Prince of Attania, 2

As soon as he was able, Jet returned to Wister and his increasingly pregnant wife.

Jet scooped Madelyne into his arms, delighted to feel her belly pressing into him. It had been a long time since he’d felt that. Madelyne responded by kissing him passionately and practically dragging him out of the receiving hall to their private rooms.

“I’ve missed you,” she mumbled against his chest while he unbuttoned her loose-fitting dress.

“Mmmh,” he agreed as he deposited her gently on their bed. She was magnificent! “It moved!” Jet placed both hands on her belly to better feel his child to be. He transformed to wind so he could truly feel, only to have Madelyne back away, drawing her knees up.

“No,” she said. Then louder, “No, Jet. I want to see you!”

Jet could do that—he wanted both, actually. But physical was good, too. Very good, despite the growing child in Madelyne’s center. After, he held her tenderly for a long while.

“No.” Madelyne pushed away from Jet when he went to merge with her again. “Not until after the baby is born.”

“Why not?”

Madelyne shook her head stubbornly. “We don’t know what it will do to the baby. I’d rather wait.”

Just as Attan said, Madelyne refused to merge with him while she carried their child inside her. It didn’t make any sense to Jet. One of the things which had attracted him to Madelyne in the first place was her willingness to accept her Elemental nature. She had merged with him on the night they met. Jet reminded her of that.

“And we will again,” Madelyne promised. “Just as soon as the baby’s born.”

Jet frowned. “The baby too?”

Madelyne wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Maybe not right away . . . .”

“Why not!” Jet jumped up from the bed. “It’s my child too!” Even as he said it, Jet realized that it was not necessarily so, according to royal Family tradition. The mothers had sole control over their children until their children showed signs of talent with the elements. Then they were sent to Arden for training. Then the King might have some say in their upbringing, if he was interested. Unfortunately, Jet had not been brought up royal.

Madelyne jumped up, too. “What if you go into him while he’s half-formed and he—he—turns out like Attan? He’s not ready—I’m not ready for that yet!”

Jet took a step back in shock.

“I—I didn’t mean it like that,” Madelyne stammered. “Attan’s a fine boy, but he’s not--,”

“He’s not what?” Jet growled.

“He’s different, that’s all,” Madelyne whispered. “I don’t want our son to be thought of as different.”

Jet wanted to be mad at her, but she was so sincere. His lips quirked. “Our son? You think our child will be a boy?”

Madelyne sniffed, and nodded.

“I could find out for sure.”

Smiling because she recognized that Jet was teasing her now, Madelyne placed her hands protectively over her stomach. “That’s all right,” she replied.

“When he’s older, you’ll let him merge.”

“Of course. When he’s ready.”

That would have to be good enough. How different she was from Doll!

Now that he knew Madelyne and his new child were safe, Jet could return to Darcy, where he was long overdue for his visit with Lorra. He had other issues to resolve as well, and Darcy was conveniently central. But the truth of the matter was Lorra was jealous.

Jet left Wister for Darcy the next day, promising to return in time for the little one’s birth in early summer. He had put his duties in Darcy aside for far too long already. One of those duties met him at the front door, none too pleased with him.

“Jet, twice now you’ve given up our time together so you could go gallivanting across Atttania.” Lorra pouted. “When is it going to be my turn?”

Gallivanting? Jet pressed his lips together to prevent saying something he would regret. He’d come back to the capital, leaving Daniel to pick up the pieces out west. He really should have gone to Parrion to meet with Ben about that other situation, but he’d come back here instead to appease Lorra. He planned to communicate with Ben and the others while he pursued his Kingly duties. “You’ve got me now,” he murmured, enfolding her in his arms.

Lorra wasn’t afraid to merge, though she wouldn’t do it after sex. His wives did talk to each other, Jet realized, and Madelyne’s fears had rubbed off on Lorra, too, despite Doll’s assurances. Doll had been the wife to conceive in Elemental form, resulting in Attan, but she also hadn’t been able to conceive another child, and nobody was quite sure why.

Whenever Jet could get away, he went to his office in the basement of the King’s mansion, usually late at night while Lorra was asleep. It had been the old King’s office—or his escape—years earlier. Jet was beginning to understand why he needed one. Not only Lorra demanded his attention. Every Family cousin with an agenda sought Jet out when they heard he was in residence at Darcy. How did the old King ever get anything done?

Oh, he didn’t, for the most part. Merrell did. Jet was more hands-on than that, although Daniel had proved to be a lifesaver, especially in the west where Jet had left a bit of a mess behind.

“Reg, can you talk?” Jet picked up his communicator and sank down in a comfortable overstuffed chair by the bookshelves. This was the old secret library, secret no more, but off-limits to all but Jet and those he gave permission to use. “Has the kid arrived? How is it working out? Good, good. Glad to hear it.”

Jet relaxed slightly on hearing Reggie’s confirmation. He had asked Ben to send Attan’s little school friend, Greg Jadock, to the northern branch of the Sons. He still suspected the kid might know something about his brother’s whereabouts. Up north, he would be both isolated and under Reggie’s watchful eye.

Ben had already sent men to the Jadock farm. Ostensibly, they were farm hands, and since the old man had lost both his sons, he really did need the extra help. And it had the added bonus of keeping Jadock’s farm under Ben’s control. If Tom Jadock showed up at his father’s farm, the Sons would know about it.

