“That’s enough time. Even if you weren’t fertile at that exact moment, you can still conceive shortly thereafter. Find a health book and read up on it.” His lips had quirked. “It probably mentions antibiotics in the same chapter.”

I hadn’t liked his smirk. “Supposing that’s true, how can you know for certain that it wasn’t you instead of Dorian?”

“Ah, well. Because I, uh, had a vasectomy.”

That had been the moment my life transformed from a fairy tale to a daytime talk show. It wouldn’t have surprised me if the crowd around us had turned into a studio audience and a host with a microphone had appeared, ready to show us paternity results. It was too unreal. Too out there, even for me.

Kiyo had told me the story. Shortly after Maiwenn had gotten pregnant, he’d decided to ensure there were no more unplanned pregnancies in his life. This had been particularly important while he was dating me. Our relationship had been pretty serious, and we’d both expected to be together for a long time. As much as he had wanted that then, he still couldn’t risk me accidentally begetting Storm King’s heir.

“I can dig out medical records if you want,” he’d added. “Or I’m guessing if you just look at the kids, you won’t see much of me.”

Yes ... I had already noticed that. I’d simply assumed the twins had taken after me, but if Dorian really was their father ... it would be hard to say whose genes were dominant, seeing as we both had red hair and pale complexions.

“I don’t know which is the craziest part of this,” I’d told Kiyo. “That you were so adamant about birth control while we were together and never mentioned that you couldn’t have kids or that you let me think you were actually going to kill your own children!” Not that him killing someone else’s children was much better. It was horrible any way you looked at it.

“I thought ... well, Dorian was already on your side. But I thought—no, I knew—that if he found out they were his, I’d have a much harder time of getting to them.”

No doubt. Dorian would level a city to keep his children safe. Still, the fact that Kiyo could have been sitting on a lie like this was mind-boggling.

“Then why are you telling me now?” I had asked. “Why tell me any of these things?”

Kiyo had shrugged. “It’s the right thing to do, especially after you helped me on the Yew Land trip. Besides, some of the pressure’s off now that the prophecy’s immediate threat is gone.”

“Not according to your pal Maiwenn.”

“No. And probably not in the eyes of others. Even people who don’t care about the prophecy are still scared of you, Eugenie. Those kids are leverage against you.”