A/N I am so sorry that I haven't updated in, like, forever. I'm also sorry about the cliffhangers. I'll try not to do it again. I need a beta!!!

What?! Ch 7

Kel was shocked to see her parents standing outside her door. They were wearing their 'Yamani masks' so she was guessing that they had found out about her being pregnant.

Kel opened the door wider to allow them access. When the door was firmly closed, Kel looked at her parents. Her mother was tight lipped and her father stood there, staring at her silently.

Piers was the one to break the silence. "We are very disappointed in you, Keladry," he said, silently scrutinizing her.

Kel looked at her parents. "How did you find out?" she asked wearily.

Ilane looked at her sharply. "So it's true? I thought for sure that there was a misunderstanding," she said calmly.

Kel sighed wearily. "It's not a misunderstanding, but it's not what you think either," she told her parents.

"Who is the father?" Piers asked tiredly.

"Joren of Stone Mountain," Kel replied.

"Isn't he the boy that has been giving you problems since you started here?" Ilane asked, masking her confusion.

"Yes. He has changed though," Kel said seriously.

Piers took this the wrong way. "Are you planning on getting married then?" he asked.

Kel was shocked beyond all reason. "What?" she asked.

"So you're going to have the baby out of wedlock?" Piers asked.

Kel nodded. "Yes, but you need to hear me out before you decide to disown me," she said quietly.

Letting her emotions shine through for the first time, Ilane frowned. "Disown you? No, we wouldn't do that," she said, looking at her husband.

Piers nodded his head in agreement. "We wouldn't disown you. We are just disappointed," he said.

Kel nodded her head. "Okay. Could you sit down and hear me out?" she asked politely, her hurt well concealed.

Ilane and Piers sat down on Kel's bed. "Okay, about a month ago, I started getting sick—that was the morning sickness. The Lioness found out that I was pregnant. The only problem with this was that I was a virgin. She was sure of herself so she went to the king and they put together a little meeting. There was a prophecy. Apparently, the babies-there's twins-are destined to save us or something. The prophecy was extremely vague. Well, and that's about it," she said, daring to look at her parents.

Piers looked at his youngest child. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. I want to see the prophecy," he said.

Kel nodded and looked at her mother. "Well, this certainly is interesting. Are you still going to be able to get your shield?" she asked her daughter.

Kel's mood brightened considerably. Just as she was about to answer, there was a knock on the door. She smiled apologetically at her parents before moving to the door. Kel opened the door to see Joren standing there with a plate of food. "I know you said that you would be eating later, but you are eating for three," he said by way of explanation.

Kel's eyes widened slightly. "This is really not a good time," she said. Joren nodded and handed her the plate.

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure that you ate. I guess I'll go back to my room," he said, not letting it show that he was disappointed that she didn't invite him in.

Before Kel could say anything, her parents were there, inviting Joren in. She just stepped back and let her face go blank. Joren gave her a disturbed look and she let her mask slip a little, giving him an apologetic smile.

When the door was closed, Piers gave Joren a tight-lipped smile. "Please sit down. You too, Keladry." Not the type of people to disobey, Kel and Joren sat down.

Piers cleared his throat. "Have you thought about marriage?"

"Father," Kel said calmly at the same time Joren said a very quiet, "Yes."

Kel blinked and looked at him. He avoided her gaze. Piers looked at Ilane. She cocked her head to the side, gesturing for them to leave Kel and Joren alone. Piers nodded and glanced back at Kel and Joren.

Kel was sitting there, calmly staring at Joren while Joren was doing his best to avoid making eye contact.

Piers cleared his throat. "Me and Ilane are going to talk to the king," he said, slipping out the door after Ilane.

Joren was the one to break the awkward silence. "Kel, it was just a thought. I don't know if you want to or anything. I was just thinking that everyone will think worse of you if you had the babies out of wedlock. Please understand," he said, successfully keeping the pleading tone out of his voice.

Kel was staring silently at the wall. She could feel Joren staring at her and it was all she could do not to start squirming. She finally stopped having a staring contest with the wall and peaked over at Joren. He was successful in keeping the pleading out of his voice, but it shone clearly in his eyes.

Kel nodded slightly. "I understand. I know you're probably right, but if we announced our engagement, people will get suspicious. We were enemies for years," Kel said.

"You're going to start showing soon. More than you already are that is. Maybe if we start acting lovey-dovey at first and then announce our engagement a little later then people wont get too suspicious," Joren said thoughtfully.

Kel nodded. "Okay. Some people already know I'm pregnant though. The only person that doesn't know why I'm pregnant is Cleon. He might tell people."

Joren rolled his eyes. "He's a big oaf. I don't think he'll tell anyone."

Kel looked at him curiously. "How can you be so sure?"

Joren chuckled. "He loved you. Maybe he still does. The only reason that he was so mad before was because he was hurt. He thought you cheated on him. I don't think he'll tell anyone because it could hurt you."

"You weren't here when I first told him about it," Kel said quietly.

Joren was concerned despite his brain sending warning signals. "What happened?" he asked.

Kel looked at him sharply to see if he was mocking her, but he seamed genuinely concerned. Her mask in place, she told Joren everything that happened.

Joren was shocked that Cleon could say those things. Sure, he had said them, but he was never her boyfriend or friend or whatever. "I'm sorry," he said.

Kel looked at him, knowing that he was talking about more than just Cleon. He was talking about the reputation that he had pushed on her—the whore or slut of Mindelan. Kel nodded. "There's nothing to be sorry about," she said.

"Mindelan, don't be dense. Of course there is," Joren said, mentally shaking her head at Kel's antics.

"Maybe, but it doesn't matter," Kel said indifferently. Frustrated, Joren grabbed her hands, ignoring the intense shock that went through him.

