§
It seems I cannot feel at ease with days that pass in a peaceful manner. A pattern where I rise, meet with my aides, review the military situation, have meals, and work my way predictably through all the other things, a daily routine of the sort to which the inheritor of a duchy ought to be the most accustomed, is a very unfamiliar life for me.
Despite how odd it felt, week after week passed in that fashion. I had to keep telling myself that this was how things were supposed to be, and stop waiting for calamity to strike somewhere as soon as I turned around.
It did help that I was aware of what the others were doing. Unlike the weeks I spent without my memories, while the thoughts of the other Incarnations remained sealed off from mine, I now regularly noticed the passing of events in the Kasarene Highlands and Sky Ocean.
The way the knowledge of their actions comes to me might sound strange to someone without my multiplex mind and several personas living separate lives in different locations.
Except for the times that we make an effort to see what is happening at the other locations, our minds proceed like separate individuals. The difference being, we simply notice updated memories belonging to our other personas as life proceeds.
Oh, if Fan Li, for example, decides to check in with me to make some specific plans, she might drop into the back of my head for a chat. But most of the time, she’s playing the role that I played as ‘Sen’, riding in the back of Lhan’s mind, since I still can’t bring myself to try to be in both places at once.
Through Lhan, I tracked the Oto Expedition on their way out. They spent one night after the battle in the little mountain hollow, then made their way north out of the mountains until rejoining the military unit near the front lines. It became an extremely slow slog. Our forces had not extended the front lines to their location yet. The expedition had to participate in Alwain’s war in order to make their way back to Narses, because they needed her protection, because Lord Durash had his sights solidly locked upon them.
Sirth struck up an alliance with Serera’s brother and his sylphs, who joined my Pendorians as Alwain’s allies in the borderlands. Now that Serera’s brother knew about the raiding that the Fiorene forces had also done in his territory, stealing monsters and magical beasts away, he was as angry as Alwain over it. And thus, with some skillful negotiation, a certain alien airship captain from Quiara gained yet another ally for Pendor. Sirth remained with them, using her spirit friends, and sometimes her Stage One form, as eyes and ears for Alwain and the sylphs, while coordinating Shindzha’s contributions to the effort on the side.
Meanwhile, Lydia thoroughly enjoyed Sky Ocean. She’s too ladylike to say it, but she’s a sensuous creature and glories in her hedonistic life with the maids and Amelia. Fortunately, she continues refusing to let Amelia feed her, as I insisted, but, to my slight embarrassment, she has allowed Amelia to see more and to do more in front of her than I would have. Okay, to be blunt, they’ve become partners in crime. I’m not going to go into details, but it will be awkward for me when I see Amelia next. I mean, I have all of Lydia’s memories in first person POV, after all.
Early on, they did interrupt their routine when it came time for Amelia’s birthday. For appearance’s sake, Oberon brought Amelia and her maid trio back to the Fairy King’s Castle on the evening of the Seventh of Summer Storms, so that she could experience a day of official royal birthday celebration, as a wartime replacement for her normal big to-do at the Palace in Atius. The fairies began planning this event when she first arrived in Tëan Tír, so Oberon couldn’t call it off.
All my fairy relatives feted her, and while I don’t know any details, I do know that Serera attended as a Royal Knight of Faerie to guard Amelia’s fidelity. To be honest, I do not know if that means that all the fairies kept their mitts off her or just the male ones, but she was back in Sky Ocean, unharmed, the following morning.
At night, when mortals are asleep in Narses and Sky Ocean, I swap with Lydia and do my body cultivation. Fan Li handles the session during the daytime and I handle the one at night. We dropped down to two sessions a day after the first weeks because the urgency was no longer the same. If I cannot return physically to Huade before my babies are born, then my effigy can go on retreat at Carson and Benedetta’s fief of Mona while the real me gives birth in Sky Ocean.
Of course, Lydia maintains my image when she controls the [Blood Effigy] here in Narses. It would be pretty awkward if my husband or Mireia woke to some Ancient Greek stranger in bed with them.
Meanwhile, my babies continue to grow, both within my [Blood Effigy] and within my main body.
On Earth, a human pregnancy is forty weeks long. Huade’s day, week and month are all longer than Earth’s, but mortals are pregnant for thirty two Huade weeks, which is frankly close to forty Earth weeks, and fairies, vampires and Elders for slightly over forty Huade weeks.
My babies were just short of eight weeks along when I entered Sky Ocean, and I tacked on twelve more in a matter of Huade’s hours, while I lived in accelerated time. But my [Blood Effigy] recreates a human pregnancy with a due date coinciding with my nonhuman one, so I returned from that evening with the appearance of a mortal at twelve weeks. Or an Earth human mother at fifteen.
But eight weeks later, the tummy of my [Blood Effigy] has reached the size of a mortal twenty out of thirty two weeks pregnant, which is like entering the sixth month for an Earth woman, and it’s beginning to make a real difference. On my real body, my tummy is slightly bigger, as the real me is actually twenty eight weeks gone out of forty.
Although neither case is at the ‘swallowed a basketball’ stage yet, I could no longer hide it under even the loosest clothing. The news that I was pregnant finally poured forth from the Castle like a flash flood before we had a chance to announce it officially.
Which news became the subject of our breakfast conversation, two months after this routine began, because there was a reason I hadn’t announced it yet, after all this time.
§
“This is your fault, Husband,” I told him, making sure to show my dissatisfaction.
Let me set the scene a little. We were having breakfast in my husband’s suite, since I began sleeping there after my return. My suite was already renovated to become Mireia’s, while Mother’s, once I officially became duchess, would become mine, and was ready for me to claim after my investiture. All this was held up by the slow return of the Oto expedition. So yeah, I have basically been living in Rod’s suite.
