***
Kyrin’s eyes narrowed when the knight bent down at the same time as she did to pick up her dropped paper. She wasn’t sure why, but the knights were being overly kind and people around the castle kept looking at her and smiling.
She tore the paper from his hand and then became furious when all he did was smile at her. Alric was due back soon, and she wanted to have a few words with him. Something was going on around Valhara, and she wanted to know what.
Finn was the only one treating her normally, but he wouldn’t say anything, though she knew he knew the reason. The priests kept coming up to the castle and offering her different foods and drinks throughout the day. The castle cooks were loading up her plate with too much food, and the waste was aggravating.
When the trumpets sounded, signaling the return of the king, Kyrin headed outside with most of the knights. She was ready to throw a fireball at one of them when he gently bumped into her arm and then began to apologize profusely and ask if she was hurt.
She walked out just as Alric rode up on his stallion and smiled at her. She couldn’t help but smile, relieved. He was finally back. She figured with him home, things would return to normal. Trox was beside him, and a handful of knights were behind them, all waving at some of the city people that had come to see them home.
Alric jumped off of his horse and quickly moved to Kyrin. He grasped her wrists and then kissed her passionately. When he moved back, one of the priests took him aside before Kyrin could even talk to him. She frowned and then walked inside, irritated at the amount of people. She just wanted some time alone with the husband she hadn’t seen in a month, and now she saw that wasn’t going to happen.
Just as she neared the top of the stairs, Alric came running up the stairs toward her. He took her hand without saying a word and pulled her into their room. Once the door was shut behind him, he sat on the bed and pulled her onto his lap, pressing his lips to hers.
It felt good to be in his arms again, though she had hoped when he came back, he might actually kiss her without holding her wrists. She felt it was being overly cautious. She’d only cast on him once during a kiss and felt justified in doing it that time.
Finally, he broke the kiss and let her wrists go. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too. How did it go?” She started off of his lap, but he pulled her back onto it and brushed a stray hair away from her face.
“You first. How are you?”
“Fine”
“How is the stomach ache?”
“Still kind of there but getting better.”
“Was it bad?”
“No”
He smiled and kissed her again.
She finally managed to pull away from him and looked into his eyes. “There’s something weird going on around here.”
“Like what?” he asked as he ran his hands lightly along her back.
“Just people acting weird. Knights doing weird things.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Do you know why?”
“Yes, Saith told me.”
“Then fess up, because it’s irritating me.”
He sighed. “Why don’t we not right now? Let’s have a nice evening, okay?”
“So it’s something bad,” Kyrin said, crossing her arms.
“No, not at all. I just don’t really know how to tell you quite yet.”
“You swear to me that you’ll tell me tomorrow?”
“I promise.”
“Good, let’s go eat. I’m starving.” Kyrin crawled off of his lap and then turned when he chuckled. “What?”
“Nothing, just… hungry a lot lately?”
She frowned and walked over to the mirror. “Are you insinuating that I’m putting on weight?”
“No, I’d think you would have though.”
“Well, I haven’t. I’m just hungry.”
Alric took her hand, and they walked down to the dining room together. She was frustrated to see the Valharan dignitaries seated already and couldn’t help but notice a sudden silence when they entered.
They both sat down, one at each end of the table, which Kyrin thought was absurd. She never understood why they had to sit so far apart. When no one else was there, they ate side-by-side, but when others came, they had to sit at opposite ends of the table.
She couldn’t help but think they were all watching her as the plates were delivered. It wasn’t a figment of her imagination though that she had twice as much food on her plate than the others. She figured the king would have the most food, but she was sure she had more.
After the Valharans said their blessings to Sithias, they all started to eat. Kyrin grabbed a roll and went to take a bite, but the food stopped just before entering her mouth, and her eyes moved up slowly. Everyone was watching her.
“What?!” she yelled, and slammed her roll down.
She was almost madder when no one responded but instead turned back to their food and started to eat. Alric was smiling at her from the opposite end of the table.
Furious, she stood up while everyone watched, and she stormed out of the room.
Finn glanced at Alric and then went back to his plate.
“What?” Alric asked, seeing the look.
Finn shrugged. “It’s none of my business.”
“I’ll tell her.”
“A bit late, sir. Don’t you think?”
Alric sighed. “Yes, it is. I’ll talk to her tonight.”
