“What are you thinking about?” Tovian asks.
“Whether we’re having a boy or a little girl, like this dumpling.” I poke her tummy. Shyly, she burrows into Tovian, hiding from me. She sticks one finger in her mouth. A thread of drool drips down her chin.
Kids. So cute. So disgusting.
Gently, I wipe it away.
“I’m happy with either one.” Tovian stroked the child’s back. She yawned. All the children are up late. We should find their minders and get them to bed—if they’re not too busy celebrating.
“Dance with me?” Tovian asks.
“You already have a partner.” I grin.
“I can make room for one more.”
He hooks his free arm around my waist.
The three of us sway in the night breeze, the toddler fast asleep on his shoulder.
Epilogue
June
The buzz in my ear yanks me out of a light slumber. Tovian stirs beside me. He likes to cuddle. I get hot when he won’t let go and wriggle away from his heavy, sleeping body. Some nights, it takes me awhile to fall back asleep. This is one of them.
I worry. About the baby. About the state of the country. About the future. Sometimes, about Zosia, but I’ve been trying to let her go.
I even worry about Lorcan. I try not to. I’m still mad at him, and a little bit heartbroken at the loss of our friendship. Mostly mad, though I’m trying to let that go, too. Part of me still hates seeing him crumble.
My phone vibrated insistently again. The one name I don’t want to see pops onto the screen. Lorcan. I bolt upright and snap, “What the fuck do you want?”
Harsh. Electric tension surges through me. I shove the bedclothes back. Cold stone meets my bare feet.
“I’ve got her. Zosia.” A pause. He sounds on the verge of tears when he says, “She needs help.”
“In what way?” I need to move. I need to pee. I always need to pee, nowadays. My cute baby bump is starting to get uncomfortably big, and I still have many months of pregnancy to go.
“She’s…” There’s guilt and fear in Lorcan’s voice like I’ve never heard before. “I think she’s dying.”
“Fuck,” I exhale. I don’t need to say it. He took too long in getting to her.
Tovian blearily rolls over. He sees me and sits up.
Saskaya comes on the line. “Raina, we have a situation. The princess is here, but she’s unconscious. She needs medical help. Can you come tonight?”
I exchange a wordless glance with Tovian, already pulling on his clothes.
“Tell me what you need.”
End.
Sneak peek at events from Eternal Knight and Queen Rising
The sight of Zosia striding over the bridge into the courtyard at River Bend, where I’m entertaining a group of the orphans, is like seeing a battle-weary warrior get up one last time to defeat their enemy. She looks so different, so muchmorelike the version of herself from that night at the Louvre, though her appearance is shockingly altered. Rail-thin, worryingly frail, but with an unyielding inner strength.
Her green eyes are clear and bright, larger than ever. Her long hair is gone. The poorly chopped short strands frame her cheekbones, now sharp and high above sunken hollows. Zosia’s gaze dips to my stomach, then back to my face.
Her expression is that of a starving dog getting a sharp kick instead of a hoped-for treat.
