In Which Mona Sees for the First Time

May 21, 1184

"Excuse him," Adinaye sighed as she lifted her whimpering infant to her shoulder. "He's used to spending every waking moment with his sister; now that she's gone, he's not sure what to do with himself."

You and me both, Wick, thought Mona, though her unease had nothing to do with Wick's sister.

Adinaye had given birth some days back now, and today was her first venture from her castle since having Wick, and Wick's first ever. She had brought along little Emeline too, but when Telvar and Avirelle's nanny had suggested taking the kids to see a performing troupe in the market, not one of the three of them could refuse. Well... only Avirelle technically couldn't, though Anna had insisted she'd enjoy it. Telvar and Emeline wouldn't.

So that left Anna with a nice window of freedom, and Adinaye with the only new baby to worry about. And Mona still had Lara.

Was she a horrible mother if, three months later, she still had no idea what the hell to do with a baby?

"They're getting along, then?" Anna grimaced. Telvar had not taken so easily to the arrival of his sister, though he seemed to have grown used to her now.

"She won't leave him alone! She's the one who started calling him 'Wick', even; seems the name has stuck." Adinaye rolled her eyes, but she smiled as she kissed her baby's ear. She liked 'Wick'. They'd probably still call him that when he was earl. Lara had been born Lara. She'd probably still be Lara when they buried her.

But not all children were called by nicknames? Mona's parents had always called her by her given name, and she'd turned out...

Well, like the sort of person who couldn't trust herself with her own three-month-old.

What was wrong with her? She loved Lara just as much as Anna loved Telvar and Avirelle, just as much as Adinaye loved Emeline and Wick. Why couldn't she show it?

"Now, I guess we'll just have to see what he calls her when he can talk. Wouldn't it be adorable if his first word was 'sister'? Or 'Emmy'?"

"A little early to be thinking of first words, but yes, it would," Anna agreed. "Avirelle's was 'tell'. The nanny said she thought it was because Avirelle was going to tell on her brother for pulling her hair, but Adrius likes to say it was short for 'Telvar'."

"If only because she was telling him off!" Adinaye laughed--and little Wick's cooing seemed to be an effort to mirror her. Lara only stared when Mona laughed, which wasn't often these days. God, what was wrong with her? "Though I suppose we'll be hearing Lara's first words before we hear Wick's, won't we? She does have a three-month head start on him."

She wasn't sure how, but the shift in her friends' gazes was tactile against her flesh. Not wanting to meet their eyes, Mona instead turned to her daughter, who made a little babbling sound. Such a beautiful baby. She looked nothing like Mona herself, and while Mona thought Zareth handsome, she doubted that was popular opinion... but their daughter was lovely nonetheless. She looked more like her Aunt Devidra than the woman's own grandchildren did.

She hoped this awkwardness passed before Lara was old enough to confirm this.

"I suppose." She raised her baby to her shoulder, catching a tiny infant smile as the girl's face passed. It was the first time she'd seen that grin. "But I hope that still leaves plenty of time for her to hear something worth repeating."

NEXT CHAPTER:

In Which Anna's Composure Is Tried

October 24, 1180

"I can lend you the book of all her tales if you want, if Adrius doesn't already have it. You'd love them." Adinaye crossed her legs and reclined with a fond grin. Anna had to return it; the promise of a book that she had yet to read had once been a rare enough event that even now that it was commonplace, the thrill of the thought remained. "Honestly, there's no finer bard on the continent. She doesn't travel any more, sadly, but even the written copies are better than most other bards in person."

"I'll take your word for it." Though in truth, Anna had always preferred reading anyway. Being told a story was fine... but some bards sped through their songs, and others could spend an hour on a poem she might have read in ten minutes. The human touch was nice, but the experience hinged solely on the performer; the written word, with its accommodation of different paces and its allowance for filling in the blanks, was a much more intimate, personal medium.

But most did seem to love the live performances, and she supposed they had their merits too, so it made the most sense to just keep respecting that opinion while harboring her own and indulging in it shamelessly. Besides, it wasn't as if Adinaye hated reading--far from it! That shared interest was in part how they had become such good friends, or at least as good of friends as two people could be when one of them couldn't risk revealing her real name.

"But who knows? Maybe she can be coaxed out of semi-retirement for the new prince or princess?"

