A/N: Thanks for your patience…I think I've been a little longer writing this one than usual lately. I'm in increasingly dire financial straits and searching for either a second job, or a completely new full-time job. In the meantime, my writing functions as a way to temporarily escape my problems, and it's a welcome one. Thanks as ever to PDXWix, jtbwriter, Harry2, BishopT and Kyryn.

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§ § § -- October 6, 2003

Dr. Lambert emerged from her office after Christian and Leslie had sat for about ten minutes, and smiled at the couple when she saw them. "Well," she said, "I have some good news, Miss Leslie. There's no medical reason you can't conceive."

Leslie stared at her. "There's not?"

"No, there—" Dr. Lambert started to say something else, caught Christian's frown and changed direction. "Question?"

"I thought…" Christian said, hesitated, then looked up and admitted through a sigh, "I thought perhaps it's me, rather than Leslie. It might be wise if I were tested as well."

Dr. Lambert nodded slowly. "We can do that, Mr. Enstad, but you might keep one thing in mind—talk to Mr. Roarke. Leslie's lived here more than half her life, and you've had some exposure to mysterious things that only Mr. Roarke would have any knowledge of. If you still want to be tested, that's fine…of course it'll be another month before we can tell you the results."

Christian contemplated that, glanced at Leslie and sighed again. "All right," he said and shrugged. "We've come this far, and although it didn't bother me before, now I find myself wondering. Thank you, doctor."

"Don't lose hope, either of you," Dr. Lambert said. "Before you go, Mr. Enstad, you can set up an appointment for the tests, and then by all means talk to Mr. Roarke. You might find that the answer has nothing to do with established medical science."

"Maybe not," Leslie said with trepidation, "but if it doesn't, that might make the problem unsolvable."

"We'll have to take that chance, my Rose," Christian said gently, rising with her and taking her hand. "Let's go."

After setting up the new appointment, Christian and Leslie returned to the main house and ventured hesitantly inside. Roarke was there, and looked up with surprise. "So, how did the test results turn out?"

"There's nothing medically wrong with me," Leslie said, leading Christian into the room and pausing in front of Roarke's desk. "I suppose I should've known. All that time and expense and waiting, only to find out I'm supposedly normal."

"But," Christian put in, "Dr. Lambert did say we should come and speak with you. I've made an appointment to be tested as well, but perhaps there's more to it than physical problems, and that's where you come in."

"I see," said Roarke. "Sit down, both of you, please." When they had seated themselves, he regarded them for another moment, then asked, "What precisely did Dr. Lambert tell you, Leslie?"

"She said there's no medical reason I haven't conceived, but then said we should come to you since I've had what she called 'exposure to mysterious things'. I guess that means any and every magical thing I've ever dealt with since first coming to live here."

"That would let me out of the picture, then, and if there's something wrong with me, it would be purely physical," Christian mused.

Roarke chuckled. "I can narrow it down considerably," he said. "There is very little that you and I work with, Leslie, that would affect your ability to bear a child, or indeed any other aspect of your health and well-being. Over all the years you were involved in the business, I can think of only one incident that might have affected you in any way—the exorcism of Lempo from Teppo's mind."

"But that was Teppo's problem," Leslie said, frowning. "And you explained that Lempo had never touched me because Teppo was falling in love with me and that prevented him from doing me any harm."

Roarke considered it, nodding. "Yes, but the god was never specifically obligated to leave you in peace once Teppo was freed of his presence. Think back over the years of your marriage to Teppo. Do you recall anything out of the ordinary at all?"

Leslie shook her head. "No, nothing. Not that I didn't get harassed a lot—but that was his family's doing." Then she stilled a second or two before meeting Roarke's gaze. "Unless he was responsible for Mrs. Komainen's loss of sanity…"

Christian put in, "Did she show signs of that before you were married?"

"It started manifesting itself at our wedding, actually," Leslie told him. "At least, that was the first clear indicator. She made that strange request for Teppo's and my tears in a little vial. Nobody knew what that was about."

"Was there a specific trigger?" Christian asked.

"Probably Mr. Komainen's death," Leslie said. "Of course, that could do anyone in, and have nothing at all to do with magic or old gods or anything like that."

Roarke nodded. "I doubt we could ever truly get to the bottom of that; we don't even know if the lady is still alive. What do you recall, Leslie, of the events surrounding Teppo's death? Tell me what you remember."

