Escaping Destiny (6 page)

Eliran finished his exam with Ryder present;
everything looked fine as far as he could tell this early in the
pregnancy. It left me numb that I was actually pregnant. I was
freaking pregnant! Ryder hadn’t been playing with words. Eliran had
shown me the blood work and had even done the test with me standing
beside him watching his every move.

I sat on the exam table numb, unable to put
into words what I felt. Sheer panic was gnawing at my insides as I
pictured my future here with Ryder and his entire harem of women.
Where did I fit in? Ryder was the freaking Horde King, and I was a
flipping concubine. No, correction, I was his pregnant
concubine!

I was willing to give this a shot. I was,
however, not willing to become just another female pining after his
Highn-ass to visit me in said harem. Nope, was not happening. I
turned to find him watching me, his eyes back to the beautiful
golden color that haunted my dreams.

I wanted to throw myself in his arms and
listen as he told me everything was going to be ok. But, this was
real life…or, more to the point, my life and shit like that never
happened. I was doomed by a destiny that had my entire life planned
out for me.

“So, what do we do now?” I asked, trying to
get out from inside of my mind where shit was getting deep.

“You’re having my child, period,” Ryder
snapped heatedly.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t, Fairy. I asked what
now, how do we make the baby strong enough that it is accepted by
the land?” I asked, letting the fear I had felt about being with
Adam and producing his child finally out.

Ryder’s face went from cold to worry in a
flash of an eye. He hadn’t considered this? So much for thinking he
could figure this one out. “It’s my child,” he replied simply, as
if because the child was his, it would live.

“The children of Faery are dying; the
sickness is hitting the strongest Caste first…which is Horde,
right?”

“We will figure it out together, Synthia.
It’s my child; do you think I’d allow anything to happen to you or
my child?” He growled.

“I didn’t say that!” I said defensively. “I
want to know how to ensure our child isn’t one of the many
dying.”

“Eliran, get everything you need for this
pregnancy. Take Ristan with you, and go find whatever it is you
will need to take care of Synthia and
our
babe.”

My heart flipped and did a little jig as it
hit the floor with my reality check…and bounced away. This was
really happening. I was having Ryder’s child…correction, I was
having the Horde King’s love child.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Eliran said
and nodded to Ryder before he turned and sifted from the room.

There was total silence in the room now. All
I could do was sit and stare at Ryder. Gone were his wings and
Horde looks. He looked as he had in my world, once again. It was
hard not to throw myself at him and thank whoever had gotten us
here. Because here, was without Alazander, and here was better than
what I could have hoped for no matter how fucked up here was, I was
still with him.

“Come, I’ll take you to where you will be
staying. I have things that can’t be put off any longer now that I
am King of the Horde,” he said gently as he reached out a hand for
me to join him.

“Ryder, tell me it’s going to be okay. Tell
me you want this,” I whispered unable to fight the feeling of
needing him anymore.

He walked slowly to me and pulled me from the
table until he held me against himself firmly. His body was hot and
hard but comforting as his heat stole the chill from my bones. He
tilted my head until I was looking at him. His mouth lowered to
claim mine; his kiss searching, and demanding.

One second we were in the exam room of
Eliran’s small clinic, and the next I was in his arms and back in
his elegant bedroom. He broke the kiss after a few moments and I
had to remember how to breathe. Kissing him here in Faery, without
him hiding his powers was electric.

“I want to kiss you until your lips are sore,
and I want to whisper dirty words into your pretty little ears,
Synthia, because it makes my cock so fucking hard, and it turns me
on to know you’re hearing it and anticipating it.” He kissed my
neck softly. “I am King now. I am not sure I can be what you need
me to be. I am king first and foremost here,” he pulled back and
looked at me smiling gently. “We will be okay now, nothing will
ever harm you. Nothing will ever hurt you again. I promise you
this.”

“What if you’re what hurts me? And where am I
being sent?” I asked.

