"I want to be able to see him," I said blushing a bit.
"Are you sure?" the king asked looking like he wanted me to say something else.
I knew the king wanted me to say that I didn't want to ever see Draclith again but something told me I would be seeing a lot of him. Besides he was kind of cute. Looking the king straight in the eye I told him, "I'm very sure about this. If I am pregnant he's the father and I want him in my children's lives."
The king sighed and said, "So be it. Your decision makes it more difficult for me however. I might have been able to save you from exile yourself if you are pregnant if you had said you want nothing to do with him, which I was hoping you would say." After a brief pause where he hung his head he continued, "Now though if you are pregnant then you will be exiled along with him. With your decision you might be exiled even if you're not pregnant. I'll have to consult the law keeper on that too. In the meantime you do have a curfew. I expect you to be in the palace by nightfall. There are creatures that come out then that have hunted mer in the past and I don't want you ending up being a meal for them. Am I understood?"
The king's tone made it perfectly clear that I had better understand so I said, "Loud and clear."
"Good," the king said nodding. "Now if you would be so kind as to put Princess Heldia down Henditch I would appreciate it." After Henditch had put me down the king continued, "Show them around the palace. I have a few things I need to attend to and Queen Valla should return from her trip shortly."
The king swam off and our tour started after picking up a third guard. As we were swimming Draclith said to me, "I don't really need this tour."
"Why is that?" I asked my curiosity diverting my attention a bit.
"I was a palace guard before I was banished," Draclith said sadness in his voice. "I had loved the job and kind of wish I had it still. However I love my new job also."
"What's your new job?" I asked wondering what kind of job a banished mer palace guard could get.
"I own a cyberball team," Draclith said with a little smile.
"What's cyberball?" I asked.
"Oh it's like American football only better," Draclith said with a smile.
I did like football so I asked, "How is it better?"
"Oh the field is a lot bigger and the players are all sorts of creatures," Draclith said. "Also there are female players and there aren't a whole lot of rules for player safety like there was in football."
"I think I'd like to watch a game or two," I said smiling a bit. "What's the name of your team?"
"The Exiles," Henditch said with a note of dislike in his voice, "and I hope you get pounded this year. I have a thousand cys on you losing."
"Who took that bet?" Draclith asked.
"Megorna," Henditch said with a little laugh. "She still has a thing for you."
Draclith sighed and said, "I told her that I'm not interested in her. She's a bit clingy and I don't like that."
"Is that why you go with prostitutes?" I asked a little bitterness in my voice. He had thought that I was a prostitute.
"Truth be told you were the first one that I was with," Draclith said. Seeing the look on my face he quickly added, "Not that you are a prostitute. If I had known what I know now I wouldn't have had sex with you."
I could have let it drop there but I wanted to play the part of being a girl and see him squirm a bit. Putting on a bit of a hurt expression I asked, "So you're not interested in me? Was I only a piece of ass to you?"
"It's not that," Draclith quickly said. "It's just that, well, I don't like taking advantage of people."
I snorted and said, "You seemed willing to take advantage of me. You told me that you hoped you'd get me pregnant so you'd have a chance at the throne."
"That was when I thought you were a prostitute," Draclith said sounding defensive. "I had thought you wanted to be taken advantage of. I was wrong and I'm sorry."
"What will you do if I am pregnant?" I asked.
"I don't know," Draclith said shaking his head. "If I don't seek the throne then you'll be banished with me. If I do seek the throne I'm sure I'll be challenged by the prince. Then if I win I'll gain the throne and you can become queen. If I lose then I receive a lethal dose of radiation and you're banished. I should probably draw up a will so you'll be provided for if that happens."
"Sounds like you're going to seek the throne," I said a little annoyance in my voice.
Draclith sighed and said, "It has the best and worst outcomes. Though your father may find some sort of loophole and you'll be able to remain here. We'll just have to see." He lapsed into silence for the rest of the tour no matter how much I tried to engage him in conversation.
------
The days pass by pretty quick. I learn about the war that basically trapped the people in the cyber world. The war between the Bringers of Truth and those that opposed them. What the truth actually was no one really knew except that children were supposed to be seen and not heard unless spoken to and that there was no eternal punishment. What else there may be only those that are deemed to be worthy and trustworthy knew all of what the truth supposedly was. They were willing to kill those that defied them in order to protect their truth even if that meant killing some believers along with the nonbelievers. That was where the nuclear weapons came in which many considered a little strange since all the nuclear weapons were supposed to have been destroyed. But the Geiger counters that they had started to detect high levels of radiation and there were reports of damage done to cities that were consistent with explosions. There were some that thought it was all a hoax but they'd rather err on the side of caution. It was certainly food for thought.
At last the day came when I would find out if I was pregnant or not. Witch once again placed her hand over my belly and muttered the strange words. When she was done she looked at me and said, "There is a life within you. I can tell you if you will have a son or daughter if you wish."
"I want it to be a surprise," I said placing my own hand over my belly. I looked at Father with a sad little smile because I had a feeling things weren't going to go too well now.
Father sighed and said, "I am happy that you are going to have a child but also saddened because we may lose you. I and the law keeper have tried to find some loopholes that would allow you to remain princess. Alas we could find none."
"Are you sure Father?" I asked hoping that he wasn't.
"Well there is one loophole but it would have to be put to a vote of the people," Father said shaking his head. "I could put forth a bill to rescind Draclith's exile. If it's approved by the people he won't need to seek the throne until a later date. However I don't see it being approved but I could be wrong."
"So we'd be back to either me seeking the throne or Princess Heldia joining me in exile," Draclith said shaking his head. "I don't want her joining me in exile so if the vote fails I'll seek the throne."
"You do realize that Prince Kreznor will challenge you?" Father asked looking grim.
"I do Your Highness," Draclith said with a little bow. "I made a will so she will be provided for in the event that I lose the battle. I do expect to win but I'm also realistic enough to consider that I might lose."
Father nodded and said, "I think you would have made a great king someday if you had not attempted to take over like you did. However that's in the past and we don't need to dwell on it right now. Right now we need to draft the bill and then submit it for a vote. We'll wait on preparations for a battle until after the vote. At the least it will give us a little more time with our daughter." Father sighed and dismissed us so he could work on the bill.
As I swam off I couldn't help but think that something about Father's demeanor said that he knew I was going to be exiled. But how could he know that? Maybe it was because he knew his subjects and the most likely way that they would vote and how my brother and Draclith fought. As I looked at Draclith I could tell that he was thinking about how he could win the battle that he obviously thought was a forgone conclusion. I guess I was being a bit more optimistic as I thought there was a chance that the vote would go our way. We'd just have to wait and see.