The Illegitimate Claim (38 page)

here for Andru to do with her as he pleased,” Tara said, and then blew out a deep

breath slowly as she looked up at the group staring at her.

She glanced at Meah who still had her face buried next to her daughter’s face. The

little girl had her tiny arms wrapped around her mama’s neck and Meah’s shoulders

shook. She was already handling the loss of her son, and the wrath of Andru. This was

more than she could cope with.

“Go back to your chores,” Tara said to Fulga and took the child from her.

The older servant shot Meah a sympathetic look before entering the house. Tara

was glad Meah didn’t see it.

“Maybe you should take Darien and Tia inside, Ana. I’m sure Curi wants to see her

mama.” Tara spoke to her daughter who seemingly understood as she took Tia from

Meah.

Meah brought her hands to her face and breathed deeply trying to calm the hysteria

that threatened her rational thinking. This couldn’t be happening. There was some

mistake. Some whore died at the brothel and they assumed the baby was Andru’s? Did

he spend that much time at a whorehouse? But as rational thought fought to surface,

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she wondered if this baby wasn’t the first of many. Andru was standing by the child

when they walked up, and then simply walked away. Did he not want anything to do

with the child because she was a girl? Was she expected to care for his bastard children

as well as her own?

At that thought, she looked up at Beel and Paleah who still stood there watching

her. What was going through both of their heads right now? Were they there because

they felt a sort of kinship with the infant?

“Does Crator hold the child responsible for the parents’ actions?” The scratchy old

voice startled Meah, and she looked around quickly.

The large dog sat under a nearby tree panting at her. Meah wiped her eyes and

focused on the large beast.

“This is too much. I can’t handle this right now.” Meah’s voice cracked as tears

continued.

“Crator would never give you more than you can handle, my child.” The voice

came from the dog. The creature wagged her tail when it had finished speaking then

took off running toward the back field.

“I’m not sure how to react to all of this yet.” Meah tried hard not to look at the child

in Tara’s arms. “I never forgot anything you told me many winters ago. But,” she

glanced at Beel and Paleah, “I guess I’ve heard the stories about what you did when this

happened to you.”

Tara glanced at Beel and smiled sadly. “Yes, I’m sure you have. And for many

winters the dog-woman didn’t come to me until I learned to soften my heart and

forgive…as well as not hate the child for the actions of the parents.”

“Just as the dog-woman just said,” she sighed.

Meah forced herself to look at the child. Tara opened her arms, and Meah looked up

at her quickly, then at Paleah, before accepting the infant into her arms. How tiny she

was. A scruff of auburn hair attempted to curl into a circle on the top of her head and

her skin was creamy white. The baby made a face and stretched out a fist before arching

her back. Paleah took a step forward and reached for the tiny fist.

“Pale babies are so funny-looking.” She made a face back at the baby and then

smiled.

“Do you know anything about taking care of a newborn?” Meah watched Paleah’s

entranced face.

“I’ve held one or two, I guess,” Paleah said without looking up.

“Could you care for this one?”

Paleah did look up then, and both Meah and Tara were pleased with the look of

delight on the young Neurian’s face. “You trust me with this child?”

Paleah took the baby from Meah, but then looked up again and frowned. “Or is it

that you don’t want anything to do with her?”

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“It’s going to take some time,” Meah whispered but then inhaled sharply and

straightened. “My mama died when I was born. My papa, or the man whom I thought

was my papa, could have turned me out and sent me to my real papa just like what’s

happened here. I would have been raised Gothman if that had been the case. Whoever

sent her here must have thought she could have a better life than if she stayed where

she was. But you’re Tory and Tia’s nanny.” Meah shrugged. “I guess you should be her

nanny too.”

Paleah smiled. “Thanks for trusting me.” She looked up at Beel and he pulled her to

him and admired the child. Paleah looked from baby to the man in front of her. “She

could be your child.”

“Yeah, maybe some woman got the two of us confused,” he said halfheartedly, then

looked up at Meah. “What should we call her?”

“Magi…after her mama, whoever she was,” Meah said, and suddenly felt

incredibly tired.

Meah discovered several hours later that Andru had all of her and Tia’s things

brought over from Gilroy and Ana’s house. Paleah showed her that Tory and Tia’s

things were in a long scantily furnished room off the middle of the upstairs hallway.

