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August 29, 1199
"Look, I get that the baby is the cute one," Alina groaned from the bed, "but I kind of just shoved him out of an area that didn't quite accommodate his size, you know--just in case either of you have forgotten."
"Forgotten?" Shahira rolled her eyes, though she didn't waste a second before turning them back on little Bernardo. "I don't know where you've been for the past several years, but we've each done that twice."
Alya turned her head just in time to see Alina stick out her tongue. She had to chuckle. "No, seriously, Alina--we're very proud of you. But this is the first time you've had any amount of space to yourself in nine months." As if to prove her point, her new nephew nuzzled himself against her arm.
"It is--and it's quite the adjustment. Get over here, all three of you."
"As your majesty commands," Shahira sassed, nonetheless turning away with a quick smirk and joining Alina on the bed. "Never mind any crap we give you, though; no matter how awful we are, you know Gualtiero's obliged to wait on you hand and foot until this little fellow gives him some grandchildren."
"Maybe longer, if you end up still having children of your own past then," Alya chimed in, though she privately shuddered at the thought.
Alina did the same--only not so privately. "The last thing I want to think about right now is grandchildren--and children younger than grandchildren."
"Good thing you waited for Mother to leave the room before you said that!" Shahira chided--and not without cause, given that their youngest brother was a mere two months old while her own son would be seven in January. "At least Casimiro didn't have to wait long for a nephew he won't be getting hand-me-downs from."
"Speaking of hand-me-downs, I'm still waiting on those old things of Izzy's you promised for Severin."
"And you'll get them--when I get those clothes of Riona's you mentioned for Thetis."
"My God." Alina sighed. "In a few years time, I'd better still have more interesting things to talk about than children's clothing."
"Really, Alina: we're only insufferable around you. Amongst ourselves, we discuss much more interesting things."
"Such as the making of the children that wear those clothes."
"Exactly."
"Right." It was Alina's turn--and not an unjustified one--for an eye-roll. "Ugh. I hate to say it, but I'm so sore down there that I don't even want to think about that just yet."
"Ah, that's just as well." Shahira flexed her hands out in front of her and cracked her knuckles. "Gualtiero's going to be so busy catering to your every other whim that he'll be much too tired for that anyway."
NEXT CHAPTER:
November 25, 1194
"I can't believe they're not here yet!" Shahira indulged her fingers in a nervous twitch as she stared down the door, daring it to open. "Yes, I get that CeeCee and Renata would rather drink Falidor under the table and I get that Alina would rather make out with Gualtiero in the pantry--but damn it, it's your wedding! You'd think it would be no trouble to spare five minutes to see you to bed."
Alya shrugged. Her sister wasn't too high-strung a person, but she did have an impatient streak and woe behold those who tested it. The girls were running somewhat late, and Alya suspected that Shahira would rather get the rituals of the evening over with and spend more of her precious holiday time with her son and husband. With that in mind, she had more stake in getting this over with than Alya herself did.
"You don't need to stay if you don't want to--and they don't need to come either. Do you see me wearing white right now?"
"No, but still: it's your wedding night, and you deserve a special one." Shahira sniffed. Perhaps her own unceremonious wedding had spurred in her a desire to see better for her sisters. If that was the case, Alya could appreciate it. "Besides, Izzy's been babbling about babies--and since the timing's not right for a brother or sister, the least I can hope for is a new little cousin for him as soon as you and Roddie are ready."
"A new little cousin?" Alya smirked as she took her sister by the arm. And here she'd thought all those mad dashes to the privy had been so obvious. "Well, if that's what you're hoping for, then it might interest you to know that that has already been taken care of."
"What?" Eyes wide beneath her thick lashes, Shahira clasped her hands together. "You're expecting?"
Alya grinned. "Expect a little niece or nephew in July."
"Oh, how wonderful!" Her sister flung her arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. "Congratulations!"
"Thank you! Just don't tell Mother and Father just yet." She winked as they parted with a squeeze of each other's hands. "Or any of our siblings; you know how none of them can keep a secret."
"Ah, yes, of course." But, if Shahira kept walking around with that sort of smile, then it was only a matter of time before one of them suspected something. "Might I tell Aldhein? I'll need to get the good news out of my system somehow."
"Yes, you can tell him." Aldhein, after all, was a Tumekrin. Everyone knew that Mistress Tumekrin hadn't raised any blabbermouths. "Just maybe be careful what words you use around Izzy, at this stage in his speaking career."
