In Which Celina's Joy Holds a Sorrow

May 9, 1157

As Celina's eyes flickered open, she was mildly surprised to see Alina's smiling face beaming down at her. She was in her own home--she'd been sleeping in the guest chamber since Dalston had returned from Dovia, so there was little chance of her not recognizing it--but why was Alina here? Unless...

"What happened?" she muttered breathlessly, a lingering pain between her thighs and a sensation of fading dizziness pulsing through her body.

Alina laughed lightly. "Oh, Celina, you silly little dear! You just had a baby... don't you remember?"

"Sort of," replied Celina, trying to relive exactly what had happened. She'd gone into labor... the ladies had come... and then...

"You passed out just as the baby came," Alina informed her. "You slept through the afterbirth and everything; we were worried. But you're awake now, so everything's fine--you're healthy, and so is your daughter."

Suddenly, she found the strength to smile. "My... daughter?"

"A beautiful baby girl," her friend confirmed. "She has brown hair and blue eyes and a smile that could soften the heart of the devil himself. Dalston wants to name her Xetrica, for his mother, but I told him that there was no chance in hell that he was naming this baby," she added bitterly.

Celina shook her head as best she could. "I named Lorn for my father, so it's Dalston's turn. Besides, Xetrica is a very pretty name, and we can call her Xeta in order to tell her apart from her cousin of the same name."

"Xeta. Simple, but lovely; I like it," declared Alina with a grin. "I'm already itching to introduce her to Jadin, but Severin would have my head if he knew I was thinking of such things."

"The only his lordship will be having your head, my lady, is if you give it to him," joked Arydath from the foot of the bed, prompting an embarrassed fit of giggling from Honora and an appreciative laugh from Alina.

There she was, in Arydath's arms... Xeta of Armion. Even from this angle, it was obvious that the baby had her father's blue eyes; at least one pair of those blue eyes would look upon Celina with love now.

And Xeta would be Celina's last child. Perhaps she would not be Dalston's, but Celina did not think she could ever bring herself to have an affair; that was not what she desired. If he pleased, Dalston could do as he wanted, as he had clearly tired of her--if he'd ever really loved her in the first place, that was. No, the only way Celina would ever have a third child was if Dalston died before her, while she was still of child-bearing age, but she did not wish him dead; no, Lorn and Xeta needed their father, and as much as Celina knew she shouldn't, she did love him.

She only wished that he could somehow be happy, but it seemed that his good fortune could only come to be if she herself was to disappear.

"Would you like to hold her, your grace?" Arydath offered, waddling toward the bedside under the weight of the five months worth of baby inside of her.

Nodding, Celina slowly slung her legs off of the bed and pulled herself into a sitting position. She would take any and every opportunity to hold her daughter; even when the girl was a woman, a wife and mother with children of her own, she would still be Celina's baby.

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