Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
T he hours following Lucia’s birth were a blur of of Novi and Fallon not wanting to look away from her, and not believing that she was actually here in the world. Her arrival was honored with bells ringing throughout the city of Sinarya.
And even though it was late at night in the dead of winter, and even though most Sinaryans were exhausted from repairing the wreckage caused by the chimeras, they poured into the streets and celebrated through the early hours of the morning, and well into the afternoon.
Their beloved prince had proven himself more than capable of the Blackwood Dynasty’s succession. Under Fallon’s dutiful leadership and just rule, peace and prosperity would continue to bless their city, their kingdom.
The fact that he’d just been blessed by the gods with the gift of fire only made the occasion more momentous. The crowds gathered at the gates of Blackwood Castle, desperate for a glimpse of the first royal bastard born in a century.
With promises upon promises, Fallon had managed to coax the infant away from Novi’s chest just long enough to swaddle her in soft, warm silks of Blackwood Red and bring his daughter to the front balcony. The moment he appeared with a bundle in his arms wrapped in royal colors, the crowd’s cheers morphed into a deafening roar.
They adored their prince…their future king.
Their realm was safe.
By mid-afternoon, official announcements had been posted all over the city with the date of his wedding to Lady Jennae. The celebrations were so joyous that they overshadowed the unprecedented disaster of the chimeras being set loose.
Mauricio did his best to keep interruptions to a minimum, giving the new family as much privacy as possible. He made sure the nuns from the temple had everything they needed. He followed up on the repair of damaged buildings and homes. He fielded questions and got updates from officials, aides, the nobles of the court, and Royal Council. Finally, he went to check on the excavation progress at the temple itself.
Meanwhile, Novi and Fallon did nothing but rest and fall in love with their daughter. A long-awaited sense of calm filled the private apartment they all shared. The Royal Physician, the midwives, and the maids had been gone for ages, yet time stood still in those precious hours where it was just the three of them.
Not the two of them against the world…but the three of them.
The approval of Daiyana and the other demon gods could be felt in the warmth of the sunlight that streamed through the windows of their private bathroom. Novi leaned against the counter, nibbling at a plate of food as she watched Fallon give Lucia her first bath in the large sink. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows as he cradled the infant in his protective arms.
A kaleidoscope of colors filtered through the stained glass and danced across the surface of the water. He gazed down at the black-haired infant, amazed by her tiny hand as it curled around the end of his pinky finger.
“How can I love you so much more than I did a day ago?” he asked, unable to look away from the new life he’d helped create.
“I don’t know,” she said in a broken whisper. “Seven hells—I didn’t think it would feel like this.” Fallon’s eyes flicked over to Novi’s, alarmed at her crumpling face.
“What’s wrong? Is it the food? Are you in pain? Should I send for the Royal Physician?”
Novi shook her head and set down her plate, then wiped her watery eyes with the back of her hand.
“No, I’m fine. I’m just so happy it hurts. My heart feels like it’s exploding over and over.” She motioned to the sink, where Lucia kicked her feet and splashed in the warm water. “Look at this little creature! Fallon—we made her!”
Fallon traced a wet fingertip over Lucia’s barely existent eyebrows, then over her little pointed ears.
“Yes, we did,” he hummed in disbelief as Lucia blinked up at him and stuck out her tongue again and again. “She’s so beautiful, although that’s a rather obscene face she’s making.”
Novi glanced down and snickered. “I think it’s cute. The midwife said when she does that with her tongue, it means she’s hungry.”
Fallon’s eyebrows rose with delight as he observed his daughter closer.
“Are you hungry, Lucia?”
The newborn blinked back at him, mirroring the obsidian eyes that marked her demonborn heritage. Then she stuck out her tongue at him.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Let me rinse you off first. Then I’ll give you back to your mother.”
Novi hummed as she swallowed another small bite of food. “That’s the first time you’ve said that about me. Holy shit…I’m a mother now! It sounds so weird to say it out loud.”
