“Did too!” Irys retorted, than grunted harshly as the next contraction hit. She panted hard, face tight with pain, and her fingers squeezed Lady Mairah’s hand like a vise.
“You’re doing fine, love!” Sharleyan said in her ear.
“She’s right, sweetheart,” Hektor agreed. “I’m so proud of you! Now just breathe!”
“And remember not to push yet,” Sister Kahrmyncetah reminded her out loud. “I know you want to, but the babies aren’t quite ready for you to start that yet.”
Irys nodded convulsively, and one of the Pasqualate lay sisters began lighting the chamber’s lamps as the sun dipped completely below the horizon beyond its windows.
* * *
“Damn, I wish I could be there!” Hektor complained on a channel Irys couldn’t hear. “I know I can’t, but—”
He broke off, still sitting in the window, although the moon had long since disappeared. It wouldn’t be that many more minutes until dawn, he thought, and once the first rim of the sun showed itself, Mahlyk was going to turn up with the pot of cherrybean. And when he figured out his youthful captain had been sitting up all night staring out the stern windows, he was going to want to know why.
“I guess I’ve said that a time or two already, haven’t I?” he said ruefully.
“Just a time or two,” another voice agreed.
“Well, I’ve only got another hour or two before Stywyrt starts knocking on the door. If the babies haven’t put in an appearance by then.…” He shook his head.
“Stywyrt Maklyk’s a very good man, Hektor!” Sharleyan scolded him. “And he’s not going to take any nonsense when it comes to bullying you into taking care of yourself, either.”
“No, Mother, he isn’t,” he agreed, never taking his attention from the images of a bedchamber in Corisande, projected onto his contact lenses. “But that doesn’t mean he’s not going to be a dead pain in the arse if he drags me away just about the time Irys is giving birth. I could love him like a brother and still want to drop him overside with a roundshot for company if that happens!”
Empress Sharleyan chuckled. It was late morning of the next day in Tellesberg, but the afternoon outside her chamber window was gray and overcast. A steady, drenching rain sifted down—not heavy, but with a patience that suggested it meant to linger for a while—and she sat gazing out those windows with a cup of hot chocolate cradled in her hands. The fresh smell of the rain blew in through the open window and Princess Alahnah lay sleeping peacefully on the rug at her feet, favorite blanket clutched in one small fist and surrounded by a landscape of blocks, stuffed animals, and picture books. A pot of chocolate stood on a small burner at Sharleyan’s elbow, beside a plate of sugared almond cookies, and she’d informed her staff—including Sairaih Hahlmyn—that she would be enjoying a quiet day with her daughter. She took “working” time to spend with Alahnah only very rarely, and that staff—especially Sairaih and Sergeant Edwyrd Seahamper—could be counted on to guard her privacy like zealous dragons when she did.
It was deeply ironic, she thought, but it was actually far easier for one of the most powerful monarchs in the world to find a moment of privacy than it was for a mere navy lieutenant. Surely it should have been the other way around!
Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
“We’re all keeping an eye on her, you know,” she said now. “And I hope you know how much we all wish you could be there with her in the flesh.”
“Of course I do.” Hektor smiled slightly, although his expression was rather more anxious than he’d allowed his voice to sound whenever he spoke to Irys. “And God knows I’m a hell of a lot luckier than any other sea officer in the same position! Doesn’t make me wish I couldn’t be there holding her hand, though.”
“So do we all,” Cayleb put in from the Siddar City breakfast table he was currently sharing with Aivah Pahrsahn and Merlin Athrawes. “And at least Numue’s there to stand in for the lot of us!”
“Yes, I am,” Sister Kahrmyncetah said a bit tartly, “although I’m just a bit occupied at the moment myself, you know!”
Unlike any of the other parties to the conversation, she had no need to speak aloud, thanks to her built-in communicator.
* * *
“Oh, my!” Irys said suddenly, twenty minutes later, and Sister Kahrmyncetah smiled as she leaned forward to see the top of a tiny head.
“Father,” she said, turning to look over her shoulder at the under-priest just coming back into the bedchamber, “I think you’ve timed it pretty well.”
“Ah?” Father Zhefry crossed quickly and took his patient’s hand in a light, comforting clasp. He glanced down and then looked back up, smiling as he met her weary eyes. “Sister’s right, my dear,” he said. “I did time that chocolate break well, if I do say so myself. And while I was away you went right on doing all the heavy work without me. Well done, Your Highness!”
“I didn’t have a lot of choice, Father.” Irys’ voice was rough-edged and hoarse with exhaustion and more than a little pain, but there was still humor in it, and the Pasqualate nodded encouragingly. He’d expected the princess to handle the birth process better than most young first-time mothers, but she’d exceeded even his expectations. “I’ll be just as happy to be done with it, though!”
“I imagine you will. But if you’ll just reach down here.…” He guided the hand he held lower, laying its palm very gently on the scalp of the head just beginning to become visible.
“Ooooooh.…”
Her eyes went very wide, her pain-taut mouth relaxed in an enormous smile, and she looked up to meet Sister Kahrmyncetah’s sapphire eyes. Then she gasped as a fresh contraction went through her. She took her hand from her baby’s head to grip Lady Mairah’s hand once more and gasped harshly, gritting her teeth and pushing hard, as she’d been taught.
“It’s two steps forward and one step back for the next little bit,” Father Zhefry said, “but you’re making wonderful progress! This youngster will be along before very much longer, I promise!”
“And … then … I get … to go to work … on his … brother … or … sister!” Irys panted.
“Yes, you do, sweetheart,” a beloved voice said in her ear. “But you’ll do just as wonderfully with her as you’re doing with him, and I know you won’t believe this for a minute, but you’ve never been more beautiful in your life. I mean,” the voice was rich with humor and deep with love, “fair’s fair, and you look absolutely awful in a lot of ways, but I think you’re the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. And it looks like you’re even going to pull this off before Stywyrt comes barging in. Who says Corisandian girls are never on time?”
Father Zhefry had no idea why his patient should laugh suddenly, even through her contractions, but he approved entirely.
.IX.
Mistress Marzho’s Fine Milliners,
City of Zion,
The Temple Lands.
“That’s your best design yet, Alahnah!” Zhorzhet Styvynsyn smiled in delight. “I especially like what you did with the slash lizard fur on the facing!”
“I’m glad you like it.” Alahnah’s answering smile was smaller and more fleeting. “Do you think Mistress Marzho will like it, too?”
“I’m sure she will.” Zhorzhet tilted her head to one side. “What’s worrying you, Alahnah?”
“Worrying me?” Alahnah laughed. It wasn’t a very convincing laugh, and she knew it, but she shook her head quickly. “Nothing’s worrying me, Zhorzhet. Well, nothing but whether or not Mistress Marzho’s going to approve my design!”