Over another refill of tea, Arthur and I had averyadamant argument about whether to call sliced potatoes chips or fries (they werefries— he was freaking nuts), while Vara rubbed her belly.
“You all right, my dear?” Babcia asked.
“The twins are rambunctious today,” Vara said eagerly. “I’ve never felt them move so much.”
“Maybe today’s the day,” Arthur said. His entire countenance brightened as he squeezed Vara’s shoulder and kissed her cheek.
Their affection warmed my heart. I was excited to see the twins, too. Babies running around the estate sure would bring a bit of cheer back into our lives. No matter how bad the world got, life always moved on.
Ethan was pretty quiet. I took it that he was being rude over Vara, and I couldn’t have that, so I said, “Something you want to voice aloud?”
“Just things on my mind,” he said. “Nothing to be concerned about.”
Well, that was bullshit. “You know when you lie, your back gets rigid? I can always tell.”
I straightened my shoulders and deepened my voice to make an impression of my mate. “Oh, nothing to be concerned about, Emma, I just have a stick up my ass that’s straighter than usual.”
“I don’t wish to upset you,” Ethan said gently. “It’s best not to talk about these things while having a nice meal.”
Okay, so it was about Droga’s general crap of the day. Nobody told me anything about what was going on outside of the estate anymore. I knew they cared about me, and didn’t want me to worry… but still.
I could read what Ethan was thinking without having to reach across our bond. It’d been a lot of work getting me out of the house. He didn’t want me to freak out when he’d come so far in making me stable enough to be in public without panicking.
But that wasn’t what we’d promised in our marriage. We’d agreed to share our burdens, and something was weighing heavily on Ethan today… I could tell.
“I want to know,” I insisted. “Just give me the bare details, and nothing else.”
“She’s your wife. Word of advice; best to be honest,” Bapa grumbled.
Arthur shared a wary glance with Vara, but Ethan spoke before they did. “From what we can tell, Droga has begun his assault on the rest of the cities in Malovia. He’s conquered Vashtyn. It won’t be long before he moves on to others.”
“Isn’t Vashtyn a human city?” I questioned.
“It is,” Ethan replied. “He’s using the usual techniques; curses and enchantments to bewitch the humans, and put them under his control, much like Elijah did. It’s taking longer than we thought… he’s being slow to take over each city one by one, instead of leveling them to the ground all at once.”
“That seems rather practical of him.” I sat back and crossed my arms.
“He’s experimenting,” Arthur said. “Trying to see what the best strategy is for getting the rest of the world under his control without humankind interfering. He has magic, but the humans have technology, along with numbers. He needs to devise a plan to conquer them with the least amount of effort possible, and using his soldiers to trick the humans is easier than slaughtering them all. His forces remain strong in each city, and once the human population is sufficiently enchanted, he takes over without much struggle from the fae.”
“And Gabby?” I raised an eyebrow.
“She’s sitting very comfortably in Arcanea University with that little brat of hers,” Babcia commented. “No need for her to get involved when her new mate can do all the dirty work.”
“Is she a goddess now?” The words made a sour taste fill my mouth. I was glad I was done with breakfast.
“They must be joined in a ceremony, much like marriage,” Bapa replied. “She must become his wife officially if she is to be a goddess.”
“And why haven’t they done it yet?”
“They will,” Ethan said darkly. “I’m sure when he’s done conquering the rest of Malovia, he’ll return to make Gabby his bride.”
“Let’s not talk about such dark things,” Vara insisted. “It’s a beautiful day. Let’s make the most of it.”
My anxiety wavered and dipped inside of me. Ethan immediately froze when he noticed the shift in my emotions, and placed his hand on my thigh underneath the table. My frustration immediately squared off against my fear.Whydid I have to be this way, so scared all the time? I’d told Ethan I wanted to know, so I needed to show him I could handle it. I had to take several deep breaths to calm myself down, though I felt myself unraveling quickly. My heartbeat quickened, and my throat felt like it was being squeezed like a viper.
It’s not happening here,I told myself.Everything’s fine right now.You’re okay. You’re safe.
It’d become a little mantra that I repeated over and over whenever I got scared… which was all the fucking time. I did feel safe here, in Trua Gleann. Bad things were happening back home… but you know what? This was home now, and everything was fine.
