Chapter Three
"How about this?" Rachel stepped out of her personal bathroom to show Leila, Becky, and Cheri a possible dress for her evening stroll with Henry.
Each of the girls had their own room and bathroom attached to the main room in Henry's chambers. There were only three rooms, though, and so Cheri usually slept in Henry's room. Henry spent his nights either with Rachel or sleeping on the couch. Resting was a more apt description, though. He did sleep, but only for an hour or two. The rest of the night he spent in meditation.
The old woman tilted her head, observing the black satin that Rachel was wearing. "You look better in bright colors. Red looks ravishing on you."
"She doesn't need to look ravishing," Leila snapped. At Rachel's look, the young witch scowled. "I just hate this whole thing. You might be totally in love with him, but nobody asked me or Becky if we wanted to be here. Have you seen the way the vampires look at us if we leave these rooms when Princey isn't around?"
Cheri patted her hand. "Nobody will dare to touch you. You're a witch and the prince's bride."
Leila crossed her arms. "I'm not worried about myself, but what about all those other women who were 'harvested'? What happened to them?"
Cheri sighed and turned away. Rachel slipped back into the bathroom. She had known there would be a lot of adjustments to be made, especially where Leila was concerned, but they had been with the vampires for several weeks now and, if anything, her sister was getting more difficult.
The question of the other girls, where they came from and where they were now, still nagged at Rachel, but she preferred to concentrate on what was right before her.
Becky seemed to be adjusting to life with them. Like the sisters, she had no other family and was one step from living on the streets when the vampires took her. It was the same story with Cheri, who had been brought into Henry's life almost seventy years ago. So far, only Leila was holding out from starting to accept Henry into their lives. She spent her days in her room with the kindle, reading her comics. Maybe if she would actually make the effort to get to know Henry…
Shaking her head, Rachel changed back into the red dress that Cheri liked. This was a big night for her, and she wanted everything to go perfectly. She had convinced Henry to take her for a walk around the underground lake that the vampire city was built around. It still amazed her that such wonders could be built under the surface. The lake seemed the perfect location to tell him the exciting news.
After Rachel was dressed, Becky helped her with her hair, and she was soon ready to go. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach, but she beamed when Henry came to pick her up. He was wearing an old-fashioned waistcoat with a ruffled shirt and blood-red ruby cufflinks. It was exactly how she remembered him.
The smile on his face was all she needed to know that with him was where she was meant to be.
"I brought these for you." He handed her a dozen black roses. "And these for my other br—"
Leila made a growling noise.
"Beautiful guests," Henry quickly amended. "And of course, my lovely Cheri."
He handed each other the other women a red rose. Leila took hers reluctantly, glaring daggers at Henry the whole time. Rachel sighed, but she knew it would take time. She just had to be patient. Leila would come around eventually.
***
Hundreds of fireflies danced over the water, reflecting in its dark ripples. It was like a sky of moving stars. Rachel beamed, her arm tucked into Henry's. She was always surprised by how cold his skin was, more like a statue than ice. Her temperature had always run hot, and sleeping with him at night cooled her enough to have the piles of blankets on her that she loved.
"Henry, I have to tell you something."
The prince stopped. Streetlamps dotted the area, lighting the smile on his face. "Yes?"
"I know that it's only been a few weeks," she started, and the butterflies started dancing the cha cha. "But you know how I can see the future sometimes."
"How could I forget?" Henry laughed. "But don't talk about it in public. I haven't told my father yet."
"Well… it's how I know that I'm pregnant."
She held her breath despite herself, excited for his reaction, yet nervous, too. It was something she had never been permitted to see in her visions, how the love of her life reacted to hearing that they were going to be parents. She had imagined it so much…
But she never thought that his face would darken and that he would practically tear himself away from her. She stumbled, losing her balance from his sudden departure. Her eyes widened as she caught herself on the lamppost. Henry stared at her as though she had just announced his death. She stared back, bewildered.
"Henry?"
"You're pregnant?" His voice was hard but audibly shook. "So who's the father? Is that why you were so eager to get here because you were pregnant and wanted to make me think it was mine?"