Kyrin stomped out to the orchard and then picked an apple. She was still hungry but couldn’t stand having everyone watching her eat. As she ate, she wandered through the falling leaves of the orchard. She wasn’t looking forward to the winter when the apples were gone, but she was assured that they had reserves of food. Winter was always the hardest to find food, and she couldn’t count how many times she’d had to go without.
She sat down, still irritated, and leaned back against a tree to watch the sun set. She had been so excited to see Alric, and not only had she had almost no time alone with him, now she seemed to be entertainment for the masses, and she didn’t know why.
Kyrin tossed the apple core out into the orchard. She was still wondering if the apples were making her sick. She couldn’t stop eating them. With winter approaching, she was convinced the food was going to be sparse, and it was natural to try to bulk up as much as possible before that time.
“Kyrin?”
She jumped to her feet at the sudden voice, and then fell to her knees when she saw Daemionis standing before her.
He laughed a dark, menacing chuckle. “Did I scare you?”
“No, my Lord.”
“Why are you upset?”
She shrugged. “Things just feel weird right now. They’re treating me differently here.”
“Well, I have a mission for you,” he said, watching down on her.
“Why have you come into my dimension again?” Sithias asked, appearing beside the demon.
Daemionis snorted and looked over. “She is mine, and I will talk to her when I wish.”
“Then I will stay.”
“This is none of your concern,” Daemionis snapped.
“It is. Right now, she is of great concern to me.”
“Why is that?”
“Just finish with her and leave my dimension,” Sithias told him.
Kyrin sighed when Alric came through the orchard toward them. “What’s going on?”
Sithias watched Daemionis. “I’m trying to ascertain that.”
“What mission, my Lord?” Kyrin asked, looking up at him. She didn’t want this to turn into a spectator event either.
“The seal of Carathis is missing.”
She smiled. “The Clemency lost control of it?”
“Yes, and I want it.”
“Do you know where it is?”
“I suspect thieves took it into Terrahaut Dimension.” Daemionis glanced at Sithias and glared at him.
&nb
sp; Kyrin nodded. “I’ll go and get it, my Lord.”
“No, she won’t,” Sithias and Alric said together.
She sighed.
“She will do as she’s told,” Daemionis told them. He then turned to Kyrin. “You know how important this is. Do not betray me!”
“If it’s in Terrahaut, I’ll get it.”
“No, she is not leaving this dimension,” Sithias said, still floating above the ground only a few feet from the demon.
“Come on, Kyrin, let’s go,” Alric said. He reached down and took her hand, but she pulled away from him.
“You can’t interfere with this.”
“I can. It’s too dangerous for you to leave right now.”
Daemionis turned to Sithias, and Kyrin looked up just when Sithias whispered something to Daemionis. Her eyes narrowed when the demon turned to her and grinned as blood dripped from his teeth.
“I will send another,” Daemionis told her, and started to fade.
“Wait!” she said, jumping to her feet. When Daemionis reappeared, she walked toward him. “Why am I getting pulled off of this mission? I can get the seal of Carathis, and you know it.”
“Have you not told her?” Daemionis asked, looking at Alric.
He sighed. “I am going to tonight.”
“Why does she not know?”
“It’s complicated,” Sithias told him. “Now, find another and leave her be.”
“Stop it!” Kyrin yelled, and everyone looked at her. She crossed her arms. “I’m done with this. Everyone is keeping something from me, and I’ll not have it. I’m going after Carathis’ seal, and when I get back, I want answers.”
Sithias looked at Alric. “You have to tell her.”
Daemionis stepped back, still watching them. It was evident that he was looking forward to the fight this would bring.
Kyrin turned on Alric. “Tell me.”
He glanced at the gods and then took her hand. “Let’s go in private.”
“No,” she said, pulling away from him. “Tell me now.”
“Daemionis, let’s leave them alone,” Sithias said.
“No, I want to see this.”
“It is private.”
“Nothing is private from her god. Carry on, boy,” he said, grinning at Alric.
Alric nodded at Sithias and then walked up and firmly took Kyrin’s hands.
“Let me go,” she said, pulling against him.
“No, I need you to hear me out without casting on me.”
Her heart began to pound. “Say it then.”
“You’ve been sick to your stomach lately.”
