Page 172 of The Fae Warrior's Queen

“At least we’re getting ahead of it.” I try to sound upbeat. “Warning everyone a year in advance has given the people a chance to prepare. There are protocols in place. There won’t be any panic, and so many lives will be saved. The Day kingdom has been stocking up food, and they’ve built shelters for the refugees. They’re ready. Valora is ready for this.”

Reminding Ro of positive facts is all I can do to ease her sadness, but I wish I could do more.

“I just thought—” Huffing, Ro rolls over to face me. “I thought Zaylee, Pippin, and Madden would have arrived by now.”

I trail a finger down her beautiful cheek. “Me, too.”

It’s entirely possible that Armand fucked us over. He could be breaking our promise on purpose with the hope that I’ll die in action, subsequently keeping him safe from my retaliation. But that would be a huge gamble on his part, and I think he’s smarter than that.

More than likely, the time difference between Valora and the Lost Land has gotten in the way. Maybe only a day has passed there, and Armand hasn’t been able to locate anyone yet.

“What are you looking forward to the most in the human realm?” I ask Ro, predicting the response I’m going to get.

Scowling, she looks at me like I’m crazy. “Nothing. I don’t want to go. I want to stay, but you’re ‘putting your foot down.’” She does air quotes with her fingers, which I find to be extremely cute. “I should pull the queen card on you.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t yet.”

“I still might.” She pouts defiantly, and I can’t help kissing those luscious lips.

“Do it,” I dare with a whisper against her mouth.

“Maybe I will.”

“Go ahead. Order me around. Force me to my knees.”

As I kiss my way down her jaw, she starts to gasp, then she growls because I’m distracting her on purpose. “You know I won’t.”

No, she won’t. She’s never treated me as if she’s above me, and that’s one of the things I love the most about her. We’re equals. We value each other.

We look out for one another.

And that’s exactly what I’m doing by making her go to the Earth realm.

“It has to be this way.” Placing my hand on Ro’s swollen stomach, I feel where our baby is growing.

My child.

My miracle.

I lovingly rub the bump, and just like every time I think about being a father, emotions expand inside me until I feel like I’ll burst.

When Ro and I got together, having a baby hadn’t occurred to either of us as a possibility. We’d both assumed her fertility was nonexistent because of her age, but we didn’t take into account the fact that she’d reverted to her human form, thus bringing back her ability to get pregnant.

Several months ago, she started experiencing sudden and debilitating nausea. She vomited so violently, I thought she’d been poisoned.

Poisoning is an ailment I can’t fix with my power, but damn it, I was determined to try anyway.

However, when I put my hand on Ro to heal her, I sensed something odd.

An extra life inside her.

There were two heartbeats—hers and a tiny one.

According to Astrid, it’s a girl. There’s no modern medical equipment in Valora, so we can’t do what Ro calls an ultrasound, but it comes in handy having witches who know things.

If only Astrid could tell us the future of Valora. She and Queen Whitley have done many seeing spells together, but it’s never clear—there’s dust and fire, and too much chaos for them to tell what the outcome will be. It comes down to the fact that a lot of events are happening all at once, and there are too many people involved.

“We will return,” I promise. “Honestly, it won’t feel like we’re away for a long time. If we stay Earthside for a couple of weeks, that will give our world fourteen years to recover, and then we’ll raise our daughter in Valora.”

---