Chapter Thirteen
Ten years prior…
Sitting in my established lair of the Thanases’ castle, I closed and locked the metal case to another shipment of Elixir F. I didn’t have the luxury of time when it came to naming the miracle potion, and just added the F for female. But it did what it was expected to do.
At least twenty females who faced complications in their pregnancies showed improvement - though their bodies were still weakened and many could no longer take their dragon forms. At least they were alive - for the time being.
Though I had attempted to add and deviate from the recipe, not much was available to strengthen the elixir and my work remained stagnant - even more so as I cared for a very with-child, no… children, Aurora.
Passing by the kitchens, I stopped to pull together her breakfast myself - ignoring the odd glances of the servants. Placing a delicate lotus blossom in a short, fluted vase and the vial of elixir on her tray, I advanced to her wing. Marek was away… again. Despite the fact that the princess from Durant was now married to Jovan of Regnum, it didn’t prevent Marek from visiting her anyways and leaving my sister alone in this frigid castle while nearing her due date.
Even I was naive enough to think he would stay by her side when he found out she was carrying twins. Such a rarity and blessing would make most other soon-to-be fathers overjoyed and left doting on their partners. Not Marek. Even if he wasn’t physically unfaithful to Aurora, his negligence to her well-being was just as harmful to her mental state.
Lightly rapping three times on the door, I let myself in when I only received silence - which wasn’t unusual. Being thirty-two weeks along, her body was exhausted - even by human standards. As I suspected, she lay enveloped in her cream-colored bedding and all of the small windows tightly shut.
Thanases was not temperature controlled by dragon technology, like Hyperion, and because it was in the most northern part of Demarcus every day was cold.
Gingerly placing the silver tray on her nightstand, I placed a hand on the top of her head. She was so tired, and despite having two growing babies inside her, she was thin. Thinner than she had ever been.
“Little Sun, it’s time to eat,” I whispered, though I refrained from shaking her. She was never a heavy sleeper, even as a child.
Golden eyes, still as bright as the day she was born, smiled up at me, causing a twinge to nag at my heart.
How can she stay so optimistic?
“I brought you breakfast,” I continued softly as I helped her into a sitting position, propping plush pillows up and near her lower back before sliding the tray over her legs. Picking up the vial, I moved it closer to her. “This first.”
Obediently she downed the liquid in one gulp before moving over to her juice - another thing Demarcus lacked. Fruit seemed to be a commodity but I would damn my soul if I didn’t find her the most nutritious foods I could. My soul would be damned regardless if I let her down.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, pressing my fingers firmly into her open wrist to find her pulse.
“Tired,” she answered before lifting her neck so that I could check for any ill effects from the pregnancy.
Whether for her sake or my own, I smiled lightly before checking her ankles.
“Well, you’re eating for three. Just think of how tired you will be running after those two once they’re out.”
So swollen… I thought, pressing my pointer and middle fingers against her inner ankles. She had been on bed rest since she was twenty weeks along, but the swelling still hadn’t subsided.
Her giggle invaded my thoughts.
“I think I will like being their mother.”
So long as you live long enough…
“You’ll make a wonderful mother, just like our own. Her love always seemed so endless, and you were fortunate enough to inherit that.”
Pulling the covers back over her legs, I came to sit beside her, only to see a few bites had been taken. Scolding her would do nothing, as I knew she had a hard enough time keeping food down.
At least her juice is gone… I’ll bring up more later.
“You inherited that too, Huri,” Aurora’s voice was soft - solemn. Her hand draped over mine. Her small, thin hand. “You never stopped loving me, even when I know how hard it is to see me like this. And you work so hard for me and for all of us.”
Her hand motioned to her swollen belly. The smile on her face faded causing my heart to tighten at a never-forgotten memory two decades prior.
“Which is why…” she began but I flipped my hand up to grip hers, causing her to look up at me.
It was never a question… I just didn’t want to answer it out loud.
“Your children will always be loved and cared for - no matter what.”