“Beel said this was Andru and Ana’s nursery when they were children,” Paleah

mentioned.

Meah walked slowly around the room, noticing two large bureaus, and small

matching beds placed next to each other in the middle of the far wall. Long emerald

green curtains were tied back from the three windows facing the backyard. Meah

untied each sash and closed the curtains, then turned on both lamps that were on top of

small tables by each bed. She could feel a sense of contentment in the room as if happy

people spent a lot of time surrounded by these walls. She turned and smiled when Tia

opened a wooden crate in between two of the windows and began digging through an

endless sea of toys.

She noticed Tia’s few pieces of extra clothing were hanging in one of the bureaus,

and Tory’s things were in the other bureau.

“Where are my things?” She looked questioningly at Paleah.

The young Neurian held Magi in her arms and adjusted her as she nodded her head

toward the bedroom door. “Last doorway on the left. He had your things put in his

room.”

“Where are you sleeping?” Meah ignored the tightening in her stomach at the

thought that she would share Andru’s bedroom.

“Well, Andru says I’m sleeping in here with Tia until Tory is home, but Beel is

arguing that one.” She shrugged. “I guess we’ll wait and see.”

Andru had second-guessed what her move would be. He knew she would move

her things in with Tia and stay with her so he’d moved Paleah into the room. There

were only two beds and they weren’t big enough for two people to sleep in. Of course,

she could look at it that he was concerned about Tia sleeping by herself, which truly

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would not have been an option. He could have been thinking about his daughter, and

thought it best if she had a sleeping companion.

But she wouldn’t look at it that way. He didn’t care about the twins. He was simply

chaining her to his bed. Her brain ached from all the anger and ill emotions she’d felt all

day, and she realized time in the Crator temple would help.

In her fogged state of mind, a plan slowly started brewing.

It only took a minute to determine who she could confide her newfound plan with.

It wasn’t Paleah. The young lady had no concept of loyalty, having never experienced it

or been asked to give it. It would take nothing for any of the men in the house to get her

to tell all she knew. She couldn’t confide in Ana. As much as she would like to, all

Andru had to do was look at his sister and he would know something was up. No,

there was only one person she would share her thoughts with at the moment. Now all

she had to do was determine how difficult it would be to approach her.

Meah left Paleah with the children and drifted back downstairs hoping to

determine where Andru was before actually running into him. She stopped midway

down, and pulled out her comm.

“Tara.” She spoke quietly while listening for the bending of any floorboard

indicating someone was coming. All she heard was laughter and talking coming from

the other end of the house, possibly the kitchen.

“My lady, this is Meah, could I talk to you alone for a few minutes?” she asked,

while glancing over her shoulder and peering farther down the stairs.

Tara said she would see her, and Meah stuffed her comm into her pants pocket. She

ran into Ana as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“I was just coming to look for you,” Ana said, as she walked into the entryway and

met Meah. “We’re leaving now.”

She held Curi in her arms, and Meah couldn’t believe how much she looked like

Tia.

“The Bryon family will have such noticeable characteristics that no one will ever be

able to doubt their lineage,” Meah said as she stroked the sleepy girl’s black and gold

curls. “She looks just like the twins.”

“That’s what we both thought the second we saw Tory,” Ana said, and at that

moment Gilroy and Andru came around the corner.

Andru was patting Gilroy on the back and smiling about something. They both

were in good moods…surprisingly.

“Have they been drinking?” she whispered to Ana when the horrible thought

entered her mind.

“A little bit too much, I fear,” Ana whispered back. “Andru was on overload with

his thoughts. I couldn’t even stand to be in the same room when I first got here, they

were so overwhelming. After he started drinking that Gothman wine they went numb.”

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She paused and glanced over her shoulder, and the two men directed their attention to

them.

“Let’s go, Ana.” Gilroy’s blue eyes danced with a joviality Meah almost forgot

existed in him.

Ana turned, and gave Meah a sharp look. “He’s in a good mood and he wants you.

Treat him right and don’t get him started.”

Ana turned around as soon as the words were out of her mouth and went to

Gilroy’s side. Meah held her tongue and checked her expression, unable to respond to