Again.
How? I suppose I had bled recently, but I had bled without getting pregnant many times before.
Was it the herbs? I mean, I haven’t even?—
Wait.
The night in the cell, when Thorne let Vann and I stay together before the final trial.
This pregnancy is new. Extremely so.
A host of fears well up. I could envision loss like a tangible prophecy. I don’t need to wonder what it would look like either—I knew the bleeding. The cramps.
The devastation.
I turn to look at Vann again and find him staring at me. He’s stopped fighting with Mrath. In fact, everyone has stopped speaking altogether.
“Queen Mrath,” I start, still unsure of her exact title now. “There is no possibility that I am pregnant with Arion’s child.”
“But you most certainly are pregnant.”
I flush hard. “The only person who could be the father is standingnext to me.”
Vann softens. His touch becomes heavier and full of emotion.
“You are sure? Or do you lie to avoid death?” Mrath bites.
Mother Liana steps forward. For the first time, I see her fumble as she rummages around her person. Finally, she withdraws a large blue crystal I don’t know the name of. “I could check,” she says.
Mrath still frowns, but she gestures Liana forward. The Wise Woman crosses to where I lie, letting the crystal pass over my body. When it passes over my womb, she sets it down, applying pressure to the area.
Once satisfied, she passes the gem to Mrath.
“You see? That child is half Enduar.”
Mrath gives a tight-lipped nod, looking back at me.
“Very well, it seems my fears were unfounded. But perhaps this is a sign that you should all return to your homes. Now.”
Liana agrees vehemently. “Yes. She needs to go home, back to the Enduar Mountains. Without the Fuegorra in her chest, she will continue to weaken, and if the separation lasts much longer, she will likely die.”
I blink. When the stone was taken, and I didn’t die right away, I had assumed it meant that I never would. I haven’t been eating regularly either, meaning that I thought my weakness had come from that. Not this.
Death.
Again.
My hands go to my lower belly. And this time with a child?
My child.
Vann’s child.
Cursed One—orNehvaris,I suppose—smiles.Mortality is fragile, friend. But I wouldn’t worry. Things seem to have turned in your favor.
Mrath exhales through her nose. “Then leave. Let me sort through the situation with my court on my own.”
I push myself upright, each breath scraping my ribs. In the room, I see Castien, Liana, Mrath, the other elves. Going home was a dream I had given up. And now I can go?