All Chapters of CARRYING THE BEAST'S CHILD : Chapter 11 - Chapter 19

*Gwenriel*The ceremony itself had been small, exactly as Brythil promised. A handful of witnesses gathered in the eastern courtyard. Vows were spoken quickly under the pale sky. But the celebration that followed was not small at all."The king insisted," Brythil said, adjusting the collar of his coat as we stood outside the doors to the great hall. "Small ceremony, large reception. His compromise, apparently.""You could have refused.""I tried." His mouth curved, though the tension hadn't left his shoulders. "He reminded me that a prince marrying a servant girl already gives the nobility enough to whisper about. Denying them a party would only make it worse."I glanced toward the enormous doors. Even from where we stood, I could hear music spilling through them.I smoothed a hand down the front of my gown. Pale gold this time, chosen deliberately for daylight and for a room full of windows instead of candlelight.A hall full of nobles, wine, and a prince whose control frayed once th

*Gwenriel*Brythil didn't wait for the music to finish or for the guests to notice we had gone.His hand closed around mine, and within moments, we were moving quickly through a side corridor, away from the noise. The guard was half a step behind us."Say it again," Brythil said once the heavy doors had shut behind us and the corridor had gone quiet. "All of it.""Four riders," the guard replied. "No house colors, no banners—nothing that marks them. They rode in behind her carriage and stopped at the edge of the eastern road instead of coming through the gates. My man watched them the entire time she was inside. The moment the doors closed behind her, they moved south.""South," Brythil repeated, something tightening behind his eyes. "Toward the old temple.""That's my guess too."I looked between them. "What's at the old temple?"Brythil hesitated slightly before he answered. "It's where the curse was

Gwenriel I read it twice before I trusted myself to look up. Brythil hadn't moved, watching my face with the careful stillness of a man bracing for something."What terms," I said quietly, "has he not told me?""Gwenriel—""She's very specific, Brythil. She wouldn't write something like this unless she thought it would actually unsettle me."My hands had gone cold around the parchment. "So either she's lying to plant doubt where there isn't any reason for it, or she isn't."He was quiet for a long moment, and in that silence, I felt something shift beneath the warmth of the evening we'd just been sharing.The fire, his hand on my stomach, the fragile, ordinary peace of it all suddenly fraying at the edges."There's a second condition," he said finally, his voice low. "To the curse breaking. One I didn't tell you because I hoped it would never matter."My stomach turned, and this time it had nothing to do with the pregnancy."Tell me now," I said.Brythil didn't sit back down. He stoo

Gwenriel I reached for the letter without thinking, some instinct in me needing to see the words for myself rather than wait for him to decide what I was allowed to know.Brythil folded it before my fingers could reach it, tucking it away inside his coat in one smooth motion. "It's late," he said. "You need to rest."He turned to one of his men. "Give me news about Kael."Curiosity taking over, I asked, "Is it bad?""Don't be stubborn." He took my hand, firm but gentle, and started walking before I'd fully agreed to follow. We reached my chambers in a handful of quick strides, and he pulled the door shut behind us with a soft, final click.I frowned and pulled my hand free of his. "Keeping secrets now, are we?"He didn't reply. Instead, before I could protest further, he bent and scooped me clean off the floor, one arm beneath my knees and the other steady behind my back, carrying me the short distance to the bed as though I weighed nothing at all.He climbed up after me and settled