Ilosovic Stayne could hear the blood rushing through his body. His entire body had gone rigid, and he felt as if his sturdy black boots had been nailed to the ground. Any other time, the imposing man would have felt ashamed at how violently his knees had started to tremble.
But he was not in the right state of mind for shame. Or anger. He could not quite comprehend the emotion that he was experiencing at the moment. It was not fear… He had known fear. Nor was it joy. As he stared down at Iracebeth, though, he knew that he was definitely feeling… something.
The small, red-faced monarch had cornered him in the courtyard as he had been making his way to her. One of her frog-servants had hopped out to him at lightning speed to inform him that the Queen was calling for him.
Well… screaming for him.
Angrily.
He had had a feeling it would have something to do with Sera. Maybe she had gone to Iracebeth, crying about the way he had spoken to her. His stomach had sunk lower and lower with every step he took towards the castle.
He had hated himself the moment he had turned away from her. He should not have snapped at her like that. It was not her fault that he felt the way he did. She had done nothing wrong. In fact, she had said it herself on many an occasion… This was the arrangement on which the three of them had agreed. They were sharing each other. Three relationships were intertwined: Sera and Stayne, Sera and Iracebeth, and Iracebeth and Stayne. That had been the deal, and the three of them had promised to make it work.
He was prepared to apologize. He would beg for forgiveness. He would throw himself at the women's feet and tell them what an idiot he was.
But the look in Iracebeth's eyes had stopped him in his tracks. He had heard the sound of her hand smacking against his cheek before he had felt the sting.
"How could you?" she had shrieked. "How could you?"
It had taken a few minutes to get her to calm down enough to tell him what he had done that needed explaining.
And now, here he was: frozen in place with his mouth flopped open like a fish.
Iracebeth stared up at him. Her face was less scarlet now, but her eyes were still burning.
"You're… you're sure?" he heard himself whispering. "She knows for certain…"
"Her clothes have been fitting tighter around her belly." The Queen's voice shook slightly. "Her moods are more… unpredictable. And I've… noticed that she's missed a cycle."
Stayne let out a shaky breath.
"And I'm…"
"The only man she's been with since this started. You know that. It's yours, Stayne." Iracebeth sighed. "How could you let this happen? You were supposed to be careful!"
"We have been. Mostly." He frowned. "Only on some occasions did I…"
"One little slip-up is all it takes, Stayne."
Stayne nodded, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Damn it." He sighed. "But… forgive me, Iracebeth, but why is this such a problem? The court already knows about… us."
"You idiot!" She rolled her eyes. "Stayne, you realize she's one of my court, do you not? She is a Lady. An unmarried Lady with no family and a reputation in the castle as a harlot and a savage, no matter how much I try to squash those whispers." She shook her head. "What little respect for her the others have will evaporate the instant this gets out. And the more they disrespect her, the more they will disrespect me for my association with her! This is just the type of weakness that could topple this entire kingdom!" She scowled at him. "All because you didn't pull out in time."
Stayne lowered his eyes.
"What does she say about all this?"
"Nothing yet. I haven't exactly… asked."
"Well… don't you think we should go and talk to her? Maybe get her views on the situation? After all, it's her body that might be inhabited by another person. She has the most to gain or lose here."
Iracebeth nodded, nodding towards the castle. The pair walked silently, not daring to look at one another.
..
Sera stared up at the ceiling, the knot in her stomach ever tightening. Iracebeth had figured it out. She was going to tell Stayne.
What would he do? Would he be angry at her? Would he hate her? And what about Iracebeth? Would she stop loving Sera now that she was tainted like this?
Sera clenched her eyes shut, willing the tears not to come.
How was she going to handle this? She had a hard enough time keeping the both of them happy as it was now. Adding a child into the mix… that would make it even worse.
She had once been one of the most fearsome women in her city, able to take anything that was thrown at her and use it to her advantage. Now, she was just a weak, whimpering little girl.
She could kill it. She could nip it in the bud before it had the chance to grow. There were plants growing in the garden that she knew would cause a miscarriage if she ate enough of them.
No. No, she couldn't do that.
Seemingly of its own accord, Sera's hand drifted protectively to her belly. No. This life inside of her was her responsibility now. She would protect it just as her own mother, Leah, had protected her children.
Leah the Lioness. That was her mother's title.
Ledney had married Leah when she was fifteen and he was barely twenty. She had been become pregnant with their first child, a boy they named Asher, a month later.
Leah had been known throughout the city as the typical meek girl who kept her eyes down and barely spoke, an afterthought as opposed to a real person. As the baby grew inside of her, though, Leah had grown, too. She began looking Ledney in the eye when she spoke, and seemed to drop her reserve. She didn't hesitate to correct her husband when he was wrong, and allowed him to see the brilliant mind she had locked away behind her docile demeanor.
She didn't flinch at the bawdy jokes her husband often told his friends, and had a dry sense of humor that made even the most stoic men crack a smile. She was sharp, able to spot a liar before he'd even opened his mouth. Above all, though, she was fierce. A man had tried to rob them once while Ledney was out and Leah was home alone. Ledney had returned later to find the man stripped naked and bound to a post outside of their house with the words "I AM AN IDIOT" painted on his chest.
The Lioness, as she had been known since then, had birthed and raised five sons and three daughters. She had nursed her children while tending to men and women wounded in battles. She had held her husband's position on the council when Ledney had taken ill, and none of the other members had batted an eye.
Sera hoped to be at least half the woman her mother was.
