The narrow shaft beneath the cell floor was dark, smelling of ancient rot and damp earth.
I fell hard on the cold mud, hissing as a sharp pain flared in my lower abdomen. I immediately clutched my stomach, my heart hammering with a frantic, protective terror. The warm wetness of the blood staining my dress was a silent, constant scream that my pregnancy was in active danger.
"My Queen?"
A dark shape moved in the shadows. A torch flared to life, illuminating Kael’s face. He looked deathly pale, his skin sporting the grey, waxy hue of a wolf fighting off a severe silver infection. The bandage on his thigh was completely soaked through with dark red fluid.
"Kael," I breathed, trying to push myself up. "You're alive."
"Barely," he rasped, his voice a dry, rattling whisper. He tried to ste
