Chapter 11 The Pregnancy Announcement
Three months after the wedding, the palace hummed with anticipation. Servants whispered in corners. Council members arrived in formal dress. The great hall filled with nobility from across the kingdom, all summoned for an important royal announcement.
Lila stood in her tower chambers, staring at the formal gown Maya had laid out. Deep green silk that complemented her copper hair, elegant and appropriate for a royal sister. She'd been commanded to attend, to stand beside the throne and smile while her world crumbled further.
"You have to eat something." Maya held out a plate of bread and cheese. "You look like a strong wind could knock you over."
Lila shook her head. Food made her nauseous lately. Everything made her nauseous. The constant ache of the bond. The stolen midnight conversations with Adrian that left her more hollow than fulfilled. The knowledge that whatever announcement Celeste planned would only make everything worse.
"At least drink some water." Maya's voice carried worry. "Please, my lady. For me."
Lila forced down a few sips, then let Maya help her into the gown. The silk felt heavy against her skin, foreign and wrong. She looked in the mirror and saw a ghost wearing expensive clothes. Pale face. Shadowed eyes. Cheekbones too sharp from weight she'd lost without noticing.
The bond pulsed with Adrian's tension. He was already in the great hall, playing his role as king, waiting for whatever performance Celeste had orchestrated. Through their connection, Lila felt his dread mixed with resignation. He knew what was coming. They both did.
Maya braided Lila's hair into an elegant crown, added small emeralds that caught the light. "There. You look like a proper lady."
Lila looked like a corpse dressed for burial. But she smiled at Maya and thanked her, then made her way through the palace corridors toward the great hall.
The crowd parted as she entered. Hundreds of eyes tracked her movement. Whispers followed in her wake. The King's sister-in-law. The spare Hartwell daughter. The quiet one who lived in the tower and rarely appeared in public.
Adrian stood beside the throne, magnificent in black and silver formal wear. His ice-blue eyes found hers across the crowded hall. For one heartbeat, she felt everything through the bond. His longing. His misery. His desperate wish that things were different. Then his expression shuttered and he looked away, the perfect image of a distant king.
Celeste sat on the smaller throne beside Adrian's, glowing in white and gold. Four months pregnant now, her condition carefully hidden under flowing gowns, but her face radiant with secret knowledge. She smiled at Lila with something cruel in her eyes.
"Stand there." Celeste pointed to a spot three steps below the thrones. "Where everyone can see the happy family."
Lila took her position. Lord Garrett stood nearby, his expression smug. Lady Margot watched from the crowd with calculating eyes. The council members arranged themselves in formal rows. Everyone waited.
Adrian stepped forward, his voice carrying across the hall. "Thank you all for attending on such short notice. Queen Celeste has an announcement that affects the future of our kingdom."
Celeste rose gracefully, one hand resting on her still-flat stomach. She let the moment stretch, building anticipation, clearly enjoying the attention.
"Three months ago, I married your king to secure our alliance and strengthen our realm." Her voice rang clear and confident. "Today, I'm honored to announce that the Moon Goddess has blessed our union. I carry the heir to the Northern Kingdom. By spring, your prince or princess will be born."
The hall erupted in cheers. Lords and ladies surged forward to offer congratulations. The council members beamed with satisfaction. This was what they'd wanted, what they'd planned for. A royal heir to secure the bloodline and prove the marriage successful.
Lila stood frozen while chaos swirled around her. Her stomach twisted. Black spots danced at the edges of her vision. The bond screamed with Adrian's carefully buried anguish, with the weight of this child that bound him to Celeste forever.
"Lady Lila, you must be so happy for your sister." Lady Margot appeared beside her, voice dripping false sweetness. "Your first niece or nephew. How exciting."
"Yes." The word scraped out. "Exciting."
"You look pale. Are you feeling well?"
"I'm fine."
But she wasn't fine. The room tilted. Sound became muffled and distant. Lila watched Adrian accept congratulations with perfect kingly grace, watched Celeste glow with triumph, watched the whole court celebrate a future that erased any possibility of her own happiness.
She managed to hold herself together through the formal reception that followed. Managed to smile and nod and offer appropriate congratulations when people spoke to her. Managed to embrace Celeste and say all the right sisterly things about joy and blessings and excitement.
Then she escaped to the nearest bathroom and vomited until nothing remained but dry heaves.
She knelt on cold tile, shaking, tears streaming down her face. This was her reality now. Adrian's child growing inside Celeste. A baby that would tie them together permanently, that would require years of co-parenting and shared responsibilities. The mate bond didn't matter when measured against a child.
The bathroom door opened. Lila didn't look up, assuming Maya had followed to check on her.
Strong hands gathered her hair back. A warm presence knelt beside her. Adrian's scent wrapped around her, pine and snow and something wild that belonged only to him.
"Breathe." His voice was low, meant only for her. "Just breathe."
"You shouldn't be here." But she leaned into him anyway, too broken to maintain distance.
"I felt you through the bond. Felt you breaking." His hand rubbed circles on her back. "I couldn't stay in that hall pretending everything was perfect while my mate was in here dying."
Lila sobbed. All the pain she'd been holding back for months poured out in harsh, ugly sounds. Adrian pulled her against his chest, held her while she fell apart, his own tears falling into her hair.
"I'm sorry." The words tumbled out between sobs. "I know I have no right to feel this way. I know you need an heir. I know this is good for the kingdom. But I can't. I can't watch you build a family with her. I can't stand beside you and smile while my heart shatters into pieces."
"I know." Adrian's voice broke. "I know, and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
They clung to each other on the bathroom floor, two people bound by fate but separated by duty, crying for a future that would never exist. The bond pulsed between them, singing with rightness even in the midst of devastation.
"Adrian." Celeste's voice cut through their grief like a blade. "What is going on here?"
They sprang apart. Celeste stood in the bathroom doorway, still wearing her triumphant smile, but her eyes had gone hard and cold. She took in the scene with sharp clarity. Adrian kneeling beside Lila. Both of them crying. His arms still reaching for her.
"Celeste." Adrian stood, wiping his face. "Lila was ill. I heard her and came to help."
"How convenient that you heard her. In a bathroom. Three corridors away from the great hall." Celeste's voice dripped with ice. "While hundreds of guests wait to celebrate our child."
"She's your sister. I thought you'd want her cared for."
"I want to know why my husband is holding my sister while both of you cry like your hearts are breaking." Celeste moved closer, her gaze cutting betwee
n them. "I want to know what is going on between you two. And I want the truth. Now."