In Which Roderick's Biological Clock Ticks

February 17, 1157

Roderick had spent his wife's second and third pregnancies cringing in worry over the sex of the babies, but to his great relief, she had born daughters both times. Since he already had a male heir in Ietrin, he could not be bothered to raise another boy--what purpose would that serve? Naroni was not yet large enough for Roderick to establish another dukedom, and he would feel rather guilty about sending away his sons to Dovian monasteries. No, they would simply take up space in the castle until he was forced to set up castles for them somewhere, and then would come the question of their rank--certainly no prince would want to be a mere knight!

But daughters! Every daughter he produced would be a guarantee of an alliance, and since his daughters were both well-bred and beautiful, he would have no trouble finding himself some good ones. He would have to strengthen the his ties within Naroni first, of course--Leara was for Lorn, and Camaline was for Sparron--but who knew what bonds he could make with his future daughters? He would have several of them, he would make sure of it; a king could never have too many daughters.

"Hard to believe she was born a month early, isn't it?" he mused as he took in the sight of Geneva and Camaline together. "If I remember correctly, Ietrin and Leara were both smaller at that age."

Ordinarily, Geneva would have replied verbally, but instead, she simply nodded. Strange, thought Roderick as he drew nearer.

"You're growing much faster than your brother and sister did, aren't you?" he asked of the baby, who in turn gave him a slight smile and a violet-eyed stare. "Feel as though you have to win, don't you?"

Truth be told, Roderick still felt awkward when talking nonsense to Ietrin and Leara, but there was something different about Camaline. She was... well, perhaps not any more intelligent than either of her siblings, but there was a certain maturity about her that he had yet to see in either of the other two. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was definitely something.

Geneva sighed. "She'll have to learn to walk quickly; I don't know how long it will be until she's too heavy to hold."

"Would you like me to hold her for you?" offered Roderick. Just because he wasn't in love with Geneva didn't mean he didn't care about her; no, he had noticed that she hadn't seemed herself lately, and as her friend and husband, he figured the least he could do was take the baby when Geneva complained.

"Please."

Gently, she lowered little Camaline into his arms. Roderick's gray eyes met the baby's violet--oh, she was so much better behaved than her siblings! And much quieter too; the older ones were still prone to crying and screaming at every opportunity.

Not to mention, Ietrin was still a rather snot-nosed boy.

"So, is your sister pregnant yet?" he inquired of Geneva as she sat herself down on the couch behind him. "And, more importantly, is mine getting married yet?"

"In both cases, not that I know of," she answered softly. "Your sister is not getting married, but she certainly has no qualms about flirting with married men."

Roderick rolled his eyes. "Geneva?"

"Yes?"

"Neither do you."

It seemed like the sort of joke that would merit at least a small laugh, but for some reason, she remained silent. He briefly wondered why that might be, but was soon distracted by his older daughter.

"My God, Leara!" he exclaimed. "Get that doll out of your mouth!"

"Roderick..." muttered Geneva, but she quickly trailed off.

"Well, we can't have her chewing on toys forever now, can we?" Roderick insisted. "She might as well learn now. And Ietrin still has that insufferable habit of putting his fingers in his mouth, does he not?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Geneva shaking her head. "They're babies, Roderick."

"And they're beautiful," he added as he lowered Camaline into her crib. "A beautiful boy, and two beautiful girls. You know, maybe we should start thinking about another one."

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