But conceiving an heir with a civilian was something his world had never accounted for. Year after year, the doctors came and went. Year after year, nothing. And then, after so long that even I had stopped believing it was possible, I finally conceived.
Dominic was overjoyed. He crowned me his Queen on the spot, though the world would not know it until the child arrived. To him, I and the baby I carried were the most precious things in his empire. More valuable than territory. More valuable than loyalty. More valuable than the empire itself.
When his own sister accidentally brushed against my belly during a rare visit, he destroyed her. Erased every trace. She had been the only woman in the Valente bloodline, and he ground her memory to dust without a moment's hesitation.
To safeguard the heir, Dominic arranged for me to rest in the Forbidden Wing of the estate. A sealed corridor. Armed guards at every threshold. No one entered without his explicit word.