The Advisor’s Plea

The garden walk was supposed to be short and supervised. Instead, the guards suddenly “remembered” they had new orders from Lord Caelum himself about checking the perimeter. I knew it was arranged the moment I saw him waiting near the stone fountain, hands clasped behind his back.

“Omega,” he greeted me calmly, like we were discussing nothing more important than the weather. “The king asked me to review security arrangements around you and the heir.”

The guards moved far enough away to give us the illusion of privacy. I stopped beside him, one hand resting on my rounded belly. The child gave a strong kick, as if sensing the tension.

“You’re getting bold,” I said quietly. “What if someone sees us talking like this?”

“They see what I want them to see.” Caelum’s eyes flicked to my belly, then up to the faint glow on my skin. “He’s worse, Eli. I watched him in the training ring this morning. His sword arm trembled. For the first time in a century, Vesperian looked... mortal. You have to stop this.”

My throat tightened. “You think I haven’t tried? Every time he touches me, the bond takes over. The child makes it stronger. I redirect what I can, but…”

“But you’re still draining him,” Caelum cut in, voice low and urgent. “I see it. The way he pauses when he thinks no one’s watching. The shadows under his eyes. If you keep going, he won’t survive the birth. You know that, don’t you?”

I looked away, tears stinging my eyes. Pregnancy had made everything feel ten times heavier. “I love him,” I admitted, the words barely above a whisper. “Or the bond makes me think I do. I want to stop. I want to protect him. But there’s this other part of me that still remembers what he did to my family. To me. The revenge feels... earned. And then he holds me at night and I can’t breathe without wanting him closer. I’m tearing myself apart, Caelum.”

He studied me for a long moment. “You’re afraid I’ll betray you to him.”

“Aren’t you tempted?” I shot back. “You could end this right now. Tell him everything. Watch me die.”

Caelum’s expression softened with something painful. “I’ve loved him for over a hundred years. Longer than you’ve been alive. I watched him become this cold, unbreakable king who sacrificed everything…including me…for the empire. And then you came along...” He let out a shaky breath. “You made him feel again. For the first time in decades, he looks at someone like they matter more than power. So tell me the truth, Eli. Is any of what happens in that bed real for you? Or is it all the bond and the pregnancy forcing you?”

I stared at him, chest aching. The child kicked hard, like he was listening too.

“It’s real,” I whispered. “Some of it. Too much of it. I hate him for what he did. But when he touches my belly and talks to our son... I forget how to hate him. And that terrifies me more than anything.”

Caelum closed his eyes for a second, pain flashing across his face. “Then you have to choose. Soon. Before there’s nothing left of him to love.”

He stepped back just as the guards started returning. “Security looks adequate,” he said loudly for their benefit. “I’ll report to the king.”

I watched him walk away, heart pounding. The child kept moving restlessly inside me, feeding off my turmoil.

~~~~

That night, I tried to keep my distance when Vesperian entered the chambers.

I stayed by the window, arms wrapped around my belly, refusing to look at him. “I’m tired tonight.”

He came up behind me anyway, hands sliding around to rest on my swollen stomach. The bond surged instantly, hot and demanding, pulling me back against his chest like a physical force.

“You’re angry with me,” he murmured, lips brushing my ear. “Tell me why.”

I tried to stay stiff. Tried to fight the pull. “Everything’s falling apart. Kieran. The court. Us.”

His hands stroked my belly possessively. The child kicked strongly right under his palm. Vesperian made a low, satisfied sound and turned me in his arms, kissing me before I could protest.

The soul resonance exploded between us. I meant to push him away. Instead, my hands fisted in his tunic, pulling him closer. He lifted me carefully onto the edge of the table, spreading my legs and stepping between them.

“Eli,” he growled, already hard against me. “I need you.”

I hated how badly I needed him too. Resistance crumbled as he pushed inside me in one deep thrust. I cried out, legs wrapping around his waist, the bond dragging me under completely. Every attempt to stay distant burned away in the heat of his body, the feel of his knot starting to swell, the way he held my belly like it was the most precious thing in his world.

I couldn’t fight it. I didn’t want to.

Not tonight.

Not when the soul resonance made being apart from him feel like dying.