Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
She’s done all this, and yet, she wonders if it’s enough.
Well, if that’s the only thing she needs help with for this ball, so be it. Closing the small bit of distance between us, my hands replace hers to cradle our child and feel the baby move as I lean down to plant a hard kiss against Luna’s waiting lips.
“It is going to be perfect,” I assure against her lips. Her smile grows bigger the longer it’s pressed to mine. “It already is, Zawla.”
*
“Okay, now that is enough to get me to agree to start trying for another,” Selina says a little breathlessly beside me.
My gaze travels the path hers did to find the sight that must have had her ovaries exploding. Bothaki dancing with little Fate who uses his booted feet to stand on while he holds both of her hands. Her gown of burgundy satin matches her mother’s but flares much wider in the skirt than Selina’s does, making it spin wide around her legs to show off the matching beaded sandals and her painted toenails every time Bothaki twirls them around. The cape attached to the back of her gown, much like ours, sparkles under the light of the glowing flowers, the beaded crescents along the trim throwing rainbows of colors.
Her laughter and squeals fill the hall, stopping nearby human women and mingling Hallans who turn to watch the father and daughter duo.
It’s almost comical, if it weren’t so magical, how all their faces light up at the very proof and reason of why they stand where they do. They sway to the music that echoes throughout the grand hall from the instruments played by Hallans on the far stage. Music truly is the universal language. Fate beams up at her father as if he is the king of her world, and I imagine in that moment, he is.
“The second one might not be another girl,” I mention to my friend.
Selina shrugs. “I don’t care—boy or girl. I love watching him love them.”
I bump my hip to hers, which also makes the baby inside me squirm from the sudden sway, and tell Selina, “Maybe it is time for another, then.”
She sighs wistfully and never takes her gaze away from Bo and little Fate dancing. “At least let me get through weaning her. She won’t even take the nurse maid anymore. Just me.”
That, and I spend enough time with Fate to know she eats like a beast, especially when her father sits down at a table with her. They make it into a game, really, of who can chew through the most cubes of fruit and sweets. Hallan babies get their infant teeth quite early, enlarged canines included, but Selina never once mentioned a fear of being bitten to me in all the times I’ve gotten the privilege of seeing her nurse Fate.
“Maybe she knows.”
Selina glances over at me, brows knotting. “What?”
“Fate,” I say. “Maybe she knows that time with you is coming to an end so, it’s not really about the milk, it’s about her momma.”
“She would do something like that, too,” Selina replies, grinning.
That baby?
Absolutely.
She was a Mina.
“Now I really won’t be able to tell her no,” my friend says to herself, laughing under her breath at the end. “Bo’s just going to have to work that much harder at getting me pregnant, I guess.”
“There you go,” I reply. “That’s the spirit.”
“May I, Waliz?”
The new—but familiar—voice takes my attention back to the dance floor of the great hall just in time to see Halun sweep down to pick up a happy Fate.
“Of course, Thori,” Bothaki replies to his brother as he steps off to the side to give Halun lots of room to twirl circles with a squealing, laughing Fate.
It’s the way Halun watches his niece, brightened and enraptured by her every little joy, that makes my heart beat faster as I cradle my still-growing stomach. Not long now, I tell myself, and our tiny one will be here with us, too. Another precious member to add to our ever-growing family on Hallalah.
“Does that make you want a girl?” Selina asks me, jutting her chin toward the floor.
“Either, or,” I reply simply.
Same as her.
A happy, healthy child to fill our hearts is everything, and more than enough.
“Where is your mother?” I ask, realizing it’s been a while since I saw Zarah. Two moons into the ball, and the first rush of meeting humans and Hallans came together quite spectacularly. Almost two dozen mated pairs, and there are more Hallans arriving from faraway lands with every change of the moon.
It’s everything we hoped for.
Everything our people deserve.
“Enjoying herself, I think,” Selina says, peering behind us as if she’ll spot Zarah there. “I really do hope she finds … someone.”
“Someday, maybe.”
The song played by the Hallan musicians comes to an end and the slam of staffs against the stone floor quiets the room for the highest royal guard to step forward in full uniform to speak. His words are in their mother tongue, but the translators every human wears does the work of delivering his announcement to those still learning in English.