Bonded Ever After (The Royal Gold Keepers #3)

Chapter 2

TWO

Elora

I’m oddly tired from the jog this morning, like, completely exhausted, and I have no idea why. Maybe it’s that I know I’m leaving to Neverwood in a week, and my body is just screaming no , but it’s never been like this before.

“What about this one?” Beva asks, stepping out of her closet as she holds up a floral skirt and a pink shirt. “I feel like it says fun and sexy !”

I attempt a smile that says watching her show me a hundred different outfits for college is super fun. “It’s really fun and sexy.”

She frowns. “Well, you won’t be able to tell until I try it on. I’ll try it on.” Then she disappears into her closet. “I can’t believe I’m leaving Paradise Falls and that I get to see the real world! I know I’m going to have to constantly be on alert for all the crime and violence, but I think it’ll be neat to see something new. To meet new people.”

“Yeah,” I say, followed by a yawn.

“I mean, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared for a war to break out. As we know, wars break out on the outside all the time. I keep having this picture in my head of a war breaking out in the city my college is in, but then I remind myself that I’ve never heard of one of us leaving for college and dying. Disappearing, yes. Dying, no. But then, maybe the Council keeps it quiet so as not to scare us.”

“Uh huh.”

Deva’s bed beneath my cheek feels soft. My body melds into the mattress, and my eyes flutter shut. I’m just so tired. My muscles feel like jelly. Even my mind feels like nothing but mush. It’s like I’ve spent a whole day fighting and running in Neverwoods. Maybe I’ll just–

I jerk awake and realize someone is shaking me. Looking up with sleepy eyes, I see Beva staring down at me with concern in her eyes. She’s wearing the new shirt and skirt, along with some heels.

How long had I been asleep?

“Are you okay?”

I nod, then sit up, rubbing my face. “Yeah. Sorry.”

She frowns. “I have never seen you take a nap. Not even when we were toddlers.”

“Yeah,” I agree, trying to shake off the heavy exhaustion that tugs at me. Then I decide to share something that’s been bothering me. “I’ve actually fallen asleep a couple times in the last few weeks.”

She sits down slowly on the bed next to me, her brows furrowed. “Is that a normal thing for Gold Keepers? Because, I mean, it wouldn’t be something alarming for the rest of us. Naps are something we enjoy.”

I hesitate, then decide to be honest. “Gold Keepers typically need less sleep than everyone else. It’s just something about the way we’re wired. So, yeah, this is weird.”

Her expression seems troubled. “Don’t you have a physical soon?”

“Three days.” Fuck the Council. We don’t even need physicals. Gold Keepers have never needed physicals.

“Would they be able to figure it out if something was wrong?”

I cast her a look. “The last people in the world I’d want to know if something was wrong is the Council.”

I don’t trust them. I don’t say that though, because I don’t need to. We both feel the same way about them.

Rubbing my face, I sigh. “I’m fine though. My body’s just probably tired after my long trip in Neverwood, or maybe it’s trying to prepare me for the one I’ll be taking in a week.”

Beva doesn’t look convinced.

I smile. “It’s okay. I’m fine, alright? Let’s just focus on you and your big trip.”

She hesitates for a half a second, but then returns my smile and glances at her half-packed bags on the ground. “I just can’t believe it. The Council could give me my flight details any day, and then I’d be off to University of Horizon. Even now, my parents are there exploring the institute, waiting to help me get settled when I get there.”

Allowing her parents to go was a favor to me from the Council. Other than Teth’s parents and Beva’s parents, it was extremely rare for families to get to see the outside just because their students were leaving. The nice thing is that neither Callum nor I call in favors often, so the Council tends to listen when we do.

She stands up in her outfit. “So, what do you think?”

I grin. “It’s a winner!”

She squeals, which tells me she’s really excited about leaving, even if I didn’t already know it. She’s just not a squealer. “I just can’t believe I’m getting to go. That I’m going to be safe.” Her words get quieter at the end, and she looks thoughtful.

I dig my nails into my leg gently, trying to hide my sadness. “You’re never going to have to worry about the Council or Security again. It’s a brave new world out there!”

Nodding, she heads back to the closet. “Let me show you another outfit.”

