Page 56 of Stolen Princess's Secret

She lay back and swiped at her nose. How had she not felt that? Had she been too mired in righteous indignation to notice a popped blood vessel? ‘You said blood. I thought I was miscarrying.’

‘If you could wait there in silence,’ he pleaded even harder.

‘What’s going on?’ said a gruff voice from the doorway, a voice Claudia would know anywhere.

‘Oh, hi. You’re back.’

‘I never left. My departure was delayed by a wounded falcon and I was worried about my wife. I repeat, why is the King’s valet in your—our—bedroom?’

‘Thank God you’re back,’ muttered Rudolpho. ‘She’s all yours. She has nosebleed, fever and she’s not herself. I’ve sent for help.’

‘I thought I was having a miscarriage, Rudolpho thinks I’ve been poisoned by the bath oil, and Cas wants to know when to expect me for lunch.’

‘Barking, the lot of you,’ Tomas muttered, and turned to the other man. ‘Why are you still here?’

‘Possessive.’ Claudia approved.

Rudolpho strode to the bathroom, reappeared with the Venetian glass bottle of oil in hand. ‘I’ll be in touch,’ he said, and vanished.

‘Care to tell me what’s been troubling you for days?’ Tomas asked with an excess of bite. ‘Or would you rather I hear it from somebody else?’

Possessive and out of sorts. ‘I had a little spotting the other day.’ He looked none the wiser. ‘Of blood. From down here.’ She motioned with her hand and watched all colour drain from his face. ‘The doctor said that can be very normal but to take it easy, so I have been. Except now I have a fever and I’m bleeding from my nose and here we are.’

‘And where exactly does the poison theory fit into all of this?’

‘I cannot be responsible for Rudolpho’s wild imaginings. Only mine.’

‘You’re telling me you thought you were miscarrying and chose not to tell me, and waved me off to work this morning as if this was just another day in the life of the world’s most independent woman. Did I not have a right to know?’ His voice was getting louder. ‘Did you think I wouldn’t cope?’

‘I didn’t know! And I didn’t want to worry you in case there was nothing to worry about.’

‘Because you’ve got this miscarriage event covered all by yourself, is that right? Was all your wedding night talk about needing to lean on me sometimes a lie?’

‘No!’

‘Because I don’t see you leaning, Claudia. And I need you to.’

‘Not for every little thing! I said that too, on our wedding night.’ She swiped at her nose with the side of her hand—it was bleeding again, or maybe it had never stopped. ‘Damn.’

‘Don’t move.’ He pointed his finger at her for good measure and went into the bathroom, returning with tissues and a damp facecloth. ‘Thinking you might be losing your baby is no small concern. Thinking you might have been poisoned by the bath oil—why haven’t you ever raised that as a possibility?’

‘Because I doubt it is one.’ The wet cloth felt cool against her burning skin as she lay back against the pillow and savoured the temporary relief. ‘I’m not that disliked, am I?’ Maybe she was. ‘I have a nosebleed and a temperature. Or a fever that might have caused the nosebleed. The doctor will shed some light.’

‘And the other bleeding?’ He turned the rapidly warming cloth on her head over to the cool side. ‘What happened there?’

‘A little bit of blood on my panties, not much, but I panicked. The doctor wasn’t too worried but did say to take it easy for a while. I didn’t want to worry you until I had to,’ she murmured again. ‘I didn’t want to lose you.’

‘Lose me how?’

She deliberately kept her eyes closed so she wouldn’t have to look at him. ‘You only married me because of the baby. I know that. The world knows that.’

‘I married you because I’m worthy, and if you think I’d leave you if you lost this baby, you’re out of your feverish mind. You have to stop working so hard for others! I’ve asked for this and now I’m begging. Stop! It won’t make us love you any less. How can you not know this? Get it through your head!’

Her Tomas was yelling now. It was a sight to behold and somehow it did make her feel loved.

She was so screwed up.

‘You love me?’ she asked quietly. ‘Really?’

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