CHAPTER 17

VIENNE

Waking up had never felt so strange before.

I swear, my mind had been blanketed with cotton, and every sense was working desperately to make its way through the thick, fluffy layer. Voices sounded muffled, thoughts felt muffled, even the lights behind my closed eyelids seemed dimmer than usual.

But then I heard the cry, the sweet yearning wail of a hungry infant—my infant—and reality slammed back into me with a vengeance.

My baby.

My baby needed me.

I woke wholly, eyes springing open and senses zinging back to full working order with a ferociousness that made me wince, for what had been muffled before suddenly seemed doubled in intensity. The light from a nearby burning hearth made me wince from how brightly it flamed, and the voices of at least four people hovering around me made my ears want to bleed for peace. A searing pain in my abdomen caused me to gnash my teeth, not to mention it smelled right foul in here, like blood and human remains.

Through it all, the crying child is what captured my attention.

“My baby,” I tried to say, but for some reason my throat felt shredded, and my voice was a weak croak.

“She’s awake,” someone exclaimed. It sounded like Nicolette, but why anyone would let the teen into my birthing room, I didn’t know. She was much too young to be involved in such a matter.

A second later, three faces appeared in front of me: two strangers and then my sister.

“Vienne?” Yasmin’s voice trembled. “Are you okay? Can you talk?”

Of course I could talk. I’d just asked for my baby, hadn’t I? Why wasn’t anyone handing me my baby?

The two strangers were older, healers from the look of them.

“She should get more rest,” one said, while the other shook her head.

“We need to examine her fully. This is completely unprecedented. We need to take note of her vitals and record the phenomenon.”

What phenomenon? Certainly one more woman in the realm birthing yet another baby wasn’t that phenomenal.

I started to sit up, figuring if no one was going to bring me my baby I’d just have to go fetch the child myself.

But that move sent the entire room into a tizzy. “~No~!”

I swear, ten different sets of hands reached out to strap me back to the bed, and there were only four other people in the room. Weren’t there? I glanced around to count. Two healers, my sister, and Nicolette, who was approaching with a swaddled bundle in her arms.

Oh, thank God. Someone was bringing me my baby.

“Here you go, Vienne. I have her for you.”

“Bless you,” I said, already reaching toward the young princess, eager to get my hands full.

Once the wiggling warmth was secure in my arms, the restless anxiety inside me calmed. I looked upon the face of my child, and tears filled my eyes.

“My God, what a precious little bundle. Isn’t this the most perfect baby you’ve ever seen? She’s astonishing.”

I looked up to share my joy with anyone willing to smile with me, but I was surprised to find Yasmin, Nicolette, and both healers staring at me as if I were mad.

“What’s wrong?” I asked with a slight frown, only to look back at the baby.

She was okay.

Wasn’t she?

“You…” Nicolette shook her head and cleared her throat. “You’ve already held the baby once. Do you not remember?”

I frowned, trying to recall such a moment. “No,” I said. “When was that?”

“When…” Nicolette glanced hesitantly toward the other three before turning back to me. “Directly after…after… You know.”

“After giving birth?” I asked.

No one answered. They just blinked at me.

“What?” I asked, glancing between them, not liking how left out I felt. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

I set the child on my lap and began to unwrap her so I could examine her fully. But Nicolette rushed to reassure me. “Yes, yes, of course, she’s fine. The baby’s perfect.”

I glanced up, frowning. “Then what am I missing here?”

Yasmin shook her head and moved forward, reaching for my baby. “Never mind that. You should get more rest. Let the healers deal with the child for the time being.”

I moved back, away from her, taking my baby with me. The bundle squirmed in my arms and started to fuss. “No, I want to keep her. She needs to be fed.”

“You need to take care of ~yourself~, Vienne,” Yasmin said more firmly.

