The Impatient Lord (16 page)

Riona
didn’t answer but found she liked the idea that she was useful.

Lady Clara and Lady Kendall would not stop staring at her, Aeron would not stop grinning and their husbands seemed grateful that the wives had something entertaining to do. Riona did her best to relax, but noble dinner parties were not her thing. Up until Aeron showed up and ruined her tournament win, most of her meals had been eaten on the go.

Ok
ay, so at least she wasn’t being presented to royalty and no one expected her to wear a gown. The loose comfortable drawstring pants and tunic shirt suited her better than yards of restricting material. The men wore similar outfits while the pregnant women were in maternity dresses.

Aeron had arranged for dinner to be served in the family dining
hall. The food had a rich, succulent flavor, the kind of taste that came from fresh ingredients. The brothers referred to the dining hall as intimate, but Riona estimated fifty guests would easily fit in the room. Aside from the immediate family, Cenek had joined them for the meal before returning to his ceffyl duties, stating he didn’t want to leave the boys alone with the herd for too long or they’d find some sort of trouble to jump into. Riona thought that perhaps what those boys needed was some firm discipline.

After dinner
, the family retired to Aeron’s home to relax and talk. Riona knew Kendall from the ship. The woman hated gambling and so naturally Riona expected Kendall would not like her. By the blank expression on the woman’s face, that was a fair assessment. Kendall said all the polite things, but mostly contented herself with eating off her husband’s plate of fruit and snuggling into his side on Aeron’s couch.

Clara
’s expression was masked, but the woman did at least smile in her direction. It was more emotion than Riona had expected out of a Redde noblewoman. Clara inquired about Riona’s health, noted how nice her complexion had recovered and graciously accepted Riona’s thanks for keeping her company while she had been unconscious. Clara’s husband, Vlad, gazed adoringly at everything his wife said.

As for Bron, it was clear the man loved Aeron. He touched her belly whenever he was close enough to reach it. He kissed Aeron
’s head whenever his lips happened to be in the vicinity. And he whispered constantly in his wife’s ear to make her blush and playfully hit his arm. Aeron was happy and she was much loved. The fact became more evident with each ticking second.

Her sister
’s home was what Mirek had called the tower rooms. It looked like Mirek’s section of the fortress, only slightly larger and the ceiling came to a sloping point above them. Aeron would be safe here, protected by strong dragons and a mountain of stone.

Riona couldn
’t help the jealousy she felt when seeing the sisters-by-marriage interact. Aeron got along with the other women in a way they as birth sisters never had. The Draig wives had a bond, made stronger by content marriages and pregnant bellies. Riona could relate to none of those things. She knew very little about children and even less about marriage. Despite this, she tried her best to be cordial to everyone and hide the fact that she felt like an outsider peeking in.

“
Riona, you should come and see the family portrait gallery Vlad is building for me,” Clara said. “I’ve already convinced Kendall and Aeron to have their portraits done. I would love it if you’d let me hang yours as well. There is an artist coming after the babies are born. Coe is very fast and does all his work with paint. It only takes him six solar months to complete a portrait.”

Riona glanced at Mirek, unsure how to answer. He never corrected the women when they referred to her as his wife
, and by her guess Aeron was the only other person on the room who knew the truth of it.

“
I’m sure she’d love that,” Aeron answered for her.

Riona
weakly nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”

“
I will only let your Coe paint me if he promises to be very kind to my post-pregnancy figure,” Kendall said.

“
I quite enjoy your figure now,” Alek said.

“
Everything is swollen,” Kendall told him. “And I forgot if I have feet. They hurt so they must be there.” She turned her head on his shoulder without bothering to lift it as she looked at Clara. “Do I still have feet?”

“
Yes,” Clara answered dutifully. “And they do not look swollen.”

“
You are a wonderful liar.” Kendall smiled.

Riona looked at her feet and wiggled her toes.

“You will be beautiful when you’re pregnant, Ri,” Clara said. “May I call you Ri? I feel like I know you after how much Aeron has spoken of you.”

“
Call me whatever you like,” Riona said, uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation.

“
Quit trying to up the baby count,” Kendall scolded, unintentionally saving Riona from answering. “We are not having thirty kids each to compete with your family back on Redde.”

Clara pouted he
r lip. “Twenty-five?”

Aeron laughed and opened her mouth to answer.

Bron cut her off. “Can we show them now?” He sounded like an excited child with a new toy.

Alek and Vlad instantly stood.

“Oh,” Kendall said as she was forced to standing by her husband’s sudden movements. “Alek, what are you doing?”

“
Come,” Vlad said, reaching a hand to Clara. “We made you a surprise.”

“
For me?” Clara asked.

“
Each of you,” Alek answered.

“
For you and the babies,” Bron said. “In the baby garden.”

“
Baby garden?” Riona asked her sister, confused.

“
He means nursery. Nursery, plants, baby room, garden.” Aeron waved a dismissive hand. “What did you do to the nursery, Bron? We have worked very hard to get them perfect.”

The men rushed ahead.

“You each have one,” Alek said proudly.

Mirek helped
Aeron and Clara to their feet as his excited brothers went to the baby room. The women trailed behind their excited men. Riona held back, staying next to Mirek.

“
Oh my stars,” Kendall exclaimed.

“
What is that?” Aeron asked. “And why is it on the floor?”

“
For the nesting,” Alek announced, throwing his arms to the side in a grand gesture. “To help you get ready for the baby. You have all been very, um…”

“
Fluttery,” Vlad supplied.

