Briannas Prophecy (36 page)

Niklas paused for a moment, his step hitched. It was the only indication that he had even heard her, at first. Then his arms tightened, and he bent his head to hers, kissing her lightly on her temple. “I love you, too,
Laharra
.” He took her to his office where he’d agreed to meet with Sarcha.

The doors opened as he approached, and Sarcha stood with deference as they entered the room. Sarcha cleared his throat. “I thought Her Highness would remain in your chambers?” he asked, looking uncomfortable.

“She decided to accompany me.” Niklas sat her on his chair and straightened. “And since I live only to please my
El’edal
, I have brought her with me.” He smiled. His hand rested on Brianna’s shoulder, a connection he apparently needed.

“I’ll try to behave myself. I
can
be civil when I try,” Brianna said with a smile. “I’m sorry about what I said earlier. The only excuse that I have is that I am not completely myself right now.” She reached out, covering Sarcha’s hand with her own. “Can you forgive me?”

Flustered, Sarcha blushed. He removed his hand from under hers and straightened his suit. He had abandoned the jumpsuits since they reached the planet, just as everyone else had seemed to. He looked rather nice now, dressed in his cream-colored suit. “As you wish. I was just looking at the examination records, and the children are fine. You have changed somewhat, in your appearance, and in your blood. Do either of you have an explanation for that? Have you been eating differently since you arrived perhaps?” Sarcha alternated his gaze from one to the other.

Niklas snorted. “Not likely. She eats mainly replicated earth food. I can’t seem to get her to acquire a taste for our more substantial diet.”

Brianna resisted the urge to kick him. “I can’t help it if your food sucks!” She looked at Sarcha apologetically. “No offense.”

He bowed his head. “None taken.”

Brianna thought she saw a smile hovering around his lips for a minute. Then it was gone. She gave herself a mental shrug. It was probably her imagination anyway. Nothing ever made him smile, or frown for that matter. Someone needed to find his buttons and start pushing them. She turned to Niklas. “You want me to eat, don’t you?” She smiled at his nod. “Then stop complaining. I can’t help it if I find your food bland and tasteless.”

He arched a brow at that. “Tasteless?”

“Yes. So stop trying to cram it down my throat. I wasn’t raised here, so it would stand to reason that I would find your food a bit on the strange side.” Besides, she wasn’t giving up pizza for anybody.

Niklas sighed. “You’re eating habits are not what we are here to discuss.” He looked at the doctor. “They are fine then?” At the doctor’s nod Niklas proceeded. “Good. The changes you found in her system are no doubt due to the fact that she has drank of the water of the
Shantamoura
.” He held up a hand as the doctor began to interrupt him. “We have found, much to our surprise, that Brianna is of the Fae.” Niklas sighed. “We have all taken a drink from the river from time to time. It has never had any effect on us, except to strengthen our ability to fight disease.” He looked at Brianna. “For one of Fae blood, it changes their powers, increases them and gives them enhanced abilities, including greater power and greater beauty. Surely you have noticed that she is even more beautiful now?”

Sarcha nodded. “I have. I think everyone in the palace has noticed the beauty of your queen.” He frowned at Brianna’s snort.

* * * *

Niklas nodded at Sarcha’s reply, ignoring Brianna’s
comment
. “How could anyone not notice the changes in her beauty?” Well, other than Brianna. She had never seemed to notice her beauty before, and she didn’t see it now. It was a flaw he could live with. “As long as they are all healthy, I am happy.” He smiled.

“They are all very healthy, My Lord.” Sarcha assured him. “As a matter of fact, it appears as though they are all growing at a very rapid rate.” He cleared his throat. He obviously wanted to finish what he had to say as quickly as possible. “What you have just told me could explain a great many things.” His gaze darted from Niklas to Brianna, not staying on either of their faces for long.

“What are you saying?” Brianna asked, her hand at her neck, massaging a particularly ugly bruise.

Sarcha gave her a level gaze. “Your children are growing at an accelerated rate. I can only assume that your delivery date will accelerate as well.”

“How soon?” Brianna’s hand covered her rounded abdomen, her eyes wide with shock.

Sarcha frowned. “A few months still, to be sure. But not the usual nine months you would expect. It is difficult to say.”

She closed her eyes as tears slid down her face. “I never should have taken a drink of that water.” She reached up, dashing the tears away with her hand.

Niklas rubbed his eyes and sighed. What she really meant to say was that she never should have let him talk her into drinking that damned water. That she never should have trusted him. Perhaps she was right. “Call him,” he searched her eyes. “You know you want to. He has the answers that we all would seek. Call him to you. You know he will come.”

Brianna nodded. She sat straighter in her chair, for some reason, she didn’t want Larin to see her slouching and feeling sorry for herself. Why she should care was beside the point. “Larin, please come to me, I need to talk to you.”

There was a flash of white light and Larin was before her, a smile on his handsome face. “Thank you for asking, Brianna. It does get rather tiresome to be ordered about constantly.” He bowed. “What is it you wish?”

Brianna’s mouth hung open for a moment before she snapped it closed. He could be really charming when he wanted to be. “Do the Fae carry children like mortals do?”

Larin found himself a seat and made himself at home before he answered. “Not in the same way, no. The Fae do not have children in that way, unless we choose to.” He shrugged lazily. “We think that we would like to procreate, and a child appears before us, but if we do not want to live for several years in the mortal realm so the child may mature, we think of a grown child.” He held up a hand at Brianna’s look. “I already know what you are going to ask. Until a member of my race reaches the age of ten years, they age. After that, we remain much the same.”

“You looked like that at ten years old?” Brianna asked, mouth agape.

