Zemira stirred awake and opened her eyes and saw Gertrude staring at her, "Oh she wakes...finally!" Gertrude said exasperatedly and got up from her chair then she left and Zemira closed her eyes again.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw Cassian staring at her. "Cassian?" she said as she tried to sit up but he pushed her down, "The doctor said you are still weak" he said and her mind went to her baby, "My baby!" she said as he held her belly.
The servants bowed and left the room then Cassian looked at her, "I thought you hated the baby and called it a burden" he smirked and she looked at her belly, "Where's Stern?" "Locked up in the palace. Soteria took the whole thing personal but I am sure that the duke of Leorda will get him released".
Zemira breathed a sigh of relief and looked at her belly. She did not even want to imagine what would have happened if Stern had hit her. A thought crossed her mind; Cassian had saved her from Stern, does that mean he heard what she had said concerning the baby?
"Zemira, I---" "Did you hear it?" she asked as she looked at him and he raised a brow, "Did I hear what?" She sighed. He had not heard it. "Nevermind, I was talking about the---" "I may not be the woman in the painting above the hearth but I have a special place in Cassian's heart as the mother of his heir" he quoted her.
Heat rose up to her face and she looked away, embarrassed. "Zemira, you are---" "I do not love you!" she blurted out. She wanted to slap herself for blurting out but she found herself continuing, "I do not hate you either, well sometimes, you can be an arrogant bastard and I hate you in those times, but normally, I do not hate you. You are different from what my mother had told me about you and from what people say" she said and picked her nails, "What I am trying to say is that I do not regret carrying your child and I consider you as a friend".
She looked at him. There was no sign of disgust or contempt on his face. There was no scowl either. His lips lifted up and spread into a smile. It was the smile he had on his face when he was talking about Gerta.
He took her hand in his, "I do not love you too". Why did she feel sad when he said those words? "I also do not hate you and you were right, you do have a special place in my heart, as the mother of my baby. Which is why I will do anything to protect you" he smiled.
Zemira knew he was talking about the baby. He wanted to protect her because of the baby, not because he cared about her. Everything they were doing was for the baby. Maybe these feelings within her were just her hormones going crazy because she was pregnant. She hoped that was the case.
She slipped her hand out of his, "How is your belly?" she asked and he looked at his abdomen, "I was once a general. I have dealt with much more pain than this" "I am sorry" "I deserved it. I overreacted. I am sorry for yelling when you did your best to help me".
They smiled at each other before Cassian got up, "Get some more rest" he said and left.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
It was evening and Zemira was back on her feet. She was taking a walk in the courtyard then she saw Cassian riding Gerta...with Zelia. They were laughing. What is so funny? Zemira thought as she squeezed her skirt in anger. Zelia saw her looking at them so she waved. Zemira scoffed and continued her walk.
Zelia dropped her hand, "Why do I get the feeling that your new wife hates me?" she asked and Cassian smirked, "Why do I get the feeling that the women in my life hates each other?" "What do you mean?" Zelia asked.
"Noelle was saying something to me about me not finding happiness in Zemira. I figured she hated her" he shrugged "That is because she is still in love with you" "She is married and has a son!" "So what? You are married to Zemira and you are about to have a baby, yet you are still in love with Nola". "I am different" "You really are not" Zelia said as she kicked Gerta and Gerta went faster.
"I am!" "You are not!" "I am!" they argued and then he pushed her off Gerta. "Arrgghh!" she screamed as she fell, "You son of a motherless goat!" she said as she soon as she got up.
He circled her with Gerta, "Insulting our dead mother? Not really funny, Zelia" he smirked and she furrowed her brows, "Just wait till I catch you!" she tsked and he stuck out his tongue at her.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Gertrude doled out soup into Zemira's soup plate then she heard giggling and laughing. Zemira looked up and saw Cassian and Zelia.
They were about to sit down but Gertrude spoke up, "Are you not supposed to wash up after horse riding?" "We will do that later. Right now, we are famished!" Cassian said as he sat down. "Loosen up a little, Gertrude" Zelia hit her hand and Gertrude rolled her eyes and walked away.
Zemira looked at Cassian who gave her a small smile. Zelia used that opportunity to dump mashed potatoes into Cassian's soup. "Zelia!" Cassian looked at her and she grinned, "That is for pushing me earlier".
"You know I do not like mashed potatoes in my soup" "You know I do not like being pushed off a horse. No one likes being pushed off a horse" she stuck out her tongue at him.
Cassian tore out a chicken lap and plummeted it into Zelia's soup. She did not like her chicken in her broth. "Chicken should always be eaten separately", was what she always said.
Zelia scooped mashed potatoes and started slinging them at Cassian while he threw pieces of chicken at her. Gertrude just sighed and watched them behave like the children she had seen growing up till their parents died.
