Two weeks later...
Zemira's pregnancy had grown and she too had grown. Her body was bigger; she had been eating too much and though Cassian was not complaining verbally, his eyes complained every single time he saw her eating. She also ate messily which added to the complain in Cassian's eyes.
"For the last time mother, I do not want to leave the house" Zemira said to Verona, who had come to get her out of the house.
"Why not?" Verona asked and Zemira gestured to her body, "Are you seeing me? I am hideous!" "You are beautiful, Zemy." "No, I am not. I look like the cross-breed between a skunk and a squirrel with acorns stuffed in its mouth, just that the stuffed mouth is my bloated belly!"
"Did Cassian tell you that?" Verona asked after she had taken a sip from her cup of tea. "He doesn't voice out his disgust..." "Then there is no---" "...because his eyes do the talking. When he sees me eating, he goes like this" Zemira said and scrunched up her face. "Then when he sees me wiping my mouth after I am done eating, he goes like this" she said and scrunched her face again.
"Ooh!" Verona cringed "He should not look at me with disgust, because this is his baby, he wants it! I do not!" Zemira said and Verona nodded, "You are absolutely right, Zemy. He should look at you with love" "No, he should not look at me with love because I surely do not love him and he does not love me! He should look at me the way he has always looked at me."
"You stressing out is not good for the baby" Verona said as she stood up and Zemira reclined more on the chair, "I do not care. I need to vent out to be happy" she hmphed.
Verona held her shoulders and started massaging it gently, "Breathe Zemy, you need to calm down," her mother said and she scoffed, "What I need is brandy! I have not had a drink since I found out I was pregnant. It has just been tea, tea, tea!" "Drinking is not good for the baby's health, you know. You should consider the baby" "Sure! Let us consider the baby's health, but not mine. Brandy is the only thing that would keep me sane now!"
"You know what? You have been cooped up in the house, that is why you are complaining. You need fresh air! Let us go out." "I just told you mother, I am not going anywhere, especially when I look like this" she gestured to her body and Verona sighed. "Besides, I am having fresh air, in the garden."
"No! This air is dusty, filled with grass and whatnot. Lady Castlebury is hosting a tea party today, we should be there" Verona said and Zemira rolled her eyes, "Even if I wanted to go out, which I do not want to...I would not want to be in a gathering of old married women bragging about their husband's wealth and gossiping about the single people in the town."
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Zemira sighed unhappily while Verona grinned from ear to ear.
They were at the tea party. Verona had used her usual trick; crying till they agreed. It always worked. It was how she had gotten Ivar to get married. She had not really used that on Zemira to get married.
"Mother!" Xylia smiled as she walked towards them while Zemira just looked at her mother, "What is Xylia doing here? This gathering does not really suit her."
Xylia got to them and hugged Verona, then she looked at Zemira, "You got Zemira to finally leave the house" she smiled and Zemira stuck out her tongue at her.
"My lady, you are now married and with child...such childish behavior is inappropriate" Gertrude said and Zemira sat up straight and cleared her throat.
"And what is an ordinary maid doing in the midst of noblewomen?" a woman asked as she scrunched up her nose.
"My lord asked me to always accompany his lady whenever she was going out...and I always obey my lord. If you have any problem with it, you can leave the tea party and go somewhere else" Gertrude said as she bowed.
Zemira snapped her head at her, wide-eyed. What was she doing being rude to other noblewomen? Zemira could tolerate Gertrude's rudeness because back at her father's manor, she did not mind what the servants did, just as long as she was comfortable, so she did not mind her rudeness. She was not sure that Lady Iudry would be understanding.
"How dare you?!" Lady Iudry yelled and flung her palm at Gertrude's face but Gertrude caught it before it hit her, "I advise you take your seat. You would not want to be in a scandal wherein you were found maltreating an ordinary maid who had just accompanied her lady to a tea party" Gertrude smiled slightly.
"Lady Iudry, please let us all enjoy the tea we had come for" Lady Castlebury said with a smile and the woman snatched her hand back from Gertrude's strong grip, then she took her seat.
The whispers started coming in; "As expected of a maid of the mad viscount" "All his staff must be mad" "Perhaps he has transferred the madness to Zemira. She did not even stop that insolent maid" "Poor Verona. All she wanted was for her daughters to marry good men, but her youngest daughter ended up marrying a mad man" "He would probably kill her the way he killed his former wife."
Zemira was hearing it all and she looked uncomfortable. Her mother and sister looked at her, "Zemy, are you alright?" Xylia asked her and Zemira gave a false smile, "Do not worry, the air here is so fresh, that I can almost taste it, dear sister."
"Gossip always comes in when you are famous and successful, and since you are married to a great man such as Lord Monterey, you are bound to be the talk of the town" Gertrude said proudly.
"You hush your mouth! You are the reason why these whispers started. If only you had behaved like the servant that you are, Zemy would not feel this way," Verona tsked at Gertrude who just sighed calmly.
Verona held Zemira's hand, "Zemy, let us leave. This party is noisy anyways, and they do not have good tea" she shook her head, but Zemira smiled, "I am okay, mother."
