Almost two days after Donashe’s men stormed their hiding place, Phaedra sat in their prison cave with an arm around Quintana and a tremble in her body that refused to stop. Despite Donashe’s men standing guard outside their cave, she knew that they were prisoners of a man more powerful than the street lord. Harker had been given permission to see them for a short time that day. He had warned them that a messenger had been dispatched to advise Bestiano that the princess was in the valley.
“Will they take us to the Citavita?” Jorja asked her husband.
He shook his head. “They reveal little.”
He glanced at Phaedra. “I’ve sent word to your father. Perhaps an army from Alonso will secure your release.”
“There is no army in Alonso,” she said quietly. “And why would my father believe I lived after being told I was dead all this time?”
Harker ushered his wife and Phaedra to the outer cave under the suspicious stare of Quintana. She had been frighteningly quiet since Rafuel had been dragged away.
“One of the men has also been sent to the Sarnak border,” Harker whispered. “To find a woman with a babe.”
“Why?” Phaedra asked. “Do they think none of us, including Tesadora and Japhra, can take care of a newborn?”
Harker looked away, pained.
“Harker,” Jorja asked. “What does this mean?”
They heard a sound behind them and turned to find Quintana leaning against Cora, her hand clutching her belly.
“She’ll be here to feed my son,” Quintana said. “Won’t she?”
Harker didn’t respond.
“It’s what they do when a mother dies and leaves a babe behind. They find a woman with breasts full of milk.”
Quintana’s eyes filled with tears.
“I’ve become greedy. I’ve always thought it was enough to birth him. But I want to see his face. Promise me I’ll see his face.”
Later, Ginny entered their cave, fear and pity etched on her face. Was it fear of them or of Donashe and his men who guarded the cave outside? She held a large bowl of a thick substance that she placed in front of Quintana.
“You need to eat, Your Highness.”
“Majesty,” Cora hissed. “You refer to her as Your Majesty. She’s your queen.”
Ginny pushed the bowl toward Phaedra.
“They say she must eat. They don’t want the little king dead before his birth.”
Phaedra heard a pitiful sound come from deep within Quintana, and then a mutter of heart-wrenching desperation spoken so fast that all Phaedra understood was the plea in her voice and the name Froi spoken over and over again.
“I meant no harm,” Ginny said quietly. “Gies came searching for his friend when the hangman failed to return to camp. It was chance. It was chance,” she sobbed. “And I was so happy to see him. I told him to keep our secret as Harker and Kasabian and the Mont were allowed to keep yours.” Ginny’s hands wrung. “I would never bring harm to you. To any of you. I’m sorry,” she wept. “I’m sorry.”
Florenza stood and approached Ginny and slapped her hard across the face. Ginny cried out and stumbled, stepping onto the bowl and snapping it in half. Phaedra watched the warm liquid spread against the stone.
One of Donashe’s men entered the cave.
“What’s taking you so long?” he shouted at Ginny. “Clean up this mess.”
Ginny fell to her knees, gathering the pieces in her hands, hurrying to collect the rest. She watched the man leave and looked up quickly.
“They say the Lasconians and the Turlans are camped across the hill from Bestiano’s army, two days’ ride from here,” she whispered before getting to her feet. “And that the Lumateran is traveling with them.”
When Ginny left the cave, Cora placed a bony arm around Quintana’s shoulders, soothing her.
“See? He’s two days’ ride from here. He’s coming for you, and from the way I see it, watch anyone who gets in the way of the Lumateran and his precious girl.”
But Quintana was shaking her head with despair beyond reckoning.
“How long does it take to birth a child, Jorja?” she asked, her voice small and broken.
“Sometimes hours, sometimes almost a day, brave girl.”
“I’m not very brave, Jorja,” Quintana whispered. “Not at all. When they put the noose around my neck, I was the least brave girl in Charyn.”
Florenza crouched before Quintana and took her hands in hers.
“I will cut out the tongue of anyone who says that Quintana of Charyn is not the bravest girl in the kingdom! I will carve it on every piece of stone in Charyn, so everywhere the little king looks he will see the words Quintana the Brave.”
“What if I don’t hold him in my arms?” Quintana lamented. “What if I never get to see his face?”
“You must stop thinking that,” Phaedra soothed. “Froi and his army will be here in two days, and when you give birth, you’ll have all the time in the world with the little king.”
Quintana squeezed her legs tight, and Phaedra saw the water puddle around her. She heard Quintana’s whimper.
“Don’t fret, my queen. There’s no shame in soiling yourself,” Phaedra fussed.
But Jorja stared in horror.
“She hasn’t soiled herself,” Jorja said. “Her water has broken. The babe is coming.”