Remiel opens his arms and I step into his embrace. “I am here now, Aefre. We can be together.”
I sigh in relief and he holds me tighter. Every single move I make in the next few minutes is going to count, and it all has to make him happy. My stomach flutters with nerves. It is possible that I will have my baby in my arms soon and I suddenly start to panic in case it doesn’t happen. I have thought of every reaction to give him when he tells me. I can’t be too angry with him, nor can I be casual about it. I have to play this just right.
“So, can you tell me now what has kept you away from me?” I ask.
He sighs and lets me go. I keep hold of his hand, though, because I do not want him Astralling out of here without me. Not this time.
“Sit,” he orders me.
I dislike his tone immensely, but I do as he asks anyway, and perch on the edge of the bed, pulling him down with me.
“Your mother has kept me away,” he says eventually.
Err what? I was expecting the big reveal, not some cryptic comment about that bitch.
“How so?” I ask politely, but inside I am churning with impatience and rage.
“Aefre,” he says and takes both my hands. I try not to crush them although the need is great to hear his bones splinter
under my hands. “There is something that I need to tell you. Something that I have kept from you, that I have been forced to keep from you. You must understand that it was not my wish to lie to you, but your mother is, well, you know what She is like.”
Just fucking get on with it! I smile and nod as he pauses.
“Please tell me that you will listen to me and try to understand that I didn’t have a choice in this,” he says quietly, his eyes searching mine.
“Okay,” I choke out. What else can I say? Oh right, reassurance. “You can tell me anything,” I add, and he looks relieved.
He takes a deep breath, and this is it. “The child you had with me, Aefre, didn’t die. She lived. We had a beautiful baby girl and she is perfect.”
I blink at him, giving him the appearance of me taking that piece of information in. Then I let out my rage, well, a dumbed-down version of it anyway. “WHAT?” I shriek at him and he flinches. “You...you...what?”
“I’m sorry, Aefre,” he says, taking back my hands, probably so that I don’t try and fry him. “I had no choice but to lie to you.”
I pull my hands back out of his and stand up. I pace with my hands on my hips and he watches me. Closely.
“I don’t understand,” I say finally. “How could you keep this from me?”
My sorrow reflects in his eyes and he stands up as well.
“And don’t say that you had no choice,” I spit out at him before he can speak.
“I didn’t,” he says. “I wanted to tell you the second you woke up and to hand you our child and ask you to stay with me, us, so that we could be a family. Tiamat ripped her from my arms the second she was born, and we were told to lie to you about the birth.”
“But why?” I ask. “You are powerful enough to stand up to Her, why did you let Her do this?”
“The last time I ‘stood up to Her’ She took that sword of yours to me!” he yells in my face to my surprise. “She kept me alive as She hacked me up into pieces and saved my head for the finale. I love you, Aefre, and I am sorry for lying to you, but that is not something that I wish to endure again. Especially not now. I must protect my daughter. Our daughter,” he amends quickly.
Okay, so that does sound horrific and barbaric and not something that I would wish on my worst enemy–the irony that he is my worst enemy doesn’t go unnoticed–but still. “You kept me from my child, Remiel. That is cruel.” I bring tears to my eyes and he takes my hands again.
“I know,” he says, dropping his forehead to mine. “I know. I have told her all about you, even though I wasn’t supposed to. I needed her to know you.”
“So why are you telling me now?” I ask.
“Because she needs you. We need you. I didn’t know of your feelings, but when you told me and showed me that you care for me, I knew I couldn’t keep this from you anymore.”
“Our time in the clearing was weeks ago,” I venture. “Why has it taken you so long to come to me?”
“I have had Tiamat to deal with. Every second of every day, I have to run interference. I will not allow Her to take our daughter and raise her Herself. She is ours,” he says vehemently, and at least I know that he has been looking out for her.