Chapter Forty-One
Laurie
“Rip?” I called, confused, turning around completely. “Where are you?”
The motion of turning was odd. Like I had more mass than I should. I looked down, and my eyes flew open. I could no longer see my toes over the belly protruding from me.
“What the—oh,” I groaned as a wave of pain started from the top of my abdomen and flowed down, turning into heavy pressure at the bottom. It was like a very intense period cramp, only worse and different in every way.
I held a hand to my bulging stomach, feeling the child's movement inside me. My child. Who should be microscopic in size. Not that.
What the hell is happening to me? Another wave of pain clamped down. Moving around seemed to lessen it, but only slightly.
That shouldn’t be possible. I was weeks pregnant. Not at the very end. Was this a delusion?
“Ahhh!”
The pain felt real enough. I was breathing hard, on the verge of starting to sweat.
“Rip, where the fuck are you and what the fuck is going on?” I shouted, looking around wildly for him.
“He’s not here, my princess.”
I turned to see Gisele come stumping out of the darkness.
“He’s not?” I gasped. “Why not? Where is he?”
Gisele’s face tightened. “Out there. On the front lines. You know this.”
“I do?” I asked, confused. “Why isn’t he here? Our child is coming. Which is impossible. So is you being here. Are you the God-King in disguise?”
“No, child,” Gisele said with a smile. “He won’t be here. You’re going to have to do this on your own.”
“My ooooohhhhhww-n?” I asked, dragging the word out through another contraction. “But he should be here!”
Panic and anxiety started to bubble up inside me in an incoherent wave of emotions and hormones. It wasn’t actually happening. It couldn’t be. We had time! We were supposed to have time.
What had the God-King’s magic done to me? Where were my memories of the past eight months? Had I truly been robbed of the experience of being pregnant?
“Come,” Gisele said, holding out a hand. “It is time.”
“Time for what?”
“You to bear a sea dragon, my child,” Gisele said. “We must go to the birthing barges. Your child must be bonded with the sea. As is tradition.”
“But Rip …” The whimpered protest held no sway with the woman.
“It is time to be strong. He will return when he returns. But today, you must do this alone.”
“I …”
You knew this was a possibility, an inner voice reminded me. From the moment you understood who Rip was and the position he held, you knew there was a chance he might not be there. That you might be alone when your child came into this world.
I had known. I did know. But now that it had arrived, it was upon me, was I strong enough?
“Come,” Gisele said.
I waddled after her, unsteady on my feet, still very much getting used to maneuvering with such a large belly. Going from zero to D-Day was a bit of an unexpected transition.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this without him,” I moaned.
“You worry that he loves fighting more than he loves you,” Gisele said, voicing my deepest fear. “That he wants to be out there and not at your side.”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“The man who left his clan unguarded to charge back to Earth when he learned you were in the hospital? That man? The one who did not want to kill the enemies brought around by your ex for fear of how you would judge him? The man who has proclaimed time and again how he feels for you? That man?”
“I …”
Gisele smiled. “Men love fighting. This is true. But there is one thing they love more than that.”
“What?”
“Their women,” she said with a cackle. “Trust me, I should know. Was mated for eight decades myself before he passed. There wasn’t a thing in the world that would stop him from being home with me if he could.
Your prince is the same. He has a duty to his people, which is the only thing that would take him away from you.
You must accept that, at your very core, at the center of your being.
You must let it all go and love him as he is. Or it will not work.”
I nodded. I could do that. Rip was an easy man to like and even easier to love. Dangerously so. But Gisele was right. I was harboring doubts that were a disservice to the man Rip was. I knew better. It was time I accepted it.
“I do,” I whispered, a weird tremor running through me. “I accept it.”
“Good,” Gisele said. “Now, let’s have that baby.”
“Agreed,” I hissed as another contraction hit. “Though just because I understand why he’s not here doesn’t stop me from wishing he could be.”
“Of course, dear. Of course. You love him. It’s natural.”
“I do,” I said with a warm smile. “I do love him.”
The image swam in front of me, disappearing. Gisele, the hallway, my belly, they all faded away into fuzzy nothingness, leaving me in the cavernous interior of Mount Drakonus.
But that time, I wasn’t alone.
“Rip!” I cried, throwing myself into his arms and allowing him to hold me close, my feet not touching the ground.
“Hello,” he said.
“I take it we passed?” I asked, looking around. “I don’t feel dead.”
“Me neither,” he chuckled. “Now, come here.”
He kissed me, and my body exploded with sensation, endorphins filling my mind, excitement flaring every nerve ending until the world went white.
“What was that?” I gasped as we parted.
“I don’t—” Rip cut himself off, looking around, “know.”
“Whoa,” I said. “Where are we?”
“The Tidal Clan throne room,” Rip said.
I turned, noting the raised platform along the back wall.
“Is that?” I pointed at a long green-blue three-pronged shaft embedded in one of the stone seats.
“The Trident of the Seas,” Rip confirmed.
I saw his right hand flex.
“It’s … in the stone,” I pointed out.
“I know,” he said reverently, slowly approaching.
I went with him, mesmerized by how the light moved along the weapon, from the shaft and up each tine, wrapping around and darting back down out of sight into the throne where the rest of the weapon was buried.
“How did we get here?” I asked. “Is the God-King that powerful?”
“The answer would appear to be yes,” Rip said. “But I wonder why?”
In the distance, drums began to pound much faster than the beats of the God-King’s heart. Shortly thereafter, trumpets began blowing alarms.
Rip and I exchanged glances.
“I think we have your answer,” I said. “The Bastion is under attack.”
“I suspected they would strike here. I called the Royal Guard back but told them to fly. It’ll piss off some of the other clans to have us pass over in strength, but too bad. It’s the only way the creatures can be caught off guard.”
“Now, you can join them,” I said. “With that.”
Rip eyed the Trident. “Maybe. Only a prince can wield it.”
“I’m fairly certain the God-King wouldn’t have sent us here, alive and together, if we hadn’t passed the Test. You said that was the last thing needed. Your people are under attack. What are you waiting for?”
“I don’t want to leave you,” he said.
I grimaced. His hesitation was my doing. He knew I was scared for his life and wanted him to stay with me instead of risking it.
“Come down here,” I said, crooking a finger at him.
He lowered his head. I grabbed his face in both hands and kissed him as hard, fierce, and intense as I could.
“You pull the thing from the chair and you go out there and you stick your enemies with it,” I snarled. “All of them. Drive them back. Protect your people. You got it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said wryly.
“And when you’re done, you march your ass back here and do your other duty.”
His eyebrows rose. “Which is what?”
“Me,” I said wickedly, making sure he knew exactly what I meant by that.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with more enthusiasm, his eyes flicking past me to the throne.
I moved out of the way and watched as Rip walked up the stairs and reached for his destiny.