Counting Stars at Dawn

33: Undeserving Of My Apology

"I'm so sorry." Artemis whimpered quietly as he rubbed his stomach. "I wish it weren't like this."

The king consort rose from the chair carefully and left the conference room. He wiped his tears away with his hands and exhaled carefully.

Hades seemed to be nowhere near him and this only aggravated Artemis's mood.

All night, Hades was acting strange. He was jumping from task to task instead of sticking to him like glue like he had all pregnancy long.

At first, Artemis didn't think much of it, only that he was busy and maybe he himself was overreacting. Because Artemis hadn't been going to Sapphire since the fourth month of pregnancy, he was bored a lot more often without work to do.

However, Hades was suspiciously busy tonight. Every time Artemis ran into him he appeared to be in a rush and his work started sounding like an excuse to him. It was as if Hades was avoiding Artemis.

Artemis walked slowly through the halls, not quite sure where he was going. The baby kicked and stirred occasionally and Artemis would lean on the walls for support.

With Hades' behavior and the meeting he just had, Artemis felt a large wave of loneliness wash over him.

Even if Artemis was a vampire now, he still wasn't a full member of their society. He could still be rejected, be hated. The kingdom could decide Artemis wasn't good enough to be part of their royalty. They could still hate him and treat him like an outsider.

"Your majesty?" Artemis heard Dia's voice say from down the hall.

"Dia." Artemis looked up at her.

She approached him quickly and looked concerned at him.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"I'm okay, just not so much emotionally." Artemis's voice quivered and he looked at the ground.

"Would you like me to keep you company your highness?"

"Yes please."

Dia walked with Artemis and they ended up heading for the gardens. As they walked, Artemis shared his worries with his handmaid.

"It just makes me feel so lonely, the fact that no one can fix these laws and it all rests on me. I know I can't control the gender of the baby, but everyone still makes me feel like I should." Artemis said. "If I don't have a boy, it will all be my fault and I'm expected to fix it."

"I'm sorry that's how things are, your highness." Dia opened the doors of the garden for him. "I can't provide much advice, but I'm sure the queen could. She must have gone through this hardship and felt similarly when she was first pregnant."

Dia helped Artemis sit on an ivory bench and he stared at the black barks of the cherry blossom trees of the garden. They heard footsteps tap on the ground behind them and Hades approached them carefully.

"Dia, would you mind leaving us alone for a bit? I need to talk to Artemis." Hades looked between her and his husband.

Dia nodded and bowed before leaving. Artemis looked expectantly at Hades, but also in mild fright for his tone of voice.

"Have you been avoiding me all night on purpose?" Artemis spoke up first.

"I have, I'm terribly sorry I did that." Hades sighed and rubbed the back of his neck before sitting next to Artemis. "I was avoiding you cause I knew if I was around you all day I'd be tempted to tell you. To be quite honest, I wasn't sure I should, but I talked with my mother just now and she pretty much made me tell you."