She let her head droop a bit, casting back. "Well, Mrs. Komainen had gone missing again, and the whole family was out looking for her. Teppo and I went out together. It took us quite a lot of wandering before we found her on the far side of this odd-looking little clearing…perfectly round and with little saplings growing in it…and she saw us, we both knew she did. Teppo told her to come out, but she just stood there and looked at us, so he started to cross the clearing. And out of nowhere, I saw Lempo appear, just like that, from thin air. He sort of wrapped Teppo in this strange misty fog, and the instant that stuff hit him, he was dead—just dropped to the ground and never moved again."

Roarke nodded. "Do you remember, Leslie, what Mrs. Komainen's reaction was when Teppo was killed?"

She sat silent for a moment, straining to remember; Christian reached over and wrapped his hand around hers, and she gripped it without a word. "I was screaming so much," Leslie murmured finally. "But when my throat got sore from screaming and I had to stop, I…that's the first I noticed anything except Teppo lying there. I'd been staring at him the whole time. When I really saw anything again, she was kneeling beside him wailing in Finnish and waving her arms in the air. I couldn't understand her except for when she yelled Teppo's name." She looked up sharply and focused on Roarke. "She'd been on the edge of insanity, and Teppo's death drove her right over the threshold. She was committed while I was unconscious from blacking out at Teppo's funeral."

"So as far as you are aware, she never focused on you," Roarke prompted.

Leslie shook her head. "No, I don't think so. She wouldn't have had any power of her own to prevent me having a baby, and I can't see any reason she'd have been in cahoots with Lempo. Lempo was focused on Teppo, not me. And Mrs. Komainen would much rather have seen me dead than her own son."

Roarke nodded again, satisfied. "I believe you're correct, Leslie. Very good deductive reasoning." He looked thoughtfully at Christian. "You've been here for some little time, Christian, since marrying Leslie, and you spent fairly substantial time here before your wedding; so don't rule yourself out of the equation. However, you've nearly always been less directly involved than Leslie."

"What of Mephistopheles?" Christian asked.

"No," said Roarke, "that's not a factor. There is really only one possibility. When did you first become aware that your brother and nieces were taking amakarna?"

"Just after I pushed for having Marina's and my wedding reception here," Christian told him. "We had returned home and were having dinner at the castle one evening, and I saw Arnulf and the girls using it. I asked what it was and he refused to answer for some reason, perhaps as if he were afraid I might wish some." He smiled wryly. "But Marina recognized it and explained everything to me after we had returned to my flat. That's the first I had ever heard of it. Although, since my father and grandfather were also on it, it must have been present in the castle throughout my life. I never saw it."

"They did not have it in plain sight on the dining table?" Roarke asked.

Christian shook his head. "It apparently wasn't Father's policy to have it out where everyone could see. I learned later from Carl Johan that neither he nor Anna-Laura had known of its existence until Arnulf and Father and the count drew up that marriage contract while I was off doing my military service, and it all came out then, because Mother was livid that I'd been bartered away for it—so I'm told. Arnulf, on the other hand, must have felt it didn't matter who knew or didn't know. In any case, I can't recall ever having had exposure to it."

Roarke considered that for a moment or two. "How did your father handle the administration of the spice?" he asked.

"He had servants add it to his and Arnulf's food in the kitchens," Christian said, "and then to Arnulf's daughters' food as they were put on the stuff."

"I see," Roarke said, looking quite surprised. He leaned forward a bit over the desk. "Do you recall ever having been extremely ill at any time?"

Christian searched his memory for a few minutes, then frowned. "Only once," he said slowly. "When I was sixteen I spent a few days in the hospital for some sort of stomach flu."

"Tell me exactly what happened," Roarke requested.

Christian settled back in the chair and let his gaze drop out of focus. "It was very hot," he recalled, "and no one had much appetite…except Carl Johan's wife Amalia—she was early in her pregnancy with Rudolf and was constantly hungry. In any case, I had some sort of seafood salad and couldn't eat it, so she took it after I asked for a green salad such as my parents had been eating. When I got it, I checked it over to be sure it was prepared as I liked it…"

"What was in it?" Roarke broke in.

Christian blinked, then frowned slightly and combed his memory again. "Just about everything, as I recall," he said. Then the frown deepened. "Oh yes, and there was pepper in it as well. I could see black specks on the lettuce leaves. Anyhow, I mixed it up a bit and took a bite, and within a minute of swallowing it I suddenly had vicious stomach cramps, quite out of nowhere. It felt as if someone had been jamming a knife into me. My stomach ejected what little I had eaten with enormous force—I could barely catch my breath. The family went into a panic and I ended up in the hospital. They tried to give me some water, but that came back up too. Once I was in a hospital bed, I blacked out and didn't awaken for two days. I was informed that I had been deeply unconscious for some time."

