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The announcement was the worst-kept secret in Myrcia, but Lauren’s mother insisted that Lauren and Wallace come down to Dunharvin Castle to hear it in person. Her oldest brother, Pedr, Earl of Iver and heir to the Duchy of Keneburg, was getting betrothed to Dorea Talia, the daughter of the Immani legate.
It wasn’t quite a wedding—that would follow in due course and would involve all the same pomp and pageantry as Lauren’s wedding had. But Duchess Flora seemed determined to make the betrothal ceremony as magnificent as possible. The white and green Byrne family crest hung on banners all around the Court of Honor, interspersed with the red and gold of the Immani Empire. The colors really didn’t go very well together, but Lauren was sure her mother didn’t care about that.
Little Dorea was very sweet. After the contract was signed and witnessed in the tapestry room, she kissed Lauren on both cheeks and said, “I’ve always wanted a sister.”
Lauren, who had grown up with two sisters, refrained from comment. She hugged the girl and welcomed her to the family.
Dorea was everywhere, talking to everyone, laughing and dancing. Pedr followed her around, carrying her cloak and her drink, attentive to her every word. Dorea, in turn, clung to him, and whenever he spoke, she looked up at him with wide, adoring eyes. Lauren knew these signs from literature, and now from her own life, and she was glad they were so much in love. Pedr deserved it after some of the awful relationships he’d had. Like Muriel Gramiren, for instance. It still made Lauren shudder to imagine her brother with that woman.
Of course, she couldn’t entirely hate the queen. Morwen had sent a letter explaining how Muriel had removed the last obstacle to Pedr and Dorea’s wedding by allowing Penny Ostensen to go into a convent. Lauren wasn’t quite sure what to make of that. It was either an incredibly generous thing to have done, or incredibly selfish and vindictive. She didn’t really know which it was. Perhaps both.
Lauren’s mother, of course, seemed to think that she had managed to “beat” the Ostensens and Gramirens. When the family went up to the Outer Barbican so the official proclamation could be read to a crowd gathered in Dunharvin Square, the duchess said, to no one in particular, “I’d love to be a fly on the wall when news of this gets to Duchess Carrine in Severn.” Lauren’s mother seemed to be her old self again, and there was something comforting in that, even if it probably meant more war and turmoil in the future.
After the proclamation, the party resumed in the great hall with even more food and twice the wine. Wallace seemed ready to party all night with everyone else, but he noticed that Lauren wasn’t drinking much, and that she didn’t care to dance.
“Are you tired?” he asked.
She took his hand and kissed it. “Not especially. I’d like to go upstairs now.”
Lauren had an announcement of her own, though she was keeping it to herself for the time being, so as not to overshadow the betrothal. She had waited to be sure, and now she had missed her period twice. Like Pedr’s betrothal, this news wasn’t entirely a surprise. It was more or less inevitable, considering how often she and Wallace were having sex these days.
Indeed, her announcement wasn’t the only reason she wanted to get Wallace alone in her room. The books on midwifery that she had consulted said that it was perfectly safe for a pregnant woman to go on having sex with her husband. So it was only after a very, very enjoyable hour or so, when she and Wallace were panting and naked in bed, that she told him about the baby.
He was thrilled, and they spent most of that evening trying out different names to see which they liked. And also having more sex, until they were both rather sore and sticky, and they had a bath together before crawling into bed and falling straight to sleep.
They had come down to Keneburg on horseback, but Wallace insisted on hiring a carriage for the return to Rambler Wells. Lauren tried to tell him that she wasn’t that delicate, but he insisted, and she was happy to let him have his way. It was a good deal easier to have sex in a carriage than on horseback.
“You’re becoming insatiable,” he said, as she started unlacing his trousers.
“I’m sure I could be satiated,” she replied. “You’ll just have to try harder.”
They arrived home to find letters from both Morwen and Donella. Morwen reported that the new postulates, Penny Ostensen and Molly Coburn, were adjusting well to life at the convent. Wallace found it bizarre that Lukas’s daughter and former mistress were becoming close friends.
“It’s not that odd,” said Lauren. “They have something in common—being treated poorly by Duke Lukas and Duchess Carrine.”
