Sisters Three (Completed)

32. Brenna (1/2)

A month went by with Robbin and his new army off fighting Revours. Even though they were merely a three day's march away, Brenna received next to no news about her husband. Every once and a while a messenger would stop in for a few minutes to deliver a message to whichever general was staying at the house at the time, but Brenna only got vague answers to her questions. At most she learned Robbin was alive, but the messengers never seemed to know, or perhaps didn't want to say, which side had the advantage. So Brenna had to rely on rumors that placed Revours in a fortified small town out in the countryside, and Robbin laying siege with his mercenaries and army.

The uncertainty ground at Brenna, wearing her down to exposed nerves and a quick temper. She snapped at everyone, especially those that gave Morna strange or pitying looks. Finally Brenna was in a position that she could disdain any stuck up noble that thought her family deficient. Her husband was fighting for their country. She could cut them with sharp remarks any time she wished.

Fortunately, Morna had made some efforts to appear normal once again. It had been two months since Afton's death, and she'd finally stopped soaking herself in the tub. There were still... incidents, but for the most part she kept the more eerie aspects of her mourning to a minimum. The pale skin, silence, and dark cloud of grief were constant companions but much more manageable. Brenna's cheerful and lovable sister was well past lost, and Brenna tried to make the acquaintance of the girl left in her place.

At the moment, Morna sat by a window, staring at nothing, while the maid hired to look after her whispered her daily report to Brenna on the other side of the room.

"The poor dear stopped eating again."

Brenna sighed, watching her sister in the exasperated way she'd become so used to. "Again? I thought we'd gotten over this last month."

The maid shrugged. "She began eating less last week, and this week she's barely eaten a thing. But this is different from before, Lady Glenfarrow."

Brenna rubbed an ache in the back of her neck. Deal with one Morna crises and a new one popped up immediately afterward.

"What do you mean?"

"Only, well..." the maid lowered her voice and leaned in. "It's not as if she doesn't want to eat it for no reason anymore. She says it makes her feel ill, and what she does eat she'll throw up within an hour."

"What is it? Some new ploy to get us to stop bothering her over eating?"

"No, madam. Don't you see?" The maid's eyes widened in surprised. "I think she is carrying a child."

Brenna looked up sharply, stilling. "I'm sorry?"

"From what I've seen over these two months, I think she was with child before Lord Afton, bless his soul, was killed. Probably from just after their wedding."

"Afton's child," Brenna whispered, almost automatically. Her mind raced to make sense of it, to categorize it.

Morn was to have a child, which meant Afton had an heir. Regardless of whether it was a girl or boy, it would be eligible for the throne.

"Murray," Brenna said, beckoning to the maid. As the woman stepped closer, Brenna stared at the motionless form of her sister. "Let's keep this between ourselves. I don't think the time is right to spread the news around."

The maid pulled back and her eyes narrowed. "Your lady sister carries an heir with our late queen's blood in its veins. The people deserve to know that they have a proper heir again."

Brenna drew herself up as straight as she could. She placed her new-found sense of power between herself and the plump maid.

"Robbin was chosen by the generals because they knew he could end the war. The constant dying of our men can finally end. But if an infant is named as heir we will need regents, and that means there will be competing interests. A baby can only bring more years of battling and war. Robbin can help this country."

"Lady Glenfarrow, if an heir of the royal blood exists-"

Brenna held up her hand. "Stop. I order you to keep your mouth shut on this topic. I want you packed and ready to return to your village before the sun goes down. We no longer require your services, seeing as how Morna is on the mend."

The maid's jaw worked but she mutely dipped into a curtsey and exited the room. Brenna sighed in relief when she'd left. With heart still pounding, she took a moment to calm down.

The maid could be wrong about Morna. She didn't have to be carrying a child to be sick. Brenna watched her sister as she shifted by her window seat. A baby could ruin everything, yet it could be the one thing that brought the sister she used to know back to her.

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A/N: MORNA'S PREGGO?

A bit of Afton lives on yet! But how will this mess up Brenna's plans? And how will Morna react when she finds out? And will the maid keep silent like she's supposed to? Hmmmm, my my my! We will have to see!