Fated Hope

by Sariah Skye

  “Well?” Maxxus asked expectantly, looking thoroughly confused. “You told me about that—that magic pact with Gabriel. Does that have something to do with it?”

  I shook my head. “No. It’s nothing magical, I promise. It’s…biological.”

  Maxxus raised his brow. “Biological?”

  I nodded again, biting my lip to hide my grin. “It’s not really great timing, and it’s a total surprise but…” I stopped in my explanation, not able to say the words yet. It still didn’t feel real. But, it was real, and I needed to get used to it.

  “But?” Maxxus prompted, waiting on tenterhooks for my explanation that, for some reason I was suddenly too nervous to give him.

  We’d discussed this. We wanted to wait until after the Shadow war was over. Until we could abdicate our rule, and live a quiet, happy life in some Earth haven somewhere. Maybe even Castle Danger when it was fully repaired. Perhaps he’d be disappointed, or he’d freak out, or—

  “What?” Maxxus demanded impatiently.

  I chuckled. “I…” The butterflies flopped in my stomach, and I choked on the words as I tried to spit them out: I’m pregnant. Instead, I grasped his hand tightly, and placed it on my stomach. I bit my lip once again, and gazed at him expectantly.

  “You—what? Have a stomach ache? You are sick? You—” His frustrated expression relaxed momentarily, before his entire face widened into a wide, stupid grin. “You aren’t!”

  Trying to hide my stupid grin, I nodded quickly. “I am!” I could barely contain my excitement as the realization washed over him.

  “But—I thought you said—” he began, looking confused. “Your fertile time…”

  “Well, the genetic spell might have had something to do with it. Even though I don’t have a period like a human, I may still ovulate like one. Or a fae. Or something. Obviously.” I added, with a snort.

  “So...really? Are you saying what I think you’re saying? Really!?” Maxxus blue eyes twinkled like dancing stars. “You’re…pregnant?”

  I nodded excitedly. “I am!”

  “How—why…” Maxxus stammered, struggling to find the words in his shock. Instead of speaking, he wrapped his body around me, clutching me tight against him and murmured in my ear, over and over, “Oh my god…oh my god…!”

  I giggled at his words happily. “Are you…are you mad? I know we said we’d wait, but…”

  Maxxus, who’d been nuzzling my cheek with his rough, unshaven one, looked up suddenly and sternly at me. “Mad? Why the hell would you ever think I’d be mad?”

  “Because…well, the Shadows…the monarchy…” I said uncertainly, feeling my stomach plummet to my feet as I thought about being pregnant right now, during a battle with the Shadows. Strength or not, we weren’t invincible while pregnant. We could still get hurt. We.

  The very thought sent shudders up and down my spine.

  Maxxus scoffed. “I told you Leo…if it is ever too much, I take you, and we run. The offer still stands. Especially now.”

  “We can’t run, Maxx. But…” I sighed heavily.

  “But nothing. Whatever it takes I’ll keep you safe. Both of you.” Maxxus rubbed my belly, in small little circles as his eyes trailed up and down my body.

  “What?” I squirmed back into the bed, shying away, feeling uneasy under his penetrating gaze.

  “You…you’re so beautiful.” Maxxus declared tenderly, into my ear, before he let out a gleeful laugh, and pelted my face and neck with kisses. I giggled uncontrollably as his rough whiskers scratched my skin and as I did, I felt a pang of something warm gush throughout my body.

  Happiness. Pure, unadulterated happiness. I don’t recall ever feeling this happy—ever. Despite everything going on; the Shadows, the mess with the Court, dysfunctional families, I still managed to feel happier than I’d ever been. I closed my eyes, and relished in the feeling, leaning back into his shoulder.

  We lay like this for a few moments—I could have been hours for all I knew—before Maxxus sighed.

  “What?” I asked, not wanting to spoil the moment but I could tell some tension was in his mind.

  “Oh, it was just an odd meeting.” He described the events to me in detail, about the angry citizens with their snow-covered crops, to Connor escaping the dungeon.

  “He what!?” I demanded, flinging myself upright.

  Maxxus sighed. “Yeah. I haven’t been there yet; I have no idea what happened. But he’s gone, according to Braeden.”

