POV Kali
Something was very wrong with my pregnancy, and I could no longer pretend otherwise.
"The energy changes are getting stronger," Healer Morwyn said as she checked my belly. Her old hands moved carefully over my rounded stomach. "But I've discovered something important about why you're the first woman to carry the King's child."
Zion sat in the chair next to me, but I noticed how tired he looked these days. He moved slowly, like he was saving his strength for something important.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"The royal bloodline has a curse that runs deeper than we knew," Morwyn explained. She opened several old books on the table. "Every royal baby needs special care while growing. They can only get strong enough to break the curse by taking life energy from both parents. But this only works if the parents have a true mate bond."
My heart sank as I understood what she was saying. "That's why the other women never got pregnant."
"Yes. They couldn't make the right connection to feed a royal baby. But you two..." She pointed between us. "Your bond lets you share energy. The baby takes what it needs from both of you, but it needs more each month."
I thought about the times when touching Zion made me feel stronger. How I'd been taking his energy without knowing it during our most private moments. "I've been stealing his strength."
"Not stealing," Zion said firmly, taking my hand. When our skin touched, I felt that warm flow of energy. "Sharing. This is what our bond was made for."
But now I could see what it was costing him. His hands shook a little. He moved more carefully. There were new lines around his eyes. My healthy pregnancy was slowly draining the man I loved.
"How much worse will it get?" I asked, scared of the answer.
"The old books say the baby will need more and more," Morwyn said gently. "By the end, the child may need almost constant energy sharing. Your body will start showing signs of carrying something supernatural."
As if the baby heard her words, it kicked hard inside me. For the first time, the kick hurt. I gasped and pressed my hand where a sharp pain spread along my ribs.
"That's new," I said, breathing hard.
Morwyn looked worried. "I'll need to visit more often now. And I'll make stronger medicines to help with what's coming."
After she left, promising to come back in a few days, Zion and I sat quietly. Our wonderful pregnancy had become something scary and dangerous.
"I won't let you die for this," I said.
"And I won't let our child suffer because I'm too selfish to give what's needed," he replied. But I could smell his fear. He was starting to understand the terrible choice we faced.
Later that day, I went to eat with the other women. I walked carefully because my body felt different now that I knew what was happening inside it. The women noticed right away.
"You look... different today," Lady Elena said with worry as I sat down. "Tired."
"The pregnancy is going well," I said. I wasn't ready to tell them the truth about what Morwyn had found.
But Lady Vivienne's sharp eyes saw everything. "Going well, yes. Though one wonders how... demanding such a process must be." Her voice had a knowing sound that made me scared.
Had she learned about the energy sharing? About Zion getting weaker?
"Pregnancy is always hard work," Lady Serena said quickly, giving Vivienne a warning look. "Especially when the baby is so important."
"Of course," Vivienne agreed with a fake sweet voice. "Though some demands cost more than others."
I spent the rest of the meal wondering what Vivienne knew and how she'd learned it. Her pointed words felt like threats, like she was testing what I knew about dangerous truths.
That night, as Zion helped me get ready for bed, I saw how his hands shook when he brushed my hair. The simple task that used to energize him now took real effort.
"We need to ask Morwyn about other ways," I said quietly.
"There might not be any," he said, but I could see desperate hope in his silver eyes. "But we'll ask. For now, our child needs what it needs."
As we lay in bed together, I felt the familiar pull of energy flowing between us. But now I knew exactly what it was costing him. Each night, he gave me more of his life, and each morning, I woke up stronger while he grew weaker.
The baby kicked again, hard enough to make me wince. I wondered if somehow it understood the price being paid for its life. Was it trying to be born quickly to end our suffering? Or was it just getting stronger, preparing for a world that would ask everything of it?
By now, I was six months pregnant, and the supernatural demands were only getting worse.
"I love you," I whispered in the dark.
"And I love you," Zion said back, his voice already heavy with the tiredness that came after our nightly energy sharing. "Both of you. No matter what it costs."
But as I fell asleep filled with borrowed strength, I couldn't stop being afraid that love might not be enough to save us from the choice that was coming closer every day.