I hold myself stiffly, not wanting to fall asleep, even though sleep tugs at me. Maybe I’ll just go home and take a nap after this. I’ll feel less weird about it when I don’t have an audience staring at me wondering if I’m about to grow another leg or something.

“There’s also this new perfume I bought,” she says. “It’s something different than my usual. It’s mostly rose, jasmine, and lily. It was a little expensive, but I decided to treat myself.”

A minute later, she comes out of the closet in a new outfit, one with tight pants and a loose, floral t-shirt. I’m about to say something nice about it when the scent hits me. It’s like being shoved face down in a field of flowers while someone buries you in more flowers. My stomach rumbles, turns, and then I’m running for her bathroom.

I barely manage to raise the lid before I’m hurling my breakfast into the bowl. Within seconds, Beva is behind me, lifting my hair and saying comforting things I can’t quite make out as I continue to unload my breakfast, maybe my dinner from last night, possibly even my meals from the past month. It seems to go on without end for an impossibly long time before I’m left dry heaving.

She secures my hair with a hair tie, then goes to the sink to scrub the perfume off her skin. I appreciate it, even though the smell doesn’t seem to be triggering me anymore. Wiping my mouth, I flush the toilet. Then she offers me an extra toothbrush and gives me a minute to clean up.

Embarrassed, I eventually head back into the bedroom. She’s waiting on her bed looking lost in thought as I slowly approach her. The floorboard creaks as I move, and she glances up, seeming relieved.

“You’re okay!”

I nod. “I’ll survive.”

Sinking down on the bed, she pats her lap and I lay down with my head on her legs. Her fingers run through my hair, slowly massaging my scalp, and I relax just a little bit. I need a moment of calm to fully settle my stomach.

“Have you ever thrown up before?”

I search my memories for a minute, even though I don’t need to. “No, we don’t puke.”

“You don’t get sick?”

“No,” I say.

“Could it be food poisoning?”

I hesitate. “I don’t think so. I haven’t had anything new.”

She says nothing.

“It’s got to be something. The exhaustion, the puking, it’s got to be all tied together.”

She releases a slow breath. “Don’t kill me, okay? But I have to ask…”

“What?” I frown. What could she have to ask?

“Could you be pregnant?”

Pregnant.

Pregnant.

Pregnant? The word echoes through my mind. I hadn’t even thought of it. Didn’t even consider it. Gold Keepers have great difficulty getting pregnant. It usually takes years to accomplish, with the help of tracking ovulation, adjusting sperm temperatures, etc. There’s no way I could have just accidentally gotten pregnant. Right?

I sit up. “Gold Keepers need a lot of help to get pregnant.”

“Okay,” she says.

“It took my parents at least five years. Callum’s parents were the same.”

“Uh huh.”

“I-I just can’t be,” I stutter.

Her eyes lock onto mine. “So, you haven’t been having sex?”

My stomach drops, and I think I might be sick again. “I, well, I have been.”

“Ferone,” she says softly.

I look away. “It can’t be though, right?”

Beva smacks her hands on her thighs. “Probably not, but let’s get a pregnancy test, just in case.”

She gets up to go, but I grab her hand. “No one can know about this.”

If anyone finds out, my world will fall apart. A Gold Keeper being pregnant wouldn’t just be hot news, it’d be the only news.

Her gaze gentles. “The store clerk will think it’s mine. I’ll be sure to hide it on the way home. I won’t let anyone even suspect it. I know how huge it would be if you were pregnant, to everyone. No one needs to know until you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” slips past my lips.

She hurries out of her room, and I fall back onto the mattress, every muscle in my body tight. I can’t be pregnant, especially not with Callum’s baby. The Council would never allow such a thing to happen. I would have to…

I stop myself, clenching my hands. I’m not going to think about any of that. In all likelihood, I’m not pregnant. Maybe I did just eat something bad. Freaking out about nothing would be a complete waste of time.

I get up and start cleaning and organizing Beva’s room. It’s a total disaster from the packing, so I stay busy with it until Beva returns with the pregnancy test. Actually, three pregnancy tests. She hands them to me, and I wordlessly go to the bathroom, read the directions over and over again until I feel like I’ve memorized them, then pee on all three tests. When I’m done, I cap the tests and head out to Beva’s room.

Where… we wait.