Fantasyland 02 The Golden Dynasty (63 page)

I licked my lips and rolled my head on the
healer’s shoulder to see the last assistant was now in the water
too and working with Lahn between my legs.

Then I heard his deep, now thick, voice
call, “My Circe,” and I rolled my head back to see him holding up a
perfect, tiny, black-fuzzy-headed baby boy.

And he was
perfect
. Absolutely. From the top of his fuzzy head to the tips of
his baby toes.

He was also bawling his brains out.

I lost sight of my baby when the tears
filled my eyes.

Then my body jerked and my scream pierced
the air when new pain tore through my belly.

“Take the child!” the healer yelled and my
body bucked then convulsed as pain washed anew, water splashed
around me, people switched places and Lahn barked, “What is
happening?”

After a few moments when my belly was
prodded as was between my legs, the healer answered happily, “There
comes another. Push my queen,
push.
”

Another?

I twisted my head to look at her as she
positioned herself again behind me.

“Another? Another what?”

“You carry twins,” she told me, “push, my
true golden queen.”

Twins?

My eyes shot to Lahn and I snapped, “Do you
have twins in your family?”

He stared at me and ordered, “Circe,
push.”

“
Tell me!
” I shrieked.

“Yes!” he clipped. “My father was birthed
before his sister who shared his womb.”

Oh. My.
God!

“
And you didn’t think to tell
me?
” I
screeched.

“
Circe, my love,
push!
” Diandra cried.

I glared at Lahn.

Then I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes,
dug my heels into my king’s shoulders (
hard
) and I pushed.

My daughter slid out easily.

She had golden fuzz on her head.

* * * * *

I felt the bed move and my eyes drifted open
about the time Lahn had settled tight to my side. I saw his head
was up and he was nodding at someone so I turned my head and saw
Diandra and the healer beside the bed, each holding a swaddled
bundle.

Diandra bent first with my dark-headed son
and rested him on my chest. The healer came second, laying my
golden-headed daughter close next to her brother. At the same time,
Lahn’s arm closed around his newborn children as well as me and
mine moved around my babies.

Diandra and the healer moved silently away,
the door closing behind them.

My eyes went to Lahn when I felt his lips
brush my temple then the bed moved as he shifted and I watched as
he touched his lips to each fuzzy head.

And, incidentally, with each touch of his
lips, my heart melted.

His head came up and his face came close to
mine.

Then he declared in his soft, sweet voice,
“I name him Tunahn, the horse. As my father named me after the
tiger god, proud, fierce and cunning, I name our warrior after the
horse god, strong, clever and loyal.”

There it was, that was Dax Lahn, naming our
kid without even asking what I thought.

Though, I kind of liked “Tunahn” and I
definitely liked the reasons he chose it.

“Now, kah teenkah tunakanahsa,” he
whispered. “What do you name our daughter?”

Oh. We were taking turns.

Okay, I could dig that.

“Isis,” I blurted for reasons unknown to me.
It just came out.

“Isis,” he whispered, his eyes drifting to
her golden head and the way he said those two syllables, I decided
that was it. My girl was Isis. Then his eyes came to me. “Why do
you name our golden princess this?”

I tilted my head a little as it hit me for
the first time that my husband and I shared something weird and
pretty freaking cool.

So I replied quietly, “Your parents named
you after a god and my parents named me after a goddess. Circe was
the goddess of magic. Isis, too, is a goddess. She’s the goddess of
motherhood and magic.”

Lahn grinned a grin I liked a whole lot.

Then he whispered, “This pleases me.”

It pleased me too and, damn it all, it
pleased me that it pleased him.

I stared into his eyes and whispered back,
“Dohno.”

His long, strong arm tightened around his
family and his eyes dropped to my mouth. My warmed heart warmed
more as my breath caught and my eyes dropped to his. It was coming
toward mine. And when our lips touched, his opened and mine didn’t
hesitate to do the same nor did the tip of my tongue hesitate
moving to touch the sweetness of his and at that touch, warmth
rushed through me, strong and unbelievably sweet.

He lifted his head and I knew with one look
in his eyes, he’d felt the same.