“You’ll have to get used to it,” Fallon replied with a soft smile. He scooped up a handful of water and lifted it over Lucia’s head. When the droplets fell, they took on the shape of tiny dolphins and leapt into the water with splashes of magic.
Drawing in a sharp breath, he suddenly froze in place.
“Did you just see that?”
Novi nodded, staring at his trembling hand.
“Were those… dolphins ?”
“Yes.” Fallon frowned and slowly moved his free hand away from Lucia. His mind buzzed with endless questions about his newfound powers…about the Kaos and Harmony magic battling for dominance in his blood…and the Kaos that would one day awaken in Lucia’s.
His normally confident voice was suddenly clouded by caution. “Perhaps you should take her.”
After scooping the baby up into a soft towel, Novi carried her to one of the chairs near the fireplace. She pulled her robe down her shoulder and began nursing. Fallon stood in the bathroom doorway, watching the two of them with an unsettled expression.
Novi’s eyes flicked up to his. The dreamy look in them was gone.
The protective, watchful mother bear had arrived.
“We need to talk.”
The seriousness of her tone pulled him from his thoughts. He stepped over to the other chair and sat down beside her.
"This new magic of yours…it's an incredible gift from the gods, but it doesn’t seem like you know how to control it. I thought Annika was the one who set you on fire, but then it happened again when she wasn’t around. Now this. I know it was only tiny dolphins, but what if something else had happened?”
Staring at the fire crackling in the hearth, Fallon tapped his fingers against the armrest of his chair. She was right. She was absolutely right. He wanted to share the truth with Novi. Not everything all at once. But if he gave her small bits of information at a time, the secrets he was keeping would be easier to digest.
He may as well start with the secret that would be impossible to keep for much longer.
“It’s surely a gift from the gods, but I’m the one who enabled Annika to give it to me,” he replied.
Novi frowned, either in frustration with him, or with the infant who needed to be repositioned against her breast.
“I don’t understand.”
Still staring at the fire, Fallon began to unbutton his shirt. Then he turned to Novi and pulled the fabric away to reveal his bare chest. Her eyes widened at the sight of a pink scar branded into his skin, right above his heart.
She immediately recognized the shape of the two fish swimming in opposite directions. It was exactly the same shape and design as the amulet Annika wore around her neck.
“I wasn’t tempted by anything about Annika aside from her magic. It called to me like a siren calls to sailors at sea. That’s why I read the Grimoire of Damnation until I found a ritual that might work. I gave her my blood and received hers in exchange. You saw what happened after that. Nobody else besides Loric and Mauricio knows that it was a blood ritual.”
He buttoned up his shirt, casting Novi an apologetic look. “And until I say otherwise, we’re going to let everyone believe they saw something else happen between us on that stage. I don’t expect you to like it, however, it’s the perfect cover story. No one can know that I was giving Annika my blood.”
Novi let out a sigh. No, she didn’t have to like it, but Fallon was right. It was the perfect cover story. The people of Sinaryos were more likely to think that Fallon the Stallion would ride his new mount on stage than give a foreigner a single drop of his sacred blood.
The truth was that Novi was used to her feelings being low on the list of concerns when it came to matters of the Crown. It was made clear when Fallon and Jennae’s wedding date had been announced hours after her daughter’s birth. She wasn’t an eligible wife. Her daughter would never be a princess or a queen. She was simply a requirement to be fulfilled.
Novi watched her daughter drink one tiny mouthful after another of milk, knowing that she meant so much more than anyone deserved to know.
“You said it was for Annika’s own good to keep her locked up in the dungeons. Is that the reason you had her arrested? I assume if you exchanged blood, then she’s got the same powers as you do.”
“That’s part of the reason,” Fallon agreed. “Although there was a warrant for her arrest. I’m in no position to harbor an enemy of the Crown. It’s best to keep Annika away from the general public. Most of them are calling her a witch and demanding her head on a spike.”
Novi’s lower lip trembled at the thought.
“What’s going to happen to her?”
Fallon slumped in the chair, propping up his chin in his hand.
