“What about your men?” Cyprian shot back.
“Our men need even less.” Braxis chuckled. “I fail to see why anyone would need to purchase help to fulfill a fantasy. What exactly do you do for them?”
“I'll give you a tour sometime,” Cyprian promised. “I'm sure you'll find it enlightening.”
“Oh, sweet sepia,” I groaned. “Cyprian, leave him be.”
“I think I can handle a bunch of sex-crazed humans, Amara,” Braxis said dryly. “I'll be fine.”
“Oh, it's so much more than mere sex.” Cyprian grinned. Then he took out his cellphone and looked at Alex. “How many tickets will we need?”
Alex blinked as if surfacing from a dark hole. “Uh. I don't think F.E.A.R. needs to attend. This is merely to convince anyone who happens to be watching that Amara is dating Leshing. If you want to attend, that's up to you.”
“Everan?” Cyprian asked.
“I'll be returning to Danu after our conversation. I'll trust you to keep Amara safe through one gala without me.”
Cyprian cast a look around the room and started typing a text. “Very well. Two more it is. Thebiggerproblem will be finding a suit to fit all of that,”—he waved his hand at Braxis—“on short notice.”
Chapter Eleven
Alex left, and Cyprian made another call to a seamstress who was willing to make a house-call with a suit she could adjust to fit Braxis. We left Braxis in the living room to wait for her as we had our conversation in the office.
Everan started to speak, but I laid a hand on his arm and stopped him. “Let me, darling.”
Everan inclined his head.
“What's going on?” Kyrian asked.
“Everan and I would like to have a baby,” I said gently. “How would you feel about that?”
The men gaped at us.
“I wouldn't want to be parted from the child at first,” I hurried on. “But perhaps once it was older, it could live in Danu. In fact, Everan would prefer that. I know it's a lot—”
“I would like a child too,” Malik cut me off.
I let out an exhale and sat back. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Malik asked warily. “Are you sure, Mvarra?”
“Wait.” Kyrian held up a hand. “The question is, are we all sure that we're ready for parenthood, because let's get something straight right now—any child of Amara's will belong to all of us.”
The men looked at each other.
“No, sweetheart, it can't be like that,” I said gently. “I appreciate that you want to claim my offspring as yours, but we're talking about children who would also be heirs to thrones. They must be claimed by their fathers alone, and they will eventually lead very different lives from each other. That being said, you are correct in assuming that you'll all be involved in raising them.”
“Then I want one too.” Kyrian crossed his arms.
I burst out laughing.
“This isn't funny, Amara,” Kyrian growled.
“Yes, it is. Look at you.” I waved my hand at him. “You're pouting as if convincing me to have your child will be difficult. Do you think I only want to have children with Everan and Malik? Do you think I love any of you less? When I said yes to Everan, I was saying yes to all of you. The question isn't what I want, it's what all of you want. Do you want to be fathers?”
“Oh.” Kyrian deflated. Then he grinned. “We're going to have a baby?”
“Slow down.” I held up my hand. “First, we all need to agree that we want children.” I looked at Cyprian pointedly. Then my heart sank.
