Naveen

Rina:

Mixed emotions flashed across my face.  Gripping his hand tighter I took in a steadying breath and let it out slowly.  “Savien,”  I started, using his true name as I did only during special moments.  “I think I'm carrying your child...”  I said it in a low whisper.

I had not bled in two months.  Before our visit to the Vampires, I had Maleen make a potion to keep me from it, so for a while I had thought nothing of it.  Then for the past couple of weeks I had begun to show symptoms; queasiness, fatigue, aching, and such.  It made me think, and I waiting for my time but nothing happened.  

I knew what a child, even half human, would mean to Talon and his people.  For that reason I was excited, for many other reasons I was nervous and uncertain.  Calen had told me how rare birth was for them and that I did not have need to worry about the consequence of being with him.  Then Talon had told me, that while uncommon, it was not impossible for them to have children with humans and that they had all Elvin characteristics.  It was clear that something special had happened.

I felt her hand grip tighter, I heard her steadying breath, and she even used my real name. But nothing could have prepared me for the words she whispered after. Ice ran through my body followed shortly by fire in my limbs. "My....child?" I asked softly while slowly dropping my gaze down to her. A look of surprise, confusion, and wonder spread across my face as I searched her eyes for the answers to all of the questions that wanted to bubble forth.

"My child..." I repeated before she could respond with a quick dip of my gaze to her stomach then right back up to her face. "Is that...is it...something you want?" I phrased it carefully, drawing back slightly with a nervous air though still that look of wonder danced behind the nerves.

Rina:

I was taken aback by his words. I had thought so much about what it would mean to him that I didn't question it. There were ways to get rid of it, but I wouldn't do that. I had never seen myself as a mother, it was a completely unexpected future. Though I had also not seen myself living in the castle, yet here I was.

“Well,” I started, unsure how to continue. “It is… unexpected… It with definitely take some planning to accommodate.” There was no way for me to truly answer the question with a yes or a no. “I'm not unhappy about it, that is all I can say right now. Its too new to me,” I said honestly.

I nodded slowly. "I can see that you are surprised. I am sorry if that is so....for our people....it isn't looked down upon as often as one might expect to not carry a baby to term. The grief one could feel if a baby doesn't make it as so often happens...no one blames another for not wishing to go through with it." Slowly I cupped her face in one hand. "You would do me an honor either way should you chose to keep it or not..." My eyes held nothing but tenderness as I smiled.

Rina:

“I am going to keep it.” I said with more conviction than my last statement. What he said took a moment longer to process. I had thought the difficulty was in conception, not pregnancy. The hard part wasn't over then. I took in another deep breath.

“I suppose there is even more to talk about than I first thought.” I was rather naive about such matters. I knew the basics of the subject but, having been raised by my father and being around predominantly men my whole life, I was not familiar with any of it much less the way it went for Elves.

My heart soared at her words. A child. Complications could still arise. It was easier to have children with those not of our race, but it wasn't a smooth journey by any means. "There will be...but not right now. Now I want nothing more than to feel the joy of your company on this night."

Rina:

I smiled. “I would love that,” I said softly. I stepped up close to him, putting one hand on the side of his face and going on tip-toes to kiss his cheek. "I'm glad you wanted me here with you tonight."

When she stepped closer I settled my arms around her hips. "It is my pleasure and honor to have you with me tonight. Thank you...for putting this together." The longer I stood under the moon the more I felt myself returning. Every second breathed new life into my limbs and slowly the metal carved into my skin began to glow.

Rina:

After a few minutes I pulled a blanked from the bag I carried and laid it out on the stone floor so we could lay down and look up at the moon. After Talon laid down next to me I began tracing the lines on his skin. “You can take off all your clothes you know. I don't mind,” I told him with a lopsided smile.

It was nice to lay out under the moon and my gaze once more returned to it while she traced the metal lines on my body. At her words my lips twitched into a smile and I wasted no time in stripping out of everything. After settling back down I let out a soft breath as I felt the full effects of the moons light.

Rina:

I continued to trace the glowing lines of his skin, from his shoulder to his chest then down to his abdomen and over his hip to his thigh all the while admiring his body.

I smiled at her touch and slowly turned my gaze to admire her. While she was still dressed I couldn't help but picture what lay underneath before I just focused on her face and expressions.

Rina:

It took me a moment longer to realize he had now turned his attention to me as I had been blatantly staring at his body. A blush touched my cheeks at having been caught.

My lips only spread and a soft chuckle slipped out. "I don't mind," I murmured softly to her after my laughter faded out.

Rina:

A smile spread across my face at his laughter. I leaned forward to press my lips to his tenderly, my hand splayed out over his chest.

My laughter was silenced by her lips but the tender kiss was returned with one of joy and smiles. It felt natural. No pressure for me. Just her and me and this moment.

Rina:

I let my feelings for him come through in the kiss. It was more than desire, it was everything I couldn't admit to myself, much less him. More than anything it was happiness and gratitude than he was with me.

