Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

M alissa stood in her chamber, looking up at the portrait of King Wulfgang that hung on the wall facing her bed. It was noon again, and the warm, golden sunshine flooding in through the windows imbued the pigments with an almost lifelike vibrancy. The portrait had been done a few decades earlier, and it depicted a much more youthful Wulfgang than the one Malissa knew. In the painting, his face was broad and masculine, his cheeks rosy and sanguine, his beard and hair black and rich and regal. These days, the real Wulfgang was gaunt and gray, with pallid skin and rapidly retreating hair.

Nevertheless, Malissa could see the connections between this image of the past and the man she had married. The petulant lips, the aquiline nose, and most of all the eyes—the cold, hard, overcast eyes. One of the reasons Malissa had always hated this painting was the way those eyes seemed to follow her around the room. She could even feel them watching her as she lay in bed at night.

It was not a comforting feeling.

But she was grateful for the portrait now. The likeness, while not up to date, captured enough of the king's essence to serve her purpose later tonight. Now she only needed to figure out how to get it off the wall. She stepped forward and reached for the frame.

"Excellent, isn't it?"

The voice startled Malissa so badly she almost cried out. She drew her hand away from the portrait's frame and whirled to find Dr. Jaeger standing just inside the door of her chamber, watching.

"My apologies, Your Highness," the man said, bowing deeply. "I did not mean to startle you."

"How long have you been standing there?" Malissa asked.

Jaeger rose. "Only a moment, I assure you. I should have announced my presence sooner, but I was struck by the beauty of the scene. I'm certain the king would be pleased to see his young wife gazing upon his likeness with such devotion."

As usual, it was impossible to tell if the man was being ironic or not.

"I wasn't expecting you," Malissa said.

"No? I thought you had sent for me."

"I didn't," Malissa said, slightly perplexed.

"Hm. A miscommunication, perhaps. I saw Droanna downstairs. She mentioned that you had sustained an injury on your back?"

Well, damn.

An hour ago, Malissa had taken a hot bath in the room adjacent to her bedchamber. She had missed her regularly scheduled bath the day before, and she was feeling especially dirty following Beliath's three "kisses." The scrapes she had sustained two nights ago in the forest had already disappeared—she'd always been an unusually quick healer. However, Droanna had noticed some light bruises on her upper back.

Malissa had told the maid she had sustained the bruises when she fell off her horse the day before. Admittedly, it was not the best excuse, but it was better than explaining how she'd really gotten them—by falling when she had fled the darkstone ring.

It was annoying that Droanna had told Dr. Jaeger about the bruises, but the handmaid was only trying to be helpful, Malissa supposed. It was her own fault for not doing a better job of reassuring the poor woman.

"Oh, the bruises," she said now to Jaeger. "They're nothing, really. Just a little bump, that's all."

"Would you mind if I inspect them?" Jaeger said.

"Now?"

Jaeger nodded. "You are pregnant with Wulfgang's child. The king would want me to inspect any injury, no matter how minor."

Malissa was not keen on being inspected. She'd already had to endure an unpleasantly thorough examination at the doctor's hands on the night of her wedding, before Wulfgang had taken her to bed for the very first time. However, she did not wish to arouse suspicion now by refusing the man. Malissa may have been the queen of this land, but everyone knew Jaeger was in charge of the castle during the king's absence. She could not refuse him.

"Very well," she said.

Jaeger gestured toward the window. "The light is stronger over here, Your Highness."

Malissa crossed to the window, doing her best to hide her displeasure. She wasn't merely unhappy about the man inspecting her body. She was nervous he might question her story about how she had received the bruises.

How much had Droanna told him, exactly?

Malissa was wearing a crimson gown, laced in the back. Dr. Jaeger moved around behind her and unfastened the bodice with his long, nimble fingers. Malissa let the top of the gown slide down her shoulders, exposing her upper back. She held on to the front, to keep it from falling down and exposing her breasts too. She shivered as Jaeger's spindly fingers caressed the bare skin of her back. The man hummed thoughtfully as he probed and prodded.

"Does it hurt?" he asked at last.

"Only a little. I didn't even notice it until Droanna pointed it out during my bath."

"She tells me you were thrown from your horse?"

"Oh, not thrown," Malissa said, trying to keep her voice light. "It was my own clumsy fault. My foot slipped from the stirrup while I was dismounting, and I took a little tumble, that's all. Really, it's nothing."

"It may seem like nothing," Jaeger said, "but you are pregnant now. You must be extra careful. No more riding until after the baby comes, alright?"

"Fine," Malissa said.

She hoped that would conclude the doctor's inspection. She worked the fabric of her gown back up over her shoulders, but the man did not lace it for her as she had expected. Instead, he just stood behind her silently. Malissa could feel his eyes moving over her body.

"Dr. Jaeger?"

"You know," he said. "By three months, a woman is usually beginning to show the first signs of pregnancy. A discernible abdominal mound. A slight enlargement of the breasts…"

"Not always," Malissa said. "And it hasn't quite been three months yet."

"I suppose that's true. I'm merely saying, Your Highness, if you were not actually pregnant—"

"I am," she said. "I assure you. I have not received my blood since the king's departure."

"If you were not pregnant," Jaeger continued. "I would be willing to help you."

Malissa tensed.

"Sir, I do not know what you mean."

"Oh, I think you do, Your Highness. I am a man, and my features are not so dissimilar to the king's. The difference is that I am younger than he is, and my seed still has some potency left."

Malissa's face flooded with heat. She took a big step away from Jaeger, then spun to face him.

"Get out," she hissed.

Jaeger closed the distance between them. His expression was calm, his eyes dark and cool.

"I have in my laboratory certain potions which can accelerate the gestation of a child. The king would never need to know the baby is not his own. I am good at keeping secrets, Your Highness."

"Well, I'm not. You had better hope, for your sake, Dr. Jaeger, that I do not tell the king about this. Now get out."

Malissa immediately wished she had not said those words. She saw something flicker behind the man's eyes. Something dangerous. For a moment she thought he might actually attack her. She drew a deep breath and prepared to scream bloody murder if the man so much as touched her.

There was a knock at the door.

"Your Highness?" Droanna's voice came through the wood.

"Come in," Malissa called.

The door opened, and the maid entered bearing a tray with Malissa's midday meal. When she saw that the queen had company, her eyes widened ever so slightly.

"Oh, Dr. Jaeger," she said, giving a slight bow. "I didn't know you were in here, sir."

Malissa wondered how the situation must look to the maidservant. Here she was, the queen, alone in her bedchamber with a man who was not her husband, and the laces of her bodice were undone. It was not a good image.

"Dr. Jaeger was just examining my bruises," Malissa explained, and she placed a hand over her stomach. "He said the baby should be fine, isn't that right, Dr. Jaeger?"

"Quite so." He hesitated a moment, then added, "Please, remember what I told you."

He bowed and departed.

Droanna went to the table by the wall and set down the tray of food. Though the maidservant didn't say anything, Malissa could see she was curious about the doctor's last cryptic comment.

"He told me to refrain from riding until after the child comes," Malissa said. "Just to be safe."

Droanna smiled brightly. "Oh, that's good advice, Your Highness! Here, let me tie up your gown for you…"