Prince Ashar crossed to Seraphine and kissed her softly, unhurried and completely unbothered by the company in the room.
"Thank you," he said against her lips. "My wife." He drew back and looked at the two small faces in her arms, something luminous moving across his expression. "They are wonderful. Absolutely wonderful." He studied them carefully. "They look just like me."
Seraphine laughed quietly.
"The boy," Ashar continued, his voice warm and certain, "will grow up with arms stronger than mine. I will make sure of it." He looked at the girl. "And she will grow into an intelligent and beautiful woman. Just like her mother."
He leaned down and kissed each of them slowly before straightening.
Vangelis stood at the corner of the room and watched.
He was a king. A mighty one. A man who commanded several packs and bent kingdoms to agreements with his name alone. And yet standing in the corner of that room watching Ashar love his family so completely and so naturally, Vangelis felt something he could not quite name settle over him. Something quiet and smallish that had nothing to do with power.
Outside:
"I meant every word I said in there," Ashar said as they walked out together. "It is a genuine honour that you held my children first."
"I am glad," Vangelis replied simply.
"I feel like the luckiest man alive having Seraphine by my side," Ashar said, leaning against the wall beside him. "She is nothing short of a blessing to me." He smiled to himself. "I am only the third of seven princes. But my father announced last week that he intends to make me Crown Prince. His reason being that my wife is intelligent and has provided an heir." He shook his head with quiet disbelief. "With her beside me we will transform the entire kingdom." He glanced at Vangelis. "I will be honest with you. When she first came to me I thought she was simply someone you wanted to be rid of. A lowly girl you were passing along." A short laugh. "I ended up being the luckiest man on earth."
He gave Vangelis a firm pat on the shoulder then turned and walked back inside.
Vangelis stood alone beneath the tree.
The wind moved through the leaves above him slowly.
Would I have been this lucky if I had never let her go.
He stood with the thought for a moment then pushed it aside.
This is not the time for this. Fiona is a good woman. She is carrying my child. That is what matters now.
Fiona lay in bed with her eyes open, the ceiling above her holding nothing useful. Her thoughts moved in circles, each one leading back to the same place.
The door opened slowly.
She did not notice until lips pressed against her forehead.
She turned.
"You are here," she said quietly. "Do you think this is wise? At this hour?"
Phoenix settled into the chair beside her bed.
"You have not slept at all have you," he said.
"I could not," she replied simply.
"You should not be carrying this much. It is not good for the baby," he said.
Fiona looked at the ceiling.
"I feel suffocated," she said. "Vangelis gave up someone he genuinely loved. For me. He sacrificed something real and I—" Her voice broke. Tears slipped down quietly. "Look at what I have done in return."
She sobbed softly.
Phoenix watched her for a moment.
"If we ended things completely," he said carefully. "Would that make everything better for you?"
Fiona raised her head and looked at him, her eyes moving across his face as though the answer might be written somewhere she had not yet looked.
Phoenix held her gaze.
"That question does not need an answer tonight," he said quietly. "Take the time to think about it. I myself have no answer to give you right now." He paused. "But whatever is best for both of us, that is what we will do."
He rose and left the room without another word.
Vangelis arrived shortly after, looking as though the day had taken something from him too.
"I am sorry Sapphire," he said. "I left you again."
"How are the babies?" Fiona asked.
"They are doing very well," he replied.
Fiona looked at him for a moment.
"She needs you more than I do right now," she said gently. "She went into labour in front of thousands of people. She is delivering in a land that is not her own and her husband was not there when it began." She held his gaze. "You attending to her as her former lover is the greatest gift you could have given her today. She knows she is protected".
Vangelis looked at her for a long moment.
"I now understand why you were always the right choice for me," he said. "I was lost in my own thoughts earlier today. Carrying things I had no business carrying." He shook his head gently. "But sitting here with you and hearing you speak the way you do, it settles something in me." He reached for her hand. "You were always meant to be mine Sapphire. I am certain of that."
"Alpha, the senior mage has arrived and has looked into the matter," Korran said from the doorway.
Phoenix nodded.
The mage entered the study slowly, his white cloak sweeping the floor behind him, his long white beard the only feature visible beneath the hood.
"Greetings Alpha," he said.
"Greetings. Sit," Phoenix replied.
The mage settled and folded his hands.
"From everything we have gathered regarding the attack," he began, "the creature was sent with one purpose. The Lady's blood." He paused. "Upon further investigation the reason becomes clear. Her blood is contaminated with something extraordinary." He looked at Phoenix steadily. "The blood of the Moon Goddess herself runs through her veins."
The study was quiet.
"I understand you may find that difficult to accept," the mage continued. "But the evidence is beyond question. The power she carries surpasses almost every living being at this moment. She is approaching the same level of cultivation your mother once reached, Alpha. Perhaps beyond it."