Page 15 of Oath of Revenge

Helga beamed, her round face shifting as the skin around her eyes crinkled. “Thank you, your highness. I’ll go cut more and package it up directly, if you like it.”

“Oh yes, please do. Can you find Leopol and send him in too?”

Helga nodded and bobbed a curtsy, leaving the tray on the desk for Eirwyn to pour more later.

She looked out the window of her sitting room. It was tall enough to see over the top of the helrose hedge. Two giant eagles flew to the north, swooping and playing with each other.

She rubbed her stomach and winced at another stab of pain. Since the false pains had started, Knox and everyone else had informed her she couldn’t fly anymore until the egg was delivered. Flying had been one of the best benefits of mating with Knox. It was everything she’d imagined it would be.

“That’s the first thing I’m going to do when you’re out of here, little one,” Eirwyn sighed as she rubbed her stomach.

“Pardon me, your highness? You wished to see me?”

Eirwyn turned to see Leopol strolling into the room, his incorporeal form shimmering in the bright light from the open windows. The breeze blew her black hair into her face, and she pushed it aside.

“Have you done any research on what Scarlet reported? With the monsters in Busparia?”

Leopol nodded and held up one of the two books in his hands. She had no idea how he could interact with objects.

“Yes, actually, but we need more details to narrow down what type of monsters might be terrorizing your people.”

She frowned. Were the Buspartans her people? Or were her people now simply those in the Feral Forest? She wasn’t sure anymore. The lines had been blurred these past six months.

She pulled out another piece of paper and said, “I can send a message to the dwarves to see if they’ve made progress on reverse engineering my brother’s spy mirrors. Gods knows there were enough on every street corner. If they can tap into the frequency and see what’s going on in Busparia, we might see what monsters are there.”

He nodded and held up the other book. “Another thing, your highness. I had the last five years of almanacs delivered a few weeks ago, and I think the winter is dragging on too long.”

Eirwyn winced as this stab of pain shot up her spine, not staying low in her back like it’d been all day. Leopol took her reaction as dismay at his words, and he continued.

“Yes, I know. It’s very concerning. The question is, could it be tied to the monsters somehow? There are several winter type monsters that spread cold, ice, even blizzards.”

Eirwyn hissed a breath as the stab of pain began to pass, but Leopol just continued.

“Blizzards are more the norm in the mountains, but perhaps we should warn the mountain town? If you’re sending a message to the dwarves, could your messenger continue north to the town mayor?”

Eirwyn nodded and wiped her sweating brow. Why was she so hot? She needed to move. She pushed herself up with the help of the arms of the chair and gritted her teeth.

She leaned on the desk and breathed deeply. “I think that’s a great idea. Can you fetch Lailant and Knox please, while I write these letters?”

Leopol snapped his heels together and bowed slightly. “Right away, your highness.”

He turned on his heel and walked through the door to the hallway, but Eirwyn didn’t watch. Instead, her whole body froze as a trickle of something slid down her legs.

Well, thank the gods she’d sent for Knox. She bit her lip and thought through all the things she still needed to get done before the dragonling arrived.

Then she was a flurry of activity. First, she scrawled the two messages. She’d just signed her name when Knox strode through the door.

She rushed to shove the letters into the envelopes, but another stab of pain snaked around her back to her stomach, like a hand squeezing her insides. The wax seal stamp fell to the floor as she gasped, her hands slamming down onto the table.

The light in the room shimmered as her magic flared.

“Eirwyn!” Knox shouted, running the few feet to her side. “Are you alright? Is it the babe?”

She nodded through gritted teeth. “He’s coming.”

Knox’s stomach was a knot of anxiety as he helped Eirwyn change out of her under clothes. She leaned on the side of the bed, her hips swaying from side to side as she moaned.

He rushed to the bell pull and then to the door anyway. He shouted down the hall to a maid halfway down the stairs, “Fetch Lailant now!”

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