Zemira gripped the table cloth as she tried to calm herself. Mashed potatoes and chicken were flying left and right. It was nice seeing Cassian behave childish. But it was also irritating. Maybe if she was not pregnant and if he was not throwing pieces of chicken, she would have found it adorable.
"Stop it!" she yelled and Cassian and Zelia froze. Gertrude bowed and left. "Stop behaving like children! First of all, you came in here all sweaty and grimy from horse riding and now you are slinging potatoes and chicken at each other. In case you were not told, a dining room is a place for eating and not throwing food. Take your childish behavior some place else" Zemira said and served mashed potatoes in her soup and then she put a chicken breast in it too.
She took a spoonful of it and ate. Cassian and Zelia scrunched up their faces in disgust.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Zemira held the bottle of the ointment tightly. It was the same ointment Cassian had used when he had given her a cut on her neck. She was going to use the ointment for his abdomen where she had stabbed.
She went into his room and saw him and Zelia coming out of the bathroom. They had bathed together...again. "Why does this always happen?" Zelia muttered and Cassian looked at her, "Just go to your room" he said and she nodded and was about passing Zemira but Zemira dragged her back and slapped her.
"Zemira!" Cassian shouted and Zelia held her face and looked at Zemira who was fuming. "Zelia, just go. I will be with you shortly" Cassian said and Zelia ran out of the room.
Cassian faced Zemira, "What was that?!" he shouted and she dropped the ointment on his bedside table. "I simply slapped a prostitute" she said with her hands on her hips "Zelia is not a prostitute" "Oh really? Then is she your lover? I thought you loved Nola". "She is not my lover either" "Then why does she bathe with you? What is going on between you and that woman? Do you know she was betrothed to Stern? She was betrothed to the same man who almost killed your baby".
Cassian never knew about that. When Zelia had told him that she was betrothed, he had not shown interest in whoever she was marrying, because he had just lost Nola at that time.
So it was that bastard? he thought. "Zelia is my sister" he said and Zemira staggered back with her hand over her mouth. Sister? she thought. "Do you mean like the same mother and father?" "What else do I mean?" he rolled his eyes.
"Such a shameless act!" she put her hand down. "What?" Cassian moved closer to her. "You are sleeping with your sister" she said as she moved back. "Zemira, what are---" "Of course, I should have known. You have lost your wife for so long. You are flesh and blood. You have needs, so you use what you have".
"Zemira, I am not sleeping with Zelia. Whatever you are thinking, that is not the case" he said but she continued talking, "That explains why you have a woman as a butler. You sleep with all your servants" she looked at him "Zemira!" he shouted.
"Have you no shame? Acting pitiful all the time and claiming that you love Nola. When she was alive, did you sleep with Zelia behind her back?" "Zemira!" Cassian thundered as he grabbed her arm, "Watch your mouth!"
She held his hand and flung it from her arm, "Does it make you feel guilty that I am right? Does it make you feel like a sinner before Nola? Does it---" Cassian held a dagger up to her throat.
"One more foul word from your mouth and I shall not hesitate to make a bigger cut on your neck" he said. Zemira pushed him away and walked out of the room.
Cassian stared at her as she walked out. Why did she always bring out the worst in him? Nola had hated him at first but he had never held his dagger to her throat. But why was everything just so different with Zemira? They could be getting along one second and the next, he is holding a dagger to her throat or she is stabbing him with his own dagger.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Cassian sat on Zelia's bed, "Are you asleep?" he asked as he shook her. She shook her head and almost slapped herself for responding. "Sit up!" he said as he dragged her up and she sat up.
"What is it?" she tried to be angry at him and he held her face, "Does it hurt?" he asked and she pushed his hand away, "Not anymore. Can you please go, I want to sleep" she said and was about laying down but he held her, "I am sorry about Zemira. I do not know what came over her".
"Really? You do not know?" Zelia scoffed, "She is in love with you". Cassian was shocked. In love? With me? Why? he thought. "You are mistaken, Zemira is not in love with you. She said so herself" he said and she looked at him, "You have loved a woman before, yet you do not know when another woman is in love with you?" "I have not studied other women except Nola".
Zelia hugged her knees, "Zemira loves you, but she does not want to admit...perhaps it is because she is scared that you will reject her since you are still in love with Nola" "Zelia, you---" "Cassian, why do you think she slapped me?" she asked and he shrugged.
"The doctor had told us that she can experience some mood swings, so perhaps, it is one of them" Cassian said and Zelia looked at her brother like he was a fool. Well, he was one.
"Of course, mood swings! Total understandable explanation why your pregnant wife slapped me" Zelia rolled her eyes.
Zemira can not be in love with me. I have been nothing but hostile towards her, Cassian thought then he remembered what Zemira had told him; "She was betrothed to the same man who almost killed your baby".
