Jayne Castle [Jayne Ann Krentz] (46 page)

times in the future when you and I do battle again, wife. You have learned too much about your own

power. I have a hunch I will pay the price."

"You would prefer I went in fear of you?" she asked lightly.

He sighed with exaggerated regret. "I never wanted you in terror of me. But it occurs to me that a little

wifely caution might be useful. A wife should have a certain amount of healthy respect for her husband."

Kalena laughed up at him. "Poor Ridge. As a husband you do have to walk a fine line, don't you?"

"I intend to work hard at being a proper husband to you, Kalena. It is not a job for which I have had

much training, but I will do my best."

Knowing how completely he meant to honor the promise, Kalena was lost for words. Silently, she pulled

his head down to hers and kissed him. "Hold me, Ridge. We've been through a great deal today, you and

I. All I want now is to feel safe and warm."

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"Do you feel safe and warm when I hold you?"

"More than I can say," she whispered.

He settled himself beside her, gathering her close. His fingers toyed idly with her hair as she fell asleep in

his arms. Ridge lay awake for a long while, gazing into the fire and thinking about his future. It would not

be exactly as he had once envisioned it. How could he have foreseen Kalena's presence in his world?

But the future he saw tonight held more happiness and satisfaction than he had once been capable of

imagining.

Kalena opened her eyes to the dawn light streaming through the slatted shutters. For a few moments she

lay still, contemplating the twists and turns in her fate. No Healer with the gift of Far Seeing could have

guessed the pattern in which her future would unfold, she thought with a smile.

She stretched cautiously so as not to waken Ridge, then thrust one bare foot out from under the pallet

covers. Just as she had suspected, the room was quite chilly. A good wife, a dutiful wife, would rise

briskly, start a fire and brew a pot of yant tea for her husband.

Kalena contemplated the pros and cons of being a good and dutiful wife for a moment and almost

crawled back under the covers. Then she remembered one small matter that had not been discussed last

night. She opted to be a dutiful wife.

Besides, it hadn't escaped her that on the one occasion when she had made yant tea for Ridge, he had

taken a very genuine, very masculine pleasure in the morning ritual. It seemed to put him in a good mood

and it made sense to keep Ridge in a good mood whenever possible.

She winced as she slipped out from under the covers and hurried to the small, primitive privacy chamber

to dress. She shivered en route. It was more than a little cold in the room. Fall came early to the

mountains.

A short while later she was seated on the stool in front of a small blaze heating water for tea. She heard

Ridge stir contentedly on the pallet and knew he had opened his eyes to watch her. He had undoubtedly

been awake since she had risen, but he was quite content to indulge himself in the role of lazy husband.

Actually, Kalena thought with a secret smile, there was a great deal about a husband's life that seemed to

appeal to the Fire Whip.

Kalena poured out a mug of tea and rose to carry it across the room. Ridge looked up at her with

satisfied appreciation as he levered himself up on one elbow to take the mug.

"It's worth signing a permanent marriage contract with you just to assure myself of hot tea every morning

for the rest of my life," he drawled before he took a sip.

Kalena tilted her head to one side, watching him closely. "There may be a few mornings in the future

when you will have to get your own tea, you know."

Some of the lazy satisfaction in him was replaced by wariness. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Didn't he realize? Kalena swallowed uncomfortably. This wasn't going quite the way she had planned. "I

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. . . I understand it's common for women to experience some early morning illness when they are with

child."

Ridge nearly choked on a mouthful of tea. He stared up at her in shock. The mug in his hand tipped

precariously as he sat up abruptly. "With child! With child?My child?" He looked and sounded

dumbfounded.

Kalena bit her lip, assailed by a new set of misgivings. "I thought you knew. I thought you realized. Back

in the chamber you said you were a part of me. I thought you meant you knew I was pregnant." She

rushed into explanations. "I didn't plan it deliberately, Ridge. It must have happened that night we spent in

the Healer's valley. I forgot to take the selite powder that day. Do you mind very much? I thought after

what happened yesterday that you knew and that it didn't upset you. I know it's rather soon and that you

might have preferred to wait, but I don't have much choice."

He didn't seem to be listening to the jumbled explanation. Instead he focused on one tiny fact. "How can

you know for sure so soon?"

"The Healers tested me with Sand. They told me to look inside myself as though I were the patient. It

was the strangest experience, Ridge. But when I did, I realized at once that I was pregnant." She broke

off, eyeing him warily. "Are you very upset about it?"

"Upset? No, of course I'm not upset. I'm just slightly stunned."

"You mean you didn't guess yesterday during our confrontation with the Keys?"

He shook his head slowly. "There was something there I didn't completely understand, something in

addition to you. I think I sensed new life, but I wasn't concentrating on it. In any event, it was all tied up

with you and I was going to make sure I had you so there was no need to analyze it fully" He grinned at

her without any warning. "Besides, I had a lot of other things on my mind at the time."

Kalena cleared her throat. "So you did. Well? How do you feel about it? Are you angry? I have to

know, Ridge."

He was still grinning. "Do I look angry?"

"No," she admitted, relief beginning to well up in her. The gleam of pleased satisfaction in his eyes was

answer enough, she knew. "No, you don't look angry at all."

He reached out to set down his mug and pulled Kalena gently down across his thighs. "The plain truth,

my love, is that I could not be any happier. I don't think it would be possible." He kissed her thoroughly

until she was flushed and laughing. Then he lifted his head. "Boy or girl?"

