Page 17 of Dragon Heir

He chuckled. “I am keeping my mind preoccupied with other matters while still keeping you near me.”

I blinked at him. “Other matters?”

He dropped his gaze to near my waistline. My eyes widened and my hand flew to my stomach. “Oh. Right.” I sheepishly smiled at him. “I kind of forgot.”

Will lifted an eyebrow. “Then you have felt nothing regarding. . .that matter?”

I shook my head. “Nothing at all. Should I?”

My husband furrowed his brow as he drew me closer to his chest. “To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure. The matter is so rare that I doubt I have any books on the legends, much less a guide.”

A snort escaped me. “So there’s no manual? Typical.” I looked down at my position where he held me above the floor. “You can let me up now.”

He nodded. “I could.”

“We have to eat.”

“We could.”

I pointed down at my stomach. “We have to eat.” His eyes lit up and he hurriedly set me on my feet. I laughed as I turned to face him. “I’ll have to remember that trick.”

He grinned. “It won’t work forever.”

“I hope it doesn’t feel like forever,” I mused.

He offered me his arm and a gentler smile. “However long it lasts I will ensure it isn’t unenjoyable.”

I took his arm and let him lead me into the dining room. The food had been brought out on covered platters that held the heat but couldn’t stop the delicious scents that floated out from beneath the lids. Vargas and Raines had set the places at the table and I counted six.

I lifted an eyebrow as Raines placed the last of the utensils at the end of the table opposite where Will sat. “Are you eating with us today, Raines?”

He shook his head. “No, My Lady. My Lord has requested a spot for Sir Slechtic to attend this meal.”

Vargas paused in taking her seat and wrinkled her nose. “How does one behave in front of such a, um, man?”

“As you normally would toward anyone else,” Will assured her as he led me over to my seat on his left. I inwardly wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have worded that in slightly stronger words.

“He is a guest the same as us, after all,” Allard chimed in as the doctor joined us in the dining room. He moved toward the head of the table where the right-hand seat was unoccupied. Ware, however, blocked Allard’s path with his girth and frowned at him.

“Where are you going, Lord Allard?” Ware challenged him.

Allard smiled and nodded at the empty chair. “There. Why do you ask?”

Ware lifted his chin. “I intend to sit there.”

“As the youngest between us, I am surprised you seek to take the position,” Allard mused.

“That is because I have worn my wings through in helping out this day,” Ware countered as he pointed up at the ceiling. “No one but I was out there scouring the skies.”

“Oh, sit in the next spot opposite me!” Vargas snapped at him as she gestured down at herself. “You see I am not throwing such a fuss about a simple seating arrangement!”

Ware grumbled under his breath about honor and just rewards but reluctantly took his seat at the other end opposite Vargas. Allard made to take the seat, but Will shook his head. “I’m afraid that spot is meant for Sir Slechtic.”

Allard’s face fell. “Truly?”

Will nodded at the far end of the table. “I have some matters I wish to discuss with him which would be better spoken at close quarters and not across the table.”

Allard lifted an eyebrow but bowed his head and moved over to the end of the table where he took up that empty chair. Ware had a bemused smile on his face that he didn’t try to hide at all but the doctor grinned back at him.

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