"My love, they cannot be anything of the kind. They have made Shadow miserable and they know this. I have spoken with your Falchani twins—they know Shadow well. Things are not going so well for Grey House at the moment." Roff leaned down to kiss me, preventing me from asking questions. After a while, the questions didn't matter anyway.
* * *
"Are you both well? Do you need anything?" Connegar and Reemagar had shown up after my unplanned nap with Roff and folded me to my beach house where Poradina and Evaline were. The two surrogates were smiling at me.
"She's worse than any new mother," Poradina laughed. "We're only a month along, stop fretting. We haven't even felt sick yet, and this beach house is amazing. The comesuli bring us anything we want and if we don't gain forty pounds, then it will be the biggest surprise."
"You're handling this much better than I would," I said. Yeah, I was completely amazed.
"Because these are your children and not ours. You get to rise in the night to feed them and chase after them and listen to them whine over something they can't have," Evaline teased.
"I'm looking forward to it," I said.
"We know; that's why we're teasing you about it. Don't worry about us. We're living in luxury."
"We will bring an apprentice Larentii surrogate next week—this will be good training for Daragar," Connegar smiled brightly.
"What will a Larentii do for us?" Poradina asked. She was very curious, but wasn't rejecting the idea.
"He will help with the morning illness and will trill for you if it is needed," Reemagar replied.
"What is trilling?" Evaline wanted to know.
"Only the most restful sound in the universes," I answered her question. "If they do it for me, I fall asleep in no time."
"It is for the mothers, mostly, but it will soothe any female if it is needed," Connegar explained. "We love our mate and that is why we do it."
"That's so nice of you, honey," I reached up and hugged his waist.
"We will take our mate, now. Let the comesuli know if you require anything," Reemagar said before folding me away.
* * *
"First of all, I don't see how they could do this, and to name Lissa as part of this and attempt to extort money from her is preposterous!" Shadow was ready to take the workshop apart.
"Any legal counsel will attempt this—to get as many parties involved as possible. They're looking at not only how profitable Grey House is, but Le-Ath Veronis as well. If Marid and Melida were aware of Findal's perfidy, then they plotted this out well. I know you haven't been to bed with her—Shannon verified it for me," Raffian held up a hand to hold off Shadow's ready complaint. "But Melida got pregnant somehow. Who knows how that happened? This is so confusing," Raffian muttered angrily, pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off an impending headache.
"Mom says it had to happen sometime before Melida got here. They wanted insurance and they went to great lengths to get it," Shadow pointed out. "This is to keep Marid's head and body connected. We know that, now, but what is Lissa going to do when she discovers she's been dragged into this?" Shadow felt sick. Before the package had arrived from Cloudsong, he'd been toying with the idea of approaching Lissa and trying to apologize, just to see if he couldn't repair things in some way. Marid and Melida were going to destroy any chance he might have with Lissa.
"Son, if it makes you feel any better, we moved too quickly on this—your grandfather and I. I heard from Kyler that Lissa has two surrogates pregnant right now—her Larentii received permission to manipulate the DNA in two donor eggs and now Gardevik and Erland Morphis are going to be parents with Lissa. They might have done this for you, too. We've managed to f**k this up all the way around and now that Cloudsong is attempting to get judgment against us and Lissa as well, I think you know what the outcome is likely to be where Lissa is concerned."
"Yeah, Dad. That has already crossed my mind."
Chapter 6
"What is this?" Rigo was almost afraid to take the small box I held out to him.
"Something you have waited for," Thurlow was there in a flash of light. It's a good thing he doesn't feel jealousy. I'd called Rigo to my study and asked Grant and Heathe to leave us alone for a little while. Too bad Thurlow can go anywhere he likes, being what he is and all.
"You were approved by the others," I said, as Rigo opened the box. The gold signet ring bearing the claw crown crest nestled inside. I'd had to Look to get it made in the proper size. I'd had a second ring made, too—in Norian's size. My mind was turning to him more and more often, lately. He'd wiggled his way into my heart, and not in any traditional manner. I was going to give it a while, as Roff suggested, but I didn't know how long I could hold out. I had already warned the inner circle and the palace guards and comesuli not to harm any lion snake they might come across—lion snakes weren't native to Le-Ath Veronis. Somehow, Norian had heard of it and came to dinner grinning hugely.
"Tiessa, is this real?" Rigo was having trouble breathing, I think.
"Honey, it's real," I said.
"I want you to place it on my finger."
"All right. This is for my love," I took his left hand and slid the ring onto his finger.
"And this is for mine," Rigo leaned down and kissed me. Thurlow disappeared just as suddenly as he'd shown up and Rigo was too eager, even, to allow me to fold us to my suite. It's a good thing the sofa in my study is long and comfortable. Rigo wasn't satisfied until he'd touched every part of me. I gave him permission to bite and he was so gentle I didn't even feel it. We were both nearly asleep when I managed to fold us to my suite.
* * *
Several kinds of news waited for me when Rigo and I arrived for dinner. I expected Drake and Drew to snicker and tease me a little, but that didn't happen. All the news I got was bad. I wondered why Raffian, Shadow, Glendes, Kyler and Cleo had come to dinner—I hadn't invited them and honestly, three out of that five weren't particularly welcome on Le-Ath Veronis at the moment. Erland and Wylend folded in as I was sitting down, as did Merrill, Kiarra, Adam and Wlodek.
"We know an apology won't be appreciated or accepted right now," Glendes began as the first course was laid before us. I had to hold a snort back—right then they were imposing on my good graces by being at my table uninvited. I watched Shadow—I couldn't help it—but he was staring at his plate and not eating.