“I don’t want to hurt you either, Pet. For
your protection, I would prefer you stay in the Pavilion while I
hold court to deal with quarrels between the Castes of the Horde.
For now, I would like for you to take over a room that is part of
my chambers.”

I was shown to a room that adjoined his and
was decorated in gentle hues of blue. The bed was huge, but then
again, I’d come to expect that where the Fae were concerned. The
canopy had sky-blue silk drapes hanging from it. It looked like
something from a time long ago.

Four women stood at the far side of the bed
with their eyes lowered to the floor. They were dressed in thin
sundresses, and cotton shoes covered their feet. I didn’t say
anything as Ryder stood beside me, silently allowing me to take in
the room.

“Hello,” I said, breaking the silence and
tension in the room.

“Synthia, this is Darynda,” Ryder said as an
auburn haired beauty bowed her head even lower. “She will be in
charge of your care. Her father is noble, but not of the royal
family, it is our equivalent of the old peer system that was used
in your world. To serve the royal family is considered an honor,
and I think she would do well with you.”

I turned my head in his direction and hiked
up an eyebrow. Yup, these guys lived in the dark ages. “And they do
this willingly?” I asked. Call me old fashioned, or even new
fashioned, because slavery was just that, and I wasn’t keen on it
in any form.

“Ask them,” Ryder replied, instead of
answering.

Darynda lifted brilliant blue and grey eyes
and gave a friendly smile. I took an instant liking to her. She was
a little shorter than I was, but her eyes showed a spark that
wasn’t obvious in her demeanor. I knew that spark, because I had it
in spades.

“Do you serve willingly?” I asked, since she
hadn’t answered the question.

“We all do. This is an honor and a mark of
respect that we show our families by being chosen, and serving,”
Darynda said and dropped into a curtsey. She then introduced the
other women who stood behind her.

Keeley had to be a Brownie; I could tell by
the way her giant hazel eyes darted around the room looking for
anything out of place; not to mention, she looked no bigger than a
twelve year old, much like the Brownie at Ryder’s mansion had. Her
hair was short chestnut brown with light blonde highlights that
were scattered throughout it. Faelyn was a Pixie, and she stood
with an awkwardness developed from being able to fly instead of
walk. The Pixie had bright blue eyes in a shape of a saucer, and
blonde hair with pink tips that looked like she’d dipped them in
dye recently, judging from the brightness of the color. Her wings
twitched nervously.

Meriel looked to be Fae, but I couldn’t judge
from her appearance which Caste she belonged to. Her black hair had
green and blue highlights to it, and she had a sensuality about her
that seemed to surpass many of the Fae women I had met to date. Her
green and gray eyes seemed to be tracking Ryder, and I wasn’t quite
sure of what to make of that.

They seemed willing to be here, and happy
about it even. I was still reeling from the news that I was
pregnant, and probably wouldn’t be the best company at the moment.
I actually felt sorry for them having to serve me.

“I’ll leave you to get settled in, Pet. If
you need anything, they will get it for you. You’re not to leave
this room without an escort, do you understand?”

“Whatever,” I said, lowering my eyes.

“I’ll be back tonight. Sinjinn will be close
by; if you need me, just tell him. Otherwise, the only part of the
castle you are allowed in is the pavilion for now.”

I watched him sift from the room before
turning my eyes back to the four women who all stood silently,
staring at me. We stood awkwardly taking each other in, before the
one that had been called Darynda started up a conversation with
me.

“So, you are what all the noise is about?”
she asked in a smooth voice.

“I guess,” I said, not wanting to get into
why I was here. I was still in shock and reeling over what had just
been dropped in my lap.

“Okay, all we know is that you seem to have
the castle in an uproar, and we were wondering why?” she asked as
she tilted her head and smiled.

“Because I’m the Blood Princess would be my
guess,” I replied. At the expulsion of breaths, I figured they knew
what that meant to the Horde and Faery. They broke into excited
chatter until the door of the room was opened, and Claire popped
her head in.

