The Dragon Prince's Bride
Chapter 159. I should have listened.

Chapter 159: 159. I should have listened.

The sounds of morning birds chirping and voices from a distance reverberated around the palace. It was as though the madness the previous day brought never existed. Everything was back to normal and nothing was amiss.

Even Neriah was awake, in the company of her many visitors who were all her husband’s family. One by one they had walked in, all bearing gifts of sorts for her, and refusing to leave even after presenting her with the gift.

Everyone was there except for Barak and Raknar.

When Neriah’s eyes had first opened that morning, she was certain she had seen him. She even heard him speak. "You are awake, thank the gods. All is well then." Those were the words she heard him say after that, she did not hear from him again. She did not even see him again, but she knew he was angry.

The tone of his voice gave away his deep anger and when she thought about how reckless she had been and how she had endangered not just her life but so many lives she could understand why he was angry.

However, she couldn’t help but wish he stayed by her side. She almost died, she wished he would forget his anger and just cradle her in his arms. It was a selfish wish, but even as she sat down on their bed, she could still feel the cold sip into her body. The fear that had gripped her when she finally came face to face with something that was more than her power was still in her.

And though she hated to admit it, he had been right to stop her from going to the dungeons. She should have listened. Only when she entered there and barely escaped death did she finally realize that. And that was also when she began to fear his impending anger. She was scared he would lash out, but the silent treatment he was giving her was worse than any argument they could have.

At least an argument would mean a conversation between them. It would mean his eyes would be upon her. She would prefer any form of argument to this.

For the first time since she married her husband, she really wanted to admit her mistakes to him. She felt the tug at her heart, and she wanted to tell him she was sorry for not listening to him. If only he was willing to talk to her.

However, apart from her husband, a wave of shame overwhelmed her when his family members started trooping into the room one after another. And that shame still enveloped her for she could not look them in the eyes.

There was a time when nothing she did could cause her to feel any form of shame or remorse, but when things began to change for her, she wasn’t certain but Neriah was sure she was changing daily. She could not deny it. Seeing his family worrying about her, caring for her, it made her feel deeply ashamed of her actions.

Even when she had entered the hall in Avelah bawling and claiming to have been raped. Even after she found out that the person she was going to lie against was the prince, even after all that, she did not feel this much shame then. Never in her life had she felt the way she was feeling.

She hadn’t thought this far when she planned to enter the dungeon. She had not expected this outcome. She didn’t like that she had shown such a disgraceful side to his family. She always carried herself with high-esteem around them, yet she had proven and shown them how foolish she could also be.

After spending the entire morning with her, just as they had come, one by one they had gone without once mentioning the event of the previous day. Even the twins did not say anything about it. It was like they had all agreed beforehand not to mention a word about it. Rakima had been much more kinder than ever, offering that they sat down for tea once Neriah was feeling much better.

"Are you certain you do not want to eat more?" Asked Rakavi who was the last person left with Neriah in the room...

"Or is there any other thing you would like to have? Something you crave for?" She asked for the umpteenth time. Neriah was used to her mother-in-law always feeding her extra, but today was just too extra. Was it because of what had happened the previous day?

"I am fine. Sincerely, I am." Neriah confessed. In fact she didn’t have much appetite. But the little she had eaten was so as not to make little of the efforts of Rakavi who had brought almost every fruit one could think of to the room.

Again, she turned her head toward the door just as she had been doing all morning in hopes that he would walk through the door any time soon. She would take his anger over the silent treatment a million times over.

"He will come." Rakavi said as she noticed her daughter-in-law’s plight. "Eventually his anger will quell and he will come." She said and Neriah’s lips quivered, she had no idea when tears welled up in her eyes, blinding her and then without control they trailed down her eyes.

Rakavi moved closer to her, sitting next to her as she wrapped her motherly arms around her. They were warm and comfortable and Neriah suddenly missed her mother. Although she had received letters from her parents countless of times, she never collected them from Aria nor did she write back to them. She did not want to speak to them. But she missed her mother suddenly.

"Do not fret my dear, the men in this house do not have a long-lasting anger. It will fade sooner than it brewed." Rakavi reassured her, stroking her back gently.

"I_I_ I should have_ I should have listened." She finally said the words out aloud.

"Yes, you should have. But you did not and now this is the consequence. But it will be fine." Rakavi spoke as though Neriah was a child, maybe because she was crying like one.

"I was so scared of his anger b_but now, I_ I wish he would rather scream at me than to not talk to me like this." Neriah confessed. And it felt rather nice to voice those words.

"All will be well my child. Trust me, especially when you give him the good news." Rakavi said and Neriah wanted to ask what the woman meant. What good news could come out of the entire situation? "So stop crying, tears are not good in your condition." Rakavi continued without giving Neriah a chance to ask anything.

"What is needed is food. So tell me, are you certain you are not craving for anything? Whatever it is, it shall be provided, my dear." Rakavi asked as she broke the hug, gently wiping the tears off Neriah’s face.

Neriah shook her head in a no, "I really do not have much of an appetite." She said again.

"That is what baffles me." Rakavi suddenly said with her brows creased and Neriah could suddenly notice the twinkle in the woman’s eyes. "Usually when there is a baby inside you, you eat twice as much, so it baffles me that your eating habits have remained the same." Rakavi said and Neriah nodded.

"Ah, I see." Neriah muttered, but then her eyes flew wide open. Wider than they had ever done before as her mother-in-law’s words resank into her head. "What?!"

"I mean, you look the same. I tend to have a quick and sharp eye when it comes to these things so I am very perplexed. How come I did not notice?" Rakavi continued to ramble on as she scanned Neriah with her eyes.

"M_m_mother what a_are you—"

"And how is it that you do not have any morning sicknesses? Or any sort of reaction at all. And it is not just any baby, but dragon blood. When I was pregnant with your husband, it was obvious from the first three weeks, because he drained all my strength. And the others were no different. So are most other women, so how come you look just as you’ve always done?"

Rakavi was just talking without explaining a thing. Neriah’s head was about to explode! The entire information was too much. What was Rakavi trying to say? No, what was she saying?!

"But come to think of it, now that I know, I think I do see some changes. Your cheeks seem a bit more fleshy and your nose looks a little bigger. Or am I just trying to see changes now that I know?" Rakavi asked herself. Neriah had never known her mother-in-law to be talkative. She talked but not to the point of rambling on and on like a parrot who just learnt a new word!.

So why was that same woman talking on and on and—

"MOTHER!" Neriah called out and held Rakavi’s hand in her own, forcing the woman to pause. "What are you saying?" Neriah finally got the chance to ask her question and she saw Rakavi’s lips slowly curl up into a warm grin. And her heart skipped a beat, then it raced fast, and then it skipped again and again, it began to race.

"A_are you saying that I_ I am, I mean, wi_with Barak, we are going to—"

"Aye, Neriah." Rakavi said. "You have a little Barak or a little Neriah growing inside you." Neriah’s mouth fell wide open. "And for almost two months now." Her hands that held Rakavi quickly slapped back a scream that was about to escape her mouth.

"I am pregnant." She said the words herself as if allowing it to sink into her entire system, and as it did, something in her like a fire that was mildly lit had somehow turned into a volcano eruption. It was bursting through her entire system, threatening to overwhelm her and by the goddess, she could do nothing to stop it from consuming her entire being because she did not want to... The feeling was immensely sweet.