“That is none of your business,” I say, getting irritated.
“How many others?” he asks, now standing directly in front of me. “Does Xane know?”
“You are crossing a line,” I snarl up at him before he drops his mouth to mine to kiss me. Stunned, I grab his throat and push him back. “Try that again and I will have your head,” I say quietly as he gives me a conceited smile.
“Try that again, Xander, and I will take it myself,” Xanthe says from the doorway. “The Queen is not for you; you will respect her and treat her accordingly.”
He looks suitably cowed but can’t resist saying, “Can’t blame a guy for trying,” before he shuffles off under the baleful glare of his mother.
“I do apologize, Your Majesty,” she says. “He is young and so competitive with his older brother. Everything is a game to him. He will learn one day when he makes the mistake of picking on the wrong person.”
“Yes, well unfortunately for him, I am the wrong person. Fortunately, however, there was no one here to see it,” I add wryly.
“Indeed,” she mutters. “Come with me, I would like to talk with you.” She beckons me down the corridor and we pass several doors before she speaks. “Do not worry about CeeCee. She is a stubborn woman, but I can’t blame her for being so. She and Xane have been expected to marry since the day they were both born. When he called it off, it was a shock to the House of Aldric and she has refused to accept it.”
I have no idea why she is telling me this. Am I supposed to do something about it?
She pushes open a door and leads me into a nursery. Err, what are we doing in here?
She picks up the fussing child and shushes her, jiggling her as she goes to get a bottle for her to heat up. I stand there staring at her. She is so comfortable, but then I suppose she does have twenty-one kids and I can’t remember how many grand kids.
“This is Xena. She is six months old,” she says quietly. “She will be our last. Would you like to hold her?”
No, no, no, I open my mouth to say but she shoves the baby at me anyway and it’s either let the poor thing drop to the floor or take her in my arms. She looks up at me with her big blue eyes and gurgles, giving me a gummy smile that makes my breath catch. She is too cute for words.
“Hi,” I whisper, tickling her tummy gently and she grabs my finger.
“She likes you,” Xanthe says and I smile at her.
“Ah, she just knows how to pick a side. Just like her big brother,” I say, brushing it off even though I am pleased inside.
“That isn’t what he is doing,” she says seriously.
I shift uncomfortably. This family is far too interested in what is going on with me and him. He said it would just be between us, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I try to hand the child back to her, but she smiles and hands me the bottle. “She is settled. Feed her and I will go and see if things are still amicable.”
Erm, what do I do now? I think, as she disappears, leaving me alone with the infant. I am a complete amateur when it comes to kids. I looked after my baby sister for a few weeks at best before she died over a thousand years ago and that is my whole experience. Why CK thinks I will be a great mother is still beyond me. And the bigger question is, why I even agreed to it in the first place. I frown as I remember that dream, I had the other week where Sebastian said I was being reasonable about my future with CK because of what he was doing to me. Paranoid! My brain yells at me again. I shake my head and sit down in a big comfy armchair focusing on little Xena, forgetting about The Thirteen and his mind games.
Xane finds me like this a little while later and comes to crouch next to me as he stares at us in awe. “You are so good with her,” he says quietly.
“She is a good little girl,” I say back with a smile as I pull the bottle out of her slack mouth as she has gone to sleep.
“No, she is the devil, this one. Pure evil,” he says. “You have the magick touch.”
“Don’t be silly,” I admonish him for his harsh words. “She is the most beautiful little thing I have ever seen,” I add, going over all mushy.
“Just like her Queen,” he says as he curls my hair around my ear.
I smile at him. “Did you get your issue sorted?” I ask as I stand up carefully and carry Xena to her crib.
“Yes. I’m sorry that you had to find out about it that way. I would rather have told you myself.”
I place the baby in the crib and tuck her in. I don’t know if I have done it right, so I look uncertainly at Xane, who quietly laughs at me. “Perfect,” he whispers and takes my hand, leading me out of the nursery.
“You have nothing to explain,” I say. “But I am curious as to why you have called it o
ff,” I add casually.
“You know why,” he says looking away.