Page 11 of Arthur

Arthur’s hand gently covered my mouth. “Not going to happen. Ever. You will go with me everywhere I go. If you can’t, then I stay with you. I will protect you until there isn’t a breath left in my body. Until my heart stops beating. You are my entire world, Patrick, and there isn’t a thing I wouldn’t do to protect you.”

He’d said he loved me many times in the past three weeks, but if he hadn’t, those words alone would speak volumes. In fact, they did.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“And I you.”

Arthur leaned down and kissed my forehead before he laid his cheek on the top of my head. We sat there like that for a long time, until I dozed off into sleep. In Arthur’s arms, I always felt safe.

Chapter 5

Arthur

“How is he doing?” I looked at Father, Dad, and William where they were sitting in the outer room of the small house I now shared with Patrick.

“He’s sleeping. I think the little bit of tea and soda bread he was able to keep down helped tremendously. I cannot believe that I didn’t think about the possibility of him being pregnant before now. He has been ill for a few days, and I was under the impression he’d eaten something that didn’t agree with him.”

William smiled. “In a way, that is the case. But it was caused by the baby, not the food making his stomach ill. I wasn’t able to get a read on the baby, I do apologize. I can try another time, but if Patrick is uncomfortable with magic being used around him, I’m not sure how well that will go.”

“Did you not tell him?” I asked Father.

He shook his head. “It wasn’t our story to share. I am more than happy to let the others in the coven know what Patrick has gone through, what he’s faced at the hands of his parents, but not without first getting your permission.”

“I appreciate that. I know Patrick won’t have issue with you sharing with others what he’s been put through. He and I wereactually talking about it just moments ago with regards to how he reacted toward William.” I looked at my friend and smiled. “He wants you to know that he didn’t mean anything negative against you. His father often used magic to inflict pain when Patrick didn’t do as he or his mother wished.”

William looked to Father. “That isn’t what we were gifted magical abilities for.”

“No, it isn’t. Patrick tried to leave twice. The first time wasn’t too terrible for him, but the second time, from what I saw in Patrick’s memories, I’m surprised Henry didn’t end up killing his son. Patrick wasn’t able to get up for a few days, and when they tried to forcefully make him, he crumpled into a heap on the floor. They left him there without coming back to check on him.” I looked at Father. “I hope he suffered greatly because he of all people deserved what he did to his son inflicted back onto him tenfold.”

“He suffered. As did Agnes. It is never a joyous occasion to have to deal with such a thing, but it is my responsibility over anyone else’s.”

I felt for my father. I knew that on some level, it hurt him physically if and when he had to deal with others in the manner he did with Henry and Agnes. He has always said the pain was fleeting, but it was his pain to bear. I wasn’t sure if I necessarily believed that, but I wasn’t going to argue with him.

“Knowing that, it is completely understandable that Patrick reacted the way he did. I feel terrible for not speaking to him before I attempted to check on the baby,” William said. “Obviously, I knew him from before, but knowing that he was put through all of that, I feel absolutely terrible for him.”

I gave my friend a small nod. “I know you wouldn’t ever hurt him, and deep down, so does Patrick. I’m sure that after he wakes, he will be more than willing to give it another attempt. I know he feels terrible about how he reacted.”

“I don’t hold anything against him. Please let him know that I’m not upset, nor do I have any ill feelings toward him.” William stood. “I’ll return later this evening to check on him. If he cannot keep anything down, even with the tea, we might need to look into alternative methods to ensure he is getting enough nourishment. It’s always amazing what others must go through in order to bring new life into this world.” William looked toward my parents. “I’ll take my leave now but won’t be far.”

Father nodded, and with that, William left, quietly closing the door behind him. I glanced toward the back room but knew Patrick was still asleep. He wasn’t resting deeply, but he was getting respite, and that was more than enough for me.

“I wanted to discuss Patrick’s projected due date,” Father said. I nodded. I’d obviously not given it any thought, but I hadn’t even considered he was pregnant and was simply ill with sour food. “Going off of Frederick and Oliver’s pregnancies, which were different timelines than my own, I would believe we should expect the baby would be here the end of April or beginning of May.”

“So, late spring. I honestly haven’t thought about it at all, and I feel terrible about that. I should have considered it a very real possibility, but it honestly never crossed my mind.” I was obviously upset with myself about that. Patrick didn’t have sickness from spoiled food. He was pregnant, and his body wasn’t happy about that.

“’Tis new. Next time around, ye will think about that first,” Dad said. I grinned. He was most likely correct. I had been so wrapped up in Patrick and taking care of him, but I’d not thought about the obvious. What happened once fated mates found and claimed one another? They had children. The coven had grown considerably over the years by those very means. Yet, I’d not even consciously considered it as the reason for Patrick not being well.

“I have no doubt you are right,” I told Dad.

“We will leave you to see to Patrick,” Father said as he stood, Dad standing with him.

“Don’t feel as if you need to run off,” I told them.

“Not at all. We are going to go fix something that Patrick might be able to stomach. I would also like to try and adjust the tea if at all possible. I feel for Patrick and his reaction to it.”

I did as well but wasn’t all that surprised. Patrick had tried to drink it entirely too quickly. “I’ll let you know if he’s feeling poorly later.” I winced about the thought of Patrick having to drink that horrid-smelling brew again. I already knew that he would, even if it wasn’t today but tomorrow and beyond. But he was currently sleeping, and I had to believe that the tea, at least in part, played a bit of a role in allowing him the ability to rest as he was.

“We won’t be far if you need us,” Father said. With that, he and Dad left. I took a deep breath and looked around the place I’d called home for the past several years. Some still lived in the main inn house, but others like myself had decided to move out into smaller places that were scattered around the inn.

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