He looked at Zelia, "Why did you not tell me you were betrothed to Stern?" he asked. "You were in mourning and it would had been so wrong to bring happy news when you were sad. Also, it ended quite abruptly" she said and looked at him, "So there was no need of telling you" she smiled.
"Who ended it?" he asked softly and she sighed, "He ended it, after he claimed that he was in love with Zemira" Zelia rolled her eyes and Cassian held her knee, "Does it still hurt?" "I was never in love with Stern. But it was nice knowing someone wanted me. So when he called it off, I was a bit hurt but now, I am totally over it. When I heard you were getting married to Zemira, I wanted to attend the wedding and laugh at his stupid face!" she sniggered and he gave a throaty laughter.
"You should have been there. He created quite a scene. His sister had to drag him out of there else Lord Cobain would have shot him with his rifle" Cassian said and Zelia laughed, "His sister, Aza, she is quite beautiful" "Do you want to court her?" he asked and she shook her head, "I refuse to have anything to do with that family! I have eyes on another woman by the way, I met her at the ball. But she was Stern's escort" she rolled her eyes.
"Why does he always get the beautiful ones? Well you got Zemira" she nudged him with her elbow and he just gave a small smile. "Wait, you do not see Zemira's beauty?" "I do not stare at her for a long time" "You do not need to stare at her for a long time. Her beauty is evident" "I do not see her that way" "Cassian, Nola is gone. I am sorry for being so blunt, but she is gone. Perhaps you need to move on and see who is in front of you".
Cassian sighed. Was Zemira really in love with him? "Because if you do not see it, I might just snatch her away" Zelia joked and chuckled. Cassian just gave a small and fake smile.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Zemira walked into her parent's house and sighed. Her father was not going to be happy with her. But she just needed to get away from Cassian and Zelia. "Zemy, us that you?" Verona asked as she walked down the stairs.
Verona saw the tears in her eyes, "Zemy, what is the matter?" she asked as she walked towards her. "I can not go back there. I can not" Zemira sobbed and Altair came, "Yes you can!" he said and the two women bowed and Zemira wiped her tears.
"Why did you leave your husband's house at this ungodly hour?" Altair asked as he eyed Zemira who was trying to control her sniffling. "I can not go back there, father...not right now" she sobbed. "What?! Do you want people to find out about you getting pregnant out of wedlock?" he asked and she looked away, "I just can not look at Cassian" Zemira cried and ran upstairs.
"Zemira! Zemira!" Altair shouted and was about going up but Verona held him, "Please, my lord, not now. She looks really upset. She was crying" "And so? Is she the first woman to cry?" Altair fumed and Verona held his shoulder, "I shall talk to her, just do not shout at her. This is her home, she should feel welcomed here" Verona said and walked away but she heard Altair say, "That son of a gun had the guts to make my daughter cry".
Verona smiled. Zemira was always Altair's favorite child since she was the youngest. He was just angry that she had not grown up in the way he had expected. But his love for her never wavered.
Verona opened the door and saw Zemira's head buried in her pillows, "Zemy?" Zemira raised her head and Verona walked up to her, "Oh Zemy!" she hugged her and Zemira cried the more.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Verona asked softly as she rubbed Zemira's back and Zemira sighed. How was she going to tell her mother that Cassian was sleeping with his sister.
"Cassian cheated on me" she sniffled "Oh honey!" Verona hugged her again. "But that is not what angers me. What angers me is, I do not know why I am crying. We were never in love with each other. We had only gotten married for the sake of our baby. So why am I crying? Why do I feel jealous when I see him with the queen or his sister or when he is staring at his late wife's painting? Why do I want him to look at me the same way he looks at that painting? Why do I want him to see me as something more than the woman carrying his baby?" Zemira cried uncontrollably.
Verona smiled and held her face, "That is because you are in love with him. You have fallen in love with Cassian and you want him to love you too" "I am in love with Cassian?" Zemira asked and Verona nodded.
"But he can never fall in love with me" Zemira sniffled and then tears fell out of her eyes. Verona rubbed her back soothingly, "If it makes you feel better, your father wants to shoot him with his rifle for making you cry" she whispered and Zemira looked at her, "Really?" she asked and Verona nodded then she kissed her forehead.
"I do not know if Cassian will love you or not. But whether he does or does not, do not hide these your feelings. Love is a beautiful thing. Do not keep it inside. If he does not accept it, then do not force him" Verona said and Zemira nodded. "Get some sleep" Verona got up and headed towards the door then she turned to Zemira, "If Cassian is attracted to you, he will be here first thing tomorrow morning. If he is not here, then that son of gun could go to hell for all I care".
"Mother!" Zemira laughed and Verona smiled, "Goodnight sweetheart" then she left. Zemira pondered on what Verona had said. She was in love with Cassian.