"Interesting?" He laughed, circling still. "It's facts. And yet here you are."He stopped in front of her, looking down at her bare stomach with obvious disgust.
"On Primus. In our palace. Carrying..." He laughed again, louder this time. "Carrying his cub. I still can't wrap my head around it."
"His?"
"My cousin." The word dripped with disdain.
"The perfect prince. The glorious heir. The one who can do no wrong." He leaned closer, voice dropping. "And he chooses to mate with a human from a dying planet. A lowlife from a lowlife world. How desperate must he be?"
Lin Yue's hands curled into fists at her sides, but she didn't move.
So he really is a prince?!
To think she actually jumped a prince.
She should be lucky he wasn't suing her for assault.
"How did you even get here?" He continued, circling again. "Those planets don't have space travel. They don't have anything. So what's your story, human? Did you stow away? Seduce a crew member? Or did you just spread your legs and hope someone important would notice?"
The maids behind her gasped softly.
Lin Yue smiled.
It wasn't a nice smile.
"You know.." she said calmly, "for someone who claims humans are primitive, you're doing a really good impression of one right now."
He stopped circling.
His eyes narrowing.
"What did you say?"
"I said, you're acting pretty primitive yourself." She tilted her head, looking him up and down the same way he'd looked at her.
"All that posturing. All that name-calling. Trying to make yourself feel bigger by making me feel smaller. It's textbook playground bully behavior. I've seen smarter comebacks from five-year-olds."
-_-
Pfft-
Someone in the background laughed.
So loud, the man's face reddened in embarrassment.
"You think you can speak to me like that?"
"I think I just did." She didn't back up an inch.
"You called my planet lowlife. You called me desperate. You insulted my child's father and you insulted my child. And for what? Because you're insecure about your cousin?"
His hands clenched at his sides.
Muscles tensed.
For a moment, she thought he might actually hit her.
But she didn't move.
"Go ahead.." she said quietly. "I'm carrying a child. An innocent child. Everyone in this castle knows it. So go ahead and take a swing. Let's see how that works out for you."
He stared at her.
Rage flickered in his pale eyes, mixed with something else.
Frustration or maybe impotence.
He couldn't touch her.
And they both knew it.
"You're nothing.." he hissed finally. "You hear me? Nothing. A human parasite who got lucky. Don't think for one second that you belong here."
Lin Yue shrugged. "Maybe I don't belong here. But your cousin's child does. And I'm the one carrying it. So unless you want to explain to your precious 'perfect prince' why you attacked his pregnant baby mama, I suggest you step aside."
For a long, tense moment, neither of them moved.
Then he stepped aside.
Lin Yue walked past him without looking back.
She could feel his glare burning into her spine with every step.
She walked in customer service when she was in earth and she definitely didn't know how to close her mouth when someone said bullshit to her.
Lin Yue just kept walking at the same steady pace, one hand on her stomach, head held high.
The maids scrambled to catch up.
When they were far enough away, one of them whispered, "Ma'am, that was Varn. The prince's cousin. He's dangerous."
Lin Yue kept walking.
"So am I."
Back in her room, she sat by the window and stared out at the alien sky. Her hands were steady now. Her heart had stopped pounding.
She knew Mars had two moons, but seeing it up close.
It felt weird.
Then she wondered what other weird things she would find during her stay on this planet.
[THAT WAS...]
"Was what?"
[TERRIFYING. AND ALSO KIND OF HOT. I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD THAT IN YOU.]
"I told you. I save the rage for later."
[YOU JUST STARE DOWN A ROYAL. WHILE PREGNANT. IN ALIEN LINGERIE. I HAVE SO MUCH RESPECT FOR YOU RIGHT NOW.]
Despite everything, she laughed.
"He called me a parasite. What was I supposed to do, cry?"
[NO. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID. MAYBE BITE HIM, BUT I'LL LET THE SLIGHT PASS.]
She touched her stomach gently.
"Did you hear that, little one? Mama's already fighting for you. Hope you appreciate it."
The baby didn't respond.
It was too small.
But she felt warmer anyway.
That evening, the stretching sensation came. She watched her stomach grow in the mirror, the tiny bump becoming more rounded, more noticeable.
[UPDATE: THREE MONTHS EQUIVALENT REACHED. CUB SIZE: GOLF BALL. STOMACH SIZE: THREE MONTHS PREGNANT. RIGHT ON SCHEDULE.]
Lin Yue pressed her hand against her stomach.
The skin felt tighter than before.
The bump was warm under her palm.
"Hey in there." Her voice came out softer than she intended. "You're right on schedule, little one."
A flutter.
So faint she almost missed it.
Her breath caught. "MS—was that—"
[THAT WAS THE BABY. GOLF BALLS DON'T MOVE, BUT YOUR BABY APPARENTLY DOES. CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE AN OVERACHIEVER.]
"It moved." She pressed harder, trying to feel it again. "It really moved."
[YEP. VERY ACTIVE. MUST TAKE AFTER YOU.]
"I was a very calm baby."
[-_-]
[SURE YOU WERE.]
She stayed like that for a long moment, hand on her stomach, feeling the tiny flutters of life inside her.
The baby was real.
It was really real.
[TOMORROW MORNING YOU'LL BE FOUR TO SIX MONTHS. YOU'LL GROW THROUGHOUT THE DAY. BY TOMORROW EVENING, YOU'LL REACH SIX MONTHS. THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW MORNING, SIX TO NINE MONTHS. BY EVENING, FULL TERM. AND ON THE FOURTH DAY, YOU GIVE BIRTH.]
Lin Yue nodded slowly.
Four days.
She had four days total from start to finish.
Today was day one.
"You said labor varies, right? Some quick, some long?"
[CORRECT. EVERY BIRTH IS DIFFERENT. NO ONE KNOWS HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE UNTIL IT HAPPENS.]
"Great." She sighed. "Something else to look forward to."
[HEY, ONE THING AT A TIME. TONIGHT, YOU'RE THREE MONTHS PREGNANT. TOMORROW, YOU'LL BE BIGGER. WORRY ABOUT BIRTH WHEN YOU GET THERE.]
"Sound advice, actually."
[I HAVE MY MOMENTS.]
She climbed into the massive bed, arranging the pillows around her, getting comfortable.
The baby fluttered again.
A tiny reminder that she wasn't alone.
She placed one hand on top of the blanket, resting it gently over her stomach, and closed her eyes.