“Penelope is pregnant.”
The room goes still.
Dead still.
Silent.
Voice steady, cold, unshakable, I speak loudly, projecting, “Which means she is sacred. Untouchable. And anyone who harms her harms the child that carries my name, my bloodline. The Obsidian’s legacy.”
One of the elders leans forward. “We did not hear this from her.”
“You hear it from me,” I snap.
Silence again.
But something shifts.
Recognition.
Submission.
“This man touched her,” I tell them, “presumably without Council approval?” I look over them all, all fifteen of them sat along the large rectangular table, all peering down at me from their little stage, except for Gore, still standing.
“Two,” Milus says my name like a cold wash of heat dropping down my spine. “You know, as well as we, that if you cannot get your Pair under control, someone else will come along to prove that they can.” My heart punches in my chest, clapping against my rib bones. “You let her get away with murder.” He lifts a dark brow, lounging back in his throne style chair, carved wood, velvet seat covering. “Literally,” he emphasises the word with a subtle lift of his mouth on one side, a silent mocking. “And yet, she still stands, still walks, still talks.” His bright blue gaze drops to Balor, a crinkle to his nose as he sniffs, as if to allude to his removal of Balor’s tongue, like I should take his silent prompt and feel lucky Penelope did not suffer a similar fate. “So many worse things could have been done to her,” he sighs heavily.
As though he wishes he had done more, as though he’s exhausted with my display, like I’m being overly dramatic.
But my thoughts wander to the many things that alreadyhavebeen done to her. I bristle. Wondering how the fuck I ever let them convince me to leave her for such a long time alone. Vulnerable.
“I fail to see why she is an exception to our laws. You step out of line, you are punished.”
Gore is still standing, his chest working harder than I’ve seen in a long time. His deep emerald eyes focussed entirely on Milus, and in this moment, I’m unsure whether he might use those huge, tattooed hands to finally put us all out of our misery and strangle the life out of our leader.
He could do it. He would get away with it. It would cause a lot of headaches, but I think Gore is much more liked than he thinks, despite the loyalty to our father.
“Balor threatened what is mine. Threatened what will become ours.”
Eyes widen all round as if just realising they themselves are going against their vows, our laws, we must endeavour to protect the future of The Obsidian.
They must recognise this pregnancy and protect it.
Just as they have every time before.
“And so,” I finish, voice dark as the earth beneath the crypts, “I will deal with his body in the way our laws demand.”
A blade is offered to me by an elder on the very end of the table, his wrinkled hand outstretched, but I don’t take it, preferring something of my own. I pull the short silver dagger from my boot, the one engraved withus,Two.
But before I step forward, I turn to her, my Pair, my future, my impossible salvation. Exhaustion sits heavy beneath her eyes in large navy rings, but there’s something far darker in them. Vengeance, hate, fight, love.Fuck, so much love.
I cup her cheek and she presses into my palm like it’s the first warmth she’s felt in months.
“She is my Pair,” I say, loud enough to rattle the carved walls, still looking at her. “She carries my child. From this night forward, she is to be honoured as such. As any of your Pairs. Anyone who looks at her with anything less than respect will answer to me.”
Gore looks at me now as I glance back up to the table, my head held high, strong, firm. And he bows his head.
And then slowly, the Council bow theirs too.
Every.