“
Fluttery?” Kendall arched a brow.

“
I meant crazy,” Vlad corrected, “but in nice way.”

“
Kendall, you took away the knives,” Alek offered as evidence.

“
Clara, you cried over a broken plate,” Vlad added.

“
And you hoarded a tray of chocolate somewhere. I can’t find it,” Bron said.

Aeron crossed her arms over her chest.
“I ate it.”

“
All of it?” Bron blurted in obvious surprise.

Riona almost felt bad for the men. She waited for the fists to start flying. To her surprise, the women didn
’t readily react. Clara covered her mouth with her hand, but Riona saw her shoulders shaking with laughter.

“
Are you judging her?” Kendall demanded.

“
I don’t know what I said. Don’t be mad. I love you,” Bron said quickly to Aeron. “You’re beautiful, my lady, and smart and pretty and we’ll get more. Mirek, you did negotiate for more today, right? There’s going to be more chocolate, right?”

Mirek chuckled and nodded.
“Riona was invaluable today. She assured a quick shipment.”

Bron
sighed in relief. “See, don’t get upset. Every need will be met.”

Aeron stepped back and
firmly grabbed Riona’s arm. Her expression was tight as she tried not to laugh. Under her breath, she managed to say, “They made me a nest.”

Curious, Aeron
lifted on her toes to better see. The nursery was cutely decorated in pale greens and flourishes of gold. A rounded bed had been set up against the wall and stood only a few feet off the floor. Large cage-like bars came from above to surrounded it and keep the baby within. A lever would lift and drop the bars for easy access. Nothing was amiss in that. In fact, the bed looked very expensive. Clara turned and walked from the room toward Aeron. She was having a very hard time not laughing out loud.

Riona finally saw what the women were
looking at. A giant rounded nest had been placed in the middle of the room. Instead of sticks and forest debris, the men had woven a large basket pattern to create the base. Inside, furs were piled.

“
Now, we didn’t want to line the nest with animal carcasses like a baldric, because I know how you like the house to smell nice,” Bron explained. He kneeled by his creation and lifted a fur. “So we used fur instead. But if that’s not right, we can go hunting and fix it.”

“
Please don’t put dead things in the baby’s room,” Aeron managed.

Bron nodded in agreement.

“But we put in a secret pocket,” Alek added. He leaned down and pulled at the side. “For the chocolate. That was my idea.”

“
I brought the fur,” Vlad inserted as he went to his wife. Clara smiled at her husband and kissed his cheek.

“
And—” Alek hurried over to the other side the best he could without bothering to stand up. His knees pressed into the floor as he walked on them. “Over here is another secret compartment—” Alek reached in and pulled out a sharp blade, “—for the knives.”

“
Oh, look at that,” Kendall said slowly rubbing her stomach in a protective gesture. “So there is.”

“
Now you don’t have to make a stockpile up high. You will have a nest on the floor where it’s safer,” Alek said.

“
Alek, dear,” Clara said. “You can’t give babies knives.”

All three
fathers-to-be looked confused.

“
They’ll hurt themselves,” Clara said.

“
But…” Bron frowned. “Don’t you want them to be warriors? I remember my parents giving us knives.”

“
I’m guessing you were older,” Aeron said.

“
But—” Alek began.

“
No,” Kendall firmly stated. “No knives for the babies.”

“
Sword?” Vlad asked.

“
No,” Clara said.

“
Hatchet?” Alek asked. “For throwing practice.”

“
Nothing sharp,” Kendall decreed.

“
But you like the nesting, right? We did a good job on it?” Bron gestured to the floor. “I know we don’t know a lot about pregnancy, but Mirek told us that you were nesting.”

“
Mirek knows things,” Vlad said. “And it makes sense. That’s what baldric mothers do. They’re protective of their young, just like you ladies.”

“
Mirek talks to pregnant aliens on missions,” Alek added. “And Kendall, you did say not to treat you like a pregnant ceffyl about to have a baby in the field.”

“
You tried to feed me solarflowers,” Kendall stated. “And asked if I preferred a bed or straw for the labor.”

“
I want to make sure everything is perfect,” Alek explained.

“
Do you like it?” Bron asked Aeron, still waiting for her approval.

“
Yes. It is a very good nest,” Aeron said. She again grabbed Riona’s arm and squeezed hard. “Isn’t it, Ri?”

Riona nodded and cou
ldn’t help saying, “Fit for a bird, um, baby.”

“
Try it,” Bron urged. He pulled his wife’s hand and then lifted her up into his arms. He paused long enough to kiss her before setting her down in the center of it.

“
Huh,” Aeron said, wiggling around in the circular bed. Her head rested on one side and her calves rested on the other, elevated by the concave design. “It’s really comfortable.”

“
Really?” Kendall asked skeptically.

“
Yes. It feels like a weight has been taken off my legs and lower back.” Aeron snuggled down into the furs and sighed. She closed her eyes. “Leave me here. I’m not getting up until this baby is born.”

Bron frowned. “
Brothers, we made a serious error in the design.”

“
How so?” Vlad asked.

“
Too comfortable?” Alek guessed.

“
It only fits one.” Bron studied his wife as if contemplating how he was going to lay next to her.

“
We need bigger,” Vlad and Alek said in unison.

The husbands began discussing design plans. Aeron tugged a piece of fur over her stomach and didn
’t move. Kendall and Clara laughed down at her.