Larin looked down at himself, then at Brianna. “What’s wrong with the way I look? Yes, I looked this way at ten years old. We mature very quickly compared to mortals.”

“Has there ever been an instance of a human and a Fae interbreeding?” Niklas asked, not sure how much Larin wished Sarcha to know.

Larin’s gaze flicked toward Niklas “You know there is.” He shrugged. “In the instance that a human and a Fae procreate, the gestation period for the human is dramatically reduced.”

Brianna heaved a sigh. “So this is normal then.” She was so relieved she could have slid to the floor in a heap.

“What is normal?” Larin asked as he casually picked at his fingernails.

Sarcha cleared his throat. “Since she has arrived, the babes in her womb have doubled in size. We have only been here for three weeks, and that much growth in such a short time is unheard of.”

Larin nodded. “It is because she partook of the waters of the
Shantamoura
. The water helps our kind rejuvenate. Since Brianna is part Fae, the waters of the river have given that part of her the rejuvenating powers of our kind.”

Brianna smiled, obviously relieved. “So what you’re saying, is that for someone like me, this is completely normal. Right?”

“Did your parents ever tell you tales of how you were born? Did you come earlier than expected, yet you were of a sufficient size to not be endangered?”

Brianna nodded. “Yes, of course, I remember now. My father said it was so strange that I was six weeks premature, yet I was still nearly eight pounds. The doctors all thought there must have been some mistake with the dates.”

Larin shook his head. “No, not a mistake with the dates. Just a peculiar family trait.” His mouth quirked at the corner in a half smile, that for once, reached expressive eyes.

Niklas heaved a sigh, relieved the rapid growth was due to Brianna’s Fae blood and not something that he had caused.

Brianna smiled. “I’m so relieved, I was afraid that there was something wrong.” She stood and rushed to Larin, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Larin stood still for a moment, his eyes wide. He turned an accusing look on Brianna. “Now what did you go and do that for?” He snarled, before he snapped his fingers and promptly disappeared.

Brianna looked on with astonishment. “What in the world was
that
about?”

Chapter Twenty-five

Brianna followed Silera through her wing of the palace. Their shoes clacked on the marble-like floor. Windows, scattered along the long corridors, delivered light throughout the length.

“Follow me, dear.” Her soon-to-be mother-in-law tossed a look behind her. “We’ll be there in just a minute.” She stopped, looked at Brianna, and sighed. “There’s just no help for it.” She shook her head. “I wish you weren’t getting married with all of those cuts and bruises marring your beautiful face.” She smiled softly. “What I wouldn’t give to have your light, translucent skin.”

Brianna chuckled. “On my world, everyone would be envious of your perpetual tan.”

Silera laughed. “perhaps I should visit your world.” She turned left at a juncture leading Brianna to a door. She pushed it open, ushering Brianna inside. “This is the
mooreenah
.”

“More-eena.” Brianna repeated. “What is that?” She glanced around the huge room filled with smaller doorways and crates. It almost looked like an attic.

Silera walked to one of the small doors and opened it. “We keep our heritage in this room. Every wedding gown ever worn by a queen of
Terrna
is stored in here.” She closed the door and headed for another. “You can choose one of these dresses, or we can replicate one of your own choosing.” She opened and closed several doors before she found what she’d been looking for. “Here it is.” She reached inside, removing a beautiful sapphire blue gown.

Brianna looked at all of the smaller doors. “They’re closets.” She turned her direction toward the dress. “It’s beautiful. It looks like satin.”

Silera grinned in her direction. “It is very like satin, my dear.” She draped the dress across one of the chairs in the room. As usual, the piece of furniture immediately changed size so the dress wouldn’t drag on the floor.

Brianna shook her head and looked away, trying to ignore furniture that did such alien things as turning from a chair to a garment rack in front of her eyes. She ran her hand lightly down the material, admiring the attached stones that resembled diamonds and seed pearls. “Where did you get it?”

“From time to time we send ships to planets that we have peopled. They collect information, sometimes influence industrial revolution.” She turned back to the doorway, closed the door and headed for another closet. .

Brianna examined the room with awe. This was one huge dressing and fitting room. “Did you influence Earth?” Brianna wandered through the room, opening and closing doors, gasping at the finery she found behind each of the small wooden doors.

“Oh, my, yes.” Silera smiled. “Your planet would still be in the dark ages if we hadn’t interfered.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Science is heresy? My goodness.” She clucked her tongue. “And the way they measured time was absolutely horrible. It was one of us who taught your Gregorian Monks to make a plausible calendar.”

“That’s why you measure your time in years like we do.” Brianna understood a lot of things she’d seen since getting here now. Even some of the architecture here was similar.

“Actually, my dear, you measure your time like
we
do,” she said with a smile.

Brianna nodded. “Yes, of course.”

Silera chuckled softly. “We influenced many things on Earth, including the emancipation of slaves and women.” She shook her head. “Your world was filled with such stupidity.” Silera continued to move about the room as though looking for something. “It was much like my home world, but at least we could affect change there. My world is hopeless.”

Brianna nodded her agreement and gave the sapphire dress one last, longing look. Niklas’s mother would look stunning in it. “You’re going to be beautiful in that dress, Silera.”

She laughed. “I won’t be wearing it, dear. You will.” She frowned. “Unless of course you don’t care for the color.” She started to dig through another closet.

Shocked, Brianna stared at the dress. “I love the color.” Who wanted a plain white wedding dress? White always made her look sallow anyway. Brianna swiped at the tears seeping from her eyes. “I don’t know why I have to cry all of the time. I feel like such a big baby.”

Silera left the closet and wrapped her arm around Brianna’s shoulders. “Because you’re pregnant, my dear. The tears come so much easier when you’re with child.”