What If...

Chapter 1

A/N: All text in bold belongs to Victoria Aveyard. I do not own any characters in the story, apart from OCs. Starts from end of Glass Sword, somewhere in the beginning of King's Cage. Mare has recently been interrogated.

Mare POV:

I clutch my head in my hands, groaning. What the hell just happened. Samson's presence still echos in my mind, reinforced with every throb of pain. It's so bad I even feel nauseous. It's been a month and a half since Maven captured me. I still regret the argument I had with everyone. I'm such a stuck up little brat sometimes! I hope they got away though, Maven never told me. 

I've been 18 for a month now. I haven't seen Maven much either. Not that I'm unhappy about that, of course. 

Suddenly I clamp my hand over my mouth and run toward the bathroom. I empty out my breakfast into the toilet, shuddering. Well, I was right. My encounter with Samson did make me mentally sick enough to puke. I hope Maven doesn't expect me to clean up. 

Bang band. "Barrow! Open up!" I sigh as I hear Clover bang the door. I heave myself up and unlock the bathroom door. "Yes?" I ask.

"King wants you."

That's all I get. I walk out to find my maids ready with a splendid but horrifying red dress. Wren is there the refresh me physically. I feel her run over my body, as I'm dressed, and take away the aches and pains caused by the silent stone. I sigh in relief as my headache recedes. 

Her fingers pause as they reach my midsection, and I hear a sharp intake of breath. I raise an eyebrow. 

Wren speaks to Kitty, "Keep her here for now. I need to inform the King of a pressing matter regarding the prisoner." Then she leaves in a flurry of red and sliver fabric. I simply sigh, knowing that no one is going to inform me what the matter is, and I'll find out myself later. 

A few hours later, a sentinel barges in with Wren. He grabs me roughly and hoists me to my feet, as I struggle to keep my balance. I wince for some reason. They march me to the King's study, followed closely by my Arven Guards. 

We reach Maven's study, and the King barely looks up from his papers.

"Leave us." His cold voice echos in the empty area. 

"Having fun?"

Maven's presence is oddly small in comparison to the figure he cuts on the throne. 

"I don't have much for amusement."  I say when they disappear. For the thousandth time today I curse the presence of the manacles Without them, Maven would be as dead as his mother. Instead, they force me to tolerate him in all his disgusting glory. 

He grins at me, enjoying the dark joke. "Good to see not even I can change you." 

To that I have no response at all. I can't count the ways that Maven has changed me, and destroyed the girl I used to be. 

As I suspected, he flounces to the desk and sits with a cool, practiced grace. "I must apologise for my rudeness Mare." I think my eyes bug out of my head, because he laughs. "Your birthday was more than a month ago, and I didn't get you anything." As with the Arvens, he gestures, motioning me to sit in front of him. 

Surprised, shaken, still numb from my little illness, I do as he commands. "Trust me," I mutter, "I'm fine without whatever new horror you plan to gift to me."

His smile widens. "You'll like this, I promise."

"Somehow I don't believe that."

Grinning, he reaches into a drawer of his desk. Without ceremony, he tosses me a scrap of silk. Black, one half of it embroidered with red and gold flowers. I snatch it up greedily. Gisa's handiwork. I run it between my fingers. It still feels smooth and cool, though I expect something slimy, corrupted, poisoned by Maven's possession. But every twist of thread is a piece of her. Perfect in its fierce beauty, flawless, a reminder of my sister and our family. 

He watches me turn the silk over and over. "We took it off you when we first apprehended you. While you were unconscious."

Unconscious. Imprisoned in my own body, tortured by the weight of the sounder.

"Thank you," I force out stiffly. As if I have any reason to thank him for anything.

"And—"

"And?" 

"And I have a small piece of news for you, though you might know already." Seeing my confused expression, his grin only grows wider. 

"What."

"Tsk tsk Mare. Mind your manners"

I sigh. "Please tell me your news, King Maven."

He laughs. "So dramatic."

As if. 

"My news is regarding your current condition." I tilt my head. "My darling Mare, it seems as though you have been busy." I shake my head, not following his line of thought. He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Do I have to spell everything out for you Mare? You're with a child, according to Wren. I'm guessing you know who's."

What. Did. He. Say?

No, it's not possible. But it's entirely possible.

How?

What!?

This is the worst time to be having a baby. And his baby. Gods above, I can't believe this is happening! He must be lying. 

"You're lying!"

He simply laughs. "Mare do you really think I'm lying? Think about it yourself. According to your guards, you're puking every day. Wren tells me it's not a stomach bug."

I clasp the table for support. He's right. Oh my god he's right. What do I do?

"And you know what this means right? One wrong move, and it won't be you who pays."

He's right...

What am I going to do.

The last thing I remember seeing is his ice cold eyes before blacking out. 

A/N:

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Tell me how you like it please, I take criticism and suggestions. Bye, post soon!