As they both looked at me longer, the room became tense and my lies seemed to catch in my throat. I'm going to die. He was going to find out tomorrow that I wasn't pregnant, and I was going to die. There was no way around that. I swallowed to ease the dryness in my throat and stood up from the seat.

"The baby needs air."

Seriously, Gen?

I rushed out of the room and didn't bother to look at either of them. Waves of nausea began to flow through me and for a moment I wondered if God somehow blessed me in the right moment with a child, but reality hit me and I realized that the only pregnant thing about me was my lies.

I kept on walking through the dark palace, confused, and hearing nothing but the click of my heels echoing through the halls. I passed multiple paintings of my husband standing triumphantly over his victims and rolled my eyes.

"God did the man love himself," I thought to myself, sighing.

The castle was decorated with accents of white and gold, with Romanesque arches that encapsulated every entrance of the court. The halls were lined with white round columns and gold swirls in the walls. The windows that lined the walls from top to bottom were covered with thick red curtains that blocked out any form of light. Chandeliers with candles adorned almost every common room in the palace which made for great public attractions and gatherings, but truly living here was lonely.

I thought of the lie I had told to my husband, and I mentally slapped myself for being so stupid. How could I pretend to be pregnant if I was infertile? He'd find out eventually and kill me.

Julius always said that was my problem: speaking without thinking...I never believed him until today.

I walked outside the palace to the garden to get some fresh air and hopefully find a way out of this mess I got myself into. Sliding the patio door open, I stepped onto the stone floor of the garden, a cool and crisp gust of wind slapping me and making me shiver. I clutched my robe tighter around me, and shut the door before walking deeper into the garden.

Despite the palace within the large gates being a place of my nightmares, this was the only place where I felt free. Even if it was short-lived. Letting me decorate this garden to my liking was perhaps one of the only things Julius had ever done right when it came to me.

The golden glowing lanterns hung on the barren tree branches, lighting the pathway into the forest, making it look more alluring than it used to be. Wooden benches sat on either side of the cracked stone with fields of grass behind them. I preferred to stay in this area as I didn't know what lurked beyond the forested border. The lanterns could only do so much to calm my fear of the unknown.

A buzzing beside my ear reminded me that I wasn't alone and I grumbled, crossing my arms. Now was not the time. Dazzling fairies dancing in the night sky, filling it with hues of blue, yellow, and pink; almost like colorful fireflies, were giggling around me. The beautiful creatures would have been worshiped by me for their vibrancy if it weren't for how evil and cruel they were.

One fairy came down to me, making me put my guard back up with a vicious quickness. She was about the size of my pinkie, colored with purple skin and gleaming sapphire wings. Getting used to being able to hear fairies now was a struggle I had yet to overcome. I didn't have to worry about falling into their traps when I was human and couldn't hear them; yet now, I could be miles away and hear their tiny voices in the shadows.

"What's wrong?" She questioned, a sympathetic frown painted on her small face. I was wary of whether or not to tell her because everyone knew that fairies were snakes in disguise. They were tricksters in their own rights and you had to be very careful with the things you said to them. Especially in these times where we didn't know whether they belonged to Hell or Heaven.

I would've sent the creature away to find another victim to prey on, but as I thought about being alone here, a sense of sadness began to overwhelm me. What's the true harm in baring my soul out here tonight when I'm going to die tomorrow? I wondered. My life was already over.

With that disparaging thought inside my mind, I sighed and walked to the grassy field, sitting in the sharp grass and ignoring the tiny scratches against my bare legs. The fairy flew over to me, bringing along a couple of her other small friends who occupied my shoulders and lap. The purple fairy hovered in front of me until I held my hand out for her, and she took a seat on my palm. With my small audience alert and focused, I told them everything from beginning to end.

"How rude of him!" A sparkling orange fairy yelled from my lap in anger, her teeny voice coming out in a high-pitched squeak, making me smile.

"Lower your voice," her green friend ordered, covering her pointy ears.

"No, you!" An argument broke out in front of me, first starting with the two fairies and then spreading to the rest of them until everyone was gathered in a small bunch on my lap, throwing punches. I giggled as their tiny feet tickled me, but I remained in my spot so they wouldn't fall down.

"How uncivilized," the purple fairy still perched on my hand said as she crossed her legs and looked down at the crowd with obvious disappointment.

"Aren't they friends of yours?"

Her head snapped to mine as if she was offended, and I raised a brow. "I don't know these people. They just followed us because they're nosey."