  I buried my face in my palms, and let out a little scream. “When one thing goes right, something else goes bad! Arrrrgh!”

  “Well at least some of the Court dragons agreed to be healed,” Maxxus said, trying to be optimistic. “Wait. Can you even do that now?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t see why not?”

  “Hmm…” he scratched his chin thoughtfully. “We should probably find out for sure before we do anything that might hurt you.”

  I nodded in agreement. “Yeah. You’re right. Though it’d be really nice to get some more help at the Court. Everyone was really fighting over the crops and shit?”

  Maxxus snorted and nodded vigorously. “It would be hilarious if it weren’t us that has to deal with it.”

  I sighed, looking down at my ruffled appearance. I began to slide out of bed to compose myself, but Maxxus promptly shoved me back down with a stern expression on his face. I raised a brow at him playfully. “Now? In my grandfather’s bed?”

  “What? No!” He chuckled. “I mean you should get back to bed!”

  I chortled. “Ha, regardless I’m not some weak little flower. I can certainly handle getting up and do—whatever it is we have to do next.”

  Maxxus shook his finger at me. “Next, we go see someone that can tell us more about what you’re capable of. Who that would be, I don’t know.”

  We both sat thoughtfully for a moment before turning to each other and saying in unison: “Finnian!”

  Maxxus was prompt on the phone, sending out messages to the group, getting everyone to agree to meet in an hour to discuss my current…condition. Meanwhile, I took it upon myself to message Gabriel, and ask him to come join me here. I figured, he deserved to hear the news straight from me and not in a group setting; to give him better time to adjust. If he even needed to adjust…

  I freshened up in my grandfather’s bathroom and was towel-drying my hair when Gabriel arrived.

  He opened and closed the door behind him quietly, stepping into the room hesitantly. “You wanted to see me?”

  I nodded. “How did you get here?” He shook his wet hair out and brushed half-melted snowflakes off his black-hooded sweatshirt.

  “Maxxus Express,” he replied, with a dry laugh.

  “Really?” Maxxus still wasn’t completely used to flying humans around on his back like I was; somewhere back in his mind he still found it offensive, like most dragons would. I assumed his complacency with it was due to the happy news I’d just given him, and he would have agreed to anything. “How did he seem?”

  Gabriel shrugged. “A little tired but he was smiling, so I assumed you must be feeling better.”

  “You could say that.” I motioned for him to take a seat somewhere, and he sat at the foot of my grandfather’s plush bed. I sat at the head, keeping a safe distance from the sorcerer that wasn’t entirely comfortable, but it was the decent thing to do.

  “So, what’s up? What do you need me for?” he questioned uncertainly, moving to push his invisible glasses up his nose. He snorted at his own absentmindedness.

  I smirked. “I can always unfix it,” I reminded him once more.

  He shook his head dismissively. “No way!”

  “Okay then.” I looked away, avoiding his questioning, brown-eyed gaze and fiddled uncomfortably with the chain that fastened my robes closed at the neck. Nervousness flip-flopped in my stomach; I didn’t realize how hard it would be to tell him this news.

  Apparently, telling another guy you’d been in love with, but you w
ere now married to someone else—the same guy you’d almost been intimate with—that you were pregnant with your new guy’s baby was a rather hard thing to say.

  “Leo? You okay?” He asked, after several silent moments.

  “Yes. I’m fine. I just…don’t know how to say this.” I inhaled deeply. I noticed him, raised eyebrow, looking me over with a penetrating stare. “What?”

  A slow smile emerged on his lips. “I think I know.”

  “Know what?” I laughed with pretend innocence.

  “Leo, you can’t hide magic from me. I don’t make it a habit of feeling out your magic, but you look rather bothered by something and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t Shadows, or something else insidious,” Gabriel said, crossing his arms over his chest and grinning smugly. “You’re pregnant.”

  My mouth gaped. “How can—how can you tell?” I stammered in surprise, feeling my stomach swoop down to my feet hearing the words come out of his mouth.

  With a hand, he motioned to the general area of my stomach. “It’s the magic. I can sense a presence. It’s not very strong, but it’s there.”

  My eyes widened thoughtfully. “Can you tell what kind of magic?”

