Page 151 of A Dance of Shadows

Gods help me,no.

The gods don’t appear to give a shit about my plight of unfortunate timing. The pain expands to the point of bringing tears to my eyes before it retreats again.

I choke back a sob, but I can’t deny the understanding rushing through me on the heels of the contraction. “The baby’s going to come.”

Raul sputters a curse and ushers me toward the panel in the wall as fast as my shaky legs will take me. “We’ll get you back to your room, make sure the medics are on their way, and come back to take care of him.”

Him. I can’t stop myself from glancing over my shoulder toward Marc.

He’s watching me go with a fraught expression, somehow hopeless and fierce all at once. Like he’s afraid of me… and possibly for me too.

Like he doesn’t hate me, even after everything I’ve told him.

The pain erupts through my lower belly again. I stop, gripping the men on either side of me to keep my balance, and the lantern light fractures into shards before my eyes.

I see dark feathers bursting apart around the pale form of a dove. I see a blade cutting through a layer of cloth, peeling it away to reveal what lies beneath. I see two lambs dashing away from me.

I can only catch one. But Icancatch one.

Elox wanted me to see. I’ve argued against my godlen’s messages for so long, but he never steered me wrong before.

I close my eyes, and Marc’s terrified face follows me into the darkness.

All I’ve ever wanted is peace.

“No,” I grit out. “We leave him here, but we leave him alive. For now. We can’t decide yet.”

When I blink, Raul and Bastien are exchanging a meaningful look. I yank at their shirts. “Promise me!”

A gentle hand I know is Lorenzo’s rests on my back.“We’ll decide together, when you can be part of that decision too. Won’t we?”

At his pointed question, Raul stifles a grimace. “We’ll wait. Fuck. We’ve got to getyouout of here.”

He slings my arm over his shoulder and scoops me up in his arms, straining belly and all. As I press my face into the crook of his neck, he hurtles into the passageway.

Chapter Fifty-Three

Aurelia

From the force of the pain that wracks my body at narrow intervals, I’d have to think my daughter is preparing to make her arrival any second. But as I pace my bedroom with three of the palace medics hovering around me, pausing every couple of minutes to ride out another contraction, the city’s bells ring at least five times. Beyond my windows, stars gleam through the darkness of the night.

My maids scurry this way and that, offering me water and wine and tidbits of food I mostly can’t bear to even think about eating. Sprite meows in sympathy and rubs her furry body against my shin.

The medics murmur encouragement. “You’re far enough along that the baby should be born just fine. Perhaps a little small, but they catch up quickly enough. We’ll see that all’s well.”

One places his hands on my belly when the muscles clench to spread a temporary numbing effect through my flesh. Anotherhas me lie back on the bed periodically so she can check whether I’ve “opened” enough that the baby will have room to emerge.

Why did I think producing an heir was a good plan again? Gods help us, imagine the women whodon’thave a full imperial staff tending to their needs through this process.

At some point, the contractions blend together, the last one not quite finished ebbing before the pain swells through my pelvis again. More medics arrive. Someone drapes a cool cloth across my forehead. Someone else offers a hand for me to squeeze.

I hope I don’t break any of their fingers.

In the middle of that hazy period, I notice my husband in the room. The staff must have tracked him down—it’s been long enough that the sedative Bianca gave him will have worn off. I know it’s Linus, and not only because his twin is tied up two floors below us. His lip curls with a trace of disgust when he looks at my straining belly and my sweat-damp face.

He doesn’t appear all that interested in me in general, though. His gaze keeps darting away with an air of distraction.

Has he already realized that Marc is gone? Found the forged note claiming that his twin wanted to seek a new fortune elsewhere?

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