The Edge (Book 5 of The Claiming Series)

Chapter One

When we approach

the edge of the sun,

we step off into the fire

of the star.

***

My vision is starting to go blurry earlier than I expect this time. The flashes of the cameras add pulses to my headache, but I push on, standing at the podium in the Great Hall while the media and members of the court bear witness to the train wreck that is my weekly announcement to the kingdom.

"I have cut back search and rescue groups to two at a time so that we can limit the number of people away from their families at this time. There have been no new sightings of Bayfell troops at this time."

At my pause, hands shoot up in the air while others blurt out questions in an uproar. I grip the sides of the podium and take a deep, trembling breath. I squeeze my eyes shut as a wave of nausea washes over me, and my stomach cramps up.

I feel a touch on my back. "My queen, you look ill. Are you ready to end the session?"

I glance over my shoulder at Oliver, my lead attendant, and personal guard. His usual calm, serious face is tensed up in concern over me.

"Yeah." I turn my face back towards the microphone attached to the podium. "That's all for this week. Thank you."

Questions continue to pour in as I step off the platform—"How are you faring without your husband here?"

                              "Will you remarry if he does not return?"

        "Any statement on the recent assassination attempts?"

                                                                   "What about the bombing at the Tower?"

                                           "Are you pregnant with his child, or someone else's?"

The last one stops me, and I freeze on my way to the double doors of the Great Hall, Oliver escorting me by his arm in an attempt to keep me upright.

"Ignore it, my queen," Oliver says. "Your mother-in-law already advised against responding to any queries about your pregnancy."

"I know," I say, making my feet move again.

The voices of the media members would be overwhelming if it weren't for Oliver literally holding me together. I see Charlie, Eris, and Ruth out of the corner of my eye fleeing towards the doors from their seats in the back of the Hall to meet me. The rest of the attendees in the Great Hall start their usual chatter as they pack up to leave.

Outside in the entryway, Oliver looks to me for further instruction. "Um, the west wing parlor," I say. "I need quiet."

"Of course," he says.

My three friends, who've escaped the madness of the Great Hall, follow us up the curved staircase, down the left corridor, towards one of the smaller parlors nestled between some of the bedrooms. Oliver helps me sit down on one of the two loveseats. "Do you need anything else?"

I shake my head. "No, I'm fine."

Ruth sits down across from me, folding her arms over her chest. She tilts her head to Oliver. "Get her some water and something to eat. Whatever the chefs have available right now."

Oliver nods and exits the room in his quiet and stoic manner.

I lean against the arm of the loveseat, bending my arm in to act as a pillow for my head. "I'm not even hungry."

Ruth narrows her eyes at me. "The human you're growing begs to differ. It's three o'clock. You haven't eaten since seven this morning. Don't pull this crap with me. Seriously."

"Sorry," I say. I squeeze my eyes shut.

Eris sits down beside me. "You did good today. I think people are really starting to hold high regard for you."

"After the sixth assassination attempt last Wednesday, I'm having a hard time believing you," I say. "Whichever court members thought me being pregnant would give me immunity were total dimwits."

Charlie stands near the fireplace examining some of the framed photographs set up on the mantel of Eli's side of the family. "It's because they have a hard time believing that you're pregnant with Eli's child. And besides, you're barely showing."

I grab the crimson red quilt draped over the back of the loveseat and wrap it around myself to hide my stomach.

Eris glares at Charlie. "Way to be blunt."

He shrugs. "Mave asked us to be her attendants while Eli is gone. This is me attending. I'm going to be as honest with her as I always have."

She rolls her eyes, and then she touches my arm. "Ignore him. I think things are slowly getting better. You're doing all that you can, the best that you can, for the people, and I've noticed more and more people are accepting you."

"I have noticed that a little," I say. "But trying to keep myself and this baby alive is the hardest thing I didn't think I'd ever have to do without Eli here."

Ruth starts to laugh, startling Eris and me. "Can you imagine Eli's reaction if we could tell him all the crap that's happened since he and the others left for battle?"

For a second, I picture Eli's hazel eyes erupting into a raging burn as he swears to hunt down every last group and person who threatened the lives of us.

My stomach does a flip, remembering that Eli doesn't know about the baby. His baby.

During the single week that we were married and together, I got pregnant. All because of that stupid birth control stunt pulled by a couple members of the court.

I took them off probation after a while. They'd been doing their jobs as usual ever since then. And... I realized that this baby is all I have left of Eli right now, and I'm more than willing to embrace the circumstance.

"Mave," Eris says in a whisper. "You're tearing up again."

"Huh?" Oh, she's right. I rub my damp cheeks with the palm of my hand.

My lips start to tremble, and I hide my face in the soft quilt. I cry at random nowadays, and it's so frequent that I don't even register it anymore. I feel Eris's gentle hand start to rub small circles on my back. "He'll return," she says.

"How can you be so sure?" I say, my voice straining in my throat.

"I think there's power in staying positive," she says.

I sit up, rubbing my eyes. "He said he'd be gone for a week. How does one week turn into three months?"

A/N: I know it's a pretty short first chapter, but it felt fitting :) 

How's that quarantine going, friends?