Being the intended mate of a royal is the duty of a lifetime.
To Princess Peregrine duty is everything. From the day she was born she was groomed to save her realm from extinction. With a lineage like hers, she was destined for one thing and that is...
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I had told Peregrine that I would let her roam the woods alone after the celebrations had stopped. I had also lied. She had to know there was no actual way I was going to let her go anywhere by herself now. She is carrying our young, the hope of our realm inside of her womb.
I followed behind her and watched her curiously. Her behavior was not typical of our kind. She aimlessly wandered, feeling a bit of the brush here and there, even taking off her shoes at one point. I had picked them up as I continued to follow her.
Everything about her reminded me of a creature of the Land Realm in those moments she thought she was alone. She should have wanted to soar up in the sky, be among the clouds, but she seemed perfectly content walking on the forest floor.
When she had reached the creek I had watched her thoughtfully as I leaned against a tree. Just as I was about to make my presence known to her, tell her how lovely she looked, another voice had made itself known.
I had stood there watching their interaction, clutching her shoes in my hands so tightly I had snapped one of the heels off. When she had kneeled down with him and he had stated that he smelled himself on her I felt my stomach drop to my feet. When she had backed away and he clung to her stomach with wide mystified eyes it was all I had been able to take.
After I had said the words that made both of them still instantly he shakes his head. "You cannot deny me what is mine and if she is carrying my young—"
"That is enough!" I cut him off as I go to stand alongside Peregrine. "Are you alright?" I ask her, worrying his statement had flustered her in her fragile state.
"I would never hurt her." I glare at him. "Nor would I let anyone hurt her, for that matter."
"You would never hurt her?" I mock him. "Here you are lying to her to be closer to her, to confuse her. What is wrong with you?"
"What is wrong with me? Me?" He barks out a curt laugh. "The woman I love, who is carrying my child, is standing in your arms. That is what is wrong with me."
"She is not carrying your young. Those are my children inside of her I can feel it. I knew the moment she was pregnant."
"How would you know such a thing? You cannot say that you know such a thing since you have never impregnated a female before." I feel my jaw tense and click, wanting nothing more than to punch him in his smug face. "By the realms, you have impregnated a female before."
Peregrine pulls away from me and looks up at me in confusion. "Do you have a child?"
"No I do not." I answer honestly.
Timber chimes in arrogantly. "But you have—"
"My personal experiences are not up for discussion right now nor are they any of your business. You will do well to remember that." Timber's eyes flicker to Pere, sparkling infinitesimally. "You will also do well to stop staring at my wife like that."