I blinked at her. “Not that I’m complaining, Sister, but you’re being uncharacteristically kind to me. I promise you, I’m fine. Women give birth to babies every day. Stop acting as if I’m going to drop dead any second and let me take care of my own child.”

“Well, you ~did~ drop dead,” Yasmin snapped, glaring back. “So excuse me for caring.”

Her scowl and pale face and the trembling in her lips made me pause. Finally, I said, “What did you just say?”

“I said you ~died~,” she burst out with more violence, tears streaming down her face. She pushed them roughly off her cheeks with the swipe of her hand. “When you gave birth, you died.”

I shook my head, not understanding. “You’re rambling. I’m right here. I’m not dead.” I looked down at my hand that was holding my baby. At least I hoped I didn’t look this pasty pale and swollen in the next life.

“But you ~were~,” she insisted. “You were dead. And then ~he~ brought you back.”

“~He~? What?” I shook my head. “Can you speak in a language I understand, because you’re not making any sense?”

“You ~died~, Vienne!” she screamed, gaping at me as if I were the one who’d lost my mind. “I can’t say it any clearer than that. You died giving birth. On this very bed. I was right beside you, holding your hand, and you just… You died. I saw the life ~drain~ from your eyes. Your grip on my hand went slack. The baby cried and you did nothing. You…were…dead.”

My lips parted, not because I believed her, but because I could see she fully believed ~herself~.

I turned toward Nicolette and the two healers. They all three nodded, confirming my sister’s mad story.

“And then…and then…” Yasmin shook her head as if grappling to make sense of her own tale. “Then ~he~ burst through the doorway. And he kissed you, and it… It brought you back to life.”

I blinked at her. For some reason, I remembered a kiss. Warm pressure on my lips, air filling my lungs, life returning to my body, a voice in my head, begging me to come back.

Wondering for the first time if maybe she was telling the truth, I whispered, “~Who~ kissed me?”

“Him,” she sputtered, waving her hand frantically around me. “Your one true love. Who ~else~ could give you true love’s kiss and bring you back to life after you died?”

“True love’s kiss?” I repeated, shaking my head. “You don’t mean ~Soren~, do you?” Eww. The very idea that Soren was my one true love made me wrinkle my nose in distaste.

“Good God, ~no~,” Yasmin muttered, slapping a hand to her forehead before groaning. “Do you honestly believe Soren of all people is your one true love?”

“Well…no,” I said slowly. “But I have no idea who else you’re talking about.”

“Urban,” she growled, widening her eyes as if she couldn’t believe I hadn’t already been aware. “Urban ~Bjorn~.”

I shook my head, more lost now than I’d been at the beginning of her rambling, confusing story. “You mean Allera’s brother? The prince of High Cliff?”

She lifted her hands in frustration. “You seriously didn’t know?”

“Know ~what~?” I asked, gaping at her. “That Prince Urban is my…? No. You’re wrong. ~He’s~ not my one true love. He can’t be. The man hasn’t said a single word to me since he arrived in Donnelly.”

“Apparently, he didn’t ~need~ to speak with you to recognize you as his soul mate.” She tapped the side of her eye. “Not with that handy little love mark of his.”

“Are you completely mad?” I asked. “This story isn’t even remotely funny.”

I turned to Nicolette, hoping she’d back me up, but she merely looked worried as she darted wide-eyed glances between me and my sister.

“It wasn’t funny when it happened either,” Yasmin muttered. “Soren nearly killed him. Then Caulder almost had him executed. Hell, he still might. They’re having a trial for him as we speak. I wouldn’t be surprised if they exiled him from Donnelly at the very least. And his lying sister along with him.”

“What?! He is?” Nicolette asked, her lips parting with worry. “I didn’t know that.”

I blinked at them, confused. “Wait. Exiled? Executed? But… Why? What did he do wrong?”

“He ~kissed~ you. Have you not been paying attention to a single thing I’ve been saying? The man bonded himself to you without telling anyone about it, and then…then… He put his mouth on yours…right in front of all of us.”

