The news of Loraz being pregnant spread like a wildfire in the dry season. She spent her days idle in her room as she was told that her stress levels were too high, and she needed rest. Her mind raced with various things all day long the longer she was forced to stay cooped up in her bed.

Restless, she opened the door to her room and was ready to storm out for some fresh air and a change of scenery, but to her surprise she found Robert standing there, his hand in position to knock.

"Robert!"

She jumped back and held her chest, her breath caught in her throat.

He stood there and watched as she made her way back towards the bed. Her face flushed and she was grabbing at the shirt of her dress. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed then walked into her room and said,

"Where do you think you are off to now?"

Loraz took a deep breath and released it slowly then turned around to face him. Her cheeks still a bit hot she looked him in the eyes and smiled a bit, a nervous tickle in the back of her throat crawled up from her belly as she answered,

"I was just going to take a walk. The fresh air would do me some good. Besides, this room has started to look like a cell. Am I a prisoner now?"

He walked up to her and placed his hand on each side of her face and kissed her forehead. Then placing his forehead onto hers he watched as she pouted. A smile crossed his lips and he said,

"The physician said you needed to stay in bed and rest. I understand how you must feel trapped in this room, but we must make sure you don't do anything that can put a strain on your body. Now come, I will lay next to you so that you can sleep."

She pressed on his chest and forced him to look at her properly. Her hand reached for the collar of his shirt, and she pulled him down to her.

"I can't stay in this room any longer, Robert. I'm going crazy just sitting here left with my thoughts most of the day."

Prying her fingers off his shirt he chuckled a bit then coughed awkwardly as he freed himself and fixed his shirt.

"Does this have to do with rescuing Vest? I told you that everything would be taken care of, do you not believe me?"

Loraz sighed and sat down on the bed. Her arms crossed over her chest she looked down at her feet and thought about how many days it had been since Vestin had left. After being gone for so long it could only be assumed that he was more than likely dead by now, although part of her hoped she was not right. It was that little voice of hope that kept her wanting to think of a way to bring him back to her and to his loyal soldiers who were lucky enough to survive.

"That's part of it. I understand that at the moment I can't do much, but he needs me, and I am powerless to give him help."

Robert raised his brow and looked at her face. Eye red from crying and dark circles from lack of sleep. On the table next to the window was a plate of hardly touched food. He sighed the thought had crossed his mind several times after they had announced to each other that they wanted to be together, but he kept pushing the voice to the back of his head. The fact was that there was a piece of her heart that would always be with Vestin, no matter how much she gave him her body, mind, and soul he would never hold her heart completely as his own.

"Do you still have feelings for him? Even as you carry our child you still pine over another man?"

Loraz looked up at him, her eyes wide as the tone of his voice deepened. She watched as he clutched his fist at his side and began shaking a bit. His eyes never left her face as they pierced a hole into her very sole.

"It's not like that, Robert. I don't know how to explain it, but-"

Fist pounding up against the wooden bedpost he cut her words short. His heart could not take it anymore. How was it that they hadn't seen each other for so long yet they could hold onto such strong feelings of love for each other? They weren't even friends anymore, more like strangers who knew of each other's past. The pain of always wondering if he would one day lose her to him crept up his arm and into his chest. He had to know her final choice, the need for him to know that their bond, the love they shared was not false nor a way to keep her entertained while she was bored. When he said he loved her, he meant every word with every fiber of his body, but what of her? Did she mean her words? Or were they only empty promises?

"Ancestors help us...you need to make up your mind on who you want to be with, Loraz. This constant fear of you running off to be with him is driving me up a wall. How am I to trust your words if your heart also belongs to another?"

Loraz hung her head down, knitted her fingers together and pressed them together tightly.

"I know that it's wrong to have feelings for both of you, but I already chose to be with you. The love I hold in my heart for Vestin is different. Not as a lover, yet not as a friend either."

Robert clutched the bed post and towered over her.

"Then why do you keep pushing me away? If your heart is really mine, why do you keep talking as if our relationship will never move past the first stage? Do you not understand that we are bonded as one now? You know my body and I know yours. You know my heart, yet I am still confused about yours. We will be having a child soon. Our wedding is being held in a few weeks."

She grabbed his shirt and rested her head on his tightly formed stomach.

"Robert, my heart is yours. I not only gave that to you but my body as well. Even though I still have a war on my shoulders and my best friend just ran off towards his death. I am still standing here next to you, the man I have promised forever with. I can't help that I still love him, but understand that I love you more. I want you so much more. My left would end without you in it."

He let his hand drop and tears blurred his vision as he looked at her.

