In the kingdom of Aeziris, a rebellion is rising, but its reins are not in the hands of its citizens. With a fine string entwining her heart with that of its chieftain, Esméralda must walk a knife-edge while navigating her way through a palace of ma...
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E s m é r a l d a A l b y
Strain.
It was spread over my eyelids, unifying with my head down and weighing like it was a block of metal. My brows furrowed. I heard voices, booming and incoherent, and they put two more blocks on my head. I tried to ease my fingers but my right hand had strain too, as if someone was holding it, soft and little, but strong.
Hollow.
My stomach felt hollow.
Hollow?
I shot upstraight, my heart threatening to beat out. My vision was clouded black for a moment that seemed too long in which those voices amplified, then died. I regained my sight, scanning my surroundings. Too many beds, too many curtains, too much white, too less people. Who made those tiring voices then? Princess Valerianne was to my right, sleeping, lips parted. My heartbeats were pounding in my ears, a constant noise seemingly piercing it. To my left was Mrs. Pearson, worried for once. I shook my head; it didn't matter, and nothing did as I put my hands to my abdomen—how long was I out? Was that fall too strong? I wasn't bleeding, was I? My whole body felt numb.
"Miss Louth, please lay back down. You're too weak," Mrs. Pearson tried to push my shoulders down, but I threw the sheets off me. There was no spot of red on my dress. I dragged myself down, careless of the way I had to grip Mrs. Pearson for stability. The bed was white, wrinkled but clean. Relief cascaded over me, but then I stumbled, Mrs. Pearson holding me steady. I wasn't in my uniform. I was in a cotton chemise.
"Stop, Miss Louth. You must not be stressing yourself. Chief Hay suspects something grave, and even if it isn't true, you're too weak to be hustling like this."
"Suspects what?" I stared at her with desperate eyes as if the information she carried was either my light at the end of the tunnel, or an abyss.
"Please, rest first," she made me sit on the bed, leaning against the wall, when a tear traversed past my eye. "Tell me, Mrs. Pearson, please. Why am I changed out of my clothes? What is wrong? Please..."
If I truly was going to be a mother, was my motherhood taken away from me? Where was Aedric? I needed him. I bit the insides of my cheek to stop myself from crying out loud. If it was true, how could I gather the strength to hear it alone?
"Your vomit had splattered over your uniform. Taking you out of it was only correct, even if you feel like we invaded your boundaries." She passed me a glass of water, let me drink which felt easier post the information, then said. "She suspects you are with a child, strongly, despite the fact that I told her you are unmarried. Can it be true, Miss Louth? Does that possibility arise?"