“To ~save~ her,” Nicolette added harshly. “He only kissed her to bring her back to life.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Yasmin spat back, glaring at the princess. “She isn’t his to handle. She belongs to Soren, and the High Cliff bastard had no right to touch her.”

I stared between the two women, unable to quite believe what they were saying. I tried to think back to the prince of High Cliff and get any sense that ~I~ was his one true love, but…I hadn’t even thought he liked me, much less loved me. He’d certainly never talked to me, and the few times we’d shared eye contact…

Well, okay. So the few times we’d shared eye contact had been intense. But that by no means meant we were… No. It couldn’t mean we were in any way bonded. Besides, he’d already met his one true love. He’d confessed as much to Nicolette on the very night he’d arrived in Donnelly. He’d recently seen his soul mate from across the room and never talked to her because she was already…

Oh.

Oh dear.

“Vienne,” Nicolette beseeched, coming to my side and gripping my arm. “He’s going to get into a lot of trouble for doing what he did to help you unless you vouch for him.”

“Vouch for him?” I repeated blankly. “How? I don’t know anything about him. What am I supposed to say?”

“You say you didn’t know,” Nicolette urged. “And you didn’t, right? You had no idea that his mark had chosen you to be his one true love?”

“Of course I had no idea, but—”

“So, he never told you? He never approached you about it? He never tried to tempt you away from your wedding vows? He respected the fact you were married, and he stayed away, right? He was honorable and kept his distance—”

Yasmin snorted. “Until he broke into her bedchamber and ~kissed~ her mere hours ago, you mean.”

Nicolette shot her a heated glance before turning her attention back to me. “He’s on trial right now, as we speak. And I don’t want him to get hurt. He’s my ~friend~. So, please, give me something to tell Caulder so he doesn’t hurt Urban.”

“I…”

“Nicolette,” Yasmin snapped, grasping her arm and dragging her away from me. “Give her some space. She’s just woken up and is still disoriented.”

“No, wait!” I said, reaching for the princess, which caused the baby in my arms to let out a whimper of distress.

Yasmin let go of her sister-in-law, and Nicolette raced back to my side. I gripped her hand even as I leaned down to kiss the baby’s head, comforting her.

“Did he really bring me back from the dead?” I asked, still dazed by everything they were telling me.

Nicolette nodded fervently. “Yes. I was right here when it happened. It was the most… Oh my goodness. I’ve never seen anything like it, Vienne. You were gone, and then he kissed you, and you sucked in a breath and breathed again. It was amazing.”

I blinked, not sure how to process such news. Then I shook my head and squeezed her fingers tight. “Then please tell the king I knew nothing of this…nothing of the bond we supposedly share, and that…that the prince was honorable and respectful of my wedding vows. He never even talked to me. He never once acted on…on whatever draw he apparently feels toward me.”

It felt all wrong to even suggest that Prince Urban felt ~anything~ for me. He was a complete stranger. I knew next to nothing about him, and he knew next to nothing about me. How the hell were we supposed to be soul mates?

But that didn’t matter now. “I don’t want him to be punished for simply helping me.” And that at least was the truth. Whether the man was a stranger or not, no one should be punished for a kind deed rendered, especially since it had kept my daughter from growing up motherless.

Nicolette nodded frantically. “I will,” she promised. “I’ll tell him.”

“He should be thanked,” I added.

“Yes. Thank you, Vienne.” Nicolette leaned in and kissed my cheek. “And thank you for not dying. I don’t know what any of us would do without you.” She glanced once toward the baby, gently rubbed a single finger along the infant’s cheek, and then she was gone, racing from the room.

“I don’t think you should’ve gotten involved in all that,” Yasmin finally said once the princess had left.

I frowned at her.

She sniffed in disappointment. “You should’ve let them punish him and be done with it, because I have a bad feeling our troubles with ~both~ those High Cliff siblings are just beginning.”