Ryder slipped in and out during the night, and I slept right through it. I had been a mess after the outing, and sleep had been escaping me until Darynda had brought in some soothing tea that had knocked me down for the rest of the night.
Time was running out to make Ryder love me, and finding a way out of that contract so he didn’t have to marry someone else was weighing on my mind heavily.
It sounded easy, but things with Ryder never went smooth. I was always expecting his mood to change, and with mine own, plagued with hormones, it was a simple matter. We were adjusting, but the pressure from those around us was also smothering. It would be nice to go back to the night in his arms before he’d handed me over to Adam.
“He has to marry her. I don’t see what the big deal is. They have been betrothed for close to thirty years now. Alazander made the betrothal contract, but neither side was in a hurry to consummate it as they were each getting what they wanted without making it official. The Horde needs the alliance that they share to stay as it is. No offense, but I don’t see him getting that from your family.”
“And what, may I ask, is that?”
“Thirty thousand fighting warriors and ten thousand iron warriors who can wield iron with magic.”
“Oh, is that all?” I snorted and shook my head. Okay, so Ryder was getting a lot from his soon-to-be bride.
“I am the Blood Princess, and I have the cure to Faery growing inside of me. Can she say the same?” I shot back, because a twinge of jealousy roared within me. Shit. “I’m sorry, I just don’t understand why being the Blood Princess doesn’t seem to count for anything,” I amended, because I didn’t want to offend Darynda who had grown up in this world.
“It’s okay. Being the Blood Princess is a very high station, higher than Abiageal’s. It’s just that her contract was negotiated first and the Horde got exactly what it wanted with both contracts,” she said thoughtfully, and then switched topics so fast it made me dizzy. “Did you know that The King has called the Dark Prince into attendance? He’s supposed to be super-hot.”
“Wait, Ryder called Adam here?”
“Cadeyrn,” she said, narrowing her eyes in disapproval.
“Um, no. It is Adam now, and he wants to be called Adam. It is the same as I was Sorcha, but going by a different name for so many years has a way of making the new name stick.”
“You really should call him Cadeyrn. It’s what his mother named him. Anyway, he should be here later today. All the women in the castle are humming with excitement, because it’s known he is openly looking for the Light Heir now that you turned out to be Blood.”
“Adam is looking for the missing Light Heir?” I felt my heart clench in a vise. Not because I wanted him to be mine, but because the thought of him being with someone other than Larissa felt wrong.
“Yes, Ryder is helping of course. If all four heirs and the relics come into place, Faery could be healed. People would stop worrying about pregnancies, and dying infants.”
I felt a chill snake down my spine.
“I’m so sorry!” Darynda cried, placing her hand over her mouth with wide eyes.
“It is fine.” It wasn’t fine. I was having a child in a land where they didn’t survive. Nothing was okay in this situation. I’d been so wrapped up in my own head, that I had forgotten the mortality rate of the children here.
“How many infants have died in the Horde this year?” I asked hesitantly and very afraid of the answer.
“One in twenty; that’s the odds of them making it through Transition,” she said watching my face.
“That’s not so bad,” I said, feeling a weight start to lift off my chest.
“One in twenty will live,” she replied, dashing it and placing the weight right back on it.
I bolted to the bathroom and threw up. I was still kneeling, calves to ass, when Ryder picked me up. “Eliran has medicine for this,” he growled.
“Does he have something to ensure our child lives?” I asked on a giant sob that rocked my entire body.
“It’s going to be okay, Pet. Ristan has seen the child, which means he will live to his birth.”
“Has he seen him grow up? Has he seen him anywhere besides in Adam’s arms?” I was starting to freak out. I hadn’t wanted to be pregnant, but now that I was, I needed to not lose this baby.
“We are working on it. I promise.”
~~*
I was being given nausea medicine when Ristan sifted in. He was sitting beside me now, and his hand was rubbing my shoulder. “I haven’t seen the baby beyond the vision in Adam’s arms. Unfortunately, I can’t just make the visions come, Flower.”
“So he could die?”
“Yes,” Ristan replied, as Ryder growled, and Eliran shook his head.
“Ristan,” Ryder warned.