Chapter 71: Chapter Seventy-one

Chapter 71

Lia’s POV

The words pressed against my chest like a living thing, clawing, restless, begging to be freed.

I had carried this secret for weeks, letting it gnaw me hollow. Every look, every whisper, every suspicious pause had only made it harder to bear. The pack already suspected. Brie was sharpening her knives of words, and the council would not rest until they dragged the truth from me.

But worse than all of them was Edgar, Edgar, who knew nothing.

Each time I saw him, fragile in his chair or clinging to the edge of strength just to stand before his people, my heart wrenched. He was dying. Slowly, painfully, each day a battle he barely won. And I, the one person who should share everything with him, had kept silent.

It was selfish, I told myself. I had wanted to protect him. I had wanted to shield him from more burdens. But in my silence, I had stolen something too: his right to hope.

Tonight, I could no longer keep it.

He was sitting by the hearth, the flames painting his pale skin in flickers of gold and red. His once-powerful frame seemed so much smaller now, his shoulders curved forward, his breaths shallow. But when his eyes lifted to mine, they still burned with the same fire that had once made the world bow before him.

“Lia,” he murmured, smiling faintly. “You look like you’ve been carrying the weight of a thousand moons. Come here.”

I hesitated only a moment before crossing the room, kneeling beside him. His hand reached for mine, warm despite his weakness, and I laced our fingers together.

There was no turning back now.

“Edgar,” I whispered, my throat tight. “I need to tell you something.”

His brow furrowed. “What is it? Has something happened?”

“Yes,” I said softly. My heart thundered. My palms were damp. I had faced death, betrayal, curses, and yet this, this moment terrified me more than anything.

I drew in a shaking breath. “I’m pregnant.”

The silence stretched.

For a heartbeat, I feared I had broken him. His eyes widened, his lips parted, but no sound came. He simply stared at me, as if the words had shattered the air between us and left him unable to breathe.

Then, slowly, like dawn breaking over a dark horizon, his expression changed. His eyes filled, not with fear, but with light. A smile trembled at the corners of his mouth, fragile but real, until it spread across his face with a warmth I had not seen in so long.

“Pregnant?” His voice was hushed, reverent, as if the word itself were holy.

Tears blurred my vision. I nodded. “Yes.”

He let out a shaky laugh, a sound broken yet beautiful, and pressed his forehead against mine. “A child… our child.” His voice cracked on the word, and he pulled me into his arms with a strength I hadn’t thought he still possessed. “Lia, you’ve given me life again.”

I clung to him, sobs breaking free. All the fear, the secrecy, the weight of silence dissolved in his embrace. I had expected anger, disappointment, maybe even despair, but instead he gave me joy.

“You’re not upset?” I managed to ask between tears.

“Upset?” He pulled back just enough to cup my face in his trembling hands. “How could I ever be upset? This is gods, this is a miracle. I thought I would leave this world with nothing. No legacy, no future. But you’ve given me more than I ever dreamed.”

His eyes glistened, his thumb brushing away my tears. “Tell me everything. How long? How do you feel?”

I laughed through my tears, the sound weak and watery. “Weeks, maybe more. I don’t know exactly. I’ve been hiding it, afraid of what the council would do if they knew.”

“They’ll know soon enough,” he said fiercely. “And let them. Let them all know that my blood will carry on. That I am not finished.” His voice faltered, his body shaking with effort, but the determination in his words was unshakable.

We stayed like that for what felt like forever, clinging to one another as though the world outside did not exist.

For the first time in weeks, Edgar looked alive. Truly alive. The shadows that had haunted his face seemed to lift, replaced by a fire I thought I’d never see again. His hands never left me, resting on my face, my shoulders, finally drifting down to rest gently over my stomach.

There, his fingers lingered, reverent. “Our child,” he whispered again, as if he still couldn’t believe it. “I swear, Lia, I will live for you. For both of you. No matter how weak I am, no matter what it takes, I will not leave you alone.”

And I believed him.

Even if his body was failing, even if the curse and the poison and the years of battle had worn him down, Edgar had found something stronger than all of it, a reason.

Later, after he had finally drifted to sleep with his hand still resting protectively over my stomach, I sat watching him, tears drying on my cheeks.

The fear hadn’t vanished. The council still lurked, Brie still schemed, danger still coiled around us like a serpent.

But now, we had something stronger. Something untouchable.

Hope.

And as I touched my stomach once more, I vowed silently, no one would take this from us.

No one.