“I’m fine.”
Clearly lying.
Just then, Jace became aware of a sour smell in the air. His nose twitched, recognizing it immediately. Bile. Protectiveness surged through him and his stroking through the omega’s hair became even gentler. “You’re not fine,” he said. “You’re sick again. I’m sorry all this is so hard on you.”
To his surprise, Keiran smiled and then groaned, clutching his stomach. “I never was one to choose the easy path in life, huh?”
“I guess I wasn’t either.” Jace lightly felt Keiran’s forehead but couldn’t detect any heat. No illness then. Only morning sickness, which was bad enough. He stood and grabbed a washcloth from the towel closet, dampening the rag in water; coming back to the omega, he lifted up his face and gently wiped it clean of sweat and saliva.
“Jace…”
“Hush,” Jace said. His heart ached for his lover. “You’re always helping others. You even saved my life. Maybe you should let me take care of you for once, huh?”
“I don’t plan on getting into any battles.”
“No, this one fight is hard enough, isn’t it?” Jace placed the rag aside and lifted his boyfriend into his arms, carrying him back to bed and forcing him to lie down with one hand firmly against his chest. He felt Keiran’s heartbeat under his fingers and let his touch linger while leaning down to press their foreheads together. Moving away again, he brought back a glass of water and forced the other to drink down half of it. “Do you need anything else? Are you hungry?”
“No.” Keiran’s gaze met his. “Just cuddle me?”
Jace was only too happy to oblige, sliding up under the covers and enfolding the other man in his arms. He tucked Keiran’s head underneath his chin, listening to the sound of his breathing until it evened out into a gentle rhythm of sleep. Only then did he allow himself to follow.
The morning was somewhat better, though Keiran seemed worse for wear and had been restless most of the night. He refused to get up out of bed, staring blankly at the wall while Jace peered at him worriedly and tried to coax him out of bed. “Come on, baby. You have to get up. My baby’s baby needs food to grow big and strong.”
Keiran only groaned and pulled the covers up over his head. “I don’t want to eat.”
“You don’t want to or can’t?”
“Is there a difference?”
“No.”
Jace restrained an impatient growl. That wasn’t the right way to handle Keiran, and especially not when he was hormonal and feeling sick. That female council woman was right. Pregnant wolves could be unpredictable. There had been more than one tragic death as the result of an omega being pushed when an omega shouldn’t be pushed. “I think as a healer that you know how important this is.”
That was the wrong thing to say, apparently. Keiran glared at him from beneath the covers, only one angry eye visible in the shadows beneath. “Don’t taunt me! You know I wasn’t allowed to be a doctor. Abigail is the expert.”
Jace held his tongue. It also wasn’t the time to tell Keiran that they were so far having no luck locating his friend Abigail. He’d instructed his advisor to keep searching, but there were quite a few small villages at the southern border of Dexus and none of them had names.
Instead of arguing with the omega any further, Jace headed out of the bedroom and walked down the stairs by himself to reach the meal hall. A few others ate breakfast in the room, though most had already finished. He stood there and waited until a servant noticed him a moment later and abandoned his food cart to scurry over.
Bowing hastily, he said, “Prince Jace! Is there something you need?”
“Yes, actually. I have a bit of an unusual request.”
The servant nodded eagerly, looking as if he were about to fall over in his desire to help him. “Of course, of course! Anything I can do to help, sir.”
Jace shifted his feet, suddenly feeling awkward. It wasn’t so much shyness at having such an odd request as it was the fact that he suddenly realized the gap between himself and this food servant. He was being treated as if he wasn’t a person, as if the servant thought that messing up would be the death of him, even though Jace had never been unkind to any of the staff. It wasn’t right.
“You can relax, you know,” he said, suddenly. “I don’t bite, even if I am known as Prince Moody.”
The servant covered his mouth, looking astonished and like he didn’t know whether to laugh or falsely reassure Jace that no one called him that. It was better than that nervous, over-eager expression, at least.
