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Bowing his head, Ellery left the room. It wasn't an order, but he took it as one.
Nyla insisted I lie down and let her examine me. "You are stressing yourself out, child. I didn't realize the boy… apologies, he's a man now. I didn't realize he was in a place that would affect you so profusely. Each day must be fresh heartache for you?"
Lying still while the monitor read my vitals, I didn't respond. What more could I say?
"Everything looks fine. The special hälsodryck I'm brewing for you should be ready by morning. It will allow you to exist on a normal food quantity and give you back your full energy."
"Thank you, Nyla." As she packed the monitor away, I sat up. "How long until we know for certain?"
"You will be a week along tomorrow by your calculations?" When I nodded, Nyla also did. "We should be able to scan tomorrow to confirm all suspicions."
When Ellery came back into the room, he left the door open behind him. "We have some food for you, Princess. Prince Saboa has advised he will be some time yet."
Reluctantly, I followed Nyla and Ellery back into the sitting room. "Medic Ellery, we will need to arrange a scan for tomorrow to confirm the Princess's illness," Nyla conferred quietly.
"I think we should be able to manage a distraction long enough to get her into the infirmary with only a select company to prevent suspicions being raised."
Happy with that response, Nyla gave my shoulder a squeeze, and they both proceeded to leave. Hartwin was gone along with Jervaise. Chas and Utz were sitting on the sofa, supposedly engaged in watching the media panels. Still, they were too engaged without the alertness of something special being broadcast.
"Am I in trouble?" I asked casually as I sat at the meals table to eat again.
"You are scary," Utz responded, not looking up from his tablet. "You reduced the Commander to tears. He failed to cry even when his companion died in childbirth."
"His tears were just his body's natural response to fighting me. They weren't from grief or excessive pain."
Utz looked up, brows lifting high, then he checked himself, returning his eyes to his tablet.
The loneliness of being a princess was nothing new to me, but I missed the comfort of my estate and staff, who treated me like family. Inhaling deeply, I sighed wearily. "My grudge with the Commander is years old. I had years of anger bottled up that was directed towards him. The rest of the Elite, except a few, are in no danger of that power. You are closed books for the most part. You can stop avoiding looking at me so adamantly."
"I'm not, Princess," Chas answered. "I was seriously interested in the Cyran news broadcast." Placing his tablet on the table, he focused his eyes on my mouth. "You should let us think you hurt the Commander. It is good for people to fear you. It would be good for King Saboa to fear you somewhat. He only respects who he fears."
"As it is, I'm surprised he allowed his son's joining with me," I responded kindly. "He can't really be happy with the idea of having a half-breed grandson take the throne someday?"
"Things aren't what they used to be, Princess. Worlds have merged. We have a high population of other species in Cyra now, and we have populated Praldia just as thoroughly. The Praldians will welcome a mix-breed king eagerly, even if the Cyrans are reluctant. And, if things go to plan, then Avalonia will also be ruled by a mixed king. It seems only fitting that if we subject two other planets to such a thing, that our own world should also suffer the same fate."
"You missed your calling as a diplomat, Elite Chas. That speech was delivered almost perfectly," I complimented. "The only weakness was the scowl that crossed Elite Utz's face every time you mentioned a mixed king."
"I meant no disrespect, Princess." Utz bowed his head.
"None was taken, Elite Utz. You will find it is more than a scowl that will greet that suggestion in Avalonia. The Praldians would have preferred a Cyran-Praldian King to one of a foreign planet that is already embroiled in civil war. Lady Ancelin may have been a much better preference in the Praldians’ eyes."
Utz swallowed, eyes wide looking away, and Chas ducked his head too quickly. Placing the forkful of food that I was about to eat back on the table with a practiced restraint, I watched my Elite. "Lady Ancelin was the lover the prince put aside for me?" Neither man looked up. Instead, they both suddenly found something interesting being broadcast on their tablets. "Well, that explains her sudden fondness of me."
When I stood moving back to the bedroom, Chas stood. "Princess?"
"I'm fine, Elite Chas. I'm aware Cyrans are not monogamous."
"Princess, one of us is meant to stay with you at all times in case you suddenly fall ill again. Elite Utz or I will need to accompany you into your room."
"If the Prince has ordered it. But I wish to bathe right now. I will open the bedroom door when I have finished." Bowing, Chas allowed me to close the bedroom door. Moving to the bathroom, I pushed the spout with my toe to start the water pouring into the tub. Undressing, I then sank into the warm waters.
Ancelin made sense. She was a woman of worth, with easy access and physically appealing to the Cyran eye. The Elite were welcoming her advances all week, and Luther told me she had taken another lover.
Floating in the bath, a myriad of thoughts ran through my head. How would I feel if I were put aside like Ancelin? When Hartwin set me aside, it wasn't for another woman. The two were entirely different in the offense. I always knew Hartwin was not available to me as a companion without permission. Still, I'd hoped to declare myself his lover and thus take myself off the courting scene.
It was how Hartwin's mother and many other Cyran women won approval to be joined with an Elite by the King. After all, the Elite was the best, and any ruler would want the best of his people to breed. But Hartwin refused to acknowledge me and turned me away.
Ancelin would have held the hope for a joining since Luther was a prince and thus needed to reproduce. She would have anticipated being considered eventually. Ancelin had much more to hope for than me. Knowing how much it hurt me, I couldn't believe her wounds to be any less. How must it hurt her to now see me in the place she hoped to obtain? Yet, she didn't seem put out.
