Her ears burned at those words. Leah retreated a step.
“I don’t think you have to teach me…”
Of course, she knew how babies were made. The principles of sexual reproduction were taught to all members of the royal family. What she didn’t know was when she had gotten pregnant. Her head was spinning with questions, and he was casually saying such embarrassing things. And he wasn’t done shocking her, either.
“You were the one who told me you wanted to get pregnant,” he said.
“……?”
Leah had barely managed to settle down and suddenly her heart was racing again. Ishakan advanced slowly as she retreated.
“You said you wanted to have my child.”
Her back hit the wall, and Ishakan loomed over her, his head bent toward hers.
“So I filled you all up.” His arms were on either side of her, effectively imprisoning her. “You’ve forgotten, Leah.”
He shut his mouth, and looking up into those blazing golden eyes, her own mouth was dry. Leah swallowed hard. She remembered that day when they had gone to bed together. He had never hesitated when he touched her. It was as if he knew everything about her, and knew exactly where to touch her.
The memory of how his fingers had felt when they penetrated her sprang vividly to her mind. He hadn’t stopped even when she squirmed.
“Ishakan…” She began cautiously, but he just looked at her silently. There was a tension between them that she couldn’t understand, an awkwardness that she didn’t know how to fix. Suddenly, Ishakan’s eyes shifted away from her.
He was looking out the window. Leah turned automatically to follow his eyes. Outside, a carriage was arriving. It had no emblem or markings to identify its owner. Quickly, the coachman descended to open the door.
With a contemptuous look at his surroundings, Blain stepped from the carriage, his silver hair shining gracefully in the moonlight.
***
The banquet hall of the Weddleston mansion was filled with Tomaris.
Seated on the floor or leaning against the wall, they were scattered everywhere. Dozens of them had gathered together in unusual silence, until a sob suddenly burst from a young Toma girl. -Posted only on NovelUtopia
“She has eaten my sister’s heart!” She cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her eyes were red and bloodshot with weeping as she struck her chest. “Look how she repays us for our aid!”
The other Tomaris were silent as she screamed. No one moved to console her. But they also did not try to silence her.
Cerdina had asked for the help of all the Tomaris on the continent. At her invitation, they had all come to Estia under the illusion that they would be creating a country of their own, a home for the Toma. Accustomed to wandering, it had been hard for them to gather like this.
But they had come and helped her to finish her spell. She had been preparing that spell for years, and completing it had given her enormous power. Soon, they would have claimed the whole continent, and made a world for the Toma.
But then the Kurkans had come and slaughtered all the Tomaris in the royal palace, a sudden massacre that Cerdina did not stop. Cerdina could not protect them. And instead of mourning the dead, she had devoured their hearts for still more power.
The Toma had considered Cerdina a sister, but it seemed she did not feel the same for them. She claimed that they shared the same blood, but she treated them like objects, animals whose hearts she would devour if necessary.
The Tomaris could no longer avoid facing this reality.
“The power has driven her mad,” said an old woman sitting in the corner, surrounded by wicker baskets filled with roses. She looked at all the rest of them. “It doesn’t matter if she is a sorceress who has inherited the first power. She has limits. She is not a god.”
At that moment, the banquet hall doors swung open. All the Tomaris turned to look as the King of Estia appeared, followed by Count Weddleton.
Blain’s eyes were cold as he looked at the gathered Toma, and whispers rose as he walked to the center of the banquet hall.
“A false king…”
“But now he really possesses noble blood.”
“Someone who will make a world for us…”