make sure you want to stay here. If you don’t like me, you may leave.”
“Wait a minute!” she said. “That means youchoseto get Toki pregnant when you were just a teenager.”
“I had a dream, a very vivid dream, and I saw what would come of that union. Could you have resisted creating a son like Mekos?”
“No, I could not.” She paused. “Have you had any dreams about you and me and what we’d produce?”
“None at all.” He was walking so fast she was having trouble keeping up with him.
“Should we tell them that we know what they’ve been up to?”
“What do you think?” he said.
“Absolutely not. We should let them think they’ve kept it a secret from everyone.”
“I agree.”
