"Your Grace."

Mhera looked up from the correspondence she had been reading. It was late in the evening, so she had not expected to be disturbed. Typically, these were the sweetest hours of the day, those she and Matei could reserve for themselves alone. Now that he had gone to Narr to fight alongside his men, though, they were the hardest hours for Mhera, who felt her loneliness and her fear more keenly after the sun had gone down.

"What is it?" she asked, turning her full attention to the servant girl at the door. She mustered a smile.

"You have a visitor, Your Grace. I suggested she wait until the morning, as you were not to be disturbed, but she was insistent."

"Who is it?"

"A woman with a child. I bade her wait in the receiving hall, Your Grace. It looked as if she had traveled long, so I offered her tea to refresh herself as she awaits your pleasure."

Perplexed, Mhera set her correspondence aside. She had not yet dressed for bed; still, she reached for a shawl and wrapped it round her shoulders. "I'll see her," she said.

She followed the servant into her private parlor thence into the hall. As she crossed over the threshold, her personal guard fell into step behind her, their hands on the hilts of their swords as they followed Mhera down the hallway toward the grand, sweeping staircase that led to the main level of the Imperial Palace. When they'd reached the receiving hall, Mhera smiled at the servant girl again.

"Good night. Thank you."

She was not alone even as the servant turned and left. Her guards accompanied her everywhere, and she felt uneasy enough to be grateful for their solid, eternal presences at her side as she stepped into the receiving hall, clutching her shawl a bit more tightly. Once she saw who awaited her, though, she left them behind in an instant, dashing across the room to meet the woman who was waiting.

"Aun!"

Laughing, Aun caught Mhera in her embrace. The two women wrapped their arms around one another tightly as Aun cried, "Your Grace!"

"Oh, Aun, please." Mhera straightened, taking Aun's freckled face in her hands and looking her over in disbelief. She wanted to see every detail of Aun's dear face, which was difficult, because tears were blurring her vision. "Please. Always Mhera. It's been so long, my dear friend. I didn't know you were coming!"

"I wanted to surprise you." Aun's voice wavered with emotion, but her smile reassured Mhera that it was happiness.

"And so you've managed." Mhera laughed, stepping back from her. She took Aun's hands and squeezed them. "I do wish that Matei were here. He would be so glad to see you."

"He isn't?"

"No." It was enough to dilute Mhera's joy. "I'm afraid he isn't. He—...Who is this?"

Mhera's attention had been caught by a boy, not much older than Uarria, who was peeking out from behind Aun's skirt. He looked up at her with bright blue eyes from beneath a fall of wavy auburn hair. Aun followed her gaze, reaching down to rest a hand on the little boy's head. She smiled, and then she looked up at Mhera, suddenly serious again.

"This is Kaolo. My son. Kaolo, darling, this is Mhera, our empress."

Kaolo did not speak. He lifted a balled fist to his chin, and then he turned, pressing his face to his mother's hip. Mhera was startled into silence. It had been easy enough to assume that the boy in Aun's company was her child, but his name...She looked up at Aun, knitting her brow in question.

Aun smiled. "Yes," she murmured. There was a note of anxiety in her voice. "Yes...I...I thought it might be time."

"I didn't know."

"Neither does he." Aun turned toward her son, leaning down to cup his face in her hands. "It's nearly time for him to wear the marke...and I could not quite bring myself to celebrate the occasion without coming back to see Kaori. It's time for you to meet your father, isn't it, Kaolo?"

The boy smiled at his mother, and then, casting another shy glance Mhera's way, he buried his face once again in her skirt, hugging her legs. Aun laughed and turned to Mhera. "But I wanted to see you first."

"You must make yourself comfortable," Mhera said. She carefully set aside her surprise for the moment. "Kaolo, you are probably tired from your long journey, hmm?"

The boy nodded his head, still pressed to Aun's legs.

"Come. I'll show you to a room myself, and in the morning...Well. You're welcome to breakfast, but perhaps you will want to dine in your room until you can arrange to speak with Kaori."

"Don't tell him I'm here just yet," Aun said. "I'm...I'm rather anxious about this meeting."

Mhera looped her arm through Aun's. The two women began to walk, Kaolo trailing at his mother's side, one hand knotted into her skirt. It was unlike Aun to be nervous about anything. Nevertheless, Mhera had always suspected that things between Aun and Kaori had become tender in the aftermath of the Arcborn Rebellion. So had Matei. And then Aun had gone back to Hanpe, and Kaori had withdrawn completely for over a month.

They had shared their suspicions with one another more than once, and it appeared that they'd been founded.

This little boy, this Kaolo, was Kaori's son, and Kaori had no idea.

"Why didn't you tell him that you were with child, Aun?" Mhera asked softly as they made their way down the dark, quiet hall.

Aun looked up at her and then down at the polished marble floor, shaking her head slightly as she walked. She was quiet for a long time, until they had reached the second story of the palace and had turned down the wing that would take them to the guest quarters. "I was afraid," she said. "Fear is what led me to leave. Fear and...and a bit of realism, I suppose."

"What do you mean?" asked Mhera.

"Well...It became clear that, no matter how long we were together...I never wanted him to forget that I was Arcborn, Mhera. Not forget. I simply wanted him to see me as a woman first. Each time he looked at me, he looked at my marke, and I couldn't...It grew wearisome to look at him, to love him, and to see his eyes so often fixed upon my cheek.

"I left when I realized that I was with child, realized that Kaori would be a father to a mixed-blood baby. I was afraid that it would deepen his confusion. His conflict. Or his...His regret."

"Mm," said Mhera. She did not understand fully, could not, but she understood the intent behind Aun's departure. Knowing that she was with child and uncertain as to that child's likely reception, it must have seemed easier for her to flee to Hanpe, to live in her own home, to have the raising of a child to herself. The matter of raising a mixed-blood infant had never been easy, and now that the Arcborn Rebellion was resolved and the Arcborn were in control of the capitol and the nation, it was bound to become more of an issue. But one war does not a world change, and the reception of a child with parents of two lineages—a child like Uarria—was not likely to be a simple thing to unravel.

She let her cheek rest on Aun's shoulder, coming to a stop outside of the room where she would spend the night with her son. "I believe Kaori loved you dearly, Aun. To love someone and bridge our bloodlines is not easy."

"I know it."

"Do you have expectations for how this meeting will go?"

Aun shook her head, looking distant and a little sad. "No. I think I simply want him to know that he has a son, and that I think on him still, and that I care for him. Whatever comes of our reunion, if I can convey these things...then, well, I think it shall have been a success."

"Then it will be a success," Mhera said. She smiled at Aun, reaching to open the door to the guest room. "I hope you will be comfortable here. Do you need anything?"

"I have this," Aun said, shifting her shoulder to indicate the bag she had slung over it. "That sweet maid brought us some tea and bread, so our bellies are warm. We need nothing else aside from a bit of water in the morning for a washing-up, and perhaps some breakfast."

"Simply let the servants know whether you would prefer to dine with us or in your room, and we will see it done," said Mhera. "Kaori is usually to be found in the dining hall at breakfast, if that influences your opinion."

"It may. Good night, Mhera. It is so good to see you again." 

I thought we could all do with another glimpse of what is happening in the Holy City! It has been far too long since we've heard from our dear Aun, and what a change her life has undergone. 

How do you think Kaori is going to react to seeing Aun after so long apart?

And how do you think he will react to meeting the child?