Kalena blinked. "I don't know. I was so startled, I withdrew from myself immediately. Does it matter?"

He shook his head, smiling indulgently. "No, it doesn't matter. Not in the least. Will the babe have my

ability with the steel?"

She shrugged. "Probably, if it's a boy. It is not a trait that can be inherited in women, apparently"

Ridge nodded. "If it's a boy, I will teach him to control the fire so that it doesn't get him into trouble," he

said decisively. "He'll have a temper."

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"A formidable thought." Kalena momentarily pictured a household with two males in it who could both

set fire to the steel of Countervail. She would have her hands full.

"But if it's a girl, perhaps she'll have your healing skill and your hair," Ridge went on thoughtfully. "I'd like

that, I think. A little girl with hair like yours and eyes the color of Talon Pass crystal."

"I'm glad you're pleased," Kalena said gently.

"Very pleased, wife. Very pleased, indeed." He kissed her soundly again. "Is that the last of the surprises

you have for me this morning? Is it safe for me to finish my tea and get dressed so we can get out of

here?"

"You don't like surprises?"

"You've thrown enough at me since I met you to make a strong man weak." He gave her a playful slap

on her rear and climbed off the pallet.

"Uh, there's just one other thing, Ridge ..."

He halted halfway to the privacy chamber but didn't turn around. "Let me have it fast. I can't stand it

when you string it out."

"It's not a surprise. Just a question," she assured him. He glanced suspiciously over his shoulder. "Well?"

She hesitated and then asked in a soft little rush, "Do you think I'm too old to enter training as a Healer?"

Ridge looked relieved. "No, I do not think you are too old. I think you would make a very fine Healer,

Kalena. I would be very proud of you." He chuckled. "But then, I already am very proud of you."

She smiled brilliantly. "Thank you, my husband. I am very proud of you, too."

His expression became more serious. "We will make a good marriage, Kalena."

"Yes," she said softly, "I think we will." She would give him everything, she decided, love, respect,

loyalty, passion and even a certain amount of wifely obedience.

The last thought made her smile again. Not too much of the wifely obedience, she told herself. She didn't

want the Fire Whip to grow bored with her.

The creets must surely be getting tired of the trail to the Healers' valley, Kalena decided with a private

smile later that day as she led Ridge and the birds through the shimmering white veil. But the creets

apparently took the attitude that human ways were too irrational ever to be understood; they seemed to

want to ignore the curious events of the past few days. They moved obligingly along the trail into the

fertile valley below

Kalena was aware of Ridge's uneasiness. She knew it would always be this way for him or any other

man in this valley. The sooner she got him back out, the better. Glancing at her stony-faced husband, she

remarked with a sly smile, "Quintel is always going to need women for this particular trade route, isn't he?

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Men are never going to be comfortable here."

Ridge shrugged with a deliberate vagueness. "A man feels out of place here. He knows he doesn't

belong."

"Exactly," Kalena retorted. "And for that reason, males will always make lousy traders here. Only

women will feel at ease enough to strike good bargains with the locals."

Ridge's mouth twitched. "I can see you have learned something of the ways of trading on this venture."

"I've tried to pay attention," Kalena murmured. "It seems to me that since women are so vital to this

route, they should be given the largest portion of the trader's commission."

"Uh, Kalena ..."

"Furthermore, I think it would be a good idea if women were given a wider role in trading ventures in

general. If they're useful on this route, they might be useful on others. What's more, I'll bet they could

handle some of the clerical tasks involved."

"Now, Kalena, you can't just start making sweeping changes in business."

"The world is changing, Ridge."

"There are times, lady wife, when I get the impression you are out to change it single-handedly," Ridge

said with the age-old groan of the long-suffering male.

"From what you've told me, you will be operating this route for Quintel when we return," Kalena went

on enthusiastically. "That would put you in a position to make many changes."

Ridge slanted her a very male grin. "It will be interesting to see what position you assume when you try

to convince me to make these changes. I shall look forward to the negotiations."

Kalena flushed. "Ridge, I'm talking about business, not sex."

"Sometimes it's hard for a man to tell the difference."

"As I once said, you males are a simpleminded lot."

Valica, Arona and the others came toward them as the cry announcing their arrival went up across the

valley floor. By the time Kalena and Ridge reached the first of the cottages, most of the residents of the

valley were on hand.

Kalena dismounted, the Key case in her fingers. Ridge made no move to help her. As long as she

carried the case he could not touch her. He stayed in his saddle, holding the reins of Kalena's creet while

she went forward to meet Valica.

The older woman smiled with a brilliance that held almost as much light as the Key itself. "We knew you

had been successful. We were sure of it. Some wanted to dissolve the white mist that guards the trail, but

I thought it would be best to leave it in place until you returned. Come. The Key must be taken back to

its proper place. You can tell us everything that happened on the way" Without any hesitation, Valica

turned, striking out for the path on the other side of the small valley that led to the ice cave.

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Kalena glanced at Ridge. "It will take a while. Perhaps a couple of hours."

He nodded brusquely. "I'll wait here."

She turned away to follow the others. Only Arona hung back for a moment. She stood in front of

Ridge's creet and examined him with unreadable eyes.

"There is food in the cottage if you wish it."

He inclined his head with a minimum of politeness. "My thanks."

Arona gave him an odd half smile. "You needn't fear, you know. She'll be returning to Crosspurposes

with you." "I know"

Arona hesitated. "She would do better to stay here, but she has a sense of duty and honor that forbid it.