Page 51 of Alpha's Impostor Bride

“A maid?”

“A girl who once served you,” Harriet says. “She’s the one who let me out and who informed Rothan about what was happening down here. She was determined to help us. Now, go. Hurry.”

Rothan picks me up in his arms, but Harriet stops him. “Wait. One minute.”

She grabs my cheeks and presses a loving kiss against my forehead. When she looks at me, her eyes are red. “You will be fine. You will be absolutely fine.”

I know I am never going to see her again, and I squeeze her hand with every bit of energy I can muster. “Thank you for being a mother to me, Harriet. I never had one before.”

Tears slide down her cheeks, and Rothan carries me out of the cell. He covers my face with the cloak, so I don’t see where we’re going. But he’s moving very fast.

I’m feeling weak, but there’s nothing I can do. I can only hope for a painless death.

When Rothan finally comes to a stop, he removes the cloak and helps me stand on my feet.

There is a young, redheaded girl standing a few feet from me, and her eyes fill with relief. “Your Majesty! You got here just in time. Mr. Rothan, can you go keep an eye out while I carve the pentagram?”

Rothan nods and hurries away. Freya doesn’t begin carving any pentagram, though. Instead, she takes my hands and begins to chant. I feel the energy return to me, and the exhaustion fades away. When I smile at her, there is a strange expression on her face. She’s looking down at my stomach.

“You must live, Your Majesty. No matter what happens or what you believe, you have to live. There is something you must protect now.”

“Protect?” My eyes follow her gaze to my stomach, and her meaning could not be clearer. My heart skips a beat. “You’re wrong.”

She shakes her head, her countenance grave. “I can sense it. I am never wrong, not about something like this. Here, bring this with you.” She takes my hand and ties a small bracelet around my wrist. “It’s a precaution I created for you. If you think you are in danger, head to the Veil. This will guide you to an opening there. You will have to protect yourself, but it will get you to the Veil. I can guarantee you that much.”

She picks up a stick from the ground and begins carving in the dirt. I clutch my stomach, trying to process what she has just told me. I can’t be with child. I know I can’t because a female shifter can only conceive on the full moon. Therefore, it is simply not possible. She has to be mistaken. But when I first met Freya, she was working as a midwife’s assistant in the village. She told me herself that she uses her magic to detect whether a woman is pregnant or not.

Is it a miracle? If what Freya says is true, then I can’t—I can’t die. If I’m carrying a baby, I’m not going to let Bella or even Cedric kill it. Their reputations don’t matter to me. Their hatred for me doesn’t matter at all.

Amid the darkness and agony inside me, a seed of hope is planted, and it begins to bloom. And that is followed by a fierce desire to live.

“It’s ready!” Freya calls out, and Rothan runs back to us.

Taking me by the hand, he enters the pentagram, and Freya begins to chant. I close my eyes, and when I open then, I’m no longer standing within the castle grounds.

“Where are we?” I ask slowly, looking around. There’s nothing but land for miles.

“We’re near the border. If we travel for half a day, we’ll see the edge of the Misty Forest.”

The Misty Forest. I’ve heard of it. In fact, I heard Cedric talking about it. A part of the Veil is there.

“Should we shift?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “If we shift, our magical energy will draw the monsters to us. We’ll have to walk from here.”

I feel relieved by this. I need time to think about my next move.

I’m much slower in my human form, and I can sense Rothan’s anxiety, but he doesn’t push me. We walk for several hours before I need a break. He has some food with him that he gives me.

“You seem convinced that Cedric ordered my execution,” I say to him. “How do you know that for a fact?”

He doesn’t meet my gaze as he chews on some dried meat. “I saw the letter with his seal on it.”

The taste of the meat in my mouth turns to ash. Rothan has no reason to lie to me. And if he’s bringing me to Cedric—

“You don’t think he will let me live, do you?”

Rothan is silent for a few moments. “I don’t know what the king will decide. There is a chance he will send you somewhere. None of what happened was your fault. He knows that.”

---