Page 101

Ber would have been elated—if she’d been able to tell him. Now, it would become another thing between them. But what choice did she have? When her husband had found out about Speran, he’d concocted an entire crazy plan to see her safe in Llyalia. As soon as he heard the news of another child, he would find a way to keep her here at the palace.

The one thing she couldn’t do.

She barely noticed when the healer pressed her back into the seat. “Ber can’t find out.”

Mery gripped her hands. “I doubt he will be angry. He dotes on Speran.”

“It’s not…” A shiver passed through Tes. “I have to confront my father. It can’t be delayed another year, not the way my people are suffering.”

“The riskhasessentially doubled now,” Mery said with a frown.

This time, it was Tes who squeezed the other woman’s hands. “No, it’s the same. Remember the woman who nearly poisoned Elna and intended to abduct Speran? Until my father is dead, no child of mine is safe, born or unborn. But Ber won’t see it that way.”

“If I’m asked directly by a prince of Llyalia, it will be difficult not to answer.” The healer sighed. “But I’ll do my best. Still, shouldn’t you give him a chance? He might surprise you.”

A trickle of sweat rolled down her back, right between her shoulder blades where she couldn’t reach. “No. For now, this pregnancy must remain a secret.”

“From Their Majesties, too?” Mery asked.

“Yes,” Tes answered firmly. “But Ber above all. He mustn’t know.”

No matter how much her heart cried out to tell him.

Ber pausedat the sound of the healer’s voice, the door barely open a crack.

“Still, shouldn’t you give him a chance? He might surprise you.”

A pause. “No. For now, this pregnancy must remain a secret.”

Pregnancy? Unexpected but fierce joy stole his breath. His concerns the night before were confirmed—they were going to have another child. But at that moment, he couldn’t find a speck of the fear that had kept him from sleeping. There was nothing but happiness.

“From Their Majesties, too?” the healer asked.

His muddled thoughts struggled to follow. What did Toren and his spouses have to do with…? Ah, right. Tes had mentioned keeping it a secret. Did she still fear Toren?

“Yes.” His wife’s tense, insistent voice carried through the thin crack. “But Ber above all. He mustn’t know.”

What?

As joy turned to icy shards in his chest, Ber’s fingers convulsed around the latch. He could hardly fathom that she planned to keep something so important from him, but suddenly, the healer’s first words made more sense.Shouldn’tyou give him a chance? He might surprise you.A chance that his wife had denied.

She still didn’t trust him.

Carefully, he closed the door without a sound and then pressed his back against the wall. She’d said she’d forgiven him for not telling her about his trip to their estate the day before, and he’d believed her. Unless he’d been mistaken, what else could it be? She surely wouldn’t worry that he’d be angry. He’d done everything in his power for her and Speran.

Ber’s breath caught as the realization hit.She thinks I’ll stop her from confronting her father.And in truth, his every instinct screamed at him to do so. He’d already loathed the idea of her being in such danger. Now that he knew their second child would also be at risk, the coming battle would be pure torment.

This time, though, he wouldn’t go to such extremes to shield her—he’d learned the folly of that all too well over the past year. As much as he wanted to protect those he loved, acting on his own to do so had only ended in disaster. With her. With Toren. He’d almost lost them all for his misplaced efforts. How could she deny him the chance to prove it?

He shoved away from the wall and stomped down the corridor, barely noticing the people he passed on the way to his brother’s study. Happiness, fear, and anger took turns freezing and burning through him until it was all he could do to school his features. Though from the anxious glances some of the courtiers cast his way, he suspected he wasn’t entirely successful.

Ber didn’t bother to knock before sweeping into the study. His brother scowled up at him from his work. Papers and scrolls were spread across the desk, and a new table holding maps had been set up along one side. He was clearly preparing for their pending discussion of battle plans, but at the moment, all of those felt irrelevant.

“You’re far too early,” Toren said. “Come back when I’m ready.”

“I don’t care what you’ve planned,” Ber replied as he reached the desk. “Ah, Tor, I don’t know what to do. I truly do not.”

Gods knew what his expression must have looked like, but it must have been bad. His brother’s scowl morphed into a concerned frown, and he didn’t continue his scolding. “What’s wrong?”