Morwen also apologized for missing the betrothal ceremony.
Mother sent about half a dozen letters begging me to be there. I told her I will come for the wedding itself, but I am not coming for a mere betrothal. I need to set a good example for the younger nuns here. And speaking of setting a good example, I’m counting on you to give Dorea some advice about marital matters. She shouldn’t have to hear it from mother the way you did.
Lauren laughed a great deal at that. When she’d finished explaining to Wallace what she was laughing about, she wrote back to her sister, including the news that she was pregnant.
“You do realize that Morwen is probably going to send you a whole library of books on childbirth and child-rearing, don’t you?” said Wallace.
“It’s how she shows that she cares,” sighed Lauren.
The letter from Donella also contained an apology for missing the betrothal.
It was lovely of your mother to invite me, but I really think it’s better for us to keep away for the time being. You can’t believe how the news of Pedr and Dorea has upset things here in Formacaster. My Uncle Lukas and Aunt Carrine are furious at my mother for letting Penny go to the convent. Carrine says it’s “a grievous betrayal.” Apparently there was a huge fight—I only heard about it afterward. I guess my aunt and uncle were shouting at my mother, and Mother was shouting right back at them. Now everyone’s pretending to be friends again, but you can tell they’re all still angry.
There was news, too, of the awful Sir Halvor Ingridsson:
He stormed out of Wealdan Castle, saying his father and the king had both lied to him, and that he deserved a lot more than he has gotten from them. I guess he’s going to Annenstruk for a while, but everyone at court says he’ll be back sooner or later. My cousins in Annenstruk don’t have any use for him; Uncle Lukas is pretty much the only person who will give him a job. Oh, well. It’s nice not to have him around, scowling and swearing, even if it’s just for a little while.
Donella closed with an invitation:
I don’t know if you have plans for the Solstice, but if you don’t, Andras and I would love to see you. I’m about halfway through my latest story, and I’ve completely run out of ideas. You and Wallace would be a great help, because Andras thinks I should put a big sex scene in there, and I think there’s already enough sex in the book.
“So, Formacaster for the Solstice?” Wallace said, when she showed him the letter. “I suppose we’ve still got time to make it there if we leave today.”
“Let’s do it!” said Lauren. “All my clothes are still packed.”
“But, are you sure in your condition...?”
“Oh, Finster’s balls, Wallace. You’re not going to turn into one of those fathers-to-be, are you?”
She got on her knees and made what she felt was the most eloquent possible argument. At the end of it, Wallace was more than ready to concede the point.
They got to the old hunting lodge where Donella lived with Andras before dark on the eve of the Solstice. Wallace and Andras built a bonfire on the back lawn, and Lauren took Donella aside to tell her about her pregnancy.
“I had a feeling you’d beat me,” said Donella. “Though I have to say Andras and I have started making our own efforts in that direction. I’m trying to decide how to put a pregnancy storyline in my next book.”
As the boys started cooking the lamb for supper, Donella read the story she was working on, right up to the point where she claimed to have run out of ideas.
“See?” said Andras. “There obviously needs to be a torrid sex scene right there.”
“That’s true,” said Wallace. “There are plenty of spots you could...slip it in.”
“That’s what she said,” snickered Andras.
Donella and Lauren threw grapes at the boys and told them to stop being gross. “I’ll have you know this is fine quality literature,” said Donella.
“I think you should consider your audience,” said Lauren, nodding in Andras’s direction.
Donella’s eyebrows went up. “Of course. The hero suddenly discovers he likes boys.” She beamed at Lauren. “See, this is why I keep you around.”
They all tried to help Donella write her story, with varying degrees of success, until Andras took Donella off to the woods, saying he wanted to “plan this next scene.” Lauren and Wallace tried to find somewhere private of their own, but they settled for a bench in Donella’s vegetable garden. When they were finished, they lay on the ground, holding hands.
“Do you remember where we were a year ago?” Lauren asked.
Wallace laughed. “I could hardly forget. I was a prisoner after the battle, and you came up there and saved my life.” He rolled over and kissed her. “I’m so glad I married you.”
She kissed him back. “And so am I.”