The next days were hectic. The news spread like wild fire and all of Lycanthia wanted to see the 'pregnant wife' of the prince.
More than half of my day was spent in the throne room, listening to the people talk about how radiant I looked and how much better it might have been if I was fully Lycan now.
Apparently, the reason I haven't shifted completely is because of the child. My body's defense mechanism to protect it. There will be complications from a shift at this stage.
There are gifts, tons of them that I have absolutely no use for and end up giving out to the maids once the revelries are over. I see very little of Rune. He spends most of his time in the villages, helping in whatever way he can.
At night, he returns covered in gore and soot. He heads straight to my room, jarring me from sleep as he slips in bed beside me, shaking and holding me tightly, like he fears he might lose me.
Sometimes, he spends the night, other nights, I wake up alone.
The latter hurts, but I understand why. On the nights that he stays, he has nightmares. They get so bad, he forgets where he is and who he is with. He's never hurt me. I somehow always manage to bring him out of it. But I can see it in his eyes. He fears he will hurt me one day. Or do something worse. Irreparable.
Hekate has been AWOL. It doesn't matter what I say or do to call him out, he refuses to surface. It makes me tired and angry. Helping him is the only way I can help Rune feel better. The nightmares, the hurt, the fear...I can't smile knowing he goes through all of that and I am fucking helpless.
Amidst the chaos, my parents arrived from Wolvendom, and for some reason, they brought the priestess along.
She's been everywhere. Literally. In the dinning hall, the throne room, my room, and sometimes, she's in my bathroom, instructing the maids on how to properly bathe a pregnant wolf.
She's acting extra strange, and though, mother seems to be buying the idea that she's just looking out for me, I don't. We've never had a relationship. I've never liked her, and I know the feeling is mutual.
Why then, has she changed overnight?
"Princess."
I blink, snatching my gaze from the dark, roiling skies and I find the Priestess approaching. Speak of the devil.
I resist the urge to growl, and smile a little. "Priestess."
Her hands are folded behind her back as she approaches, and her eyes scan the balcony, and the garden outside. This place has become my spot when I want to be alone and away from the noise and people. I never pegged myself to be someone who would one day crave solitude, but the past few months have been...life changing. Hard to believe that a lifetime ago, I was with my friends, getting drunk and high, preparing to get to the Academy with little to no worries other than being loaded with responsibilities.
Now I'm mated and married and pregnant. Add weary to that list.
"You seem worried. Might I ask what plagues you?" She asks, long nails coated with black polish tap the railings in a sound that is absolutely grating to my senses.
"Nothing. I'm good," I tell her, pushing enthusiasm into my words.
"You may speak with me freely. I might be of help. You can trust me." Her grey eyes hold mine in a piercing stare and I can feel her searching the depths of my mind, trying to find answers.
I shake my head and break eye contact. "I am alright, Priestess. I appreciate your concern."
She takes one step forward, heels clicking softly on the ground. She leans into my space suddenly and I stumble a step back, back slamming into the railing. She clutches my arm before I can topple over and whispers, "There are whispers of a darkness lurking within the castle. A vengeful king. A trapped prince. A lost princess with burdens too much to bear. There are whispers of the night and a darkness that swallows the light. So cold. So angry. So hurt."
I swallow, heart racing. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Her eyes widen, looking nearly crazed. "There is no need to pretend, child. The world isn't fair, forcing you to take responsibility of actions that predates the rise of our world. It is a fool's errand. One we can never win, until the correct measures are taken."
I stay motionless, even as thoughts bombard me. "Measures?"
Her head tilts slightly, and I get a rare angle of her features and the make up that hide the wrinkles already forming on her skin. "Yes, child. You wish to save your mate, not so?"
My jaw clenches and I bite the inside of my cheek. "If you have an offer to make, I suggest you get to it. Now."
Her fingers slide from my arm, and they rise to tug at the collar of her voluminous gown. "Hekate is the enemy. You must never forget that. His actions resulted in the death of his mate. Had he not been cruel, had he not killed so many, he would not have earned a target on his back, and family.
"Seeking his forgiveness is a futile affair. He will never grant it. To help your prince, to free him of the pain, you must first free him of Hekate."
I glance at her sharply. "Free him? By that, you mean..."
She looks me dead in the eye, expression smooth as silk. "To truly love, one must sacrifice. The Lycan Prince has lived all of his live in suffering. Pain. None of which he deserves, and he will only continue to suffer for as long as he lives. Killing him would be the greatest act of affection you could offer."
I stare in disbelief and I take a step away from her. "You..." My voice trails off as a painful lump rises in my throat. "You want me to kill Rune?"
Merciless, cold and evil. "It is not what I desire, but we must do the right thing. People die every day from the growing Void. Do you not see how he uses you? To pass time, while he waits upon our destruction--"
"That is a lie!" I cry out in frustration. "I know him. You don't!"
She laughs darkly, seizing my arm with a strength that made me whimper in pain. "I don't? I witnessed my sisters die at his hands. He showed them no mercy, no pity as he tore out their hearts. They perished in agony. They nurtured and cared for him, bathed and clothed him, watched over him as he slept. We welcomed him into our home, and when he grew bored, he wanted to know if the ones closest to the Goddess had hearts that bled red."
"A man who murdered his own father and subjects without a second thought, their severed heads displayed on spikes. Their families left with no bodies to bury."
"A man whose only objective is to exploit you. You are but a child, incapable of comprehending the ways of the world. But I understand, and all I seek to do is assist you—"
"I would never hurt Rune!" I cry.
Her answering laughter is hysterical, and gold flashes in her eyes. "Those were Lorna's exact words, and she regretted it."
A startling realization comes over me. It is the look of pure, feline satisfaction as she utters the words, and the slight purr in her voice as she speaks. It is the wicked gleam in her eyes as it gets lost in a memory I cannot see. It is the hatred that rolls off her. The rage. The unabashed jealous at the sound of Lorna's name.
The tightness in her muscles since she got here. The fear in her eyes every time she came into the same space with Rune. Her careful insertion into my daily schedule. Her searching. Her inquisitiveness. Her need to keep up with my marriage with Rune and my progress with the Void.
Just so she can find out if I could truly get him to forgive us. If this child could breach the distance that nothing else could.
Not because she is interested in the Void being destroyed.
But because she is more interested in the man himself being destroyed. The strings of my mind pull in different directions, and they snap as mother's words come to mind.
Lorna wanted no part of this plan, and the council soon understood why when whispers of Hekate's travels reached their lips. Cravings, they had wondered. It didn't take much to uncover Lorna's pregnancy. Her betrayal. Her love for the enemy. And they sought to punish her for it. Punish them both.
The council. The oldest member of the council stands before me, hate brimming in her eyes for me and the child in my belly.
I am stunned out of my mind, inching away from her. It doesn't make sense, but... someone had to have sprung the idea. "It was you, wasn't it?"
Something flashes in her eyes and I have my answer. It doesn't make sense. None of it does, but she has something to do with all of this and now, I know where to start fixing all of this.
But before I can make my way down the hallway, she grabs my arm, forcing me to stare into eyes wide with fear and despair. "You will tell him? So he can kill me for it?"
I can't think past the roaring and raging in my head. It'll be a lot easier to get him to let go of the anger is directed at the one who started it all. I have to tell him.
Somehow, she can tell that I have made a decision, because nothing could have prepared me for what she does next.
With a forceful shove, she sent me crashing into the railing.
The impact is brutal, the metal giving way under the strain, and excruciating pain surges through my body as I cry out, hurtling over the edge, descending into darkness.