Page 35 of Within the Veil

Hunter huffs out a laugh, pulling a pillow over his head, "no promises."

"What time is it, anyway? I need my kingly sleep. I cannot operate on a night of restless sleep and run a secret society of whisperers." Oberon sits up and sighs dramatically, pulling his bedazzled sleep mask off his face.

"But you have time to put jewels on your mask, figures," Ryder grumbles.

Grayson growls, "you all need to go back to bed, it's only 3 am."

I pout, "but I am hungry now. The babies demand food."

"Hudson, can't you wait another few hours?" Zane asks sleepily.

My belly starts to glow and the room brightens and they all sit up slowly and stare, shock on their faces. Shuffling closer as their jaws hang open. I hold back a laugh as Grayson, Oberon, Hunter and Remi appear like extras in a zombie movie. Remi mentally rolls her eyes at the thought.

"What in the glowworm in James and The Giant Peach is going on here?" Ryder says, fully awake now as he reaches tentatively to put his hand on my stomach.

I burst out laughing and shake my head.

Covering his hands with my own, I smile softly. "This happened when I woke up last week; the babies seem to respond to me, well us, by glowing. Last week, it was when I put my hands on my belly to let them know I was going to try to be a good mommy to them..." I clear my throat, my voice drifting off.

"Oh, babe. You will be the best mom, because you already want to be," Remi, crawls in between my legs reaching her hands to touch my belly, while everyone else finds a way to rest their hand on me as well. Well, the bright side here was, they had plenty of space.

As they all finally settle, my belly glows brighter and warms slightly as the babies shift inside of me. Still such a weird sensation.

"Wow, does it hurt?" Grayson asks, voice low.

"I should hope not. Little winged ones, you are not allowed to hurt the Queen," Oberon says sternly, although the way his eyes were slightly watering, it doesn't have the desired impact.

I chuckle, "no, but I do think they are hungry. So am I, and we want pizza."

Zane ignores me and looks around, " I don't think I've ever heard of a fae woman having a glowing belly. Anyone else?"

They all shake their head, and I clear my throat, "Still hungry here? Can we discuss this while we eat?" I ask, hopefully.

I gave them a few seconds to compose themselves. I get it. It's not every day their mate glowed like she took a bath in a nuclear reactor. Truly, if I were anything other than starving at the moment, I would bask in it with them. It was pure magic, a testament to the miracle of our survival.

But..."You guys have about 10 seconds to feed me before I use vines to permanently close my vaginal lips..."

* * *

"I am not takingyour food away, I'm simply telling you to slow down, Hudson. I understand you miss Kalen and if it wasn't for the fact that you love pancakes, I would stop making them altogether. Still, you can miss someonewithoutattempting to choke on your food."

Ignoring his comment about Kalen, I narrow my eyes,oh I'll slow down after I shove my foot up your ass.

"You couldn't shove a pencil into a sharpener if it meant you had to get up, '' he laughs. He slides my food back to me and gives me a kiss on my head with a warning look before turning away.

I could so, I grumble. So what if I got comfortable plotting Faerie world domination in the past few days? Okay, weeks. But I was big as shit, and it's not like I haven't been using my time wisely, focusing on research with King, who had already been surpassing me in a lot of Fae knowledge (thank goodness for our cheat code mind link) and meditation.

Oberon insisted that I spend time sitting outside, with my hands on the earth, learning about the land and letting it heal and teach me. It was all very Avatar, but I admit it was healing me mentally and physically. The plan was to strengthen my connection to the earth so that I would be able to sense all of Tir-Ag-Nog and its inhabitants. It was an incredible feeling, and each time I felt my connection with the land growing with every passing second.

By this point, I have already mentally mapped out the land and location of every Fae, animal, tree, plant, and dew drop in the vicinity as well as within several hundred miles, and with every 'link', I felt my power grow. I felt every facet of nature welcome me, and the knowledge of that acceptance bolstered my confidence that I would be the Queen everyone expected and deserved.

However, despite my growing connections and increase in power, getting up and sitting down on a forest floor was not fun or easy. Goddess-like powers did not seem to be helping my brain catch up to my rapidly growing belly, which meant that my center of balance is always off. I guess some struggles of pregnancy are still universal. It definitely also isn't fun that I have to keep insisting theyalllet me attempt to be self-sufficient. I know that soon, I'll have to be reliant on their help, but right now, I want to do as much as I can alone. I love my independence and reliance makes me chafe.

Connecting to the land is wonderful, research is fun for someone, like me, who loves to learn and apply it to everything. But for someone who needs to fight to get out the overwhelming aggression that comes with stress, not having the same mobility is off-putting. As such, I am a fuck-ton more grumpy than usual, and if I have to be more sedentary to gain the illusion of independence, there will be a cold day in hell before I give that up.

I shove the rest of the food in my mouth before Daddy Grayson attempts to steal it again and waddle my ass to the couch, placed in front of a large window, directly facing the Faerie town; a mini Tír na nÓg, if you will. This has become my happy place as I like to sit here to observe the townspeople as they bustle about. It all serves as a reminder, during my hours of planning and research, that I have a lot to consider when it comes to the duties of my position or rather my title. The duty to protect, guide, and defend.

It goes beyond battle. In movies, you see leaders all running into battle with their people being slaughtered left and right. It makes for a good movie, but it doesn't make for a good reality. How can it? When every time I stepped out of our home and into the village, the Fae would excitedly talk about their day-to-day activities and stories. With everything I learn, from the way they are tending to their new gardens to the way their children can be little troublemakers, I feel more connected to them. But when they follow up our conversations with a fierce determination to take part in our eventual war, I bask in that determination and let it fuel my desire to be the Queen they need me to be.

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