The healer’s words should have been the happiest moment of Octavia’s life. She was pregnant. After years of whispers about the barren queen, she finally had the news that would silence the court and make her husband, King Lionel, smile the way he used to. She hurried through the corridors, her mind already picturing his face, the joy, the embrace.
She passed servants and nodded absently. But when she reached his chambers, she stopped cold. His scent hit her first. Arousal, hunger, and beneath it the sweetness of another woman.
She pushed the door open and saw her husband, stripped bare, leaning over a woman sprawled across their sheets. The sounds he made, the ones she thought belonged only to her, filled the room. “And what if the queen finds out? ” the woman gasped.
Lionel laughed, breathless. “She won’t. And even if she did… I need an heir. She can’t give me one.
She’s barren. Three years and nothing. I’m fond of her, but this is necessary. ”
Octavia closed the door without a sound.
Neither of them saw her. She walked back to her chambers, her face a mask of composure, but inside, her world shattered. Her hand pressed against her stomach. He would never know about the child.
She wrote a short letter, packed her things, and left under cover of darkness. —
Seven years later, Octavia stared at the gold-embossed invitation in her sister’s drawing room. King Lionel was marrying Lady Emiline. And he had invited her.
“I thought you were over him,” her sister Lorie said. “I am over him,” Octavia snapped, then threw a vase at the wall. The crash was deeply satisfying. She had spent seven years rebuilding herself.
She was no longer the broken queen who fled in the night. She was the mother of twins, Kora and Nylo, the proof that she was never barren. And Lionel didn’t know they existed. She decided to attend the ball.
Not to reconcile. To show him what he had lost. She wore deep crimson silk, the color of wine and vengeance. Her twins stood beside her, small and perfect.
Before they entered the ballroom, she knelt and gave them strict instructions. “We are going to deliver a gift and pay our respects. You will smile, you will be polite, and you will speak to no one. ”
Nylo nodded gravely.
Kora’s eyes narrowed. “Why? ”
“Because it’s no one’s business but ours. ”
The ballroom parted around her like water.
Whispers followed her as she walked in on the arm of Duke Flemings, her escort. The crowd remembered the barren queen who had disappeared without explanation. They stared at the two children no one knew existed. Then she saw Lionel across the room.
He had changed. The warmth she remembered was gone, replaced by cold authority. But when his eyes found hers across the crowded ballroom, something raw and unguarded flashed across his face. He looked devastated.
He recovered quickly, approaching her with practiced control. “Octavia. Fancy meeting you here. ”
“Your majesty,” she curtsied.
“It can’t be a total surprise, seeing as you did invite me. ”
“Ah, yes. All noble families received invitations. Standard protocol.
I didn’t expect you to actually attend. ”
The words landed like a slap. He hadn’t thought of her at all. The invitation was protocol, nothing more.
She introduced Flemings as her escort, and Lionel’s jaw tightened with barely concealed tension. Then Emiline appeared, beautiful and warm, her hand possessively on Lionel’s arm. She smiled at Octavia like they were old friends. “Darling, we really should make the rounds.
”
Lionel turned away, but his eyes lingered on Octavia for just a moment too long. That’s when Kora struck. Octavia turned and saw her daughter, small and determined, marching across the ballroom toward Lionel. She reached up and tugged on his sleeve.
“Excuse me,” she said, her voice carrying in the sudden silence. “But you’re our daddy, aren’t you? ”
The world stopped. Octavia forced a hollow laugh.
“I’m so sorry, your majesty. Kora has always wanted to be a princess. She’s decided every king must be her daddy. ”
Lionel looked at the children, then at Octavia, and something shifted in his eyes.
He looked back at Kora. “You should listen to your mother. ”
Kora pouted but allowed herself to be pulled away. Octavia fled the ballroom, her heart pounding, her lies crumbling around her.
That night, a servant delivered a summons. The king requested her presence in his study. Lionel stood by the window, his back to her. When he turned, his face was pale.
