Chapter 9

Seven Weeks Later

Melody had fallen ill in the last couple of weeks of her trip. She had taken it upon herself to request going home. Richard and his family had been incredible hosts and his parents were the first to say that they were sad to see her go but wanted her to feel her best. Richard had appeared to be irritated by the notion of an early departure but Melody took it as an innocent reaction. She had hoped through rest that she would feel better. The ocean calmed her and she assumed that passage on a ship would assist her in how she was feeling. Unfortunately, the sea only seemed to make things worse.

On top of this, Melody was late. She chalked it up to being nervous about her travels to the kingdom but hoped that on her way home that she might finally start to bleed once more. The night with Chase went through her mind but her denial was stronger.

During one of the last days of the trip, Melody finally approached one of the maids who had been told to go with her to Aerameth, Felicity. Though Felicity was not as close to Melody as Carlotta was, she was someone Melody knew that she could rely on. "Felicity… Can we talk?"

Felicity, who had been making sure that the belongings of the princess and herself were in order, allowed the princess to step foot into her room. Upon Melody's request, she shut the door behind them. "What seems to be the matter? I'm glad to see you out of your room. Hopefully this means you're feeling a bit better?" She placed the back of her hand on Melody's forehead, determining once again that there was no fever.

"I've been able to hold some food down for the past few days, although the nausea has been pretty persistent…" Melody smiled up at Felicity to show her appreciation for the fever check. "But… I-I'm worried it may be something else. You, uhm, you were one of the maids responsible for helping Mom with me and everything, right?"

Felicity gave Melody a nod and continued what she had been previously doing. "I was the one who finally convinced her that she was actually pregnant. Even Carlotta hadn't gotten through your mother's thick skull." She laughed fondly at the memory. "I think she was just so shocked about the notion of being a mother that she couldn't believe it. That on top of all of her knowledge of pregnancies going to waste since under the sea things are much different must have been a lot." After closing the final bag, Felicity sat herself next to Melody. "What makes you ask that?"

Melody shifted a bit uncomfortably, not quite ready to admit this to herself let alone someone else but truly she needed to know. "Before I left, before anything with Richard… Chase and I…" Melody couldn't seem to find the right words, not knowing whether to be blunt or overly proper with her word choice around Felicity. Instead, she cleared her throat and moved past the awkward announcement. "I'm late. I'm late and I have been very sick, even on the ocean. I never get sea sick. In fact, I feel MORE calm when I'm at sea. I'm just… I'm just worried that I might be pregnant, Felicity."

Felicity's eyes were wide, shocked by the news and by the situation that the princess had placed herself in. "Princess…"

"I know. I have no idea what to do… God, my parents are going to KILL me!" Melody stood up and began to pace, once again feeling ill. "How will I even know for sure that I am? If I am, what do I do? Richard will most likely be asking my parents for my hand in marriage when I return and from the letters Mom has sent me, Chase and Laila seem on their way to an engagement as well! I can't do this to him! The best thing I can hope is that if I AM pregnant, the child looks every bit like me because features of Chase would give that away in an instant."

Felicity took Melody's shaking hands in her own to stop her pacing and to get her to maintain eye contact. "If you are pregnant, the best thing that you can hope for is a healthy child. We will figure this out, Melody. It would be wise though to keep this between just us until we are home. I can start saying that you do have a fever to fend off any suspicions."

With tears in her eyes, Melody hugged Felicity and merely whispered, "Thank you."

On the other side of the door, Richard stood rigid and furious. He had known that Melody and the boy had been more than friends, but hadn't expected something as severe as this. His anger got the best of him and he flung the door wide open. "You don't need to worry about suspicions as they're now confirmed."

Laila brought Chase a cup of his favorite drink, once again with a dash of her love potion in it. Things had seemed to be progressing between the two of them, even having a kiss shared while on the surface staring at the moon one night, but the longer she had been giving Chase the potion, the weirder he seemed to be behaving. His behavior was so odd that she was nervous to even approach his room. Regardless of her nerves, she walked into his room cautiously with the cup in hand. Chase's eyes lit up when he saw her and he giggled like a small child. He seemed almost delirious.

"Laila…" Her name was drawn out and made almost into a song. Chase took the cup and drank it quickly, never taking his eyes off of her. The light shimmer of pink went through his skin before he hiccupped and giggled again. "My, you're so lovely…" Laila smiled at the compliment and stroked his cheek and yet deep down, there was a horrible feeling of betrayal within her. She knew what she had been doing was wrong and as much as she loved Chase and loved the attention she was receiving, Laila knew that he did not truly love her. Without the potion, she would merely be another woman that he lived around. Without the potion, Chase would still be in love with Melody.

"How are you feeling today, my prince?" Laila asked, continuing to stroke his cheek. The loopy look only confirmed for her what she had known since this began: The potion was wrong. She was not who he belonged with, no matter how hard she tried or wanted it to be true. "I need to gather supplies again. You will not need to leave for them; I can go on my own. In fact, it may be best for you to rest."

Chase began to protest, sitting up, only to be held down by Laila's hand. She watched him carefully for a second before pressing her lips to his forehead. Upon her touch, Chase relaxed and laid back in his bed, settling in before drifting back to sleep. Laila ran her fingers through his hair, silently bidding the Chase who had loved her goodbye. After softly kissing his lips, she swam away to begin gathering supplies for the antidote to her love potion. It was the strongest love potion she had ever brewed and therefore the antidote would take an incredible amount of her time and energy. The further away she swam for her supplies, the more the reality of what else she needed for the new potion sank in. Due to her unethical practices in making her own love potion, she would need to repay her inhumane acts in the most serious way necessary. Laila accepted her fate, knowing it was penance for the awful thing she had done. The awful things she had done to Chase as well as Princess Melody. She only hoped that before the antidote killed her completely that she could explain herself and apologize to Chase. Her one true love deserved to know how truly sorry she was for her actions.

A/N: Wow. Super long time since I last updated and I was honestly thinking I might give up on this story until some inspiration hit. I'm hoping to finish this story soon but then again, there seems to be a lot to be solved. I apologize for the length of this chapter but there will be more to come quite soon!