Chapter 34

"Aria, will you marry me?"

"Y-Yes!" I exclaim. He rises and pulls me in for a deep, affectionate kiss. We fall back onto the bed, our bodies entangling against the soft sheets. I gaze up at Alyn's fiery eyes. "I love you," he whispers to me.

"I love you too!" I say before being showered with passionate kisses.

We spent the rest of the night in each other's arms, neither one of us parting from the other. Before we knew it, dawn had come and the inn owner, who was named Berdi, had already packed us a meal and some spare clothes as well as prepared us a pair of horses. We thanked her and the women working for her before departing back towards the castle.

I rode alongside Alyn as we raced east towards Wysteria. It took nearly a whole day to reach the border of the city. Our horses were exhausted as well as ourselves. We had reached the castle gate and servants and guards ran out to tend to us. Giles had already returned with a few of the soldiers who were able to survive the invasion on Stein. Byron had managed to escape to an unknown hiding place and Nico surrendered the castle to Giles and our men. Elias was one of the soldiers who helped lead the invasion.

"The king has asked to see you," Giles says as soon as we enter the castle.

I look to Alyn who seems as surprised as I am. We follow Giles down a hallway I've never been in. A large set of white doors with gold etched around their frames and handles stand in the middle of the long corridor. "Address him as 'Your Majesty' and do not talk unless spoken to," Giles says briefly before opening the door.

My heart pounds in my chest and I nervously step inside the room not sure what to expect. A very large room opens into several smaller ones. The walls are a deep purple with golden patterns running across them. We're lead into another large room where a frail man rests against an array of pillows. His eyes watch us as we inch closer.

"I've brought the princess as you asked, Your Majesty," Giles says with a slight bow.

"No need for formalities, Giles," the king says before a raspy cough escapes his lungs. "I apologize. My health has seen better days. Come and sit," the king says and gestures to a set of chairs against a very large window parallel to the canopied bed.

"I've been eager to meet you, Aria," he says with a soft smile. "I wish they weren't under these conditions though."

"It's an honor, Your Majesty," I say forcing my voice to remain steady despite how nervous I felt.

"Giles taught you well although I'm not as scary as he makes me out to be," the king says winking at Giles who remains emotionless. "You're probably wondering why I've asked you here. I know you've been through a lot recently and I'm glad you've returned safe and sound but I need to know if you've planned to marry anytime soon. I'm not sure how much time I have left. I have my good days but more bad than I can count."

My eyes fixate on Alyn reflexively. "Actually-" I start to say but Alyn stands up and faces the king. "I've asked Aria to marry me."

Giles and the king look surprised. "I never thought you'd abandon your title of knight for anything, Alyn," the king says amused.

"Neither did I until I met Aria. I want to protect her by any means necessary."

I glance at the king waiting for his response. He smiles widely, "You have my blessing. You will make a fine king, Alyn. I trust you two to lead Wysteria into prosperity."

"You won't regret this," I say eagerly.

We're dismissed from the room as the king begins coughing uncontrollably. Alyn whispers for me to follow him to his room and I don't refuse. We enter his chamber and I take in the familiar site of his armor on the mannequin and his books aligned on the shelves. The aroma of cinnamon fills the air and I inhale happily.

"I must admit, I've missed this place," I say quietly.

Alyn pulls me closer to him. "Get used to it because you'll be seeing it a lot," he mutters into my ears. His lips brush the tips and a wave of shivers race through my body. The ends of his hair sweep over my shoulders as he kisses my neck. I lift my shoulders at the sensation and Alyn tightens his arms around me possessively.

"I'm not letting you go," he breathes.

I let him lead me to the bed where he takes control.

The feeling of something tickling my neck causes me stir from my sleep and I slowly open my eyes to see Alyn gently kissing me. His eyes light up when he notices I'm awake. "Good morning," he whispers placing his lips to mine. I embrace his morning kisses happily and snuggle closer to him. The morning sunlight scatters through a small window above his bed.

I yawn loudly and close my eyes again. I was exhausted.

I had dozed off and woke up to Alyn removing his bandages. "What are you doing?" I ask in a daze.

"Does my back look healed?" He says over his shoulder. I lift the covers of the bed and pat over to him to look closer. The scabs are barely pink meaning the wounds were just about finished with the healing process. "Everything looks good. No sign of infection."

"Good," he says and drops the remaining bandage to the floor and kicks it off to the side. I run a hand down his back and feel the rough skin of the newly forming scars. "We'll call it my battle scar," he says with a sly grin.