“I am very proud of you, my golden doe,” he
whispered.

“Shahsha,” I whispered back.

“Though,” his lips twitched, “I think the
last time you dug your heels in my shoulders it was less an effort
to bring our daughter into this world than it was something
else.”

He wasn’t wrong about that.

My eyes slid away.

“Circe,” he called and my eyes slid back.
Then he shared gently, “There has been only one moment in my life
when I have been happier than I am in this one and that was sharing
the beauty your magic created while you told me you loved me.” His
arm gave us another squeeze. “Thank you, baby.”

I bit my lip as that slid through me warm
and sweet as well.

Okay, I was in trouble. I wasn’t going to be
able to hold up against this kind of sweet.

Still, the moment warranted it so I couldn’t
help but whisper, “You’re welcome, Lahn.”

His eyes warmed further then his head
descended so he could brush his lips against my forehead, my temple
and then my lips.

Then he settled at my side and urged quietly
in my ear, “Rest, my doe. I will hold you and our family safe as
you sleep.”

Okay, shit. Shit, shit, shit.

This was beyond sweet. This was
beautiful.

“Okay,” I whispered, my arm going tight
around the tiny bundles sleeping on my chest, I pulled in a soft
breath, let it out on a light sigh and closed my eyes.

A few minutes later, me and my family slept
safe in my husband’s strong arm.

* * * * *

I heard his roar, it wasn’t exactly close
but it wasn’t far away and my eyes opened.

Soft candlelight lit our room from the four,
tall iron holders around the head of our bed. The rest of the room
was in darkness but as the shouted words came at me, my eyes
drifted over my two swaddled babies resting on their backs in the
bed, tucked close to the curve of my body and I tipped my head back
on the pillows.

Looking through our room and the opened
doors to the bathing room, I saw my husband standing on the
balcony, backlit by the bright lights of many torches coming up
from the street.

“
Your golden warrior queen proves again my
claiming her beauty heralds The Golden Dynasty!” Lahn was shouting.
“She battled mightily and refused to taste defeat when the fruit of
our union, the future of our empire challenged her. As my golden
queen always does, she triumphed, bringing forth not one but
two
heirs planted from my seed in
her golden womb!”

An excited, shocked cheer rang out but Lahn
spoke over it.

“A strong, warrior prince who will be your
future Dax and a beautiful golden princess who will rain beauty and
bounty on all Korwahk!”

Another boisterous cheer but again Lahn kept
talking right through it.

“Prince Tunahn and Princess Isis sleep in
the web of safety woven from my golden queen’s magic and my might,
they will grow and flourish until they carry forth our Dynasty for
all our people!”

Another cheer and more from Lahn right over
it.

“Hail Prince Tunahn! Hail Princess Isis! And
hail your golden Queen Circe!”

These cheers rang out, hailing my kids and
me but I knew Lahn was done. As usual, he didn’t bask in the frenzy
he created. He turned and walked to me.

I watched him move thinking that was laying
it on a bit thick but I couldn’t help but like it.

I felt my precious bundles shift and tore my
eyes from Lahn to see both my babies were awake and moving in their
tight wraps. Tunahn’s movements seemed agitated, even demanding.
Isis’s seemed exploratory, her unseeing eyes blinking; she was
awake but appeared content.

Lahn’s weight hit the bed even as the cheers
continued to ring out and he whispered, “They wish to suckle, kah
rahna fauna.”

Oh man.

I nodded thinking I’d have to get used to
this so I might as well start now and, wincing, I shifted up to
sitting.

Lahn carefully picked up Isis and handed her
to me after I pulled the drawstring loose over my breasts.

“Our princess first,” he murmured as I
cautiously took her.

I was positioning her, feeling a little
weird and a lot embarrassed as I offered my nipple to my daughter
and Lahn picked up the fussing Tunahn.

Then, with Tunahn snug in the crook of
Lahn’s arm, his other one snaked out, wrapped around my waist and
he gently turned me and pulled me and Isis back so we were resting
against his solid bulk.

Once there, instantly Isis latched on and
started to suck.

