Page 171 of Given to the Black King

“You added healers?”

“One is a midwife.”

“She is a shepherd.”

“She has delivered thirty-one lambs.”

Iona opens her eyes.

The look she gives me would stop a lesser king.

I reach behind her and press my hand to the sore place in her lower back.

Her body loosens.

The bond confirms the pressure is right.

“There,” she says.

I keep my hand still.

“Better?”

“Yes.”

I keep my palm against the tight muscle and listen to both heartbeats. Neither changes.

“Certain?”

She opens one eye. “Yes.”

“Any tightening?”

“No.”

“Dizziness?”

“No.”

The child kicks once beneath my other hand. I wait until the movement passes.

“Pain beneath the ribs?”

“No.”

“Changes in⁠—”

She puts two fingers over my mouth.

“The healers gave you that list so you would know when to call them. Not so you could perform it at dawn every day.”

“They were unclear.”

“They were terrified.”

“They should speak more precisely under pressure.”

Iona closes her eyes again.