I roll my eyes and toss him his shirt. A slight dizzy feeling overcomes me and I lean against the wall to catch my balance. "Are you okay?" Alyn asks with a concerned expression.

"I just got a bit dizzy. I think I'm just hungry," I reassure him. The dizziness fades and he helps me to the dining hall. The smell of the food make my stomach turn and I try hard to stop myself from gagging. I turn to the leave the room and my body breaks out in a sweat. What was going on?

"You look pale," Giles says from beside me.

"I'm fine. I just didn't like the smell of something in that room."

"There's nothing there that hasn't been there before," Giles explains. He looks at me questioningly. "You're probably exhausted from your journey back. Spend the day in bed and I'll have someone bring you some ginger tea and crackers."

Alyn helps me to my room and tucks me into my bed. "I promise to check on you often today. Giles wants to talk discuss things with me regarding the future of this castle. I'll fill you in when I return," he says and kisses my forehead. I watch him leave and close my eyes and drift to sleep.

I woke up a few hours later feeling just as tired. I rub my eyes a maid walks in carrying a small silver tray with a mug and steaming bowl of soup. "I've brought you some ginger tea. It's known to help soothe the stomach." She places the cup in my hands and I take a sip. It had a bitter taste but I force myself to drink it in hopes of taming my nausea.

The maid begins tidying my room and I reach for the soup and the smell of chicken broth reeks from its contents. I quickly put the soup back and cover my mouth. The maid rushes over to me with a terrified look upon her face. "Do you not like the soup?"

"It's that smell!" I blurt out.

"I can get you something else?" She suggests and I quickly shake my head.

"I just don't want to eat anything."

"You need to eat something so your body has the strength to recover," she says and shoves the soup towards me. I nearly knock the bowl out of her hands as I rush into the bathroom. I heave into a bucket emptying my already hallow stomach. I hear voices at the doorway and the head maid rushes to my side. "What's happened?"

"I handed her the soup and she got sick," the smaller maid says just outside the bathroom. "Should I call for the doctor?"

"I think I just have some stomach bug," I say once I control myself. My eyes water and my mouth has a horrible taste to it.

I feel the eyes of the head maid narrow as she watches me. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"If you don't mind me asking, when was the last time you bled, Princess?"

I turn to face her, my eyes wide by her bizarre question. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has a lot to do with a lot of things. You just seem to be showing some signs."

I look at her confused. "Signs of what?"

"Well you've complained of being tired and nauseous all morning."

"I'm not sure what you're getting at," I say staring at her with my eyebrows cocked.

"She takes a step closer to me and presses a gentle hand to my abdomen. A soft smile grows upon her face and soon I realize what she's been thinking. "There's no way!" I say and back away.

"What else could it be? You're sensitive to smells, tired, bloating as far as I could tell, and your skin is glowing. Princess, you're carrying Alyn's child."

My heart pound so loud I hear it ringing in my ears. "I- I can't be… I'm pregnant?" I say trying to catch my breath. I lean against the wall feeling lightheaded and dizzy again.

"You're showing the earlier signs of it. Do you remember when you last bled?"

I search my jumbled mind, unable to focus. "I don't remember. I was so caught up Stein that I never thought about it."

"Well, when was the last time you and Alyn… You know?"

My face flushes bright red and I can't even face her. "I- I can't answer that!" We've done it several times that I can't trace that far back.

"Well let's see most women don't show signs until they're well over a month along so it's had to have happened in the past month or so."

The night of Alyn sneaking into my room when I was in Stein plays in my mind. It was well near a month ago. "Oh my god," I say in a gasp.

"This is wonderful news, princess. You should tell Sir Alyn at once," she grabs my wrist and pulls me out of the bathroom. I pull back and she stops to look at me confused.

"I can't tell him! I mean, we're not even married yet and what would my people think if they find out their princess is pregnant before she was even queen? Think of Alyn's reputation. It'd be ruined."

"I'm sure Alyn wouldn't care about his reputation. You're carrying his child, the future heir to the throne and soon to be his wife."

"I'll tell him when the time is right. I just don't know what to say right now. Promise you won't tell anyone."

The maid watches me but agrees to keep it a secret. "I'm not sure how you'll be able to hide it from him. The morning sickness will be constant and soon you'll begin to show."

"I know," I say biting my lip. If I could manage to hide it for a while or at least until we get married then I'll be fine.

"Please take care of yourself at least." She eyes me over once last time before leaving my room. I walk over to my mirror and glance at my reflection. I press a hand to my stomach and butterflies take over. I am carrying Alyn's child and I am truly terrified and excited.