Chapter Thirteen

Hope climbed out of the tour van, blinking at the bright morning light. Crisp mountain air filled her nostrils, and although she couldn't make out solid details of the landscape, she gathered that they were in a large rest area, everything covered in heavy snow. She trailed her fingers along the van door, not sure of her surroundings.

Jake took hold of her hand, slipping it through the crook of his arm. "Just stick with me. We'll be pulling out of here in a few more minutes."

The motors of numerous snowmobiles droned around them, diesel and gasoline fumes filling her nostrils. She heard the loud lurch of motors turning; then, as one after another snowmobile took off around them, the rushing Doppler Effect filled her ears.

She looked up into Jake's face, able for the first time to make out his physical appearance a little better than before. He had dark brown hair—almost black—and olive skin. It seemed as if his eyes were light green—much lighter than she would have expected with his overall dark looks. She couldn't be sure, but it was the best assessment she'd gotten of him, much better than in the motel room or even in the medical area hallway, thanks to the bright sunlight.

"Moving out!" their tour guide called, pulling up beside them with a rumble. "Make sure you've got your helmets and gloves on. It's gonna be a cold ride to Old Faithful." With a spray of snow, the guide gunned it a little farther past them, almost as if he meant to give them a moment of privacy. She'd gladly take it if it meant she could get a few answers out of Jake before they began their journey.

"Old Faithful?" She reached out a hand to touch Jake's face, feeling the rugged contours of jaw and skin. "What exactly are you trying to accomplish inside the park? I thought you needed help with your 'future problem.' I don't see how snowmobiling and park rangers fit into that scenario. Oh, that's right, I forgot." She slapped the heel of her hand against her head. "We're going to the mitres."

"Come on, folks," their guide said, trudging past them. "Suit on up."

Jake left her standing there, waiting, and she got the idea that he was inspecting their sled.

"You ever been on a snowmobile, Hope?" He thrust a helmet toward her, and it bumped into her belly. She took hold of it awkwardly, feeling the shape of it, prodding the padding that lined its interior.

"I like to be in the driver's seat." She turned the helmet within her hands, finding the strap, and carefully placed it atop her head. "But by the time I was ready to try snowmobiling, my vision wasn't good enough."

Jake laughed, low and knowingly. "That's what I thought." He adjusted her helmet, fastening the strap beneath her chin. It was an oddly protective gesture, and it occurred to her that this man had spent a long time trying to care for her. Just as Scott had promised to do, she thought, and felt a spasm of guilt. Not just guilt, but loneliness: as if she'd never see him again.

"If you know me so well, why'd you have to ask if I've ever been on a snowmobile before? Huh?" Scott would have known; he'd have memorized everything about her and her experiences.

"I can't remember what you'd done this far back. It's a lot to keep up with." He gave her visor a sharp tug, lowering it over her face. "Keep this down unless you want your nose and face to freeze off. That wind whips pretty hard, and we're going to be covering a lot of ground."

"What? You didn't rent me my own sled?" she teased, watching him climb onto the tandem seat.

Jake snorted. "You've always had a black sense of humor, love."

She studied him as he pulled his own helmet onto his head, and tried to figure out what he even really looked like. Handsome, she would bet, and overly large; that much had been obvious since the beginning. What she really wished was that she could look into his eyes—those green eyes she'd glimpsed—and see what his intentions truly were. She climbed cautiously behind him, planting both feet on the running boards.

Ahead of them, their tour guide powered up his sled, and then Jake did likewise, the machine sending vibrations through her body. "Hold on to me!" he shouted over the engine. "This thing's going to really move."

She wrapped her arms about his waist, burrowing her face against his back. "What are you doing, Jake? And how do I figure in?"

But he never heard her, not over the noisy motor, and with a lurch they took off over the snowy road.

At the exterior of his council chambers, Jared leaned close for an iris imprint, then a further sensory sweep, including a retinal scan. Once his identity had been verified, the sleek doors to chambers slid open and he stepped into the much darker interior room. The lighting inside the council room was always kept low and dim; that way it was easier to view the elders' silvery holographic images being transmitted all the way from Refaria. As usual on days when he had to deal with his council, Jared felt edgy and uptight. Watching the bio-techs prep the data portal—a large dais that he personally believed was the elders' way of forcing him onto something resembling a throne—he mentally scrolled through the meeting's agenda.