  He shook his head, still eyeing my belly intently. “No... all I can tell is there’s a presence. Not a malevolent one by any means but…an emerging one? I can’t quite describe it. But what else could it be?”

  “Tapeworms? Maybe an alien?” I suggested kiddingly.

  “Haha, that wouldn’t be magical at all,” he said with a laugh, before he trailed off into silence, looking away.

  I frowned, his faraway stare clearly saying much without saying anything at all. “Gabe? Are you okay?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked, with an unconvincing chuckle.

  “Because, this is all rather sudden? I mean we even talked about this, and I said it couldn’t happen anyway and, here I am! Knocked up!” As I said the words I winced, slightly. Yeah, I wasn’t even used to the idea myself.

  He rolled his eyes. “Firstly, Leo, you do not describe yourself as knocked up by your husband—or mate or whatever. It just sounds wrong. Secondly…come on, we all know what you two have been up to.” Both his and my cheeks heated at the allegation, for different reasons. “It only stands to reason that this is a likely outcome.”

  “But, it shouldn’t have been able to happen for another year, so I’m pretty surprised.”

  “So—what are you saying?” Gabriel asked, confused. “You don’t want it?”

  “No! No, I do,” I said vehemently. “I would just like to know how it’s possible. My grandfather thinks it has something to do with the magic spell casted on us, long ago. It apparently affected my fertility, somehow. Even though I had no symptoms.”

  “Hmm…perhaps that’s part of the fae magic used. From what I understand, they are fertile all the time. It doesn’t even hurt when they give birth.”

  “That’d be nice, but I doubt I’d get that lucky,” I said, laughing dryly.

  He chewed his lip thoughtfully and raked his hands through his hair, letting out a low whistle. “That’s something I should probably ask about myself. Could this have affected me in that same way? I always wondered…”

  “What?” I asked, as he trailed off uncertainly.

  He began to speak and promptly shut his mouth again. “No, nevermind.”

  “Uh-uh. Remember? We’re magic family now!” I raised the palm with the magical scar still healing, and pointed with my opposite hand. “You can tell me anything! You always could, you know.”

  He smiled. “You’re right. Okay well, see, there were quite a few times when I wasn’t exactly…careful during…” he coughed pointedly and laughed uncomfortably.

  “During?” I prompted, inviting him to go further, when he made a suggestive gesture with his hands. “Oh. Come on you can’t talk about sex with me?” My face wrinkled as I said it. Okay, it was uncomfortable for me too, but I’m sure not for the same reasons it was for him. Partially, because I still wasn’t completely over him in that way.

  “It’s just not fun to admit that quite a few times, I was an idiot. I’m a smart person—reasonably,” he chuckled. “And despite all that, I’ve never had a scare. Well, I mean not me of course, I don’t have the right equipment,” he chuckled uncomfortably once again, “but you know what I mean!”

  I nodded. “Yeah I do. Never? Not once? Perhaps it wasn’t you that was the problem?”

  He considered this. “Maybe. I guess I’ll never know. At least, not for a while,” he said somewhat bitterly.

  I sighed, the guilt weighing heavily in my shoulders at his obvious unhappiness. “Oh Gabe…” I felt the sting of tears in my eyes.

  Gabriel didn’t look at me, but turned, while sniffing. He reached an arm out and snaked it around my shoulders, pulling me to him. “Don’t be sad for me, Highness. I don’t care for pity. I’m not giving up, just yet. I just have things to figure out.” He snorted, then added, “Like always, it seems.”

  I tucked under his shoulder and nudged him with my elbow gently. “Come hell or high water, we’ll find you someone amazing. You’ll see. Someone with eyes only for you that will worship the ground you walk on.”

  I could see the corner of his mouth turn up in a smile as he nudged me back. “You mean, like Maxxus does for you?”

  I blushed, the warmth spreading over my cheeks. “Yeah, like that.”

  “I’m not sure another could love another like Maxx loves you, but I’ll settle with getting close.” Gabriel placed a chaste, affectionate kiss on top of my head, and patted my leg quickly. He stood, and held out his hand for me to help me to my feet. “Now. Let’s go find someone to look you over, shall we? I want to make sure everything is okay. It is my job, you know,” he said with a wink.

