Jewel smiled softly as she watched her husband, thinking how very much tike King Richard he was and deciding that that similarity was what drove him. She loved him for it. And she loved his stubbornness as well as admired his restraint. For the past two months he had denied himself the rights of a husband, fearing his passion for her would harm their child. Whether or not this was so, Jewel had given in to his willfulness and resigned herself to being content with simply having him hold her in his arms each night.
His task completed, Amery rose and strode toward the bed, a curious frown wrinkling his brow once he saw the laughter gleaming in his wife's eyes. "Hast thou grown tired of me already that you find the sight of me amusing?" he asked, sliding in beside her.
"Nay," she laughed. "I was merely imagining the difficulties you will have if our child is a boy and he has his father's traits. 'Twill be enjoyable to see who wins the argument."
Wrapping his arm around her, he laid his other hand on her rounded belly and frowned for a long while. "I see no difficulty at all, for 'tis a girl you carry." He stated it as fact, then settled" himself comfortably under the pelts and rested back against the pillows.
"How confident you are," she retorted with a chuckle, laying her head on his chest, his arm circling her protectively. His heartbeat drummed softly in her ear. "But what if thou art wrong and 'tis a boy I present to you?"
"I still foresee no problem. As always, the firm hand of his mother will guide him and teach him the gentler way." He smiled down at her. "Just as she has his father."
Amery kissed her then and Jewel thought that if she lived another tenscore years, she would never be happier than she was at that moment.
Table of Contents
A Myth
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue