The Whore of Babylon

Chapter 23 | part 3

The pregnancy progressed normally, and Eliana scarcely noticed the months passing. She continued to be summoned to Samsu, to attend audiences, and to learn how to be a mother as Sarri and Kisuri demanded ever-more of her attention.

Her body thickened, growing heavy and cumbersome. It irritated her that she was no longer lithe and agile enough to flit through the gardens like a hummingbird or run and climb amongst the trees. She was sure that Kisha never grew this fat when she was pregnant.

She missed her sister more than she could admit – to herself or to anyone else. If she thought too deeply on it, she would open the floodgates and the tears might never stop. She needed Kisha's calming presence at her side, to hold her hand and tell her everything would be fine. To be with her through the birth, to give advice, to reassure her... to see how fast her little girls were growing up.

Sarri was almost two years old now, and stubborn as an ox. She spent a lot of time in the gardens, and was constantly running back to show Eliana and Mari what she had found. A curious child, she was making extensive use of her new favourite word: 'why?'

Eliana always tried to answer patiently, remembering how frustrating she had found it as a child to ask a question and be answered with 'just, because'. But as her pregnancy grew increasingly exhausting and she became more irritable, it was more difficult to keep a good humour. This was something that Kisha would have excelled at, she knew.

Kisuri was still small for her age. She tired easily, and still shuffled around on her stomach rather than attempting to crawl. She coughed frequently, and Eliana could not help but be worried for her health.

She worried about both girls, and whether Susa would target them in her campaign against Eliana. They were probably safe, as nothing but daughters of a dead concubine. They were no threat to Ashan's position. Still, they were a weapon that Susa could use against her at any time, and she could not rest easily when she thought of them.

She knew that Susa suspected the identity of her child's father; but in that, at least, she was safe. Ashan was Susa's ticket to power, and she would never put him in danger, even if it meant destroying Eliana. She would keep the knowledge as quiet as Eliana herself did. She hugged the secret to herself, telling no-one, not even Mari. Especially not Mari. It was her secret. Hers and Ashan's. The knowledge may make Susa feel powerful, but she could do nothing with it.

The pregnancy neared full-term, though the palace believed that she had another month to go, and she began to miss Ashan so much that it hurt – a deep ache within her that she was reminded of with every kick from his baby. The ordeal of childbirth drew nearer, and she needed him at her side. Though, with every day that passed, she began to feel a little safer from Susa – she had surely left it too late to act against Eliana now. She would not be able to kill the baby without killing the mother too, and Mari still tasted everything, despite her own pregnancy.

Just three months behind Eliana, Mari was also beginning to get too big to chase around after the energetic Sarri. She was more cheerful about her pregnancy now – Asag had agreed to acknowledge the child. Eliana thought that he was secretly grateful to have found a woman to bear his child; few women would be able to look past his ugliness. His skin had the colour and pitted texture of a sun-baked brick, his nose and lips were too large and thick for his face, and a battle-wound had taken off part of his right ear. Mari was not a beauty, but she was attractive enough, with a pleasant face, rosy cheeks and kind eyes; Eliana hoped for the child's sake that it would have its mother's looks.

She was considering asking Samsu for another maid. With Sarri's increasing energy and Kisuri's need for constant attention, and two more babies coming to the nursery within the next few months, she was not sure how they would manage.