I closed my eyes as my milk flowed,
nourishing my child with my husband’s strength supporting me and
all this slid through me like silk.

I relaxed and cradled my daughter to me.
Lahn’s fingers stroked my side soothingly. Tunahn continued to
fret.

“Our son will be greedy,” Lahn murmured and
I smiled.

Like father like son.

“Maybe, in future, Tunahn should go first.
Isis seemed content to wait,” I suggested.

“Me,” Lahn replied. “He took more of your
womb and pushed out first. He must now learn patience and
sharing.”

This was true, the taking more of my womb
part. Tunahn was a healthy little bugger. Isis was dainty in
comparison to her brother.

“Okay, Lahn,” I said softly, “you know how
to build a warrior.”

“Mm,” he murmured and that slid through me
like silk too, “and I look forward to learning how to spoil a
princess.”

Man oh man.

Oh
man
.

I couldn’t stop it and didn’t try; I rested
my head on his shoulder and turned it so I could press my temple
against his neck. At this, Lahn held on tighter.

When Isis was done, it was Lahn who executed
the impossible maneuver of exchanging babies and held Isis and me
again while Tunahn fed (he latched on immediately and sucked hard –
definitely greedy and knowing what he wanted – therefore definitely
his father’s son).

I fell asleep in the middle of it, temple to
my husband’s neck, son in my arms and woke up later to a dark room,
my nightdress tied over my breasts, my body sheltered against the
chill under the strong safety of my king’s.

“Sleep, my Circe,” he murmured, his arm
around me tightening. “You must regain your strength.”

“Where are the children?” I asked in a
drowsy voice, my eyelids drifting up and down, wanting to adhere to
his command at the same I wanted an answer.

“In their beds, where they will always
sleep. This is our bed, my golden queen,” Lahn replied, my eyes
drifted closed but before I drifted away, I heard him finish on a
murmured afterthought, “Unless my golden Isis is troubled. Then she
will have her father.”

I floated away thinking,
oh man.

The Resurrection

Six weeks later…

“Circe! I just don’t know what to do with
you!” Diandra cried, staring at me with unconcealed impatience and
I lifted my hand to cup the dark head on top of the tiny sleeping
body strapped to my chest.

“Diandra!” I hissed, “Shush!” My eyes slid
side to side around the bustling marketplace me and my posse were
wandering through. “You’ll wake Tunahn or people might hear.”

I heard a slight giggle and my eyes moved to
Sabine who was standing very close to Zahnin and also by Narinda
who had Isis strapped to her chest over her own little baby bump.
Then my gaze moved through Claudine, Nahka, Anastasie, Oahsee, Char
and Vuntus who quickly looked away, pressing their lips together,
turning their dancing eyes and feigning avid interest at a stall
that held a variety of leather straps men could wear across their
chests.

Diandra got close to me and laid her hand on
mine on Tunahn’s head and she hissed back, “I do not want to
disturb your little warrior but I do not care if people hear! This
cannot go on.”

At Diandra’s not-so-gentle questioning, I
had hesitantly just shared with her (and my posse) that even after
the touching scenes after our children were born, things had not
changed between Lahn and me.

This was mostly because I was caught up in
suddenly being a mother of two in a primitive world and deciding,
even if I had slaves who could not wait to get their mitts on my
babies, this would be hands on.

Not to mention, considering I was nursing
them both, and Tunahn seemed to want to feed continuously, I had no
choice for it to be hands on.

Therefore, I was exhausted, constantly
running around and had one or two children in my arms (or attached
to my body) almost all the time. Even half the night. And when this
wasn’t happening, I was trying to catch up on sleep or bolting down
food because nursing made you ravenous.

So I didn’t see my husband a lot, partly
because I was busy and partly because I was doing my all to avoid
him (thus wandering the marketplace with my posse and the many
walks I would take with my kids to be amongst my people and to work
off my baby weight) because when
he
was with our kids, especially Isis, the way he doted on her
(and both of them, really, but early warning signs showed Princess
Isis was going to be Daddy’s Little Girl) sent that warm sweetness
through me so strong, sometimes it was a wonder I kept my
feet.