One topic he was absolutely certain would be on today's schedule, after only a few weeks since his formal sealing and marriage to Kelsey, was the matter of the succession. Frankly, he'd often wondered if the elders had too little to occupy them while he was in exile: They seemed unduly fixated on traditions and maneuvering within the council. It was enough to make Jared thankful that they were back on Refaria, and he was here on Earth; he had far fewer dealings with them this way.

The lead biotech signaled that Jared could assume position in the data portal, and he dropped into the large, throne-like chair. Thus began another sensory scan of his vitals, more detailed than the first one which had been required to gain entrance to chambers. After his readings were taken, there was an ambient hum as the data was uploaded into the portal, thereby giving him clearance for an open link with the council.

One by one, each council member took their place in the semicircle about him, placing one fist over their hearts and giving a bow of respect. Their images were uneven, faltering, but it was still pretty damn good, considering the massive distance that separated them from one another. Refarian technology allowed them to access energy packets flowing much faster than the speed of light, so that he and the elders were able to interact in these chambers in real time, even though separated by many, many light-years and many galaxies as well.

Today Elder Graeon took the lead, his long silver hair drawn into a neat ponytail down his back. Graeon had been in his maturity for as long as Jared could remember, all the way back to Jared's boyhood, yet the man still looked fairly young. It was typical for Refarian males to reach maturity—that time when they were no longer fertile—in their early forties. All except the royal lines, who entered both their prime and their decided lack of it far too early. Jared was pushing the envelope at thirty years of age, and the absence of a successor was always the hot topic in these chambers.

The circle gathered about him wanted only one thing: not leadership or wisdom, but quite simply, an heir. Sometimes, on days like this one, it left Jared feeling not just inadequate, but quite like a figurehead—whatever it meant to be a deposed and exiled figurehead, at that.

Graeon kept one fist over his heart. "My lord, how is our new queen? Does she fair well in the midst of our rebellion?"

Jared stretched his legs, instantly restless in the metal data portal—and instantly angry. If they were leading with the queen, the next question would surely be.…

"And how go the mating rites, as well, my lord?" Graeon continued brightly. "Time is of the essence, all the more because you have chosen a human mate. Your bio readings show an elevated body temperature; other elements of your vital scans indicate that you may, in fact, be cycling. We shall assume the king is already aware of his heated state?" Graeon's voice practically vibrated with motivation and commitment to what would surely follow. By the gods, Jared would've thought Graeon hoped to bed Kelsey himself in the coming hours and days, he quivered so with anticipation. "You are aware of how fertile your cycle is right now, my lord?" the man prompted again, clapping his hands together purposefully. How dare he not even have the decency to blush.

Jared laughed, reaching a low and threatening note as he leaned forward in his chair. "Oh, yes, you may assume that I am quite aware of my mating season. It's fairly difficult to miss when the royal pulse becomes a-flush and aflutter, would you not agree?" He met Graeon's gaze and held it hard until the elder averted his eyes.

Leaning one elbow on the arm of the portal, Jared studied the semicircle of leaders. "Shall I tell you how many times I've bedded my new wife?" he asked in a whiskey-voiced tone of confidence. "How many ways I've taken your lady and queen? How I've rutted about our quarters? Surely this is the very information you seek today, is it not, Elder Graeon? Detailed reportage of my sexual prowess and how very successful the queen and I have found ourselves upon entering the heat."

Graeon bowed his head, giving it a slight shake, but before he could reply, Jared continued. "We have had this conversation on multiple occasions. Now that I have married and taken a mate, I can no longer abide such intimate analysis of my fertility, my sex life, my body temperature and pulse rate, or the silver hairs upon my head. If you feel compelled to discuss the likelihood of our siring heirs"—Jared waved about the circle—"then let it not be in this room, in our presence."

