“Thanks gods my partners will never get me pregnant.” I could hear the grimace on her lips.
“I didn’t think it would feel this bad. I really didn’t think this would ever happen to me.” I wiped the corner of my mouth and stood, taking in a deep breath of evening air.
“You two definitely didn’t waste any time.” Calista hooked my arm with hers, and nudged her elbow into my ribs.
I chuckled. “Maybe not, but I didn’t plan on this.”
Dante came into view. He was assisting some of the travelers with prepping the rabbits they’d caught for dinner. It took barely anytime at all to skin them thanks to his beast claws. As I scanned the faces around the campfire, I noticed something was missing. The way they interacted with him, spoke with him, listened to his commands. The fear I’d first come to see at the markets in The Cursed Kingdom didn’t surface.
My heart swelled, but it also ached. I hoped Dante had noticed the shift. I was sure he had, but also knew where his thoughtswould turn after that moment of happiness and relief. When he finished skewering the skinned animals, his wolf style gaze snagged on me, as if he’d known exactly where I’d been the entire time. I wouldn’t have put it past him to always be scenting for me now.
He strode up to me, telling Calista by the dip of his chin to take leave.
“You got it, King.” She saluted and flashed me a grin before taking herself to the fires.
“Only once so far today. That’s good,” he said, nostrils flaring as if he could pinpoint the pile of sick I’d coated a bush with.
“I wish it was zero,” I grumbled, placing both palms over my stomach.
“Are you feeling alright? What do you need?” His massive paws gripped my arms, the pads of his thumbs stroking up and down.
“I need to stop being such a burden to this convoy.” The guilty confession slipped from my lips before I could think better of it. A mix of being tired, hungry, and nauseous stripped my brave face, exposing my rawest elements.
“Hey,” he scolded, his voice dropping low. “You give those feelings to me. I have broader shoulders, I can carry it.” His wolfish smile tugged to the side.
I wanted to laugh. He was being sweet and playful. But instead, my eyes welled, spilling warm tears down my cheeks. “I don’t want to give you any more burdens than you already have, Dante.”
He simply swept me into his arms and took us to our tent. He shifted as we entered. Like some magnetic force, I found myself pressing into his human form.
My body called to his. My heart called to his. And so did my soul.
He lay me down on the one cot in our tiny quarters. My hands found purchase on his shoulders, my body giving commands of its own to have him press against me.
The pressure of him laying over me calmed my senses, grounded me. He ran his fingers through the curls that’d fallen from my braid, pushing them off my face. The way he studied every inch of me had me convinced he could one day paint a perfect portrait. Even the precise measurements of the auburn roots now casting a shadow in my hair. Since the spell broke, the unnatural red stopped growing. He contemplated it whenever he assessed me like this. I knew he did. There’d been countless mornings where we’d just stare at each other as the morning sun cascaded through his windows at the manor.
When I had magic, I believed the gods watched over me. Had plans for me. Breaking the spell and finding Dante felt like the perfect end to a story. Therein laid the problem—our story wasn’t over yet.
I often conjured in my mind a tapestry that connected all the parts of my life and past together. I’d fallen in love with the beast who’d caused my blessing. We’d uncovered a nefarious group with unclear intentions that’d tried to steal my magic and worked to rescue a once cursed land from another surge of dark magic and famine.
Any future from here on out seemed…unclear. My part in that story felt concluded. Now, I just existed. My grand purpose had been completed, and I was simply here to witness everyone else discover their destiny and new life. I was convinced of that when I saw who Dante was growing to be. A great leader. Perhaps, if the gods still favored our endeavors, Argora Vale could be saved this time and we could return. Dante might very well become the king I embarrassingly mistook him for once.
But my part in this grand scheme felt like it should be placed on the sidelines. Being involved felt like I was putting myself somewhere I shouldn’t be. Like I was just in the way now.
The moment I circled those thoughts, tears fell again.
“You’re killing me, green eyes. Why the tears?” His gentle voice plucked my heart strings even harder.
The weak retaining wall holding everything back crumbled. “I don’t think I should be here, Dante. I don’t have any magic to help. I’m sick with our child. Those people out there rely on you for everything. I hate that I don’t have anything to offer anymore.” I choked on the sobs as they came pouring out, hoping I wouldn’t jostle my stomach enough that I’d get sick again.
His lips were on my skin within a heartbeat, pressing kisses to my forehead, my nose, my cheeks. “Mira, I don’t know if I’ve told you this before, but my life is nothing without you.”
I laughed through my cries. He said it every day.
His relentless execution of kisses against me continued. “You lead these people as much as I do. They look to you for guidance, for support. You are a beacon to them, a safe harbor in the storm they’re going through. You’ve led them from danger, and are here with them now. You may not be building their fires or hunting their food, but you lift their spirits. You keep us together like a family, and when we arrive at Solei village, they’ll remember that you were there at the start. Especially in your condition.”
“Dante, I need refuge from Argora Vale, same as any of them. I’m not giving anyone here anything they wouldn’t have on their own if I wasn’t here.”
“Hope, Mira. You give them hope. You came to this kingdom and treated them like your own. You broke your curse and chose to keep helping. You took on the responsibility of leading them away, scared citizens that became emboldened and bravebecause they had you to guide them. So no, my love, you’re simply wrong. You give them something more vital than you can imagine. I know you’re feeling run down, and your body is changing, but that’s not undoing who you are to them. Do you understand me?”
