Chapter 4: The King's Return

Davian's POV

"Alpha, welcome home."

I barely acknowledged the guards bowing at the gate. Three weeks of council meetings, border disputes and diplomats who couldn't say a direct sentence if their lives depended on it had left with a permanent headache.

"Where's Natalia?" I asked, handing my cloak to the servant beside.

"The Luna is in the west hall, my king." The sevant replied.

Of course she was. Natalia was always exactly where protocol expected her to be. I found her there, seated by the window with a book she wasn't really reading, judging by the way she looked up the instant my boots hit the floor.

"Davian," She rose, crossed the room and pressed a brief kiss to my cheek. "You look exhausted."

"Well that's politics," She said flatly. "Well I have better news."

Something in her tone made me go still. "What is it?"

"The program was successful," She folded her hands in her lap, watching my face carefully. "Candidate twenty-seven has been confirmed pregnant. She has already been moved to the estate."

"Good," I said flatly. "That's good."

"You do sound very pleased," She said m

"I'm pleased that the Council will finally stop breathing down my neck about an heir," I rubbed a hand across my jaw. "That's how far I can go, Natalia. You know that."

"Yes, I do know that." She said quietly. "But you should still be aware of the situation, since Dorian isn't going to make this easy."

My jaw tightened at the name. "What has he done now?"

"Nothing yet, but he's not quietly gathering support on the Council again, which an heir on the way removes most of his leverage." She met my eyes. "Which is exactly why we agreed to this, Davian. You know without an heir, it's only a matter of time before he finds a way to challenge you outrightly."

"I know why we agreed to it," My voice came out sharper than I meant it to. "I don't need the reminder."

Natalia reminded calm, she didn't shake. "I know you don't like this arrangement."

"I don't like any of it," I stood and paced toward the window. "Another woman, carrying my child because it's politically necessary. Because the Council needs proof I'm not going to let the bloodline die with me out of grief for a wife I..."

I stopped myself before I said the rest of it. Natalia's expression didn't change, but something in the room went quieter, the way it always did when I got too close to the subject.

"I'm tired Natalia," I let out a long breath and dragged a hand down my face. "I want to eat something, sleep and deal with the rest of this in the morning."

"You don't have the luxury of doing this in the morning," she said.

I looked at her. "Meaning?"

"It means Dr Alyssa has already sent word twice today asking when you'd see the surrogate," She said calmly. "You know the royal traditions requires the father to formally acknowledge a confirmed pregnancy in person, before witness, within the first week. Yo sat through the same briefing I did when we first talked about the arrangement."

"I do remember the briefing," I said flatly. "I also remember telling Alyssa I wanted no part of any of this beyond signing whatever paper to make it official."

"It doesn't work that way, and you know it doesn't." Her voice stayed calm. "If Dorian gets even a hint that you refuse to acknowledge the pregnancy properly, he'll use it. He'll begin asking why the King wouldn't follow the traditions, and suddenly it wouldn't be about an heir anymore, it's about whether you even want one."

"Well, let him ask." I said sharply.

"Davian, that's not-"

"I said let him ask, Natalia." My voice rose slightly. "I'm not in the mood to be managed tonight."

She went quiet for a few seconds, before she spoke.

"Fine," she said quietly. "I'll tell Alyssa you're unavailable."

She back toward her chair and picked up her book. The door opened before she'd even sat down fully.

"Forgive me, if am interrupting, my King, my Luna." Dr. Alyssa stood in the doorway, still dressed in her medical clothes at this hour. "I wanted to let you know that the surrogate has already settled into her quarters and is available to meet whenever suits you. Tonight, if you would prefer to have it over and done with."

"I already told Natalia, I'm not seeing her." I said. "Not tonight, and frankly I'm not in a rush to do it tomorrow either."

"My King, I understand that the time isn't ideal." Alyssa said slowly. "But I'd be failing my duty if I didn't tell you plainly, this isn't a matter you have a say in. You have to acknowledge her in person within this week, and every day it doesn't happen is a say Lord Dorian has to ask why."

"You sound like Natalia." I shook my head slightly.

"It's probably because we're both right," her voice came out flat. "It doesn't need to be complicated. All you have to do is have a brief introduction, a signature before witnesses, and you are free to have as little or as much further contact with her as you choose, but it does need to happen, and it needs to happen soon."

I looked between the two of them, Natalia was silent now, letting Alyssa make the argument she had already made herself and lost. Neither of them was going to let this go, I could feel it settling over me the way Council sessions always did, the slow, grinding realization that I had already lost the argument the moment it started. 

The thought of standing in room with a stranger who was carrying my child made my jaw tight, but my opinions had stopped being important somewhere around the time I had agreed to any of this in the first place. I rubbed my temple, the headache from the three weeks of diplomacy harder now, and I exhaled.

"Okay," I said flatly. "Tomorrow, I'll meet the surrogate."