“Draven—” her words ceased, gaze widening at the sight of the Nitesh behind her. “What—”
“No time. I have to get her to the Throne Room. I could use the escort,” he cut in.
Lex nodded. “Very well.”
Lex led them through the castle, waving off any guards who questioned where she was going. Draven’s heart was beating hard in his chest, the look the Nitesh had had on her face when she stood now seared in his mind.
When they reached the Throne Room, the Nitesh did not stop until she was standing at the front of Arbina’s pool.
“Back,” the Nitesh warned. “Both of you.”
They took steps back behind her, and the Nitesh plunged her staff so forcefully into the water that it swelled into a great tidal wave.
The golden streaks on her skin glowed like nerves on the surface. The wave splashed onto the great white tree, and from its depths he saw a woman form out of the mist.
His giver’s enemy. The reason his own maker was cursed.
Arbina Promregis Amaris.
He’d never seen her in her corporeal form. Long white blonde wavy hair billowed in the wind that had encircled the room. Her icy eyes stared at the Nitesh, and a slow smile spread over her beautiful face.
“Nari,” Arbina called the Nitesh by her true name. “I did not realize you were the new pet.”
“What. Have. You. Done?” the Nitesh asked wildly.
Arbina picked at one of her pointed nails and raised a brow. “I don’t know what—”
Lightning lit up the sky.
Thunder cracked so violently that the entire castle shook.
“The child, Arbina,” the Nitesh spat. “The child in the womb she should not even have.”
Draven’s heart stopped. “What?”
Lex grabbed Draven’s arm.
“How many of your daughters have you given this ability to?” the Nitesh shouted.
Arbina’s smile widened, and her eyes flashed towards Draven. “Finally. I wondered how many it would take before she found you.” Arbina began walking then, her figure dancing over the water’s surface as she continued to ignore them.
“How many, Promregis?!” the Nitesh shouted again.
“All of them,” Arbina said shortly.
“Wait,” Draven cut in, stepping up from the shadows. “You’re telling me… Aydra is carrying a…” his voice choked on the word “child?” he finally managed. “My child?” His eyes darted between the women in the room, and he felt the blood draining from his face. “But how? How can she be with child? What—”
“Ancient stories tell of a race of beings beyond our shores,” the Nitesh began darkly. “A race of savages, power hungry and greedy, the same beings who have arrived on our shores now—”
Draven and Lex exchanged a wide-eyed glance, but the Nitesh continued to speak, and they didn’t have a chance to ask her about the words she’d used.
“—The stories say they grew children in their women’s bellies over a period of time, and birthed them as squalling babies. These children would share the nature of both their combined givers, a man and a woman.” The Nitesh turned to Arbina. “I will assume this is where you received such an idea.”
Arbina smiled a sly, mischievous smile that sent a chill down Draven’s spine. “It is,” she answered.
The Nitesh screamed.
Lightning struck the tree.
“You have meddled with Haerland!” the Nitesh shouted. “Meddled with the sanctity of this land! What will this child even be?!”
“A child of greatness,” Arbina affirmed. “Born of the Sun and Darkness merged as one.”
“You do not know what powers this child could hold,” growled the Nitesh. “You could unleash something so dangerous onto our kind that it kills every being in this land.”
“Or saves it,” Draven interjected.
The wind stopped.
The Nitesh turned slowly, staring at him.
Draven swallowed hard and shifted his weight on his feet. “This child… it could be what brings our inner war to an end. It could be the one who brings our races together. Unites our world,” said Draven.
He deliberately stepped down the steps, his mind in a daze, heart beating wildly in his chest.
“Draven—”
He ran.
He knocked down three Belwarks on his way up to her room, jumping between and over the Dreamer servants walking the halls, until finally he reached her room.
And when he burst through the doors, his heart swelled at the sight of her sitting up in the chair in the moons light as her sister brushed her hair.
His Queen.
His best friend.
His partner.
His equal in this life.
Mother to his child.
Mother to the child of Sun and Darkness.
CHAPTER SEVENTY
AYDRA’S EYES WIDENED at the sight of Draven bursting through her door. The wild look on his face made her core drain.
“Draven, what—”
He was standing beside her at an instant, and he reached for her hands. She stood and faced him, unable to make out the flaring happiness in his dilated sage pupils. He kissed her knuckles and then whispered, “Oh, Aydra,” before cupping her face and kissing her lips.
She felt her feet lift from the floor, and she pulled back to look at his face as he spun her.
“Draven!” His happiness radiated into her muscles, and she couldn’t help the laughter that emitted from her lips. “Draven, what—what are you so happy about?”
He put her down then and shook his head above her, staring at her face as though it was his first time looking upon it.
“Have I told you how much I love you?” he whispered, his chest heaving.
“Draven, what is going on,” she demanded.
“Arbina has given us a gift,” he told her.
Her eyes narrowed, a full frown slipping onto her face. “That doesn’t sound right. Try again.”
He chuckled under his breath and brought her knuckles to his lips. “Come sit with me,” he said as he took a step back. Her gaze narrowed, but she followed him to sit on the bed nonetheless.
“Draven…”
“A child grows inside you,” he said quickly. “Our child.”
Glass broke behind them.
A ringing filled her ears.
She blinked, suddenly feeling lightheaded, and not because of the pain in her stomach.
“What?” she managed, sure she hadn’t heard him right.
“What did you say?” Nyssa managed, leaving the glass broken on
