Lita had confirmed that Alexa’s child would be the first heir to the fairy kingdom, though the situation had shifted somewhere along the way. For now, there would continue to be two fairy princesses. Fairy politics, of course. Maybe if Alexa hadconceived first it would have gone differently, and there was still a chance that if Alexa’s daughter got pregnant first in the next generation that things would snap back to one princess at a time. Fairy magic had a will of its own. Nobody knew for sure, and Lucie had decided somewhere around the third explanation to stop trying to follow it.
Her grandmother had told her she’d need to come with Derrick to pick out a future guardian for their daughter. There was no doubt in her grandmother’s mind the first child would be a girl, though Derrick wasn’t so certain and planned to prepare for either.My money’s on Grandma Alice. The woman has not been wrong about anything practically ever.
Derrick had been absolutely insufferable about the pregnancy in the most adorable way possible. He was constantly touching and kissing her stomach, having full conversations with his little love about how important they already were to him. He also kept bragging about how good he apparently was at making babies, since it had happened their very first time.
“It was the heat,” Lucie had told him flatly, more than once. “The heat did most of the heavy lifting. You were just lying there.”
He’d laughed every time and kissed her anyway.Unshakeable ego. Bless him.
For the most part, things had been quiet. The elite soldiers were still silently waiting for the witch to emerge, patient in a way only immortals could manage. Lucie had about a two to three hour window before she needed a recharge from Derrick or Abe, and Derrick almost never left her side except when she demanded girl time. He’d learned the hard way that when she demanded girl time, it was non-negotiable.
Stella had turned out to be a surprisingly lovely addition to her days. The girl wasn’t malicious, just quiet and a little lost, the kind of soft person who’d let herself be bullied becauseshe hadn’t figured out how to push back yet. She’d been weak enough that she’d invented a fake boyfriend just to get people off her back.Been there. Not the fake boyfriend part. The being tired of so many opinions part.
Overall, life was good. No, it was perfect. Willa and Alaric were over the moon, and when her parents had come to visit, they’d hammered out the grandparent names over dinner like it was a treaty negotiation. Willa took Mimi, Alaric took Papaw, and Hunter and Freja had opted for whatever their grandkids decided to call them.Classic. No-nonsense to the end.
Derrick had been overly attentive, which meant Lucie had started scheduling a couple of days each week for what she’d lovingly dubbed her “de-smother” time. That was what was happening right now. She was walking down the hall with Stella, heading for the garden to take a quiet stroll while Derrick, Abe, Jasper, and Justice held a sportsman sparring competition. The three of them were ganging up on Justice to test his guardian skills.
A muscle-flexing competition dressed up as training, Lucie thought, and she didn’t even feel bad about it. Whatever they wanted to call it, it got the smothering men out of her hair for a few hours, and that was all she needed. Justice never used his sword while sparring. Maybe he felt like he didn’t need it. Maybe he was just afraid of accidentally chopping a prince in half.Honestly, fair either way.
Lucie and Stella exited the palace when they saw Myra holding a guard by his throat, her eyes the color of a storm. This tiny, fragile-looking girl had lifted this large grown man off the ground with one hand.
“Tell me who!!” Myra growled lowly.
“It’s everyone. Everyone is saying it. Please … I didn’t mean anything by it,” the guard stuttered through a strangled breath.
“Myra!” Lucie said, the shock evident in her voice. “Put him down.” She walked up to the banshee, who immediately obeyed. “What seems to be the problem?”
The guard fell to the ground and bowed, sprawling across the floor. “Forgive me, princess. Please. I promise I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just asking a question. I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?” Lucie asked as Stella came closer to Lucie’s side.
“He’s talking about the rumors,” Stella whispered, looking down at the man.
“What rumors?” She turned her confused gaze toward Stella, who looked away, avoiding eye contact with her.
“You don’t need to know. They’re just vicious rumors.”
Lucie looked at Myra, who would give her the answers she wanted. “Myra, what is being said?”
Myra’s eyes softened and sadness flickered in them. “They’re saying … they’re saying that the child you’re carrying is not that of the prince’s. That you’re carrying the deity’s child in your womb. That he forced himself on you and now you bear a false heir to the throne.”
“But that isn’t true. Erebus never touched me like that.”
The soldier lifted his head, relief evident on his face. “Thank goodness. So you really are carrying the prince’s heir!”
Lucie was shocked. It was clear from his eyes just how much he’d believed it. This would be how much they all believed it. She felt blindsided. She had been obliviously happy. And this … this wasn’t something that was easily fixed. Sure, Derrick could make an announcement. The king and queen could make a decree. But all the vampires would be sympathizing with the royal family over this tragedy. They wouldn’t believe in the child until they were born and could smell the pure blood themselves.
“Should I kill him?” Myra asked coldly.
“You’d have to kill the whole kingdom,” the soldier said, horrified.
Myra shrugged. “We can build again, with more loyal vampires.”
“Leave him, Myra. He’s only repeating what has been spread around. Though you should have told me, Stella.” Lucie looked at her sadly.
“How could I tell you something like that?” She shook her head sadly. “You don’t need to think about such things.”
“Myra … see if you can find the roots to this rumor. It started somewhere.”
