<h4>Chapter 269: He Will Do Great Things</h4>


    Richard smirked. "Exhausting? Lucivar, you drank your way through half your councils, and somehow still managed to keep the kingdom standing. If that’s exhaustion, I’ll take a cup of it for myself."


    The two menughed together.


    "You did do one thing perfectly. You raised the king right. He will do great things. Hell, he’s already started."


    Lucivar’s lips curved in quiet pride. "Yes. Damien is everything I could not be." His chest tightened.


    "When do you leave?" Richard asked after a long pause, sensing the heaviness in the air.


    "After the ceremony, actually," Lucivar answered.


    Richard shook his head. "I’m going to miss you."


    Lucivar smirked faintly, masking his vulnerability with wit. "I’m going to miss me too."


    That earned a genuineugh from Richard, hearty enough to fill the room again. "Still arrogant, even with one foot out the door."


    Before Lucivar could retort, the doors creaked open and his butler entered. He bowed deeply. "My Lord, the queen has arrived."


    Lucivar straightened. He nodded once, dismissing the butler, and turned his gaze toward the doors as they swung open.


    Luna entered with the grace of moonlight slipping through stained ss.


    "Lord Lucivar. Lord Richard."


    Richard bowed at once, pressing a hand to his chest. "Your Highness." He straightened and gestured lightly toward the crib. "I came to take a look at the child. The assessment will begin tomorrow."


    "Nothing to worry about." Richard raised his hands in reassurance. "It is merely a gauging of his response to pure blood. The tests are harmless, though they must be carried out at different times of day, for the duration of three days."


    "I understand, Lord Richard. Thank you for exining." Her eyes softened as she moved closer to the crib, gazing down at her tiny heir.


    "I will walk Lord Richard out. You have fun with the baby. I know you have been itching to," Lucivar said.


    Luna chuckled softly, theugh carrying with it pride. "New mum syndrome," she admitted with a grin. She picked up the baby, kissed the tiny, perfect forehead reverently and whispered against his downy hair, "Thank you, your majesty, for not breaking your mother’s heart." She meant it—because this child, this heir, was proof that love, and fate had not all been cruel to her.


    Everything was falling into ce—at least, that’s what she told herself. Almost everything. There was still Isolde.


    She adjusted him carefully and gestured for Leora. "Please bring Morvakar to me," she requested. She wanted his counsel, hisfort, and—though she would never admit it aloud—his humor.


    The grand living room of Lucivar’s castle was flooded with morning light when she entered. She settled onto a high-backed chair, her child snug against her.


    Momentster, Morvakar appeared. His presence, as always, brought a subtle shift in the air.


    "Ah...someone is glowing," he announced.


    Luna chuckled, shaking her head. "Glowing? Try sleep-deprived."


    "Had enough naked time with the kingst night? Thought you wouldn’t get out of the bedroom for days." His grin was boyish, as though he enjoyed poking at her dignity.


    Luna raised a brow, fighting the urge tough. "Do you know how weird it is, me and you having this conversation right now?"


    Morvakar lifted both hands in mock surrender. "Sheesh... did the baby you’re holding drop from the sky? I think we both know how he got here."


    Rolling her eyes, Luna bounced her son gently in her arms. "I actually wanted to ask you something."


    "Shoot." He pulled up a chair and slouched into it.


    "Would you like to stay in Blood Castle," she asked, "or in the city?"


    Luna’s preference was clear—she wanted him close.


    Morvakar paused at her question. He didn’t want her to go through any trouble arranging residence for him when deep inside, he already knew he wasn’t going to stay. "I haven’t really thought about it yet," he admitted finally, scratching at his jaw as if that motion could hide the truth in his eyes. "I don’t even know what I am going to do with myself here, but for now I’ll keep staying with Lord Lucivar until I decide." He gave her an easy smile.


    "Right. Okay." Luna’s reply was brisk, but her shoulders tightened. She shifted her son in her arms, pressing her lips to his temple. "Just let me know immediately."


    "Sure," Morvakar said easily, then tilted his head. "But I do sense something is bothering you."


    "Nothing," Luna replied quickly. "Gabriel is defeated. I have my son. My husband is alive and well. No death in our nearest future. I’m happy..." She was happy, but happiness, she was learning, could beced with fear.


    Morvakar’s eyes narrowed slightly, catching the hesitation. "But?" he prompted.


    She exhaled slowly, fingers tightening on the baby’s swaddle. "You asked me the other day if Isolde is going to be a threat. I honestly don’t know. I feel like..." she stopped, pressing her lips together before sighing. "I don’t know how I’m feeling, truth be told." Her gaze flicked toward the window.


    "You’re jealous," Morvakar said tly. His lips curved into a smirk, but his eyes were dead serious.


    "I am not jealous," Luna shot back, bristling at the suggestion. Her spine straightened, her queen’s pride rising. "Not of her."


    "Then you are afraid," he countered smoothly. "You are not sure which bond is stronger—the one I made, or the one the Blood Goddess made."


    She hated how right he was. She wanted to believe in Morvakar’s bond but somewhere in the darkest corner of her heart, she feared the Goddess’s bond might eclipse everything they had built. That Damien might one day look at her not as his choice, but as his constion.


    "I guess so." Her gaze lingered on her son’s tiny fingers. "I promised Damien I’d help him fight it if the asion ever arises. He hasn’t given me any reason to doubt—he’s been nothing but devoted. But shouldn’t I get rid of the danger before it even grows wings? Before it soars into something I can’t control?"