For a minute, he thought she was simply ignoring him. But suddenly, she sprang to her feet. “Have more care before you manhandle a pregnant woman!” she cried, her eyes sparking with anger. “You should show more respect to your future bride.”
“I meant no offense,” Drystan said, taken aback by her behavior. Rising from his chair, he took Dareena by the shoulders. “Are you sure you’re all right? Should I ask the herbalist to brew a soothing tonic for you?”
“I don’t need a tonic,” she snapped, pushing his hands off. “I just need to be left alone.”
Drystan watched, hurt and bewildered, as Dareena stormed off. He winced as she slammed the door to her room behind her loud enough to make the picture frames rattle. What in Terragaard had gotten into his mate? He knew that pregnancy sometimes made women a bit moody, but this was different. If Drystan didn’t know beyond a doubt that it was Dareena—her scent was unmistakable—he would have thought some warlock spy was impersonating her.
He called the ladies back into the suite and went to his study. An hour or so later, Alistair came in, looking windswept, his cheeks flushed with healthy color from flying.
“Ah, the joy of having wings,” he said as he sat in the chair across from Drystan. “If not for Dareena, I think I would spend nearly all my time in dragon form, don’t you?”
Drystan merely grunted. After his latest encounter with Dareena, he doubted she would even miss him if he shifted into dragon form and took off. He knew he should cut her some leeway—she was growing a baby, after all—but he couldn’t get over how she’d treated him.
“Is something wrong, brother?” Alistair asked, the cheer dissipating from his voice as he read Drystan’s mood. “Are the councilmen giving you trouble again?”
Drystan laughed harshly. “If only,” he said, finally looking up at his brother. He could always count on Alistair to lend him an ear, he thought, noting the gentle concern on his sibling’s face. “Dareena rejected me earlier today when I went to spend time with her.”
“Rejected you?” Alistair frowned. “In what way?”
Drystan explained the encounter. By the time he finished, Alistair looked troubled. “That does not sound like her at all,” he said. “Perhaps there is something else going on that she is not telling us about. Let me talk to her, Drystan. I might be able to get it out of her.”
“Take all the time you need,” Drystan said, shoving up from his chair. The idea that she would confide in Alistair rather than him stung more than he wanted to admit. “I’m going to hunt for a bit.”
“Drystan—” Alistair began, but Drystan ignored him as he stalked from the room. He found the nearest guest room, then stripped off his clothes and climbed onto the roof. The wind whipped around him as he stood on one of the parapets, naked as the day he was born. He knew a few of the guards were looking at him, but he paid them no mind as he launched into the air. Screams echoed from below as he plummeted, but he shifted as he fell, and a few moments later, he soared on an updraft, his wings fully extended.
He might not be able to solve all the problems in his kingdom right now, or figure out what was going on in Dareena’s head. But he could go kill some more bandits. If nothing else, at least he was good at that.
27
Dareena lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as the guilt roiling in her stomach tried to consume her from the inside out. During her encounter with Drystan, she kept hoping that Drystan would realize she was under someone else’s control. She’d seen the door open behind Drystan after he’d sat down with her and knew Soldian had slipped back inside, using an invisibility cloak to shield herself. But Drystan hadn’t scented the other lady—he’d been too angry by Dareena’s rejection to notice that someone else was in the room, never mind that Dareena’s every move was being orchestrated.
As she thought of Soldian, a rage so potent and true filled Dareena that it was a wonder she didn’t set the sheets on fire. She forced herself to calm down, taking slow, deep breaths—the only thing she could do. All this stress couldn’t be good for the babe. She wished she could put her hand on her stomach—the gesture gave her comfort, even though he was far too small to feel. The healers said it would be quite a while before she began to feel the little kicks and motions that expecting mothers experienced.
Unfortunately, Dareena wasn’t allowed to remain alone for long. She felt a tug in her chest, and her body rose from the bed of its own accord and opened the door. Soldian and Lyria were in the sitting area, cross-stitching beautiful patterns onto linen, and Rantissa had joined them. Dareena guessed she had come back from town and decided she preferred the company of the other ladies rather than sitting in her room alone.
“My lady,” Rantissa beamed, looking up from her work. “Soldian said you were resting. Are you going to join us?”
Dareena desperately wanted to cry out to Rantissa and tell her what was going on, but Soldian made her stalk forward and snatch the embroidery hoop out of Rantissa’s hand. “This is terrible,” she scolded, holding the work up to the light. “If you’re going to embroider, surely you can use more than one color!”
“I-I’m only just starting—” Rantissa stammered, but Dareena threw the embroidery hoop across the room, then whirled on Lyria.
“You should be reading the rest of those diaries I gave you,” Dareena fumed. “Or have you changed your mind about helping with the celebrations?”
“Of course not.” Lyria’s eyes sparked with anger. “I have already finished going through them. I was meeting with the steward earlier to give him the new list.”
“Without informing me first?” Dareena spat. “How do you know that I didn’t wish to add anything else?”
Slowly, Lyria rose from her chair. Her cheeks were bright red, and she looked this close to slapping Dareena. Dareena saw Soldian watching out of the corner of her eye, her gaze bright. Bitch, she seethed.
“I may be your lady-in-waiting, but I will not be insulted for doing my job,” Lyria said stiffly. “You are already going to send me packing anyway. I don’t see why I need to stick around any longer.”
“Fine,” Dareena snapped. “Why don’t you both get out of my sight, then! Soldian is the only one with a good head on her shoulders anyway. The rest of you are useless.”
“Yes, my lady,” Rantissa said in a choked voice that made Dareena’s heart ache. She curtsied, then hurried out of the room. Dareena’s stomach twisted with guilt as she saw the tears in Rantissa’s eyes—she might be annoying at times, but she was a sweet girl. Dareena felt terrible for hurting her.
“Well?” Soldian demanded when Lyria didn’t budge. “Aren’t you going to move?”
“On second thought,” Lyria said, looking between the two of them. “I think I’ll stay right here.”
“I ordered you to leave,” Dareena said coldly as Lyria slowly resumed her seat.