Slowly I felt the warmth of her lips stoke my inner fire and with a soft breath I leaned into the kiss, cupping her face to pull her just a bit closer.

Rina:

I gave a happy little sigh at him pulling me closer and touching my face. Not wanting to impede his access to the moonlight, I shifted so I was less on top of him and more laying by his side.

I didn't mind the new position, though I made sure to prop myself up slightly to better access her lips.

~Skip~

Rina:

I fell soon after and slept easily next to him even though we were laying on hard concrete. After the moon had set we made it back into the castle unnoticed and curled up in my bed together.

The days that followed left me both emotionally and physically exhausted due to my condition. Talon told me more of what I was to expect and it made me nervous. I didn't want to do anything than might harm the baby. While it made me uneasy to discuss any kind of plan for our situation, it was on my mind constantly.

A child thwarted most of my previous plans, and it made new ones more dire every day. I couldn't very well stay in the castle to raise it, nor could I gain enough power to change anything. I knew I couldn't confide in anyone other than Talon as no one else would approve or sympathize.

I did everything in my power over the following days to make her life easier. I wanted to make things better for her, especially with how hard she was taking the pregnancy. It had me worried with how difficult it was being, something I hadn't expected to happen. I knew it wouldn't be easy but certainly not this bad either. It felt only worse that I couldn't do anything to ease her symptoms.

Rina:

A week after I had told Talon, there was a celebratory dinner for some high ranking member of the court. I had been tired all day and when I looked in the mirror before dressing for the evening I looked rather pale. My lady's maid helped me put on powder and eye makeup to cover it.

The dinner was taxing as I had to make my rounds to greet everyone and barely had a moment to sit down until they brought out the meal. One thing I noticed was that the prince hardly looked at me, and he seemed somewhat smug when he did. It made my skin crawl.

Talon and Marcella were seated close by me when the food came. I found that I was usually nauseous after meals because of the pregnancy, so there was nothing alarming when I felt unwell after this one. I felt the familiar, sudden urge that I was going to be sick and stood up quickly.

As I made my way through the banquet hall my vision began blur and my head felt heavy. I heard gasps as I hit the floor.

Maleen:

Talon had sent a message for me to come to the castle immediately, that Rina was gravely ill. Dorian, Wren and I set off and arrived a day later, two days after she had collapsed. There was already a medical woman there when I was ushered into the sickroom. She told me that it was likely a poison many men used do away with their wives. It mimicked symptoms of pregnancy.

I had been thinking of everything I could to save her while we were traveling. Now I knew what had to be done. It was a miracle that I had happened upon the rare fungus that could be used to make an antidote months ago with Wren. I gave her a potion with the ingredients. It had enough to counter act the poison in her body, but there was still substantial damage to her body from prolonged exposure.

I did the best I could to heal her with potions and spells but she was left weakened for many days to come.


Rina:

I felt defeated after the ordeal. I wasn't carrying Talon's child, and I felt guilty for ever bringing up the hope of it. Part of me also wished it could have been. It would have been a means to unify our two races.

I went through the motions after I recovered, doing what a princess should. I no longer had the motivation to make a change within the system. I was useless. Every day it seemed like there was less and less chance of something happening. And with that meant that there was less need for Talon to be here as a delegate for his people, especially since Dorian was here as protection now. That scared me and I was reluctant to bring up the subject with him until he broached it first.

Wren and Maleen were set up in disguise as my ladies in waiting along with Marcella. Dorian had his own chambers as a guard. I got antsy when it was announced that the prince's new bride to be would be arriving in a few days to spend a couple months here before the wedding. It was early. Several months before Brian's spies had said the wedding would take place. It seemed hopeless at this point to do anything to prevent the match that would officially remove me from the royal line.

Talon:

Summoning Maleen had been the limit of what I could do for Rina. She had seemed to grow weaker and sicker by the day. But with Maleen and her pair in tow the now known poison was cured. Such a cure was a double edged sword right into my gut. I wasn't going to have a child, the very idea that Rina had been pregnant with mine had been unlikely at best. But the idea that she could have been and held the symptoms of such had made my heart soar. The other side of the sword however was that Rina was cured.

With Dorian now in the castle and both Wren and Maleen as her ladies in waiting along with Marcella, my usefulness was lessened. And while she was recovering, dealing with her duties, and the added people surrounding her it was that much harder for us to find any time alone. I did what I could but I could feel my time here was slowly becoming wasteful. The people of the castle were aware of me, and while they held their sneers behind polite masks I was an outcast. There was no hope of treaty between my people and theirs.

And to cap off my troubles the princes's bride was coming. It was ahead of schedule and filled our time with needless worry. If the wedding took place earlier as well then it was all over. Rina would have no ties to the throne, would likely be denounced of her title, and if not imprisoned immediately then surely outcast and banished. Things had become grim and I knew I carried that weight on my face.