Legend of the Inero Dragon (17 page)

What did this mean for
her
?

Chapter
Thirty-Four

"You shouldn't have waited so long to come
and see me," Matt's half-brother Ryan said. He was a doctor and
specialized in dragon birthing.

They probably should have seen him sooner,
but Kat had felt fine. If something wasn't right, she knew without
a doubt she would be able to tell. Especially with how loud the
baby was starting to communicate with her.

Hungry,
the baby said inside her mind.

Soon, I promise,
she said, rubbing her stomach.

Matt held her hand. Lenora sat in the corner
for extra moral support. The checkup was already almost over. All
that was left was a magic scan. Matt didn't appear to be interested
in any of the appointment. He stared off ahead of him, yawning
every so often. Lenora, on the other hand, was completely
fascinated, which helped Kat maintain her own enthusiasm.

Doctor Ryan's hands began to glow a soft,
orange color, and heat radiated from them as he put them on the
small bump that was her belly. It tickled the baby, because Kat
could hear it giggling.

"Everything is coming up okay. I'm not
sensing any defects or problems," he said with an encouraging
smile. He gave Matt a nod, but the gesture wasn't reciprocated.

I kind of knew there
wouldn't be any problems,
Matt said before
giving a weak smile. He then brought the conversation public.
"Thank you, brother. I assure you we won't be putting off any of
the other appointments."

"Good, because pregnancy can be tricky,
it..." Ryan trailed off as his hand settled on a spot low on Kat's
stomach.

"Is something wrong?" Matt leaned
forward.

She held her breath as every awful
possibility started to pop into her mind. Did he sense a defect
after all? Was something missing? Not developing well?

Doctor Ryan pulled away, rubbed his hands
together, then restarted his spell. The warmth of his magic felt
more intense. Before it had only been a light heat similar to a hot
pack. This time it felt like she was being burned. What was even
stranger was how she enjoyed the sensation. The baby did too
because the giggling turned into shrieks of laughter so loud, Kat
was getting a headache.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked, his hand
tightening around hers.

"I'm not sure if anything is, necessarily,"
Doctor Ryan explained. "But something is different…missing. But
your child seems to be one of the healthiest I've ever seen."

"What do you mean something is missing?"

"At first I thought I missed it, but I don't
think it's my personal error.
It's
missing. Your boy either
doesn't have some essential plumbing down there or..."

Kat couldn't help but grin. "I told you she
was a girl."

"And I told you it's impossible," Matt
said.

Doctor Ryan removed his hands from her with a
slow shake of his head. "I'm not sure what this means."

"Praise God, its true," Lenora whispered. Her
hands were clasped in front of her, a smile on her face. "Your
father will be so proud. Thank you, doctor, for your help. I
believe we are done here."

"Yes, Miss Lenora." He bowed once then left
the room.

Matt's jaw was tight. He never stopped
looking at Lenora. "Would you mind explaining? I don't like being
left in the dark."

"The prophet told your father that one of you
would have a daughter." She stood up and went to hug Kat tightly.
"I'm so glad it was you. He'll be so happy."

"The prophet?" Matt asked.

She spoke again before he could ask any more
questions. "That is all I know, Matthias. Please forgive me. I
shouldn't have said anything. I didn't want you to sit in doubt or
worry. I would recommend going to your father with your
questions."

Kat rubbed his hand. "Smile, this is a good
thing."

He did smile, but she could see there was no
life behind it. His eyes weren't sparkling like they usually did
when he was happy. The muscles of his face seemed weak.

I'm not so sure it is.

Chapter
Thirty-Five

Chris and Navi left in the afternoon. Jason
couldn't help but be concerned she still wasn't recovered enough to
travel, but they all concluded if she could walk then she should
leave. He hated seeing her go. He'd miss her a lot. Navi hadn't
been in his life as long as some of the other women his father had
wed, but she was the one who had treated him with the most respect.
He didn't feel like a pawn or a child when it came to her. Their
relationship was genuine.

He glanced back at Gwen, who was leaning
against the wall. She hugged her arms close to her chest. She was
trying not to cry. He could tell because he could smell her tears,
and her sadness smelled an awful lot like lavender soap. He
recognized the smell from the first week she had been there and her
homesickness was at its strongest. With Navi gone, he worried about
her even more. She didn't have anyone else beyond him.

What could he do to comfort her? The frown on
her face was breaking his heart. He'd give anything for her
happiness. The only thing he could come up with to make her feel
better was words.

"I love you," he said, his back to her. He
was terrified to face her now that he'd confessed his feelings.

When the moment came, he'd always imagined it
being accompanied with some sort of grand gesture. Gwen wasn't the
most romantic of women, but he still hoped it didn't disappoint
her. He didn't want to hold back any longer. Kissing her had opened
a floodgate that he didn't want to close.

Taking in a deep breath, he turned to face
her. Gwen stayed against the wall, rubbing her arms slowly. Her
silence made his stomach lurch. He stepped closer to her then held
her shoulders.

"I love you," he repeated. Maybe she hadn't
heard him the first time. He'd give anything to be able to read her
mind then.

"Sorry, I have to take a moment to process
this," she said. Their eyes met. He saw the tears she held back. He
wanted to wipe them away, but he didn't want to overstep his
boundaries.

He nodded, wanting her to take her time. But
he worried that he'd said too much. She smiled, giving him a small
reassurance.

Finally, she snuggled into his torso,
wrapping her arms around him. "I love you, too."

Unable to hold back any longer, he leaned
down to kiss her. He pressed his lips against her forehead, sighing
with contentment. He then kissed her cheek, kiss by kiss, making
his way to her lips. He moved his hands to her hips, then around
behind her back.