He was about to rail that, furthermore, when and how—and just how many times—he and Kelsey tried to conceive a child was none of their business—when much to his surprise the chamber doors slid open. The momentary influx of bright light made it nearly impossible to see the elders, essentially washing them out until the doors drew shut again. When he saw that it was Kelsey stepping into chambers, he wanted to throw his hands into the air from relief. She had attended several of these sessions over the past weeks, and the elders were already warming up to her tremendously. She had also freely chastised him whenever he'd referred to the council room as "the torture chamber." A good queen, through and through.

"I didn't know you'd be joining us today," he said as the biotechs helped her up into the portal beside him. He reached a hand across the small distance that separated them, and as their skin made contact, he felt a flush sweep over his entire body.

Damn it all, don't let the elders sense the change in my biometrics. They're likely to ask us to procreate right here in chambers so they can personally monitor my fertility levels.

Kelsey smiled, her gaze lingering on him for a split second longer than she might normally have done. Something about the way her eyes sparkled, the wonderful glow about her face, made him wonder if she was up to something. Then again, maybe it was just as she'd said: that she, too, was achieving the heat right along with him. They'd made such frantic love earlier in the morning, he'd been afraid that Sabrina had heard them from where she was working in the bunker across the hall. If his protector had, she hadn't let on. When he'd passed her later in the hallway, she'd simply given a brisk nod, returning to her task with dutiful focus.

Jared hid a smirk as it became evident that Kelsey's unplanned presence had ruffled Graeon's composure. The councilors believed everything should be done in order, by a schedule, per tradition; Kelsey, on the other hand, was like a rushing desert wind, upending everything in their elders', and his own, world.

"My lady, well and good wishes," Graeon greeted her, bowing, and there were other stiff murmurs of welcome.

"Don't let me interrupt." She smiled at each of them, a slow and determined process. "Please, I know you have many important matters to discuss—and I'm sure that Jared will be giving you the latest report on his fertility."

It was all he could do to suppress a wild burst of laughter. Damn it all, but his beautiful love even managed to be cunning while maintaining a perfectly angelic smile on her face.

"Oh … oh, my lady, no. No, we would not ask for any such thing, please," Graeon stammered, and luckily Eldor Aldorsk saved the poor councilor from his misery by stepping forward and launching into a full-length description of how the news of a new queen was invigorating the weary and beleaguered troops back on Refaria. A true diplomat, through and through, his former mentor was.

They haven't the first notion of what to make of my wife, Jared thought, hiding another smile behind his hand.

After Aldorsk finished, Kelsey smiled regally, turning to face Jared. She fixed him with her gaze and began to address the council, articulating each word in a way that signaled she was addressing an important matter. Jared listened quizzically, focusing on the blue-green depths of her eyes, the gold dusting of freckles across her nose. It almost seemed as if she were speaking to him from a great distance as he heard, "… and so, council, I thought given your longstanding concerns, that this would be the right way to share the amazing news with my husband, our king. J'Areshkadau Bnet D'Aravni…."

Everything suddenly crystallized into this one single moment; her words seemed to slow down, becoming painfully slow, infinitely slow, until he heard, "… have conceived a child."

"Conceived a child?" He jumped right out of the dais, causing the transmission to immediately disconnect. The elders vanished just as immediately, leaving him alone with his wife and queen.

Falling to his knees in front of her portal chair, he grabbed hold of her hands. "Are you telling me that we-we've … w-we're.…" He couldn't force the words past his thick tongue. Finally, gazing up into her eyes, he just whispered, "A baby, Kelse? You and me?"

She nodded toward where the elders had been flickering a moment before. "I wanted them to share in your moment. I know you might have wanted to hear it from me first—well, hear it alone at first, I mean."

He cupped her face in trembling hands. "Do you honestly think I care how or when you told me?"

She smiled at him, her eyes shining with emotion. "It's just … they've given you such a hard time and I wanted them to know in no uncertain terms that your succession is going to be secured."

