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Moments later, Lissa came running back into the room, grinning ear to ear, with another woman in two. Her silver-blonde hair was tied into a tight bun, and her simple gray robes seemed warm but practical.
"Good morning, sweetheart," the older woman said as she sat on the bed next to Aelwen. "I hear we might have some good news?"
Aelwen nodded, smiling. The healer patted her hand gently. There was a blue tattoo on her hand, a stag's antlers in the middle of a thick circle. The sight of it made Aelwen's smile falter; she recognized it as a slave brand. This woman was King Vinir's property, not a free woman.
"How about we confirm that hmm? Sit still for me, dear, I'm just going to pull your dress up so I can feel your bare stomach."
The woman did as she said she would, peeling the covers back and lifting Aelwen's dress, so her stomach was bare. It looked no different than it did last night or the night before ...
Aelwen swallowed as the old woman's cool hands touched her stomach. The healer closed her eyes and hummed a low, soothing melody. Her hands began to glow with a soft blue light, which seemed to be pulled from the air around them and directed toward Aelwen's stomach. The light floated over her skin, the caress a little ticklish before settling around the center of her abdomen.
A moment later, the old woman opened her eyes and smiled. "Well, my Queen," she said softly. "You are indeed pregnant."
The news was like music to Aelwen's ears. Overcome with emotion. She wrapped the healer in a tight hug before turning to Lissa and jumping into her arms in celebration.
"We're having a baby!" Aelwen cried out.
Lissa squealed and hugged her tightly as she laughed too, this news too good to be true. Aelwen had only lain with Vinir once, and though a joyful experience it had been, she'd known there was only a small chance she could end up pregnant.
But for fate to be in her favor ... it was a miracle. This baby was meant to be.
"We must inform King Vinir at once of the happy news!" the healer said in a singsong voice. "Congratulations to you and our wonderful king!"
Aelwen's mood shifted at once, like a cloud falling over a sunny day, and she grabbed the healer's arm before she could travel too far away. "Oh yes, of course, but please allow me the opportunity to tell my husband the news myself. I want to see the look on his face when he hears the happy news."
The old woman smiled. "Of course, my dear, as a first-time mother, I am sure it's an experience you've been craving. I wouldn't rob anyone of such a joy. Now you get plenty of rest, drink fluids, and don't skip a meal! If you should feel any discomfort at all, you must let me know at once."
"Of course, I will. Thank you so much."
Aelwen's heart beat so fast as she waited for the healer to leave that she thought it would burst and her anxieties would be found out. For a few hopeful moments, she'd been so caught up in the joy of carrying a child that she forgot about all the other complications in her life.
She was so excited for this child, but how would Vinir feel? He didn't love her. He didn't even seem to like her, despite her best efforts to endear herself to him and make herself useful. It appeared that she was fated to live in a loveless,tense marriage because Vinir was so stubborn and angry that he refused to make the best of what theycouldhave together.
At least, what they could have had before she found him out for the psycho murderer he really was. She couldn’t forgive him for what he’d done to her people … but now that she was pregnant, what could she do?
"I'm sure you're so excited about this news, but after the morning you've had, it would be for the best if you stayed in bed to rest, don't you think?" Lissa said, pulling the covers back over Aelwen and tucking her in. "You don't worry a single bone in your beautiful little body, I will have Mori bring you some tea and soup to help with nausea, and Alexa and I will work on your care plan to make sure you and your baby stay as healthy as possible."
Aelwen, despite her worries, laughed. "I'm pregnant. I didn't lose a leg. I'm perfectly capable of caring for myself, you know."
"We're not the kind of women who believe you need to stay in bed and do nothing at all as soon as you know you're pregnant, you know. I firmly believe it's important for you to stay active and live your life to keep the baby strong and healthy, the same as yours. But you're under the weather today, love, and these nightmares have disturbed your sleep schedule. So, let's get that sorted out first, hmm?"
Aelwen nodded, relieved that she wasn't going to be stuck in bed and treated like a crazy person for the next nine months simply because she was pregnant. Of course, she would be careful, but this palace was already a cage, and Vinir was her ball and chain, so she would feel horrible if her life became even more condensed because of this news.
She suspected she would have a hard enough time handling how she would give the news to Vinir.
"I'll be right back," Lissa said, humming as she wandered out of the room.
The silence was pleasant, allowing Aelwen the first chance since hearing about the pregnancy to truly come to terms with her reality. She anticipated that Vinir would be neutral about the news, not angry. After all, he'd admitted to sleeping with her well aware that there were certain pressures on her to conceive a child as soon as possible.
She'd been angry at the time that he'd turned their consummation into something so mechanical when, during the act, Aelwen had thought she was connecting to Vinir on a deeper, more emotional, and physical level. But in hindsight, she realized that it hadn't been entirely malicious for him to admit that he slept with her for her benefit—or at least, that had been part of his motivation.
Oddly, it showed that he cared about her well-being—knowing that if she did not carry a child soon as was expected of her, there would be severe consequences. Now that she was Vinir's wife, and because she was a princess, she would not be killed for being too slow to conceive as some fae were, but she would lose all traction she had with returning to her father's good graces.
Not that his small act of kindness meant anything now that she knew the truth about him. Had he married her, intending to cast her away to a similar fate?
She shivered at the thought.
Speaking of her father, he would want to hear the good news. Perhaps his reception of her pregnancy would be less hostile than Vinir's, as this meant that Aelwen had accomplishedsome of what she'd set out to do for King Sinnegard when she became married. Hopefully, this would be precisely what she needed to resume a pleasant relationship with her father.
