Chapter 4

Marina's POV

Two months had passed since I returned to the settlement, and my body finally confirmed what I'd been waiting for.

I was pregnant.

The healer pressed her hand against my belly and smiled. "Congratulations, Marina. You're carrying a child."

Around me, other women who'd returned from their journeys were getting the same news. The settlement buzzed with excitement and nervous energy. Babies were coming, new life was on the way.

But underneath all the joy there was this quiet fear nobody wanted to say out loud.

What if they're all girls again?

I heard the whispers at night, saw the worried glances between the elders. Our settlement hadn't seen a male child in over a hundred years. Every pregnancy ended the same way, another daughter, another generation of women with no sons.

The months crawled by. One by one, the other pregnant women gave birth.

All girls.

Every single one.

The celebrations grew more strained with each birth. People smiled and cooed over the babies, but I could see the disappointment in their eyes.

My pregnancy stretched on. Nine months passed, then ten. The other women had all delivered, and I was still waiting.

"Marina's taking so long," I heard someone whisper in the square. "Something must be wrong."

Elder Maren visited me in my room, her face creased with worry. "How are you feeling, child?"

"Fine," I said. "Still waiting."

"We're all waiting." She squeezed my hand. "Hoping this time will be different."

The contractions started on a cold night when the moon was barely a sliver in the sky.

I'd been lying awake, one hand on my swollen belly, when the first wave of pain hit. It stole my breath and I had to bite down on my lip to keep from crying out.

By the time the midwife arrived, half the settlement was crowded outside my door.

"Everyone out!" The midwife barked. "Give her space!"

But they didn't leave. I could hear them through the thin walls, their voices rising and falling with my screams.

The pain was worse than I remembered. In my previous life I'd given birth so many times I'd lost count, but this was different. This was my first time in this body, and every muscle felt like it was tearing apart.

"Push, Marina! Push!"

I gripped the rough wood of my bed frame and pushed with everything I had.

Hours blurred together. The candles burned down and were replaced. The midwife's voice became a constant rhythm in my ear.

Finally, finally, I felt the release.

A baby's cry split the air.

The midwife caught the infant, and for a moment the entire room went silent. She stared down at the baby in her hands, her eyes wide.

"It's..." Her voice cracked. "It's a boy."

The words hung in the air.

Then someone outside screamed, "A boy! It's a boy!"

The door burst open and people flooded in, all talking at once, hands reaching, voices shouting. Elder Maren pushed through the crowd and stared at my baby with tears streaming down her face.

"A boy," she whispered. "After a hundred years... a boy."

The midwife cleaned him and wrapped him in cloth, then placed him in my arms.

I looked down at his tiny face and something in my chest cracked open. He was so small, so perfect. His eyes were closed and his little fists waved in the air.

My son.

"What will you name him?" Elder Maren asked.

"Ash." I touched his soft cheek. "His name is Ash."

The celebration lasted all night. People danced in the square, sang songs, cried with joy. Some of the older women kept coming to my room just to look at Ash, like they couldn't believe he was real.

Four days later, Elder Maren summoned me to her quarters.

"Marina." She gestured for me to sit. "I've been thinking. You've given us something precious, something we desperately needed."

"Thank you, Elder."

"I want to ask you to consider..." She hesitated. "Going out again. Finding another man. If you can bear sons, then we need more. The settlement needs more."

I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could speak, the door slammed open.

A dragon servant stood in the doorway, his silver armor gleaming. The temperature in the room seemed to drop.

"I bring a message from Lady Coral," he announced. "She is with child and requires Marina's presence at the Dragon Palace to attend to her during her confinement."

Elder Maren's face went pale. "The Lady honors us with this request."

"It is not a request." The servant's eyes were cold. "Marina will come immediately."

Elder Maren turned to me, her earlier request completely forgotten. "This is... this is a great honor, Marina. You must go at once."

