Page 4 of The Emerald Dragon Prince
My father was definitely going to kill me. The moment he found out that an unknown alpha had mated with me, bonded with me, and impregnated me, he would have both of us executed.
Instead of being as upset as I was, Emmerich drew in a steadying breath. “Do you trust me?” he asked, looking straight into my eyes.
I didn’t have much choice, and yet, I did. “I do,” I said, nodding.
Emmerich smiled. He then reached out one of his large hands and placed it over my belly.
A rush of something warm and tingly passed through me. It could only be magic, and it was beautiful. It seemed to travel to every part of me, every cell in my body, including the ones forming into something in my womb.
“There,” Emmerich said at last, pulling his hand away and looking suddenly exhausted.
“There what?” I asked.
Emmerich sent me a mischievous grin. “I’ve paused you.”
“You’ve what?”
He laughed and stood, then pulled me to my feet aswell. Without any special gesture or warning, we were both suddenly clothed again.
“I’ve suspended every cell in your body, including the egg growing within you,” he explained.
I blinked rapidly. “What does that mean?”
“It means that you are preserved in the state you are currently in,” he said. “The egg will not grow any more than it already has and your body will not change or age either.”
I gaped at him. “Forever?”
“No,” he said, pulling me into his arms for a reassuring hug. I definitely needed the reassurance. “Until the spell is broken,” he explained. “Until I make it otherwise. It’s the best way for us to proceed.”
“Proceed with what?” I asked, feeling weary and overwhelmed with everything.
“With the overthrow of your father,” he said.
He suddenly had my full attention. I stepped back so I could look into his eyes. “You’re planning on overthrowing my father?” The idea was wonderful, especially if Emmerich intended to take my father’s place.
“It has been known for some time that King Freslik must be deposed and a worthier ruler put in his place,” Emmerich said.
“Who knows this?” I asked. “How will it happen? What can I do to help?”
Emmerich laughed. “The time has not yet come to reveal how it will happen and who will be the new king, but it is coming. The best you can do to help is to return to your brothers and your castle and to wait for me to give you what you need to play your part. Can you do that for me?”
“I can do anything for you,” I said, meaning it genuinely, as strange as it felt to say that. “Just tell me what to do.”
“For now,” Emmerich said, leaning closer to me and kissing my lips gently, “I need you to go back to your brothers and pretend that none of this happened. I cannot tell you why yet, but you must keep this encounter and the grander plan a secret from them. They each have their own stories to play out, and too much information might interfere with those stories.”
“And…and this…egg inside me?” I asked, placing a hand over my belly, anxious for the baby I knew was waiting there.
Emmerich smiled and placed his hand over mine. “When the time comes, I will release you from the spell that has you paused and we will continue on together in the life that is fated for us.”
I smiled. “I like the sound of that.”
“So do I,” he said, then leaned in to kiss me again. “Now go,” he said, stepping back from me. “It is time we put this tale in motion.”
I couldn’t help but rush back into his arms to kiss Emmerich one last time. All I wanted was to be with him. I could feel him shrink the bond between us, which I was reluctantly grateful for. The little I knew about bonds was that it was painful for an alpha and omega to be separated once they were bonded, but I felt like this way, we could each do what we needed to do.
I still hated leaving him to return to my brothers, though. I knew I would see him again, but I was already looking forward to the time when we wouldn’t have to be parted and when my father was no longer lord and master over my life or the lives of any of the good people of his kingdom. For the first time in my life, I felt as though good might win.
Chapter
