Oh gods, no. Was she vomiting again? Did the baby make her sick?
“We have to prepare.” I began nonsensically rambling. “There’s more than enough money in the royal treasury to provide for them both, but I have to set up the funds, and you all must help me find a place to keep the baby safe.”
“Who’s having the baby, you?” Stefan joked as he poked my stomach.
“This isn’t funny!” I snapped. “It’s an emergency! Emma needs our help!”
Kiara gave a frown. “If Emma’s pregnant, she didn’t tell us.”
“Why would she? Thatdogmust’ve convinced her to keep quiet,” I growled.
“Are you kidding me?” Delmare slapped her forehead. “She’s not pregnant, you big moron.”
“How do you know?” I asked accusingly. “You said she went home because she wasn’t feeling well!”
“Because she’s on herperiod,” Delmare hissed. “She went home because her cramps are really bad.”
I stopped in place. “Oh.”
Then irrationality overcame me. Worry. Impatience. “Are yousure?”
“Oh gods, ask her yourself.” Delmare rolled her eyes and drank deeper from her tankard.
“But… her stomach is bigger…” I nearly whimpered. “I noticed this morning.”
“She just did her infusion yesterday,” Kiara said. “The needle sites always swell up.”
Wow. I really was a big moron. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t put that together— or that I’d believed the nasty rumors that were circulating. I knew people made up shit about the royal family and the people that were involved with them.
Finlay’s relationship with Emma bothered me more than I wanted to admit.
I heard a snicker, and a light beside me flashed. Stefan had been filming me freaking out the entire time. I went to snatch the phone away, but he sent off the video before I could delete it.
“And... sent to Emma,” he sang. “Your mate’s gonna get a kick out of this.”
“I hate you.” My mood had soured worse than before. I’d never live this one down, I was sure.
“Why don’t you go and talk to her?” Kiara offered. “I’m sure she’ll find your concern charming.”
“Right, now that I’ve made a jackass out of myself.” But Kiara’s idea was a good one, and I figured I might as well try to explain things... before everyone got back to school tonight and I humiliated myself even further.
I went to the pharmacy to grab a few things, then took a carriage to the university. I knocked on Emma’s dorm room door.
She opened it, and I nearly considered turning back around once I met her glaring expression. By the gods, she was pissed.
“Really, Ethan?Really?”
I held up the bag, sheepish. “Can I come in?”
She rolled her eyes and moved aside. I stepped into the dorm, and set the bag down on her desk. Tygrys was resting on a leaf, but he purred and flew to me. He sat on my shoulder, and I busied myself by petting him with one finger as Emma plopped down on her bed. She’d changed out of her dress and taken off her flower crown, slipping into sweatpants and a baggy sweater.
“I take it you’ve heard the new rumors?” I asked weakly.
Emma turned her phone around to me as an answer. I suppressed a groan. Stefan had indeed sent the embarrassing video of me. I continued to rant about her fake pregnancy onscreen, until she shut the video off.
“For your information, I’ve never slept with Finlay, nor anyone else,” Emma snapped.
“He said something of a similar nature,” I said regrettably.
