Wings and Heartbeats (Manorian Fanfiction and crossover between ACOTAR and TOG)

Chapter One: Baby Shower

Dorian Havilliard, former crowned prince of Adarlan, now its king, sat in his chair unmoving as he stared at the messenger before him.  The man's forehead was slick with sweat, but his average brown eyes were clear as Dorian once more asked him to relay his message for the third time since the messenger entered Dorian's office.

"I repeat," the messenger said slowly, as though giving Dorian time to once more take in the news ", that Queen Aelin Ashryver Whitehorn Galathynius is hosting a baby shower."

"And why," the King of Adalan said drily ", was I not informed of her pregnancy months ago?"

"She didn't want to get everyone's hopes up," the messenger said.

Dorian contemplated, he knew that Fae and Witch newborns were hard to conceive but to hide simply because of that reason, it was just so Aelin.  Dorian nodded at the messenger, the man took it as a dismissal and left, the door clicking faintly as it was shut.  He felt happy for Aelin, of course, but that wasn't the reason he was so shocked at the news.

It was that after nearly five months of not seeing her court, the first word he received was that she was pregnant. Who wouldn't be shocked? He sighed silently, they were all so busy after...what happened. The war was officially ended nearly a year ago, and it was expected that they were thrown into royal duties as soon as the celebration was over but still. . .

He barely had time to sit down to eat a proper meal, opting for hasty breakfasts that consisted of bread and cheese and milk, his letters were directed to protests and alliances rather than to his friends, but he felt better knowing that far away from the rebuilding Rifthold, up north, and westward, two queens are struggling with the same thing.

Two queens, both meaning very much to him. One, golden-haired with turquoise eyes, a beloved friend, the other, white-haired and eyes of burnt gold, a... .well.

He didn't know what Manon was. They weren't just friends, he knew that for a fact, but they weren't outright lovers either. Whatever she was to him, and him to her, he always looked forward to her visits every month, and from the gleam with her golden eyes every time she visited, he thought the witch queen felt the same way.

He straightened, on the topic of those visits, one was due in about a few days. He tried not to be excited-and failed. He silently reprimanded himself and stalked toward the corridor to tell Chaol of the event. Perhaps Dorian would join Manon on her way to Terrasen. Better than traveling in stuffy carriages or stiffed back on horses.  

Through all his chaotic thoughts, Dorian was very aware of how excited he was to meet a witch-queen who had the ability to rip out his throat at any opportunity he had given to her.