“Yes”
“That’s… that’s one of the first signs that you may be pregnant.”
Her eyes narrowed at him. “Do what?”
“I wanted to tell you, but you were so afraid of it, I didn’t know how.”
She tried to pull her hands away. “What did you do?!”
“It’s not something I did, well, on purpose. It just sometimes happens.”
“You’re done with me so soon?” she snapped.
“It has nothing to do with that! I love you more than ever, and you can’t go running off shifting right now. It’s too dangerous.”
Without warning, she brought her knee up and hit him squarely in the groin. He doubled over but somehow managed to keep a tight grip on her. Daemionis watched with amusement.
“You sonofabitch!” Kyrin yelled, and then kicked him in the stomach. He fell back and rolled away when she tried to kick him again.
“Just listen to me,” Alric said, springing to his feet. He immediately fell defensive and put his hands out toward her.
Kyrin flew at him. He managed to dodge her punches and most of her kicks but had a hard time fighting back without hurting her. Alric had to fight his instincts and training to bring her down, because he didn’t wish to hurt her at all.
Daemionis watched, pleased, but Sithias called toward the castle. Finn ran out of the castle and right for them. He instantly took Kyrin, just as she jumped at Alric’s throat again. Finn was able to wrestle her away from the king while Alric straightened his tunic and calmed down quickly.
When Alric saw how pitch-black Kyrin’s eyes were, he winced and took a step back. She was struggling in Finn’s arms, and he was just glad that she didn’t have her flail. Finn was aware of her hands and had them pinned at her sides, far away from each other.
“Calm down,” Finn said, trying to hold onto her.
“How dare you?!” she screamed at Alric.
“It wasn’t planned, okay?”
“Do you know how it happens?”
“Well, yes.”
“Then you did know, and you’ve been lying to me!”
“I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t sure how to tell you.”
Kyrin’s eyes shot to the side when she saw a portal key appear. Sithias sighed and looked at Daemionis as the demon’s grin broadened.
“Did you do that?” Sithias asked, irritated.
Daemionis nodded when Kyrin started to struggle to get away from Finn. He wasn’t sure what to do because she was no longer fighting to get to Alric.
Alric nodded at him. “Let her go.”
He thought she was going to run into the orchard, and he didn’t realize what she was doing until she grabbed something off the ground.
“Get her!” he yelled, lunging at her.
Finn grabbed her arm just as half of her disappeared from the dimension. He was in too much shock to do anything more than jerk her back, which sent her flying into him, knocking him to the ground with her on top.
He scrambled to his knees and knelt beside her as she got up. “Did I hurt you?”
She pushed against him angrily, but he was able to grab her hand while Alric took her other. Sithias glared at Daemionis as he watched, clearly amused at the brief fight.
“You are not going to keep me from shifting the hell out of here,” Kyrin told him, still pulling to get her arm loose.
“I just want you to calm down,” Alric said. “This all got out of hand, and I can explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain! You tricked me, and I swear, if you got me pregnant, I will kill you.”
Finn cringed and tightened his grip. “That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it?”
“Stop laughing!” Sithias yelled at Daemionis.
He smiled. “Her temper is impressive.”
“No, it’s not. It’s unwarranted and dangerous.”
“Kyrin, just calm down. You don’t want to kill me,” Alric said softly. Finn was surprised he didn’t fly into a rage after having his life threatened.
“Wanna bet?” Kyrin scowled at him.
“This isn’t bad.”
“Daemionis, if you want Carathis’ seal, then I suggest you get me out of here.”
“Wait! No,” Alric said, watching the demon.
“I do want it,” he said, stepping toward her.
Kyrin glared at Alric. “If I come back, you better have a damned good explanation.”
“Don’t go! If you are pregnant, it’s too dangerous for you out there.” Alric growled angrily when Kyrin and Daemionis disappeared.
Finn looked down at his empty hand. “Damnit.”
“Bring her back,” Alric said to Sithias.
“I cannot interfere.”
“The hell you can’t. If she’s pregnant, then that child will be your follower.”
“We don’t know yet if she is.”
“So find out! Bring her back.”
Sithias looked at him sadly. “I can’t. All I can do is see if I can get Daemionis to return her.”
“Take me to him.”
“No, stay here and I will let you know what I find.” With that, Sithias disappeared also.