“Who are those children? ” he asked. “Mine. ”
“And their father?
”
“He’s not in their lives. ”
Lionel stepped closer. “They’re mine. My children.
You were pregnant when you left me. ” His voice cracked. “Did you know? ”
“Yes.
”
“And you didn’t think to tell me? ”
“I wanted to leave. That’s all I thought about. ”
His jaw tightened.
“I want to meet them. ”
“They’re mine! ” she snapped. “I raised them.
I sang to them. I was everything to them. ”
“And I would have done all of that too, if I’d known they existed. You didn’t give me the chance.
”
“Well, you didn’t think to check, did you? ”
The words hit him like a physical blow. He stared at her, devastated. “I didn’t think you wanted me to.
”
He stepped closer. “Please. Let me meet them. Let me show up for them.
I want to know them. And I want you. ”
“You don’t have to,” she whispered. “I want to,” he said, fierce and certain.
She agreed to one meeting. The next morning, Lionel knelt on the floor in front of the twins, his hands shaking. “Hello,” he said quietly. Nylo walked into his arms first.
Kora hesitated, her lip trembling, then launched herself at him with a small cry. Lionel caught her easily, pulling both children close. Octavia stood frozen, tears streaming down her face. Three weeks passed.
Lionel spent every possible moment with the twins, and they blossomed under his attention. Kora asked him hard questions, and he answered them with painful honesty. Nylo’s careful smile appeared more and more often. Octavia watched from a distance, her heart torn between hope and the memory of that night.
Then Emiline appeared with news about wedding preparations. Her hand settled on Lionel’s arm, familiar and claiming. She smiled at Octavia, sweet and poisonous. “How lovely to see all of you together.
Like a real family. ”
That night, Octavia told the twins they would be returning home soon. Kora burst into tears. “Why can’t we stay?
Why don’t you want us to be a family? ”
Lionel found Octavia in the library. “You’re planning to leave,” he said. “You’re getting married in a matter of weeks.
What do you imagine happens after that? You’ll have legitimate heirs, and what happens to Nylo and Kora then? I won’t let them be slowly set aside. ”
Lionel stared at her.
“Then I will cancel the engagement. I don’t want the life I’ve been forced to construct for seven years in your absence. I want my children. And I want you.
”
Before she could respond, he kissed her. Seven years of distance collapsed in an instant. She melted into him, her body remembering what her heart had tried to forget. Then he pulled back.
“Wait. I want to do this right. I owe it to Emiline to break things off first. ”
Octavia froze.
He owed it to Emiline. He owed Emiline a clean break, honesty, respect. But he hadn’t owed Octavia the same courtesy when he was in bed with another woman. She slapped him.
The crack echoed in the silent library. Then she shoved past him and ran. Back in her chambers, she packed with shaking hands. “We’re leaving tonight,” she told the twins.
“Why? We just found father! ” Kora shouted, tears streaming down her face. “He wants us to be a family.
Why don’t you? ”
“Stop! ” Octavia snapped. “He’s a liar.
He can’t be trusted. He makes you believe things that aren’t true, and then he breaks you. ”
Lionel appeared in the doorway, his face wrecked. “What did I ever do that made you believe you couldn’t trust me?
”
“You know what you did! ” she screamed. “How can you stand there and pretend you don’t know? ”
She sent the twins to the library, then turned on him.
“I was pregnant. I came to tell you. And I found you in bed with another woman, telling her I was barren, that I couldn’t give you an heir, that you were only fond of me. ”
Lionel went pale.
“Octavia, I never slept with anyone else. ”
“You’re saying I made it up? ”
“No, I’m saying I never betrayed you. You’re the one who left without saying goodbye.
”
“I left because I caught you cheating! ”
“I never took a lover. I never betrayed you. I was devastated when you left.
It broke my heart. ”
For one terrible moment, doubt crept in. But she had seen it. She had heard his voice, seen his face.
She turned away. “I’m going to find our children. And then we’re leaving. ”
Lionel’s voice broke on her name.
