Arcturus Lucis Caelum.

Aulea considered the newborn laying on her chest, his lower half wrapped in a golden blanket. Even now, she was too weak to hold him. Her hand rose, the tips of her fingers brushing through soft curls of his hair. Another boy for Insomnia. Another Prince to be adored by his people.

Her firstborn stood beside her bed, peeking at Arcturus with awe. Aulea brushed a hand against Noctis' cheek. "Oh, my sweet boy," she murmured.

"Can I touch him?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"Of course. You have to be gentle with him, okay?" She patted the empty space beside her.

Noctis nodded a few times and scrambled up. Aulea tried not to wince. Only minutes before, the bed had been bathed in her blood. At her request, servants had replaced as much of the ruined sheets as they could and threw a clean one over her legs before letting Noctis in. After all, she promised him that he could see his brother once he was born.

Aulea had them shoo her doctors from the room as well, giving her a moment of privacy with her children. Noctis knelt next to her, leaning over to look at Arcturus.

"He's quite small, isn't he?" she asked. He wasn't as fussy as Noctis had been at birth. She was grateful for it. He'd cried only briefly, and then fallen asleep. His mouth was open, and it reminded her of Regis when he slept.

"Tiny," Noctis agreed. He reached out and poked his cheek.

"Gentle," Aulea reminded him.

Noctis pouted. "I am!"

Aulea wanted to poke him back since Arcturus couldn't, but she didn't have the strength. While Noctis admired the newest addition to their family, she looked to the window. A curtain was pulled over the glass, but her mind drifted beyond the view.

Where are you, Regis?

He would be nowhere near the Citadel when her water broke, wouldn't he? But it wasn't his fault. His duties as King would always trump her own needs. Aulea smiled as she remembered his panicked voice on the other end of the phone, telling her to hold on as if she could simply stop Arcturus from making his grand entrance into the world through sheer will alone.

She couldn't. In fact, it was precisely as a servant took the phone from her that she was told to push.

"My impatient Prince," she said, running a finger down his back.

"What color are his eyes?" Noctis asked, looking at her now.

Aulea hummed. She didn't know. His eyes never opened. "Green," she said. Like hers. She hoped, anyway. Wasn't it enough that Noctis took after Regis? Couldn't she have this one?

"I don't think I've ever seen anybody with green eyes," Noctis said.

Aulea wanted to remind him that he was both only three-years-old and had never set foot outside the Citadel, but she was tired so she gave him a smile instead.

Regis would throw a fit if he knew that she'd sent her doctors away. If he knew, even now, that she was still losing blood. There wasn't anything anybody could do for her. Aulea knew her body. And even if she didn't, her doctors' failure to stop the bleeding for several minutes told her all she needed to know.

"You will," Aulea managed. "A lot of people have green eyes." Around Insomnia, she wanted to add, but couldn't.

No one expected her to live this long. She was reckless for allowing herself to become pregnant again, they would whisper behind her back. Noctis' birth nearly killed her, and she never quite recovered from it. Her health was deteriorating, slowly, slowly, but her death was a matter of when not if.

Perhaps she was reckless. She would shorten her remaining time with Regis, leave Noctis without a mother, all for a child Insomnia didn't need.

But one she wanted.

Perhaps she was a fool as well for thinking she was strong enough to endure another birth and to watch them grow up.

"Will he sleep in my room?"

Aulea cupped Noctis' cheek. "No, my sweet boy. He'll have his own room."

How was she supposed to tell him?

Noctis leaned into her hand. "But why? He should sleep with me, so I can take care of him."

Aulea's breath caught. She pulled him close and kissed his cheek. He wiped it away as soon as she released him. If she was stronger, she would have laughed. "Cherish each other, always," she said.

Noctis nodded. "I will. You'll be happy if we don't fight?"

Aulea only smiled. "Very much." She shouldn't have expected him to understand that she meant beyond getting along. Cherish each other, because I won't be able to.

The door swung open and Regis, in a state of disarray, stumbled into the room. He didn't look so much like a King with that frantic look on his face. He looked like a worried father. Cor and Clarus piled in behind him.

"Come," Aulea said, and Regis' eyes flicked to hers. "Meet your son, Arcturus."

"My…?" Regis seemed to realize then that the room was empty. He looked at Arcturus. Then her. Then back again. "Arcturus," he repeated.

Noctis climbed off the bed and went to Regis. "Can he sleep with me? Pretty please."

Regis stared down at him. "You've already had him?" he asked in a state of shock.

"I couldn't persuade him to wait," Aulea said, amused. "I tried very hard."

Regis came closer to the bed while Cor distracted Noctis. "Arcturus Lucis Caelum," he breathed.

"Arcturus Lucis Caelum," she confirmed. Aulea took his hand. His fingers were calloused. It was hard to remember sometimes that the same man who stood gaping at her like a fish fought in the Great War.

"Congratulations, sire," Clarus said.

Regis reached for Arcturus, but hesitated, looking to her for permission.

"What are you afraid of, Regis? They used to have to tear Noctis from your arms," she said. If her voice was growing faint, no one mentioned it.

"Yes, but," Regis looked to their son again. "He looks so peaceful."

There was so much she wanted to say to him. So much she wanted to show Noctis.

In the end, Regis' hands fell back to his sides. Aulea slipped her hand back in his because she could feel a weight settle on her eyelids, encouraging them to close. She supposed this was enough. Her King, looking at their son with love. Noctis, his back to her so he wouldn't have to witness this.

And little Arcturus, healthy despite the odds.

"I want you to know," she managed. Regis glanced at her and she smiled, even as alarm filled his eyes. "I love you and Noct dearly."

Satisfied, Aulea's hand fell away from Regis'.

By the time the doctor's responded to the King's shout, she was already dead.


A/N: Arcturus is not from our world.