207

I woke up smelling coffee and smiled even though my eyes were still closed. Something tickled my nose and I hit Milo on the shoulder as he tried to move away. “Rise and shine.”

“What’s going on with you?”

“I can’t make my brother a cup of coffee on the eve of his celebratory engagement banquet?”

“You never bring it to my room, Milo.”

“I felt like being nice to you today.” Milo got up from the bed and stood looking out of the window.

“You heard me talking to Ally.” It wasn’t a question but a statement because I already knew.

“Isn’t there anything you can do? Get out of the wedding somehow?”

“Yes, Milo, let me just quickly go barge into the King’s royal chambers and announce that I took his daughter’s virginity even though I can’t remember shit from that night and that I refuse to do the honorable thing and marry her.”

“You can’t remember playing hide the sausage?” If we’d been talking about anybody else, I’d laugh at his choice of words, but this was me we were talking about.

“No dumbass, I don’t remember a thing, slivers of us kissing and so on.”

Milo looked contemplative for a few seconds, rubbing his chin. “I take it you weren’t drunk which means the bitch drugged you.”

“Whoa, Milo, don’t call her a bitch for one and second why would she drug me? I’ve got nothing to offer her in terms of title or riches.” Echo and I had had this same conversation a hundred times already and I’d dismissed the idea of being drugged because she didn’t gain anything, I did.

“Drink your coffee, Nancy, and ask her for your balls back or should I ask Abby to borrow you a dress too?”

“There is no out, Milo!” He had retreated out of the room and he chuckled at my comment.

Technically that wasn’t true, there was always an out. I had no time to find it and marrying Maya kept me close to Abby and the King. I had to focus on what was important here. Love had nothing to do with my mission.

“Doesn’t it?” Echo’s voice resonated from within.

“Not this time, Echo.”

“Did you stop to think that Ally might be hurting at the thought of you getting married? You’re a moron, Wynter. You know you love her and you know she loves you. Screw the King.” Echo was angry with me and that almost never happened.

“Screw the King huh? I’ll end up on the execution block.”

“Maybe if you asked him nicely to bend over.” Echo started laughing at himself and I couldn’t help the smile that started. I didn’t want to think about that.

“Your girl’s on the way!” Milo yelled from his room and I drained the last of my coffee.

I opened the suite door just before Maya knocked. She looked terrible. Her eyes were red-rimmed and I could see that she didn’t get much sleep, I hadn’t slept long but I felt rested. “You okay?”

She nodded her head grimly before leaning into me and I did the right by enveloping her in my arms. “I can’t believe they’re all dead.”

“Maybe we should ask your father to postpone the wedding.” My hand was on her head and she had her face against my chest as I tried to soothe her.

“Can we talk in your room?”

I took her hand and led her back into my bedroom where she let go and started pacing. She seemed nervous and I sat down on the bed and just watched her. “You seem nervous.”

“We can’t postpone the wedding.”

“Your family’s in mourning, celebrating a wedding now just seems wrong.”

“I’m pregnant, Wynter.”

“You’re what?” I knew I had heard her correctly because Milo started laughing in his room and I stared at her, my mouth slightly open because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Pregnant.” Her voice was soft and the way she was looking at me said that she was looking for my approval. I felt nauseous instead. My heart was hammering in my chest and there was a buzzing sound in my ears.

“We had sex once, two weeks ago.”

“Without protection. The Seer sought me out yesterday afternoon and told me that I was pregnant. It might be too early for a regular test …”

“Shit.”

“You’re not happy.” She stated the obvious. This hadn’t been part of my plans. I wasn’t marrying her because I loved her, it was all for the mission.

“Are you?” Cold sweat was beading on my forehead and I could just imagine Ryder’s reaction to this news.

“Of course I am! It’s a baby we made.”

Maya kept talking but I was staring off into space. Echo was dumbfounded and for once he didn’t have a smart-ass comment to make. We were going to be a father. It was a reality I didn’t want to confront. I was twenty-one and I definitely wasn’t ready for this.

I barely registered Milo coming into the room and telling Maya that I needed some space to come to terms with the severity of the situation. When the door to the suite clicked closed I rushed to the bathroom and vomited out the coffee I had drunk.

Milo’s hands were on my head as I flushed the toilet. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Holding your hair back.”

I started laughing as he wiped my mouth with a facecloth and pulled me to my feet. I rinsed my mouth out and leaned on the bathroom counter. This was a great start to my day. There was no getting out of anything now.

“I’d say you’re royally screwed right now.” Milo chuckled at his own joke and I glared at him.

“Ryder’s going to kill me.”

“No, he won’t, not really.”

“Why am I killing you?” Ryder stood in the doorway and looked from me to Milo.

“I’m sitting this one out. I have to go wash my hair or something.” Milo practically ran from the bathroom and I sighed audibly as I pushed past Ryder and walked into the sitting room.

“By the look on Milo’s face this is worse than getting engaged.” Ryder sat down on the sofa and gave me a smile.

“It is, Dad.” I raked a hand through my hair as the smile on his face disappeared.

“What the hell did you do now?”

“It’s what got me engaged in the first place. She’s pregnant.”