"Also, how can she be pregnant? Did they not just recently get married?" the whispers continued. "I had heard from one of their servants that she was pregnant before the wedding" some women gasped, "So she is not only mad but also a prostitute" "I have a very good source," someone laughed and Zemira immediately turned her head to where the voice had come from. She knew that voice.
"My brother was courting her and he had caught her sleeping with Mr. Monterey" "Scandalous!" "Poor Lord Camarie" "I had heard he caused quite a scene on the wedding day. "Good riddance actually! He was too good for that prostitute!" the whispers kept on coming in.
Aza? Zemira thought and Aza got up from her seat and her sapphire blue eyes jammed Zemira's brown eyes. Aza gave a mocking bow then she smiled and walked away.
Tears rose to Zemira's eyes and she got up and ran out of the gazebo. "Zemira!" Verona shouted and Gertrude ran after Zemira. "My lady, are you okay?" she asked when she had gotten to the carriage and Zemira looked away, "Can we just go?!" she sobbed and Gertrude signaled the horseman to ride away.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
"So she does not want to leave her room?" Cassian asked and Gertrude shook her head, "She has even refused to eat" "Okay, you can go" Cassian said and Gertrude bowed and left. Cassian took off his reading glasses and kept some papers aside then he got up and left for Zemira's room.
He knocked on her door, "Go away!" she muffled and he knocked again, "Are you deaf? I said go away!" she repeated again and he sighed and took out his dagger then he picked the lock with it.
"I said go aw---" Zemira was saying, but she stopped when she saw Cassian leaning on the door frame with folded arms, as soon as she had raised her head from her makeup and tear-stained pillow.
"I heard what happened today. Are you alright?" he asked and she got up from the bed, more tears spewing out of her eyes.
"This is all your fault!" she said as she flung her palm at his face but he caught her wrist, "It takes two to tango, Lady Cobain. Why did you not stop me when I opened your corset? Why did you not stop me when I planted soft kisses along your jaw?" he asked as his other hand traced the outline of her jaw.
Zemira tried to squirm her wrist out of his hand but his grip only tightened the more. "Why did you not stop me when my hands went under your skirt? Why did you not stop me when my hands roamed freely around your body?" "Let go of me! That was a mistake!" she said as she struggled.
"Mistake? I do not remember you pushing me away. I remember you moaning my name and dragging me closer. Like this!" he said and circled his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Her breasts crushing on his hard chest.
Her face heated up and he smirked, "See...it was not a mistake." She pushed him away and she dragged her bodice up, "What is it you want?" she asked as she scrubbed the tears off her face.
"Well, I had heard that you refused to eat, and you do know that you need to eat for my baby to be healthy?" he raised a brow and she turned to him, "How about you keep the baby in a makeshift womb and then you can keep your baby in the healthiest way possible!" she yelled.
She was still upset.
He sighed, "Do you want me to teach you how to ride Gerta?" he asked and she looked at him with wide brown eyes, a smile forming on her face.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Cassian put his hands on Zemira's hands which were on the reins and she jerked her hands back, "What are you doing?" "Holding you just in case Gerta gets too wild and throws you off" he answered and put her hands back on the reins, with his hands on hers.
She ignored the increment of heartbeat and put the blame on the fact that they were horse riding, but Gerta was just walking.
"Me? Umm...there are two people on the horse" she looked at him like he was a fool. "I know, but I can keep my balance on my girl, you can not, so you would be thrown off," he glanced at her. "You would not save me if I was getting thrown off?" she asked, a smirk digging into her cheek.
She was expecting a snarky comment, but he looked into her eyes and said, "I would."
He said it with such sincerity that it made her rethink if she wanted to learn how to ride Gerta. Blush rose to her face, ears and neck and she immediately looked away, embarrassed.
"Only for my baby," he finished and held her hands firmly over the reins, then he whispered in her ears, "Want to pick up the pace?" She turned to look at him and wished she had not. He was very close to her.
"I thought horse riding was among the do not's" she said as she looked forward, trying to not think about their proximity and he shrugged, "Well, I can make an exception on days you are feeling down" he said and kicked Gerta's then she started galloping.
Zemira felt alive again. She had no worries in the world. It was just her, Gerta, the wind, the sound of Gerta's hooves beating against the earth, the smell of the grass and...Cassian.
Her eyes went to his hands on hers and she noticed that her hands fit perfectly in his.
"Faster?" he asked, breaking into her thoughts and she nodded.
He kicked Gerta again and slapped the reins on her back and she started running faster. A grin broke out on her face as she felt the wind in her her and on her face.
After riding for a while, Cassian led Gerta back to the stables and he jumped down and stretched out his hands to Zemira. She was about to jump down but he cocked his head, "Do not think of anything stupid. You are with my child" he said and she sighed and allowed Cassian to carry her down.
"Do you know what will make this day better?" she asked as soon as her feet touched the ground. "What?" he looked at her and she grinned, "A bottle of brandy! Do you think I can sneak some in because I am down today?" she nudged his ribs and he rolled his eyes and started walking.
