Chapter Fifteen #4
“I don’t care what you do, Charlie,” Ava snapped. “Take him or don’t. It really doesn’t matter to me. I just don’t want the public to find out. Nobody can know I had this baby except those who have to. Make sure the people in the palace know that’s a royal order from the princess.”
Ava could be blunt at times, and harsh when she wanted to be.
Still, she’d never been this cruel. Her words cut deeply as I struggled to comprehend she wanted nothing to do with this child we’d made together.
Didn’t she care at all that he was a part of me and her, the last piece of us that still existed and would last?
Maybe she was no longer the woman I’d married. Maybe she’d never been the person I thought she was.
I stepped back. “Okay. I understand. I just… I wanted to thank you.”
My fingers twitched. I desperately desired to hold her hand, but I restrained myself with everything I had.
“Thank me for what?” She sounded irritated. Why was she pushing me away like this after the incredible moment we’d just shared? It was breaking my heart.
“For… you know, for this.” For the precious gift you gave me. “It means so much to me.”
My arm slightly lifted to stroke her hair, but I held myself back. Those few hours when I’d been allowed to touch her during labor had been a precious gift. She seemed like she couldn’t get enough of me then, but she clearly desired nothing more than to be as far away as possible.
“No problem.” She spoke plainly, with disgust.
I had to hold myself back from gaping. “Ava, you didn’t do me a simple favor, you had my child—”
“I didn’t have a choice, and it was what I had to do,” she said shortly. “We don’t need to keep talking about it. It’s not going to change anything between us.”
Right. Because why would it? Our marriage wasn’t salvageable. I needed to pull myself together and force myself to realize that, though a bitter hope inside of me had pleaded, just maybe, that this baby could be a way to bring us back together.
Ava smacked her hand against the bed. “Why are you still standing around? Do you need me to give you directions on how to leave?”
“I just… I don’t know what to call him.” I shrugged uselessly. “It doesn’t feel right picking a name unless you like it, too. He’s not just my baby.” Even though you don’t want him.
I could imagine her rolling her eyes right now. “He needs a name that starts with a C. It’s Elvish tradition. All your male ancestors from the beginning of your family’s reign have had one.”
“You never cared much about tradition.” She didn’t care about this baby at all, so why was she throwing a fit about what he was called? I didn’t get it.
“It’s important, okay?” she bit. “Might as well try to follow one rule around here, since we’ve broken all the rest.”
“Uh… a C name. Okay.” I scuffed my shoe against the floor. “I’m drawing a blank here.”
Ava drew a long, annoyed sigh. There was a tense quiet before her voice finally softened. “His name is Casey. It’s… always been my favorite boy name.”
“Casey? I like that.” It sounded short and perfect. “I don’t know if Prince Casey sounds formal, but I don’t really care. The monarchy can like what we pick.”
“It’s a nickname.”
Gently, with the only sliver of grace she’d shown me since I walked in, she added, “His royal name will be Cassiel the Second.”
I staggered backward, too far away to reach out for her, and wholly unable to even if I tried.
Every shred of hope that had bloomed within my heart since Casey’s birth shattered all at once.
I should’ve been honored by the gesture, but instead, it was my complete undoing.
Even though Ava and I weren’t together, I’d foolishly thought we’d do this together— in some capacity, at least. Ava didn’t have to be there if she didn’t want to be; she didn’t have to raise him, but I’d thought she’d at least play a role in making decisions for this child.
But that wasn’t what this was. His name wasn’t the first of our decisions to make together as parents.
It was our last, and her final goodbye.
Hot, heart-wrenching tears that I failed to choke back began to leak from my eyes, because Ava knew how much my grandfather had meant to me. This was her final gift to me before we parted for good.
She could pretend she didn’t give a damn all she wanted. With that small gesture… I knew this meant a lot to her, too. Though she didn’t want to allow herself to accept that.
Ava shifted on the bed, rolling over to face away from me, and I knew I was no longer welcome here.
I bolted. I shoved past Kallie, running from Ava as fast as my legs could carry me.
“What did you do?” Kallie yelled after me, but she didn’t follow.
She hurried back into the hospital room to console Ava, which I was grateful for, because Ava needed her right now.
She certainly didn’t need me. I’d already done more damage than I could ever fix.
I loved her too much to keep causing her pain, and all I was doing was breaking her, over and over and over.