  I snickered. “So that’s the only reason you’re helping me?”

  He clicked his tongue. “Of course not. It isn’t my job to like you, is it?”

  I rolled my eyes, but grinned widely. “Okay, okay. Let’s go. Lots to do…” I trailed off, with a groan.

  He paused in the doorway, turning to me. “Where exactly does a dragon go for prenatal care?”

  I shrugged, throwing my hands up in the air. “Not sure, never happened to me before. We have dragon ‘midwives’ but that’s for further along. For now, since everything is so weird with the magic, I figured Finnian was a safe spot to start?”

  Gabriel nodded in agreement. “Good idea.”

  Finnian had gathered a number of mytho refugees from Castle Danger in the infirmary tent outside the family home. I spent the next hour or so getting poked, prodded, sprinkled, chanted on and who knows what else by various fae, nymph, sorcerer, cleric/conjurer (aka Esmé) folks.

  I sat in a circle, surrounded by candles, stones, sparkling crystals and a couple of witches who spoke together in hushed tones. Esmé directed them, tossing various concoctions at me. All the while, Finnian and Link stood nearby, heads bent over an ancient-appearing blue tome, nodding occasionally, and talking softly.

  “So—what? Is she safe to heal?” Maxxus had been standing across the room, nervously chewing on his thumbnail with no one but Gabriel for comfort. I could tell he was uncomfortable with the idea of allowing the sorcerer in, but as Gabriel pointed out, it was his job to look out for my best interest; he insisted on being here, just in case. Neither of them fully trusted anyone else to determine my health and well-being.

  Esmé, who had looked deep in concentration as she waved a smudging stick of earthy-smelling incense around me, paused and shot him a dirty look over her shoulder. “Patience, earth dragon. Aren’t you all supposed to be calm and grounded?”

  Maxxus let out a growl. “Not when you all are fiddling with my mate and child!”

  “I’m fine, Maxx,” I insisted. And really, besides being extremely bored, I was. I looked at Esmé questioningly. “How is all of this supposed to determine if I’m able to heal or not?”

  Esmé waved out the b
urning stick and set it in a clay pot inside the circle. I coughed slightly at the scent and with a wave of my hand I summoned air magic, which twisted and howled, guiding the smell away from us, rustling the front flap of the tent. She smirked, shaking her head. “I know it’s frustrating, Leorah. We’re dealing with magic that hasn’t been used in centuries; no one knows quite what we’re dealing with. Still…” she turned to Finnian and caught his eye. He nodded once simply and Esmé faced me once again. “Well, why don’t you start with something easy?”

  “How about you try amplifying my magic? Wind or something?” Gabriel offered. “You could do it easily before you were aware of your prowess; it should be a safe enough test I’d think?”

  I nodded. “Works for me.” I stepped out of the circle to stand before Gabriel.

  “Ready?” he asked, gazing at me curiously with his brown eyes.

  “Let’s go. Break wind.” I chuckled at the dumb joke I made, snort-laughing as Gabriel rolled his eyes.

  Gabriel opened his hands and before long, I could feel a light breeze dancing around us. Unlike before, many days ago where I had to close my eyes and concentrate intently, with a flick of my wrist I conjured my dragon magic, mixing it in with Gabriel’s wind, causing the breeze to strengthen to a light gale, with my sparkly brand of dragon fire dancing on the wind.

  “Nice. Now, stop it,” Gabriel ordered, and I obliged. With a clap of my hand, I willed the magic out and just as quickly as it started, the glitter fell to the ground.

  “How do you feel?” Maxxus questioned nervously.

  “Fine, I feel fine,” I responded, almost bothered by the attention. I shifted on my feet uncomfortably. Something under my skin felt…off. I scratched at my shoulder, frowning in dismay.

  “Are you sure?” He demanded quickly, noticing my discomfort.

  “Fine!” I insisted, with irritation. In response, I felt the tell-tale pull of the wings attempt to push their way out under the t-shirt I was wearing. “Shit…” Quickly, before it could tear, I ripped the t-shirt off and over my head, thankful for the sports bra I was currently wearing; no sexiness on display here.