Roarke looked very intense. "How did you feel when you first awakened?"

"I felt wide awake," Christian said, "as if I'd had too much coffee—but my muscles weren't under my control. I could move only my eyes at first. I had to be helped to sit up and to hold a glass of water, and only over time did I regain the ability to move."

Roarke closed his eyes briefly before focusing on his son-in-law. "And you were told it was a stomach flu?" Christian nodded, and he sighed gently. "It was no such thing," he said. "The symptoms as you describe them make it clear. You accidentally ingested amakarna, Christian. That's why you vomited so violently and why you lost consciousness, and why you couldn't move for a time upon first waking."

Christian's mouth dropped open. "Herregud!" he breathed. "I was always suspicious of that stomach-flu diagnosis, but I had no way of determining the truth. Amakarna!"

"Father," Leslie said anxiously, "you don't think that might have affected him somehow, do you?"

"I don't know," Roarke said. "The spice does not affect any two persons in exactly the same way, so we must accede to the possibility. At the moment, I can only suggest that you have the tests done, Christian, and wait for the results."

"But Father…if I really am capable of conceiving, as Dr. Lambert implied—and if the amakarna did affect Christian in that capacity—then what could've happened to Teppo to make it impossible for him to impregnate me? I always thought it was me!" Leslie exclaimed.

"I can't say, Leslie," Roarke said. "But don't jump to any conclusions yet."

"I suspect," Christian said, "that you always thought it was you because Teppo's family saw to it that you did. Perhaps it was Teppo then, and perhaps it's me now. We should know for certain in a few weeks."

"And what happens in the meantime?" Leslie asked.

Christian grinned. "We just keep trying," he said. "Whatever the outcome is, I'm willing to accept it and I'm prepared to live with it." He looked at Roarke and added, "We both thank you for the help…at least we have some possibilities to consider."

"Indeed," Roarke agreed. "I am sorry I couldn't have been of more help."

"You were more help than you think," Christian assured him. "I'd never known until today that it was amakarna that made me so ill that one time. I knew it was no stomach flu, but nothing else I had ever heard of fit the problem, and now you've answered a question I've had for almost thirty years." He turned to Leslie and smiled at her. "Shall we go on home and try to enjoy our weekend?"

Leslie smiled back. "Sure…as long as you help me do some laundry first." She grinned at Christian's eye-roll and said to Roarke, "Thanks again, Father. See you Wednesday."

"Don't spend too much time fretting about it," Roarke advised them. "Nothing is definite, and perhaps the tests will give you the answer. Just don't forget to enjoy each other before anything else."

§ § § -- October 11, 2003

When the enormously overweight woman squeezed out of the plane and started down the dock, Roarke cast Leslie a glance to see what her reaction was. His daughter peered at their newest guest, squinted, then shook her head in disbelief. "That can't be anyone but Cori Mukulani!" she exclaimed. "Where was she that she came in on the charter? I mean, she still lives right here on the island!"

"She was apparently visiting family in Hawaii," Roarke said, "and decided to return here via the charter. But as a matter of fact, Leslie, she does have a fantasy."

"I expect it involves major weight loss," Leslie said.

"Now, Leslie," Roarke said with mild reproach. "In fact, she has a wish to meet someone of your acquaintance—namely Prince Carlono of Arcolos."

Leslie gave him a long, stunned stare. "Carlono only just got here yesterday," she said. "If Cori was in Hawaii, how did she know he was here?"

"Miss Mukulani is very much enamored of the prince and follows his every move very closely," Roarke explained. "It has been a longtime dream of hers to meet him, and she has finally been given the chance. So that's what we're going to do for her this weekend."

Leslie said, "Well, I hope Carlono's prepared. Maybe I should forewarn him."

"Leslie Susan," Roarke said, slightly more reproachfully than before.

"Did I ever tell you what she was really like in school?" Leslie asked, turning to him. "Father, she had a reputation—not for being overweight, but for having the most sensitive hair-trigger temper ever seen in man or beast. Do you remember in the middle of my senior year when you had to come pick me up because I got sick in school? You might recall that it was because Cori tried to give me a cigarette."

"I do remember that," Roarke said, "and you need not tell me again. Why don't you give the lady a chance to explain herself before you judge her." With that, he took his glass and raised it in toast, while Leslie tried to avoid Cori's direct gaze and felt the first butterflies flapping into life in her stomach.