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“Veta is pregnant again,” Illeron said, as though that explained everything.
“Merlon is still in residence, right?” Avril asked.
“He was last I knew. Do you wish for me to summon him?” I asked. “Is there something wrong? Is she unwell?”
“No, just Casimir being a worrier,” Illeron assured me.
Avril pursed her lips for a second, as though trying to consider how to say something. “She is large for how far along she is. Bigger than she was when she carried twins. Casimir is worried that the delivery will kill her.”
Just then, three more people arrived. Casimir appeared carrying his very pregnant wife, a small woman with black hair and dove-gray eyes. The last appeared with a very loud crack of air. My protégée and Illeron and Avril’s eldest daughter, Elysia, stumbled into the room. Her dark-auburn hair fluttered about her startled copper-toned features as she staggered to a halt. Then she spotted me. “Cousin Emrys!” She flung herself at me just as the door behind me opened. Wrapping her arms around my waist, she squealed, “I did my first long wraithwalk!”
“Her Majesty, Queen Kate, Queen of Eldarlan and Empress of the Shadow Lands,” Torrel, my brownie doorminder, announced.
I gave Elysia a quick squeeze before turning to introduce my wife. However, when I saw her, my mind temporarily went blank. Kate had always been fascinatingly lovely to me, but now she took my breath away. Dressed in a gown of diaphanous fabric that caressed her form in a way that accented her curves, she seemed to float into the room. Shining ringlets escaped from her elaborate hairstyle, caressing her shoulders as though begging to be touched. I wondered if the coils were as soft as they looked, but now wasn’t the time to check.
After forcing myself to swallow and clear my throat, I extended my hand to my wife. “Kate, I would like you to meet some of my family.”
Chapter Ten
Kate
I feared meeting the court, but it would be simple compared to the combined curious gazes of four elves and two humans. It almost undid me. “Family?”
“Cousins,” Emrys clarified, claiming my hand as he stepped into my line of vision. He effectively blocked me from their view. He brushed his lips across the back of my fingers, drawing my attention to his face and his enigmatic blue eyes as they darkened, making the silver flecks flare brightly. “I wish they weren’t here right now, though.”
“Why?” I frowned up at him. He had mentioned only his sister when discussing family. “Do you not like them?”
“On the contrary, I have great affection for them.” His midnight-blue gaze fell to my mouth.
“Stop flirting with your wife and introduce us.” A light elf approached and nudged Emrys with an amused smile.
“Kate, this is Illeron—cousin, childhood friend, and my current spymaster.”
“What do you mean current?” Illeron protested.
Emrys ignored him as he guided me to the woman with the baby on her hip. “This is his very tolerant wife, Avril.”
Avril smiled, laughter dancing in her brown eyes. “And one of our children, Errol,” she added. The baby considered me gravely while twisting his hands in the front of his mother’s bodice. “The other,” Avril continued, “was the monkey assaulting your husband when you arrived.”
“I am not a monkey,” declared the bright-eyed shadow elf girl-child with auburn curls. She appeared to be about seven, by my best guess.
Avril soothed her daughter’s feelings with a caress to her shoulder. “I am just teasing, Elysia.”
Illeron stepped into the conversation, and the three of them continued talking as Emrys guided me away.
Emrys’ steady hand at my back comforted me as he guided me to stand before a forbidding-looking elf carrying a woman in his arms. “And these two are Casimir and his wife, Veta. He is Illeron’s younger brother.”
“Is Merlon in residence?” Casimir asked Emrys without responding to the introduction.
“Last I knew he was,” my husband answered.
“Casimir, before you go dashing off again,” Veta interjected, “could you put me down?”
Releasing Emrys’ hand, I crossed to the chair in the corner and pulled it over to Casimir’s side. Casimir regarded me with raised eyebrows.
“For Veta,” I explained.
The dark-haired woman laughed. “Now you don’t have an excuse. Put me down, Cas, and go fetch the healer so you can stop worrying.”
