Dark Desire, A Reylo Camelot

Protection

This picture and the following pictures, are of the real Tintagel , in Cornwall England. This spot was the legendary birth place of King Arthur .

' It was the sort of bone deep emotion that made him want to hold her tighter with one hand
And draw a sword against the world with the other...... Broken Arrow

The reunion between husband and wife did not go as well as Poe had imagined, or any the formalities before he could even get to her.
First he was required to bathe to get the strong scent of smelly horse and trail sweat off of himself and then meet with his head knights and council men.

Ben had to be there. He couldn't avoid it, and tried to stay invisible but he stuck out as the strange foreigner in the room.
No one would ever get used to his presence.
Poe singled him out and praised him for taking such care in protecting the queen. If Poe knew exactly how much protection Ben gave her, he would be looking down the blades of fifty swords.

Poe wanted to talk about some new plans he wanted to implement with the knights, but Ben needed to suddenly leave, feeling overcome with a mysterious weakness.
When Poe was finally able to visit Reyna in her rooms he tried not to let his disappointment show when there was not a cradle in the corner holding his infant son.
" Where is my son, Reyna? I prayed and offered sacrifices for a son . Where is he?" The disappointment now too painful to keep hidden.

" I'm so sorry my lord. I have failed you again. My shame is like a weight around my neck . I have failed you and our two kingdoms." She shook and trembled as she stood before her king and husband. If he ever discovered her secret ........ she would be ruined.

Their visit was brief. He gave her his gifts and swiftly departed. There was no kiss in welcome.
He didn't visit her again at all that week.
She needed to sleep with him at least once to make appear that she was pregnant with his child. But he was always busy late into the night with his advisors and knights.

She disliked this new man Hux, the moment she saw him. It was not the same dislike that she had when Ben was brought to Court. With Ben she wanted to tease and flirt with him. His bragging actually turned out to be true, now here was a new foreigner. He was much older than Poe, and had an air about him of self importance and greed.

Rey wasn't sure what good could come from a man like that.

************

Rey spent another night in Ben's arms. Rey couldn't keep her self away. She was drawn to him, needed him so badly she would ache with wanting him. She didn't care if her ladies maids looked over their shoulders at her the next day. They would gossip behind their hands as to where she spend her nights.

She tried to keep away from him, she really did, but once the fluttering of life was felt in her womb she couldn't hold back her news any longer.
There was just one problem. One very big problem.
She knew Ben could no longer stay once her condition was revealed. Someone could put two and two together and realize he was her lover.
She couldn't hide it forever.

She closed her eyes then looked directly into his and spoke the words she was loathed to speak.

" Ben, I'll remember those days in the cabin as the best days of my life. Something truly  magical happened there. And not just our incredible love making. Something resulted from our union...... Ben I'm pregnant!"

          He blinked down at her and forgot how to breathe.  Wait , his mind was a war. Is she telling him to leave?
   She sounded so sad but then the last word she spoke broke though his  panicked brain.

               Pregnant ?

    At first he did not know what to think. He just assumed she was unable to conceive so he wasn't as careful as he should have been.
      It took another moment to realize he was going to be a father!  But this is joyful news!  She was carrying his child.   Then he looked more closely at Rey's face and saw not happiness there but sorrow touched with fear.

      "Ben, don't you understand what this means?  You have to leave! You need to run as fast and as far as you can. Please go back to your home so they can't harm you. Poe will want to kill you when he realizes you are the father." 
Tears were streaming down her face and she nearly didn't get the last words out of her mouth before she collapsed in his arms.

       "No, Rey. No.  I will not abandon you. I will stand by your side through this.  I can't leave even if you commanded me.
   Poe talked to me just this morning.
He wants me to be the next heir to the throne.  He told me the joust was not just to find you a body guard but to find the next king if  his prayers went unanswered."

           "I'm stuck here. I have sworn an oath to King Poe to always be loyal to him and the crown. I am duty bound."
     Rey heart swelled at his commitment to his cause. She was so proud of him .

  " We must be careful darling." Ben  warned. " Hide your condition the best you can. It wish we could run away together. I don't want to be king,   but if we left suddenly, it would prove our guilt."

        At first Rey's heart soared at the thought of them running away together.  She wanted with all her heart to be spontaneous and  unconstrained, free to live the live that was denied her all those years ago and marry for love.

          She wanted to go  somewhere where they could live a  simple life with just each other and their baby.   But she knew it wouldn't be that easy. She wouldn't know how to live like that. She was a princess from birth. Waited on hand and foot and she had never even been around babies.  How could she be a mother with no one to teach her. She didn't care . She would toss it all aside to be with Ben forever.

       Now she was watched constantly. Her ladies maids followed her all day, looking pretty and simpering. She wanted to slap all their  prim and proper faces. 
Eventually they would notice her growing belly and that her dresses were getting snug.   She would be sent away to have her bastard child, if she was lucky. She would be at the kings mercy.

       She was brought back to the present when she felt the fluttering of new life in her womb.  The precious baby wanted to make its presence known.

    "Oh!  Ben I can feel it!"  She grabbed his hand and placed it over where the baby was growing. 
He felt a wave of  tender affection and  protectiveness when he felt little bump under his hand.  His child.  His and Rey's . What ever happens he will always find a way to be in its life and protect its mother.

       He couldn't bring himself to tell Rey of his own dilemma.
  Ever since he first lay with her, he had been slowly losing his strength and power.  He dismissed  it at first, thinking it was just his body adjusting to being physical in that way. But that was four months ago and he had not won a game or tournament since.

        The very thing that Poe was needing in him to be the next King of Naboo was being striped away and he couldn't stop it.  Poe wasn't aware yet , being stuck indoors with political and personal problems.
      He had noticed  a growing   discord among his knights. They were unhappy and discontent. They blamed their problems on Ben, but Poe  wouldn't listen, when they  complained to him.   Ben was still perfect  in his eyes.

He had other problems to deal with. 

   Just when he thought that things couldn't get worse, a young man came to Court claiming he was his son.