"It would be more fun to see you answer him when he asks what happened to your belly anyway."
She would say that!
Not that Alya would have it any other way. "All right, but if he wants a little sibling so much, then expect him to pester you about your belly for a while."
NEXT CHAPTER:
January 1, 1194
"Marry me."
"Mmm?" Alya forced herself to break away from the steady stream of incoming kisses. Of all things Roddie could have sighed between the meetings of their lips. "Are you serious?"
"You know I am. This has been a long time in the making." He swallowed--maybe a little downhearted. "Well... on my part, anyway."
"Oh, no! I didn't mean that. Of course I've thought about it." That wasn't a lie. Problem was, the main thoughts about it tended to be the complications. "Just... the legalities of it all..."
"I know. That's why I didn't ask before now." He ran his hand through her curls before lifting himself off of her. "Um... I hope you don't mind--I know we weren't telling many people--but I went to Aunt Lettie. Just to see if she knew if it would be legal."
"And?"
"She said she didn't know of anything that would make it explicitly illegal." Helpful. "But I'd guess that there aren't too many precedents of a man wanting to marry his adoptive half-niece who's more of an age to be his cousin."
"No, probably not." She couldn't say she failed to understand why. It was probably akin to marrying a step-sibling--though that, she knew thanks to Sir Setran and Lady Evera, was perfectly legal.
"So, I ended up going to the queen, since no one can say no if she approves."
"Dea?" Alya sat up. It still felt odd to call a woman she'd once shared a house with 'the queen'. It also felt odd to call the queen 'Dea'. "What did she say?"
"She said that since we weren't blood-related and I wasn't some creepy old uncle figure who just wanted to get under your skirts, she sees no reason not to allow our marriage as long as you're willing. She also cited the fact that King Oswald let Jadin Andronei marry Renata Tamrion, even though he actually is her uncle. I guess 'more of an age to be cousins' and 'not old and creepy' were major factors there." He took her by the hand and pulled her to his shoulder. She had no idea how he did it, but he always smelled rather like cinnamon. "So... since we are more of an age to be cousins, it should be all right, so long as you don't secretly think I'm old and creepy."
"You're not old and creepy." Alya smirked. The thought of her parents' faces when they found out that while they'd been seeing away New Years' guests, their daughter had been getting engaged to her mother's half-brother was too priceless to let fly by unacknowledged. Even if they weren't blood-related. "And I'll definitely marry you."
NEXT CHAPTER:
January 31, 1193
Alina had never been fond of winter at the best of times. She hated being cooped up in the castle, the world outside at a standstill until spring. She liked fresh air, the smell of earth, grass beneath her feet. She liked coming and going as she pleased, meeting whoever she happened to meet, waking at the crack of dawn and not retiring until well past midnight. November through March made for a bleak cage, and that had been before her older sister found herself in trouble.
To be fair, her parents hadn't been explicitly stricter with her, even if they'd been more jittery than before at the prospect of her in the unsupervised company of young men her age. And, to be fairer, they'd been just as jittery with Nato whenever he'd headed off to a potential lurking place of young women. But between their nerves and Shahira's approaching time and the sheer dull of winter, Alina had been growing more and more restless by the day. She had hoped that Alya's return home would improve things somewhat.
But, as she should have figured given the circumstances, Alya had spent much more of her time fretting over Shahira than keeping Alina from going mad. Even now, the two barely noticed her as she poked at the fire like a mindless husk. It took a lot to make Alina wish that her brothers were around, but today--the straw that broke the camel's back--her sisters had managed it.
"I'm just sorry I couldn't tell you what to expect. I feel as though I'm falling short of my responsibilities as the big sister."
"No, don't feel bad for being smart about it. Plus, now you're have someone else to tell you what to expect--assuming it doesn't kill me, that is."
"It won't kill you. And don't even joke about that!"
Privately, Alina didn't think much of it. Shahira had something of a morbid streak to her; reassuring herself with jokes about her own death might have been a way of keeping things normal. And if Alina had read enough into that to get it, then she must have been mad indeed. What a way to spend a winter, stuck with a sister about to pop.
And then the rest of winter would be spent dealing with the baby! What she wouldn't have given to blink and find it springtime.
"Are you all right?"
Alina rolled her eyes. Shahira must have been so sick of that question, having heard it at least once an hour since the middle of October.
But--for the first time in all that time--she didn't answer.
"Shahira?"
