He hadn't chosen in the end. His advisors had; good men, every one of them. They had picked well.
When Nami left her apartments, the castle was already buzzing with excitement. New servants flooded the hallway in liveries decked in Alabasta colors of blue and platinum.
She had missed breakfast in the hall because of a fit she had not wanted to share with the king, but she could not be seen missing lunch as well.
Nami had to face her, at least.
Everyone said how beautiful the princess was, but Nami's stomach clenched and gurgled in distaste. People exaggerated after all. And how likely was it for this girl to turn her king's head? It was downright silly.
In the months that she had waited for Luffy to decide, the babe had grown. The midwife claimed it was healthy, and that had all that mattered to her for a long time. Her king had adored every inch while she had pouted at him until her face ached.
She cupped her swollen belly and scowled. What was she thinking though? Wasn't she a whale about to face a swan?
The princess wouldn't understand what she was doing anyway. Nami didn't know what she was doing.
I should go back to bed if I can't keep my emotions in check like this. But she went onward, clipped steps making servants avoid her path and drop their eyes. Even the princess' servants did. Either they were well trained or knew an angry noblewoman when they saw one.
Nami wondered if that's what she was. Angry?
Her king would have to lie with her and give her his seed. She could give him a trueborn heir while Nami had to watch another woman carry the seed of a man she loved.
Anger wasn't for the likes of her. How could it be allowed to a creature such as her?
In the dining hall, she peeked around, but a slew of new people must have accompanied the princess. They would be married soon, after all. None of her court would miss the ceremony.
While she looked about, she realized that she had no idea what the princess even looked like. She had heard that she had blue hair, but half of her court had blue hair! This was not a good way to spot her before she approached.
As if she would care about me, Nami thought with a pout, brushing past the king and Lord Usopp.
Usopp made a scandalized sound. Something like: "Here now, be courteous to his Majesty!"
Twitching, Nami spun around, and Usopp inched behind an amused Luffy.
"Pardon, your Majesty, but I'm liable to topple over if I curtsy!"
Luffy laughed while Usopp glowered at the two of them, but she turned away with a shamed red face. What was wrong with her!? Her moods earlier in her pregnancy hadn't been spinning so quickly.
Was it just Princess Vivi's arrival?
He would punish her later for that, she knew. Except, wasn't it over already? Why should he tell her to come to him tonight? Wouldn't he rather spend that time with his fiancée?
Nami deflated into a chair and bit her lip to stop a sudden onslaught of tears.
What was wrong with her?
"My lady, are you all right?" Someone sat beside her. One lady of the princess' court sat beside her, all courtesy and worry until she noticed. A radiant smile took her lips. "Oh, are you with child? How wonderful."
Nami found the cloth napkin from the table to dab the corner of her eyes and sniffled. "I'm sorry. I didn't intend to spoil the princess' arrival."
"It's no problem I'm sure," she said with a serene smile. Her hair was blue, but was this lady, dressed in what seemed to be a simple white gown, a princess? The rest of the ladies of their court wore similar fashion anyway. Nami found it hard to tell any of their stations apart. "I've heard moods like this can set upon a lady in her pregnancy. The king looks downright amused though."
She sniffed. "He's used to it." Nami sucked her lips into her mouth.
"At least, he doesn't seem upset."
Glancing at him, Nami found her lip quivering. "Of course, he wouldn't be. Why would he be upset by some pregnant lady? He's getting married." Shut up! She found it in her to listen to that voice. Hadn't she said enough already?
"You're Lady Nami, aren't you? Lord Sanji's wife?"
Her eye twitched. "Have you met him too?" Except then, Nami winced. That hadn't been fair of her at all.
When she looked at her though, the lady smiled sadly. "No, but I've heard tales. I'm sorry, Lady Nami. It must be the worst thing in the world to wait on a man like that."
Nami blinked before her shoulders hunched, and she covered her eyes with her palms, squeezing them so tight, she struggled to keep to tears back. Not here! Luffy would see. She couldn't stand the thought of him seeing and being unable to do anything. How it hurt even though she knew he could do nothing for her in front of so many people.
She couldn't be his weakness.
Her head rose, and the lady beside her winced back before she put a hand to her breast and whispered, "Lady Nami ..."
Eyes dry, Nami sighed and shook her head. "Forgive me. I'll be fine on my own."
"Nonsense! I could never leave a lady to suffer alone," she said, standing. "Come. Meet my father, the king."
