Chapter 90

Pain rippled through Aeliana's body, raw and unrelenting. Her breaths came in sharp gasps, her fingers clutching at the sheets beneath her, drenched in sweat. The contractions had started hours ago-or had it been days? Time had become an illusion, marked only by the rhythm of agony crashing through her in endless waves.

She could feel Tharx's presence beside her, unmovable, unshaken, but far from unaffected. His golden eyes burned with something fierce, something that not even battle had ever placed within him. He had commanded armies, slaughtered enemies, reshaped entire civilizations-but now, now, he could do nothing but stand witness to her pain.

She felt his hand, solid and grounding, as her nails dug into his flesh. He did not flinch.

"Breathe, Aeliana," he murmured, his voice steady.

She wanted to curse him. She wanted to scream at him for how unfair it was that he would never know this kind of suffering.

Instead, she did as he said, inhaling sharply, forcing air into her lungs even as fire coiled through her belly.

The physician hovered nearby, his expression tight with concentration, surrounded by midwives who moved with quiet urgency.

"This child is different," he had warned weeks ago, as if she didn't already know.

Half-human. Half-Tharx's kind. A child that had never existed before.

"Keep pushing," the physician urged now, his voice sharp, cutting through the haze of pain.

Aeliana gritted her teeth, pressing her head back against the pillows. "I am pushing," she snapped, sweat sliding down her temple.

Tharx let out a low exhale, his hand tightening around hers. "You are strong," he murmured, his voice raw.

She barely heard him.

She had never felt so close to breaking.

The contractions stole the breath from her lungs, leaving her trembling, gasping, desperate.

She had faced battle. She had faced death.

But this-this was something else entirely.

Her body was being torn apart, stretched beyond its limits, forced to endure pain she had never imagined.

She wasn't sure how much more she could take.

And then-something changed.

A pressure so overwhelming it stole the scream from her throat. A final, all-consuming agony that left her blind, breathless, and utterly spent.

And then-

Silence.

For a single, excruciating moment, there was nothing.

The pain lingered, the exhaustion threatened to pull her into darkness.

And then-

A single, sharp cry.

A sound so small, so fragile, yet it shattered the world.

Aeliana gasped, her body collapsing back against the pillows, her limbs trembling from exhaustion.

The sound of her child's first breath pierced the heavy silence of the chamber, followed by the quiet murmurs of the midwives, the relieved sigh of the physician.

Her chest heaved, her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

And then-she saw him.

Tharx had not moved, had not spoken.

He stood utterly still, his golden eyes locked on the small, wriggling form now swaddled in soft cloth.

The warlord who had conquered planets, who had spilled oceans of blood, who had never hesitated to tear down entire civilizations with his bare hands-

He was speechless.

Aeliana had never seen him look like this.

Never seen him so utterly undone.

A midwife stepped forward, carefully placing the child into his arms.

Tharx's breath hitched.

Aeliana watched as his fingers curled around the impossibly small form, cradling the newborn with a gentleness that should not have been possible for a man like him.

His golden eyes were wide, staring at this tiny, fragile thing he had never thought to want.

The baby's small fists clenched in the air, a quiet sound escaping its lips.

Aeliana saw the moment Tharx fell completely, irrevocably in love.

The warlord had been unshaken in battle, unrelenting in war.

But now?

Now, he was holding the most powerful thing in the universe.

His child.

Their child.

Aeliana reached for him, her fingers brushing his forearm. His gaze snapped to hers, something unspoken burning in his eyes.

Carefully-so carefully-he lowered himself beside her, adjusting the child in his arms before gently placing the baby against her chest.

Aeliana inhaled sharply, her heart constricting.

The baby was warm, soft, impossibly small.

And just like that-everything changed.

She had been afraid, she had doubted herself, she had wondered if she would ever truly feel like she belonged in this empire.

But now?

Now, she knew exactly where she belonged.

A small, trembling breath escaped her lips.

Tharx reached forward, his fingers brushing against her cheek, against the damp strands of hair clinging to her forehead.

She turned into his touch, closing her eyes for a brief moment, grounding herself in the warmth of his palm.

He exhaled, his voice rough, unsteady.

"You have given me the universe."

Aeliana opened her eyes.

And she saw it.

The love in his gaze-raw, undeniable, infinite.

She let out a shaky laugh, though tears burned in her throat.

"You're not afraid of anything," she whispered, watching him, memorizing the way he looked in this moment. "And yet, you look terrified."

Tharx huffed, shaking his head. "I have faced many things in my life, Aeliana."

His fingers brushed against the child's small head, his touch so reverent it nearly broke her.

"But this" He swallowed, his voice dropping into something softer, something entirely unguarded.

"This is different."

Aeliana felt something inside her crack.

She knew what he meant.

This was not war.

Not something they could fight their way through.

This was life.

This was love.

And for a man like Tharx-a man who had been born into a world of conquest, a man who had never been given the chance to know softness-this was the greatest battle of all.

Aeliana shifted slightly, adjusting the baby in her arms.

The tiny fingers twitched, brushing against her skin.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Tharx."

He looked at her.

She held his gaze, letting herself feel the full weight of what they had built, what they had created.

"This child will change everything," she murmured.

Tharx's lips twitched, just slightly. "They already have."

Aeliana let her eyes drift shut, exhaustion finally taking hold, wrapping around her like a heavy, familiar embrace.

She felt Tharx's warmth beside her, felt the steady beat of his heart beneath her fingertips.

And as sleep claimed her, she thought of their child.

Of the future.

Of everything they had fought for.

And for the first time in her life, she felt at peace.