“I don’t know. Best case scenario, her husband arrives with Dillon in time to clear her name. Sparing her life would be easily done with a royal pardon or a decree of some sort. I’m doing my best to stall the Royal Council. Surely you can understand they’re eager to hold someone accountable.”
“Why don’t you tell them that you’re the one who gave her the magic to do what she did?”
Fallon was already shaking his head.
“Impossible. They would put me on trial for treason. We both know that my mother would love nothing more than to have Tristan on the throne. Her power over him is a hundredfold what it is over me.”
A long, lingering silence filled the space between them. They had so much proximity to power, and yet, they were so helpless to use it. The irony wasn't lost on either of them.
“Have you heard from Halen yet?” Novi asked. She pulled Lucia away from her breast and helped her latch onto her other one. “It seems like it’s been a long time since we’ve had any news.”
“It has,” he admitted. “Our last communication with his and Aisha’s crew was days ago.”
“I’m sure there’s a reason why it’s taking so long,” she said with a brave smile. “I doubt it’s very easy to break into a prison, not to mention one on an island in the middle of nowhere. Try not to give up hope.”
“I’ll do my best. If recent events have taught me anything, it’s that the gods work in mysterious ways.”
Novi's eyes met Fallon's, a silent understanding passing between them. The weight of their predicament hung heavy in the air, threatening to shatter their fragile moment of peace.
"We can't let Annika suffer for choices that you and the gods made,” Novi told him, her voice barely audible over Lucia's soft coos. "There has to be another way."
Fallon pursed his lips, feeling the weight of his responsibility. "I know. But revealing the truth could tear apart everything we've fought for. The stability of our kingdom, our family’s dynasty…”
His words trailed off as he gazed at Lucia, entranced by the sight of her nursing. Her innocent joy twisted something deep within him. After all, she was someone’s daughter, too.
"Perhaps…if it comes down to it,” he began cautiously, "we could find a way to help Annika escape. Give her a chance to?—”
The private moment was shattered by a distinct, firm knock at the door. Fallon glanced at the clock, then back at Novi.
“It’s Mauricio. I have to let him in.”
“You promised he’d leave us alone until tomorrow morning,” replied Novi as she continued to nurse.
Fallon gave her a sympathetic shrug. “The Crown waits for no one.”
He called to the footmen to open the doors, and his secretary slipped quietly into the room.
“It’s good to see you looking so well, Novi,” he said, remaining near the entryway.
“I specifically told you that I didn’t want us to be disturbed,” Fallon reminded him in a stern, yet calm voice. “Is the kingdom under attack?”
“No.”
“Has my father died?”
“No.”
“Then what reason do you have for being here?”
“It’s extremely sensitive, sire,” Mauricio interrupted. “We need to speak in private. You’ll want your cloak. I have horses waiting for us.”
Ignoring the apologetic look from his secretary, Fallon reluctantly pulled himself away from the intimate moment and climbed out of his chair.
“This better be important.”
“Words cannot begin to describe how important this is,” Mauricio replied with a sense of urgency.
And excitement.
His joy could hardly be contained.
Novi’s eyes brightened with hope.
“Is it Talvi? Has he come back with Dillon?”
The light in Mauricio’s face dimmed a bit.
“Not yet. The last time I heard from Halen, they were within sight of Bleakmoor Island. I’m sure the overwhelming amount of somnomium on that cursed rock is interfering with our communications.”
Fallon rubbed his eyes and frowned before jamming his feet into his boots.
“If it’s not Dillon, then what’s more important than the birth of my first child?”
A shrewd pair of eyes flicked from Fallon to Novi, then back to Fallon. It would be easier getting blood from a stone than getting Mauricio to talk if he didn’t want to.
“All I can say is that this is more important than the birth of any royal bastard. Even yours, sire.”
After fastening his cloak, Fallon shot his private secretary a skeptical glance.
“I find that very hard to believe.”
Mauricio did his best not to frown.
“I thought you would. That’s why you have to come with me at once and see this for yourself.”