He nuzzled her, nibbling at her neck, kissing her along her collarbone. "You realize it's no accident that I'm kneeling in front of you," he murmured. "You're a true queen, sweet Kelsey. Knowing how to manage my public image, thinking of how to wrangle the council. I have chosen quite well." He slid one palm onto her belly, grinning like he had the first time he'd flown solo. "And now, inside of you, there's our child: already in there, growing. Our two lives brought together as one, and soon all of my fractured realm will know: a prince or princess of D'Aravni shall be theirs."

"I wanted to give you this moment so badly." Her voice faltered and she wiped at her eyes. "Of course I wanted a baby with you, totally, but it was just … I knew I was a political obstacle. And that your family line was in jeopardy. So many things, and I wanted you to have all that you deserved." Her tears began to stream down her face, and he pulled her into the security of his arms.

"I understand, Kelsey," he soothed. "Shh now, love. It's okay."

She pulled back, looking into his eyes. "I have to say this, Jared. After Marco's letter, after realizing there was this whole other world of ruin and destruction, I was secretly afraid that we'd never have a child. That letter never mentioned anything about us having children or heirs, and I've just been so afraid—terrified really—that your elders would be proven right. That they'd keep at you, and at me, and we wouldn't be able to—and oh my God, Jared, just the thought of them gloating like that—while you suffered because I couldn't—"

 "Not because you couldn't, Kelse. It would have been us in it, together." He reached and gently covered her abdomen with his hand, almost hoping to feel fire beneath his fingertips. "Just as we're in this beautiful, blessed situation now. Soon we'll be feeling the babe, right beneath my palm." He couldn't help grinning in wonder as he softly stroked her flat belly. "And soon you'll be ripe with this child, your body brimming with life and energy. Then what will my council say? They'll crown you a goddess among our people, I should think, for having saved the D'Aravnian name and lineage by seducing their king."

She clapped a hand over mouth and burst into wild laughter. "You do realize you basically just hung up on your council, right?"

"Ah, but they are quite happy with us just now." He stroked her face, brushing away her damp tears with his thumbs. "They've likely draped themselves in traditional D'Aravnian heraldry and gone dashing about their chambers. I should imagine poor Aldorsk is alternating between apoplexies of joy and sorting out protocol, he's been given so much to consider today."

Jared sprang to his feet with a joyous laugh. "Ah, much to consider, much to consider, indeed." Pacing about the room, first in one direction, then another, he reminded Kelsey of every Hollywood stereotype of a brand new father-to-be. It was amazing how literally universal certain facts were.

"We've got to make an announcement tonight, after dinner—and it should come from me, I'd think." Deep in thought, he walked in a circular pattern around the edges of the chamber. "Or, then again, perhaps it's better from you?" He worked a hand at his temple, so obviously considering all the royal necessities relating to their happy news. "Or perhaps we shouldn't announce it yet at all?"

She began to giggle, just watching how her usually unflappable husband actually seemed … hyper. He stopped midstride, dropping his hand away from his face. "Am I being thoroughly ridiculous, is that it?"

"Well, maybe we don't have to be in such a rush to tell your people, not when.…" She cupped her abdomen protectively. "It's just early, Jared. Really early, and this is an interspecies pregnancy, where we might encounter all kinds of problems."

"Which is exactly why the next place we're going is to the med complex, so they can check you out, prepare you for what to expect."

"What to expect? I think I probably know, don't I?" She laughed, but noticed that Jared wasn't exactly laughing along with her. "Or maybe I don't know what to expect at all. I did see the doctor today, though."

"And what did he tell you?"

"That I'm pregnant. That's about it."

Jared sat down on the lower-level platform, the step that led into a pit area where the councilors' images were always displayed. He seemed to consider his words carefully before continuing. Kelsey stood and climbed down out of the data portal, where she'd been watching him pace and dither, and slowly settled right beside him.

He rubbed both of his thighs, throwing her a tentative, awkward look. "It's just that Refarian pregnancies are a bit, uh, different than what you'd expect as a human."

She swore she could feel her eyes bulge right out of her head. Practically squeaking at him, she asked, "Different how? And if it's significantly different, then maybe you should have said something before"—she raised her voice sharply—"right this very moment?"