She returned his kiss, though he could sense
hesitation as she did so. She turned her face and he kissed her
cheek.

"Is something wrong?" he asked in barely over
a whisper. "Not to sound insecure, but I feel as though you're
rejecting me." He meant it as a joke. It didn't translate as such
to her because she answered him in a serious tone.

"I'm not rejecting you. I'm not ready."

"Ready for what? Love? This isn't something
you can prepare for. Love is an emotion that just sort of happens.
I certainly wasn't expecting this to happen—ever. Remember, I
didn't plan on having a romantic relationship with you. I didn't
plan on falling so hard."

"No, I mean I'm not ready for..." She trailed
off and shifted her weight as her face flushed. It took him a
moment, but he figured out what she meant. Sex. He laughed. She
jumped away, obviously startled.

"You're beautiful. Of course
I want you! Let's work on this kissing thing for now before we add
anything else into the mix. We have time." He still needed to
figure out if he was there yet emotionally. Physically, he was
definitely ready. But in his heart, he still wasn't so sure.
Is it normal to feel like this?

For a moment he hoped Matt
would answer, and then he felt relief when he didn't. Jason wasn't
so sure his brother would understand. Matt's relationship with Kat
was so different than Jason's relationship with Gwen—like night and
day.
I need to trust my gut and focus on my
instincts.

He decided to lean in for another kiss but
stopped when he noticed Gwen staring off into space. Once again, he
wished he could read her mind. There's only one way that would
happen.

"Did I lose you?" he asked.

"They're going to be okay, right?" she asked,
shifting her attention back to him. He noticed her eyes were
filling with tears again.

"Yes, they're going to be fine. Chris has
been able to protect her from a lot of things. I'm sure there is
nothing he can't handle," Jason said. He tried sounding confident,
but even he wasn't sure what lengths his father might go to in
order to bring Navi back.

Gwen nodded. "And what about us?"

"What about us?"

"We're going to be okay too, right?"

"Of course we are," he said, stroking her
cheek with his thumb. "Why do you think we won't be?"

"I know how you feel about the upcoming war.
You don't agree with a lot of the things your father and brother
do. I've seen the things your father does to people who don't go
along with his plans. Out in the country, whole families were
evicted from their farms and left completely homeless. They were
banned from getting help from the community, or else the guard set
the town ablaze. I know you're his son and you're favored, but will
that favor last if you voice your displeasure in his actions?"

Jason stared at her, at a complete loss for
words. He didn't know what to respond to first. The fact that his
father had devastated the lives of so many without him knowing, the
fact that she didn't tell him more about this until now, or that
his father might actually retaliate against him if he refused to go
along with whatever plan was set into motion. Lynx was a lot of
things but he'd never been a dictator. At least, Jason hadn't
thought so. Now he couldn't help but wonder if the man he'd known
growing up was still the same.

"I'm scared," Gwen continued before he could
reply. "I don't know if I feel comfortable with staying here for
much longer. The more I find out, the less I want to be here. I
don't like living my life in fear."

"I'll protect you. You're safe now," he
said.

"For how much longer though? Both you and
Navi keep talking about all of these bad things that are
inevitable. When the time comes, are you going to choose to do the
right thing? And we both know the right thing isn't going to line
up with your father's plans. I feel like we're stuck in a no-win
situation."

Jason rubbed her arms. "How long have you
been hiding all of this from me? This sounds like it's been
building up for a while." He wished he knew how to reassure her. He
didn't know if he had the answers either.

"I've been trying to not think about it too
much. Realizing your father believes he owns Navi has been the
breaking point. I don't want that to be us."

"It won't be."

"What if he makes you? What if he makes you
do a lot of things?"

"I don't understand what you want," he said,
rubbing his forehead. He'd never seen this side of her before, and
he didn't know how to handle it. Gwen was usually so calm and
collected. Her freaking out like this meant one of two things: she
was hormonal or she was legitimately that afraid. He was leaning
more toward the second option.

"I want to feel safe," she said.

He hugged her, not sure what else he could do
to make her feel safe beyond holding her. "Tell me how I can help
you then."

She snuggled her face into his chest. Her
tears dampened his shirt. "I think I want to leave too."

Jason's heart literally
stopped beating for a moment.
Leave?
She wanted to walk out on him? "Don't talk like
that. Now you're scaring me."

"I don't want to
leave
you
. I want
you to come with me. I'm saying maybe we should follow Chris and
Navi's example and get out of here while we still can before things
get too crazy."

"But what about my brother? This is my home,
my family, my everything." He looked at the ground, trying to
process this request. He didn't think he could just up and leave
everything he'd ever known so easily.

Gwen pulled away from him, folding her arms
across her chest. "I left my family, my home, and my
everything."

He'd nearly forgotten how she'd come into his
life to begin with. The months they'd spent together, he'd grown so
comfortable with her presence he couldn't remember his life without
her. With a sigh, he moved back to hold her again. She didn't fight
him, but she didn't curl into his body like before, either.

"I didn't mean to be a jerk. Remember how you
felt when you did those things? It wasn't easy. It's not something
I can decide so lightly," he said.

"I'll let you think about it, but try not to
take too long. Our window of time isn't very big, and I know you
know this. Please try to hurry."

Jason leaned down and kissed her forehead. A
risk because he wasn't sure she wanted him to give her affection
when she was so angry. She didn't fight him.

He held against his chest, a small smile
tugged at his lips when she snuggled in against him again. "Give me
until the end of the week."

A day or two would be all he'd need to think
about it. As much as he wanted to stay and give his family the
benefit of the doubt, his ability to turn the other way was
becoming harder every day. The secrecy from his brother and father
were the most concerning to him. The real question wasn't if he
thought he could leave, but rather, how he would go about doing it
when the time came?