A Battle Lord’s Heart (5 page)

           
“Did you find anything?” Yulen asked.

           
The physician gave a low chuckle.
“Ohhhho-ho, I found plenty, my boy. Plenty. Look at this vial. See the green
leaves and green tint? Okay, I’ll admit a lot of my methods are somewhat
unorthodox, but I chewed up a leaf and spit it in here. The dried leaf stayed
green. I did a few cultures on it, and I suspect it was because the
testosterone in my saliva didn’t affect it. Yulen, you remember what a
contraceptive does, don’t you?”

           
“Yeah. It keeps the woman from
releasing an egg to be fertilized.”

           
“Mm-hmm. Keeping that in mind, I had
Maddy chew up a leaf. Don’t look at me like that, Yulen. Your mother is still
capable of bearing children, even if she’s up in years, and it’s time you
realized it. Anyway, I also had her chew up a leaf and spit it in here. Notice
anything different?”

           
Having recovered from MaGrath’s
announcement of his mother’s fertility, Yulen glanced at the second vial. “The
contents are red.” He looked back at the physician. “The leaves turned red,” he
repeated.

           
“Yeah. Dark red, because of her
estrogen. This is how the leaf changes when it goes into Atty’s system. And
that’s when I did a few chemical experiments.”
 
Deftly, he pointed to the other five vials filled with five other
different-colored compounds. “Maddy was nice enough to give me five more
samples. I tested each and every one, and what I found has left me speechless.
Yulen, the leaves do what they’re expected to. They prevent the women from
producing enough estrogen to release an egg for fertilization. But it also
poisons their inner workings.
 
Until I
do a little more research, I can’t be for certain. But at this point, I’m
willing to bet that over time, if used consistently, the damn stuff coats the
inner lining of their wombs with a thin sheet of some kind of toxin. Even if
the woman stops taking the leaves, hoping to get pregnant, this toxin prevents
any fertilized egg from becoming attached to the inner walls, which means the
egg dies. No pregnancy. But if the egg somehow manages to find a break in the
lining, there’s still the chance of that egg never reaching maturity, and you
get a miscarriage. If the egg manages to grow into a baby, the lining may keep
the fetus from getting enough oxygen or nutrition from the mother, even if the
mother somehow manages to eat enough and eat properly during pregnancy.
 
Then you have a stillborn. Take it to nine
months, give birth, and...well, I’m pretty sure you’re getting the whole
picture by now. Of course, this is all my theory, Yulen, such as it is.”

           
Yulen could only stare at the man as
a hundred scenarios raced around inside his head. Finally, after a long moment
of deliberation, he commented, “Would any amount of exposure to these leaves
cause the toxin to coat the inner lining of her womb? Or would it have to be
over an extended amount of time?”

           
“Ah. Good question. I thought of
that myself, so I went back to Gil’s records.
 
But this time I had to check to see how long a woman had been having
intercourse before she began to try to conceive.
 
Conceptions were more frequent in the earlier years, and
practically nonexistent later on. So I’m willing to bet that there would have
to be repeated exposure to these leaves for the toxin to fully coat the
interior lining.” MaGrath shook his head, setting the container of vials back
on the table. “Atty only took the leaves for a few short months.
 
Between that, and her nutrition, I believe
that’s why she hasn’t been plagued with the problems we’ve been expecting her
to have. That doesn’t mean she can’t still lose this baby, Yulen, but I feel
confident enough to say that the biggest problem has been averted.” He got to
his feet and walked over to lay a hand on the Battle Lord’s shoulder. “We’ve
been more than lucky. We’ve been blessed.”

           
“If Atty never takes any more of
those leaves, will whatever toxins she’s gotten from the leaves she took
earlier eventually wear off?
 
Reverse,
or something like that?”

           
“Perhaps. I honestly can’t tell you
at this point.”

           
“Atty had a sister many years
younger than her. How could that have been possible, when we know for a fact
that her mother took the leaves?”

           
MaGrath shrugged. “I’m going to
guess that Eenoi stopped taking the leaves once she got that infection.
Remember what we were told?
 
Atty’s
mother was never expected to have another child after her sickness. That’s when
she got pregnant with Atty.
 
And, after
that, she maybe never took them again, which gave her body a chance to remove
the toxins, which allowed her to get pregnant with Atty’s sister, albeit years
later. And, remember, too, Keelor was always a sickly child, at that.” Shaking
his head, MaGrath closed his journal and placed it back on the table, next to
the vials. “We’ll never know for certain, but I’m positive about what’s in
those tunsul leaves. They’re poison, and the sooner I get word to Gil, the
sooner we can start to remedy that problem.”

           
A sharp rap at the door interrupted
them. It was MacIntyre, who informed them that Atty had come out of her faint.
Yulen and MaGrath hurried into the examination room, only to find the warrior
woman sound asleep, curled on her side on the table. Madigan stood next to her,
shaken and white-faced. MaGrath went over to take her in his arms.

           
“What, Maddy? What’s wrong?” He
turned his attention to the dozing woman, but his expert eye could see nothing
amiss. “We got word Atty had come to.”

           
Madigan nodded slowly. “She did. She
asked for Yulen. I told her you two were in the next room. I...I asked her if
there was anything I could do for her, or get for her, but she said she was
tired, and she rolled over and went to sleep.
 
But, uhhh, before she did, she wanted me to relay a message to Yul.”

           
“What?” Yulen’s eyes narrowed. “What
else did she say, Madigan?”

           
Madigan rolled her eyes to look up
at her son staring intently back at her. “She said to tell you the baby was a
boy.”

Chapter
Four

Split
Decision

           
She was back in her own bed. She was
warm and comfortable, and her favorite pillow was scrunched against her middle,
between her arms and drawn-up knees. A faint breeze blew against the back of
her neck, making her smile when she realized it wasn’t a breeze.