"Of course." I stood, cradling Ash. "When do I leave?"

"Now. Bring the child."

I packed quickly, my mind racing. So Coral is pregnant already. That was fast.

As I walked to the carriage, Elder Maren caught my arm. "Be careful, child. The Dragon Palace is not like here."

I know, I thought. I know exactly what it's like.

The servant barely glanced at Ash as we climbed into the carriage. To him, my son was just another mixed-blood, not worth noticing.

The Dragon Palace hadn't changed. Same towering walls, same oppressive atmosphere that made you feel small just by existing there.

Coral's chambers were lavish, all silk and gold and precious stones. She was reclining on a mountain of pillows when the servants brought me in.

"Sister." She didn't smile. "Come here."

I walked forward, Ash in my arms.

"Let me see him." She held out her hands and I had no choice but to pass him over.

She examined Ash like he was livestock, turning him this way and that, pressing her fingers against his chest and forehead.

She was checking his bloodline. Searching for any trace of dragon power.

After what felt like forever, she handed him back. Her smile was sharp and satisfied.

"Just a common mixed-blood," she said. "No dragon blood at all. How disappointing for you, Marina."

"Yes, sister."

"I was worried, you know." She settled back into her pillows. "Worried you might have done something clever. But I see you're still as useless as ever."

I lowered my head. "I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"Don't apologize. It makes you sound even more pathetic." She waved her hand. "You'll stay in the servants' quarters. You'll attend to me when I call. And you'll remember your place."

"Yes, sister."

"You can go now. Take your little bastard with you."

The servants' quarters were cramped and dark, but at least they were private. I laid Ash in a makeshift crib and watched him sleep.

Weeks passed. Coral's belly grew and her temper grew with it. She screamed at servants, threw things, demanded impossible luxuries. Thalassos was rarely around and when he was, he barely looked at her.

I kept my head down and did my work. Changed her sheets. Brought her food. Listened to her insults.

And waited.

The night she went into labor, they dragged me from my bed.

"The Lady is delivering," a servant hissed. "You're to attend."

The birthing room was huge and bright with candles everywhere. Coral was on the bed, sweating and screaming. Dragon midwives surrounded her, their faces impassive.

Thalassos stood by the window in his human form, watching with cold eyes.

I was shoved into a corner and told to bring towels, fetch water, make myself useful.

Hours dragged by. Coral's screams got worse. The midwives worked efficiently, their movements practiced and precise.

Finally, the baby came.

A midwife caught it, cleaned it quickly. The room held its breath.

"Mixed-blood," she announced flatly. "No dragon essence."

Coral was still panting, still recovering, when Thalassos moved. He crossed the room in three strides and took the baby from the midwife's hands.

Then he shifted.

His body exploded outward, scales erupting, wings spreading. In seconds he was in his dragon form, massive and golden and terrifying in the enclosed space.

Coral screamed. "No! Wait! Please—"

He didn't wait. His massive claw closed around the infant and slammed it against the stone floor.

The crack echoed through the room.

Blood splattered across the white sheets and the marble tiles and my face.

The baby didn't cry. It didn't move. It was just... gone.

Coral's scream was inhuman. She lunged forward, trying to reach her child, but the midwives held her back.

"Not pure dragon blood," Thalassos said, his voice echoing through the chamber. He shifted back to human form, completely unbothered by the blood on his hands. "It has no right to live."

"My baby!" Coral sobbed. "My baby, my baby, please—"

He walked out without another word.

The midwives cleaned up the blood. The servants carried away the small, broken body. Coral collapsed back on the bed, her hands clutching at the empty space where her child should have been.

I stood frozen in my corner. I'd known this would happen. I'd known. But seeing it, watching that tiny life ended so casually...

Slowly, I walked to Coral's bedside. She was curled up, shaking, tears streaming down her face.

"Sister," I said quietly.

She looked up at me with eyes that were shattered.

"Do you want to know the truth?"