Nami stood before what she had said caught up with her. "Your father?"
"Oh, yes. I'm Vivi of Alabasta. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Stunned, Nami gaped when Vivi took her hand and led her toward Luffy who had an oddly satisfyingly poleaxed expression as the two of them approached. His fiancée with his lover trailing behind her must have been quite the sight to him.
"He's told me all about your husband. It's such a shame really. Oh, but I won't talk about that anymore since it's upset you. I'm sorry."
She blushed, staring into his eyes. He had talked about her? Even to his fiancée?
"I've returned, but I fear I must cheer this poor lady," Vivi said with a radiant smile and a bob of a curtsy. "Lady Nami looked so forlorn by herself though, I must introduce her to my cousins and father to converse."
"Well, it's been a hard couple of months," Luffy said. His eyes trailed over her, and Nami straightened even though her cheeks burned. She wouldn't curtsy even now.
"It's so good that she has men like you to watch over her. Oh, excuse us though. We shouldn't dawdle here. Lady Nami?" Eyes wide, Nami nodded while Vivi swept her away.
Soon, she smiled again even as her heart froze over. Why did she have to like the woman her lover would marry?
It seemed the cruelest joke.
"Does your midwife say if you can have candy or not?" Vivi offered her the little tray filled with the decadent morsels.
Nami took one with a curious pout on her lips. "It's not like I'm a child she needs to watch."
Vivi popped one into her mouth, humming. "Oh, yes, like 'stop eating like that or no one will marry you'. Except, you're already married, and I'm practically engaged."
She wanted to wince at that, but she found a smile blooming instead. "'Don't slurp.'"
Eyes all a glitter, Vivi giggled. "'Don't lick your fingers.'"
"'Don't climb trees.'"
"'Keep out of the sand dunes!'"
They laughed, and Nami ate the candy in her hand before plucking another. Finally, she tilted her head though. "Wait ..."
"Oh, sand dunes are basically hills of sand."
"Not that. I mean ... what do you mean 'practically'? You are engaged. You came here after all." Nami's stomach fluttered, but she couldn't dare look like she was holding her breath, so she sipped from her glass of cool water.
Above, the last heat of summer ruined autumn's chill, and so they had scampered below to the wine cellar where she and Vivi could cool off beside the wine casks and a tray of candy Vivi had procured from somewhere. As the wine had proved to wreak havoc on her delicate stomach, Nami had to stop months ago, but Vivi sipped from her own glass at the moment.
Vivi's face pinched in her own confusion. "It's provisional. I don't really get it myself."
Frowning, Nami glanced aside at one of Vivi's guards who had followed them down. A taciturn man with green hair, he was drinking wine as well, though Nami had never heard of a guard drinking on duty in front of his charge before.
"What is the provision for?" Nami thought she knew what the delay was.
"No idea, however," Vivi leaned forward for a conspiratory whisper, "I've heard that King Luffy has taken on a lover. I think they want me to seduce him away from whoever it is."
Her eyes bulged, and the baby took that moment to kick. "Oh."
"You haven't hea-? What's wrong?" She glanced down to see her hand on her belly and she outright cooed. "Is it the baby? Can I feel?"
Dark red, Nami nodded, glancing at her green-haired guard. Vivi placed a hand on her baby bump, holding still as if she might spook the babe, but she was kicked regardless. Nami smiled when the princess melted visibly.
"How sweet. He has quite the kick, doesn't he?"
Nami grunted. "You're telling me. Sometimes, all the babe does is move. If it's not one side being kicked, it's the other."
She giggled, but she whispered, "I'll have to carry too. Whether or not it's your king's. That's our lot in life. Whether or not our husbands are scoundrels too."
"King Luffy isn't like that," Nami said. "Maybe he's a little insufferable though."
"That doesn't seem fair."
They both jumped, and Nami gaped. Luffy stepped into the wine cellar, brow raised at their hands on her belly.
Vivi smiled though. "The baby kicked! Come feel it."
Nami flushed, unable to stop the rush of blood to her face. "That's unnecessary, Princess!"
"Are you two cooling off down here?" Luffy went to a cask to pour some wine into the empty glass he had.
"It's stifling upstairs." Vivi flowed to her feet, and Nami bit back her jealousy. Her sweet, if strange, gown swirled around her, making a brief bell. She thought she could hear tingling as Vivi padded to her king. When she clasped his hand, Nami drank her water, turning her gaze away. "Would you sit a while with us? Lady Nami could chaperone us."