Anna flushed. Her dress had been specifically designed to minimize the bulge, which did cut out the stares, but the kingdom already knew and she'd told Adinaye even before that. Not that she wasn't happy about the baby, or that she even minded talking about it, but... well, pregnant or not, was it too much to ask to be thought of as a person before being thought of as a womb?

Of course, that wasn't Adinaye's intent, and they'd been chatting for a good hour already and this was the first time the baby had come up, so Anna supposed she'd allow it. "Well... I don't know how well a newborn would be able to appreciate a performance? It would have to wait until the baby's old enough to sit through it without falling asleep or crying."

"Well, she'd be performing for an audience of adults as well, but I see your point." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and beamed down at her little daughter, playing on the floor with some of Adrius's boyhood toys. "I doubt Emmie could sit through a performance just yet. Isn't that right, honey?"

A figure clenched between her feet, Emmie turned around and stared at her mother, prompted at the sound of her name not unlike a puppy. A few seconds of silence later and she lost interest, returning instead to her private games. "Nearly a year now and she still hasn't said a word. Arthur and I are starting to worry."

"I don't think that's too unusual," Anna tried to reassure her. She wouldn't officially be a mother for a few months yet, but Mona had little siblings and she'd sometimes had to watch them. They hadn't all been verbose at Emmie's age, and if anything the king and queen had been pleased with that. "Maybe the longer she waits to speak, the more she'll have to say."

Adinaye laughed. "I should hope so! Sometimes tell-tale movements aren't quite enough."

"And sometimes, they're still the preferred method of communication once they're past twenty." Anna's spine snapped upright while Adinaye took to sweeping wrinkles out of her skirt. How had she not seen her mother-in-law come in? She was facing the door. "Though to his credit, Adrius can be coherent enough as long as his words are in writing."

"Your highness," Anna muttered in greeting. Her mother-in-law had given her permission to call her by her first name, but somehow it didn't sit quite right on the tongue. "I thought you were in conference with Adrius and Arthur?"

"I was, but a messenger arrived and I had to see what he wanted." She sounded almost... amused? That couldn't have been right. Devidra loved conferences and hated messengers. "And the meeting had been winding down anyway, so I figured I'd see what my favorite daughter-in-law and her good friend the countess were up to."

Anna grimaced, opting not to note that she was Devidra's only daughter-in-law. "That's very kind of you."

"Of course it is. Now, how are you feeling today?"

It was difficult not to shoot a helpless look Adinaye's way. But didn't she outrank Devidra as the official Queen of Carvallon? Much as she may have wanted to, there was no sense in shying away from simple questions, even if their intent was... dubious. "Well enough, thank you."

"Good. Mind if I introduce myself to my little grandchild? Unless it makes you uncomfortable, of course," Devidra added as an afterthought, likely well enough aware that Anna was uncomfortable already. Was the former queen making a point to try the new one's composure?

"No, of course not." Anna stood, torso bared despite the dress's deceptive line. Devidra took a few steps forward, studying the bulge with all the mixed feelings of a woman convinced she was far too young to be a grandmother. But she did ultimately bend her knees and venture a wave at stomach height.

"Er... hello, Ramona's baby." How she would never get used to being called Ramona! "Seems to be growing well. Clever choice of dress, though."

"Thank you." Anna tried to keep her deep breath low as her mother-in-law pulled herself out of her crouch.

"I'm not in the business of lies, dear." Devidra sniffed. "On that note, you might be interested that the messenger I had to endure was your brother's."

Mona's brother. She'd have to let Mona know when she returned, for all none of them were likely to have much to say that would interest her. But, uh... "Which brother?"

"One of your half-brothers in Dovia. The Earl of Bandera." Searle. Anna frowned. Hadn't he and Mona only met a handful of times? Now seemed an odd point at which to start acting fraternal. "He sends his congratulations in regards to the baby."

Odd. Most of Mona's other grown siblings hadn't bothered, instead tacking their names onto her father's letter. Then again, Searle did live in a whole other kingdom. "Well, I shall write to him and thank him for the gesture. And he has a new baby of his own that I ought to congratulate him and his wife for, doesn't he?"

"Yes, your little nephew Oswald. But the that there will be need." Almost smirking, Devidra raised a hand to her hair and twirled one of her diadem's hanging chains about her finger. "It seems the earl himself is planning on visiting some time after the baby is born."

...Shit.

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