**Third Person POV**
The guards were a mess. They were not sure how to react now. They had come out here to arrest a criminal. That was how they had conceived her return. The Council of Elders had announced to the people that their princess was returning home but the general consensus seemed to be that Irvette was a part of her father's crimes and the Elders would expose her involvement. They believed that they were waiting for her to return so they could expose her and then torture her to expose her father's whereabouts or how they could capture him.
However, if the princess was carrying a baby it meant that she was carrying royal seed and that meant that no harm could come to her. They could not make her walk to the palace; they could in no way humiliate or make her uncomfortable; and most importantly, she still had the power to make their lives miserable.
They exchanged eye contact and within minutes, a proper carriage was ready for her.
Irvette eyed the carriage with disgust and turned to the head guard, “This is it? I leave for a while and you forget my tastes?”
“I apologise, your Highness,” returned the head guard.
Irvette got on the carriage anyway and held her hand over her stomach. She smiled as she looked at her stomach. She had been so scared on the ship and had thought long about what she was going to do. She still had not figured it all out yet but she knew one thing; her baby was going to protect her. Nobody would make her the slightest bit uncomfortable when she was pregnant. So until she had this child she was safe. She also knew that she wanted to make sure the world her child was born in was free of George.
When she arrived at the palace she met the three famous Elders in the Council waiting for her. They had all received word that she was with child so they greeted her warmly.
“I am very tired so you will pardon me this once. I cannot entertain you properly, I would like to get some rest and have a royal physician attend me at once,” said Irvette once the pleasantries had been exchanged.
“Of course, the journey must have been hard for you and the baby. We will allow you to have your rest but you must understand that there are issues to straighten out and we must get about that business at once,” said Elder Davis. He wanted to make it very clear that the child would be no excuse whatsoever.
“I understand, believe me, I want this to be over quickly so my own people can respect me,” Irvette eyed the guards that had brought her when she said this.
“You must understand that they have been betrayed; they are hurt and they have a right to…”
“I have been betrayed too. Elders, I believe we shall resolve all of this in due time,” she gave them a tight smile and continued to make her way into the palace.
The Elders exchanged a look amongst themselves.
“She is very smart,” Elder Walker remarked.
“Indeed. It will be hard to prove anything. She will not be caught in a lie,” commented Elder Davis.
“If we are not careful, we may have George ruling the pack by proxy,” said Elder Thaddeus.
“We cannot allow that to happen. We will just have to beat her at her own game.”
*****
“How is my baby?” Irvette asked the physician when he was done with his examination. The doctor on the ship, Allen had examined her several times but she did not trust his judgement like she did the royal physicians.
“Your Highness, I am afraid you are going to need bed rest. The baby is in critical condition due to the stress your body has been through,” came Lloyds’ response.
“I cannot be on bed rest, Lloyd. You will give me whatever treatment I need but I cannot do a bed rest and you will speak to no one of such a thing, am I understood?” demanded Irvette.
“Yes, Your Highness,” came his humble response. There was nothing else he could say to her. He wanted to tell her also that the baby was developing very slowly but he was careful not to anger her further.
“Tell me, Lloyd. What has been happening in my palace since my absence?” she asked. There was a time she could trust Lloyd or more like there was a time Lloyd trusted her but his eyes held dear and distrust in them. He did not want to say anything to her.
“Your Highness, I….”
“Leave me alone. You can as well leave,” she shouted at him and he bowed his head and left the room.
Irvette was about to order someone else when her father appeared beside her.
“I see you are enjoying your act as a princess,” George said. The sound of his voice made her skin crawl but she forced herself to remain still.
“What? You no longer address me as father? Why are you so quiet?” quipped George in a taunting voice.
“You cannot be here, they are watching me…they…” Irvette was terrified. If it was discovered that she was working with her father, she could be executed on sight. Nobody would care about the baby within her anymore.
“Why are you so scared? What are you so scared of? What should you be more afraid of? Me? Or them?” he grinned wickedly as he said this and Irvette paled significantly.
“That's right, you should be scared of me who can rip the child out of your belly,” Irvette almost fainted in shock.
“Of course, I knew. By the way, you should fire Lloyd. He did not tell you the whole truth. Your baby is growing slower than he should be.”
“What do you want?” Irvette demanded.
“Honey, what do I want? I want to rule the world and you are getting in my way.”