The maintenance tunnel smelled of ancient rot, wet earth, and the metallic tang of fresh blood.
I lay on the cold ground, my chest heaving as I clutched my stomach. The warm wetness pooling between my thighs was a constant, terrifying reminder that my forced vision had cost me dearly. Every sharp cramp in my lower abdomen felt like a physical threat to the fragile life growing inside me—the heir Silas didn't even know existed yet.
"My Queen?"
A dark shape moved in the flickering torchlight. Kael tried to step forward to help me up, but his left leg buckled immediately. He let out a choked groan of pure agony and collapsed against the mud-slick stone wall, his face a pale, waxy mask.
The heavy bandage on his thigh was completely soaked through. The dark, steaming blood against his grey