Rachel gasped, too shocked to respond.
"And you know you're pregnant because of your visions? Ha! You were already pregnant when you got here!"
It was like steel seeped into her blood. Rachel felt herself going rigid and her hands curled into fists. He thought she was using him? But her visions…. they were meant to be together. She tried to keep a lid on her temper. He didn't know her, not the way she knew him. It was only natural for him to have his doubts.
"Just admit it!" His voice rang through the air.
Magic flowed from her before she could stop it. A wave of blue light emanated from her body, picking up Henry and throwing him twenty feet. He landed hard, bracing his hands to catch himself. A sickening crunch rang through the air and Rachel gasped. She ran to his side, her eyes filling with tears.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to. I don't always have control of my magic. Are you hurt?"
Henry winced as he sat up. "I'm fine."
"I'm pregnant and the child is yours, Henry," she whispered. "I don't understand why you don't believe me."
Henry glanced up at her, but the fire vanished from his eyes when he took in the tears rolling down her face. He touched her cheek, his shoulders hunching. "It's not that I don't believe you, sweetheart. I'm sorry for my reaction. I shouldn't have… The truth is that I didn't want to believe you."
Rachel flinched. "Why?" she whispered, her voice plaintive. "I've been so excited for so long… I was certain you would be just as excited. Is it because I'm human? Because I'm a witch? Or is it because I'm a Seer and your father will be angry?"
"No. No, it's none of that." Henry shook his head. "Vampires can't have children."
"But—"
"What I should say is that vampires can't have children under normal circumstances. Royalty is the exception to the rule. Our hearts might beat slowly, but unlike the others, they do beat."
Rachel hesitantly put a hand on his knee. Henry's shoulders sagged, his head bowed. What could be so awful that it would affect him this way? The exception to the rule, he had said. Was this pregnancy going to kill her? She hadn't seen the baby's birth. Coldness filled her, freezing the butterflies that had been in her stomach moments before. Was she going to die?
"For as far back as our memories allow, our kings have only had one child. A son." Henry pressed a trembling hand to Rachel's stomach. "But they were always born when the king was only a prince. As soon as the current prince has an heir to replace him with, the old king dies within a year." He rested his forehead against hers. "If you're pregnant with my child, it means my father is going to die."
Rachel gasped. "I had no idea."
"It's worse than that." A lone tear ran down Henry's cheek. "I love my father. But it was prophesized at my birth that I would be the one to kill him."
Rachel wrapped her arms around him. No wonder he had reacted as he had! It was bad enough to know that this baby heralded the end of his father's life, but to know that the man who he loved was going to die by his own hand? She shuddered, imagining what it would be like if it was her and Leila in that situation.
"What do I do? Oh, God, what do I do?" Henry clung to her, burying his face in her shoulder.
Rachel stroked his hair, trying her best to comfort him. She knew there was no comfort, not in this situation, but she was desperate to find a way to give him a measure of peace nonetheless. If only her visions were more controllable, less vague, she would be able to peer into the future and see exactly what the circumstances of the current king's death would be.
She had tried in the past to gain control of her visions. Sometimes she almost thought she had it. But in the end it had only ever made her sick, sometimes so badly that it put her in the hospital, and she had never been able to catch more than confusing glimpses in her waking state.
"These things are confusing," she said. "Sometimes visions don't happen exactly how they are seen. Sometimes they are more metaphorical than anything else. Perhaps the prophecy doesn't mean what you have always been led to believe, Henry. And even if it was seen that you would kill your father, the future isn't set in stone. It can change. Maybe it has changed."
Henry's arms tightened around her.
"And as for the baby… do you… do you want me to terminate the pregnancy?" The words were like claws of iron ripping from her throat. She had so longed for this child. But what if this was why she had never remembered feeling it move inside her when she had her visions? Was this as far as it was going to go?
"I don't know." Henry's voice was dull and lifeless. "We need to tell my father. He'll know what to do."
Rachel nodded. "Whatever happens… I love you."
Henry stroked her face and brushed a kiss on her lips. "I love you, too."