Coming Home With News

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

I had left Malabelle still curled up in sleep, and had gone to meet with Soleil. My heart was light and heavy, all at once. Soleil was pregnant, with my child. I was so happy.

And so wary. I loved Mala, deeply. But I was afraid what this news would do to her. I closed the door quietly behind me, before climbing the stairs to check where I had left her.

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

I had woken to an empty bed, not the first time in my life but something I had thought I was done with.

After a bit of looking and asking servants, it seemed Christophe had left the house.

I returned upstairs, bathed and dressed, and then sat down at my dressing table to tend to my hair and try not to think about where it was he'd gone to.

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

I opened the bedroom door to find her at her vanity. I caught her gaze in the glass as I crossed the room to her, and saw a lost look. Gods, I wanted to hold her until it went away. And I hadn't even told her yet.

"Good morning love." I smiled at the sight of her, but even I knew there was too much tension in my body.

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

Ah gods, it was written all over his face. The possessive anger inside me began to flare, but the words of Elua's priest filled my mind and soul and just the quickly it was gone.

"Good morning, love," I replied, smiling honestly at him in the mirror. "I missed you when I woke."

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

Emotion flashed across her features before she grew calm again. I wondered if I was really that obvious. A small part of me hoped I was, because then I wouldn't need to tell her. But we both needed more honesty than that.

I dropped to my knees beside her chair. It felt better than towering over her. "I missed the moment as well. You always look so innocent, when your eyes flutter open." I smiled slightly.

"Mala..." I took a breath. My insides were clenching. I wanted happiness for us, so badly. "I'm to be a father."

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

Innocent? Me? the thought made me smile, and fall in love with him just a little bit more that he could see that in me for even just the briefest of moments.

Setting down my brush, I turned in my seat so that I was facing him. "Congratulations," I told him, bringing my hand up to caress his cheek softly. I had come to terms with this possibility days ago, and so there was no lie in my words. "I know how much you wanted this."

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

"Thank you." I replied softly. I searched her face for a long moment. All I found was calmness, peace I couldn't believe existed within her now. "You're not... angry, or jealous." It was a statement, though my voice showed I was confused.

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

"No, I'm not," I said, chuckling softly and smiling. "A very wise priest enlightened me about love and what it can do. I love you Christophe, and I am not willing to lose you over petty emotions."

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

I blinked once, then broke out into a grin. "You know, that's some of the best news I've heard all day." I leaned in, wrapping my arms around her, and kissed her deeply.

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

I kissed him deeply, leaning into him.

"Did you think I'd have another fit?" I asked, smiling against his lips.

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

I leaned my forehead against hers. "Let's just say the precedent was set this morning."

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

"What do you mean?" I asked, leaning back slightly so I could look in his eyes. "What happened?"

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

"Nothing, not really. Once it was established that marrying you wasn't going to turn me into a love-blinded fool, she settled down again." I sighed, thinking of her manner. "She is too proud to admit jealousy."

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

My smile faltered and I tilted my head slightly.

"Tell me more, I want to know everything." I had come to terms with Christophe being a father and having a relationship with his child, but the thought that that woman wanted more from him than that was a different matter.

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

"The questions were legitimate, ones of a concerned mother. But... there was ice in her voice." I shook my head. "And now I'm a little confused, but mostly frustrated. She's giving me two very different messages, after firmly establishing before this all started how much emotional involvement I could expect."

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

"Well, you don't need to see her again until the child is born, do you? Perhaps she will have come to terms with things by then," I said, managing to keep my voice even.

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

I looked at her for a moment, and when I spoke, my voice was gentle. "You know better than that, my love. I need to at least be on speaking terms with her. And ignoring her for eight months is not going to accomplish that."

Especially not with the loneliness in her eyes. I kept the thought to myself. It wasn't going to help.

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

"I didn't say you had to ignore her, but it's not as if you need to be at her beck and call. You're the father, not her lover or consort," I replied, feeling my hard won control and acceptance slipping through my fingers a bit like blood soaked silken rope. "I can understand going with her to the doctor and such things, but what more would you do?"

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

I put my hands on either side of her face, caressing and holding. "That's all I planned to do Mala. I cannot be who she wants. I'm that for someone else already." I tried a small, teasing grin. "And I wouldn't want that to change."

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

"And who is it she wants you to be?" I asked, neither pulling away from his touch nor leaning into it.

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

"She wants me to comfort and protect her. She wants me to love her." I paused. "That wasn't very modest, was it?"

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

My fingers curled until I could feel the bite of my nails against my palms.

"Perhaps I need to go and speak with her," I said, my voice amazingly even.

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

"And if I say no, are you going to have the conversation the next time you meet? Say in the middle of a fete?" I was steeling myself, for I was fairly sure of the answer.

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

"I wasn't asking your permission," I told him, turning back to face the mirror and picking up the brush again.

"I won't abide her trying to take you from me," I told him calmly as I began to brush my hair. "I will share you with your child, I will not share you with her."

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

I looked at the ground and counted to ten before I answered.

"That's all I ask. Though I'd like to be there."

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

"Why?" I asked curiously, looking at him in the mirror.

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

"If nothing else, I can act as a physical barrier between you two." I replied. They both had a tendency toward violence. Usually it was something I enjoyed...

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

"Do you not trust me not to hurt her?" I asked, the brush never pausing in it's movements through my hair. I had no intention f hurting Soleil, at least not while the child was still inside her. I had promised Christophe I would accept the child and I had all intentions of keeping my word. The mother was another matter. She needed to be reminded of her place, one she had created for herself, and it would not take me physically hurting her to do that.

[Christophe Legard nó Shahrizai]

I sighed. "I trust you Mala. I trust you both individually." I got up and started refolding clothes. I didn't want to sit still any longer.

[Malabelle Shahrizai]

I set down the hairbrush, watching his reflection for a moment. I was still fascinated by the way he moved, my mind showing me the play of his muscles beneath the layers of his clothing.

"If you don't want me seeing her alone, then I will ask the same of you. no more going off to be with her without me," I said, turning in my chair to face him. "I am doing my best to accept things, the situation and the child, but I will not be the only one who makes sacrifices."