The night of his wedding, Lauden had the best sleep of his life. He awoke feeling better than he could remember in the past several hundred years, and started his day feeling energized and oddly cheerful. Even the prospect of breakfasting with his mother couldn’t get him down. He loved the woman, but she always seemed to have something up her sleeve.

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Showered and dressed, he left his rooms and took the stairs leading to the upper floor two at a time. As he entered his mother’s suite, he was annoyed to see Seraphina sitting at the table with Marona but managed not to let it show on his face as he said good morning to the two women.

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“Lauden, you look well this morning. I haven’t seen you wear that blue cravat in a long while,” Marona said, smiling and beckoning him to come sit beside her.

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Seraphina smiled and nodded her head, watching Lauden load his plate with food.

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"Seraphina and I were just discussing your blood feedings," Marona said.

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"I had one yesterday. It will be some time before I need another," Lauden said between bites. He was suddenly voraciously hungry. The larkin meat was particularly tender, and he idly wondered why. Was it something the cook had done while preparing it, or had their feed been changed? As prince, questions like those never entered his mind, but his mindset was changing.

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"Yes, well. We were also discussing your…other needs," Marona said delicately.. "After the child is conceived, Seraphina is willing to be there for those, as well as for the feedings. I thought we might move her up to your floor, and—"

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"I haven't the space on my floor. If there was, Ayrie's guard would have his own suite," Lauden interrupted, taking a soft, steaming roll from the basket on the table and buttering it. "Besides, I have to bed Ayrie until he conceives. What would I need with Seraphina?"

"But when Ayrie conceives…"

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"Mother." Lauden put down the roll. "If I wish to bed Seraphina or to feed from her, I will have a servant fetch her from her rooms downstairs, just as I always have." When he glanced at Seraphina, he caught her frowning, but her face immediately smoothed out into a complacent smile. "Right now I just want to concentrate on getting Ayrie with child and fulfilling the Prophecy," he said, going back to eating.

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"If you will excuse me, your Majesty, I am finished eating and have things to do," Seraphina said, getting up from the table.

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Lauden nodded, never looking up from his food, even after the door had clicked shut.

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"Honestly, Lauden. You could be a little less abrasive," Marona said. "Seraphina's been with you since infancy, and you just spoke about her as though she were no more than a piece of furniture. Wasn't it just the other day you told me you wouldn't drink from another?"

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"My point was that I don't want to drink from Ayrie because I'm leery of the magic he wields," Lauden said. "And Seraphina has never been and never will be more than a feeder to me, trusted for her longevity in the house and retained for the quality of her human-tainted blood."

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HIs mother sighed, then her expression morphed into curiosity. "Have you seen Ayrie's magic?"

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"No. And we have not spoken of it. But I sense it. I think it's safest to feed as I always have. But you know well that I don't have to do feed often, and since, at the moment, it is Ayrie whom I must bed, what is the point of bringing Seraphina closer?"

 

Having cleaned his plate, Lauden leaned back in the chair. "Besides. Seraphina has becoming too entitled of late. I don't want her thinking that she has sway in my life. Now that I am married, it might be time for me to limit our association to feedings." For some reason, the thought of fucking Seraphina no longer appealed to him.

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"All right, then. Seraphina came to me this morning and broached the subject, and I frankly thought it would please you. I now see that it does not, so I won't speak of it again."

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"Which just goes to show that she considers herself too important," Lauden said.

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Marona nodded. "How did your night with your consort go?"

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Lauden raised a brow as he took a sip of rich black coffee. "I think you saw that it went very well."

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Marona's cheeks colored. "Yes, well. And you suffered no emotional discomfort from bedding a man?"

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"It was different, but I managed it," Lauden said tightly, trying not to recall the smooth curve of Ayrie's back or his hair like silken rope twisted in Lauden's hand as he rode the Fae's smooth, round ass.

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"Do you think it…took?" his mother asked.

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"How am I to know that? Do you think it did?" Lauden asked, suddenly irritable over realizing the stark difference between what he'd done with Ayrie and what he'd experienced in the past with Seraphina or the occasional courtesan. How was it possible that Lauden had enjoyed sexual relations with another man so much?

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It has to be Fae magic. He bewitched me in some manner.

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"I don't know. I have sent a letter to Ayrie's fathers asking him if they would send their mage. I think it would be a good thing to have him here."

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Lauden stilled. "Without consulting me?"

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"I thought you have enough on your mind. Who better to know the Fae than one of their mages? And he will be able to take proper care of Ayrie when he conceives. We have no knowledge of the way they are made."

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She had a point. "Fine. But no more doing anything without my consent. I am king now, and you must remember that," Lauden said firmly.

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His mother bowed her head. "Of course. I am sorry, my son."

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Finished with his coffee, Lauden bid his mother good day and left to find Aswold.

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"Ah, there you are, your majesty," Aswold said when Lauden walked into the library. "I was just going to go find you."

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For some reason, seeing Aswold agitated Lauden. He couldn't help remembering that his advisor had seen Ayrie after Lauden had fucked him. From a distance and with a blanket covering most of him, but still…Lauden didn't like it at all.

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"There you are," he said in a much harsher tone than he would normally use with the man.

"Sire, I was just going to come looking for you."

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For the first time since he walked into the room, Lauden noticed Jarvin standing behind Aswold. He was twisting his long fingers nervously.

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"What's wrong?" Lauden demanded.

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"No one can find your consort," Aswold said.

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It took a moment for the words to sink in. "No one can find him. Is he not in his suite?"

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"No. And Jarvin just told me he hasn't appeared in the dining room this morning."

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Lauden turned his attention to the dredge. "How did you come to realize this?"

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Jarvin began twisting his fingers even harder, body trembling.

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"His Royal Consort came to the kitchens this morning and asked Cook for a packed meal for him and his friends. He said that they were going for a walk on the grounds. That was hours ago. They have not returned."

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Was this some kind of a trick? Could Ayrie and his friends have headed to a portal, intending to return home? But that would spell doom for all of them, and Ayrie had willing come to the Umbral, so why leave? Perhaps Lauden had been remiss not to have had his consort stay in his room with him, but it had just seemed so awkward to remain together in bed. They were married, but they were strangers. Not to mention the fact that both of them were men. He was able to fuck a man, but sleeping with one seemed much more intimate, somehow, since it meant being unguarded with Ayrie—vulnerable.

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Another thought occurred to Lauden. Could Ayrie, with his Fae magic, somehow know that he had conceived last night and be planning to go back to the Ephemeral realm to birth their child?

Enraged, Lauden ordered Aswold to summon his guards.

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Outside the palace, as he mounted Dominion, Lauden let out a piercing whistle from between his teeth. As he galloped out of the courtyard, the loud bays of his wolf pack echoed off the mountains in the distance.