“Neither will I,” I say, glad to have his backing.
Xane growls at me but I growl back at him.
“It is unacceptable, not to mention the sheer repugnance of such an act,” I say to him.
“We made a decision,” he says.
“And we can still make that decision stand,” I say, hating myself for being the one to say it first.
“A stay of execution?” he asks, intrigued. “Until the baby is born.”
I nod rigidly. I don’t like the suggestion but it is better than the alternative.
A knocking interrupts us and Falcor opens the door to let Sven in.
“I know you don’t owe me anything,” he starts before Xane can kick him out. “But, please be merciful.” He turns his gaze to me and it is probably the first time he has looked at me without a leer. He looks desolate and I feel sorry for him.
“We are trying to come up with a solution,” I say to him.
“A stay of execution,” Falcor says.
Sven looks from Xane to me and then back to Falcor. He nods, knowing that he isn’t going to get any more than that out of us. “Please will you allow me to wed Cefalonia before the child is born?” he asks formally.
I leave that decision to Xane and he debates it for a while. I know he wants to deny the request just to get back at Sven for all of his interference, but eventually he says, “Very well. The child shouldn’t suffer being a bastard.”
“Thank you,” he says, relieved. He grasps my hand and squeezes it and I give him a deep, searching look, trying to convey to him that I have given him time to figure this the heck out. He nods imperceptibly and I see his grateful look before he turns to Xane. “Please set a date now, so that we know,” he croaks out.
“You say she is two and a half months?” he asks.
“Yes,” Sven replies.
“Then it will be nine and a half months from today,” he says.
I give him a querying gaze and come to the conclusion that Demon pregnancies must take twelve months, much like Faerie ones. Drake once mentioned this to me–to my horror.
Sven bobs his head and leaves and I feel the weight of this decision sitting heavily on me. Xane takes my hand and we walk back into the Great Hall. Lord Falcor makes the announcement. The cries of joy ring through the Hall, but I can only look at CeeCee and while she is relieved her child will live, she knows she is still doomed and she is resigned.
“Horrible,” I tell CK after we arrive back home. “It was horrible, awful. I feel like my skin is going to crawl off.”
He gathers me to him and I sink into his embrace. “I don’t want to do this anymore,” I snuffle into his chest. “I just can’t. I resign.”
“You can’t resign,” he says, gently pushing me a bit away from him so he can look at me. “It’s not an option.”
“What’s the point?” I ask. “I have been given this damn title and all of these Powers only so I could have a child. And well, look at that, it’s already been done, so what I am even doing here now?”
“Aefre,” he says. “You have to stay strong.”
“Why?” I weep. “I don’t want to be strong anymore. I want someone to take care of me and sort out all this nasty, horrible business.”
“I take care of you, my sweet,” he says. “I love you, but there is still much to accomplish.”
His reminder isn’t met with great delight. I heave a sigh and ask him if he would mind if I took off for a while.
“Where to?” he asks warily.
“The Dark Fae Kingdom,” I say to his upset. “I just want to spend time with my father.”
“Just your father?” he asks.