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Chapter 68
publish date:
2026-09-27 14:48:59
Latest chapter
Carrying His Claim Chapter 69
The fear arrived one evening during my weekly checkup, not from anything dramatic in the moment, but from Ottilie's steady hands moving across my stomach and the ordinary, reassuring sound of a strong heartbeat filling the quiet room."Everything looks good," Ottilie said, the same brisk professionalism she'd offered at every appointment before this one. "Strong heartbeat, good positioning. You're carrying this well, given everything else currently demanding your attention."I nodded, and thanked her, and walked back to my room afterward with the same steady relief I usually carried from these appointments. It was only once I was alone, sitting by my window with one hand resting against the curve of my stomach, that the fear finally found its full shape, arriving all at once with a force that stole my breath.This child, whoever they turned out to be, would be born into a household under siege from every direction I could name, and several I suspected but couldn't yet confirm. A borde
Carrying His Claim Chapter 68
I passed through the courtyard garden the following morning, later than I usually walked it, and noticed the stone basin near the old fountain before I'd fully registered why my attention had snagged there at all. Fresh ash, still faintly warm to the touch when I crouched to look more closely, though the fire itself had long since burned down to nothing.I hesitated, understanding immediately what I was looking at, the same small, deliberate ritual I'd witnessed once before, weeks ago now, sitting beside Selene while she fed unsent letters to Kieran into these exact flames. I hadn't seen her out here last night. I hadn't heard her either, though my own sleep had come easier lately, deep enough that I might have missed the sound of her moving through the quiet halls.I almost walked away without looking closer. I want to be honest about that, standing there in the cool morning air, some careful instinct telling me this was exactly the kind of private grief I'd promised myself, the firs
Carrying His Claim Chapter 67
Gideon found me in the courtyard garden a few days after the Council hearing, his approach careful in a way that told me, before he'd said a single word, that whatever he'd come to discuss wasn't going to be simple pack business."Do you have a moment?" he asked, settling onto the low stone wall a respectful distance from where I sat."Of course."He was quiet a moment longer, choosing his words with the particular deliberation I'd come to associate with him whenever a subject required more care than his usual straightforward manner allowed. "I want to say something to you, and I want you to understand I'm saying it out of genuine concern rather than any particular accusation. I've known Selene a long time. Since she was a girl, visiting this compound with her father on alliance business, long before any formal betrothal was ever discussed.""I know you're close to her.""Close enough to recognize the shape of her, in most circumstances. Close enough to notice when that shape starts t
Carrying His Claim Chapter 66
The summons arrived without warning, formal enough that I understood, reading it, this wasn't going to be the kind of Council business I could reasonably avoid attending, restricted public role or not. Marguerite had filed a formal grievance, and the Council had determined, given its direct bearing on my own standing within the household, that I deserved the opportunity to respond in person. I read the summons twice, my hands not quite steady, understanding that whatever came next in that chamber was going to test me in a way none of the household's private conversations ever had. I thought, folding the letter carefully, of the withered rosemary still sitting in its small dish on my desk, and wondered, uneasily, whether the two things were connected in some way neither the summons nor my own instincts could yet confirm.I dressed carefully that morning, understanding the weight of what waited in that chamber, and found Kieran already pacing outside it when I arrived, his expression ca
Carrying His Claim Chapter 65
I found it on my way out for the morning, tucked against the base of my door where anyone passing might have stepped over it without a second glance, and I understood, the moment I registered what it actually was, that this hadn't been left carelessly. The guard stationed nearby hadn't noticed it either, he admitted later, embarrassed, which told me whoever had left it understood the household's rhythms well enough to slip past a watchful presence entirely.A single sprig of rosemary, blackened and withered, tied with a scrap of dark thread, resting on top of a small folded square of paper.I picked it up carefully, my pulse already climbing, and unfolded the paper to find no signature, no elaborate message, only a handful of words written in a hand I didn't recognize, deliberately blocky and plain, giving nothing away about who'd written them.You don't belong here. Leave before something worse than a dead flower reminds you of that.I stood in the hallway a long moment, the withered
Carrying His Claim Chapter 64
Gideon delivered the Council's follow-up ruling a week later, careful and formal in a way that told me, before he'd finished the first sentence, exactly how much this particular news was going to cost me."The Council's asked that I bring this to you directly," he said, settling into the chair across from mine with none of his usual ease. "Given everything currently unsettled, the withdrawal of Thorne's support, the open question with Millhaven and Fenwood, they've recommended certain adjustments to your public role within the household. For the time being, until matters stabilize.""What kind of adjustments?""Reduced attendance at formal gatherings. No presence at future Council sessions, even ones touching directly on the succession, unless specifically requested. A general expectation that you'll keep to the household's quieter spaces rather than the more visible public ones, at least until this crisis with our allies resolves one way or another." He delivered it plainly, without
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