She walked out, her heart in pieces, and went to the library. It was empty. —
Kora stomped across the library floor, furious. “Mother is being stupid,” she announced to Nylo.
“She clearly still loves Daddy, but she’s determined to be sad about it. ”
The door opened, and their father walked in. But he didn’t smile. He just stood there, his face blank.
“Do we have to leave? ” Kora asked. “Please say we don’t have to leave. ”
“Actually, children,” he said, “I think it would be best if you left.
Court is no place for you. You know I’m about to get married to the love of my life. ”
“You’re remarrying Mom? ” Kora exclaimed.
“No,” he said flatly. “I’m marrying Countess Emiline Doves. ”
Kora blinked. “Who?
That lady who follows Daddy around? ”
“She’s not a maid,” the man snapped. “She’s my dearest friend, my one true ally, the woman I love. ”
Nylo frowned.
“But Father, you don’t love Lady Emiline like you love Mother. You told us Mother was your true love. That you never forgot her. ”
“I did not,” the man protested.
“Yes, you did,” Kora insisted. “You told us. You wanted us to be a family again. ”
The man’s face twisted into something ugly.
“No, you’re lying. ”
Nylo grabbed Kora’s hand and pulled her back. “You’re the one who’s lying,” he said quietly. Kora studied the man’s face.
His eyes were the right color, but he was looking at her wrong. Her father had never looked at her like that. “You’re not our daddy,” she said slowly. “He looks like Father,” Nylo said, “but he’s not our father.
”
The man lunged. Kora screamed, and they ran. He cut them off at the door, so they weaved through the shelves. A hand grabbed Kora’s arm.
“Run, Nylo! ” she shouted. “Run! ”
Nylo hesitated.
Then his body shimmered and compressed. Fur rippled across his skin, and within seconds, a small wolf pup stood where her brother had been. His first shift. Pride surged through Kora even as she struggled.
The man grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. His features rippled like water, shifting and reforming. The sharp jaw softened, the broad shoulders narrowed. The face staring down at her was not her father’s face.
Kora screamed. —
Octavia was running through the corridors when Nylo appeared, pale and breathless. “They have Kora. They took her.
”
He led her through hidden passages to a gallery lined with cells. At the far end, Kora was chained on the floor, gagged. Octavia ran toward her. Something hit the back of her head.
Everything went black. She woke in the cell beside her daughter, chained, the gag removed. Kora pressed against her side. Footsteps echoed, and a figure appeared at the door.
Countess Emiline. “Such a shame you couldn’t stay gone,” Emiline said gently. “Are you the one who locked up my daughter? ” Octavia snarled.
“I had no choice. You weren’t supposed to come back. But then you showed up with two children, and everything fell apart. ”
Emiline smiled.
“Do you know why Lionel will never look for you down here? Because he thinks you’ve left. I’ll impersonate you, cry prettily, tell him you’re going back to your sister’s duchy. He’ll believe it.
”
Octavia shook her head in disbelief. “I’m not going to help you. ”
“You will,” Emiline said. Then she changed.
Her features rippled and shifted, reforming into Octavia’s exact face, her height, her build. The false Octavia crumpled into tears. “Lionel, you have to let me go. Being near you hurts me.
”
Octavia’s blood turned to ice. “You’re a changeling. ”
Emiline shifted back and shrugged. “I turned into your son earlier to lead you down here.
You didn’t even notice. ”
Realization crept in like ice water. “The night I caught Lionel. It was you.
”
“Yes,” Emiline said simply. Octavia felt the floor drop out from under her. Seven years of grief and hate and heartbreak, and it had all been a lie. The man she had loved had never betrayed her.
“Where was he? ” she snarled. “Where was my husband? ”
“Drugged, in another room.
I couldn’t risk him waking up before you were long gone. He begged you to come back, you know. He thought the pressure of court was making you unhappy. He even offered to abdicate.
