Page 19 of Redeeming the Angel

The adventures stopped for the final month.Kerainne refused to leave the palace, instead pacing the hallway near her mother’s chambers, waiting to hear a request for something or for news of anything wrong.

I quickly learned not to suggest any activities that would take us too far away from the royal apartments.Sometimes Queen Natalya entertained us both.We had small feasts in her relaxation room, odd combinations of dishes that suited whatever strange craving she had at the time.Kerainne doted on her mother during those times and felt Natalya’s growing belly when the baby kicked.One time I was permitted to feel the baby move.The sensation was strange, awe-inspiring, and humbling all at once.Since Luminite pregnancies were rare and usually spaced several centuries apart, not everyone got to interact with an infant, much less one still in the womb.For a moment, I imagined what it would be like to feel my child moving in Kerainne’s belly and my throat tightened with an enormity of emotion.

On days that the queen wanted to be alone or with her consort, I distracted Kerainne with activities that could keep her near.I asked her to teach me how to speak human, which made her laugh because apparently those short-lived creatures spoke thousands of languages and dialects.

“But I could teach you how to speak Leprechaun.”She offered with an irresistible smile.“At least the current dialect.Theirs changes over the years, but not as quickly as the human tongues.”

For the next three months, Kerainne’s nervousness was eased and I learned how to communicate with leprechauns.At first, I’d only been humoring her, keeping her distracted from her worries and never intending to actually meet any of those strange creatures, who were in the process of migrating from a small island on Earth to an even smaller island on Aisthanesthai, but as I learned more about their carefree ways and love of bartering, I decided that after the queen’s baby was born, I’d ask Kerainne to take me to Verdan to meet the leprechauns.

We were role-playing a leprechaun barter session when Kerainne bolted out of her seat.“It’s time.”

Just then, a muffled shriek rang out from Queen Natalya’s bedchamber.

“I must go to her!”Kerainne cried, wringing her hands.“Find my father or a servant and tell them to send the healers.”

The moment Kerainne went to her mother, Kiernan teleported into the hall and grasped my shoulders, “Summon the—”

“Healers,” I finished.“I will.”

The next few hours were misery.I wasn’t invited into the room, but I swore I could feel Kerainne’s anxiety.A luminite may be incapable of fear, but we are still capable of extreme emotional discomfort.I couldn’t stand her suffering.

After I’d practically worn a path in the carpet, Kerainne emerged from the room, tears streaming from her eyes.“They banished me from the room!”

I took her into my arms.“Everything will be fine.You’ll meet your new sibling soon enough.”

“But what if something goes wrong?”she wailed.Her eyes were a deep emerald, beads of moisture glinting like diamonds.

I kissed the tears away, tasting salt on my lips as I spoke as gently as possible.“Did the healers say or do anything to imply that something is wrong?”

Kerainne shook her head.“I don’t know.I didn’t study enough on luminite births and have never seen one before.”

“Most of us haven’t,” I reminded her, lightly stroking her back to calm her shivers.

She sighed and relaxed deeper in my arms.

For what felt like both an eternity and only mere moments we remained locked together, her cheek against my chest, my chin resting on the top of her golden head.Our heartbeats synched up, and a tranquil flow of magic swirled around us.

A true-bond, I thought again.Maybe she felt it too.

Then the door opened and King Consort Kiernan came out.“The Queen says you both may come in.”

My breath froze in my lungs and my heart slammed against my ribs.I was invited to be in the presence of a luminite birth?A royal one?With people I hoped would become my family?I nodded dimly as Kerainne seized my hand and pulled me into the chamber.I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t a great pulsing of magic in the air, distracting in its intensity.

The healers stepped aside for Kerainne and me, except for the one blocking Queen Natalya’s bared lower body from view.We joined her at her bedside, and Kerainne reached out her free hand to her mother, but didn’t let go of me.

Kiernan lay on the bed beside his mate, wiping her sweating brow with a cloth and took her free hand.

Natalya’s copper eyes met her daughter’s.“I’m almost finished now.Be calm, daughter, and sing.”

Kerainne took a deep breath, then her voice rang out like a crystal bell, singing a song about peaceful walks through the forest and nights on grassy hills under the stars.I’d never heard her sing like that before and I confess I was so captivated that I missed what happened with the rest of the birthing.

Suddenly, Kerainne stopped and a loud, but small cry pierced the hushed room.

“Tis a female!”one of the healers cried out in jubilance.Only then did I see that this healer was a human.

The other healer, a luminite, bundled the crying, red-faced infant and gently laid her on Natalya’s breast.One healer gave the queen a restorative and anesthetic potion, while another gently washed the queen’s lower body.The human healer took away a bloody mass of flesh that I couldn’t identify.I looked away, too embarrassed to ask, and turned my attention back to the baby.

I don’t know what I’d expected a newborn luminite to look like, but it wasn’t this almost-human creature with a head covered in metallic copper and bronze fuzz, bunched up, angry fists, and wildly kicking feet.Then I felt it, a pulse of magic I felt in all members of our species.It was surprisingly strong.

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