“Congratulations,” she trilled.
“Thank you.” I stepped back, rearranging the pile of books in my arms.
“Are you excited?” she asked, patting my belly. “You must be so excited. What did David say? Oh, my God, was he totally excited, too?”
“He, uh—” I started, but what was I supposed to tell her? To tell everyone? That he disowned both our child and me? “He just said that nothing had changed between he and I.”
“Well, I hadn’t expected that much.” An eager smile replaced that frown. “But I bet he’s thrilled to finally have his own little baby.”
I moved my mouth into an awkward attempt at a neutral smile.
“Well, at least you got the baby before all the. . .” She patted my arm. “You know?”
I looked down at her hand. Why had everyone suddenly started doing that to me? Every second person I passed that knew the truth about David and I patted my arm. It was the worst form of pity one could offer.
“I have to go,” I said coldly and walked past her, hugging my new study materials.
“Well, enjoy your books,” she called casually. “And don’t forget they’re announcing the ball today.”
I stopped again. “Ball?”
“Yeah. Didn’t David tell you?”
“No.”
“The House are holding a ball in honour of our new princess.” She presented my midsection. “They’re making the formal announcement at Court today.”
“Great.” I rubbed my temple. “What did David say?”
“I wasn’t there when they discussed it.”
“And why wasn’t I?”
“Duh,” she said, shaking her head. “You were unconscious.”
“So, Arthur told everyone else I was pregnant before he told me?”
“No. He told David first, and David told the House. I didn’t even find out until after Nate did. He told me.”
I settled back on my heels, noticing I was leaning toward Emily a bit much, as if I were about to attack her. “They’ll expect us to dance.”
“Who?”
“David and I. Our people will expect us to dance at the ball.”
“So?”
“So . . . he’ll probably ‘accidentally’ squeeze me too tight and pop my lung.”
“And he’ll get one to match,” Blade said, forgetting for a second that guards are supposed to guard, not join the conversation.
I narrowed my eyes at him, then turned back to Em.
“You could always ask Jason to be your date,” she suggested.
“And how will I explain that to my people?”
“Tell them you’re courting—that there may be an intent to marry. It doesn’t have to be true,” she added, as I was about to freak. “But at least you could dance the night with someone you trust, and no one would turn their head.”
“No.” I spun on my heel and started walking again. “The less I see of Jason, the better.”
“I thought you—” Em started, but Blade shushed her sweetly with a finger to his lip as he passed, following me up the stairs.
My door swung open, no one having knocked first, and a group of people entered without invitation. I lowered my book into my lap and watched three giant, gold-rimmed mirrors wander over to my sitting room, followed by a flow of portly women with folds of fabric over their arms, lead by an older woman, whose slim glasses and tape-measure-scarf gave her away as the seamstress who fitted my coronation dress.
“Mrs Hemsley,” I said, standing up to be polite. “Nice to see you again.”
“The pleasure is all mine, dear.” She pushed her glasses up her nose, appraising me. “The announcement for the ball has just been sent to the Lilithian Times for tomorrow’s print run, and I thought I’d get a head-start on your fitting. Falcon let me in.” She turned and motioned to my guard standing guiltily in the doorway.
He showed both palms and backed away. Something told me he wasn’t given much choice but to let the old woman in. I laughed. “Well, you’re welcome any time, Mrs Hemsley.”
“Magda, please,” she reminded me.
“Of course. Magda.” I nodded.
“Now, if you’ll just set your pretty little self over there on those boxes, we’ll get these measurements done and then we can talk fabrics.” She cupped both hands together, turning to the mirrored pedestal area they’d set up just by the windows, and stood waiting.
I sighed and wandered over, stepping up onto the pink velvet box wedged between the three mirrors, holding my arms out as if I were an airplane.
A tape measure wrapped my waist first, Magda making a face then that I saw too clearly in the reflection. “My, you have put on a few centimetres, haven’t you?”
I swallowed, studying my fuller figure. Now that I could see myself from three different angles, I finally saw what David meant. My butt and thighs were at least one size bigger. But it didn’t look terrible. I looked. . .
“You look so healthy,” Magda said, stepping back a bit. “You’ve got that lovely pregnancy glow, and your immortally seventeen-year-old body has finally taken on the shape of a woman.”
“You think?” I ran my hand down my hip.
“My darling little girl, this is you all grown up.” She offered the scene before me.
I took a good, long look at myself in the mirror, and in the kind tone of the way she presented me, I actually saw the beauty in my reflection. “Do you think I’ll stay like this even after I have the baby?”
