Page 48 of Wingless Crow: Part 1

She winced. Maybe at my lack of enthusiasm? I didn’t really care. Learning that the man I needed to charm was already married was hard enough to swallow.

No one said she was his wife, though. Hope rose in me. What if she was his mother? Fae didn’t age. She could be his grandma even, for all I knew.

“I’m Queen Pavline,” she said, annunciating every syllable of her name and title with obvious pride. “Wife and Queen Consort of King Tiane, the ruling monarch of Sky Kingdom.”

With my hopes crushed, I mumbled, “Nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to have you in Elaros, Sparrow.” To my surprise, there was no spite or sarcasm in her voice. She appeared genuinely glad to have me here. “The king likes you, which is enough for me like you too.”

She came closer and lifted my chin with her fingers. “Be sweet and cheerful for him, Sparrow. The entire kingdom wins when our king is in a good mood. Before his birth, a prophecy predicted the arrival of the greatest king of all. King Tiane was born with a crown on his head. He was meant to rule. But the prophecy says he will reach his greatest potential when he is fulfilled.” She gripped my arms. “Please him in every way you can, my dear, make him happy. Give him anything he desires. Fulfill his every wish. And above all, bear him a child.”

“What?” I choked on the word.

She let go of me, standing taller to emphasize the importance of her words.

“Every monarch needs an heir to pass on his legacy. Only then, the king can be fulfilled.”

“Are you sure? There are many other ways of fulfillment, other than procreation,” I suggested tentatively.

She shook her head. “He’s tried them all. It’s become my life’s mission to ensure his happiness. Yet…” She wrung her hands.

In a way, I felt sorry for her. She looked genuinely crestfallen.

“Well, the king seems happy enough. Maybe he’s ‘fulfilled’ already?”

She made a face, shaking her head at my incompetence. “True happiness is deeper than a smile, Sparrow. The sun can only shine when the king is happy, and our kingdom hasn’t seen sunlight in decades.”

“And you think a baby would help that?” I couldn’t keep the doubt out of my voice.

“An heir is the only thing the king doesn’t have.”

“Why not?”

And why me? This all was just too much.

Now, I was supposed to have a baby? With a man I’d only just met? Amarriedman?

I could barely breathe, not even attempting to organize my thoughts into any kind of logic.

The queen must have noticed I was about to pass out and took a step back, giving me space. She circled the room slowly.

“I come from a family of three children,” she said. “Three! For fae, to have this many offspring is unheard of. Children are rare among our kind, but they have been more common in my bloodline. Our women are highly sought after because of that. I was betrothed to the king still in my teens. We’ve been married for a hundred and fifty years now, and the king still has no heir.”

“And I’m supposed to fix that?”

She drew in a shaky breath. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one under pressure here.

“Humans are more fertile than fae,” the queen said. “Give Sky Kingdom its next monarch, and your place in Elaros will be secured for life.”

“What happens if I can’t? Fertility can be a fickle thing, even for humans.”

For all I knew, I could even have an IUD in my uterus. I doubted they had an ob-gyn around here who could check for things like that.

She jerked her head nervously, raising her hand as if to stop all doubt.

“I’ll arrange for the royal hag to see you. She’ll make sure you’re ready to receive the king’s seed.”

Her words left a foul taste in my mouth. “Do you really want me to have sex with your husband?”

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