The Love of a Wielder (Book Two of The Wielders Trilogy)

Chapter Eleven

Alec arrived a few minutes after Jonathan left.

"Are you alright? My father said you needed me. What's wrong?"

She sighed. "Gods above, so many things. For starters, your father thinks I'm pregnant."

He just blinked at her for a few moments before responding.

"Oh, his 'special skill.' What did you tell him?"

"I so aggressively insisted that it was impossible that he guessed the truth," she said.

Alec looked shocked. "He knows? And he...he didn't turn you in?"

"Apparently not. Ask him about it," she said. "Tell him you know."

She did not think it was her place to tell Alec about his aunt.

"Ah...all right...did he still think you're pregnant after you told him?"

Maren nodded. "He proposed that either the conventional wisdom is incorrect or that unexpected things happen when two Wielders are together."

"And are either of those plausible to you?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Could you perform a test so that we could put the matter to bed?"

"Of course. I'll need to go fetch a syringe, but everything else I require is in the infirmary. It won't be an issue," he said.

She was mildly surprised it would be that simple. Pregnancy testing was expensive and had been developed almost exclusively for the benefit of the royal family. But over the years it had proliferated into the higher echelons of the nobility, and it did make sense that Alec, a consummate professional, would ensure his father's infirmary was well stocked.

"I thank you."

He left, but returned within a few minutes with a small black case of syringes and vials. He drew a bit of blood from her arm, which stung but didn't hurt badly.

"Is it plausible to you that such a thing would not be noticeable to him until today?" she asked.

He nodded as he put away his syringe. "Certainly. If I test someone too early, it might be negative but then a week later, positive."

She groaned. She was still hoping there was some sort of mistake.

"Speaking of which," he said, not looking at her. "Are you late?"

She flushed, very much disliking every part of the conversation.

"Maybe a week or so. I'm not certain," she said.

He nodded. "Well, we'll see."

"How long?" she asked.

"A few hours, you should rest, I'll come back when there's news," he said and left.

She didn't really feel like resting, so she curled up in the window seat with a book and pretended to read it. She hadn't realized she'd dozed off until she heard knocking on her bedroom door.

"Come in!" she called.

Alec came into her room. She knew just by the fact that Alec had come through her sitting room to knock on her bedroom door what the answer was.

"You have got to be joking," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

He shook his head. "Jonathan Drake's special skill is once again proven accurate."

"Gods above," she muttered.

She felt rather shocked. Even though she had begun to admit the possibility that Jonathan might have been right, she hadn't really believed it. She still didn't truly believe it.