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“You…” Nicolette shook her head and cleared her throat. “You’ve already held the baby once. Do you not remember?”
I frowned, trying to recall such a moment. “No,” I said. “When was that?”
“When…” Nicolette glanced hesitantly toward the other three before turning back to me. “Directly after…after… You know.”
“After giving birth?” I asked.
No one answered. They just blinked at me.
“What?” I asked, glancing between them, not liking how left out I felt. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”
I set the child on my lap and began to unwrap her so I could examine her fully. But Nicolette rushed to reassure me. “Yes, yes, of course, she’s fine. The baby’s perfect.”
I glanced up, frowning. “Then what am I missing here?”
Yasmin shook her head and moved forward, reaching for my baby. “Never mind that. You should get more rest. Let the healers deal with the child for the time being.”
I moved back, away from her, taking my baby with me. The bundle squirmed in my arms and started to fuss. “No, I want to keep her. She needs to be fed.”
“You need to take care of yourself, Vienne,” Yasmin said more firmly.
I blinked at her. “Not that I’m complaining, Sister, but you’re being uncharacteristically kind to me. I promise you, I’m fine. Women give birth to babies every day. Stop acting as if I’m going to drop dead any second and let me take care of my own child.”
“Well, you did drop dead,” Yasmin snapped, glaring back. “So excuse me for caring.”
Her scowl and pale face and the trembling in her lips made me pause. Finally, I said, “What did you just say?”
“I said you died,” she burst out with more violence, tears streaming down her face. She pushed them roughly off her cheeks with the swipe of her hand. “When you gave birth, you died.”
I shook my head, not understanding. “You’re rambling. I’m right here. I’m not dead.” I looked down at my hand that was holding my baby. At least I hoped I didn’t look this pasty pale and swollen in the next life.
“But you were,” she insisted. “You were dead. And then he brought you back.”
“He? What?” I shook my head. “Can you speak in a language I understand, because you’re not making any sense?”
“You died, Vienne!” she screamed, gaping at me as if I were the one who’d lost my mind. “I can’t say it any clearer than that. You died giving birth. On this very bed. I was right beside you, holding your hand, and you just… You died. I saw the life drain from your eyes. Your grip on my hand went slack. The baby cried and you did nothing. You…were…dead.”
My lips parted, not because I believed her, but because I could see she fully believed herself.
I turned toward Nicolette and the two healers. They all three nodded, confirming my sister’s mad story.
“And then…and then…” Yasmin shook her head as if grappling to make sense of her own tale. “Then he burst through the doorway. And he kissed you, and it… It brought you back to life.”
I blinked at her. For some reason, I remembered a kiss. Warm pressure on my lips, air filling my lungs, life returning to my body, a voice in my head, begging me to come back.
Wondering for the first time if maybe she was telling the truth, I whispered, “Who kissed me?”
“Him,” she sputtered, waving her hand frantically around me. “Your one true love. Who else could give you true love’s kiss and bring you back to life after you died?”
“True love’s kiss?” I repeated, shaking my head. “You don’t mean Soren, do you?” Eww. The very idea that Soren was my one true love made me wrinkle my nose in distaste.
“Good God, no,” Yasmin muttered, slapping a hand to her forehead before groaning. “Do you honestly believe Soren of all people is your one true love?”
“Well…no,” I said slowly. “But I have no idea who else you’re talking about.”
“Urban,” she growled, widening her eyes as if she couldn’t believe I hadn’t already been aware. “Urban Bjorn.”
I shook my head, more lost now than I’d been at the beginning of her rambling, confusing story. “You mean Allera’s brother? The prince of High Cliff?”
