My mouth went dry. With Beau trailing worriedly behind me, I walked to the glass doors across the room, opened them and stepped onto the balcony, breathing in the night air. Far below, Mag Tuiredh, the city of the Iron fey, sparkled under the full moon. My city. My Iron fey. The realm I had sworn to protect from any and all threats, from without…and within.
What you carry will either unite the courts, or it will destroy them.
“Meghan.” Ash was behind me in the door frame, his voice firm yet pleading. “Please. Tell me what’s happening.”
I took a deep breath and walked back into the bedroom.
“I… We had an unexpected visitor,” I began. Ash came to my side, not bothering to shut the balcony doors, and a cold breeze ruffled the curtains. “In the ballroom. It was the oracle. She showed up out of nowhere and freaked everyone out. Do you remember her?”
“I remember,” Ash said, sounding puzzled. “New Orleans. We went to that cemetery to get a Token for her, to exchange for your memory. The Church Grim chased us all the way to the edge of the grounds. What did she tell you?”
I gripped the back of a chair to keep myself upright. My heart was pounding against my ribs, and I could barely get the words out. “She…she came to me with a warning. She reminded me that the thing that I refused to give up will bring me nothing but grief. That—” my stomach cartwheeled; I swallowed hard and continued in a whisper “—that what I’m carrying will either unite the courts, or destroy them.”
“What you’re…” Ash stopped. Stared at me. I felt the energy in the room shift the moment he got it.
“Meghan.” His voice was calm, controlled, but so many emotions swirled just below the surface. “Are…are you…pregnant?”
I shivered and closed my eyes, not knowing whether to laugh or cry or scream. “I think so.”
Ash exhaled slowly. I heard him sit, rather suddenly, on the bed.
Silence fell. Beau whined and nudged his hand, but when that yielded no reaction, he hopped up and sank down next to him with a groan, laying his head on his paws. I closed my eyes and waited.
“What else did the oracle say?” Ash finally whispered, sounding dazed.
“She has a proposition for me,” I replied, afraid to turn around, to face him. Afraid that I would see fear, dismay or disappointment in his eyes. “She wants me to find her, said that I have ‘friends who can show me the way.’ She said she’ll be waiting for me, and my decision.”
“Decision?” I heard the frown in his voice. “What kind of decision?”
“She didn’t say.” I was shaking, trying to hold back frustrated tears. I needed to be strong, but I had just received the news that I was pregnant, and not only that, my child could end up destroying everything I’d worked so hard to protect. To top it all off, I didn’t know if Ash wanted a kid, or was ready for a kid, or if I was ready for a kid. “I didn’t have a chance to ask about the details,” I said, attempting to keep my voice steady. “After reminding me of that little prophecy, she disappeared, and I decided it was time to go home, screw what the other rulers thought.”
“Hey.” Ash’s low, soothing voice finally made me turn around. He sat on the edge of the mattress, his eyes and face calm, and held out a hand. “Come here a second.”
I stepped forward and put my hand in his. He drew me close and wrapped his arms around my waist, pressing his forehead to my stomach. “I’m here,” he murmured, as I gave a shaky sob and bent over him, hugging him in relief. “You’re not alone in this. We’ll figure it out.”
I buried my face in his hair, letting the cool, soft strands brush my cheeks. He was my rock, the one thing I could lean on when the world was crumbling around me. “I guess I made a rather strong impression for my first Elysium as queen,” I murmured, finally starting to feel a bit steadier, like the ground wasn’t cracking under my feet. “I just hope I’m invited back after this. Mab is never going to forgive me for walking out on her.”
I felt him smile. “She’ll get over it.”
“You think so?”
“Not really.”
I groaned, and we both fell silent.
We stayed like that for a while, holding each other, offering comfort and support, yet lost in our own thoughts. Ash was quiet; I wondered what he was thinking, if he was pleased or terrified at the notion of becoming a father. Not only that, the father to a child who might or might not grow up to destroy the courts. How did one reconcile that? Was there a way to ever be prepared for something that extreme?
I couldn’t ask him yet. I still didn’t know how I felt about it.
“When do you want to leave?” Ash murmured at length. And his voice, though it shook ever so slightly in the beginning, was steady by the end. I took a deep breath.
“Tonight,” I said. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep until this whole thing is resolved.” He nodded, and I pulled away to pace the room. Ash watched quietly from the bed. “Though, I’m not even sure how to find the oracle,” I mused, turning to face him. “She didn’t say where she would be. I guess we could go back to the Voodoo Museum in New Orleans—”
“You will not find her there, human.”
I spun, my heart leaping at the familiar, bored voice. Through the open doors, silhouetted against the night sky, a furry gray cat perched on the balcony, watching us with moonlike golden eyes.