Becoming excited at the news, Raine stopped her before she could leave.
“Would King Jurzed permit you to check on Piper? It would ease Lucas’ and my mind that she’s okay.”
“I checked on him the last time I went. He is very well. Trygve reported to Thorsen and Lucas’ that Piper’s episodes are becoming less.”
“Oh, that’s good news. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Would you like me to pass along a message from you?”
“No, but if you have time, you might stop by and ask Lucas if he does.”
“I will. While you were gone, I started making your dress. I need to have a fitting tomorrow to make sure it’s ready in time for the wedding. Have you made your decision?”
Raine nodded. “Bring the dress.”
Chapter 30
Raine
Raine looked at herself in the mirror, seeing Reva smiling behind her.
“I never believed I would have one.”
“A wedding dress?” Reva asked, straightening a fold in the dress.
Raine stared at the woman in the mirror who wore a long, simple white gown, with her hair pulled back at the sides in braids. She couldn’t believe how her life had changed in a matter of weeks.
“Neinn. A wedding.”
“You’re not going to back out, are you? I have heard humans do that sometimes.”
“You’re the seeress; you tell me?” she mischievously teased.
Reva’s hands dropped from the dress.
Apparently, seeresses didn’t like their powers joked about. Raine tried to repair the unintended insult.
“I was just teasing—”
“I haven’t had a vision since the day Raum was destroyed.”
From Reva’s distraught expression, Raine guessed it wasn’t a good thing.
“They’ll come back. You’ll see.”
“They won’t. I was going to tell Thorsen my vision. I would have gone against my vision. The gods are punishing me.”
“Do the gods normally punish you for a thought? Or is it the deed that counts?”
Reva frown. “The deeds.”
“There you go. You have nothing to worry about. Your visions will come back; you’ll see—no pun intended, by the way. You probably just feel guilty and aren’t letting your mind relax enough to have a vision.”
“You think so?”
“Absolutely.” Raine place her hands on her hips. “Listen, I’m getting ready to get married in a few minutes, and I really don’t want to come across as a bitch, but I’m going to if you don’t chill out,” she threatened good-humoredly.
“Very well. I will worry about it tomorrow.”
“Atta girl. You can come over tomorrow, and we’ll talk about it as long as you want to. Just do me a favor and don’t come over too early. I really plan to enjoy my wedding night.”
“You are going to bring laugher and light into our clan, Raine, really. When we leave Earth, it gets boring without other women around. This time, I will have another for companionship,” Reva said enthused, linking their arms together as they left Skars’ ship.
“Mmhmm,” Raine responded noncommittally, her mind nervously springing forward to the wedding ahead. She wondered how many from the tru-mate ceremony would attend the wedding.
Raine came to an abrupt stop.
“You said the men are in pain without having their tru-mate. Does Skars feel this pain?”
“No. This is how we know you are a gift for him. He said, when you first touched him, when you believed he was unconscious, he felt a sudden warmth fill his heart.”
Raine remembered feeling a similar effect herself. “You’ve eased my mind. I couldn’t have gone through with the marriage if he were in endless pain without having a tru-mate. Humans aren’t allowed to have more than one wife.”
They could, but Raine wasn’t going to give her that piece of information. Having a sister-wife, or whatever they called it, wasn’t going to happen in her marriage. His love bud wouldn’t be latching on to anyone other than her, or it would be pruned off.
Never envisioning she would ever be imagining how she would react at being cheated on, Raine almost didn’t pay attention to what Reva was saying.
“I told you Skars had known since his manhood that he would never have a tru-mate, or have a son …”
Raine stopped in her tracks again. “That’s not true … I’m pregnant; Skars told me. I saw his tattoo …”
“He told the truth. You are pregnant … with his daughter. Only tru-mates can have daughters and sons.”
Sadness filled her for what Skars was giving up for her. She didn’t bother to ask if it meant a lot to Vikings if they had sons; she knew the answer. It was probably everything to them.
Reva grabbed her hand. “Viking men idolize their daughters and sisters.” Reva’s eyes twinkled at her. “When you want to feel bad that you won’t have a son, remember this”—Reva released her hand to place it on her womb—“the child will grow to become a tru-mate.”
“True. I like your way of thinking about it more than mine.” Raine nodded with a teary smile. “Have there been some women tru-mates who haven’t found their match?”