The words slipped from Elara's lips before she could stop them.
"I'm pregnant."
The Council chamber fell into a suffocating silence. Even the humming of the glowing walls seemed to die away. All eyes fixed on her—some wide with shock, others narrowing with suspicion.
Her father, General Kaelen, stood frozen. He did not gasp, did not rage. He only stared, his jaw locked, his eyes dark as iron.
Finally, his voice broke the silence, calm but cutting like a blade.
"Do not disgrace yourself, Elara. That… thing—" he jerked his chin at Aeris, shackled in the center of the chamber "—cannot father a child. You are either lying, or he has poisoned your mind with his illusions."
Elara's chains rattled as she pushed herself to her feet. Her voice trembled but did not break.
"It's not a lie. Aeris tested me himself. His readings were clear. I'm carrying his child."
A murmur swept through the chamber. Some councilors whispered frantically, others looked horrified.
Kaelen's nostrils flared, his patience thinning. "Enough. Your words mean nothing. A machine's reading means less. If you speak the truth, then let the science of flesh confirm it. A test. Here. Now."
Elara's heart hammered against her ribs. She wanted to believe in Aeris, to believe his scans had been right. He had touched her trembling hand when he'd told her, his silver eyes shimmering with awe as he whispered, *"There is life inside you."* She had wanted to believe more than anything.
But what if he was wrong? What if this was all some mistake, some malfunction?
Two medics approached, their hands cold and clinical as they drew her blood. Elara sat rigid in the chair, her breath short, her eyes fixed on the flickering screen as the test began.
The chamber was silent but for the hum of the machines. Every second felt like an eternity. Aeris's gaze never left her—his hope, his fear, reflected back at her in those inhumanly beautiful eyes.
*Please,* Elara prayed silently, her fingers curling tight against her chains. *Please let him be right. Please let me not be a fool in front of them all.*
The machine beeped.
Everyone leaned forward as the screen lit up with the result.
**Positive.**
For a moment, Elara couldn't breathe. She had thought she was prepared, but the sight of the word stunned her. It was real. Truly real. Aeris had not lied, had not imagined. Inside her, against every law of nature and machine, a new life had begun.
Gasps erupted. One councilor staggered back, crossing himself as if warding off evil. Another slammed his fist on the table.
"This is impossible!"
"It defies the laws of nature!"
"It is an abomination!"
Elara's eyes brimmed with tears, not just from relief but from the weight of the storm crashing down around her. She turned desperately toward her father.
"Father… do you see? It's true. He didn't lie. Please—please don't hate me. This child is not a curse. It's a miracle."
But General Kaelen's face was unreadable, his lips pressed into a thin line. His eyes, cold as steel, fixed not on her, but on the glowing word on the screen.
A storm gathered in the chamber, voices rising into chaos, and Elara realized the truth with a hollow ache in her chest: this was only the beginning.
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