Responsibility Ch. 28

There were a few silent seconds in which the princess only stared down at Rahela, and Rahela stubbornly stared right back, trying to figure her out.

Eventually, the princess said, "It happened to me once."

Rahela blinked. Then she looked down at her hands. She folded them over her lap.

She heard Princess Tuya repeat the words. "It happened to me once." That time a sigh coated the syllables. "Continuing is your only option. You mustn't let this trauma weaken you."

Rahela's fingers tensed.

"Your cravings for inedible things might've given the grandest excuse for you to be called insane by many. It mattered not how many physicians and midwives we summoned to testify for you. Now that you've lost the child, you must hold your position as your highest priority. You mustn't lose that as well."

Rahela sighed. Then she loosened her hands and put one of them near her lips, the fingers lightly curled. She let her voice move through them. "Your Highness, I have no argument against you."

"And I have nothing else to say."

Rahela looked through a corner of her eye to see the princess' veil practically wave as she left the bed.

The princess' voice nearly rang. Rahela winced at it. "You'll have your chances when His Majesty returns. You aren't a failure. So cheer your heart." The princess left with her retinue. Their footsteps were all dainty.

The bedchamber was still so unfortunately cold, and it was quiet. A stark world. An uncertain world.

Rahela had no words, not even when Gabi climbed back into bed and shuffled on over to her, not even when the girl asked Rahela if she would like a cup of water or some other thing.

***

By the time Irakly had finally arrived with his troops at the Imperial Castle, spring was warm and kind. Vibrant flowers seemed to have been dusted on most plants. The grass was hopeful. The breezes caressed everything quite gently.

The Emperor was greeted by his sister and her retinue, and nobody else. He'd expected to see his wife and her group there too. He frowned as Princess Tuya gave a short bow and said, "Welcome, Your Majesty. Come and rest well."

A hand going to his hip, Irakly bluntly asked, "Where's my wife?"

Lightly gripping an edge of her wimple, Princess Tuya said, "She has said that she'll await you in her bedchamber."

An eyebrow rising, the Emperor put out a brighter tone. "Ah. Unexpected, yet very acceptable. I'll visit her after a bath and a platter of food."

He didn't have his his body nor hair washed with bacon soap. He chose something with a faint charcoal aroma and hints of greenery. Then he soaked in his elaborate bathing chamber, admiring views through the windows, then lazily blinking up at the fiery mosaic above. The hot water that soothed his body was littered with herbs and dried berries. Beside him, he heard Borys quizzing Zorig about certain aphorisms he was meant to have memorized.

Irakly had missed the funeral.

He'd have to visit the coffin later this afternoon.

He should've been worrying over that. He knew he should've been worrying over that. He should be crying, but to be honest he'd kept his tears inside all this time and they'd probably boiled away.

What the Emperor wondered at that moment, as he was served a meal that he barely acknowledged, was whether or not something else was wrong. Everything felt taut and far too cautious.

He pawed around for some edible thing. It turned out to be some bread. He put it to his teeth and bit.

And chewed.

He looked over at one of the chamberboys, who was nervously whispering to another as they kept looking back at him. It was as if they'd expected to be punished.

Yes. Something else was wrong.

***