We have meals together even though my [Blood Effigy] doesn’t need food. My meals, as well as the physical part of the blood I drink, go into a [Mustard Seed] pocket within the effigy. It’s a little gross, when I dump it out later, but I have the privacy of very modern water closets in the Castle, where I can deal with it. Fortunately, the contents don’t rot inside the pocket. No time passes for the contents of a [Mustard Seed] space, after all. Still, it’s gross enough that I try not to eat too much.
Naturally, those who don’t really get it are pushing me to eat more ‘for the babies’. Husband and girlfriend know about me, but I can’t really explain to anyone else that this isn’t the body that’s eating for three.
Rod scowled, but didn’t answer. Mireia was confused though.
“I don’t understand, though? What’s his fault?”
I told her, “He needs to issue your official concubinage proclamation. I wanted him to wait no more than a month after our wedding. How long has it been, now?”
She frowned. “It’s the fourth of the Month of First Harvest. You were married…”
“The Thirteenth of the Month of Full Blooming,” I stated, raising my chin. “Which means that next week it will have been three full months.”
Friday the Thirteenth isn’t a thing on Huade. Which is fortunate for me, because Fifthday is essentially Friday. But I’m glad I didn’t know about Friday the Thirteenth and all things Earthly during my wedding.
Still scowling, Rod insisted, “The attack messed up the original plans. It would be better to wait until the war news improves. And I shouldn’t look like I’m in a rush to get another woman so soon after marrying, anyway.”
We were making headway in Fiore, but Parna was still stalled at Brigdion, with all existing war plans blown away due to the losses on that day. And in the North, Ged’s forces had been losing ground again. Atius was once more under threat, surrounded on three sides.
“Well, now, you’ll be looking like a man who rushed out to get another woman after your bride got pregnant. My maids tell me that the rumors have already made it into the papers.”
He soured a little more, but didn’t reply.
“I don’t mind, you know,” Mireia said timidly. “We can wait until a better time.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “How’s your stomach right now?”
Her eyes swam a bit. “… I don’t know what you’re talking about, My Lady.”
“Is that so?” I asked, as lightly as I could. “Well, never mind, then.”
Another bit of news that I had heard from the maids was that, several times lately, she’d had bouts of illness, especially after eating. She had yet to say anything to them, other than insisting she had a stomach bug.
Since it didn’t look like she was ready to say anything now, I switched tacks.
“I plan to make a special effort to show my approval of you. To that end, Benedetta has drawn up an announcement for me to declare that you’ve received my invitation, as my dear friend, to become my husband’s concubine. In a couple days, Rod can announce that he has agreed, out of love for his wife and friendship for you and issue the official proclamation of concubinage. Of course, we’ll dress it up in more flowery language, but that’s Benedetta’s job to write. I would like to announce my part today, if possible. The Minister of Records can then record it, and we’re done. What do you think?”
“Today?” she said, suddenly looking a little uncertain.
I put my hand on hers. “Are you nervous? We can delay the announcement if you need.”
Then, giving her a puppy dog look, I added, “I hope you aren’t having second thoughts?”
She shook her head rapidly nope, nope, nope. “No, My Lady! Of course not! I…”
Her eyes grew and she hunched down, then repeated, “I…
And a moment later, “Excuse me…”
Getting up suddenly, she dashed away. Syl was our attending maid that morning, and she was at her side instantly, throwing me a wink as she led her into the water closet.
Rod grew worried instantly, of course. “She’s still ill?”
I did my absolute best not to grin. I calmly nodded. “Yes, it seems she had three bouts yesterday. My maids have been discussing it with hers, naturally.”
His scowl returned. I really need to tell him that’s turning into a bad habit.
“Shouldn’t we tell her maids to show a little more concern? More than once, I could swear they’ve been smiling when she gets ill!”
I stifled a chuckle, and nodded. “That’s natural, under the circumstances, Husband.”
His brow wrinkled slightly. “Natural?”
I dabbed my lips with the napkin, to cover up the grin that was striving mightily to spread across my face, then suggested, “She should see Aunt Elianora, I think. It’s been going on several days now, hasn’t it?”
§
By noon, Elianora confirmed her pregnancy and Rod temporarily went catatonic, leaving me to deal with the flustered girl. Mine had been carefully planned, but hers came at them out of the blue. She was about nine weeks gone, which was earlier than I expected. I thought morning sickness normally starts later.
For her part, Mireia was miffed at her goddess.
“I told her I didn’t want to get pregnant yet!”
“I don’t recall hearing her promise that you wouldn’t get pregnant, Mir. She just offered to give you your own baby when you helped make mine. Besides, that night was more like twelve weeks ago.”
“Which would be only three weeks before I became pregnant!” she complained. “It doesn’t make any sense! Shouldn’t it take a month or two before I could?”
<Tell her if she would hush up and listen, I would explain it to her!>
A ‘pfft’ escaped my lips, which earned me a hurt look from Mireia.
“Rhea just told me she’s trying to explain and you need to listen for a moment,” I told her.
Of course, the explanation was as I guessed. After the goddesses transferred my babies from Mireia’s womb to mine, Rhea simply restored Mireia to the point in her month where she’d been before. And she warned her as much too, but it seems Mireia didn’t properly understand her. So, Mireia promptly became pregnant the way women do, with no help from a goddess, because we had been awfully active.
Rod and I had to spend the rest of the day reassuring her she was going to be fine. She really hadn’t been prepared for the news. And thus, because time was now of the essence, my proposed announcement went to the papers that evening, and Rod’s proclamation followed two days later, on Sixthday.
The next day, Mother’s and Uncle Owen’s remains came home at last.