Nami choked before she swallowed the rest of the wretched water and coughed to clear her pipes. She paled when Luffy swept toward her. "I'm fine. Just the wrong way down."
He pouted at her, but Nami looked past him at the startled Vivi who came with the tray of candy. "You scared me. Here, have some more sweets. That might help."
With another bite, and keeping her eyes from her king's, Nami smiled. "It's nothing really. But thank you."
Vivi relaxed, a soft beaming smile radiating from her. "That's a relief."
"I should go. Enjoy yourselves," Luffy said only to stop when Vivi clutched his arm.
Nami paid attention to how she smoothed her own dress as Vivi said, "Please, stay a while. Lady Nami and Sir Knight are here. It's not scandalous to talk."
Would that it were the case, Nami thought.
"I've had a few scandalous conversations myself, Princess Vivi. I need to speak to my advisors though."
Her head shot up as Luffy turned to leave the wine cellar. Nami gaped after him, seeing the wilt of Vivi's shoulders. She stood.
"What are these provisions that I've heard about, your Grace?"
The king froze in the door. He eyed the knight there before he frowned at them. For a moment, Nami wanted to sink into a corner as he gazed back. "I'm speaking of the provisions with my advisors and Princess Vivi's father."
When Vivi winced back, Nami stiffened. "I see. It must be difficult to decide to marry a beautiful maid like the princess after seeing all the power and opportunities she could bring you."
Luffy ground his teeth and glanced aside at Vivi's knight again. "I can't be blinded by something like beauty."
"I'd fear being blinded by the power being offered," Nami said. "The arrangement can be too good to be true, but sometimes, the chance is worth it. And even so, there are silver linings to such a union."
She stroked her belly, feeling a flutter in her heart and stomach - combating with each other. Vivi smiled shyly at her, as if she knew what she meant. But the silver lining wasn't her lord husband's babe. It was being here where her king was - where he could hold her for a few aching months. While summer had tapered off, and winter crawled closer, she could carry their bastard.
"You could be happy too if you take the chance."
He gazed at her evenly, though his eyes had widened just so. Enough that she could see something turning inside. Luffy didn't like what he was hearing.
Well, she didn't like it any more than he did.
"Excuse me. I believe the knight here is sufficient as a chaperone." She glided past him, head held high, before she stopped at the door to turn back. Nami couldn't look at him, but she smiled at a blushing Vivi. "Thank you for cheering me up, Princess Vivi."
His eyes scalded her back when she left the wine cellar.
The floor below her swayed. Nami blinked, shivering in the icy chill. Her blanket had slipped from her somehow, and she reached for it, but did not find it. Fingertips met a hard chest, and her eyes snapped open.
Luffy carried her. She gaped, red all over, as he glowered ahead at nothing in the dark. Each corner of the secret corridor flickered with a candle to light his way while he bore her down the stone halls, and their breaths misted into the air. She gripped his fine jacket.
"Your Grace, you mustn't do this. Bring me back-"
"Don't say that." He bit it out, growling, and his lips curled back.
She shuddered, but her lips pressed together. When he glanced at her, black eyes sucked her into an icy, burning void. Nami lowered her gaze with a wince.
Her nipples pricked in the chilly corridor even while heat stirred below. Their lust knew no bounds to depravity. His princess had come, but she would dishonor that sweet girl by laying with the king that would marry her.
As his fiery lips wrapped around her throat, Nami choked her moan back, gasping when he set her bare feet onto freezing marble. He pressed her back against the wall, and she writhed while she tried to stop up the sound. In the walls, someone sleeping in the rooms beyond might hear. Lips became teeth to nibble her flesh, and she gasped harshly as he parted her night robe.
Nami hissed, the edge of the cloth catching a nipple to drag ever decadently over it until he tossed it from her shoulders to ravage her chest with his lips and tongue. He supped from the same nipple, and Nami thrust her fingers into his hair.
She pulled before she pressed him away in the next instant. "Sire, please, you can't-"
He growled to her lips. "That never stopped me before."
It was all she could do to not scream when he lifted her again, sucking her neck as he carried her further. She kicked and bucked in his grasp, but his lips took hers, and she threw her arms around his head.
Damn him! Damn it!
Winding up the long stairs, her tears kissed his cheeks, and he shoved the wall open to let him spill her onto his bed.
He climbed on top of her.
"Spread 'em."
