Six weeks had passed since the cave.
Six weeks since I'd woken up alone with nothing but a torn cloak and that damn silver coin burning a hole in my pocket.
I'd found this rogue village three days after running. A small place, maybe thirty people, tucked so deep in Ashveil that even the trees looked twisted and wrong. Nobody asked questions here. That's what made it safe.
Sort of.
I'd gotten to work with Rhea, the local healer. Old woman, maybe sixty, with scars covering half her face and a personality that could strip paint. Her wolf had been crippled in a fight years back, leaving her stuck in human form. Made her mean as hell.
But she was fair. And she didn't pry.
I kept my head down. Worked hard. Cleaned her clinic, helped prepare herbs, learned what I could. Tried not to think about silver eyes and a voice calling me little moon.
Tried not to feel that weird golden thread that'd been there since that night. Like something connected us, stretching between wherever he was and wherever I'd run to.
I'd felt it pulse sometimes. Like he was tugging on it, searching. I'd shove it down, ignore it, pretend it wasn't real.
The rejection wound from Kaelen? Gone. Completely. Like it'd never existed.
That should've been impossible. Rejection scars lasted for months, sometimes years. But mine had vanished the morning after the cave.
I didn't want to think about what that meant.
This morning started like every other. I woke up in the tiny room Rhea let me use above the clinic. Got dressed in the simple clothes she'd given me loose shirt, rough pants. Started heading downstairs to help with morning prep.
Then my stomach lurched.
I barely made it to the bucket before I threw up everything I'd eaten the night before. And then kept going, heaving even when there was nothing left.
"What the hell?" I gasped between waves of nausea.
It passed after a few minutes. I sat back on my heels, sweating and shaking.
Food poisoning maybe. Something I ate.
I cleaned up, rinsed my mouth, and headed downstairs.
Rhea took one look at me and frowned. "You look like a zombie."
"Thanks. That's exactly what I was feeling like"
"I'm serious. You're pale. When's the last time you ate?"
"Last night. Had some stew."
"Same stew as everyone else?"
"Yeah."
"Then it's not the food." She studied me with those sharp eyes. "How long have you been sick?"
"I'm not sick. Just woke up nauseous."
"Uh huh." She crossed her arms. "When's the last time you bled?"
My brain stuttered. "What?"
"Your monthly bleeding. When was it?"
I opened my mouth to answer, then stopped.
When was the last time?
I tried to think back. Before the rejection. Before running. Before the cave.
Before.
"Oh no," I whispered.
"That's what I thought." Rhea grabbed my arm and hauled me toward her exam table. "Lay down."
"I'm fine—"
"Lay down or I'll make you."
I laid down.
My heart was pounding. This couldn't be happening. One time. It was one time. That's not how this worked.
Except it was exactly how it worked.
Rhea lifted my shirt and placed both hands on my stomach. Her eyes closed, face going blank in that way healers did when they were reading a body.
I held my breath.
She stayed like that for what felt like forever. Hands pressing gently, face giving nothing away.
Then her eyes snapped open.
"Shit," she said.
"What? What is it?"
She pressed harder, like she was checking something. Making sure.
"Rhea, you're scaring me….."
"You're pregnant."
The world tilted sideways.
"That's not possible," I said automatically. "It was just once….."
"Once is all it takes, girl. You know that." She kept her hands on my stomach, feeling around. "About six weeks I'd say. It matches your timeline."
Six weeks. The cave. Vae.
Oh god.
"I can't be pregnant," I said. My voice sounded far away. "I can't, I'm alone, I'm hiding, I have nothing…"
"Well you better figure it out fast because….." She stopped. Pressed harder. "Wait."
"Wait what?"
Her face went strange. Confused. She moved her hands around my stomach again, slower this time.
"Rhea, what—"
"There's two heartbeats."
I couldn't breathe. "What?"
She looked at me, expression grim. "You're not just pregnant with one . You're carrying twins."
The room spun. I couldn't process what she was saying. Couldn't make it make sense.
"Twins," I repeated stupidly.
"Two babies. Two heartbeats. Clear as day." She pulled her hands back. "Who's the father?"
I couldn't answer. I couldn't think. My hand went to my stomach still flat, no sign of anything growing inside.
But there was. Two things. Two lives.
His children.
The silver coin in my pocket felt like it weighed a thousand pounds suddenly. That royal seal. That connection to the throne. To the people who killed my parents.
"I don't know his name," I whispered.
"What?"
"The father. I don't know his real name. It was one night. We didn't—we used fake names."
Rhea's eyebrows shot up. "You had sex with a complete stranger?"
"I was running. He was dying. It just happened." I pressed both hands to my stomach now. "Oh god. What am I gonna do?"
"First, you're gonna breathe. Second, you're gonna decide if you're keeping them."
I looked at her sharply. "What?"
"There are ways. Herbs. If you don't want to carry them, we can handle it. But it needs to be soon."
Get rid of them. That's what she was saying.
I could do that. Take some herbs, end this before it gets complicated. Before anyone found out.
Before I had to deal with being pregnant with the children of a man who might be my enemy.
My hands stayed pressed to my stomach.
Two heartbeats. Two lives. Growing inside me right now.
Half of me. Half of him.
I thought about that night. How he'd held me. Called me little moon. It made me feel safe for the first time in forever. How the rejection wound had finally gone silent.
I thought about the royal seal. The lies. The fact that he'd disappeared without a word.
But these babies hadn't done anything wrong. They were innocent.
"I'm keeping them," I said.
Rhea nodded like she'd expected that. "Then we need to hide this as long as possible. You can't let anyone know who the father is."
"Why?"
"Because twins don't just happen, girl. In our world, multiple births usually mean the father is powerful. Very powerful." She studied me. "You sure you don't know anything about him?"
I thought about those silver eyes. The way he'd healed from poison too fast. The expensive clothes. The royal seal.
"No," I lied. "Nothing."
"Well, whoever he is, you better pray he doesn't come looking. Because a man powerful enough to father twins? He'll want them. And he'll take them from you if he has to."
Cold ran down my spine.
The golden thread pulsed.
I shoved it down hard, refusing to acknowledge it.
"No one's taking them," I said quietly. "I'll die first."
Rhea's scarred face softened slightly. "I believe you. Now get up. We have work to do and you're gonna be tired a lot these next few months."
I sat up slowly, my hands still on my stomach.
Twins.
His twins.
I pulled the silver coin from my pocket. Studied that symbol crescent moon wrapped around a crown. Royal. Dangerous.
"If anyone finds out," I whispered to myself, "they'll kill us all."
The coin caught the light, glinting silver.
Just like his eyes.
I shoved it back in my pocket and stood up. I had work to do. Had to stay strong. Had to survive.
For them. For the two lives growing inside me.
Even if their father was connected to the people who destroyed my family.
Even if finding me might mean losing everything.
"Come on," Rhea said from the doorway. "Those herbs aren't gonna prepare themselves."
I followed her downstairs, one hand pressed protectively over my stomach.
Two heartbeats.
Two secrets.
And absolutely no idea what the hell I was going to do when they were born.