"Yet still I have to fight for you. I have to fight Vestin and the people of Serenity to keep hold of you. "

Loraz wrapped her arms around him. She was so tied up in her own affairs that she forgot that Robert needed to be reassured just as he had done for her. The road to recover her throne would be a long one and now with a child things would be a bit complicated, but she didn't want to turn back time because even if she could she would do it all over again.

"I will be a new face to many of my people and it will be a long road to recover the trust they lost in royalty. I want to free them, Robert. I couldn't move forward with anything until I stopped playing games with smaller matters. How can I expect my kingdom to come to me for guidance if I can't even handle a love triangle between my two most important people? I am not going anywhere. It is as you said we are boundas one."

"I just don't like that you lose sleep and go hungry for another man. I understand what he means to you. That is why I don't say anything about him being so close to you. But that doesn't mean I agree with what is going on. You will be my wife and the queen of Mossca soon. You will give me my first child and the heir to the throne. I love you, Loraz...it would just be nice to know for sure that you feel the same and this not just some dream."

Loraz pushed him back so she could stand up. She pulled him into her and their lips locked in a tender kiss. Hands placed on his chest he held her close to him and she listened to his beating heart.

"I love you, Robert. This child within me is proof of that. I know that you fear we will be taken from you, but hear me when I say this, I am yours. My heart does not waver because of a love I hold for a dear friend. That love for him does not match the love I have for you." She looked up at him and her fingertips touched the lower side of his chin, "What Vestin and I love is something from the past. Something that can never be brought to the present or carried into the future. We no longer know each other, we only knew one another. We knew this as our reality and tortured each other with the drawn out denial. Even after I hurt him, by making my choice, somehow we still have remained friends."

Robert kissed her forehead again and took in her scent as he inhaled the fragrance coming off her hair.

"Why does it feel like every time you talk about this I have more questions than answers."

She nuzzled into him as his words floated into her ear. The fear of losing someone you want to be with for the rest of your life...she knew that feeling all too well. It was that feeling she felt as she read the letter informing her that the previous king of Mossca had passed on. The overwhelming weight of the idea that she would never see Robert again took hold of her and sent her mind into a darkness she soon rather died than have to relive it.

"All I wish for from Vestin is to keep the only thing from my past close to me. He is all I have left of a life I thought I lost. A family that no longer exists except in his words and my memories. I do not wish to hold him the way I hold you. My heart does not flutter the way it flutters for you. Do I love him, yes, but I will always choose you. Because my heart would stop beating if you were gone. That is why I came to you...why I am still standing right here in front of you."

Robert pulled her in closer. He sighed as he let her words wash over him. This was the confession that she hadn't given to him yet. The one that hung on her lips and struggled to break free. While he admitted to loving another man, he could now see that love was more towards a brother than that of a lover.

"It will always pain me that I do not hold your heart completely, but if what you are saying is true then I hold a larger portion then him."

She sighed then gently pushed him away from her and sat back down on her bed.

"You make everything a competition when it comes to Vestin."

Robert shrugged his shoulders and then sat down next to her. He knew that Vestin was an honorable man. His character was that of a just soldier that would do anything to protect what was dear to him. A loyal citizen of his homeland.

"Because he is the only man I will admit defeat to, should I lose you. The only man that I would trust to leave you with should I ever have to walk away. Do not mention any of that to him. I will deny every word if he asks about it."

"Have you befriended him?"

"It would seem we just share a mutual respect for each other. All that matters is the smile on your face to us. To us, you are everything."

" If that were true, Vestin would still be here. He would be helping me with the plans to take back Serenity and congratulating me on the new baby. Yet he ran off to his death...will I never see my friend again, Robert? Have I failed him once again?"

"It will be alright, Loraz. He will be returned shortly. I told you, did I not, there were plans to bring him back home where he belongs. He is your Second, which means he is an important ally of the kingdoms."

"Does Jensek know about this as well?"

"Not yet, but we sent him back to Ay Su to tend to his remaining companions and give Madam Madim news of what has taken place. She will more than likely stay neutral in the matter, but she is still an alley nation and we don't want to destroy that bond."

The weight of her thoughts lifted off her shoulders and chest making it easy to breathe. It took a tremendous amount of strength to do what Robert was doing for her and it made her love him even more for giving into her selfishness. She placed her head on his shoulder and tears fell as the guilt of what she would be putting both men through in the future washed over her.

"Thank you, Robert. Thank you so much for saving him...and I am sorry for any pain that I am the cause of."

Robert took her hand and brought it up to his lips. He pressed them lightly to the back of her hand and sighed. It was a choice he made a long time ago to continue loving her the way he did.

"I am sorry for my harsh words earlier. It was not right for me to lash out at you like that."

"I love you, Robert."

"And I you, Loraz."