“Two auras, Bridei. Where there was one, now there are two, one tiny one, barely yet there, nestled inside of the other.”
His gaze snapped to hers. “What do you mean?”
“She is with child.”
Bridei’s heart nearly stopped beating.
A child.
He hadn’t wanted a child, not yet, not before he went to battle. Not when he couldn’t protect it, if he died. But nor had he been able to stop himself from claiming his woman with his body and his seed. He had tried, but he had failed. He steeled himself. He would just have to make sure he survived.
“So soon? It can’t be, Meara. It’s been no time at all since we…”
Meara laughed. “It takes only one time, my King. You know that. It is a life that has only begun, just a tiny spark.”
Meara turned and walked away, the almost gleeful spring in her step belying her age, leaving Bridei standing there wearing a baffled look.A child. His.So soon.
He had never really considered how he would feel if he one day learned he was going to be a father. And so the flood of raw emotion took him completely by surprise. He crashed to his knees. Bent to kiss the Earth. A proud King made humble by yet another unexpected gift from the gods. His heart filled with so much love and gratitude that his chest felt tight with it.
This put everything into a new light. He had to win against Ecgfrith now, more than ever. He had to make a safe and prosperous place for his child to grow up. His heart had never, ever felt so full. This was what love felt like. Domech was telling him the truth when he said it was worth dying to feel it just once. As he headed back to the day’s work, he wondered idly whether he would tell Nessa Meara’s news before or after he made love to her again. Or maybe during? He hoped she would be as happy about it as he was.
Theday was beautiful, and Nessa felt almost content as she helped Veda carry a heavy basket between them, waving at Meara as she passed by, then giving Bridei a smile that promised he would have much to look forward to that night. She had spent the previous night wrapped tightly in the arms of a King, woken to his kisses, and now she was helping out as a part of the community. For the first time since she’d emerged trembling and uncertain from that well, Nessa felt hopeful, with the possibility of real happiness not far behind. She realized she was starting to feel included in this life, almost like a member of the tribe. The pain of leaving behind Nathan and her life in the future would one day be balanced by what she had here and now, and in this moment, she felt like she was going to be okay.
Only seconds later, all of that budding peace and hope came crashing down around her in a way that she never, ever would have imagined.
Her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of Nathan running towards her, his face awash in joy and relief. She dropped her side of the basket with a thud, and was vaguely aware of cabbages rolling across the ground in all directions. There was a sudden sick feeling in her gut, and shock froze her in place as her past came closer.
This wasn’t supposed to happen, not now…
“Nessa!” he called, running faster now, closing in too quickly for her to think. “Ness!” He collided with her frozen form, nearly knocking her over as he folded her roughly into his arms. “God, I thought I’d never see you again!”
“Nathan,” she said weakly. “Oh my god Nathan…”
Over Nathans’s shoulder, she saw him.Bridei. He was standing stock still, looking at her with a question in his eyes and rage swiftly darkening his features. He had heard her speak Nathan’s name. He knew who he was to her. Her eyes widened as he collected himself and began closing in on them.
“Nessa.” Her name on his lips was ice cold, and her heart flipped and flopped in her chest. Her stomach threatened to empty.Oh god,this wasn’t supposed to happen, she thought again…she wasn’t supposed to have to choose, and she knew in the very next beat of her heart that was exactly what she was going to have to do.
Bridei was looking at Nathan now, and there was death in his eyes. He would kill him, she knew. Kill him for even touching her. She had to do something; she couldn’t let Nathan die just because he had cared enough to find her…oh god!How had he found her?
She stepped away from Nate, putting a careful distance between them, then made a fumbling attempt at introductions because she had no idea what else to do. “Bridei…this is Nathan...I…I…” Further words failed her.
Bridei was still for a long moment as he looked over his opponent with an appraising eye. “The man you love.”
“Bridei…Please, I…I didn’t know…”
Nathan looked confused. He grabbed her arm. “What did you just say to him? You speak their language?”
She shot him a look of warning. Didn’t he know she was trying to save his life here?
As much as she wanted, noneeded, to talk to Bridei alone, she knew she couldn’t leave Nathan by himself here. He didn’t even speak Pictish. Didn’t know the first thing about the culture. She could be watching him have his throat slit on the blood-soaked alter within hours if he did the wrong thing, or if someone mistook his intentions. And she couldn’t even be sure Bridei wouldn’t kill him right here where he stood. Just because Nathan was here and had touched her and she had once said that she loved him.
She turned back to Nate, certain that her every emotion must be written on her face. Apparently, she was right.
Nate was no longer smiling. “I saw the way you looked at him just now. You’veneverlooked at me that way, Nessa.”
“Nate…I…” Words had become fumbling things that she couldn’t seem to use.
“Tell me…is it over?” Nathan grabbed her, fisting his hand in her hair and pulling her close. He searched her eyes; his were filled with anger and grief. “Is it? Do you know what I went through to get here?” His lips crashed to hers and he kissed her, hard, and ironically, she thought, with more passion than he ever had before. She didn’t dare look over at Bridei. She felt sick to her stomach in a way she had never known was possible.