On Alya's prompting, Alina looked over to the couch where her sisters sat. Sure enough, Shahira was a little pale, a little still--and a little fidgety, all at once.
"I... I think it's time."
NEXT CHAPTER:
June 25, 1192
"Well..."
Riona found herself trailing off, unsure of what else to say. A scolding would have been hypocrisy; she'd been a mother of two at sixteen, her first biological child born a scandalous four and a half months after the wedding. All the same, she hadn't expected this of Shahira, who'd passed over Riona's recklessness in favor of her father's calculated caution. Then again, Isidro had had just as much a hand in Riona's situation as Riona herself.
Being careful did not exempt a person from being human.
"I can't say I thought we'd be having this conversation any time soon. But we'll figure something out."
Isidro nodded in agreement. "From the sounds of the timing, the baby should be born before you start at the university. That's... lucky, I suppose."
"You're still letting me go, then?"
"Of course!" Had she really feared otherwise? "With your grades, it would be a shame for you to miss out."
"What about the baby, though?"
"The baby can live with us until Aldhein graduates," Isidro offered. "We're close enough that you can come home on weekends, or ride over if there's an emergency."
"And what about Aldhein?"
"Well... that would be up to you." Isidro looked to Alya, then Riona. Then, finally, to Shahira. Potential spouses were always a tough subject for fathers and children. "Do you want to marry him?"
Shahira shrugged. "It would make things easier. And I am fond of him, but I don't want marry someone who doesn't want to marry me."
"We'll invite him over to talk, then. But we won't force you to get married if you don't want to," Riona assured her.
"Thank you." Shahira sighed. "I just hope he doesn't take this as an excuse to drop out."
"I doubt Florian would take kindly to the loss of tuition money, so for Aldhein's sake, we won't let that happen."
"And if he wants, and the two of you do decide to get married, I would offer him a job as my steward when he's finished with university."
"He might like that." Shahira smirked, as if chuckling at some private joke. Riona would take it; it was the first smile she'd seen from her in a while. "I don't think he's really too interested in his studies."
"That's all right." Riona hadn't been much interested in her lessons either, back in the day. At least Shahira had overcome that trait. "He'll have plenty else to look forward to. Shall we have him over for dinner tonight?"
"I can go invite him," Alya volunteered.
Shahira nodded. "All right."
"Good." Riona clapped her hands together. It was a gesture of somewhat forced joy--but it beat flying off the handle. And it beat the thought of Raia's smug face when she found out she wouldn't be the first of them to be a grandmother after all. "Now, all that's left is for us to hug it out."
NEXT CHAPTER:
June 24, 1192
"Shahira?" Alya knocked on her sister's bedroom door. She'd spent the past week at Roddie's, and hadn't expected to return to a concerned chambermaid rushing to greet her, claiming that Shahira had locked herself in her room with nothing but the sounds of muffled sobs. Her mother had gone to call on Aunt Raia and her father was off with the reeve investigating a robbery. Alina and the boys would of course be no help.
"Go away!"
Alya bit her lip. Shahira was a private person, but she was not hostile. A simple 'I need some space' was more her style. "Shahira, what's wrong?"
"I said go away!"
"Don't think I won't pick the lock." Their grandmother had taught them both, if Shahira remembered. "This isn't like you."
"You don't know the first thing about me!"
Alya sighed. She hadn't any pins in her own hair, but the maid had had the sense to swipe one from Alina. Alya would return it after it served its purpose. "Shahira, I'm coming in. I promise I'm here to help."
She opened the door to find her sister sprung from the bed, halfway across the room, perhaps in a rush to hold the door shut. Shahira didn't manage to look her in the eye before her face was in her hands.
"Please talk to me." Alya looped her arm around her sister's shoulders, brushing Shahira's long locks back with her other hand. "I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."
Shahira choked. A number of tears leaked through her fingers. "I... I'm late. Really late..."
"Your courses?"
She nodded.
"Oh, honey, it's normal to be late sometimes. I don't think there's any point worrying too much. I mean, you haven't--"
Shahira's eyes peaked up from above her fingertips--wide, bloodshot, guilty.
"Oh."
That... that made a considerable difference. It was the last thing Alya would have expected of wary, studious Shahira. Alina, perhaps, when she was older--Alina, flirty and fun-loving. But Shahira? Did she even have a sweetheart? "Who...?"
"Aldhein Tumekrin." Huh. Aldhein had always had a rather obvious crush on Shahira. But Alya hadn't any idea that Shahira might have reciprocated. "I went to campus for his birthday, and... well, I haven't had a course since."
