“You there.” He turned to her, looking exhausted. “I need my mount saddled, as well as the Empress’s, and taken out. Plain leathers, please. Nothing ceremonial.”
For a brief second it seemed like he was going to inquire further. But either he was too tired, or Vi’s rank was too high for him to question. The boy nodded and began going about the request.
Vi glanced down the stables. The stable master was hunched over his ledgers, intermittently barking orders at the others. Word must have spread like wildfire of Fiera’s labor and some of the nobles who had longer rides were coming into town.
“All set,” the boy said, before dragging his feet toward the stable master for his next task.
Sure enough, both horses were ready. Either he’d done quick work or she’d been distracted for longer than she thought. Vi mounted Midsummer, grabbed Prism’s reins, and calmly started toward the drawbridge.
A couple nobles and stable hands glanced at her. But Vi kept her pace unhurried, natural. She kept her shoulders back and eyes focused ahead with intensity. She employed everything she’d ever been taught to make herself appear like she was meant to be there, doing what she was meant to be doing.
“Woah there, hold up, just where are you going?” The stable master ran out, stopping her just when she was about to cross onto the drawbridge. Vi didn’t have to feign her annoyance.
“I’m taking the Empress’s horse to where he’ll be boarded for the next few months.”
“Excuse me? Boarded?” The man put his hands on his hips and sighed with a shake of his head. “Why does no one tell me anything?” he mumbled.
“Things have been a little hectic,” Vi said apologetically. “I only found out last-minute that the Empress has arranged for him to be boarded with a master of horse outside the city. Since she won’t be able to ride for a few months, given her condition, she wants to see Prism exercised and trained around young ones. That way he’ll be in prime condition when she’s ready to ride again with the young prince.”
Was training horses to be around babies and children a thing? Vi knew it was for noru.
“Right, right, to Ronaldo I’d bet?” Vi nodded, not having the slightest clue who Ronaldo was. “Makes sense, given he bred the bastard.” Despite insulting the mount, the man patted Prism’s neck fondly. When he spoke next, it was to the horse, “You be good now. None of that biting, you big oaf.”
The man wandered away, and Vi left the castle and city without issue. Once in the Waste, she rode along the outer edge of Norin and back to the rocky area where the path met the sands. Vi tied off the horses and loaded their saddlebags with her supplies. For the second time, she wandered back through the tunnel, up into the dungeons, and back to the jailer’s room.
Now, she had nothing to do but wait.
She paced the floor. She poured out a glass of some suspect liquor to take a sip and then abandoned it. She sat for a few minutes, only to find herself unable to be still. She jumped back to her feet.
Every minute that passed felt like a red-hot poker stabbing her palms or feet, making her fingers twitch and her steps hasten.
She couldn’t speed up the process of Fiera’s labor. She’d risk getting in the way, or not being here when they arrived, if she left. She had to trust Deneya and Fiera… and Yargen, that this would all work out.
Footsteps echoed down the hall and Vi sprinted to the door, sliding to a stop. The young guard she’d dismissed earlier looked at her, startled.
“S-Sorry to keep you waiting.” He clearly mistook her eagerness.
“It’s no trouble,” Vi said sweetly. Likely too sweet. Her voice was bordering on once-I-stop-being-kind-you-might-end-up-dead. “Merely eager to hear of the status of our Empress.”
“That’s what I came down to tell you.” He beamed from ear to ear. “A Ci’Dan is now the crown prince of the Empire.”
Vi tried to stop a bubble of emotion from shooting up her throat, but she couldn’t, and it burst forth as an oddly suppressed sound of joy. The man who would become the father to a new Vi had been born. Relief flooded her. It engulfed her in a feeling of rightness that she had finally, finally seen something come to pass according to plan.
“That is truly good news.” Vi beamed. Now, Fiera would be sending the clerics away so she could get much needed rest. Deneya would be swiftly healing her. “I can only imagine the party going on up there.”
“It’s one for the books, that’s for sure!” He laughed, quickly sobering when he added, “How about you go and enjoy it?”
“I think you’ll have a far better time than I. Take the rest of the night off. There’s no issues here.”
“Truly?”
“Truly.”
The young guard didn’t waste another second before sprinting back the way he’d come. Vi continued to hover at the entrance, waiting. She waited there until her foot began to tap, until she had to begin pacing again.
Her watch read just shy of six when Vi heard a single set of footsteps again. She’d have to send him away once more. What excuse would she use this time? Vi was racking her brain when she emerged from the jailer’s room.
Unnaturally blue eyes met Vi’s own. Nestled in Deneya’s arms with sweat-slicked hair and deep circles under her half-open eyes was Fiera. The woman who could always command a room with her mere existence had never looked so small.
