Uriel sat alone in his study, staring out at the night sky.
He hadn't seen her since that night in the car. He'd been busy with military reports, council meetings, the endless responsibilities of being an heir.
He'd told himself he'd visit when things settled down.
When he had time.
When he knew what to say.
But the truth was simpler.
He didn't know how to face her.
A woman who had climbed him like a tree, begged him to breed her, and then woken up the next morning in an unfamiliar environment.
She didn't know who he was.
Didn't even know his name.
And he didn't know how to introduce himself to someone who had been that vulnerable with him.
So he waited.
Tomorrow, he told himself. Tomorrow he would go.
But even as he thought it, he wasn't sure if he meant it.
The next morning, Lin Yue woke up feeling like death.
No, that wasn't right.
She'd already died.
This was worse.
Her entire body burned with fever. Her joints ached so badly that even lying still was agony. Her head pounded behind her eyes.
And when she tried to move, to sit up, to do anything at all, pain lanced through every limb like she was being stabbed from the inside.
"MS," she croaked. "What's happening to me?"
The screen materialized in front of her face.
The usual emoji was gone, replaced by simple text.
[YOU ARE ENTERING THE SECOND TRIMESTER. SYMPTOMS VARY WIDELY BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS. YOUR CURRENT CONDITION IS SEVERE BUT NOT UNPRECEDENTED. FEVER AND JOINT PAIN ARE DOCUMENTED RESPONSES TO RAPID HORMONAL SHIFTS.]
"It hurts.." she gasped. "It hurts so much."
[I CAN SEE YOUR VITALS. THEY ARE ELEVATED BUT WITHIN TOLERABLE RANGES. HOWEVER, YOUR SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE OF PAIN IS CLEARLY EXTREME. I AM MONITORING CLOSELY.]
The door burst open.
The physician rushed in, still tying her robe, her fox ears flat against her head with alarm. Two maids followed, their faces pale with concern.
"We need cold water and compresses immediately.." the physician said, her voice calm but urgent. "Fill a basin and bring as many cloths as you can find."
The maids scattered.
The physician hurried to Lin Yue's bedside, pressing a hand to her forehead and frowning deeply.
"You're burning up." She pulled out a scanner from her bag and ran it over Lin Yue's body, watching the readings with growing concern. "Your heart rate is dangerously elevated and your blood pressure is spiking. The joint inflammation is severe, which explains the pain." She cursed under her breath. "The baby is fine, growing normally, but you are in significant distress."
Lin Yue grabbed her arm with shaking hands. "Make it stop. Please. Make it stop."
The physician's face was conflicted. "I cannot give you anything for the pain while you are pregnant. Any medication I administer could affect the baby. I do not know how human biology interacts with our pharmaceuticals. I could hurt you both without meaning to."
"Then what do I do?" Lin Yue's voice broke into a sob. "I cannot take this much longer."
The physician looked at the maids, who had returned with basins of cold water and stacks of soft cloths. They began applying cold compresses to Lin Yue's forehead, her arms, her legs. The coolness helped a little, but not nearly enough.
Lin Yue continued to shake and gasp with pain.
One of the maids hesitated, then spoke up. "There is a traditional method we use for beastfolk women in distress during pregnancy. I do not know if it would work for a human, but it might be worth trying."
The physician's head snapped toward her. "What method?"
"Close contact with the father of the child. His presence, his scent, his touch. It can ease the mother's pain during difficult pregnancies. Something about the bond they share through the baby. The shared biology seems to help regulate her system."
Lin Yue's feverish mind latched onto the words.
The man from the car?
She barely remembered his face, but she remembered his voice.
Deep, warm and unforgettable.
"Get him.." she begged, her voice cracking. "Please go get him."
The physician hesitated only a moment before turning to the head maid. "Go to the prince's quarters. If he is not there, find Magus. Tell them it is an emergency."
The maid ran.
Uriel was not in the castle.
He had left early that morning for a training exercise on the northern edge of the city.
No communication except emergency channels.
No way to reach him except through his personal advisor.
Magus received the message while reviewing documents in his office. He moved faster than he had in years.
The training grounds were twenty minutes away by a speeder. Magus made the trip in twelve.
He found Uriel in the middle of a combat simulation, shirtless and sweat-slicked, engaged with three soldiers at once. He was beautiful, deadly and completely unaware of what was happening back at the castle.
Magus did not wait for the simulation to end. "My prince!"
Uriel turned at the urgency in his advisor's voice.
The soldiers halted their attack, confused.
"The human woman, Lin Yue. She is in severe distress. High fever, extreme joint pain. The physician says you need to come immediately. Something about the father's presence helping to ease her suffering."
Uriel did not ask questions.
He did not hesitate.
He was running before Magus finished speaking, grabbing his shirt as he went and shouting orders over his shoulder for the soldiers to continue without him.
The speeder ride back to the castle was the longest ten minutes of his life.
By the time he arrived, Lin Yue was already unconscious.
Uriel burst into the medical wing and stopped dead in the doorway.
In the center of the room stood a tall cylindrical tank filled with clear liquid. Floating suspended inside it was Lin Yue.
Her body was weightless, her arms drifting gently at her sides, her legs relaxed and slightly bent.
Her bare stomach was rounded with pregnancy, the curve of it visible through the liquid. Her dark hair floated upward in slow spiraling tendrils, moving like seaweed in ocean currents.
The fever had brought color to her cheeks, making her look almost ethereal in the soft light of the tank.
She was beautiful.
Like a goddess from some ancient story he had heard as a child.
The physician stood beside the tank, monitoring a series of readings on a display panel.
She looked up as Uriel entered, her expression tired but relieved.
"It is a pain elevation chamber," she explained quietly. "The liquid is infused with compounds that ease suffering. We use it for difficult births, severe injuries, and cases where traditional medication is not an option. It was the only choice we had."