Chapter 25: Night

A/N: There is part from a book by Anne McCaffery I messed with and put in here. Anyone care to guess where it is?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Inheritance series. Just the charries that come from my mind.

They stayed out with the dragons for while, and then they all headed inside. Brom and Zera bid their hosts goodnight and closed the door to the guest room. Zera sighed as her head sank onto the pillow. Brom pulled her close to him.

"Zera, are you ok?" he said. She sat up.

"I am…tired. I don't know what I am doing. I want to stay here; I want to believe that nothing is going to happen because of…us. But then…" she shook her head. "Never mind. I am just…I think my emotions are talking right now and they aren't the best at expressing how I feel." She laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. Brom sighed and played with her hair.

"Do you hate me?" he asked quietly. Her eyes snapped open.

"No. Why would I hate you? Because it is your seed in me? No, that was my fault for forcing myself on you. I was just wondering if you hated me."

Brom laughed quietly. "No, I don't hate you. To father your child? That is more luck then I could ever imagine." He was silent for a few minutes. "I don't think Jerald likes me all the much."

Zera laughed softly. "When he married Tala, Jerald unofficially adopted me as his little sister, even though I am almost a year older then him. He is just overprotective and it has increased since Tala…well since she lost her last baby. They…the healer did something, we aren't sure what. Tala…she can't have children anymore. That was why…I was going to leave my…our baby with her. Tala is a natural mother and she could give the baby all the love and nurture that I couldn't."

"Zera, why didn't you tell me? I want the truth, not some fear about my family accepting you."

She sighed and moved away from him. Brom propped himself up on his elbow, watching her sitting on the edge of the bed in an oversized tunic, her black hair falling around her shoulders. In the moonlight, she looked more beautiful then ever.

"I…I am afraid. I am so scared, Brom. I didn't leave this village just because of the stories people told about me. I…there was a man who wanted to marry me. I could handle someone shoving a sword into my gut, I can deal with death. But the idea of…of motherhood scares the shit out of me." She took a shaky breath. "I can't stand the idea of being tied to a child. I would be the most horrible mother, Brom. I am not responsible enough to be trusted with a baby."

"You still haven't answered my question. What were you going to do?"

Zera choked back a sob. "I was going to stay here," she said quietly. Brom heard the truth under her words. He sat up and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him.

"Zera. Oh, Zera. I am sorry. I should have seen that you were hurting. I am sorry, sweetheart."

"I…I was going to…to…" Zera sobbed into his chest.

"I know, darling, I know. It's ok. Hush."

He held her, stroking her hair and murmuring consoling words. Zera cried for a long time. Even after she quieted, Brom held her.

"I am sorry," she whispered. "I should have told you. I am sorry." Brom chuckled.

"I understand. You were scared and didn't know what to do. But the important thing is that you didn't do anything rash, right?" she nodded. "Zera, when we get to Ellesméra, I want to announce our relationship formally. That way, it satisfies the human's ceremony thing, while at the same time; we aren't really married, so we are still following elfish tradition."

"Won't…the council will be angry with us, won't they? Riders aren't supposed to be mates with other Riders. It is against Rider regulations."

Brom snorted. "Where did you hear that?"

"Master Meriam made me memorize that first thing."

He laughed. "Darling, that regulation has never been enforced, especially after my parents became mates. Don't worry about that. The worst that could happen would be Grandmother Arya not approving and she can't say much, since she has been mates with Granddad for over seventy years and had two children by him."

"Two?"

Brom nodded. "Aye. I had an uncle, but he died long before I was born. He died just after Matera was born, actually."

"How old was he?" Zera's eyelids were dropping, but she was interested in the subject.

"Sixteen. He was killed by the shade Andlát."

"Oh." Zera yawned and closed her eyes. Brom listened as her breathing slowed and she fell asleep. He stroked her hair, thinking about the day. He was still reeling from the news that Zera carried his child. He had never thought about becoming a father. Being a Rider was his life. He had grown up with two Riders as parents and the influence of his father in his life had been sporadic at best until he had turned eleven. Then Caleb had been assigned to protect Ellesméra with Aiedail and they had been able to be more hands-on parents. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with his child. He didn't want to be as non-existent in his son or daughter's life as his father had been, but he was a Rider and he followed the directions of his superiors. Maybe Zera's idea of letting Tala raise their child would be best. Let their child have a normal childhood. He and Zera could visit every now and then as aunt and uncle. When the child was old enough, then they would tell him or her about them.

As soon as he had that idea, he discarded it. No. His parents had been able to raise him and Eldrey and they had turned out alright. Well, he had. Eldrey had always been odd. No, he wanted to be a part of his child's life. He and Zera could manage.

With a sigh, Brom closed his eyes. In the morning, he would talk to Zera about going to Ellesméra soon.