"Ah, I see." I turned my focus back to my lap to see one fairy sliding off my thigh from the push of someone in the fight, and I caught them with my hand, earning an appreciative grin from them.

"What if there's someone who could help you have a baby?"

"Excuse me?" I questioned, turning back to the purple fairy in my palm.

"You said you lied about being able to conceive," she reiterated. "What if there was a way you could?"

"Then that would be nice, but I'm not hopeful. I've been trying for years."

"There's a magical man that you can summon, and he can grant you any wish you can dream of," she said in a hushed tone, her tiny hands making a small microphone as if she was whispering something into my ear. "I can call him if you'd like...?"

"Are you toying with me, fairy?" I said while squinting my eyes, skeptical of her intentions.

She crossed her arms and pouted. "I'm offended that you would accuse me of such a thing." She began to stand up and fly away, but I caught her little leg between my index finger and thumb.

"Wait! I'm sorry. I'm desperate at this point. I'll meet the man."

The fairy stood on my hand and flashed me a mischievous smile, her indigo brows scrunched together. "He's coming." What? She flew away and disappeared into the dark sky before I could ask her another question, and I frowned, turning back to the beings on my lap who were still fighting.

"Miss?" A blue pixie on my shoulder spoke.

"Yes?"

"Why were you talking to that lady?"

"Lady?" I looked around in confusion. "The fairy?"

He nodded in a rushed movement. "My mom told me she's one of the bad ones."

"Bad?"

The boy looked around in fear and I frowned. A slow fog began to fill the floor around us from the roots of the grass, and I suddenly noticed the stillness of the small feet on my lap. Looking down, I saw the fight that broke out earlier had ceased. Instead, they were hugging one another and looking towards the dark part of the forest.

"What's going on?"

"We need to leave!" Someone yelled, causing chaos within the bunch. One by one they darted into the sky, small screams filling the air, and my frown deepened.

"Mommy!" The small blue fairy on my shoulder screamed, tears falling down his small cheek as he flew off, being sure to not fly too far away from me as I was the only person around now.

"Can you tell me what's happening, please?"

"The bad man is coming!"

"What bad man?" I asked in a desperate tone, urgency beginning to fill my voice. A dark blue fairy darted down to where I was and the little boy wrapped his arms around her.

"We need to go now," she said, wrapping her arms around him.

"Wait! Can you please--" My shoulders slumped as they too flew away and I was alone again. The calm that had surrounded the garden with their departure, made an eerie feeling set in. A slight urgency to get back inside slowly crept into me, and I stood up from the grass, wiping the back of my legs with my hands. I squinted my eyes, trying to make my way back to the stone trail, using the lanterns as guidelines.

"Are you leaving?" a deep voice questioned from somewhere in the garden. I looked around the dark area, unable to see anybody. I chalked it up to my imagination and began walking back to the palace, hearing nothing but the howling wind and my footsteps; the dry leaves making a crunching sound as I stepped on them.

My footsteps were the only sound audible to me, until I heard a second set of footsteps behind me, doing a poor job of imitating mine. I decided to stop abruptly to catch them off guard, and when I did, I felt a hard body bump into my back.

"Oof!"

I whipped around, shocked by my sudden company, and found a man looming over me. My mouth dropped at the otherworldly beauty of the man, and I could hear my heart beating as if it was in my eardrums. His pitch-black hair was gelled back on top of his head, not a strand out of place and his dark eyes stared down at me, gluing me to my spot.

Like the environment around us, his attire was gloomy. A neat black button-up decorating his broad chest and matching dress pants accompanied with it. I leaned in as I saw a tattoo peeking from the collar of his shirt to his neck, and I tilted my head to see it more clearly.

The clearing of his throat startled me out of my trance and I snapped back to reality, stepping away from him and stumbling backward over my heels. I caught myself before I could completely embarrass myself in front of him, and I planted my hands on my hips, taking a few steps around as if I meant to do it all.

Great fucking job.

"Did you call me here to stare or...?" His smooth voice muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"You are excused."

"What?" I replied, confused.

"Is that not what I am supposed to reply to that?" He said, eyeing me unsure of what I was doing with my carefully thought out movements.

"No i-umm...I don't believe so."

"So you want a baby," He said flatly, changing the topic with harsh abruptness.

"How did you..."

"I know a lot of things...Genesis." He said in a bored tone while teasing my name, letting it roll off his tongue in an accent that seemed unique to him. As I was about to ask him something, he interrupted and said, "Don't ask me how I know your name, please."

"Who are you?"

"A man who's going to help you get what you want."