“I was wondering how much you knew about… uh… food. Since you serve food for a living.”
And now the servant did laugh, lowering his hand. “I know a lot, Prince. Can you be more specific?”
No reason not to come right out with it, since everyone knew about him and Keiran. “My boyfriend spent all night nauseated, and he doesn’t feel like eating this morning. I need to find something for him to eat that he can stomach. Do you have any suggestions?”
The servant thought over it for a moment. “I think I have an idea. Soup will be easy for him to digest, especially if he has a lot of crackers with it.”
“Breakfast isn’t exactly the time for soup, is it? I don’t suppose you have any prepared.”
The servant laughed softly. “We don’t, but I can prepare some for you. And I don’t know how true this is, but I believe I heard somewhere that nausea is tied to smell. Cold foods have less of a smell, so perhaps if I included a little dish of ice cream? Lure him to start eating with that, and then see if he’ll take the crackers.”
Jace smiled. “That will do it then.”
“I can send someone up to you with the food in a few minutes.”
The servant started to move away, but Jace reached out to stop him. “Don’t bother,” he said. “I’ll take it up to him myself. Just bring me a tray and I’ll do it.”
“Very romantic of you,” the servant said, and then covered his mouth again. Jace smiled and the other man flashed a tentative smile in return before scurrying off.
At least that went okay. Making a difference, one awkward conversation at a time.
When the servant returned with the tray, Jace thanked him and took his name to put in a good word for him later on with the head cook. He took the tray back up to his bedroom and set it down on the nightstand on his side of the bed, sitting cross-legged and holding the bowl of ice cream. Keiran ignored him and Jace ignored Keiran, putting a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, making sure to click the spoon against the side of the bowl and between his teeth. Keiran continued to ignore him and Jace took another tiny bite, though he made it sound like a much bigger scoop than it actually was.
“Do you have to make so much noise?” Keiran growled. “I’m trying to sleep here.”
“Sorry.” Jace tried to sound innocent. “I’m just enjoying my ice cream.”
He could practically hear the omega’s interest spike. Keiran shifted around under the covers and turned his head to look. “How did you get ice cream?”
“I sweet-talked a servant. He gave me some. All for me. And none for you. Sorry.”
Keiran sat up and narrowed his eyes. “You’re trying to trick me into eating ice cream? You’re so weird.”
Jace laughed and set the bowl down on the mattress, turning to look at the other. “Was I that obvious?”
“Kind of.” Keiran still looked grouchy, but when he reached out for the bowl of ice cream, Jace let him have it. It was only a single scoop of vanilla, but it was still ice cream and who could resist? “So, why were you trying to do something as lame as this?”
“Is it really that lame if I managed to get you ice cream for breakfast?” Jace pretended to flinch when Keiran punched his shoulder. “The servant I talked to said the ice cream would help entice you to eat. Is it working?”
“No!”
However, when the omega finished eating his ice cream, he let Jace feed him bits of cracker and a few spoonfuls of soup
. After that, Keiran seemed in a bit of a better mood, so Jace coaxed him into the bathroom and helped him take a shower. He enjoyed rubbing the omega’s body all over but tried not to make a big deal out of it.
“There,” he said, holding the towel over Keiran’s head and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “Doesn’t that feel better?”
“I guess.” Keiran still looked grumpy but Jace sensed it was mostly for show and, by the time they finished dressing, he took hold of Jace’s hand as he always did. They headed out in the hallway together to get started on their day, an hour late.
Chapter 18
A week went by before the council reached a decision and summoned Keiran and Jace back to the meeting room. Keiran clutched at the alpha’s hand the whole way, partly for support and partly to keep himself moving because his legs tired easily these days.
“What do you think they’ve decided?” he puffed.
