The Sorcerer's Bride

When his wife practically fled from the embarrassing situation that they were in, Kaldrek merely smiled to himself. He was okay with how shy his wife was. After all, he did find it pretty cute. Even more so because she often would act as if she was not when they were alone but as soon as she realized that someone else was there then she got flustered.

He was not too surprised when his king came out of the room and gestured him to follow. Kaldrek fell in step by his best friend. They passed Hazel's knight who had leaned against the wall as he waited on her patiently.

"So, what do you need me to do?" Kaldrek grinned at his friend. He felt in a remarkably good mood today.

"Oh, I just wanted to talk. Nothing major." Jayesh sounded casual, "Unless you had anything you needed to get done."

"Nothing too pressing, and anyway, I've been distracted lately." Kaldrek admitted calmly, "I am sure you have heard of the girls' suspicions about Zylv."

Jayesh beamed, "Aye, Fayre told me that you might be a father soon enough…" A slyly teasing look came onto his face, "So Zylv has been distracting you?"

Kaldrek sighed. Yes, she did, but, "Not what I meant. At least not how you meant it, I was worried about her yesterday, and I will admit that I am feeling a bit, well, out of sorts, thinking of the possibility of being a father. Makes it hard to concentrate. Once I get used to the idea, it should not be a problem."

Jayesh was laughing now, "Well you probably were not expecting her to be pregnant so soon. I mean you've been married, what? A little over a month?" he paused for a minute and then shook his head, "And she is already pregnant? You have been busy, my friend."

A rush of heat went up Kaldrek's cheeks as he felt embarrassed, "Shut up. It's not like… I mean…" He faltered uncomfortably. This was not the sort of conversation he felt comfortable having, "If she is already pregnant it is because Xi'eli decided to bless us with a child."

Jayesh placed a hand on Kaldrek's shoulder. "Of course, but that does not negate your involvement."

"Jayesh…." Kaldrek shoved the hand off his shoulder, "Drop it. I know you want to tease me, but there are boundaries you know."

Jayesh paused and looked at him, "Sorry. I got a bit carried away."

"It happens. Just leave me and Zylv's private life alone, please." Kaldrek smiled to show that he was not truly mad and that he was hardly affected by the teasing.

"Okay, okay," Jayesh was still grinning, "Still, on the subject of children… do you want to be a father. I mean I am always going on about my own wishes for parenthood, but you've never really mentioned to me anything about it…"

"Well, I do… Zylv wants it so badly that it is contagious. She got me thinking about it and now I look forward to it."

"Fair enough." Jayesh nodded. They had reached his study now, so he pushed the door open and headed to his chair, "Anyway, I really hope that you will be a father before the year is out."


Kaldrek perched on one of the other chairs, "Thank you. Though… I think that might just be because of that plan you had for our children."

"It's a good plan. They can do everything together, just like we did."

"Perhaps, but they may be different than us, you know."

"Of course, there will be differences. For one thing, hopefully your child will be more open about his feelings than you were."

"And yours may be less meddling."

Both of them grinned at their jibes. Neither one really took offense at the others statements as they were true.