Page 86 of Prince of Tides
“Ahhh!”
The pain felt real enough. I was breathing hard, on the verge of starting to sweat.
“Rip, where the fuck are you and what the fuck is going on?” I shouted, looking around wildly for him.
“He’s not here, my princess.”
I turned to see Gisele come stumping out of the darkness.
“He’s not?” I gasped. “Why not? Where is he?”
Gisele’s face tightened. “Out there. On the front lines. You know this.”
“I do?” I asked, confused. “Why isn’t he here? Our child is coming. Which is impossible. So is you being here. Are you the God-King in disguise?”
“No, child,” Gisele said with a smile. “He won’t be here. You’re going to have to do this on your own.”
“Myooooohhhhhww-n?” I asked, dragging the word out through another contraction. “But he should be here!”
Panic and anxiety started to bubble up inside me in an incoherent wave of emotions and hormones. It wasn’t actually happening. It couldn’t be. We had time! We were supposed to have time.
What had the God-King’s magic done to me? Where were my memories of the past eight months? Had I truly been robbed of the experience of being pregnant?
“Come,” Gisele said, holding out a hand. “It is time.”
“Time for what?”
“You to bear a sea dragon, my child,” Gisele said. “We must go to the birthing barges. Your child must be bonded with the sea. As is tradition.”
“But Rip …” The whimpered protest held no sway with the woman.
“It is time to be strong. He will return when he returns. But today, you must do this alone.”
“I …”
You knew this was a possibility,an inner voice reminded me.From the moment you understood who Rip was and the position he held, you knew there was a chance he might not be there. That you might be alone when your child came into this world.
I had known. Ididknow. But now that it had arrived, it was upon me, was I strong enough?
“Come,” Gisele said.
I waddled after her, unsteady on my feet, still very much getting used to maneuvering with such a large belly. Going from zero to D-Day was a bit of an unexpected transition.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this without him,” I moaned.
“You worry that he loves fighting more than he loves you,” Gisele said, voicing my deepest fear. “That hewantsto be out there and not at your side.”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“The man who left his clan unguarded to charge back to Earth when he learned you were in the hospital? That man? The one who did not want to kill the enemies brought around by your ex for fear of how you would judge him? The man who has proclaimed time and again how he feels for you? That man?”
“I …”
Gisele smiled. “Men love fighting. This is true. But there is one thing they love more than that.”
“What?”
“Their women,” she said with a cackle. “Trust me, I should know. Was mated for eight decades myself before he passed. There wasn’t a thing in the world that would stop him from being home with me if he could. Your prince is the same. He has a duty to his people, which is the only thing that would take him away from you. You must accept that, at your very core, at the center of your being. You must let it all go and love him as he is. Or it will not work.”
