Claimed by the Elven King: Part Four Read Online Free

plausible.
You have proved more perceptive than I had initially thought possible, so I
believe you have noticed that the king’s features are very different compared
to the Sidhe men around him. The ancient texts mention this as a
characteristic of a true half-blood.”
    I reluctantly nodded. His face did look a little less alien than all
the other elves I had seen.
    “For a half-blood to conceive a child with a human—could that child
even be considered a Sidhe? You must understand that the people will
never accept such a creature to sit on the elven throne.”
    “It seems the only way ‘the people’ would even know that my baby was
different than they expected was if you told them your suspicions about
Sethian’s parentage,” I said coldly. “Suspicions, I might add, that you can’t
even prove.”
    The queen’s eyes narrowed. “The elven realm is no place for a human.
You cannot possibly understand the turmoil you will cause once your pregnancy
becomes public. The very act will open the gates for more of your kind to flood
this realm to introduce more tainted children to those who are too desperate to
care. The healers of my people are so close to finally finding the method of
safely removing the human genes from our genome. Are you so selfish to deny all
the women of this realm a chance to have a child of their blood?”
    Her words hit me like a well-aimed slap to the face. No matter that she
had chosen to deliver them in the bluntest way possible, it didn’t take away
the uncomfortable fact that there was some truth in them.
    “What is it you want me to do by telling me all this?” I demanded,
suddenly feeling as tired as I had yesterday and unwilling to play this game
with her any longer.
    The look of triumph in her eyes that she couldn’t quite hide had me
instantly regretting my words. “What is right. Return to your own realm, on
this very day before the king returns to these rooms.”
    I sucked in a sharp, startled breath. “Even if I wanted to, which I
absolutely don’t just so we’re clear, I can’t exist completely in the
human realm anymore because of the changes to my body, right?”
    “My family has a mage with the ability to return you to your previous
form. The king will be told that you miscarried, that you came to me heartsick
and asking for help to leave the realm, unable to bear the thought of facing
him.”
    For a long moment, I stared at her, frozen in utter disbelief of her
audacity. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what having such an extreme
transformation to my entire body would do to a baby at such a fragile stage of
development. That she would even propose something so horrible as calmly as if
we were discussing a change of clothes was just so…so…
    “Get out!” I snarled. To hell with court etiquette! There was no way I
was going to let her get away with even thinking something so despicable.
“I don’t care if you are the queen. If you’re not out of this room in
two seconds, I’ll scream for the guards! I may not outrank you, but my baby does .
If it’s for the heir’s welfare, then I’m sure no one will object to my throwing
you out of here, least of all Sethian! How dare you even suggest something
that would hurt my baby!”
    The queen suddenly stepped towards the bed and grabbed my upper arm
before I could flinch away. “Hurt? I am trying to help you, you foolish
child!” she hissed, squeezing my arm tightly. “There are many things the king
has failed to tell you out of his own selfish desire for a child. He knows very
well the trouble this half-blood child will bring to the stability of the elven
court. Why do you think that he keeps you locked away and guarded as closely as
the royal coffers? You have no idea of the forces that are currently moving
around you. Soon you will be begging to be sent home!”
    “Your pregnancy will change everything. ”
    I wrenched my arm from her grip, Sethian’s words from last night
echoing ominously in my mind.