The Fae Prince's Unlawful Bride

Chapter 3 and 4

Chapter 3

“You will find a bride.” His father spoke firmly. “We are hosting this ball for that very purpose and it will happen, like it or not. There are many young women that you may choose from, but you will choose one. We will not acknowledge your previous transgression.” He continued. Castian spoke with irritation. “I will not marry another, I am already wed, you will accept her, or our family line will end with me. This is my life. Not yours, not mothers, mine. I have called a council meeting that will be next week, and we will discuss changes to the law when they arrive. I am done with this for now. You may host your ball, but I will not be in attendance.” He turned to leave. “Castian.” His mother spoke as she rose from her seat turning to her husband. “Your father has made every effort to help you with this, the least you can do is show up and be present, see what happens, I know you still love Victoria, but you may find it easier to move on, and honestly if you can convince the council to agree to a human and fae marriage then we will step aside and allow it.” Castian looked between his parents, his father looked irritated, and his mother was doing her best to smooth the situation. “Fine mother, I will attend.” He stated then exited the room. He needed some air and honestly, he needed Victoria. She was his peace and the only calming force he had ever experienced. He and his father had always had a strained relationship. His mother was always running interference, it was getting old. Victoria breathed new life into him and made compassion simple and made life feel real, not just like a revolving day of royal duties. He needed to study and prepare for his meeting next week.

The next day ladies began arriving from various regions of the fae world. There were several that his father had chosen specifically, in hopes they would distract Castian enough that he would forget Victoria. They were having tea in the gardens first, then would retire to their suites to prepare for the ball this evening. He could see them from the library window. He dreaded tonight, all these women wanted was a crown. There was no true love to be found here. He chose Victoria before she knew he was a prince. They fell in love so naturally. That would be impossible with any of these women. Though he told his mother he would attend, he did not state how he would behave.

That night he dressed in a simple suit, nothing overtly elaborate, he drank two glasses of wine and headed to the ballroom. When he entered the ballroom, he stayed on the outskirts of the dance floor. Thankfully other men had been invited as well. All eligible bachelors he presumed. He immediately went to his parents, greeted and thanked them, then he turned to the people. “There is something I must inform all of you of, I am already married, I chose a human lady as my wife, and I will not be looking for another bride.” He stated loudly and then turned to his parents, bowed and headed for the door. Gasps surrounded him, but no one said a word. His father and mother sat speechless on their thrones. No one followed him though. For which he was grateful. Once the doors closed behind him, he could hear a ruckus of chatter. Seems he upset some of the ladies and he was sure the gossip would make it to every corner of his world by tomorrow. ‘That may speed things up.’ He thought to himself, hopeful, as he entered his bedroom. He left everything to be dealt with tomorrow and went to bed.

Chapter 4

Victoria woke up feeling sick, she headed to the bathroom and proceeded to vomit. She was a little concerned, she had not eaten anything new. Nothing should have made her sick, unless it was some kind of stomach bug. She didn’t ponder too much on the cause, just proceeded to get cleaned up, maybe a bath would help. As she lay in the warm water, she got to thinking it had been about a month since she last saw Castian. She had a wonderful time catching up with her family and going on a small vacation with Kayla, they had visited the spa just two days ago. Kayla was trying to keep her occupied and it did help. Willow was at her side daily and was learning so much. But she missed Castian, she missed his voice, his touch, his smell. There was nothing here that compared. She missed everything about him. ‘I hope he finds answers soon, I cannot do this forever.’ She thought to herself as she got out to dry off. Then another sick spell hit. She was dizzy and nauseas. She lay on the floor in front of the toilet for what felt like hours. ‘I need to go to the doctor. Something is not right.’ She thought. She text Kayla to pick her up, she was in no way comfortable driving the way she felt. Kayla was there in a few minutes. She got into the car and the two headed for the doctor. “Victoria, do you think you might be pregnant?” Kayla asked. It was a good question; she had not thought about it. They only had s*x that one night. The likely hood of that was slim. “I mean, it is a possibility, though I doubt it. We only slept together once.” Victoria answered. “Still, that is all it takes. What are you going to do if you are?” Kayla asked. “I don’t know, he is not here, I have no way to reach him. I will end up being a single mom, unless he returns soon.” Victoria was getting concerned. Pregnancy would complicate a lot of things, she was looking forward to being a mother one day, but she was not ready to do it on her own. They pulled into the doctor’s office and got checked in. She was called back to the exam room and several tests were done, they gave her a bag of fluids and something for the nausea. That helped a lot, then the doctor came in. “Mrs. Bowen, I have good news, you are not sick, you are pregnant, congratulations.” He said and Victoria turned ghostly white again and reached for the vomit bag she had laying next to her. “Thanks doctor.” Was all she managed to say. He excused himself after letting her know she could dress and head to the reception desk where they would set up prenatal appointments for her. Kayla helped her through all of it, thankfully, because Victoria just kept hearing the doctor’s voice in her head. ‘You are pregnant.’ Now she really needed Castian to come back.

Kayla got Victoria home, set her up in bed with saltines and ginger ale as well as her nausea medication on the nightstand. She offered to stay on the couch if needed, but Victoria told her not to worry, she would manage and thanked her before saying goodbye.

Victoria sat there with Willow, wondering what to do next. She hoped Castian would return sooner rather than later. This was a big deal, and he should be here for everything with the baby, plus she knew nothing about fae babies, what if her baby had magic that she could not control, there was too much that was unknown. That night she dreamed of Castian and how it would be with them together with the baby.