Page 70 of Dead Crown
“If a servant recognizes me…”
“I’ll make sure you’re left alone. Once in a while, my Father comes to my rooms to see me. You know his sight is poor, but if he recognizes you…I need to break things slowly.”
Lumi paused in the courtyard they were in. “Maybe I shouldn’t be here…there are too many people, and I don’t-” He cut off. “I’m too tired to act.”
He looked so lost as he stood there with Jacqueline nestled against him in her sling. He’d been away from home only to return as a pawn of Tivar. Now, he was back once more with a freedom he didn’t know what to do with anymore.
“Nobody’s expecting you to act,” said Jaki. “Besides, I think it’s time we send away the court. I’ll figure things out, all right?”
He barely knew what to do besides focus on the couple of things he could control at the moment.
Jaki took him to his rooms and had him sit in the bedroom, so he could call a servant. He told her to set up a room for a guest, and they weren’t to be disturbed since their health was poor. They’d also need a cradle.
There was another open-ended hallway with a nice set, and he wanted Lumi close by. Technically, he would prefer to have his brother in his rooms to watch over him and their daughter, but maybe it would be better if Lumi didn’t have someone hovering at all times. The servants didn’t question the orders.
Once the new quarters were prepared, he brought Lumi to them. The servants probably wondered who had a baby and why the parent was sick. They could mutter among themselves all they wanted. Jacqueline started fussing almost as soon as they got in, and Lumi headed right for the bedroom so he could feed her.
Jaki crouched by the side of the bed to look at Lumi who had sat in the middle. His bruises had faded to green and yellow, but they hadn’t gone away since the beating had been quite severe.
“I want to bring the physician in to heal you and make sure you’re alright,” said Jaki. “She’ll keep her mouth shut. If you really don’t want to see her, you don’t have to. She’ll likely expectyou to get undressed, and I understand if you don’t want to. You can say no to anything.”
Lumi adjusted Jacqueline a little as she fed from his pec. “I’m fine.”
“I would feel better if you did. If you have any strange pains or something is wrong, you can tell her. She can look over Jacqueline too.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll stay in the sitting room, and if you feel unsafe for any reason, you can yell for me.”
***
“I have someone I need you to look at, and you have to keep quiet about them,” Jaki told the physician in a stern tone. “Not one word about them better leave your mouth.”
She nodded as she sat at the desk in her workroom. “Are they sick or is it an injury?”
“They’ve had a baby and…a rough time,” Jaki said, although that was the understatement of the century. “I want to make sure they’re okay, but if they say to stop touching them or anything of the sort, stop. It’s…” She’d recognize him even though most of the dye was gone. “It’s Lumi, who was the pleasure slave. He’s not one now, and he’s had a baby.”
Her mouth dropped slightly. “Oh, he must have been distraught. No wonder he disappeared. It’s quite rare for anyone with grey fever to have a child later.”
He’d never had it, but Jaki wasn’t going to explain everything to her.
“Why did he come back?”
“That’s his business.”
She followed him after she collected a few things in a satchel. Jaki let her go into the bedroom while he sat by the fire. He’d tell Father he had a friend over first, and later, he’d break the actualnews once he figured out a way to admit the truth. He couldn’t do it right at the moment.
It wasn’t something he could hide for life, and Lumi couldn’t hide forever either. He needed to be coronated, and Jaki would have to admit the baby was his.
A lot of things needed to be done, and for a moment, the future threatened to overwhelm him. He liked having a plan of action and executing it, and while things had been uncertain when he left, he’d been able to do what was needed.
It was a little more difficult when it came to Elswere. No man wants to learn he’s been cluelessly screwing his nephew or that his nephews had a child together.
To distract himself, he tried to imagine Tivar returning after a night of naughty games and sex at the whorehouse. Jaki wished he could have seen the bastard’s face once he finally entered his bedroom and realized Lumi simply wasn’t there and the Crown was missing. It gave him a little prickle of savage pleasure.
Tivar had probably gone into a drunken rage, searched the whole Castle, and questioned the servants. He’d learn of a “lord” visiting and a strange “sick” man looking for his baby. With a fake story in place to explain Lumi, he’d order men to go out and search.
He’d also be utterly infuriated about the Crown being gone. East Iceland held all of the cards. They only needed to go to war and unite both sides.