Ungainly, hating how she appeared, Nami splayed her legs for him and goggled when he kneeled in front of her instead.
Luffy untied her night robe the rest of the way, moaning while he kissed down her belly. The baby kicked just then, and he paused with a chuckle as mortification flooded her face.
He cupped her belly and kissed it again.
When their eyes met, Nami clenched her jaw. Oh, no.
"I love you."
The wracking made her ribs ache as she sobbed. "That's not fair. You need a queen."
"I found her already."
"I'm married!"
"I'll annul it. It was my castle. My law. You're mine."
Nami shook her head, but he kissed lower, disappearing past her belly while her cheeks burned. And quite suddenly, she knew this was much worse than she had even imagined. She was betraying the kingdom itself with this union. The king needed to marry. He needed an heir! What was she doing carrying his bastard for him!? It would make the succession even more of a fiasco than the king's had been!
What was she thinking?
Yet no thought had been put into any of this. She had been dragged along, entranced by his touch when her husband's had been lacking. When she should have pushed harder or run, Nami had dug her heels in.
Luffy thrust his tongue into her, and Nami unfurled with a broken cry. Tugging on his sheets, she lost to him all over again. Her own lord husband could not please her in such a way. Would not. Nami pressed her thighs against his head, and his moan made his tongue shiver inside of her while he yanked on her hips.
Wet sucking began, and she clawed at the sheets, whimpering - no longer able to reach down for his hair with her girth. A buck to his mouth, and Luffy wrapped his lips around her clitoris to hold her still.
She quivered on the edge. Pink covered her entire body. Nami bit her lip as his tongue stretched to her womb, sliding deeper and deeper to fill her.
When she tightened, seeing white, Luffy smoothed one hand over her belly, and she sobbed, falling.
Breathing hard, Nami blinked as vision swam back to her. Luffy kissed up her body, licking his lips. He stroked her cheek.
"Marry me."
Her king's order tore her anew.
Nami's eyes blurred with tears that she wiped aside, scowling. "You can't marry me!"
He smiled. "Don't tell me what to do."
Dark in her embarrassment, she turned her head aside.
"I want only you. No one else." He slinked along her side. Luffy tilted her onto her side, away from him so he could stroke his thigh between hers, and Nami heard him open his trousers.
His cock poked against the curve of her ass, slipping higher before she said, "You'll ruin the kingdom with me. I have nothing for the crown."
When his hands grasped her belly, one thrusting underneath her in the mattress, Nami flushed, and his breath tickled her hair. "You have everything I want. M'lady tart, you carry my baby. I want you as my queen. No one else will do, but you."
Luffy pressed harder, sighing as he filled her.
She clutched the hand on her belly and turned her head, but anything she said was taken by his lips.
Nami found her hand tugging on his, moaning when she got him to tweak and pull on her teat. His hips rolled to meet hers as they bucked back. Instinct and memory moved her now.
He could please her. Her king could keep her safe.
Tongues meeting, their bodies writhed about to match thrusts and passions. Her lust invited him to stretch deeper while autumn struggled to freeze it all.
Winter would be worse yet, but as his hips rocked faster, Nami could find no part of him icy to the touch. When he dragged her fully into his lap, leaning back to arch to her, she gripped his knees to feel his length stoke her desire. Luffy grasped her hips, pulling hard, and she released a long moan.
"Go on! Use my cock as you like, m'lady tart."
Fire coursed in her, and she tightened. Her hips trembled, grinding circles while he bucked below, each strike teasing her higher. Nami bowed her head, eyes rolling when she directed his hand again. With her quick, shallow thrusts, Nami sobbed while his arm stretched to stroke her clitoris.
"You're so greedy," he whispered. She wanted to scoff. Instead, she bit her lip.
Luffy held her hips, but did not guide her on his own. They had learned together - how she could move on him while her belly grew. How to keep her pleased with his length stretching deeper.
The barest chill had hardened her nipples in the night air, and she caressed them to harder points while his fingers spread her lust in circles on her clit.
Toes curling, she jerked and a ragged sob left her gasping. In her last bucks and throes of passion, he spilled his seed in her, fingers still strumming her until she finally slacked.
Sitting on top of him, she wobbled. Luffy guided her back onto her side, kisses raining on her face and lips. He grasped her hand, fingers threaded. They waited only a while, the coals burning inside, and he rose again to meet her.
Between them, autumn faded, and summer flared like a tempest.