"I called you a slut all this time. I gave you a lead weighted lance for Mithros's sake! Of course it matters—"

Kel cut him off. "No, it doesn't," she said stubbornly. "It's in the past. I'm having your children. Just drop it."

Joren shook his head. "I can't drop it," he said fiercely.

"Why?" Kel demanded. "Why does it bother you so much? I can let it go, but you can't? What in the Goddess's name is wrong with you? You used to revel in my misery. What changed?" Kel asked, finishing with a barely audible voice.

Something inside of Joren snapped. "This," he said and leaned over and kissed her. Kel sat stock-still while Joren tried to coax her into joining the kiss. It didn't take long until Joren ran his tongue across Kel's lips, asking permission to deepen the kiss. Kel granted access.

Of course, the inevitable happened...there was a knock on the door.

Joren pulled back with a sigh. Kel was trying to compose herself, but she was doing very poorly. Joren got up and opened the door.

Cleon was standing there with a bouquet of flowers. He started to speak when he realized that it was Joren standing in Kel's doorway looking rumpled, with his lips slightly bruised.

Cleon saw red.

He attacked Joren. He was screaming incoherent words and hitting and kicking. Joren was surprised to say the least.

Cleon was soon off of Joren and pinned to the wall by a very pissed Kel. Cleon wasn't thinking clearly and swept her feet out from under her, making her fall onto her back.

When he realized what he had done, Cleon dropped to his knees and tried to touch Kel, but Joren snatched her up from the floor. "If you value your life, you'll leave while I have my hands full," Joren said in a soft, deadly voice.

Cleon scrambled to his feet and ran.

Joren too ran. He ran straight to Alanna's room. He kicked the door, praying to the Goddess that they weren't out.

Aly answered the door. Her eyes widened when she saw Kel and Joren. She quickly let them in.

Alanna and George were reclining on the bed with Alan snooping around the room, but Alanna and George jumped up when they saw Joren.

"What happened?" Alanna asked as she motioned for Joren to deposit Kel onto the bed. Joren did so and stood back, all the while telling what happened.

When he was finished, Alanna was frantically checking on the babies and Kel, making sure they were all okay. She sighed with relief when Kel blinked and was coherent. They soon found that the babies were fine too.

Joren sunk into a desk chair, his knees weak with relief. Aly and Alan came to stand beside them. "It's okay," Aly whispered as both of the twins comforted him.

Joren winced when Aly hugged him. It was then that all of his wounds decided to make themselves known. His adrenaline from his scare had faded and he was exhausted and hurting. Aly walked over and tapped her mother on the shoulder.

Alanna glanced at Aly absently. "Joren's hurt," Aly said in a small voice. The words sounded strange. Joren seamed to always be strong when he was around her.

Alanna finished checking Kel and went over to Joren. She healed what she could and gave him a cream for the sore muscles.

"Okay, you two. We'll all assist you back to your rooms. You need rest," Alanna said sternly.

Kel nodded and made to stand. Joren was by her side in an instant, his arm wrapped around her waist, helping her. They were both exhausted so they used each other for support.

George looked between them, amusement dancing in his eyes. He looked down at Aly and Alan and asked a silent question. 'Are those two together?'

Aly and Alan saw the question in George's eyes and nodded. He chuckled and shook his head. "So who's room first?" George asked.

Joren cleared his throat. "Actually, I wanted to stay with Kel. You know, in case she needed anything," he said.

Kel looked at him, her thanks showing through. Joren nodded.

Alanna shrugged. "Okay, but you probably need someone to chaperone," Alanna said doubtfully.

Kel looked at Alanna. "Why? I'm already having his children. It's not like we'll do anything. We're responsible enough," she said tiredly as they approached her room.

The sight that greeted them was ominous. Cleon was standing against the wall with his eyes closed. Kel's parents were on the opposite side of the hall, eyeing him warily.

The first thing Aly and Alan did was walk up to Cleon. Not to hit a man while he wasn't looking, Aly tapped him on the stomach. They both let him have a good look at them before Aly punched him in the nose and Alan kicked him in the shin.

Alanna and George didn't scold them because he deserved it even if he didn't mean to hurt Kel. Kel's parents were astonished. Kel wasn't surprised, and Joren was swelling with pride.

"What is going on here?" a voice said from behind them. Kel and Joren turned slowly around to see Neal, Yuki, Raoul, and Prince Roald. Raoul was the one to ask the question.

Cleon was rapidly backing away, his hands over his bloody nose, his limp apparent. No one stopped him.

Joren opened Kel's door and they both collapsed on the bed. Everyone else crowded themselves into the small room.

Alanna proceeded to tell everyone what Joren had told her. Afterwards, there was silence. Finally, Raoul broke the silence. "Is this true Kel?" he asked. Kel nodded, too exhausted to do much else.

Neal was outraged. "That bastard! I'll kill him!" he said menacingly. Everyone else nodded their agreement.

Ilane and Piers were worried about their daughter. So was everyone else; she looked exhausted. "Don't do anything," said a small voice. Everyone turned and looked at Kel. She had her impassive mask on. "It's okay. I wasn't hurt and neither were the babies. We'll be fine. Everyone promise me that you won't do anything," she said flatly.

Everyone nodded-minus the twins. The vowed to get him back.

Joren cleared his throat. "I'm tired. Kel's tired. We are all tired. So could leave?" he asked, not caring what people thought because he was so tired.

Ten minutes later, they were finally alone. Kel's bed was big enough that they could lie down and sleep without touching. They did. As soon as their heads hit the pillows, they were out like a light. During the night, they unconsciously rolled toward each other. That's how they slept for the remainder of the night.

Tbc.... I'll try to update more often. I'm not making any promises though.