Jace paused, either to think or let Keiran catch his breath. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’m starting to think that we need to adjust the council members. They represent just one segment of the entire population. At the very least, I think we need to add in some younger minds, who aren’t so set in their ways.”
His shoulders slumped. “So, you think that they’re going to just say no to everything and this was all a waste.”
“No,” Jace said, firmly. “Even if they reject the idea, it’ll be in their minds for the future. And no matter what, I am going to marry you. You will be my mate. That has to make some sort of difference. It has to.”
I’m not as certain about all of this as you are.
Nevertheless, Keiran continued to hold tight onto Jace’s hand and followed him into the meeting room after knocking. All 13 representatives were there, every single one of them looking as grim as a person could. As far as Keiran was concerned, that didn’t bode well.
“Please, sit,” the one called Gareth said.
Jace folded his arms and planted his feet. “I don’t think so. Keiran, you can sit and get off your feet, but I think I’ll stand while I hear what you have to say.”
Keiran lowered gratefully into a seat, glad to have the pressure off his swollen ankles. Everything he had was swollen these days, it seemed. Jace would turn that into a sex joke. Just like that, he was horny. Damn hormones.
There could only be one reason that Jace wanted to stand, and that was intimidation.
“Okay,” Gareth said, slowly. He looked hesitant and glanced around the table. “Do I have permission to speak for all of us?”
“No,” someone else muttered. “You don’t, but you’re going to anyway.”
Gareth ignored the other speaker, something Keiran knew enough about for it to register as rare. Normally, a remark like that would lead to a full-blown argument and then a call for a break to let everything cool down afterwards. “It took many long hours to reach this conclusion, Prince Jace. We sat here once this past week for over 20 hours to try and untangle some thread or other of the conversation.”
“I don’t need to know your personal history, Gareth,” Jace said, clearly impatient. “Skip all the rest and just tell me what the consensus is. As briefly as you can, since I know how much you like to talk.”
Gareth seemed taken aback and opened his mouth. He closed it, as if deciding not to argue, and opened it again. “Very well. We have decided, after much deliberation…”
He’s stalling because he doesn’t like the outcome, Keiran realized. And hadn’t Gareth been one of the council members opposed to splitting the kingdom apart?
“We have decided, tentatively, to further discuss your proposition of dividing the kingdom again. The logic has been shown to all of us, whether or not we personally agree with it. It is our duty to accept truths whether or not we agree with them.”
Jace reached out and held onto the back of the chair at the head of the table. His knuckles were white, stark against his tanned skin. “Good. And what is our next step?”
“It won’t do us any good to hide this from the public. They’ll find out soon enough and won’t be pleased that they were not involved in the process. We feel it is in our best interest to hold a press conference in the city outlining the idea as it currently stands.”
Jace nodded and finally sat down, since he had gotten his way. He grinned fiercely, pleased. “Good. This is such an important step. When can it be done?”
“As soon as possible. I suggest in three days’ time.”
“That seems rather hasty.”
“On the contrary,” Gareth said. “It probably won’t be soon enough to get ahead of the rumors, but that is the soonest we can estimate that we will have everything straightened out for what you’re going to say. And it will be you who speaks. Not the omega… That is, not Keiran.”
“Yes,” Jace agreed. The entire council looked surprised, and Keiran had to hold back a laugh at the looks on their faces. Their prince kept throwing them off and they no longer knew what to predict. “I know that is my place as prince, especially since my father won’t be able to attend. The people need to hear this from me, so we should get on with it.”
Keiran spoke up then. He couldn’t help himself, even though he knew it was best to remain quiet. “What exactly is it that needs to be discussed?” he asked. “If we’re the ones who proposed the idea, we know all about it.”
Jace answered him, tone gentle. “It comes down to politics. We have to figure out a way to present this information in precise and definite terms despite the fact that we don’t—and won’t—know much about it ourselves. We have to act like we’re completely certain of what we’re doing, or else the people will be doubtful and we’ll actually make this whole situation even worse.”
