Chapter 226 - The Link

Delaney managed to make it back to the room she was sharing with her husband and found him pacing back and forth in front of the fire.  When he heard her come in he hurried to her and closed the door behind her.  Before Delaney had a chance to protest, Vincent swept her up into his arms and carried her towards the bed.  He sat her down gently and helped her out of her robe, draping it over a chair.  He pulled the blankets over her before pulling off his shirt and crossing to his side of the bed and climbing in.

Vincent didn't ask about her conversation with Ian.  He only pulled her tired, chilled body in against his strong warm chest and held her there.  Delaney smiled softly up at him before he moved and brushed a gentle kiss against her lips.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him there so she could kiss him more.  After coming so close to nearly losing everything she didn't want to let go of him so fast.

He seemed to feel the same way, kissing her now with a deep and desperate hunger, as if he was trying to get all he could of her.  Delaney felt as if she couldn't get close enough to this man that she loved so madly.  As she kissed him she felt relief wash over her.  They were all safe and would all leave in one piece.  Happy tears filled her eyes as she parted her lips and tasted Vincent's sweet familiar taste and breathed in the intoxicating smell of him.  Her heart fluttered with her happiness.

-

Exhaustion kept Delaney asleep late into the afternoon.  When she woke up, again she had a moment of panic when she didn't immediately remember where she was.  It didn't help when she reached out and found Vincent wasn't in bed beside her.  Sitting up she brushed her curls from her face and looked around.

Her eyes landed on the face of a beautiful woman with caramel-colored skin, chocolate brown eyes, and long black hair.  Delaney gasped and felt as if her heart had been hit by a jolt of electricity.  Her hand where the cut was still healing grew warm and she was suddenly wide awake and almost hyper.

"Oh Delaney's it's just me," the woman apologized quickly, "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to startle you."

Delaney caught her breath and worked to calm her heart.  It was Sophia.  When she had first seen the woman she had thought it was Anna.  The fear and memories of what the Queen's wicked twin had done had come bursting into her mind.  Now though she tried to settle her nerves as she dropped back down into the pillows.

"I'm sorry Sophia you just caught me off guard," Delaney whispered, giggling nervously, "I'm afraid I must be a bit on edge."

Just then the door to the bedroom flew open and Vincent swept in calling her name.  His worried green eyes landed on her and looked her up and down.

"Delaney are you alright?"

"Lord Adair I told you I was sure she was fine," Helena called from the door, waving her hands in the air as if she was trying to shoo away his worries.

"What happened?" Delaney asked looking between the two of them, "Why were you worried about me?"

Vincent frowned and glanced over his shoulder at the witch, "I was in talking to Ian and he started stumbling over his words and said his wound was getting hot.  Then he just... well he sort of fainted."

"What?" Delaney and Sophia asked in unison, worry in their voices as well.

"Calm down all of you," Helena shook her head, "Both Delaney and Ian are fine.  She just pulled Ian's energy because her body thought she needed it.  Tell me my Lady, what were you doing just before we came in?"

Delaney hesitated, "Well... Well, I'd just woken up."

"And how were you feeling?"

"I scared her," Sophia answered, "When she first woke up she didn't know I was here and I startled her."

"Well there you have it," Helena smiled, "her body knew she was afraid and reacted by pulling all the energy it could out of her.  The only difference is now she also has Ian's energy and strength to pull from."

"And that's why he fainted," Delaney whispered.

"Exactly," the witch smiled, "It won't always work like that.  You're just both very low on energy right now because Ian is using it all to heal.  Once you're both in good health again you'll be able to pull energy from one another and it will only make the other tired.  Unless it's a very serious situation of course."

Vincent ran his hands over his face and up through his hair.  "I don't like this.

"One will only be able to take as much energy as the other can spare Lord Adair.  And the farther apart they are the weaker the connection will be.  Then they'll only be able to pull from one another when they truly need it."

Delaney reached out and caught one of her husband's hands.

"I'm fine Vincent really.  I promise."

He looked down at her seriously as if trying to see if he believed her.  At last, he sighed and nodded.

"It'll be fine it's just hard right now.  The two of you just have to get better and then we'll be far enough apart that it won't be this bad."

"It will be much better," Delaney agreed although she still didn't like thinking about saying goodbye to her friend, "Besides my love, it's not as if Ian wouldn't be happy to do this for either of us if we needed it."

Vincent dropped his gaze, looking guilty, "You're right.  I have no doubt he would."

Helena smiled fondly at the couple before turning and leaving the room.  Once she was gone, Delaney turned her attention back to Sophia but didn't let go of her husband's hand.

"I'm sorry," she smiled weakly at the Queen, "I didn't mean to cause such a fuss."

"Oh no," she shook her head, "It's not your fault at all... but Delaney I did hope to speak with you if I could.  If you feel up to it."

"Of course," Delaney answered although she felt a bit uneasy with the request.

She glanced up at Vincent and saw he also seemed uncomfortable with the idea.  Sophia must have noticed this.

"Alone," the Queen added looking between them, "If that's alright."

Both Delaney and Vincent were quiet for a time as they considered her.  At last, it was Vincent who sighed and nodded, getting to his feet.

"Alright," he looked to Sophia, "I'll leave you to talk."

Delaney met her husband's gaze as he leaned down to brush a kiss across her lips.  His scars were a darker red, giving away that he still wasn't comfortable with the situation.

"I'm going to go sit with Ian until he wakes up.  I'll be just in the next room if you need me."

"Alright."

"I love you."

"I love you," Delaney looked up at him in amusement and watched him leave.

Once the door was closed and they were alone, Delaney felt the same familiar nervousness she had felt when she had had tea alone with the Queen so long ago.  She pushed herself up until she was sitting straight and folded her hands in her lap.

Sophia looked at her seriously but not in an unfriendly way.

"I hope you don't mind me wanting to talk to you alone."

"Not at all," Delaney assured her although it wasn't completely true.

"I wanted a chance to apologize to you for taking you to get that horrible poison.  I don't have any other friends struggling to have children like I am so I suppose I was secretly comforted seeing you were having trouble as well.  I still wanted you to have a chance but I was also... relieved... when you returned to court from your ocean house and you still weren't pregnant.  It was cruel of me to think all this though and after everything that's happened, I just wanted to tell you and say how sorry I am."

Delaney was surprised to hear this confession but it was very kind and made her look more fondly on Sophia.

"You don't have to apologize," she sighed, "It embarrasses me to admit it but I'm sure I would have felt just as you did.  In fact, recently one of my old friends and my sister-in-law have both announced they're expecting and I've been really struggling with the jealousy that's brought out in me."

"Really?" Sophia smiled and Delaney could tell it meant a lot to her to hear that.

"It's been awful," Delaney shook her head, "I know I should be thrilled for them but..."

"But you just can't feel it," Sophia finished her sentence for her, making them laugh.

"Well we can look on the bright side," Delaney continued, "At least now without the poison, we both stand a real chance of getting pregnant.  Maybe by this time next year, we'll both have babies of our own."

The Queen's smile vanished and she dropped her gaze to her lap.  A tear escaped and slid down her cheek.

"Oh Sophia what is it?" Delaney asked with worry, "What did I say?"

The Queen twisted a piece of her skirt between her fingers and didn't meet the other woman's gaze.

"I spoke with the witches," she said quietly, "You're probably well on your way to being recovered and being able to have children on your own... but for me... for me, I've been taking the poison for years and it's just... It's just been too long..."

"What do you mean?" Delaney asked although in her heart she already knew the answer.

The Queen looked at her through her tears.

"The witches say I'll never be able to have a baby."