His Sweet Little Mate

All the way to the old tower, Arthur held baby Arlo, while Deion followed the trio silently. He couldn't decipher the expression on the queen's face, but he had his guard up.

The last time Neesha, the former queen, met Abby, she had been pretty violent, given Abby was a heavily pregnant woman. But Arthur's mate didn't seem to be in a state to distinguish between right and wrong until she slapped the queen, almost making her lose her balance. Had it not been for Alyssa, Abby would have been heavily injured, by extension putting the baby in danger. So, forgive him if he didn't regard Neesha's status if she tried to harm Arlo, or his queen mother.

Queen Abby asked him to prioritize Arlo's safety, it didn't matter who was the opposite person, he was going to follow that order through and through.

On the other hand, Abby still didn't know what to expect from Neesha. The woman had been extremely sweet to her the first time they met, but then she learned Abby was a half witch and all hell broke loose. She turned so agitated, she even tried to kill her. Then she slapped her when she met her again. This would be the third time she met the woman who gave birth to her mate. She had mixed feelings about this whole situation.

Just before they reached Neesha's bedroom, Abby stopped Arthur. "Are you sure she is calm enough for this meeting?"

"Absolutely, like I said, she is his grandmother, she wouldn't harm her own blood and flesh."

"Coming from you, these words hold less conviction." Abby's jab was unintentional, but she didn't give Arthur a chance to retort or defend himself as she pushed the door open. "Let's hope you are right."

Abby held out her arms for Arlo before they could enter and Arthur was sensible enough not to deny her as he calmly handed over the mumbling mess in his hands.

Arlo smiled as soon as Abby came into his view again, he seemed to love the adoring gleam in his queen mother's eyes whenever she looked at him, so he unconsciously responded to her affection with equal passion.

Only then they entered the room, and Neesha could be seen lounging on the small sofa which was placed a few feet from her bed.

The room was simple, but filled with enough furniture. It didn't scream wealth and whatnot. But every piece of furniture had some kind of potion bottle on it, with the former queen's vanity table being flooded with all kinds of medicinal stuff.

The woman was recuperating from an old ailment that had been plaguing her senses for quite some time now. Looking at her room, Abby felt a little bad for Neesha. For a shifter to fall sick this badly, it was almost unheard of.

But she didn't feel any need to pry into her well being or health condition as her complete focus was on preventing the woman, who could spiral in a split second, from hurting her baby.

On the other hand, Neesha, who had her eyes closed, seemingly waiting for news from Arthur, stirred upon their arrival and when she saw the small bundle in Abby's arms, all her torpor flew out of the window as this excited smile bloomed on her sickly pale face. "You are here." Neesha couldn't hide the surprise in her voice, seemingly unable to believe Abby had agreed to come here.

Abby didn't say anything as she just walked further into the room, still holding Arlo close to her chest and stopped when she was a couple of feet from Neesha.

The former queen looked a little conflicted, as if she had a hard time finding words, but then she settled for an hesitant question. "Can I look at him?"

Abby didn't mind that she didn't get an apology from Neesha. Hell, even Arthur, who tried to kill her twice after spreading all those nasty rumors about her, still hadn't apologized to her properly. Moreover, the woman looked guilty enough, which spoke volumes about Arthur's claims that she was calm enough now.

So Abby didn't dwell on it too much. "You can look at him. But just that."

Even though the woman looked all calm and composed now, Abby wasn't ready to give her the benefit of doubt and do something like letting her hold Arlo. Call her paranoid, but her baby's safety came before anything else.

Neesha, on the other hand, looked crushed when Abby asserted that she wouldn't let her touch Abby's son. For a second, she thought of convincing her otherwise, but then she remembered she still had to amend some weakly holding out bridges between them before Abby could let her guard down around Neesha again.

So she swallowed past the complicated emotions clogging her throat before nodding her head. "Okay, I'll not touch him. Let me look at him."

Only then Abby finally adjusted Arlo in her arms until his face was visible to Neesha before taking two tiny steps closer to the woman.

Immediately, Abby saw tears brimming Neesha's eyes. "He got his father's eyes."

Basically, blue eyes were their family thing, all the men in their royal family possessed these strikingly beautiful blue eyes but Neesha didn't seem to realize she was so overwhelmed until she couldn't recall that tiny detail.

"And mine as well." Arthur suddenly said, making Neesha look between Arlo and Arthur's eyes back and forth, and then she looked dumbfounded for a second. Abby couldn't help but smile. Neesha was a gentle soul. Abby could see the look of longing in her eyes to hold Arlo, but she wasn't ready for that yet.

So she turned to Arthur, however, the man had this solemn expression on his face, and her thoughts to remind him they had to leave for the procession got stuck in her throat.

They had quite a few things planned for the evening, before the sunset, she had to end the procession where she and baby Arlo go along the streets of the capital in an open carriage to greet their people. The feast and celebrations were next.

"What is it?" Abby asked him instead. "Did something happen?"

"Oh, nothing happened." Arthur denied quickly when he realized Abby misunderstood his expression. "It's just I've been thinking about all the things I have done to you..."

Abby fell silent as she stared at Arthur in confusion.

"I shouldn't have let my hatred get the best of me, I should have given you a fair chance to prove yourself. You are trying, so it means a good thing. I think we can be civil with each other."

"Is this supposed to be an apology?" Abby asked him after a beat.

"Then? What do you think it is?" Arthur suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He couldn't possibly lower himself and ask for forgiveness from her. He already knew he made a mistake. So he just wanted her to bury their tiny hatchet and move on. For that, he didn't need to utter the actual words of apology, right?

Abby could only shake her head at his reaction. She couldn't understand why he was still blocking the door, though. "What else?"

"I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."

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