Command My Heart ~ Book 2 - The Royal Blood Collection

Chapter 15

I was smiling, as if it was possible given the situation that I was in. Currently, I was stuck in a rather grand house with royalty for company. I couldn't leave because there was a tracker floating somewhere in my body but that was okay, I didn't really want to leave. As for right now, I was knuckle deep in changing a rather full diaper.

Emmeline was a great teacher and as a bonus, I got one on one time with the woman who was only too happy to relent on information regarding Nisha. She wanted her happy and Emmeline figured that I was up to the job.

So, I now knew that Nisha had fed Otanawa but hadn't changed a diaper yet. She was warming to the child but it was slow. I surmised that Nisha feared that Alaric would send her back to the north and Otanawa would stay here.

I also knew that Silas had raised Alaric and Nisha from the beginning. Their father had been murdered. At the time of their disappearance, I'd heard the rumors that were circulating that it was murder but without the bodies, no one could prove a thing. The truth had been confirmed while I was in the army so I had no idea that the king and queen of this province had been murdered.

Emmeline confirmed the rumor about the queen. Their mother was wounded to the point where she feared for the lives of her unborn children, so she fled. She didn't survive for much after their birth, Emmeline suggested that it while it was okay to talk about the subject, it was probably best that I didn't. They'd had their retribution but it did nothing to kill the pain. Nothing would bring them back, nothing could change the past.

Once my hands were clean and Otanawa was a happy baby again, I got cuddle time. In her room was a seat which was great because she had put on a lot of weight since I'd last held her. Emmeline leaned on the crib, watching me with a soft smile.

"Is Alaric going to send Nisha back north?"

"I doubt it. The section of the ridge that we possess has been secured. Unless the base falls, which I seriously doubt that it will, our presence there is not required. Alaric sent a replacement for Nisha to ensure that the lookout has a commanding officer. Her role was to set the base up with the commanding officer for the army, to create the division of the lookout and to ensure that it would run smoothly after she left. When that was done, she sent for Alaric who checked it out, signed off on it and took possession of an unexpected delivery."

That unexpected delivery yawned, her little fingers were wrapped around my thumb. She was so quiet, so perfect.

"There was talk about this leader taking over the next province along the ridge."

Emmeline looked at me and then shrugged.

"I don't talk war with him or Silas. The children keep me rather busy, life is rather hectic now that there are two babies and Kacee is toilet training at the moment. Lorenzo has just discovered girls."

I chuckled, remembering what that was like.

"Poppy just wants to run everywhere and Tyson chases after her, the both of them scream the place down constantly. Violet, well, she's becoming accustomed to life here, I suppose."

"Difficult for the teenager?"

Emmeline nodded, giving me a grim smile.

"I've been in her boots, I've thought that I wasn't worthy of adoption. She thinks that we're going to send her back so she hides in her room and only comes out when necessary. The only thing that I can use to relate to her is that I've been there but to her, it means nothing. Yes, I got out of the orphanage but I was never adopted. Maybe they knew."

Her words were a dull murmur, a heavy frown on her face. It was entirely possible because to look at her, I could see minor differences. Was that because I'd seen Otanawa's mother and I knew what a creature looked like?