Gilded Cage (Legends and Lovers)

“Be quick, Bavain. I am the guest of honor, I must return before I’m missed.”

“Of course, your highness. I trust that the girl is to your liking?”

I hear the king tut in disgust. “She’s plain. All humans are plain. It matters not, once she is with child I need not see her again. Tell me your news.”

Growling under my breath, it’s all I can do not to start tearing crates and barrels into splinters. How dare he describe Calliope as plain? She is everything. The earth, the sun, the moon, the stars. Nothing in the universe compares to her.

Right here and now, I vow to myself that the elf king will suffer in death.

“The witch has been recaptured, your highness. She will be tortured to find out what secrets she knows, and then put to death.”

“And the orc-kin? Do they suspect?”

“Not a thing. They had her locked in a room, trying to come up with a way to dispel her own curse. They probably don’t even know she’s gone yet.”

There’s laughter from the king, but I’m too busy running those words through my mind to think on it too long. Suspect. Not a thing. What didn’t we suspect?

“Well, we shouldn’t be surprised. Her curse, indeed? As if her meager talents could ever have worked something like this. It was a struggle even for me to use her as an unwilling vessel. Mind control on one so weak is untenable, even mind manipulation was only barely possible.” More laughter. “Their kind never were too bright though. So everything is still intact, plans are coming together. I think we should be rather pleased with ourselves. Is she here? The witch, I mean. In a way, I should like to thank her.”

“Outside, just beyond the border.”

“Still in the orc kingdom?”

“Yes, your highness, but—”

“Have you completely lost your mind? Have her brought here immediately. If the orcs recaptured her now it could ruin everything! Even they would suspect our involvement.”

“Yes, but what could they do?”

“What could they do?” I hear a strangled gasp. “They could put enough doubt into the minds of the humans to have this marriage delayed at the very least. I’ve been working on this for months, ever since our spies reported the burgeoning romance between the princess and that Dennith orc brute. That witch was a convenience I can’t hope for again. One more day, Bavain, that’s all I need. One more day and the princess will be mine. I’ll put a child inside her and the curse will be lifted, but by then it will be too late for them to do anything about their all-consuming love.”

The king says the words with disgust, as if such a human sentiment never occurred to him. But his words tumble around in my mind. The curse will be lifted. I’ll put a child inside her and the curse will be lifted. Is it that simple?

Memories of her blood on my cock have me growing hard all over again. I took her as my mate, and nobody can ever take that away from me, but is it possible that a life is growing inside her already?

I glance at the door that leads from this cellar to the rest of the castle, memories of the pain of stepping that way coming back to my mind. To burn for her would be an honor, but if all it buys me is oblivion, and she is left here to deal with that bastard elf then I’ll spend eternity regretting every minute of my existence.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I take a few steps.

The elf king’s words echo down to me. “Fetch the witch, bring her here, but keep her hidden. Tomorrow, we’ll arrange for a delegation to return to Lainsfair, and she will be hidden among the packages. I’ll finish my business with the princess, perhaps take an elf maid into the marital bed for something prettier to look at, and return as soon as our business is concluded. Go. Now.”

Fucker. He thinks he can have what’s mine? I’ll kill every fucking elf that tries to stand in my path.

With an effort of will, I drop my head and break into a run for the door.

And reach it with no pain. The curse is…

The curse is lifted, which means Calliope…is bearing my child. She’s pregnant.

The realization almost doubles me over with need. The need to tell her, the need to strip her, to bend her over and fuck another baby inside her right now. The need to rip the throat out of that elf bastard upstairs.

Thundering down the passageway, I can feel the walls pressing in around me. I’m too big. If the curse is lifted, why am I still so big? There’s no time to try to figure it out. I find myself at the bottom of a staircase, and guess it must lead into the rest of the castle.