           
Atty rolled over to find a gaze
lovingly observing her. She grinned. “Hi.”

           
“Hi. How do you feel?”

           
She didn’t have to think about it.
“I’m starved.”

           
Yulen chuckled. There was just the
one lantern hanging by the door to give them any light. It cast partial shadows
over his features, and for a second Atty could envision how her husband would
look many years in the future. She could see how his already strong facial lines
would deepen. The creases about his eyes would lengthen, leaving him with a
stronger, more imposing visage, especially with the elongated scar. “I had a
feeling you’d be hungry, since you missed dinner
and
supper.”

           
“Really? What time is it?” She stretched,
long and supple despite the little bulge in her middle. Yulen couldn’t help but
admire the increased fullness of her breasts.

           
“Close to midnight.”

           
She gave him a hard stare. “Have you
slept any?”

           
He chuckled again. “Who are you, my
mother?”

           
“No, but I’m going to be one. Gotta
get some practice in before then, don’t you think?”

           
Laughing softly, Yulen suggested,
“Want to go downstairs and raid the larder? I told Berta to keep a tray for
us.”

           
Giggling with him, Atty crawled out
of bed as her husband pulled on the pants he’d dropped on the floor. Once her
skin hit the chilly air, she opted for a soft, warm gown from the closet.
Hand-in-hand, they tip-toed barefoot down the stairs. The empty main hall was
eerie to behold. Atty could not remember ever seeing it totally void of people.

           
Once inside the kitchen, Yulen lit a
second lantern. As promised, the housekeeper had left a loaded tray in the cold
room. Yulen placed it on the small chopping block and pulled up a stool next to
his wife. Atty was already popping grapes into her mouth.

           
“God, it’s amazing how good stuff
tastes when you’re hungry.”

           
“I don’t doubt it.” Yulen poured
them both a mug of milk, handing one to her. “My love, how much do you remember
about today?”

           
“What do you mean?”

           
“I mean, do you remember fainting?”

           
Atty blinked. “Is that what
happened?” Giving a half-laugh, she bit into a slice of honeyed bread. “Never
done that before,” she murmured with her mouth full. Casting her eyes at him,
she noticed he was sitting like a typical man, spread-legged on his stool. As a
result, his thigh and knee were pressed along hers. The contact was warm yet
stimulating.

           
“Do you remember waking up in the
clinic?” Yulen continued. For some unexplainable reason, sitting with her in
the kitchen seemed more intimate than when they’d been lying face to face in
their bed upstairs. In the back of his mind, he wondered why.

           
Atty screwed up her nose as she
tried to think. Yulen snorted softly. It was an affectation of hers that he
loved. “Yeah. Sort of. Madigan was there. I remember I asked for you. Didn’t
I?”

           
He nodded. “Yeah. She said she told
you I was with Liam in the next room. Do you remember what you told her to tell
me? What message you wanted her to pass along to me?”

           
This time there was no mistaking the
mischievous grin she wore. “Uh-huh. I told her to tell you our child was going
to be a boy.” She waited to see the look on his face. He didn’t disappoint her.

           
“Atrilan, how do you know that? How
can you be...sure?” There was caution in his eyes, a hope he didn’t want to
admit to having, in spite of the odds.

           
She shrugged. “How do I know a lot
of things, Yul? How do I know when Bloods are around? How do I know the exact
center of a target when my back is to it and my eyes are shut? How did I know
the moment I first saw you without your helmet on, so many months ago, that you
were going to be my destiny?” She gazed into his blue-gray eyes now softened
with his love for her. “I just know, my love,” she whispered. “That’s all the
reassurance I can give you. I just...know.”

           
She also knew from his kiss that
words had escaped him. After breaking away from her lips, Yulen tenderly
pressed his mouth to her cheek before seeking the warmth of her neck and
shoulders beneath her wealth of morning glory hair. Atty shuddered slightly
from his touch, forgetting for the moment how hungry she was for food. Instead,
a different kind of hunger was growing, spreading a different kind heat down to
her toes and into her fingertips. Its center was between her thighs, searing
and stinging with heat. Atty pressed herself tighter against him, throwing her
arms about his neck and wide shoulders as his face followed the curve of her
throat. His hands were at her back, at her buttocks, and slowly she felt
herself being dragged off the stool and into his lap.

           
“Yul, what if someone comes into the
kitchen?” she panted into his ear.

           
“Their mistake,” he whispered. He
leaned her back against the empty edge of the chopping block and lifted her
gown, drawing it over her head. Knowing she could easily become chilled in the
room, Yulen draped his hands and arms over her as he began tonguing the sides
of her swollen belly, knowing she was sensitive in that area while their child
was growing inside her. His mouth found her beautiful breasts, and he suckled
them, taking extreme care not to hurt her. It had not taken him long to realize
her nipples had grown excruciatingly sensitive, more than any other part of her
body. Even with care, he heard her whimper slightly, and she dropped her hands
over them, blocking them from his mouth.
        

           
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, looking up
at her.
 
Pulling her back toward him, he
lifted her up until she was sitting in his lap, her legs straddling him. Only
the fabric of his pants separated them, keeping them from making love right
there on the stool.

           
Yulen gave her a lop-sided grin as
he fished behind her for her discarded gown. “Let’s finish eating first, and
then we can have dessert afterwards.”

           
Atty pouted, holding out her arms as
he slipped the warm gown back over her head. “I’d rather have dessert first.”

           
“Oh, no,” he chuckled, shaking his
head. “Too may sweets are not good for our son.” He paused, then drew her
tightly against him. A shiver ran through him as he repeated, “Our son.”