Page 137 of A Pact of Blood

Bastien nods. “It’s a big city, which means plenty of deaths every week through ordinary causes. It shouldn’t be hard to find a body that’s decently close.”

“And after you get her out of the city?” I ask.

Lorenzo twines his fingers with mine.“We’ll leave her in a secluded spot well away from the roads, with some food and a note telling her to head home to Lavira.”

Raul lets out a dark chuckle. “She’d better have enough sense to listen to it. But even if she’s reckless enough to make trouble here on her own, she’ll have no idea how she got out of the city or who helped her. She can dig her own grave if she wants, but she can’t dig ours.”

I don’t think I can ask for more of a guarantee than that.

I ease away from the men to pace across the bedroom, searching my mind for any question I haven’t asked, any concern I should raise before we tumble into this possibly mad scheme. Nothing comes to me except a twinge of queasiness that isn’t all nerves.

My pulse thrums faster. I look over at my three princes, the men who’ve followed me so far into mutiny and are on the verge of following me farther still.

I hadn’t decided if I was going to tell them this last part—if it would cause them that much more heartache tomorrow if I fail. But perhaps what matters more is how the knowledge will serve them if I succeed and the rest of the burden falls on their shoulders.

They’ll have that much more inspiration to guide them, that much more reason to ensure they make it back to me.

I grope for the best way to make the announcement, but most of my words have fled me.

The princes are watching me, Lorenzo knitting his brow.“Are you all right, Rell?”

There’s nothing for it except to simply spit it out. Why should it be a grand proclamation? People get pregnant every day.

As ordinary as my state might be, a smile touches my lips with the anxious but giddying fact of it.

“It worked,” I say softly. “The next part of our bigger plans. There’s an imperial heir on the way.”

The men freeze for a moment before understanding dawns on all their faces. I can’t stop myself from focusing on Bastien.

All four of us conspired to bring this child into being, but it’s his the most literally out of the three.

His eyes have widened. He steps forward as if transfixed, touching my cheek and my shoulder and then lowering his hands to my belly, which won’t hold the curve that reveals the new life inside me for some weeks yet.

When he meets my eyes again, the smile that stretches across his face sends a pang straight through my heart. I answer it, so much bittersweet emotion swelling inside me that I lose my words completely.

I’m going to bring a child into this world. I couldn’t have asked for a more devoted father.

But Bastien may never get to act as a parent to our son or daughter. We can never reveal the truth of this baby’s origins. Everything we’ve worked toward depends on the empire believing the child is my husband’s.

His voice comes out choked. “You’re still—tomorrow?—”

A lump rises in my own throat. “I have to. There’s no point having this child if I’m not in a position to protect them in every possible way.”

Bastien bows his head, seeking out my lips for the sweetest of kisses. With a rasp of feet across the rug, Raul and Lorenzo join us, encircling me in a ring of warmth.

We’re on our way. We have so much to fight for.

By all that’s holy, let us see this perilous plan through.

Raul’s voice has roughened as well. “Youreallyneed your rest so you can stay safe tomorrow, Shepherdess. I should get you back to your room.”

I cling to them for a few more beats of my heart, soaking in their love. Bastien steals one last kiss, as does Lorenzo, soft and lingering. Then I follow Raul to the door.

Once I’ve traveled through the hidden passages back to my apartment, I find I’m not quite ready to turn in for the night after all. A restlessness winds through my limbs. The stutter of my pulse stirs up flickers of images from my dreams: the lambs, the hawk.

At least one godlen has reached out to me. I can do the same in return, for whatever good it might do our cause.

I open my door with my head held high. “I’m visiting the palace temple.”

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