Page 34 of Heart of the Desert

“No…”

“What is it?” The disbelief in Aderyn’s voice raised goosebumps on my skin.

“It smelled it?”

“Smelled what?” I pushed for an answer as my confusion grew.

Aderyn chewed her lips before the words tumbled out of her. “I’m pregnant.”

I blinked dumbly. The statement echoed into the silence with unexpected weight.

“Pregnant? How?”

“I don’t think I have to explain to you how it happened,” Aderyn snapped. “I know what you and Keera get up to.”

“That’s not what I…” I swallowed. I didn’t know what to say. I supposed you were supposed to congratulate somebody, but everything about this forced admission in a darkened lair crawling with monsters from nightmares seemed wrong. But in another life, where I hadn’t left Kelvadan, and Aderyn and I had been lifelong friends, this would have been a joyous moment. She might have shared it over a meal with my parents, and my mother would have broken out the good laka.

This was as far from that as I could possibly imagine, but Aderyn was still my friend. I even liked Neven, who didn’t have a hostile bone in his body despite being married to the fiercest person I knew.

“You’ll be a wonderful mother,” I settled on.

A short humorless laugh burst out of Aderyn. She slumped back against the wall and slid down so she was seated with her elbows propped on her knees.

“None of this is going how it was supposed to,” she admitted.

I sat down next to her, keeping my sword drawn, although we appeared to be completely alone, and no sounds of approaching tricriths disturbed the quiet.

“How was it supposed to go?” I asked.

Aderyn sighed. “Neven and I had been talking about it for a while—a couple years really—but with everything going on, there never seemed to be a right time. Then, after Keera agreed to marry Calix, there seemed to be hope for some sense of normalcy, and we decided to start trying. Then…”

She sighed again, and the weight of the sound conveyed everything that didn’t need to be said about the fall of Kelvadan and the subsequent chaos.

“He doesn’t even know,” she murmured.

“Neven?”

Aderyn nodded. “I just began to suspect myself about a week before we left the clans. It was so soon, and I wasn’t completely sure. If I’d told him, I knew I wouldn’t have the heart to leave him. But I had hoped we would retake Kelvadan quickly. I want my baby to be born there.” Her voice caught. “But then we didn’t find the other clans and are crossing the ocean with you, and who knows how long it will be.”

I leaned sideways to brush my shoulder against hers. “I’ll keep your secret.”

“The others will figure it out soon enough. It won’t be possible to hide forever,” she admitted. “I just wish I had told Neven, now that I know for sure.”

“Would it make you feel better to be the first to know one of my secrets?” I asked.

She looked at me curiously. “You seem to have so many secrets. Would telling me one even begin to scratch the surface?”

“This is a good one. I promise.” I held out my hand, palm up. The scar across my palm could barely be seen in the dim light, and it was partially obscured by smeared blood, but I traced my finger across the line. “Keera and I are married.”

Aderyn drew in a sharp breath between her teeth. “When did this happen?”

“Right after we left Kelvadan. Everything was—still is—so unsure. But we are sure of our love for each other. Just as I’m sure you and Neven will love this baby with all of your hearts.”

Aderyn was silent for a moment, before saying slowly. “I have not been touched by the magic of the desert. Much of it seems strange to me, even as I love my home fiercely. But when I see you and Keera together—the way both of you are wild and fierce, but you still serve as each other’s balance—I think I understand this land’s power, just a little bit.”

“Thank you.”

I clutched to that balance tighter every day, even as it seemed to spin out of control, just like the whole desert became harsher and more ruthless the farther we traveled.