CHAPTER 1 Pregnant?!

TWO MONTHS LATER...

SOFIA

The months passed and my life grew quieter, more monotonous. After fleeing Vidar, I'd taken refuge in a nearby village inhabited mostly by lycanthropes and witches. It was perfect for me — settling in was easy, and it allowed me to work as an assistant in an apothecary.

The woman who hired me was named Ida. Middle-aged, grey eyes, grey hair, and very thin. She dressed simply, without drawing attention — dark, muted colors. She wore a coif that held her grey hair and hid it away.

When Ida first saw me with nothing but my white dress, torn at the skirt and the chest, she thought I'd been violated. But I told her the truth. She said nothing and simply took me home, fed me, and offered me a job.

I accepted because I truly had nowhere else to go.

While I was working on an ointment for insect bites, I started feeling nauseous. I put a hand on my chest and took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but it was practically impossible.

"Are you all right, Sofia?" Ida asked, stopping the elixir she was making in the cauldron, which was steaming with a scent of cinnamon and apple, when she noticed what was happening. I nodded, but she didn't believe me. She studied me closely and simply came out with it. "You're pregnant, child." I nearly dropped the mortar on the floor when I heard those words. "You've got a life growing inside you," she said, touching my still-flat belly.

"That can't be..." And then I remembered that night two months ago. The mysterious man in armor.

"Do you want to abort it?" she asked, her voice flat and deep. Instinctively, I placed my hand over my still-flat belly and shook my head. She smiled with understanding and took my hand. "This little one growing inside you is going to be someone extraordinary."

I was sure of it. But I had no idea who the man in armor was — I hadn't even seen his face. All I remembered was his body and the taste of his lips.

"It's my baby, and it deserves to live. Besides, in this place, it'll grow up protected by the Silver Moon Kingdom," I said, taking the crescent-moon pendant between my fingers — the pendant that after that encounter with that man had become the only memento tying me to that night.

The only thing I was going to give my child as a reminder of the man who'd fathered it.

"Why do you keep wearing that necklace?" Ida asked, looking at the pendant with the same disdain I knew so well. She hated keeping mementos she didn't consider useful for some spell or medicine.

"This will be the only thing my child has from the man who fathered it. Because I don't know if they'll ever meet him."

She said nothing, just nodded and went back to making the elixir. I put my hand on my still-flat belly and knew I was no longer alone. I would have my family.

I finished the ointment and sent it by magic to the family that had ordered it. After a long day of work, I simply went to sleep — I was too exhausted to worry about anything else. Only my baby mattered.