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CHAPTER 26
My eyes opened slowly. It felt as if there was an incredible pressure pushing against my lids. At first, I only made out shadows and blurry furniture, but then I recognized my room. Frida and Wimfred were standing at the edge of my bed. Malick, the physician, was sitting on the bed next to me.
The moment he saw me opening my eyes, he pressed two fingers against my neck and stared onto a device in his hands. For a while he just listened, then he smiled.
“Now that’s much better,” he said and smiled.
I pushed myself up into a sitting position.
“Oh, thank the Lord,” Frida cried, burying her face into her hands.
I rubbed my eyes to get the last bit of blurriness out of my vision, then looked at Malick. He had grown a black, three-day beard, most likely from working too much.
“Am I sick?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “Not at all.”
“Good,” I said in relief. “Then there is much to do.” I straightened in my bed. “Wimfred, please grab pen and paper, I need to send a message to the North.” Alrick needed to hear from me. Now, not later.
I rubbed my temples to fight the rising headache I felt approaching.
“Frida,” I said. “Please instruct the maids to ready one of my mourning gowns. A simple one. I need to return to my guests and present my good health. It is of the utmost importance that they don’t think me wea—”
My voice broke off. What was going on? Usually when I made requests, people burst into motion. But this time, nobody even flinched. Instead, the whole room was staring at me as if I was insane.
“What is it?” I wondered, truly puzzled. Why were they wasting time?
Malick looked at Wimfred, then he nodded in silence and turned back to face me.
“By God,” I cursed. I was exhausted. I didn’t have time for this. “Just tell me what is going on, will you?”
Malick pinched his lips together, then nodded again. “Your Highness didn’t feel well earlier, because...”
I cocked a brow at him. “Because I’m sick?”
“No,” he countered. “Her Highness fell ill because...” He took a deep breath and stopped again.
I was about to lose it when Frida cursed something under her breath and walked up to the bed. “Why are you men all acting as if it’s the worst thing that has befallen us,” she barked at Wimfred and Malick. “It’s a gift to cherish. Now act like grown-ups or get out and go play with your toys!”
She sat down next to me, across from Malick, and grabbed my hand, smiling.
“Mina,you are with child, my dear.”
All the air flew out of my lungs. I took a slow, steadying breath.
“I-I must have hit my head or something,” I muttered.
“The stable boy said you fell onto your side, not the stomach or head. And Rune reported the same from your earlier fall,” Malick corrected me.
I threw him an annoyed glance. “Would you please repeat that?”
“The part about the fall?” Malick inquired.
“No!” I snapped.
Frida sighed so loudly at Malick, it was almost a shout. Then she squeezed my hand and focused back on me. “My dear child, it’s the most wonderful news. You are pregnant.”
I shook my head. “But...but how? I don’t feel nauseous, and I have been examined by the doctors several times since we returned.”