"No panicking," he scolded with a gentle smile.

"I'm not panicking, but you better start talking and fast before I do."

"Well, the gestation period is shorter, for one thing," he told her, as if he were commenting on the overnight snowfall accumulation. "Only five months."

At first she figured she'd pretend to be calm, but the words five months, five months, five months kept echoing inside her head, and finally sent her over the edge.

She nodded, slowly rising to her feet. "Yeah, that is pretty much … a major freaking detail!"She swatted him atop the head with her open palm, popping him lightly over and over while he did his best to duck.

"Cease fire!" He held up his forearm to block any more of her attack.

She retracted her hand, but only for the time being. "And what else, J'Areshkadau?"

He sucked in a breath. "Well, that's one thing, the gestational period. Then there's the fact of my D'Aravnian nature, for another, and this baby will be a dual being, just as I am."

"You're saying I'm going to be carrying a 'dual being' inside of me?" A sharp wave of nausea overpowered her, but she choked it down. "All your fire and everything? That's what you're saying?" She realized her voice was reaching near-hysterical proportions, but no matter how much she'd thought about carrying Jared's child, she'd just sort of assumed that the whole "being of fire" problem wouldn't be part of the gestational scenario. Dumb, dumb, Kelsey! This is all alien, all the time!

He clasped her by both shoulders, staring into her eyes. "Breathe, Kelsey. Breathe!" She let out a gasp, only then realizing she'd been alternating between a state of hyperventilating and holding her breath.

"I'm breathing," she choked out, and he nodded his approval, breathing in and out slowly himself.

"Good, now keep on breathing. This isn't anything to be afraid of; it's the most natural thing in the world. We've managed to conceive, and that means you should be able to carry this child to term."

"I'm carrying a being just like you." She thought about all his thermonuclear meltdown warnings about their sex life. "I'm carrying a ball of fire? That's what you're saying. That our baby is going to be exactly like you, and still somehow be inside of me?"

Jared sang, "'Goodness gracious, great balls of .…'"

She turned to face him, jabbing at the air between them. "Don't you dare make a bad Earth joke, not right now, Bennett."

The man had the nerve to smirk at her; he was actually enjoying this on some level. "But you've such wonderful music. Jerry Lee Lewis seems to say it well, no?"

She groaned, burying her face in her hands. "I'm feeling incredibly cranky all of a sudden."

"And I'm feeling incredibly randy all of a sudden."

"You're gonna have to give me a few hours on that one."

"I will definitely reconvene as per the issue of further matings. I am told—by those who know such things—that you will be nearly insatiable while you carry this babe."

"Now, that's not a purely Refarian thing—that's human women too. Thank you, hormones."

He grinned at her wolfishly. "And that's precisely what I'm talking about."

She shook her head, still thinking over the logistics. "How is this even possible? Won't I get burned alive? You keep saying that I can't touch you.…"

"Because the babe will be inside of you, protected. Protecting you."

"Protecting me?"

"It's what has guaranteed our succession among the D'Aravni for all these thousands of years. Somehow, mystically, the babe will not harm you. He—or she—will create a protective barrier between their true nature and your body. As apparently I did for my own mother."

"But your mother was a D'Aravni. She was a being of fire, so no problem, right?"

"True, but not all the women in my line have been dual beings, and in her case, she was still in her physical form. If she'd dared to touch my father in his natural fiery state while in her body? It would have destroyed her. I could have destroyed her while she carried me, but I did not. It's the mystery of our kind."

"Un-freaking-believable," she said. "And you do realize what this means, don't you?"

"That we're going to have a prince or princess?" he sang delightedly. He was like an overgrown boy, all beaming and glowing and joyful.

"Yes, that, for sure. But it also means something else, too." She stared into his eyes meaningfully, knowing he wasn't going to be happy with her next words. Nevertheless, it was time, now more than ever.

"Oh, my beautiful human wife, what else can it possibly mean?" he trilled, still grinning at her. She almost hated to end his sweet reverie, but still, the moment had come.

"Jared, it also means," she said seriously, "that I'm going to have to call my father and tell him all about you."