“What happened?”
“You fainted. Or collapsed is a better term.”
“Huh?” Cautiously, I open my eyes as the pounding in my skull gradually fades. More details come into focus, from the knittedbedspread to the dresser weighed down by countless carved animal figures.
Mom’s room?
“Do you remember?” Her face swims into view but where I expect her expression to match the softness in her voice, her face is absent anything but anger.
“No…”
“You came bursting into the conservatory and collapsed right in front of me. Gave me a damn heart attack.”
“I’m sorry,” I groan. “Maybe it was something I ate.”
“Something you ate?” She scoffs sharply and pulls her hand from mine, standing abruptly. “It wasn’t something you ate.”
“How do you know?”
Mom paces away from her and winds her arms around her middle. “Because in thehoursyou were out, the doctor examined you.”
The edge in her voice catches my attention and I lift my gaze to meet hers, my heart racing. “Is there something wrong with me?”
“You could say that,” she scoffs and quickly buries her face in her palm. “How could you do this to me, Aerin?”
Confusion mingles in my gut and I frown, still massaging my temple. “What are you talking about?” As things come back to me, Falco’s face fills my mind followed by a piercing sharp pain in my chest that draws a gasp from my lips.
He pushed me away.
Broke my heart so suddenly. With no warning. Last night things were perfect.
Today I woke up in hell.
“Am I sick?”
“Sick?” Mom’s voice rises. “You’re pregnant, Aerin! Pregnant! You fainted because of low iron and stress. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”
Falco fades from my thoughts. In fact everything does as my mind goes blank while I stare at her. Then, slowly, laughter ripples through me. “Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t be!”
“You are! Aerin, you stupid, reckless girl. What is wrong with you? You can’t tell me you thought this was something you could hide!”
“I’m not pregnant!” I continue to laugh as the notion is just too ridiculous. There’s no way I can be pregnant because…
Because…
We never used protection. I was never on any contraception. Shit.
My laughter trails off like the whistle of a kettle and I swallow hard. “I can’t be pregnant,” I whisper.
Not like this. Not after I’ve fallen for a man I can’t be with, a man who suddenly doesn’t want me anymore because peace apparently made me unattractive. I can’t have his baby.
I place my hand over my belly and stare down, caught between the ache in my skull and the sickness in my gut.
“You stupid girl,” Mom continues. “Not only have you broken your vow, but you’ve betrayed your father and me. How could you? Do you know what this will do to us?” Suddenly she’s back at my bedside and clutching my hand. “Who is the father?”
I swallow around a growing lump in my throat and glance up at her. “No one.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Aerin. Babies don’t spawn. Who was it? One of your friends? A guard? Who?” Her voice grows shrill. “How much shame have you brought upon me?”
