Faye thought furiously. ‘What if I go home, back to Abercolme? I won’t tell anyone about the baby.’
The faerie queen kept an unbroken eye contact with Faye, frowning.
‘Finn and Levantiana will know where you are, regardless. You cannot hide from them.’ She shook her head. ‘Better you end it now.’
‘I won’t do that.’ Faye met Moronoe’s gaze levelly. ‘I can’t avoid them knowing where I am, and I can’t stop them knowing that I’m pregnant. But if Levantiana wants the baby, then she knows I have to carry it to term. That I have to be healthy, and I have to stay in the ordinary world to be well, right? It would be too risky to transport me into Murias, wouldn’t it? At least for long periods of time?’
Moronoe nodded. ‘Your human body needs human food, water, the nourishment of the human world. She knows this as well as I.’
‘All right. So, she’ll watch me, but she’ll think I’m honouring the bargain.’
‘And then what? When it’s born?’ Moronoe demanded. ‘She will not change her mind. She will take the child. Are you willing to give it up?’
‘No.’ Faye shook her head. ‘But you can help me. Hide us here. Levantiana can’t come here, can she?’
The faerie queen gave Faye a calculating look.
‘No, you would be safe here. But you would have to re-enter the human world at some point. You are only half faerie, and your human body needs to be in its element.’
‘What about the baby?’ Faye was desperate, but she had to find a way to protect it. She’d no more drink the moon tea than cut her own throat. She could see that it would be a logical option, but Faye just couldn’t do it. ‘Could you keep it here? Until it was…I don’t know. Old enough to not be of interest to Levantiana any more? I mean, how old would that even be? When will she stop being interested in the child?’
‘Youcouldbear the child with the help of the fae midwives,’ Moronoe mused. ‘You would not suffer, for they are skilled in the childbearing arts. And when the child is born, I could keep him here. He would be protected in my realm.’
Faye looked around her at the rough walls of dirt and roots.
‘But for how long?’ She hated the thought of trusting Moronoe, but it was the only solution she could think of. At least here, the baby would be protected.
‘It is possible that I could teach him magic when he is old enough,’ Moronoe suggested. ‘It might be enough to deter her. Or, she may only want a baby. A child may not suit her purposes, in which case, we need only keep him here until he is four or five of your human years.’
‘But don’t you know for sure?’ Faye demanded. ‘This is my child we’re talking about! Why should I let you keep him in your realm? That would be the same as letting Levantiana have him.’
Moronoe glared at her.
‘No, it would not. With me, he would be safe. With me, you could have him back when it was safe for you to do so. I am offering you help. I advise you to take it,’ the faerie queen thundered. ‘Let us not forget that it is you that is asking me for a favour here, niece. Perhaps a little more gratitude might be in order.’
Faye took in a deep breath.
‘I am grateful for your help. But you have to understand that I’m trying to find some kind of workable solution to…’ She shook her head. ‘To an unthinkable problem.’
But what does Moronoe really get out of helping me?Faye watched the faerie queen with a critical eye. Was she really so committed to protecting Faye? There was no reason why she should be. Granted, she’d indicated that she liked the idea that the baby might drive a wedge between Finn and Levantiana.However, Faye imagined Moronoe had other ways of doing that if she wanted to.
‘Humans are so emotional.’ Moronoe rolled her eyes.
‘If the baby’s human, then it can’t stay here. It will kill him. Or her.’ The surreal nature of what she was talking about with Moronoe struck Faye.Surely she couldn’t be considering leaving her child in the faerie realm?
‘He will be partly fae, taking that from you. And if I have him from a newborn, he will adjust. That is why the fae like to take human babies. They can live in our realms more easily if they grow within it than if they arrive from another realm. Then, it is too much of a shock. If they are here from the beginning, they are reared on faerie milk, which gives them what they need to survive.’ Moronoe patted her large, rounded breast. ‘I will suckle him myself.’
‘Won’t Lyr protect me against Levantiana? Can’t he do anything? He is my father, after all.’ Faye was desperate for any ray of hope that meant she didn’t have to leave her baby in Falias to be brought up in Moronoe’s court.
‘Lyr.’ Moronoe spat on the ground. ‘My brother is no help to anyone. We are no longer speaking, so I cannot ask his help even if I wanted to, which I do not.’ She tossed her head proudly.
‘Why not?’ Lyr had mentioned he and his sister were estranged, but he hadn’t explained why.
‘Because I am a queen, and I do not need his rulership or approval; I am head of my own queendom. I need not submit to the kingdom of Falias to have power.’ She snorted. ‘I also disapprove of the way he uses human women like a harem. Faerie kings and queens have always had human lovers, for pleasure, but Lyr seems to be obsessed with fathering as many half-fae children as he can. There is no need for it.’
Faye was surprised.
‘I wouldn’t have…expected you to care so much. About the women,’ she replied carefully.
