“You will be highly fertile, and this is the time to conceive, Aefre,” She adds and my face falls. Doesn’t sound so fun now.
“But…” I falter.
“It cannot happen this time,” She says. “You need to be strong to bear this child and you are weak.”
She might as well have just said pathetic, because it is written all over Her face that is what She thinks of me at the moment.
“Who?” I ask. She clearly has someone in mind for this job and I want to know who.
“The Chosen One, of course,” She says.
Cole then, I think with relief. At least it is my husband and not some Dragon stranger. But still, I said it once and I will say it until I am blue in the face. Not. Happening. Not now, not ever.
“When?” I ask.
“Tomorrow or the next day,” She replies. “You must come with me. I will keep you sequestered in the Underworld to ensure that it doesn’t happen this time.”
Well, She seems quite adamant that it doesn’t happen, so I decide to trust Her and nod. “Okay, come back for me when it happens. I have, unfortunately, some issues I need to deal with here before I can leave.”
“Sort it out fast,” She says. “Once it hits, I will have to remove you from male presence.”
I nod again, and She disappears. “Why me?” I grumble and get to my feet. I start to pace, forgetting about that whole embarrassing situation and focusing on Cade. I hope they find him, and do as I ask.
Chapter 11
The Underworld, September 2013 – Xane
“You will get me into that room,” he yells at his mother who just stands there glaring at him.
“You know that I cannot,” Xanthe says back to her son. “It is not what She wishes.”
“I don’t give a damn,” he says, and his mother draws in her breath at his boldness. “You said you would do anything to ensure this child ends up mine. You will get me into that room during her stay.”
Xanthe shakes her head again and Xane howls in frustration.
“Even if I could, Aida will never allow you past her. Tiamat is completely set on Her course. I was unable to sway Her. Besides,” she pauses, “the Queen will not be allowed access to anyone while She is here.”
That catches Xane’s interest. “Why?” he asks. “I thought Tiamat wanted Her daughter with child at the earliest convenience.”
“She does,” Xanthe says. “Unfortunately, the Queen is not at her best after her ordeal. She needs to be strong and right now she isn’t.”
“Because she isn’t with me,” Xane growls and Xanthe makes a noise of agreement. “I have had enough of this. The Trial isn’t going to go on much longer. Without her here, showing her loyalty to us, we are going to lose everything.” He turns on his heel, his cape swishing out behind him. He paces across the stone floor of his bedroom at the Castle. It is the only place he can go to have absolute privacy. There are spies everywhere at the moment and he has only two people he can trust. He looks back at one of them and narrows his eyes at her. Can he even trust his own mother now? She said she would make this happen and now she is going against their plan.
“Don’t you dare,” she hisses at him. “Turn against me and you will lose her for good. There is nothing I can do about the Queen’s stay. She will be heavily guarded, but there may be another way to force her to do her duty to us. We will not lose everything we have worked for over some silly child’s poor decision-making. That Vampire in her needs to be squashed!” she exclaims loudly, and he steps back. He senses a Shift on the horizon and doesn’t want to be caught by her wings.
“And how, pray tell, do we do that?” he asks sarcastically.
“I’m working on it,” she says cryptically. “What has been done, can be undone. There will be a way.”
“Are you saying there is a way to reverse her being a Vampire?” he asks interestedly. “You do know that when she isn’t a Vampire, she loses most of her abilities?” he adds, worried.
“If there is a way, Tiamat will know it,” Xanthe says breezily. “All She needs is an incentive to get on it. Besides, the Queen’s accelerated Powers will have taken care of any weakness.” She dismisses it with a wave of her hand.
His mother is definitely in the loop on something when it comes to Tiamat’s plans. She is one of Her most trusted advisors. He just wishes he could get her to spill the beans so that he gains the upper hand. Xerxei has too many people vying for her attention. There must be a way to get himself pushed further up the list.
“We have to accept that The Chosen One is going to father a child with the Queen,” Xanthe says after a long pause. “However, that does not mean that firstly, it will be the only child the Queen will bear, and secondly that it will be the child that Tiamat hopes it will be.” She smiles mysteriously at him and he relaxes. She does have a plan. He just has to be patient and see this through. Patience, though, has never been his strong suit. He needs action on the spot, and this situation has been going on for far longer than it should have. Xerxei’s unexpected coma has thrown everything off course. It has been kept very quiet. Only a handful of people know about it and the circumstances. It would have been a disaster if the news had broken of such powerlessness.
“Fine,” he says. “You stick with your little secretive plan, but speed things along as much as you can.”