“Caden can’t know.” I stopped walking and lowered my hand.
Luce blinked once and then twice. “You’re not planning to tell him?”
My heart thumped against my chest. “No. I can’t.”
“Do you think he wouldn’t be receptive to news of a child? I don’t know him well at all—”
“No. It’s not that.” Honestly, I had no idea if he would be amenable or not. It wasn’t like we’d had a chance to talk about any of this.
She frowned. “I know this is shocking news, and on top of everything else. You have to be experiencing a lot of confusion.”
I was definitely feeling a decent amount of confusion, but I knew one thing for sure. Caden couldn’t know. “I’m not confused about this. He can’t know. You’re just like a human doctor. You told me that what I say to you and what my condition is stays between us. You won’t tell Caden.”
“I would never betray a patient’s trust by doing so, but I also won’t betray my King,” she stated, and pressure clamped down on my chest. “You want me to hide his child from him?”
The judgment and disbelief in her tone were evident. “You just said what you feel has no bearing,” I reminded her. “And you’re obviously feeling something right now.”
“You’re right.” Luce rose with the grace of a trained dancer. “But if you’re planning to keep this child, bring him or her into this world, you cannot expect me to keep that from the King.”
“But you would keep an abortion from him?” I challenged.
“I never said that.”
My mouth dropped open. “I don’t think you understand what patient-doctor confidentiality means.”
“And I don’t thinkyouunderstand what being the subject of a King means.”
She was right. I didn’t. But that didn’t change anything. I needed to convince her to keep her mouth shut, and that wasn’teasy when I honestly had no idea what I was going to do. “Just give me a moment. I need to think.”
“You need to take more than a couple of moments, Brighton.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I raced over the possible options like I did when I mapped out the best possible routes for Order members to take when they were needed. “I don’t plan to keep the child from him forever. I wouldn’t do that,” I decided, and that was true. “That wouldn’t be fair to Caden or the child.”
“I’m relieved to hear that.” She crossed her arms. “But that’s very contrary to stating that he cannot know.”
“He just can’t know right now.”
“Brighton—”
“You don’t understand, Luce. He can’t know right now. Okay? I will tell him, but not now.”
“When will you?”
“When the time is right.”
Luce stared back at me, and then her gaze lowered as she nodded. “All right.”
Instinct flared. I knew she was lying. Everything in me said so. She may not go straight to Caden, but she would whenever I passed whatever time limit she set. I was angry that there was really no confidentiality here, but I also understood that I had no grasp of what it meant to have a King or to be fae. Human norms couldn’t be expected. I still needed to stop her, and I only knew of one way.
“He’s already ended his engagement,” I told her.
“What?” Her gaze sharpened.
“He already ended his betrothal to Tatiana.” I sat down, suddenly so very tired. “He…he chose me. Only me.” My voice cracked as I scrubbed my palms down my face. “He’s already made his choice.”
Luce stumbled back a step and then plopped into the chair. Any other time, I would’ve laughed at seeing a fae being so ungraceful, but there was nothing funny here. She understood what I was saying.
“Tatiana told me. That was why she came here. She didn’t come out of jealousy. At least it didn’t appear that way to me. She was even open to me being a part of his life so long as he married a fae—any fae.” Tears blurred my eyes. “No one else knows. Caden wasn’t going to announce it until after Tatiana had left.”