She’d been friendly on our last meeting, and
even under the circumstances, I’d played nice with her. Of course
last time, she probably thought I’d just been someone else to feed
Ryder.

She walked in, looking spectacular, her long
frame decked out in a seafoam green silk dress that was far more
lavish than anything I had ever seen her dressed in before. Her
eyes threw angry sparks as she looked me over, which caught me off
guard. “I was sent up to explain your position here.” The look on
her face said she wasn’t happy about it at all.

“And what is it that is expected of me?” I
asked, giving her the benefit of the doubt.

“You’re
his
whore, of course. You
serve his needs, and as his concubine, you do anything he wants.
You will be moved from the pavilion soon, where you will be
expected to service the men who he deems worthy of fucking you. Now
I know you think you are special to him, but we all were at one
time. His passion is fleeting, and we all play our parts here.”

“Is that all?” If he thought he could put me
in the harem to feed his elite guard, he had another thing
coming.

“Listen, you are nothing new to us. You think
you are so fucking special. You’re nothing, less than nothing,
really. We are taking bets; you know what bets are right? You
should, since it’s a human term. Many of the women in the pavilion
give you a week of holding his attention before he moves on to
someone of the Horde.”

“Considering I’ve held his attention for a
few months now, and that he’s the one who brought me here…put me
down for six months.” I smiled coldly. She wanted to be a total
bitch? Bring it, I could play this game. “Now if you would excuse
me, I’d like a bath.”

“I don’t think so!” she screeched, losing all
sense of playing it cool. “He won’t be coming for you tonight. He’s
made other plans.” She hissed but sheathed her claws. “He’s made
plans that include me tonight.”

I felt bile rise to the back of my throat.
“Then that is his choice. You think it bothers me?” It did, and I
was doing my best to act nonchalant.

“Watch your back. You are not going to make
many friends here, Witch.”

“I’m not just a Witch anymore. Haven’t you
heard? Turns out I’m the Blood Princess, Claire. I didn’t ask to be
here, Ryder made a contract with my parents for me. It’s a simple
matter for him to fix, since he is the only one who can undo
it.”

“Wrong; here, you are only a meal for the
newly crowned Horde King,” she argued.

“Whatever,” I quipped and turned to my helper
gals.

“He was with me last night, gaining strength
to travel to the Blood Realm,” she cooed with a nasty taint to her
sweet tone.

Ouch!

“He fed from you?” I asked, trying my best to
hide the hurt that was even now burning in my chest.

“Yes, and he was
very
hungry,” she
said, watching me as I turned around to face her.

“You slept with him?” Yes, I was a sucker for
punishment.

“How else does one feed?” she replied
coyly.

“He’s the King, it’s his choice,” I replied,
trying to keep my face from betraying my feelings.

I’d slept with Ryder right after he’d been
with Claire, but then he’d come for me and in doing so, he would
have needed to be strong and ready to fight if presented with a
worst case scenario.

I felt sick to my stomach; worse, I felt like
I was going to…I threw up all over the bed with Claire watching me.
She cringed and recoiled as if I’d thrown up on her. Fucking Fairy
was dead! This was his fault, his stupid doing.

He’d gotten me knocked up!

This was going to go badly.

I’d retched until I’d dry heaved. Someone had
cleaned up and another had wiped my face with a cold cloth. They
had tucked me into the fresh bedding, and I could hear whispers
from the doorway. Hours went by, and when Ryder didn’t come to get
me, despair kicked up its ugly head. Why hadn’t he come to get
me?

Eventually, I’d fallen asleep as comforting
hands soothed my hair as my mother had done many times when I’d
been a child. It was comforting, but when I’d woken up, only Eliran
was in the room with me.

“You were sick again,” he stated the
obvious.

“You think?” I replied harshly and instantly
regretted it. “I’m sorry, Eliran.”

“It concerns me that you are still getting
sick. You are fully Fae now. You should be fine. Ryder seems to
think that the first few times had to do with the wards inside your
Human abode.”

“Home; it was my home, Eliran,” I
whispered.