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My legs nearly buckled as shock rang through me like the toll of a giant church bell. This powerful and captivating male at his origin, tiny and innocent, and vulnerable… Still unburdened by the world’s heavy, merciless hand. And his mother, this ruthless queen who could surely drown many lifetimes over in all the blood she, or those working on her behalf, had spilled. Myself included.
Zurie looked up, panic spearing straight through me as she stared directly at me. I gasped as someone suddenly walked straight through me towards her. A midwife carrying a bowl of clean water.
The midwife dipped a cloth and began cleaning her sweaty brow.
Zurie swatted her away.
“Go get Miroslav,” she demanded hoarsely.
The midwife pulled the cloth away, twisting it anxiously.
“… Your majesty, you should rest while the child is calm.”
“Go. Get. Him,”Zurie demanded in a formidable tone, her magic seeping out of her like a poison taking hold of its victim.
The midwife went rigid, turning immediately on her heel and rushing out of the room.
Miroslav appeared only moments later, and for the first time in all the many years I’d known him, something like tension shuddered his gaze.
“Your majesty… How is the babe? How are you feeling?”
Zurie’s nostrils flared as her jaw hardened in an attempt to stifle the deluge of emotion flooding her eyes. Never, in the entirety of the century I had spent serving this female, had I ever seen her express emotion outside of anger or malevolent glee.
“Whymust you always ask questions you already know the answers to?” She croaked, voice cracking with emotion.
Some deeply rooted knot of dread twisted in my gut and my chest to the point where I could scarcely breathe.
Miroslav remained silent, his gaze fixed on the child on her breast before Zurie regained a modicum of her composure.
“He is as you saw him in your vision? You are sure this is the one who would destroy me and my kingdom?”
Miroslav’s throat worked on a swallow, his impassive mask cracking ever so slightly as his eyes flicked from the babe to Zurie.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Zurie’s jaw clenched furiously as though she would burst as her tears began to spill freely.
“Take him,” she hissed through gritted teeth, voice cracking again. Even as her arms seemed to clutch baby Nakoa tighter against her bare chest.
Miroslav hesitated for a moment before Zurie snapped.
“I said take him!” She cried. The babe started, kicking in her arms as it released a stuttering wail, choking out his sobs.
Miroslav moved, quickly taking baby Nakoa, still nude from being birthed, and curled his arms around him, cradling him against his chest with surprising tenderness.
Zurie tore her gaze away, covering her bared breasts still leaking with milk before clasping her now empty, trembling hands together with barely restrained emotion. Her voice was scarcely audible.
“Make it swift and painless.”
Miroslav hesitated for only a moment before he dipped his head,foldingaway with the child, as Zurie roared her fury - tendrils of her magic exploded from her like a detonated bomb.
Just as her magic consumed me, the queen’s room disappeared, instantly replaced by… Palm trees and thunderous waves crashed on a rocky shore in the nearby distance. Dark, billowing rain clouds loomed above, heavily pregnant and threatening to burst. Harsh winds tore through the land. Baby Nakoa’s wail came from behind me, and I turned to discover Miroslav still clutching him protectively against his chest as he stood at the front door of a small hut that sat amongst a dozen others.
As though he could see me beyond time and space, his gaze lifted to mine, hard and filled with pain. My heart stuttered in my chest, and I opened my mouth to speak, but he gave a subtle shake of his head and turned, opening the front door to reveal Leilani. Her hair, no longer streaked with white but a lustrous jet black. Her figure, full instead of lithe. I rushed towards the door as they spoke, unable to catch their words, only reaching it just as it shut. I attempted to push it open, and though I could still see my hands in front of me, they went straight through.
I passed through the closed threshold to find Miroslav standing close to Leilani as they spoke Kahlohani in hushed tones. Miroslav carefully handed her Baby Nakoa. Leilani’s face crumpled, tears streaking her cheeks, as she began to sing softly in a voice that wavered under the weight of her emotion as she gently rocked him against her chest.
As shock waned and reality began to settle on me, my own tears began their descent. Unable to bear the anguish, my restless eyes settled on Miroslav’s face… Marred with unmistakable heartbreak and longing.