To date, there had been no sighting of Tom Jadock at all. It was as if he had disappeared completely when he slipped away from his prison in the underground Parrion. He’d done it before. Jet guessed that the young man had an extensive network of accomplices throughout Attania; otherwise, how could he so easily slip through their fingers? He still thought the younger brother had something to do with it, which is why he was just as glad the boy was Reg’s problem now, and wouldn’t be anywhere near his son anymore. Attan didn’t need friends like that.

Attan had volunteered to go back to Midver, in case Tom Jadock showed up there again. Once Daniel took care of the problems in Tashkan, he would tackle the Jadock problem too. Perhaps bringing the entire might of the enforcers to bear would finally catch the elusive non-family criminal.

Attan’s reports on the light elementals bothered Jet, too. Why did the bands of colored lights throw themselves into the sea? Why, in the Eastern Sea, did they appear to hit an invisible wall? Attan wanted to take a ship out past the immediate coastline to investigate further, and Jet agreed it was a good idea. He wanted to go, too, but didn’t know how he could, with everything he was expected to do as King.

There was so much they did not understand about their heritage. Even the King’s library had gaping holes in its information. Jet had learned a lot on his own, and more from Aylard First. There were times he wished the old Elemental had not chosen to release his physical body and return to his elemental state. He could have used Aylard’s advice. Aylard had been the last of the originals, formed, not born, who chose to become physical and, like Jet, had been able to release his physical form at will.

Jet put away the communicator. Some nights he spent hours trying to sort it all out. Warm breath tickled his ear. He turned just as Lorra slid into his lap, solid and warm. “You don’t have to do everything alone, Jet,” she murmured.

Jet’s arm tightened around her. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Why aren’t you?” Lorra countered. “I heard from Doll. She’s worried about you.”

“Me? Why would she be worried about me? I’m fine.” Jet snuggled Lorra a little more comfortably in his lap.

Lorra smiled. “She said you’d say that.”

Jet sighed. “I don’t mean to be distracted. It’s just I’ve got a lot on my mind these days.”

“Jet. I’m Queen in Darcy. Use me. I can talk to the cousins, relay your position on some things. That will free you up to worry about other things.” Lorra’s smile deepened. “Like being a father—again.”

“What!” Jet nearly dumped Lorra off his lap. “You’re having a baby?” At Lorra’s happy nod, Jet lost his hold on his physical form and showered the darkened library with light. He moved through Lorra and felt the little life within her. He took back his body when he realized she hadn’t transformed. “You, too?” he asked.

“It’s only until after the baby is born,” Lorra said.

At least Lorra had let him merge through her physical form. Madelyne hadn’t even allowed that. “Fine,” he agreed. “But I have some news to tell you, also.”

“News?”

“When I went through you, I felt two lives, not one. We’re having twins, Lorra.” Jet grinned widely.

Lorra proved to be a valuable asset to Jet in Darcy. She knew more about Family connections than Jet, and she knew when to push and when to give in. Soon, cousins were deferring to Lorra’s decisions without demanding to see Jet. A lot of that had to do with Lorra’s rapidly expanding waistline. Obviously, she had a lot of pull with the King. When it was time for Madelyne to give birth, Lorra shooed Jet off with a wry smile.

“I’ll be fine,” she reassured him. “I’m not due for several months still. Madelyne needs you now. And Attania needs to see their King attend the birth of his next child.” She nudged him away. “Yes, this is big news. If you want to get there before the television cameras, you’d better go.”

Even as pure wind, Jet didn’t make it to Wister before the news crews did. He found out later that they had been camping out for weeks so they wouldn’t miss anything. “Where are the enforcers Daniel assigned?” he asked. The enforcers should have kept the cameras out.

“I asked the television reporters to come,” Madelyne said. She moved slowly, but otherwise seemed healthy. “I wanted them to record our son’s birth.”

Jet grinned. “You’re still certain it’s a boy?”

“We’re about to find out.” Madelyne grimaced. “Come on, King Jet. Let’s meet your new son.”

He helped her to the room they had prepared for the birth, mildly thankful that the cameras remained outside. He didn’t remember it being this involved, or this scary, when Attan was born. He held Madelyne’s hand the entire time, and it was a long time, but he saw her vindicated when the tiny boy was finally born. “I told you so,” she whispered weakly through her smiles.

Jet held the tiny life carefully in his hands at Madelyne’s insistence, and then the cameras were allowed in. “King Jet, King Jet! Is it true? You have a son? What will you name him?”

Jet blinked into the cameras. He had another son. This one was as much a part of him as Attan. He glanced at Madelyne, unsure of how to respond to the last question, but apparently the naming of the royal child belonged to the King. Madelyne nodded encouragingly.

“Zephyr—Little Wind,” Jet said fondly, stroking the baby’s downy black hair.

Much later, after the news people had gone and Madelyne slept in their own big bed, Jet stared down at his newest son where he lay in his own small bed alongside his mother. The child stirred and opened tiny eyes as black as Jet’s own. He couldn’t leave it alone. Despite Madelyne’s wishes, Jet went in to the child and felt the spark which made him Family. Coming to himself again, Jet grinned. He was aptly named. Wind was strong in this one.