POV: Nyxara
The council chamber felt suffocating. Every eye fixed on my stomach as if they could see through fabric and skin to the life growing inside.
"How far along?" Elder Thaddeus asked gently.
"Two months. Maybe less." I touched my stomach unconsciously. "The Oracle said the Tri-Bond created it. That the child carries all three bloodlines."
"Impossible," one elder muttered.
"Everything about her is impossible," another countered. "Why should this be different?"
Veyr stepped forward, his expression raw. "It doesn't matter whose biological child it is. What matters is she's pregnant and in danger. The Purifiers want her. They'll want the child too."
"Agreed," Rhex said. "We need to focus on protection, not paternity tests."
"Easy for you to say," a council member argued. "But t
