Page 21

APPOINTMENT

W hile Emryn hadn’t been certain what to expect from a meeting with the queen’s seamstress, she was certain that anything she might have come up with would have been wrong.

The seamstress, who had introduced herself as Lady Holbrook, was walking around her in an excellent imitation of some sort of predatory bird.

“Too thin, I think.”Lady Holbrook mused. “I will leave some room in the gown seams so that when you fall pregnant, alterations will be simpler.”

“It will not be for some time.” Emryn said, that statement hitting her like a punch to the gut. Could she even have children? Healers didn’t wed, didn’t have families, they devoted their lives to the temples.

And now she was wed to the prince of Rodilla and he would expect her to bear him an heir.

But could she? Was it possible for her with what she was? Would any child she tried to carry be able to withstand the fire she carried alongside them?

And how much heartbreak would she go through before it was deemed impossible?

She needed to speak to Cas about it, but that was one thing she had no idea how to bring up.

“Now, we begin,” Lady Holbrook said, breaking the back of Emryn’s half panicked thoughts. “I have sketches for you to approve and then we will move to fabric selections where we will be joined by Her Majesty.”

“Alright.” Emryn hopped off the little stand and followed Lady Holbrook to the next room where tea and little sandwiches sat on a small round table next to a thick file.

Lady Holbrook pointed to the chair and settled the file in Emryn’s lap once she was seated. “We will have tea while you peruse my sketches.”

Emryn opened the file and immediately felt her face flame. The first sketch looked like a nightgown, but other than a few patches of strategically placed lace, it was drawn completely transparent.

Lady Holbrook looked at Emryn and then down at the sketch. “Just the thing for a newlywed.”

“I-” Emryn looked down at the sketch again, trying to look at it academically and failing. “Alright.”

“I will also supply a few more customary nightgowns.” Lady Holbrook said. “If that is your preference.”

The sketches were numerous. She was being dressed from the skin out and there were more layers to dressing like nobility than she’d ever considered.

Eventually she made it through the file, through the dinner gowns and the reception gowns and the gowns meant for sitting in council with her husband and the queen.

The queen joined them as luncheon was brought in, and Emryn hadn’t known how hungry she was until the meal was placed on the table.

It had been hours since breakfast and she’d been too preoccupied with the sketches to remember that her tea and sandwiches were right at her elbow.

The rest of the day passed with Lady Holbrook bringing out rolls of fabric in every color imaginable, and indicating which sketch it was planned to be used for.

Emryn didn’t truly have much to do, save nod every once in a while. Lady Holbrook was entirely playing to the queen at this point, and it was a relief.

It allowed her to go back to worrying at the idea of bearing Cas a child. She needed to speak to a healer and have an assessment done, but who was she to go to?

She could attempt a self assessment, but those were often inaccurate at best. And she was barred from the city temples, so returning there for her assessment was impossible.

She could try to see a palace healer, but they would likely not be able to tell her.

She needed to speak to someone that was familiar with the way her magic ran and that left only the head healer for the city temples.

The one that thought her power hungry.

But if she called him, or more aptly, if the princess of Rodilla called him, he would not be able to refuse.

She didn’t want to see him, but she needed answers. As soon as she managed to win free from her appointment, she drafted a letter to the city temple, to the man she’d once thought of as a father, and signed it with her new title.

She didn’t think to see him until the next day. So when the page announced the man’s arrival in the middle of dinner, Emryn nearly fell out of her chair.

But she recovered and followed the page to the anteroom, where the head healer was pacing back and forth.

“Head,” Emryn bowed her head as the man’s footsteps dragged to a halt. “I didn’t think to see you until tomorrow.”

The head healer waved her letter. “What do you want?”

“I detailed it quite clearly.” Emryn nodded to the letter. “You have taken my vow away, so I cannot do it for myself and there are no healers in the palace that are familiar enough with my magic to be able to give me the answers I need.”

There was an instant’s spike of guilt on the healer’s face. “If you would sit, I will do the assessment.”

Emryn nodded, sitting down in the chair at the side of the room.

The head healer walked over and laid a hand in the center of her chest, and the other over her belly. Emryn closed her eyes. Her flame did not like other healing intruding on her body, so she had to will it as far down as she could.

The Head healer’s magic filled her, running around on her nerves like a thousand spiders until he withdrew his hands and looked down at her.

Emryn let the fire fill her again, erasing the feeling and waiting.

“You are far too thin,” he said. “At this point, in light of your recent illness and the way your magic is, along with the state of your body, I cannot recommend pregnancy.”

“But could I carry a babe, for his Highness.”

“Conceptually, yes.” The head said hesitantly. “It would be difficult and you would likely need assistance to keep the babe healthy.”

“What must I do to lower the risk?”

The head healer pointed a stern finger at her. “Gain weight,” he said firmly. “Put your health first, even if you are only doing it for the children you want to bear.”

“Thank you,” Emryn stood up and nodded to the healer. “I will not prevail upon your time any further.”

She went to leave, but his voice stopped her. “Was it truly the only way that he lived?”

Emryn nodded. “I would not have given up my vow for power, Head. I thought you knew me better than that.” She left the room, chest swimming in pain and walked right into Cas.