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There was no time.
I turned, bolting to the first thing that looked like a trash can. Grabbing the sides, I hovered over it, heaving out the contents of my stomach.
“Wow,” Ysabeau whispered.
“I know. I tried to hold it in.” I coughed, wiping my mouth with my sleeve.
Elias covered the lower part of his face with his hand, blocking whatever expression was underneath it. His eyes pinched at the corners.
“You just threw up in the sacred baptism basin of our first ancestors,” Ysabeau said flatly.
I looked back to the receptacle. It was a bowl, curved at the bottom, deeper than what I would’ve expected a basin to be, and it looked as though it had been made from onyx. The color drained from my face. My stomach twisted again. “I . . . did what?” I jerked my head to look at Elias. He nodded his head in tight movements. I’d thought it was a trash can . . .
My jaw went slack, and my knees went weak. I stumbled onto the floor, dropping onto my backside unceremoniously. I cradled my head in my hands.
In the past four days, I’d been called to accept a mate bond, exiled, stalked for assassination, and coerced into Blood and Beryl by its king. Then I’d destroyed his dead dog’s urn, faced the critique of the High Court, and heard that I was expected to bear an heir. To top it off, I’d defiled a sacred artifact in the throne room.
I should’ve just killed Markus.
CHAPTER 10
Elias
Aknock sounded, and Ysabeau walked in, taking a seat in front of my desk, saying nothing.
I sighed. “Speak your mind, Ysa. The look on your face says you disagree with something.” Bluntness worked best for her. She didn’t like to mince words, and frankly, it wasn’t my thing, either. I preferred my time to not be wasted.
“I’ve been thinking about our new queen.” She just jumped straight to it, reaffirming my thoughts. “Particularly what Bianca said the other day.”
“About an heir?” She hummed in response, indicating we were on the same page. “Bianca’s mention of a baby threw Dannika for a loop, but she hasn’t brought it up to me. No one saw her reaction afterward except us.”
“I’m not overly concerned about how she responded. Yes, it sent her over the edge, but I don’t necessarily blame her for that, although she needs to get a better handle on her surroundings before she goes on another vomiting spree.” Ysabeau grimaced, shaking her head. Cracking her knuckles, she kept my gaze and continued. “Bianca makes an excellent point. A point I don’t know that you considered in this last-minute plan.”
I raised a single brow. That was a bold yet underhanded statement from her. “Do you have something you wanted to say to me, Ysa? And tread lightly.”
She crossed her arms. “You didn’t make me your second to tread lightly,” she pointed out, raising her chin. “And I won’t start now.” It was fair, though I wasn’t in the mood to agree with her. After a week of being around Dannika, sleeping next to her, waking up to her . . . something in me was wound tightly at the very sound of her name.
When I said nothing, Ysa took that as her cue to continue. “You can’t deny that you came up with this plan quickly. You saw a conflict not go as Mathis expected, and it played directly into your hand, but the plan you came up with was not thought out carefully and laid out in advance. The opportunity presented itself, and you made the decision on the spot. You are my king. I will support whatever you deem necessary, and you know this. Without question. What concerns me are some of the logistics. Bianca is right. An heir will be expected. How do you plan to address that?”
I kicked my legs up, crossing my ankles and resting them on my desk as I leaned back in my chair. She wasn’t wrong, but our very nature was to my advantage. Vampire children were difficult to conceive. Certainly not impossible, but it was never a quick conception. Vampires were easily made, but that wasn’t what was expected of me. Noble families and leaders produced children to carry on a pure-blood vampire line. I’d have someone investigate shifter-vampire couplings and see if such pairings extended that time any further. Either way, while the desire to see an heir born would be present, the push for one wouldn’t be. “We have plenty of time before that becomes an issue.”
Her expression didn’t change. “But it will become an issue, Elias.”
“And I will handle it when the time comes,” I said firmly. I would find a solution. I always did. Given the way my body responded to Dannika and hers to mine, an heir may not be impossible, given time and a little finesse. I saw the way she pressed her thighs together when her cheeks flushed. At times, I could smell her desire, and it was everything I could do to keep my hands to myself. My blood heated, but Ysa’s bold stare cooled it a fraction.
She took a deep breath, considering whether or not to say her next piece. I gestured for her to go ahead. We’d come this far with it. “What of your mother?” she asked quietly. “What will you tell her?”
I frowned, scratching my neck. “That’s more complicated. At the moment, it’s not my highest priority, but I will tell her. Time is on my side.”
She scoffed, changing her position to view the landscape outside the window. “For now. It will catch up to us. It always does.”
“You are still displeased,” I stated.
She returned her sharp eyes to me, pinning me with a focused stare. “You have your mate,” she started. “One whom you have no intention of bedding. Correct?” I hesitated a moment too long. “Perhaps I underestimated just how half-cocked this plan was. I knew your original intentions, but have they changed?”
I sighed. “It’s not a black-and-white situation. I don’t know what Dannika will want long term. We may be in a different place months or years from now.”
Her eyebrows rose above her wide-rimmed sunglasses. “And you? Are you somehow remaining celibate if Dannika doesn’t want to change the arrangement?” She raised both her brows, looking for my answer.
