Angharad made a crude noise of dismissal. Winnie sat beside me, embroidering (or trying to), tongue partly hanging out as she worked the thread back through its cloth. I wondered if she could feel my temperature rising.
Maybe there was such a thing as too much time in the Lady’s Chamber, but there wasn’t much else for me to do. Nicolas was out hunting red deer, not that he’d been able to provide me much comfort in the last couple of weeks anyway. Any time spent in that shared room of ours was dedicated entirely to either massage or attempts at distraction, whether they be games of chess or cards.
Quinn was around, left behind in case of emergency. By the way he paced the corridors this morning, muttering and grumbling, it was clear how he felt about that.
“I remember being on bedrest for both of my little angels,” Angharad lamented, throwing her head back. Her voice was a constant drone in the past hour, every comment or complaint grating on my nerves. “Do you even have the faintest idea of what’s coming, Alana?”
“Your Majesty,”corrected Marcy from her position near the door.
“Do your books talk of the pain?” Angharad continued. “It gets so bad, you can’t hear. Can’t think of anything, really, but that ache in your back and hips, like your bones are being pulled apart—”
Now Florence spoke up, her voice carrying from that little corner she flocked to on the rare occasion she joined the rest of us in here. “Watch yourself, woman.”
Across from her, Sahra leaned forward with curiosity. Likely she’d tuned out the commotion; she, too, kept to herself, though ironically, she seemed to enjoy Florence’s companionship. Florence had been terribly anxious as of late, but she did a remarkable job at keeping herself free of the Banewights’ suspicions.
“Are we lying to her, now?” Angharad replied. “She should know it’s going to hurt.”
“I know it’s going to fucking hurt!” My temper snapped. I cast the needles down to the floor and stood up, slower than I’d have liked to. “I’m not stupid,Angharad! Even if I hadn’t read medical texts, or spoken to my mother who helped deliver babies in Finn’s Hollow, or talked with every mother in this room about their experiences, that wouldn’t change the fact that what is currently in my womb must come out somehow, and only a complete, bumbling idiot would be unaware of the implications!”
The room fell quiet, all looking at me. My chest heaved, and even though I was already starting to regret my outburst, I kept on glaring.
Angharad measured me up. “Apologies, Your Majesty. I am recovering from a rough evening.”
“Every evening’s a rough evening for you. Soberup, woman! You’re insufferable!” I stamped my foot. “Have you ever considered that you’re just too much for some people?! That maybe not everyone wants to go around talking about cocks and balls and suffering and sadness every gods-damned day?! Some of us would actuallyliketo talk about the weather, or the flowers, about love and happy things!”
“Oh? You want to talk about love, Your Majesty?” Angharad perked up, crossing her legs. “I’ve heard you’ve got more than your share of it.”
What did she mean by that?
I opened my mouth, baring my teeth, and—
A collective gasp escaped the women. Warmth flooded my legs, pooling at my slippers, and I froze with terror.
Angharad was partly right. I hadnoideawhat was coming for me. I’d heard it time and again, but such a thing was far beyond the realm of my imagination.
Florence hurried over, taking my arm.
“All right,” Florence said. “We’re heading for the tower. I saw to it that the fires remained stoked. How do you feel?”
Most of the women scattered out into the hall, shouting alarms that echoed from person to person. The whole castle would know in minutes.
“I’m not supposed to be ready yet,” I whispered. “I had another two weeks.”
“Focus. Winnie, go fetch her parents.”
Without a word, Winnie obeyed, slipping through the door.
Marcy assumed my other side. “Your Majesty, can you walk? Are you in any pain?”
The water was still leaking from me, and I did feel a good deal lighter, but I wasn’t hurting. “No, I feel all right so far.”
“Okay. If you feel any pain on our walk, you just stop and breathe. We’ll be in the birthing tower in no time, free from an audience,” Florence said. Only Angharad remained in the room with us now, slowly rising to her feet.
“Let me help,” Angharad said.
“You’ve helped plenty,” Florence answered for me. “You stressed her out. Now we’ll have to send a rider to hunt down the king.”
“That’s notmyfault! It happens when it happens!”
