My Liege And I

Pathogen

Chapter 69

Princess Elora

Furia

Elora lovingly rubbed her almost flat belly and pressed a little to see if she would feel anything.

If not for the words she eavesdropped between her mother and Lord Liege, she would never have guessed. Four months passed since her return to Furia, thus she was four months with child.

She struggled to stay awake after her morning training and so had her mother caught her slumbering in the library multiple times.

Lord Liege mentioned she could not breathe well underwater because she was pregnant. Which made much sense as the day she and Yuwen Hong jumped into the waterfall while at the Blacksword Manor, she had stayed underwater for a long time, to her surprise. She thought she would drown underwater, yet she had managed to survive underneath that even Yuwen Hong had panicked with the assumption that she drowned to death. Yet, when Lord Liege had her underwater, she barely lasted a minute.

But again, in these four months, she had bled and isolated herself on two different months as her "auntie had visited". A pregnant woman does not bleed, does she? And what about her never feeling nauseated in the mornings and her belly being almost flat when four months had passed already?

A hollow knock came from her door before the door slowly opened. She did not need to look at it. Her mother's presence was the easiest to feel due to the power she wielded and carried. When she sat in the garden, flowers bent toward her direction as if she was the sun they needed and birds loved to wander about the place she sat on.

The door lightly closed and it was but a few ticks on the clock before the bed dibbed. Her mother leisurely made herself comfortable next to her, also laying her head on the long pillow across the bed.

Silence would stretch for a long time as Elora had no words for her, if the Queen had not said, "My apologies for not sharing with you the news sooner."

Elora was surprised by the apology she did not expect would come easy. "You do not owe me anything. It was my fault that I failed to catch on to the few changes in my body."

Queen Elora observed the dancing flames on the walls with her, a reflection of the candlelight from her table.

"Being with a Dragon child as a Furian is like having a pathogen in your body. It does not want to be discovered. Its purpose is to grow and take everything from you it can get without you knowing. By the time it leaves, it would have exhausted everything of you and you would be nothing but a shell."

Unsurprising that her mother would liken her child to a pathogen. Queen Elora would always be Queen Elora.

"Elora, I would like to celebrate with you but the reality that what you carry may take you away from me stops me. I dare not shield you anymore from the harsh possibilities and reality."

Elora closed her eyes as if that would stop her from hearing.

"No woman who is entirely Furian has carried a dragon child to term. We were not made with such an ability."

"Do not tell me you want me to kill my child as well," her words were muffled with emotion.

"It has never been my choice to make. I shall not take that from you. Much have I already taken unfairly." Queen Elora's frail hand took Elora's. "You are wise enough to not what is best, and what I can only tell you is that, you are more than capable to do what you think is your limit."

That tugged the strings of Elora's heart. Her mother could be unbearable at times, unfair, and not understanding. However, when it came to standing up when needed, she was always there to try her best. Even in times when she failed, she would still stand and try again. She failed as a mother for years, yet in the end, she was but standing.

Queen Elora delicately placed Elora's palm onto her belly. "The journey will be hard till labor, even your life may be lost. However, trust me that I will be here to see you accomplish."

Elora wanted a child quite badly when she first arrived. It would help her go back to Nevoria and be with Yuwen Hong. She was desperate not to be separated from one she considered her love. And imagine how Yuwen Hong would light up at the fact that he was going to father another child.

She caught a sob from escaping her. The Yuwen Hong she used to know, the one who loved her, if he was to know how this would risk her life. He would give up the child for her health and safety, without a doubt. He would be more content with just having her than losing her.

The reality was that her Yuwen Hong was no more. He would probably choose the child over her, now, especially if it was an heir. Would that not benefit his empire, having an heir his ministers were crying for?

Yuwen Hong hated that he could not participate in some activities during war. He always ranted about it, any chance he got to.

His throne was unprotected without an heir, therefore his life was of more importance, and he the risky parts of war was he shielded from. So what did it mean for Furia? Would her child permit him to be more ruthless than he already was for the reason that he would not have anything to lose anymore?

Yuwen Hong did not care for anyone but his people. What if she had the child and he broke into her tiny nation to abduct her child from her? He would break her heart and care not. The glaring fact was they were past the possibility of reconciliation.

Her people suffered under the hands of Nevoria. That was the glaring to be not excused, and as a princess, she could not look away from such atrocity.

"Mother," she turned her head to look at Queen Elora, "I will fight."

"For what, dearest?"

"My happiness, my people, and my child."

S.V