Ryder’s expression went from semi-friendly to stoic in a split second. His eyes burned with anger and I could feel the disappointment radiating from him. I knew how he felt, I was disappointed in myself too. His fists clenched by his side but he remained seated.

“I’ll speak to Nova, there’s a tea you can give her with mugwort and pennyroyal.”

“What?” I had no idea what those herbs did but from the look on his face it wasn’t anything good.

“The tea, it will abort the fetus.”

I sat back in the seat and looked at my father. He wanted me to trick Maya into having an abortion. I almost couldn’t breathe.

“Did you plan on aborting the baby that Ava carried?”

“It’s not the same, Wynter.”

“Isn’t it?” Anger clouded my vision and my own fists were clenching by my sides. I could taste his blood in my mouth as Echo started roaring in my head.

“I slept with Ava knowing exactly what I was doing. You marrying Maya was never part of the plan. Now you want to play house with her and raise a child? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What the hell is wrong with you? I’m not killing my child! It changes nothing!”

“You are the one that’s supposed to end the Royal Family. The whole line, Wynter. That’s what Typhon said your destiny would be. You’ve already killed the King’s brother but the whole family needs to die.”

“Maya’s innocent. She’s nothing like her father and I’m not even sure if Nicu’s like him either.”

Ryder shook his head as he stood up from the sofa and paused in the doorway, not looking back at me. “I don’t know who you are anymore.”

The click of the door let me know that he had left and Milo leaned against the doorframe of his bedroom. He folded his arms across his chest and his gaze burned into me. “What?”

“I get where he’s coming from. Your plan’s changing by the minute and I’m not sure if you’ll be capable of doing what you’re supposed to do when the time comes.”

I sat there and thought about what they both had said. ‘End the royal line.’ That meant my child had to die too. He or she would have royal blood in their veins. I couldn’t even bring myself to think about doing that.

A knock sounded on the door and I instantly knew that it was a footman. The knock was too formal for it to be anyone else. “Intra.” I had taken to learning some Romanian which helped when speaking to the staff.

“It is time to get ready, Duke Grey.” The footman handed me a garment bag and bowed his head before leaving the sitting room.

Inside was a suit with royal decorations marking me as a Duke. My ‘knighting’ as such would take place at noon followed by a grand banquet and then tomorrow I’d become the Dragon Prince Wynter Grey of the de Haviland family. Maya would be known as Maya de Haviland Grey, Dragon Princess of the world. It was a lot to take in.

I showered, shaved the two-day stubble from my jaw and got dressed in the charcoal gray suit with the sash going over one shoulder. My hair was still short and when I opened my bedroom door my family stood in the living room, waiting for me.

“You look very handsome, Wynter.” Nova stepped forward and straightened my tie.

“Thank you, Nova.” I hugged her tightly and heard her sniff. I missed my own mother but I knew that I’d miss her more tomorrow.

“I’m yearning to play the song ‘Hot Stuff’ now.” I laughed at Milo and ruffled his hair as he glared at me.

“They won’t be looking at your hair, trust me.”

“We should get going. Abigail is following Prince Nicu’s entrance before yours.” I nodded at Nova as she smiled at me again and they left the room, leaving me alone with Ryder.

“Nova’s right, you look good.”

“Thanks Dad.” I straightened up in the suit that fit me perfectly and turned towards the door.

“It has to be you, Wynter. Typhon was clear with his message. It has to be you that ends this royal line of deceit, murder and lies. I’ve always loved you, since the day you first opened your eyes and I’ll continue to love you until the day that I close mine. The baby isn’t ideal but I was wrong to say you have to kill it. At least now you don’t have to bond with her.”

“I haven’t always been the best son, I know that, but I need you to know that I won’t fail you in this.”

“I know.”

“Let me ask you one question. Don’t think about the answer either. Will you love my child any less because of who his or her grandfather is?”

“No, it’ll be your child in the end.”

Ryder and I walked towards the banqueting hall and he slipped into the room as I stood in front of those big doors and listened to them announce me. The doors opened and it felt like I had tunnel vision. King Florin stood in the front with Sorin next to him and Prince Nicu on his other side.

“Please kneel.” I couldn’t remember walking down the aisle or reaching the front but I knelt on the plush cushion and bowed my head.

“Wynter Grey has shown remarkable strength and wisdom and has aided the house of de Haviland numerous times since his arrival. I, King Florin, bestows upon him the rank of Duke and the territory of Mintia to be under his control as a representative of house de Haviland.”

I was slightly shocked. I hadn’t known that I would receive territory along with my new title. “I will in my power cause law and justice, with mercy, to be executed in all my judgements. I will with all the power that is bestowed upon me, maintain the laws of Dragonkin under the watchful eye of Typhon to always be fair and just.”

“Rise, Duke Grey.”

I rose from my position as the King attached medals to my chest and handed over an ancient looking key with the name of Mintia engraved on it. This signified my acceptance of reigning over the territory.

“Thank you, my King.”

The banquet hall was packed, which I only realized when I turned around, and loud applause broke out but I was only looking at one person, Milo. He was smiling broadly and when I looked at Ryder I could see pride in his eyes.