I ducked into an empty room and broke down completely. My chest tightened and sobs rocked my entire body, while the sound of Ava’s voice speaking our son’s name echoed in my mind.
Casey.
What a lovely name— a beautiful homage to the only family I ever had. I’d had Ava for a moment, my wife and my world, but Ava and I didn’t have to be parents together if she didn’t want that.
Still, she’d given me the greatest parting gift I could ever ask for. I didn’t have her anymore, but I needed a family, and I needed someone to fight for.
Now I had Casey. If he was all I had left, I was going to do everything I could to live for him. He needed me now. So I would be the best parent I could be, and give him the greatest of my life, because that’s what he deserved.
I heard shouting from down the hall. There was an argument going on. Hell, what now?
I quickly dashed away my tears. I staggered upward, getting to my feet to figure out what was going on. I heard my best friend’s voice, speaking every word as if it were a threat and not a request.
“You shouldn’t be here!” Marcus seethed. “You need to leave!”
“I’ll do whatever I damn well please!” Cameron shouted. “I am the EMPEROR!”
For fuck’s sake, not him. I’d be damned before I allowed my useless father to get anywhere near my son. I raced down the hall to the NICU, where Eldin was thankfully blocking Cameron’s path into the room.
“You will not enter here,” Maddie’s voice rang out, bold authority ringing in her tone.
“No one is permitted inside except his parents,” Eldin added. “I’m afraid that includes you, Emperor Cameron.”
Eldin deserved a reward for being so brave. No Elf ever refused a request from the Emperor, but here she was, standing her guard. My hands shook at my sides. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see my grandson,” Cameron stated. “Why else would I be here? The arrival of the next heir must be announced.”
“Ava’s given an order that no one is to know about Casey.”
Cameron scoffed. “Casey? That’s the best you could come up with? It’s not a suitable name for a prince!”
I bit the inside of my cheek to hold my temper back, though it wasn’t working. “And Cameron is? He’s named after my grandfather.”
Cameron guffawed, as if incredibly offended. “It seems I cannot escape that man’s shadow no matter what I do, but he’s no longer in charge around here. I am, and if I want the whole world to know about this child, then it shall be so!”
“The Holy Mother gave this command, so you will respect Ava’s wishes.” I made sure to imply, or else.
Cameron stomped his foot. “I’ll do no such thing. Announcing the heir is how it’s done.”
“You do that, and you put him at risk. If the Warden finds out about him, he’ll come after this baby for the simple reason that he’s Ava’s son. You need to keep your big mouth shut.”
Cameron sulked. “Fine, I guess I see the wisdom in that. After all, this is my grandson. Even so, I must approve of the next heir.”
“Funny you start caring about family when it benefits you,” I sneered.
Cameron snorted. “You always think the worst of me, Charlie.”
“Yeah, I do, because you’ve proven that being horrible is all you’re capable of,” I spat. “I know your balls are being held in the royal vault. You can’t make another heir, so you’re trying to take mine. What did you do that was so bad that my grandfather had to castrate you for it?”
“Whatever I did is none of your business, seeing as you won’t be taking the throne,” Cameron hissed.
“The only reason I didn’t take your balls is because I needed you to produce an heir.
You’ve done that, so now you are of no more use to me.
Expect to find another pair of royal jewels in the vault by tomorrow evening. Then we’ll see what you have to say!”
“You can’t have him. He’s not yours to control!”
“He’ll be whatever I require him to be!” Cameron blustered. “You will have no say in it!”
“I’m saying you can’t have him because the law won’t let you,” I snapped. “Casey’s a naderei, and by law, prophets can’t ascend to the throne.”
“I am the law!” Cameron bellowed. “I’ll change whatever rules I must to secure our future!”
“Charlie isn’t talking about Elvish law,” Maddie cut in.
“This is supernatural law. The magic in this child’s body will not let him claim any empire, throne, or kingdom.
He may keep his title as prince, but that is as far as the magic will allow him to go.
His purpose is to warn the people of this world, not rule over them. ”
“I don’t believe he’s a prophet,” Cameron argued. “It’s a lie you made up to keep my grandson from me!”
“You’ll know he is one the moment you walk into that room, but I’ll never let you get close,” I snarled. “By the laws of his magic, prophets are forbidden to rule, and I don’t want him to have anything to do with this monarchy, anyway. All it does is ruin people.”
Cameron sniffed. “Fine. If he can’t become Emperor, then perhaps his visions will be useful—”