"You are not drinking, Lady Cobain" "Oh, but why not?" she asked and he stopped walking and faced her, "Because you are with child! After you safely deliver my baby, I will buy you all the rum in the world" "You are exaggerating, but I will take you up on that!" she shrugged and they continued walking.
There was silence after that, and although it was comfortable, Cassian felt like he had to apologize about what happened to her at the tea party. He cleared his throat, "I apologize about whatever happened at the tea party. You got married to the Mad Viscount, gossips are bound to come, but you will get used to it."
"Did you get used to it?" she asked and he looked at her, "Get used to what?" "People saying you killed your wife and that you are mad." He chuckled, "I am mad so it does not affect me. I will see you at lunch?" he asked and she smiled, "Of course."
He turned to go, but she called his name, "Cassian?" he turned with his hands at his back, "Yes Miss Cobain?" "Thank you for making me feel better," she smiled and he gave a small smile. A real one this time, not like the other smiled he used to give her. And although it was small, it warmed her heart.
"I did it for my unborn baby. You have to be happy for you to eat as grossly as possible, which is healthy for the baby" he smirked then he went inside.
Zemira looked down at her belly, "Maybe, you are not such a burden afterall" she smiled.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Rain poured heavily and the servants ran around closing all the windows and dropping down the drapes.
Zemira cleaned her hair with the towel around her neck and walked into her room, and saw that her bed was drenched in water.
She looked up and saw water leaking from the roof down to the bed. "You have got to be joking!" she scoffed and threw her towel on the bed and stormed off to Cassian's room.
"I knew that room was no good! Even your baby agreed with me, and now it is---" she stopped talking as soon as she entered his room. What she saw rendered her speechless.
A woman in a robe came out of the bathroom holding Cassian's hand. From her wet dark brown hair, to the water dripping down Cassian's abs, Zemira knew they had bathed together. But why? Cassian had a wife he loved, right?
Zemira felt crushed. The woman immediately let go of Cassian's hand, "This looks odd, but I assure you, I am not---" "Zelia, go to your room else you will catch a cold" Cassian said without taking his eyes off Zemira. Zelia ran gave a reassuring smile to her, then ran out of the room.
Zemira tried to hold back the tears which she did not know why they were there in the first place.
"Who is she?" she could not stop herself from asking. "I do not see how that concerns you" "I am your wife! It is not appropriate to bring another woman to the house. Even if you want to, at least have some shame and do it when I am not here!"
"It seems all the pleasant memories you have with me is making you forget one thing," he said and started walking towards her. With each step he took forward, she took one backwards, till her back touched the wall and there was no place to go.
Though it was cold, she felt hot, perhaps because he had taken up so much of her space by cornering her.
He stopped and leaned closer to her, "We are not truly married, according to you, we are just bound by a thread, which would take time before it is eventually cut. So even if I bring another woman to my manor, I expect you to not nag me about it," he said huskily.
It was not a question, but she nodded anyways. "Good" he smirked and stood up straight.
He walked back to his bed, "Now, why did you come here?" he asked and she immediately remembered the reason she had stormed inside his room.
"The roof in my room is leaking, and now my bed is drenched" "Impossible! I had that roof repaired" "Well whoever you assigned to do it, did not do a good job!" He sighed, "I will have someone come and take a look, first thing in the morning. Now let me sleep" he said and was about to take off his towel but then he looked at her, "Privacy?" he asked.
She quickly turned her back and tried to keep her mind, which was racing with several images of Cassian without the towel, calm.
"Just in case you have forgotten, I have no place no sleep tonight" she said as she took steady breaths. "Sleep in Gertrude's room" he said matter-of-factly and she could not believe her ears.
She turned, "A noblewoman sleeping in a servant's room?" "Turn back!" he shouted as his hands went to cover his genitals. Zemira immediately turned back, her face, a deep shade of red.
She cleared her throat, "I will not sleep in a servant's room!" "Then sleep in the living room" he said as he wore his baggy trousers and a ruffled shirt.
She turned around, "I am the lady of this manor and I am carrying your baby. I will not sleep in the living room when a common prostitute has her own room." Prostitute? he thought and shook his head. No need to engage her in meaningless conversations.
"What you do want then?" he asked with his hands on his hips. She cleared her throat, "I want this room" "Then where would I sleep?" he asked and before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "With me!"
She slapped her hand over her mouth and looked at Cassian who furrowed his brows in confusion. "It slipped. I meant we can share this room...for tonight" she said as she slowly dropped her hand from her mouth.
"This room is..." Cassian was saying but he stopped and licked his lips. "You are right. Sleep in this room, because you are carrying my child" he said and left the room.
She followed him out, "Where are you going? I said that we should share the room!" she shouted and some of the servants looked at her.
"She is forcing herself on the general" one whispered and Zemira slammed the door on their faces.
She laid on the bed and saw his towel beside her. She pushed it out of the bed and huffed, "I do not care where he sleeps. He can sleep in the leaking room for all I care!" she said and closed her eyes.
Deep down, she knew that she cared. She cared so much. But she did not want to admit it. She did not want to admit that she was slowly falling for the mad viscount.