Page 81 of Warlord’s Empire

“You’ve been feeling alright otherwise?” Nonna asked.

“Yes, I’ve been better than ever. I’m sleeping well, eating well…” Wait, where was Nonna going with this? Something tickled at her brain, but her thought was interrupted by the thunder of heavy feet thudding toward them through the kitchen.

Saskia shot Shola a dirty look at which Shola shrugged, unconcerned.

“Muhammed, I’m totally fi– ” He swept her up in his arms before she could finish. As her world tilted, so did her stomach and she cried out.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded, panic written all over his face.

Saskia took in a long breath through her nose, steadying herself before answering. “My giant of a boyfriend just jiggled my stomach right after I threw up and now I’m nauseous all over again.”

He looked blank, then shame-faced, though he didn’t put her down. “I’m sorry, I should’ve been more careful. I’ll take you to your room and then you can tell me what’s wrong.”

He rushed her back through the door and into the kitchen.

She held her breath as they went through, trying not to breathe in the cassava.

He was surprisingly gentle as he rushed her up the stairs to her bed. After laying her down on the mattress, he took her hand and sat next to her. “How are you feeling, my angel?”

The look of tragic heartbreak on his face was too much and she burst out laughing. “Muhammed, I just threw up. It’s nothing.” She tried pushing herself up on the bed.

“It’s not nothing,” he said sharply, pushing her back down. “Throwing up can be a symptom of many deadly things. Flu, poison, cancer, allergy. We must get you checked out immediately.”

“Muhammed, I’m fine!” And once she was feeling better, they were going to have a talk about his tendency toward overreaction. He’d been sleeping in the saferoom for a week and if that wasn’t overreacting, she didn’t know what was. Now this! She wished he would have even one normal response when it came to her.

“Regardless, Shola has been instructed to find the town doctor and bring him here.”

A soft knock from the doorway had them both looking up to find Nonna. Saskia was surprised. Nonna rarely came to the second floor. Her domain was the kitchen and garden.

“May I come in.”

“Of course,” Saskia said, overriding Radik’s fierce frown.

Saskia pushed his hand away and shoved herself up, leaning against the wall of pillows behind her.

Nonna smiled as she approached. “You’re looking much better. There’s colour in your cheeks again. Your stomach has settled, yes?”

Saskia thought about it and nodded. “Yes, much better. I’m just a bit tired now. I don’t usually spontaneously throw up from a strong smell. I guess the cassava must’ve been extra pungent or something.” Again, a thought tickled at her brain.

“Is it possible that you might be pregnant?” Nonna asked gently, keeping her eyes on Saskia.

The thought finally solidified. Pregnancy. It was what her body had been trying to tell her. Not just the sudden nausea, but she felt bloated, hungry a lot, but unable to find anything truly satisfying. She was fatigued all the time, despite sleeping more than usual. And her dreams had been weird lately too.

“Pregnant?” she whispered.

Radik froze, barely breathing, staring at Saskia like she’d spontaneously turned into a unicorn.

Nonna shrugged. “You won’t know until you take a test, but you have some signs.”

“I’ll… have to get tested.”

“Excuse me.” Radik stood abruptly, moving away from the bed stiffly. He stared at Saskia, then strode to the door.

“Where are you going?” she asked, bewildered. They just found out she could possibly be pregnant and he was leaving her?

“I need… I mean you need… that is, I must call Zander. He’s the only one I trust with something like this.”

Relief flooded her. Of course he wanted his own doctor here when they found out the truth. But it was ridiculous to wait for the man to fly in. “Muhammed, surely there’s a pregnancy test somewhere in Marifiya I can take? Do we really need to wait for Dr. Smith?”