”
Emiline’s smile turned bright. “Help me convince Lionel to marry me, and I’ll let you live. Refuse, and I kill your children, starting with Kora. ”
“Let me think it through,” Octavia said carefully.
“I’ll give you until morning. ” Emiline walked away. Once her footsteps faded, Octavia turned to Kora. “I’m not going to help her.
I promise I’m going to get us out of here. ”
A small blonde wolf pup appeared at the cell door, keys in his mouth. Nylo shifted back into human form and fumbled with the lock. “I got the keys from the guard station.
”
The moment she was free, Octavia grabbed Kora and pulled both children into her arms. “If I’m not back in an hour, you run,” she told them, leading them to a hidden trap door in the chapel. “Get to the stables, ride for your aunt’s duchy, and don’t stop. ”
Then she ran to find the guards.
“Countess Emiline has committed treason,” she announced. “She is a changeling. Come with me. ”
They burst into a hall to find Emiline pressed against Lionel’s chest, crying.
Lionel looked up with cold eyes. “Emiline told me everything,” he said. “How you tried to hurt her. Guards, seize her.
”
Octavia studied him. The way he stood, too stiff. The way his eyes didn’t quite track right. “You’re not Lionel,” she said.
“He’s impersonating the king. ”
A small blonde blur shot into the room. Nylo, in wolf form, sank his teeth into the false king’s arm. The man yelped in a voice that was not Lionel’s, and his features rippled.
Within moments, Emiline’s brother Ivor stood there, clutching his bleeding arm. “We figured out causing them pain makes them switch back,” Kora announced, running in behind her brother. “Where is Lionel? ” Octavia demanded.
Emiline turned on Ivor. “Yes, Ivor, where is he? ”
Ivor grabbed a sword, his face twisting with desperation. “They won’t find him.
We can have the throne. ”
“You can’t have the throne without him,” Emiline screamed. “He needs the antidote! ”
“I know,” Ivor said coldly.
“If I don’t give it to him, he won’t wake up. ”
Octavia grabbed a sword and put it to Emiline’s throat. “Where is he? ”
Emiline began to sob.
“All I wanted was for me and Lionel to be happy. That’s all I ever wanted. ”
“Everyone knew he was never over the Luna,” one of the guards muttered. Those words seemed to break something in Emiline.
Her shoulders slumped. “In my chambers,” she said quietly. “The blue vial on my dressing table. ”
Nylo put his nose to the ground and led them through hidden passages to a small, damp room.
Lionel sat in a chair, staring at nothing. His eyes were vacant, unseeing. Octavia dropped to her knees beside him. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, tears streaming down her face.
“You never betrayed me. You never stopped loving me. And I should have known. ”
She tipped the antidote into his mouth, held his jaw closed, and waited.
Then Lionel blinked. His eyes focused slowly, and recognition dawned like sunrise. He smiled. “Octavia.
”
“I’m here. I’m never leaving you again. ”
Kora and Nylo crowded close. They were whole.
Together, as they always should have been. —
One year later, Octavia stood at the window of Lionel’s study, her hand resting on the swell of her belly. Seven months along. A girl this time.
Lionel came up behind her, his arms wrapping around her. “You’re smiling. ”
“They’re happy,” she said softly, watching Kora and Nylo play in the garden below. “We all are,” he agreed.
The baby kicked, and Lionel’s smile widened. It had been a year since they found him in that hidden room. A year since Emiline and Ivor were tried and sentenced. Emiline cried throughout her trial.
Ivor showed no remorse. “Sometimes I think about how much time we lost,” Octavia admitted quietly. “We can’t change it,” Lionel said gently. “We can only move forward.
”
“I know. But sometimes I think about what we missed. ”
“The children are happy. We’re together now.
That’s what matters. ”
Through the window, Kora’s triumphant shout rang out. Nylo laughed, picked himself up off the grass, and chased after his sister. “I love you,” Lionel said against her hair.
“Forever. ”
“Forever,” she agreed. And for the first time in seven years, she believed it without reservation.
