Chapter 172: Chapter 172: Ellie's pregnancy

~ Kingdom of Belgravia ~

Hastings Manor

Celeste sat in the drawing room, staring at the letter in her hands. The seal had been broken days ago, but she still couldn't bring herself to throw it away.

Ellie's handwriting stared back at her, looking neat and perfect as always.

~ Dearest Celeste,~

I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to share wonderful news. I'm with child! Four months along now. The physicians say everything is progressing beautifully. The marquis is overjoyed at the prospect of an heir.

I do hope you're taking care of yourself. Marriage suits you, I'm sure.

~Your loving sister, Ellie~

Celeste crumpled the letter in her fist, tears burning in her eyes.

Four months pregnant. Ellie was four months pregnant and glowing with health while Celeste had lost three babies in seven months.

"She's showing off," Celeste whispered bitterly. "She knows. She knows I might be losing my babies and she's rubbing it in my face."

Duke Vincx looked up from the documents he'd been reading by the window. His red eyes softened when he saw her tears.

"Celeste." He crossed the room immediately, kneeling beside her chair. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything." She tried to wipe her tears, but more kept falling. "Ellie sent another letter. She's pregnant. And I'm... I'm broken. I can't even give you one child while she parades her perfect pregnancy around like…”

"Stop." Vincx took her hands gently. "You're not broken. Physician Raven found the root of the problem, remember? Someone's been poisoning you. That's not your fault."

"But what if we never find out who? What if they keep doing it?" Celeste's voice cracked. "What if I never get to hold my own baby?"

"We will find them." Vincx's voice was firm. "And when we do, I'll make them pay for every tear you've cried. I promise you that."

Celeste looked into her husband's eyes and saw the truth there. He meant it. He would hunt down whoever had done this to her.

"Thank you," she whispered.

They sat in silence for a moment, Vincx still holding her hands.

Then he asked quietly, "When was the last time you heard from Roderick?"

Celeste's breath caught.

Roderick. Her childhood love. The man she'd almost married before her father arranged her marriage to Duke Vincx.

The man who'd been sending her letters for seven months, now. Letters she'd been ignoring.

"Last week," she lied, looking away.

The truth was, Roderick had sent three letters in the past two weeks alone.

Each one more desperate than the last, begging her to respond, asking if she was alright, saying he still loved her. Asking to meet with her.

She hadn't answered any of them.

Because somewhere along the way, without meaning to, she'd fallen in love with her husband.

Duke Vincx, the cold monster her father had sold her to, had become the man she looked forward to seeing every morning.

The man whose rare smiles made her heart skip. The man who held her when she cried over her lost babies.

She didn't want Roderick anymore.

She wanted Vincx.

But she didn't know how to tell him. Didn't know if he felt the same way or if he just saw her as a duty.

A wife he had to care for because of their marriage contract.

Vincx's mood changed instantly. His face went cold, his jaw tight.

"Do you remember our agreement?" His voice was carefully neutral as he tried to hide his hurt.

Their agreement. The one they'd made seven months ago. If she gives him a child, she could have Roderick as her lover.

At the time, it had seemed reasonable. Kind, even. Vincx giving her freedom she hadn't expected.

But now? Now Celeste wanted to rip up that agreement and throw it in the fire.

She didn't want freedom. She didn't want Roderick. She wanted her husband.

But what if he didn't want her? What if the only reason he'd been kind was because of his Darkling nature, needing physical comfort from her because she was his mate like he said?

What if she confessed her feelings and ruined the little warmth they had between them?

"Yes," Celeste said quietly, each word hurting. "I remember. I will never break it."

She saw something pass through Vincx's eyes. Disappointment? Pain? It was gone too quickly to tell.

"Good," he said, his voice flat. He stood, releasing her hands. "I just wanted to make sure we were still... clear on things."

"Very clear," Celeste said, even though her heart was breaking.

Vincx opened his mouth like he wanted to say something else. His hand reached toward her, then stopped.

"Vincx…" Celeste started.

A servant burst through the door without knocking, his face pale with fear.

"Your Grace! Your Grace! Forgive the intrusion, but there are soldiers at the gates! Hundreds of them!"

Vincx's entire demeanor changed. The vulnerable moment vanished, replaced by the cold duke. "Soldiers? From which kingdom?"

"Grok, Your Grace! They wear Grok's colors!"

Vincx and Celeste exchanged shocked looks.

"How many?" Vincx demanded.

"At least a hundred men, Your Grace! Many are wounded. They're demanding entry. They say the King of Grok has been stabbed and needs urgent medical treatment!"

"King Liam?" Celeste stood quickly. “ Why is he here?”

"They're begging for Physician Raven," the servant continued, his voice shaking. "They say the king will die without her help."

Vincx's mind raced. A hundred Grok soldiers at his gates. King Liam wounded and dying.

And in the middle of it all, Raven, the physician whom he’d just discovered was King Liam's wife, was at his door knocking.

"This is bad," he muttered. "Very bad."

"We have to let them in," Celeste said immediately.

"Celeste, that's a hundred armed foreign soldiers…"

"And a dying king!" Celeste grabbed his arm. "Vincx, I know things are complicated, but we can't turn away a man who's bleeding to death. Besides..." She lowered her voice.

"If the king dies here in our territory, it would bring war to us and even Belgravia.”

Vincx looked at his wife's pleading face. Even now, after everything, she still had compassion for others.

It was one of the things he loved about her.

Loved.

The word took the breath out of his lungs.

He loved her. When did that happen?

"Fine," he said roughly. "But only thirty men inside the walls. The rest stay outside. And I want our guards doubled at every entrance."

"Thank you." Celeste squeezed his hand.

They rushed toward the main entrance together, servants scattering ahead of them to prepare.

They reached the great hall just as the servants threw open the massive doors.

The sight that greeted them made Celeste gasp.

Outside, at least a hundred soldiers crowded the courtyard. Many were wounded, bleeding, barely standing. Bodies lay draped over horses.

And at the front, a man with dark hair and brown eyes held the reins of a horse.

On that horse sat King Liam of Grok. She had seen him once. At the wedding of the slave who was traded in place of Ellie.

Even from a distance, Celeste could see he was dying. His skin was looking grayish. His clothes were soaked with blood. His head hung forward, barely conscious.

"Please!" the dark-haired man shouted. "I am Dorian, King Liam's advisor! We need Physician Raven! The king is dying! Please, in the name of mercy!"

Vincx stepped forward. "I am Duke Vincx Hastings. What happened?"

"We were ambushed!" Dorian's voice was hoarse. "Darkling possession. An entire village turned against us. We fought them, but one of our own guards was possessed. He stabbed the king before we could stop him."

Vincx's blood went cold. An entire village possessed. That took enormous power. The Darklings were not so organized as to possess an entire village.

All they are ever after is blood to drain not possess. This has the handwriting of the king written on it.

But a king, selling his own people just for whatever game and in his own land, deserves death.

"Bring him inside," Vincx ordered. "But only thirty men. The rest wait in the courtyard."

"Thank you! Thank you, Your Grace!"

They carried King Liam inside, his blood dripping onto the stone floors.

Celeste ran ahead to inform the medical chamber, her heart pounding.