I scowl at him and keep walking. I want to get out of here as quickly as possible. I gave him way too much, but it was the only way to get what I wanted from him.
Jerrick and Vito are hot on my heels as I head straight for the door and amidst queries about what happened, I leave them behind as I Faerie transport myself back to the border and Sebastian.
He is pacing when I land and he stops and grabs my arms, crushing me to him and taking in a deep breath in the process. He pulls back, puzzled, but before he can say anything, I stop him.
“I don’t want to talk about it. We came to an agreement, end of story. Got it?” I say.
He nods but peers at me curiously, knowing that something is off.
I decide to keep the news of my baby to myself for now. It would do no good to start telling and have no idea who needs to step up and claim him or her. I mentally shake my head at myself. I don’t want to admit it, but Thrace was right to be distasteful.
“I want to see Drake and then go home,” I say as Vito and Jerrick finally catch up with me.
“Of course,” Sebastian mumbles and takes my hand and, doing his own puff-of-smoke thing, transports us back to Drake’s palace.
“Well?” Drake booms at us as we land in the Entrance Hall and then growls at my appearance.
He looks like he has been impatiently waiting for us to return. I Shift and his face relaxes a tiny bit.
“He will help. He said he would contact you shortly to start your planning,” I say.
“Good,” he says and then innocently looks away and asks, “And his price?”
“Nothing I wasn’t prepared to offer him but have no intention of giving him,” I say and have several sets of interested eyes land on me.
“What did you offer him?” Sebastian asks.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” I say.
“What?” he thunders at me and Drake is about to start bellowing at me as well.
“His request was expected, but like I said, I have no intention of keeping my promise,” I say hastily and wonder what is going on. Why are they so upset? They exchange a solemn look and Drake takes me to the side.
“Aeval, what did you promise him?” he asks quietly.
I look back at Sebastian and then turn back to Drake and say, “I don’t know what the big deal is. He asked for the Faerie baby, but over my dead body will he ever get to father a child with me,” I add vehemently so that everyone knows I am not some crazy slut. It’s bad enough that Thrace said it out loud and to my face and I don’t care about his opinion.
“No, Aeval, no!” Drake moans. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Aefre,” Sebastian says as he takes my hand. “You have made a grave error.”
“Why?” I ask, the dread suddenly starting to seep in.
“You swore an oath to him to be the mother of his child,” Sebastian says in anguish.
“It’s just words,” I say heatedly. “I didn’t mean it.”
“It is a blood oath, Princess,” Drake says, looking paler than usual. “He is going to shed blood for you in exchange for what you have offered him. By our law, it is binding.”
“What?” I ask. “That’s… that’s…”
Oh, crap.
I put my hand to my mouth as four very serious faces stare back at me. “No!” I exclaim, shaking my head. “I don’t consent, he cannot have me if I don’t consent.”
“It’s too late,” Drake says sadly. “There is nothing we can do.”
I stare at him in silence and then at Sebastian who opens his mouth and then closes it again.