Tethys rose from her seat and closed her eyes. No longer could she feel the second heartbeat, miles away. Only silence and a panic-stricken emptiness filled the place where their connection should be.
She made for the door, terror weaving through every muscle, and raced down the hall. Halfway to the sunroom where Altair conducted his daily council meetings, she froze.
A wave of pain crashed from her spine to her pelvis likethe surf against a rocky shoal. Tethys braced herself on the gilded wall, struggling for breath under collapsed lungs.
When the pain subsided, she pressed on, reaching the sunroom’s entrance with shallow, gasping breaths. Another wave fully encompassed her body, this one far more intense than the last. Tethys’s knees buckled and she clung to the doorknob to keep from collapsing. Her brother’s voice was muffled from within. She needed to reach him. To tell him something was wrong. That Araes was in danger. Or dying. Or maybe already dead.
Her pulse quickened, visions of his broken, lifeless body, flashing through her thoughts. No, she wouldn’t accept that. There was still time. Altair could help.
Tethys pulled open the door, meeting the eyes of four startled lords and her brother.
“Sister? Are you unwell?” Altair asked, concern creased in his brow. He lunged for her as she braced herself for another wave of agony. Tethys gripped his shoulders, holding her weight against his steadfast embrace.
“I’m f—” Pain stole her words. The muscles tightened over her belly, sending pressure like nothing she’d ever felt before jolting down her pelvis. Tethys gasped, collecting her rampant thoughts with a sharp inhale. “I’m fine, but something’s happened in Venia. To Araes. I need to go home.”
Altair led his sister to the settee against the northern window. Sunlight gleaned over its pale ivory cushions and washed the room in golden hues. The lords on his council whispered and murmured to one another, but kept their curious eyes leashed. Unlike the Venian council, they knew better than to stray far from their roles.
“Tethys, what you need is to see the midwives. You can’t possibly travel like this,” Altair said, tucking a loose braid behind his ear.
“Altair, I’m telling you, something is wrong with Araes. I can’t—I can’t feel him anymore,” she cried, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks.
“What do you mean you can’tfeelhim?” he asked, suspicion etched in his eyes.
“Please, I’ll explain everything later, but we need to get to Venia. Now.” Tethys clawed at the linen arm rest as the pain again flooded her body. She sucked in a shallow breath and steadied herself amidst the glowing sunlight.
“I will go, but Tethys, we need to call the midwives,” her brother said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“Fine, but hurry. I can’t lose him. This baby will not grow up without knowing his father.”
Altair nodded, his eyes simmering to a deep teal, and rose from the settee. “Just stay here until Nora arrives.”
The summer king paced to his council, still murmuring amongst themselves. “Council is dismissed for the day, my lords. We will finish our discussions tomorrow.”
The old men nodded and collected their effects before rushing from the room. Altair kissed his sister’s forehead before a snap of his fingers sent him dissipating into sunbeams.
Tethys focused on keeping her breathing steady in the quiet isolation. The sunroom’s brilliant midday light illuminated every particle floating above her. She closed her eyes, searching for Araes’s heartbeat once again. Only emptiness greeted her.Stillness.A cold vacancy where warmth once was.
She wasn’t stupid. These pains were contractions, and this babe would enter the world soon. Tethys hoped and prayed to every godly being that it wouldn’t be a fatherless one.
“Goddess.” Nora’s quiet voice snapped her back to reality. “I came as quickly as I could. The midwives are getting set up in your chambers.”
Tethys merely nodded, terrified beyond words.
The healer knelt beside the settee and laced their fingers together. Nora’s touch was a soothing cool across hersweat-beaded skin. Her lips thinned as she took in Tethys’s grim complexion.
“Do you trust me?” she asked, her eyes flashing with reassurance. Again, Tethys nodded. The healer clipped her hair behind her ears. “Then let’s go have this baby.”
Chapter 71
Her labors were long, but Tethys endured for the sake of her babe. With each wave of pain through her body signaling the babe’s descent, she begged for relief. Tethys knelt by the bed’s edge with arms braced against the silken comforter.
Nora and her midwives busied themselves about the room, patting her head with cool washing cloths to soothe the sweat from her overheated brow.
Minutes passed like hours.
Hours passed like eternity.
Another wave from the top of her hard, rounded belly came crashing down upon her, igniting her body in flames.