“But I guess if we act like we’re making the decisions for everyone, that will make the situation worse, too.” Keiran tilted his head to one side. “That’s a really thin line to walk.”
“Right.” Jace smiled at him. Despite everything, Keiran felt a glow of warmth and smiled back. Maybe he wasn’t so bad at this court stuff after all.
“Well then,” Gareth said. “We need to get on with it. First things first…”
Chapter 19
During the infrequent visits Jace made into the city whenever business called for it, Keiran had always tagged along, but this press conference was a much different matter. All those other times, they piled into the back of a car and let a driver take them. There would be a car in front and another behind, an escort of sorts that included several members of the Guard that stayed nearby at all times. Keiran considered those measures extravagant but, after being ambushed by those attackers out on the castle grounds, he understood the extravagance. And that happened at the castle! All those times they’d been venturing into the middle of a potential mob and he’d never known, never realized the danger.
Even if he hadn’t picked up on that, he would have now as they walked out into the courtyard and found an entire circle of heavy castle-owned cars awaiting their arrival. The windows were blacked out, the bodies armored, and the glass presumably bulletproof. Keiran counted ten cars, and an eleventh in the middle of the circle.
“I guess that’s our ride?” He pointed.
“Yes.” Jace held the door open for him and then followed him inside, slamming the door shut again. “I know it all looks like this is going to be scary, but it’s just for the worst-case scenario.”
Keiran laughed nervously and cuddled as close to Jace as the seatbelt would allow. “I would think that a civil war is the worst-case scenario, huh?”
Wrapping his arm around Keiran’s shoulders, Jace hugged him tight. And then he did something that touched the omega’s heart: he placed his hand over Keiran’s rounded stomach and rubbed it. “Well, I won’t lie and say that it’s ideal, but the whole war thing hasn’t gotten into full swing as of yet. Death counts would be much higher, and spread out wider instead of being so concentrated.”
I’m not comforted by the idea that a war can be put into ju
st numbers. It’s so impersonal. Death is death.
“People really do have more sense than it might seem at times like this,” Jace continued. “They’ll hold off on doing anything stupid as long as we aren’t doing anything that upsets them badly. That’s why all those meetings we’ve had over the past few days were so important.”
Keiran yawned and laid his head on the convenient shoulder nearby, looking out the window as the circle of vehicles started to move out and head toward the gate. “I hope so. It’d be a shame if all that was just a waste of time.”
Jace kissed the top of his head. “It’ll be worth it.”
They passed through the gates, and Keiran waved at the guards, as he always did whenever he passed them. They waved back, mouths moving but the sound muffled by thick metal walls. Wishing him luck, hopefully.
They passed through the upper-class neighborhood and entered into the main city, which in some areas was deserted and packed in others. People were either staying inside or presumably on their way to the press conference. The areas where there were no shapeshifters present at all tended to have some sign of a recent crime. Broken glass on the sidewalk, police tape, burn marks… The signs of an unhappy confrontation between the two sides. It hurt Keiran’s chest to notice that the places with the most damage were those that already appeared to have been a bit on the lower-class side of things. Those people couldn’t help their place in life, they were trying their best to do with it what they could or else to escape it, and they were suffering the most.
How many children were suffering? They couldn’t help the situation any more than their parents could. They were true innocents.
Keiran held his hands over his stomach. As if sensing his thoughts, Jace moved one hand to place over Keiran’s. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered.
I hope you’re right.
After a short time, Keiran caught a glimpse of the city hall. His next glimpse terrified him in a way that he couldn’t explain. There were cars, dozens of different kinds of vehicles all packed together like swarming beetles. And beyond them, a mass of people. Most of them simply stood and looked toward the huge building in front of them, but their edges spilled up on top of the parked cars and even on the roof. Everywhere a person could potentially be, there was indeed a person there.
Royal Affair Page 15
