Chapter 89. The Dawn Child

Lotus’s POV

It starts with a whisper. A twinge that steals my breath in the middle of the night, sharp enough to make me freeze halfway between sleep and waking. For a moment, I think it’s nothing more than a bad dream.

Then another hits. And another.

“Oh no,” I breathe.

The clock beside the bed reads 2:13 a.m. The palace is asleep, the world outside buried under snow. I grip the sheets and inhale through my nose like Mirelle taught me. Calm. Steady. Breathe.

The next contraction nearly doubles me over.

I don’t remember getting out of bed, but somehow I’m standing, one hand braced against the wall, the other pressing to my belly. The air hums with a power that I haven’t felt before. The curse is breaking. I can feel it.

Louis is the first to arrive.

He bursts through the door barefoot and shirtless, eyes wild until he sees me standing there, pale and shaking. Then everything about him changes, from panic to purpose in a single h