emitted no heat, and so they were safe to hold, though they weren’t sturdy enough to stand up to poking and pulling. The older children, Jaesh, Trevick and Asiawyth, made a game of racing each other while carrying their light ball carefully enough that it didn’t fall from their open palms. GJ joined in, but he tried to walk too fast and had to stop to scoop his light ball back into his hand.
After the children were tucked into bed, Gavin, Feanna, and Liera relaxed in the family room with a glass of wine. Rogan’s bastard daughter weighed more heavily on his mind every time he looked at Liera or heard her speak or caught a sniff of her perfume. Feanna stared at him, her body stiff and her brow furrowed. He knew she wanted him to tell his sister-in-law about her husband’s infidelity, but would Liera want to know? If he were in her shoes, he wouldn’t. Not with Rogan dead.
“Liera,” Gavin said hesitantly. “Let me ask you something as a woman. If you knew a secret about me that would hurt Feanna to know, would you tell her?” If she agreed with Feanna that a wife had a right to know everything about her husband, then he would tell her about Rogan’s bastard child.
Liera looked at Feanna. “No, I wouldn’t. What would be the purpose in it?”
“To be honest,” Feanna said. “A husband should share everything, good or bad, with his wife.”
Liera shook her head firmly. “You’re happy together now, aren’t you? If you learned something about Gavin that he was ashamed of and didn’t want you to know, what would that do to your relationship? In the years to come, you’ll disagree, you’ll argue, you might even stop speaking to him or sharing yourself with him in the bedroom for a time, but why dampen the happiness you have now? It’s not my business to tell Gavin’s secrets. I might try to convince him to tell you, but I wouldn’t do it.”
“I see,” Feanna said. She stood and smoothed the front of her skirt. “I guess you win, Gavin.” She bid Liera goodnight, and without offering him a kiss or another word, she left.
Gavin put his head in his hands. She’d been so difficult lately, which was both frustrating and maddening. It was as if she was incapable of seeing reason. Feanna was a good person, though, with a pure heart. He loved her for who she was, not what she did.
“Oh, dear,” Liera said, surprised guilt on her face. “Did I say the wrong thing?”
“We had an argument earlier. I told her the secret would stay secret but she thinks it’s dishonest to withhold the truth. If telling it does no good and possibly does harm, there’s no good reason to. And so I won’t. I’m at least as stubborn as she is. She won’t budge me on the matter.”
“Well, don’t worry about Feanna. Her mood will change a lot during the coming months because of her condition. She loves you, and she’ll come to accept your decision not to tell her what you’re hiding.”
He exhaled hard, glad she hadn’t guessed it wasn’t his own secret they were discussing. “I hope you’re right. I don’t want to keep feuding about it.”
“But Gavin,” she said, “if it’s what I think it is, perhaps you should reconsider. Withholding the reason for your missing tooth is one thing, and I know it amuses you to make up stories about it. Keeping secret a bastard child is something else entirely.”
Gavin’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
“Don’t be angry. Rogan told me about her a few years ago, and he told me about your arrangement.”
“Our arrangement,” Gavin said, not knowing what the hell she was talking about. “Right.”
Liera laughed and patted his leg. “Don’t feel bad. I agreed with him. Your nomadic lifestyle made it difficult to visit regularly, but now that you’ve settled down in one place...” She raised her eyebrows encouragingly. “I’m sure you’re sending money to keep the child fed and clothed, but don’t you think you should tell your wife? Should you die before your son is born and named as your heir, Savior forbid it, Keturah has an equal claim to the throne.”
“How much did Rogan tell you about our arrangement?”
“Well, he told me he took money and gifts to the child’s mother every month, and that you pay him back whenever you visit. He didn’t think it was fair for Keturah to grow up not knowing