In Which Camaline Finds the Time

June 12, 1199

"I don't quite follow," Camaline admitted, frowning. She and her son had an honest, transparent relationship--so she liked to think, at least. If she'd had a secret like... that... she would have hoped she'd found a way to tell him. Or that he'd trust she would have told him when she was ready. "Why would you think I'd had another child? You know I was young when I married your father, and I haven't been with any other men."

"I stopped by a while back, and you weren't here, but I ended up staying and visiting with Xeta and the girls." Prior's shoulder twitched, fighting an old childhood habit of swaying from side to side when he couldn't quite find the right words.

"I ended up mentioning that maybe you were lucky that you only went through one pregnancy--and maybe that was an insensitive thing to say, so I'm sorry I did--but then Xeta seemed surprised for a minute, then did some backtracking, and I ended up playing along because I didn't want to make her uncomfortable and I guess it's none of my business anyway, but..." He trailed off, the shoulder yielding a couple more twitches. "I just... once the thought was in my head, I couldn't stop thinking about it."

Of course he couldn't. He was his father's son, after all. Sparron had spent a lot of his time thinking about why he shouldn't be thinking about things--and he'd never been one to miss a thing worth thinking about. "I don't have another child, Prior."

Her son nodded. She'd never lied to his face, not explicitly. He knew that. He knew she wouldn't. He trusted her.

And--whether she'd birthed him or not--he was her son. She trusted him too.

"Sit with me."

It was time.

NEXT CHAPTER: