The Darke King

Dinner Conversation

The walk to the gathering was unbearable as the stench of roasted meat wafted through the halls of the main house. Still, Rosemary was starving, and her stomach grumbled in pain.

Seeing her stumble through the hallway, Nicholas hustled to her side and took her arm in his. "Allow me. I'm so happy to see you out of your room. The fresh air will do you good."

She breathed a hundred different ways through the nausea that gripped her. "I really don't think so. The smells are intolerable."

Usually, Daniel was by her side these days. Yet, the growing threat at the border between the city by the sea and the lands once ruled by Asnamar was becoming harder to manage and required more careful observation.

Rosemary's shallow breaths and dark eyes were challenging for a father to bear witness to. Without Daniel nearby to comfort her this evening, she looked particularly grim. "Are you taking the elixir I made for you?"

She made an audible swallow and nodded. "Yes. It's a good sign, though. The child is strong."

Reaching his arm over his abdomen, Nicholas took Rosemary's icy hand in his and smiled. "Yes. It is a good sign. This will pass soon enough."

He ushered Rosemary to her place beside him at the table, and the horses ran up the cobblestone path above them. Nicholas bent down into Rosemary's ear as she rested against the bench. "He's home." Still pushing him away with her half-hearted attempt, Rosemary lost her will to go on without him. Knowing that he was home safely chased away a bit of the queasy sensation.

Turning her nose away from the plate placed before her, Rosemary shook her head and looked at her father. "I can't."

He placed his hand on Rosemary's, and the ancient warlock pulled a trick from his sleeve as he said a blessing over his daughter in the old language. For a moment, the dull misery of morning sickness lifted. "Thank you."

Sitting down across from Rosemary at the gathering, Daniel could see how fragile she was becoming. The sickness overwhelmed her every waking hour, and it was rare even to see her at the table anymore.

She pushed the food around her plate like a child, and she closed her eyes before she hurriedly shoved a mouthful of food in her mouth. Every urge in her body demanded that she give it back, but she knew she couldn't go on like this much longer.

After swallowing the few bites that she could, Rosemary fanned her face as the waves of heat and sick crept back in.

"When are you due, my lady?" Rosemary glanced to her left to acknowledge the traveler watching her fight her way through her meal.

In her sweet way, she smiled and said, "Not for a few more months."

After he finished his cup of wine, the man asked through sloppy slurs of his words, "And where's his father?"

Glancing at Nicholas, Rosemary tucked her hair behind her ear. She wasn't oblivious to the reactions travelers shot her way, but no one had been so rude as to speak it. "He's gone."

As the air heated around them, Nicholas wrapped his hand around Daniel's forearm. "Control yourself. He's just a drunken man. He's of no harm."

Agamori glanced between them and spoke to the traveler about his homeland. Ignoring his attempts to rescue him from a situation spiraling out of control, the traveler turned his attention back to Rosemary. "Well, how do you intend to care for your little bastard without a husband?"

When the table fell silent, Rosemary hurried to her feet. "Excuse me, Father." Whatever came next would be ugly and dangerous, and she knew she needed to be far away.