Chapter 196

196 Chapter 196 : Are we having a baby?

That night Elric had a dream, a dream that haunted him every night after that. He would be standing in an open meadow, simple clothes on his body, his hair untied and a beautiful red haired woman who greatly resembled Melissa would be standing a stone through away from him.

But every time the lycan tried to reach her, there was an invisible force that would stop him, he would call to her asking her name and what she wanted, but all she did was give him a side smile and turn away.

As many nights passed and the fourteen days time period Gareth had given Elric grew shorter, the woman’s smile kept fading until finally in the eleventh day she didn’t smile at him anymore.

In the dream Elric had on the twelfth day, the woman wasn’t at the meadow, and for some reason it made him panic, he looked for her everywhere and could not find her. He was getting worried, what did her disappearance mean? Was it a bad omen of the incoming war with Gareth?

After searching frantically, Elric gave up and walked slowly towards the brook the woman frequented, and this time no force stopped him from reaching. When he reached the banks he threw his gaze to the other side and saw the woman standing there. She was facing him this time, and he could clearly see her face and body, she was absolutely beautiful.

The woman had long wavy ginger hair that fell down her shoulders and back, pointed ears like that of an elf, deep violet eyes and soft features.. Elric had never seen anyone who could outmatch his Melissa in beauty, he actually felt ashamed to admit that this woman was the most beautiful he had ever seen.

The woman opened her mouth and began to speak but her words were inaudible. Elric called out to her, but his voice refused to be heard as well, he took a step into the brook but ended up slipping and falling into the water.

Suprised by its depth, he shot his eyes open and saw the woman looking down at him as he drowned, who was she? And why did she haunt his dreams so? And mostly, why in the world couldn’t he ever reach her!

Elric shot his eyes open and gasped for air, he was back in his bed with his head laying on Melissa’s stomach. He sighed in relief before rolling onto his back, these dreams were breaking his constitution, was someone playing tricks on him and trying to get into his head? Was this the elf’s doing?

.....

Elric slipped out of the bed carefully not wanting to wake his wife and went to clean up and get dressed. They had two more days to respond to Gareth’s threats or else they should expect a war. Theo had gathered the council members in the meeting hall so that the king could give them his final say on the matter, he might as well get this over with. If it was a war that pointy eared pillock wanted, then it was a war he was going to get.

Elric quietly made his way out of the room and walked down the hall, his head was still a little fuzzy from the recurring dreams that he was sure were now turning into nightmares. As he made his way to the meeting hall, he spotted someone standing in the hallway who made him stop in his tracks, it was the woman from his dreams, and she was standing right there and looking at him with eyes filled with disappointment.

“don’t do it...”

Her voice reached his ears as a mere whisper, “who are you?” Elric asked before walking towards her. But before he could reach her, she vanished into thin air.

“Brother?”

Clovis walked from behind Elric and stood in front of him, “are you okay? Who are you taking to?”

The silver haired king cupped his face in his hands. Now he was really sure he was losing his mind, he was starting to hear and see things.

Clovis grabbed his brother’s shoulders and gave him a concerned look, “you look pale brother, if you like I can lead the meeting with the council for you. Or better yet, postpone it to a later time.”

“No..” Elric pulled himself away from Clovis’ grasp and continued walking to the meeting, “I’m perfectly fine.”

Clovis sighed and followed his brother into the meeting, he had been acting a bit off lately, he was constantly zoning out and looked like he hadn’t slept well in days. The thought of giving his wife up must have really been taking a tow on him.

Within the meeting hall all his council members were already sitted, and sitting with them was his right hand Theo, and his two brothers Clovis and Jeffrey.

“Thank you all for being patient with me,” Elric spoke, “I realize we have two days to respond to king Gareth’s demands and I called you all here to assure you that I will send a response by raven at the end of this meeting.”

“And what will the response be?”

Elric looked up at Jeffrey who had asked the question, he was about to respond when he spotted someone standing behind him with a sullen look on her face, it was the woman from his dreams.

The king abruptly stood up and glared at the woman, “you again... who are you and what do you want from me?!”

The council members all turned to Jeffrey who equally looked confused. Theo made his way to Elric’s side and whispered in his ear, “your majesty calm down,” he held his shoulder firmly and tried to help him take his seat, “shall I postpone this meeting? You seem tired and distraught.”

“Leave me! If anything it’s her fault!” Elric yelled while pointing at the woman who was staring at him with misty eyes. “Who let her in here?! Where are the gaurds?! Gaurds!!”

Clovis got up and held his brother’s other shoulder, “brother there’s no one there you need to calm down.”

“Can’t you see her?! She’s right there! Let me go Clovis I am your king!”

Theo tightened his hold on Elric’s right hand while Clovis held his left, together they managed to pull the king out of the meeting into the hallway.

“Elric will you calm down! You’re making a complete fool of yourself in there!”

“You all are the fools!” Elric yelled and pushed Theo and Clovis back, “I know what this is, that elf is trying to play with my mind, well it won’t work!”

“Brother wait!” But Clovis’ call fell on deaf ears, Elric was already storming towards his chambers.

“Shall I go after him?” Theo suggested.

“Please,” Clovis responded, “I will calm the situation in the meeting.”

*

Elric rushed down the hallway feeling completely out of it, this had to be some sort of sorcery, nothing else, and no one could be responsible for it but that elven king, he was the only one who could benefit from Elric losing his mind like this.

As the king practically ran towards his chambers he bumped into Carol who was leaving his room. The woman fell backwards and the contents of the jar she was carrying spilled onto the stone floor.

“Blood?...” Elric’s already erratic mind became even worse after seeing the blood on the floor. He picked up the woman by the neck and pulled her to his line of view, “what were you doing to my wife?! Why are you carrying around a jar of blood?! Are you trying to poison her?!”

“No your majesty I would never..” Carol whimpered as she desperately tried to pull the man’s hands away, “she needs this your majesty.”

“Lies! She’s never needed this much before! What is your plan before I rip your head off your shoulders?!”

“She... she needs more now because her highness is pregnant!” Carol yelled

Elric’s eyes went wide and released the woman who fell onto the floor. “What did you just say?”

Carol grabbed her sore neck and coughed several times before she looked up at the king.

“I asked you a question!” Elric roared, “what did you say?!”

“Queen Melissa is with child your majesty,” Carol repeated herself, “that is why she needs to feed more than usual. I was not trying to poison her, I would never!”

Without giving the maid covered in spilled blood a second glance, Elric threw the doors of his chambers open and found Melissa sitting on a chair by the window reading a book.

She looked at the man with her big beautiful blue eyes and put her book aside, “your majesty you have returned early, is your meeting over?”

Elric made his to Melissa and stopped a few steps away from her, “my wife, is it true?”

Melissa arched a brow at the man, “is what true?”

Elric moved closer to Melissa, got down on his knees and took her hands in his “Are we having a baby?”