Page 73 of Pregnant With Their Babes

“I’ve heard the tales,” his grandfather murmured with a smile and a wink. But then that smile faded. His grandfather blinked a few times, and the fog seemed to return to his eyes. “Who are you? What are you doing in my room?”

A stabbing pain sliced through Dagr. He gasped at the depth of it. He rose quickly. “I’m your grandson.”

“I don’t know you.”

Dagr took a step away before calling the nurse back in. She reappeared as his grandfather grew anxious and demanded Dagr leave his room. He left, struggling with the emotions of that sudden shift and the loss of his grandfather before his very eyes.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, his grandmother was waiting for him.

“How was he?”

“He remembered me.” Dagr sighed. “And then it was like he was lost.”

“It comes in spells,” she said. “Some days are better than others. The most recent ones have not been good… so it’s a small miracle he remembered you at all. Hold on to that.” She took his arm. “How about that tea? I’ve got Evelyn cleaning your room and readying it for you. I’m aware you have no trunk with you, but we can send one of the footmen to fetch it from the castle.” She paused mid-step and gazed up at him. “Beouf de Burgundy was your favorite. I’ll see if chef can prepare it tomorrow night. We’ll have venison tonight. Perhaps you and Mr. Briggsby can catch a few fish while out surveying the lands for the night after.”

Dagr chuckled. “Mr. Briggsby?”

“Our estate manager, of course. You don’t think I can handle everything myself, do you?”

“I’d say you were more than formidable enough to do it, grandmother.”

She smiled, clucking her tongue. “I once was. Not so much these days.” She cocked her head and eyed him. “Not meaning I’m easy to push over, mind you. I can be quite shrewd when I need to be.”

“I don’t doubt it. Not for one second.”

His grandmother grinned and led him back to her parlor and the waiting tea.

* * *

A few weeks later…

Llyr swam through the passageways of the castle, numb. He blindly floated through the current within, not seeing anyone or anything he passed. After two weeks of lying abed, he simply needed to do something other than sleep and cry. He looked at nothing—neither merfolk nor object—as he swam within his prison walls.

Until he reached a familiar passageway, a few metres away from where mermen labored. His heart clenched as he watched stone by stone filling the chasm behind the statue—the one that had afforded him one small ounce of freedom. Knowing it was there, hidden away, had kept him sane over the years. His and Ryland’s secret. Since his homecoming, there had been a guard there, to prevent his escape, but somehow it was still there. Potential untapped. Now that potential was lost and the castle truly was his prison.

How many times had he and Ryland snuck out over his lifetime. He could still remember the exhilaration he’d had upon exiting that labyrinth the first time. A whole new world had spread out before him in that moment. His mind drifted to his friend. Llyr still hadn’t unearthed where Ryland was or what had happened to the alpha. What price had the male paid for assisting Llyr? He bit back the tears stinging the backs of his eyes, too numb to allow any more to fall.

“What are you doing floating out here?”

Llyr ignored Prawnsby’s question. He continued to stare, the masochist that he was.

“Your Highness? This pouting of yours is only harming you, no one else. You realize youcannotbe with those humans. Move on. You’ll soon have a troth to the son of one of the sea’s most powerful families. Give Alphonse a chance.”

Llyr angled his head to Prawnsby and arched an eyebrow. “Wouldyouwish to be wed to a terrible child?”

“In time, he’ll grow into a fine merman and king.Youcan mold him into the husband you desire.”

The husbands he desired were Oz and Dagr. Not some spoiled brat. “You thinkIhave the power to mold a child already so rotten that his parents refuse to be in his presence?” Llyr clicked his tongue. “Why should it be my responsibility to turn that little monster into a decent merman?”

“Life is what you make of it.”

“Every day I am told what to do, where to be, how to act, and who to speak to. I’m never allowed outside the walls. Exactly what life do I have that I can make something with?”

Prawnsby swam closer. “You’ve been given everything you need. Pampered.”

“Everything I need but love.”

“You’re loved.”

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