“One could not be sure, sweet. Does it really matter to you?”
I shrugged. “I kinda like having curves.”
Magda laughed. “Try eating a bit more then, and those curves will stay on your hips as long as you want. Now—” She lifted my arm and laid the tape measure to my rib. “Let’s get this done.”
I twisted and turned and jerked about as she measured every inch of me, keeping my eye on the length of the shadows outside. It was getting dark, and I hadn’t had time to discuss a very important matter with Jase yet. If this took much longer, it’d be dinnertime before we knew it, and then I’d have to wait until tomorrow. But time was running out. David was meeting Arthur in the morning to get that dagger. And yeah, he promised to wait until the baby was born before he used it, but I didn’t trust him. Not one bit.
“Lift your top up there for me, lovey. Just want to get a proper measurement of that belly.”
I slowly drew my shirt up to my ribs, noticing a slight chill in the air as it touched my bare skin.
“Now don’t go sucking yer gut in, girl.” She slapped my bottom softly. “It won’t help your dress fit any better on the day.”
I let my stomach out to its natural position, and both Magda and I drew a quick breath. I hadn’t seen my belly when I was standing up like this, uncovered by baggy shirts, and it seemed to disappear if I laid flat or sat down, like it almost tucked itself in. So, seeing the almost bowl-like bulge coming from just between my hipbones was a little of a shock—for both of us.
“There it is,” she said kindly. “You mustn’t try to hide it so much, Amara.”
“I just . . . I only just found out I was pregnant. I thought I was just fat.”
“Well, you’re not. You’re perfect.”
“You think so?” I asked, running both hands down my belly.
“I prefer a time when women stayed hidden until they birthed,” David said.
Magda and I turned quickly to where he stood in the now open doorway.
“What are you doing in ‘ere?” Magda said, waving him off like a fly. “No men allowed.”
“I’m the king. I can go where I please.”
“Well, make yer business known and be off with ya, lad; I’ve a fittin’ to finish and a dress to make in just three days,” she tittered, and lifted my top again, tossing the measuring tape around my waist.
I tensed, wishing I could pull my shirt down or suck my gut in again. “Did you need something, David?”
When he didn’t answer, I dared to look at him through the reflection, but his eyes were on my belly, his lip lifted in disgust. “Pregnancy really is quite offensive. I fail to see the beauty in a heinous protrusion sticking out from one’s abdomen.”
“Your Majesty!” Magda gasped. “You’ll break the poor girl’s heart.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry, seamstress. Ara doesn’t have a heart to break. Look at her—” He angled his head toward me. “Nothing I say ever matters to her.”
Magda looked up at me, shaking her head.
“Okay, so I’m fat and disgusting.” I tried to sound pragmatic, but I just sounded kind of angry. “What else did you come here to say?”
“I need a swatch.”
“For Mr Granger?” Magda asked, jotting numbers down on her page.
“Yes,” David said.
“Well, I’ve not talked fabrics, yet, so Mr Granger will need to meet with me later to coordinate the outfits.”
“Very well.” David laid both hands behind his back and turned on his heel, leaving the door open after he left.
“Never mind him, lovey.” Magda lowered my top for me. “Men are like pet dogs; once you get pregnant, they ‘ave to play up a little to make sure they’re not left out.”
I laughed, wiping a small, cool tear from my cheek.
“Let’s have none of that. This is happy times.” She patted my hip, bending to measure my leg again. “Now, we’ve got these measurements all sorted. Time to talk fabric.”
I smiled, just wishing this was over so I could go down to the Training Hall and toy around with my powers for a while. That chat with Jason would have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, all I wanted to do was bust up a few boulders—and maybe any unsuspecting vampires that happened to pass.
Chapter Thirteen
For a vampire, he wasn’t really all that alert. I half expected that, as soon as I pushed the creaky secret door open and then closed it, he’d jump up and put a blade to my throat, dropping it in shock when he realized who was in his room at this hour. But he just laid there, sleeping peacefully, breathing deeply like all his worries had been blown away in the wind. And I knew it was my recent confession of love that had eased his soul so much. A big part of me wished then, in seeing him this way, that I could forget David and just love Jason. It hurt him every time I tried to hold on to David, I knew that, but David had my heart first. I guess I just needed to be sure all hope for us was gone before I could give my heart away again. Jase understood that. He was good like that.
I wandered over and climbed up on his bed, a huge smile sweeping my lips for how cute and kind of sweet he looked when he was sleeping. “Jase,” I whispered, poking him softly in the arm. “Jase.”
