Underwater

Chapter 17: The Seal

"Ah!" Reina, who had been half-awake, gasped. Her husband jolted awake beside her.

"Reina? What's wrong?" he asked, his tone panicked.

She made a wild grab for his hand, then placed it on her bare baby bump, his large hand spanning almost the entirety of the bulge. A few moments passed. Delwyn opened his mouth to ask what was going on, as the baby moved once again, a fluttering beneath the skin of her stomach. His eyes widened as he looked at her.

"It's-" Delwyn started to say as their baby then kicked his hand. He burst out laughing. "He's so energetic."

They sat together for a few moments, feeling for more movement in her womb, laughing in harmony each time they felt the protrusion jolt. The baby stilled and Reina leaned against the hollow of Delwyn's collarbone, sighing softly.

"What's wrong?" He kissed her forehead, then rubbed his cheek against the skin his lips had been pressed against.

"Delwyn... I've been thinking about this for a while and I think... I think I want to add another term to the contract."

She felt his entire body stiffen beside her.

"It's about the baby," she added, but he didn't relax. She lifted her head so that she could look into his eyes as he spoke, to make him understand how important this new term would be to her. "I... I don't want the baby to be ignored. I don't want you to leave it in a corner of the palace to waste away. I can't..." Reina closed her eyes as pain flashed across her features. "...I can't bear the thought of the baby going through the same thing I did."

She opened her eyes and met his concerned aqua ones, shining so brightly that it felt like it was illuminating the dark room.

"But I understand that it might be impossible. Once you and Sylvia have children, you might not have enough love leftover for this baby. And if that happens... I want you to let me have him or her. Let me take it to the surface. We won't bother you – we can add a term to the contract that specifies that if it's a boy, he won't have any rights to the throne. If you want, you can even banish him permanently so that he can't enter Aquina anymore. I would rather that than have my child neglected."

In the beginning, Reina had thought of having the baby as something akin to duty, one that she had been aware of since she was a child. As a member of House Evenstad, she was required to have at least two children to ensure the Evenstad bloodline did not die out. As someone who lacked emotional awareness, Reina also never thought she would get attached to the child. Which was why the thought of leaving the baby by itself in Aquina after she divorced Delwyn hadn't bothered her in the slightest. Yet, as the days passed and she felt the life grow inside her... her fear of the child becoming neglected grew. She wanted to protect it. She didn't want it to suffer as she did.

"Reina... this baby is mine too. In the end, he's a member of the royal family. He deserves to be here."

She shook her head fervently. "Delwyn, you said that you had no intention of recognizing it as your own. If that's the case, then it won't be a member of the royal family, will it?"

"Reina, I know I said a lot of things before, but I don't feel that way anymore. This is my first child. I don't think it's possible for me not to love him. I already adore him and he's not even left his mother's womb yet."

"But nevertheless, Delwyn, you've already told the whole empire exactly that. Even if you release a statement tomorrow saying that you take it back, it's too late. The mere fact that the child belongs to your ex-wife, the dirt-walker..." Reina sighed. "This child won't have a good life here, would it?"