Predatory Marriage

Predatory Marriage — Chapter 223. Pregnant (1)

Translator: Atlas / Editor: Regan

As soon as he found Morga, Haban threw the sorcerer over one shoulder and tore off again at incredible speed, without even pausing for an explanation. Even though he was being abducted in the middle of the night, Morga offered no resistance. The expression on Haban’s face was explanation enough.

In the moonlit villa in the peach orchard, everyone was still sleeping. Haban darted up the stairs and through the corridors to drop Morga off in front of the door. And then he stopped, gripping the doorknob.

Haban was afraid.

Slowly, he opened the door, revealing a room dimly lit by moonlight and oil lamps. All was silent, and Leah lay in the center of the stifling space. Her face was pale and it looked as if she wasn’t even breathing, her body lying as still as a doll’s. Ishakan sat beside her, gripping her hands as if he feared she would leave him if he let go.

Slowly, he turned his eyes toward Morga. The bright gold had dimmed.

“She…has bled…” The king said brokenly.

Morga’s heart skipped a beat. Walking over to the bed, he bent to examine Leah. She had a pulse, though it was weak.

But there was something strange. Morga took out a potion and drank it down, then performed a simple spell to heighten his senses. His eyes flickered as he continued his examination.

He wasn’t sure how he should explain. It was going to be a difficult conversation.

“She seems to have bled due to an abortifacient,” he began. Haban’s, Genin’s and Mura’s eyes grew wide.

“In, in that case…she was pregnant…” Mura began desperately.

Silently, Morga nodded, and all the Kurkans froze.

“Fortunately, Leah and the baby are safe,” he added immediately.

No one rejoiced. Only heavy silence followed until Mura turned away, covering her mouth with her hand, and Haban held as she cried, closing his eyes. Genin only nodded.

“It is a miracle,” Morga concluded. The abortifacient would have been fatal to any normal baby, even a Kurkan baby. Only Ishakan’s baby could have survived. “But we can’t hope for more miracles. We have to do something else now.”

Leah was in serious condition. She had not been sleeping or eating well, and she had been ingesting that abortifacient for who knew how long. It was incredible that her body had endured for so long. She must have survived from sheer will. –

“It seems that she has been fighting hard,” Morga went on. “She probably doesn’t realize it, but maybe she has been instinctively trying to protect her baby. I think…” Morga tried to speak calmly. “I think it would be best to keep it a secret from her.”

She didn’t remember anything from the past. Sudden news that she was pregnant would be a terrible shock, and she was already so weak. It would risk her body and the baby in her womb. It was even possible that Leah, who was still wrapped in so many spells, might tell Cerdina about her pregnancy.

In any case, the wedding was coming soon. They could keep the secret until then and tell her the truth once she had returned to the desert. Morga calculated the dates. Unlike the nine month gestation of human babies, Kurkan babies were born after eight months.

Fortunately, it seemed possible for this infant to reach the stabilization stage.

“I’ll prepare an antidote first,” Morga said. Ishakan did not reply. Morga hesitated, lips pursed, and then gestured to Mura. She took the hint.

“I will prepare other meals that the Queen can eat when she wakes up,” she said quickly. “Light meals.”

Gently, she tugged Haban’s arm, and he nudged Genin.

“We’ll leave…for the time being,” she added, hesitating. Ishakan still had not replied. He just sat, gazing at Leah. Even after all the other Kurkans had closed the door and disappeared, he remained where he was with his eyes on his queen, unmoving.

***