Chapter 7.

Official Presentation.

Matteus summoned all the inhabitants of Shadowfax to a small event inside the Castle, including the harpies who had to be present. The man let the goblins organize everything and bring him a golden ring that had been kept safe for longer than his own existence. He also demanded that everyone entering the Castle use their human form.

Everyone obeyed orders and arrived on time. There was nothing unusual that could indicate things were wrong, except that the place was packed, but Redlith refused to attend and obey him.

And there was something only she knew, and that was why she clung so tightly to their past relationship. Unlike wolves who can smell their mates pups, harpies could hide their pregnancy without even their own mate detecting it. And she was carrying Legolas's child, so she wanted to stay...

She wanted whatever was growing in her womb, the fruit of their Union, to have them both present, but before she could tell him, he broke her heart, telling her he had found his destined mate and that she had to leave because there was nothing between them anymore.

In her throat, so strong she appeared, so imposing and vengeful that she burst into tears, she knelt down begging him not to leave her, she asked him to reject her, that she could be a thousand times better than his destined mate, but then Legolas just rejected her and told her that he would marry when winter came to Whistler, that he would go to the king of the hall because that was what fate had planned for him and he accepted his destiny without hesitation…

Her desperation was such that she asked him to keep her by his side, even as a lover, but the answer was clear: I will only love and keep by my side my destined mate, you are no one to me anymore, you never were, you were just a pleasant moment, a temporary relief, just that, don't think you're special because we shared a room for a while, my wife has arrived and my eyes and my heart are where my soul belongs, which is by her side.

The resentment was enormous. Not only did she know she was pregnant, but she had been rejected in such a humiliating way. They practically told her she was disposable, like a plastic cup that breaks and is thrown away. 

Some goblins came to her and asked her to go to the Castle and enter in her human form, but she only said she'd had enough and just wanted to stay in this ruin, that she wouldn't go to the Castle.

The pair of goblins looked at each other; ¿How could they explain this to Mateus? If she didn't enter the Castle, the order was clear: a harpy would be sacrificed as the main course for the banquet. 

So they tried to persuade her again, telling her that maybe, if she looked in for even 10 minutes he would be happy with it. But she was firm in her decision and wouldn't enter. This led the goblins to kneel and practically tell her: We don't want to sacrifice a harpy as the main course of the banquet, so please do this for your own people...

She listened, making a face of disgust. It seemed he was willing to manipulate her with her own people, but she knew that if she entered in her human form, the pregnancy would be noticeable because her belly would swell like that of a 4-month-old woman. 

While if she remained in her harpy form, the offspring would be hidden because its size was small; it was only two months old. However, due to what she had been consuming as food all this time, the transformation would reveal its belly.