Counting Stars at Dawn

31: The Aftermath Of A Broken Bond

Artemis being pregnant was rough, to say the least. The first month and a half, he was practically bed ridden. The king consort's condition improved for a few days, but it crashed down several times.

Artemis was still determined to keep Sapphire running, but Hades set his foot down and sent a message to Sapphire explaining Artemis's absence until further notice. He at least respected Artemis's wish of the elders not being told he was pregnant, but he did say he wouldn't be going in person. If they needed anything urgent, then only letters were allowed.

Artemis hated admitting it, but halfway through the first month he had to realize he couldn't even stay awake long. He felt lethargic, exhausted all the time, not to mention his head and stomach were killing him.

Hades was at his husband's bedside the entire time. He made sure to feed him with his blood, but he started realizing he needed to feed way too often. That was when yet another abnormality in Artemis's pregnancy was discovered.

The doctor, Astrid, and even Dia all confirmed the amount of blood he demanded from Hades was nowhere near normal. Hades had no choice but to feed Artemis, but the doctor hypothesized something.

Vampires can only have children as singles, meaning one baby at a pregnancy. However, there have been rare records of twins being born.

The reason for this is that in the womb, vampire babies receive the life force of the submate. If twins develop, it nearly always happens that the life forces aren't distributed evenly among the two, thus causing either one fetus to be miscarried or the stronger one absorbs the weaker one's energy.

Dr. Bloodfern said Artemis may in fact be pregnant with twins, and it was also possible that both twins were surving equally because of their part elf lineage, given elves were capable of having twins and even triplets in one pregnancy.

On the third month mark, Artemis's ailments finally passed and he was well again. Only his feedings were left. He returned to working in Sapphire, but Hades was still going with him. Not even a few days into the third month, and Hades was suddenly affected by the pregnancy too.

The bond he held with Artemis was amplified on his end, and it made an excessive burst of possessiveness surge in him both to protect Artemis and the baby. His primal instincts knew Artemis was a lot more vulnerable and weaker, so he required more protection against anything. The result of this? Hades had to constantly touch Artemis. It didn't matter how, where, or in what situation. At the very least, he needed to hold his hand, and at the most, he must wrap his arms around him. He basically growled and snapped at everyone who tried going near Artemis.

On the fourth month, Artemis developed cravings and heavy mood swings. Both Hades and Artemis became messes, one a possessive mess and the other a moody, hungry disaster.

Ever since the third month, the kingdom of Lamia was notified their king consort was expecting an heir to the throne. They rejoiced and made preparations for a celebration in honor of the birth of a prince or princess.

The elders of Sapphire hadn't been told by Artemis that he was pregnant, but from that month on it would be pretty hard to hide it as he now had a visible bump in his abdomen. He tried to delay the moment as much as he could, but eventually he confessed to the elders and Sapphire that he was pregnant with the child of the vampire king.

The elders reacted with hidden disgust, and reluctant acceptance of the heir's lineage. The rest of the kingdom had a varied reaction. About forty percent of the population still disagreed with the idea of being allies with Lamia, but the other fifty nine percent approved. Only one percent of the kingdom had no opinion in the matter.