The Blue Desert

Chapter Two

Time passed slowly for Eada. Weeks rolled past her listlessly. The king gave her no commands or responsibilities to pass her time with, and she remained bored. She spent her days walking through the garden simply for the chance to have fresh air. She surveyed and studied the different flowers and occasionally sketched them.

Gersha often accompanied her. The woman's life in the palace was not much different from her own. Neither had any tasks to occupy themselves with, so they spent much of their time together. But after a month had passed in such fashion, Eada could not bear the thought of spending another month in the same way.

When the king agreed to meet with her, she requested that he give her responsibilities. Surely he trusted her enough to give her something useful to do with her time. After a debate in which she knew the king was simply playing with her, he agreed. She was given stewardship of the gardens and his personal orchard.

Despite a lingering thought that the situation was below her, Eada accepted the position. It would give her something to occupy her time with, and a reason for her strolls through the garden. It also allowed her to leave the palace grounds. The king's strawberry fields were outside of the city, and as overseer of it, she would be required to visit at least weekly.

Eada soon learned that her job was indeed enjoyable. Each morning she walked with the girls who watered the garden, talking with them and occasionally instructing them. They were reserved around her, but she guessed that over time they would accept her as the nobles were accepting her.

Each week she rode to the orchard as well. Unlike the king's garden, the strawberries had been planted in neat rows. Surrounding them were other fruits that the king grew for his personal consumption. Eada found everything about her work enjoyable, and the time passed without her realizing it.

It was some months later that she began to skip her morning walks in the garden, preferring instead to lie in bed because of a nausea she had begun to feel. She complained of it to Gersha.

"I do not understand," she said while they were seated in the Vasdan woman's apartments. "I have been in Vasda for some time now, and the food should not make me feel ill like this. And this is much different than the usual illness I feel."

Gersha surveyed her, her eyes narrowing. "Empress," she said carefully. "Do you have any younger siblings?"

Eada blinked. "No, and I do not see how that would explain my present condition."

"My sister was many years younger than I," Gersha explained. "I remember that when my mother was first expecting a child, she laid in bed ill many mornings."

Eada looked at her in surprise. "Gersha, you do not think that I . . ."

Gersha waited for her to finish, but when she didn't she spoke. "Empress, it has been some months since your marriage. It is not surprising that you should be having a child."

"But we do not know that I am. Anything could be making me feel ill. I do not even feel very badly right now."

Gersha surveyed her again, appraisingly. "I am certain that is what it is." Seeing that Eada was about to protest again, she stopped her. "But I will say nothing of it again until you are as convinced as I am."

Eada was afraid that perhaps the woman was right. There was no reason that she was not, but Eada held to the hope that it was simply something that would pass. It did not, and by the month's end she was certain that Gersha was correct.

When she admitted it to the Vasdan woman, she insisted that Eada had to tell the king. Everything in her revolted against the idea, but she did go to the king. Gersha's words about giving the king an heir echoed in her ears as she walked the steps to his throne.