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“I’ll refrain from saying you should have thought of that…but you should have. I knew letting you take those pills so young was a mistake, but I allowed myself to be talked into it. You always claimed to want children and say you wanted to be like me and have a big family. The injections are so painful, and they can even be dangerous, so I let the doctors persuade me. When you heard that Vannos and Nicarr were going to try them, you said you wanted to as well.” He shrugged. “One thing led to another. But they were never meant for you to be able to experiment.”
“I didn’t. Or at least I never meant to. This was an accident.” I took his hand in mine. “Are you…are you angry?”
“Because you couldn’t keep your hands off the Imperial? A little. You knew better. But if you two were really bonded all that time, then there wasn’t much anyone could have done, I suppose. You should have told me though, the minute you found out.”
Mikol came in, with Tariq arriving right behind him from the opposite direction. Both of them looked grim, and I wondered if Tariq knew why he was here. I didn’t think he did, but then he did an extraordinary thing. Tariq came over to Blake right away and got down on one knee in front of him. He reached for his dagger in his boot and that’s when Blake stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Oh no. Don’t you dare pull out your dagger and offer it to me. I know all about that little Tygerian trick, and I’m not falling for it. I’m not about to strike you with it, so stand up. Go on, stand up. I haven’t stabbed Renard yet, though I’ve certainly been provoked enough to, so you should be safe.”
“Omak-ahn,” Mikol said, he and Tariq both looking shocked, but I just smiled. The Tygerians had never understood my omak’s sense of humor. Mikol and Tariq just looked at each other in confusion, but at least Tariq put his dagger away. I was about to make him do it anyway.
“I let you down, Your Highness,” Tariq said, still looking down at the floor.
Blake shrugged. “Okay, but it was mostly Rakkur’s fault,” Blake replied, and everyone stared at me in surprise.
“But that’s not correct, sir,” Tariq said. “Rakkur hasn’t done anything wrong at all. I thought you were here because I failed in my duty to the king. He asked me to guard Rakkur with my life, and twice now, the prince has almost been killed.”
Blake looked back and forth between Mikol and Tariq. “Wait—what? What do you mean? That was an accident on the ship, though, right?” He turned toward Mikol. “Why wasn’t I informed of attempts? As in more than one?’”
“The other news I had for you seemed more important. I was going to tell you, once things settled down.”
“Tell me now.”
“Kalen took King Edam and Rakkur on a hunting trip today, and there was an attempt to shoot Rakkur. An arrow was shot into King Edam’s hunting stand nearly hitting Rakkur and striking one of the Lorian guards, who was badly wounded. A search of the area found nothing, and the injured guard was taken back to the city, along with everyone else. I still have men out in the woods investigating.”
“No one else was hurt?”
“No, sir.”
“What do you mean it almost hit Rakkur?”
Tariq took over the story at that point. “It passed closely by his cheek. You can see the scratch there. I pulled him down and covered him until I could get him out of there safely.”
“And you both think this was a deliberate attack on Rakkur?”
“We don’t know,” Mikol said. “It could have been Edam they were after, or even a stray arrow. But after what happened on the ship, I think it’s likely. We did find where someone hid in the woods to fire the arrow, so we don’t believe it was any accident.”
“I see. All of this is a lot to take in, Mikol.”
“I know.”
Blake came over to sit next to me on the bed. “Colonel Tariq, you’re very protective of my son…I like that very much. But you do realize, Colonel, that a marriage has to happen between you and Rakkur and very quickly.”
Tariq literally looked like my omak had struck him. “Your Highness...” He took a quick step backward, looking shocked. “Did-did Rakkur tell you then? About the-the bonding?”
“Call me Blake,” he interrupted. “You’re as good as my son-in-law now. And yes, he did.”
“B-but… I can’t marry Prince Rakkur. There are things you don’t know. I’m entirely unsuitable for him.”
“I don’t think that’s the case at all, but we have little choice. I don’t believe you’ve been told that Rakkur is pregnant, have you?”
This time Tariq literally staggered, looking like he was about to throw up. Blake just sat and watched him the whole time. I sympathized with Tariq and came pretty close to vomiting myself.
“I-I must have misunderstood. What did you say? He’s what?”
“Pregnant. It’s yours, Colonel. It’s still very early, according to the doctors, but they say they’re sure. It explains all the nausea he’s been having. It had to have happened on the ship coming over to Loros.”
“But we-we never…”
