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Evelina

Evelina was going to have Daimon’s child. Without him.

She threw the bundle across the room and screamed in frustration.

Annora stirred beside her, rolling over. “Evelina?” She quickly sat up, her throat scratchy from sleep. “What’s—” Her breath caught. Slowly, she slid off the bed and walked over to the bundle of flowers. She picked it up and looked back at Evelina. “This means…”

Evelina nodded her head and pulled her knees to her chest. “I can’t do this,” she said into her hands. “I can’t do this without him.”

Annora placed a hand on her shoulder. “Who?” she said gently. Her voice was filled with understanding.

Evelina looked up at her. Her lip wobbled and she felt a rush of new tears threatening to spill over. She swallowed and answered, “Daimon.”

Annora’s bright gray eyes stared back at her, wide and filled with shock. “Daimon,” she repeated slowly. “But Daimon is…”

Evelina took in a shaky breath and said, “He isn’ t dead, Annora.”

Annora’s brows pinched together as the words hung in the air. “Then where is he?”

Evelina never planned on telling anyone what Daimon had done, who he had become. But she could trust Annora more than she could trust anyone. She had grown up with Daimon, her parents taking him under their wing. If anyone could understand, it would be her.

“Daimon is the son of Nyx,” Evelina finally said. “He became the ruler of the Shadow Realm to help secure the border, to try and keep the rebels from crossing. He bought us time to regroup, but he can never leave.”

The last words felt like poison on her tongue.

Annora was quiet for a moment, her eyes bouncing between Evelina’s. “But if he’s there and you’re here…”

“I’ve seen him on the Harvest Moon every year since Moros died,” Evelina said slowly. “I thought it was a dream, my mind wanting to believe he wasn’t lost to me forever. It was only in passing, small glimpses without any real contact before. But this past Harvest Moon…” She chewed on her lip as Annora gasped. “It was like he was here with me. I could hear him—touch him.”

Annora sat heavily beside her and leaned against the wall. She blew out a long breath, processing the words.

“What am I going to do?” Evelina whispered. “Daimon is in the Shadow Realm. When it comes time for the child’s Essence to be blessed at the temple, there will be no hiding it then.”

People would fear the child. They wouldn’t accept the magic inside it.

Annora crossed the room and sat beside her on the bed. She wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close.

“I cannot lose this child.” Evelina’s voice cracked.

Annora squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen,” she said quietly. “We can say the father died?”

“But then the Essence would lift to the skies, to Caelum,” Evelina whispered. “The way Daimon described it, the Essence that came out of him went to his mother, while the line that was supposed to seek out his father just…cut off.”

Annora was quiet for a moment. Evelina could practically hear her trying to figure out what to do.

“His magic cut off,” Evelina said slowly. “As if his father didn’t have Essence at all.”

Then her heart raced. It was possible the child only had one parent with magic.

She twisted toward Annora and gasped. “What if the father was human? We would still need a way to hide the shadows, but this would at least explain only my Essence surfacing.”

Annora shook her head. “That’s a big risk, Evelina. With the war, the rebels, the curse… Moros? It would be an outrage.”

Evelina swallowed. “But having the child of the Lord of Shadows would be undeniably worse. He may as well be one of the dark gods now.”

“Even if it worked, Eve…” Annora spoke slowly, clearly trying to dissuade her from the idea. “What human would even agree to this?”

Evelina only knew one human, really.

“I know one. He’s been coming to the palace more recently. We’re…friends.”

“And the human you’ve been spending time with,” Annora said slowly. “He’ll just…agree to this?”

She would be asking the impossible from him. How could she expect Lawrence to go along with it? How could she even think to ask it?

But if it was her only chance at saving her child, she would do anything. Half-fae were not unheard of in the realm.

Evelina took a deep breath. “I don’t know, but I have to try.”

That night, Evelina went to the refugee camp outside of Astern. She donned her healer garb and secured a hood over her head. She walked through the camp, searching for the small green cottage.

She found him rocking in a wooden chair on the porch. His head was tilted back as he gazed up at the stars. Her heart pounded harder against her chest the closer she got.

He looked down, his eyes landing on her. She felt a twinge of guilt when he smiled and waved.

“And what have I done to deserve a visit so late?” he asked gently. He gestured to the rocking chair beside him, motioning for her to sit down.

She rocked, listening to the creak of the wood beneath her and the creatures of the wood singing.

“Lawrence.” She hesitated and closed her eyes.

The sound of his chair rocking paused.

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. He was watching her closely, fear in his eyes.

“What’s happened?” he whispered.

She didn’t know how to say it. They had become friends, but this…it went beyond friendship.

“Something happened that I didn’t think was possible,” she began. “I need your help.”

His brows drew together. “What do you need?”

“I’m pregnant,” she whispered. He drew in a sharp breath. “And no one can know who the father is. He—” She cleared her throat. “The child wouldn’t be accepted.”

Lawrence stared at her with his mouth open. He blinked a few times, processing what she had just said. “You’re pregnant,” he said slowly. “And you think I can help?”

She swallowed. “There’s a ceremony a queen is subjected to when a new heir is born,” she explained. “The child is born at the temple and the council gathers to watch the blessing of the child’s Essence. The parents’ magic will be returned to them after the birth, presenting in whatever form of magic the parent has. ”

Evelina’s would present as light, just as it had with Leda. But this time, shadows would appear too, right before the connection severed, unable to find Daimon in the Shadow Realm.

She would need to find a way to hide the shadows, but if she could, then it would look as if there was simply no Essence going to the father at all.

“A piece of my magic will leave the child and return to me, but the father’s…won’t.”

Lawrence pressed his mouth into a thin line. “So you need a human without magic to cover it up,” he said slowly.

She nodded her head, her chest tightening. “I wouldn’t ask it if there was any other option. You have every right to say no and I would never fault you for that. This is an impossible ask?—”

“I’ll do it,” he said quickly. “I’ll say I’m the father.”

She blinked. “You will?”

“Of course I will.” His voice was confident. Strong. “You’re one of the only people to show me kindness in this world. Not only that, but you’re my friend. I’m glad you asked me.”

She still couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had been fully prepared for him to say no. He had no reason to say yes .

But he did.

“I don’t know how to repay you,” she said in disbelief.

He shook his head. “You’ve already done more for me than I thought a fae ever would for a human,” he said. “Let me do this for you.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “Thank you, Lawrence,” she breathed.

Tomorrow, they would be telling the council she was pregnant, and a human was the child’s father.

“Who knows, maybe a half-human heir could help change things here,” he said with a small smile, glancing up at his cottage. “We could learn to live together again.”

Hope swelled in her heart. “I’d love nothing more.”