"His birthday?" If Alya remembered the timing of that party, then that had been nearly two months. Late indeed. She just hoped... "He didn't force you, did he?"
Shahira shook her head. "I was... curious, I guess.
"What am I going to do, Alya?"
Alya wiped a tear from her sister's cheek. She couldn't answer that. The most she could do was try to be supportive. "Well... we could go to Aerina for a pouch, if you want." Though, if Shahira had wanted that, surely she would have gone already.
To confirm, Shahira stiffened. "I thought about that, but... you have to be so careful with those, and you know how I tend to gag..."
"That's true." Alya kissed her sister's brow. If only Shahira was a year older and at the university! Female students had access to herbs if they wanted them. Hell, Alya would have shared her own if she'd known that Shahira and Aldhein were an item. "Well... you're not going to like this, but I think we'll have to tell Mother and Father. They shouldn't be too angry; Mother was younger than you and showing when they got married."
"I know, but..." Shahira sniffed. At least the tears had subsided. The melancholy had not. "But... what about the university? I can't keep a baby in the dormitory."
"We'll figure it out. Mother and Father and Aunt Raia won't make you miss out on anything if you don't want to." At least, she thought they wouldn't.
She hoped they wouldn't.
NEXT CHAPTER:
May 10, 1191
"Renata!" CeeCee barely gave her a chance to stand up and meet her. Fridays saw CeeCee off to a later class schedule than Renata, Alya, and Lyssa; she claimed not to mind normally, as some extra sleep in the morning gave her more energy for a night at the inn, but today was an exception to that rule. "Happy birthday!"
"Thank you," Renata choked as her friend eased up on the hug. "And don't worry; none of the party guests have shown up yet."
"Don't Lyssa and Alya count as guests?" CeeCee mock-glared at her nieces over Renata's shoulder. "If my memory is correct, neither served the minimum planning time required of a co-host."
"We would have if someone hadn't taken issue with all of our ideas," Alya muttered, not so quietly that she could have thought CeeCee wouldn't hear.
"If you don't want me to take issue with your ideas, you might consider coming up with some that are actually decent."
"And what, pray tell," Lyssa asked, "is so less-than-decent about making it a formal?"
"Why bother with our best clothes when half the guests will end up taking them off anyway?"
"CeeCee!"
"Oh, don't pretend you aren't at least a little envious of them." There was almost a sigh in that sentiment. Renata had to raise a brow at the un-CeeCee-ness of it. "Anyway, Renata: your present is in your room."
Present? "I thought I told everyone not to get me any presents."
"You did, but what sort of best friend would I be if I listened?" CeeCee winked. "You'll like it. I promise."
"I'd better."
With a smirk to her friends and an encouraging wave from Alya in turn, Renata spiraled up the staircase, two steps at a time in some cases. Scorpio House, like the other university residences, housed eight bedrooms on the top floor, essentially two squares with a room at each corner, one bathroom to two bedrooms forming parallels to the front door. The sitting room staircase emerged in the section of hall between the first four bedrooms, those of the three girls downstairs and Dea; Renata hurried along it and turned at the corner, crossing to half currently home to her and her cousin Celina. She fished the key to her room--Room Six--out of her pocket and slipped it into the lock, trying not to think about how few qualms CeeCee seemed to have about picking it.
But at the sight of what lay on the bed, that lack of qualms was instantly forgiven. "Oh my God!"
It took a conscious effort not to tear the fabric as she shed her dress with glee, flinging it to the floor and not much caring if it crumpled. The black shirt was a perfect match to the chausses she already wore, a subtle plaid pattern just visible enough to make it more interesting. The silver tunic slipped over it with a comfortable ease, and the longer red with more of it after. One belt later and she was quite possibly the most pleased she'd ever been with an outfit lacking chainmail.
"Best present ever!"
"What? We were supposed to bring presents after all?"
It was Falidor's voice. Renata grinned. "Your sister broke my rule--but I'll let her get away with it this time."
"Oh?"
She smoothed the front of the tunic over and opened the door. "My mother would have a heart attack if she saw this."
"If that's true, then she wouldn't know style if it danced naked in front of her." But Falidor's eyes made no effort to hide his widened horizons. "You're so beautiful."
Not a lot of people told her that. But lately, she'd decided that beauty was not so much a thing that some possessed and some didn't so much as it was a thing some simply failed to see.
"I know."
NEXT CHAPTER:
