Enfri grunted as she picked up the little girl and set her down on the table. "Alright, then. Your mother says you've been coughing."

    She nodded, shy and quiet. Her large green eyes darted around the inside of Enfri's field lab, lingering on the alchemical apparatuses that bubbled and boiled everywhere.

    "Could you cough a little for me?"

    She did, and it sounded dry.

    "Is your throat sore, or does it hurt to swallow?"

    Another nod.

    "One moment. Let me take a look at my notebooks, and in the meantime keep this in your mouth." She pressed a lozenge into her hand. It was a hard candy her grandmother developed specifically for younger children. The sugar made it more palatable, but most little ones didn't seem to mind the flavor of ginseng and ataxi root.

    Her name was Vinri. At six years old, she was the youngest daughter of Lautha and Odjualla Weaver. Both parents were half-breeds like Enfri, Lautha half Iylisian and Odjualla half Melcian. Their northern blood granted Vinri the most beautiful dark skin, and her Aleesh heritage shone through in the green and gold. Her blonde hair was especially curly, and the damp weather was giving her something of a frizz.

    Blustering adorable, Enfri thought as Vinri eagerly stuffed the lozenge into her mouth. When she first saw Vinri riding alongside her parent's cart on a megarach yearling, it almost caused Enfri to faint. Kora had muttered something about her uterus skipping a beat. Biologically improbable, but Enfri understood the sentiment perfectly.

    While she retrieved the relevant notebook from her bookcase, Enfri spoke to Vinri's mother. "She's been sick for how long?"

    "The past five days, Majesty," Odjualla said.

    "Oh no. In here, it's 'sky woman', and so far as the health of you and yours is concerned, I answer to you."

    Odjualla blinked. "Sky woman? A village healer?"

    "And herbalist, midwife, and an apothecary when needed. My maternal line has been sky women since forever, and my grandmother even went to university in Japax."

    Odjualla made a soft sound of understanding. She was a lovely woman in her late twenties with a broad nose and jawline. Melcia was apparent in her face and dark skin, but her short cut blonde hair and green eyes were as Aleesh as they came. Her dress was light tan with a thigh-length skirt and loose leggings underneath, a north-eastern fashion. She'd taken down her shawl at Enfri's encouragement and now wore it around her shoulders.

    "And it was your father who was Aleesh?" she asked.

    "Yes. He was born in Sandharbor, just on the border with the Espalla Dunes, but his mother came from the Ejasta enclave."

    "Ejasta," Odjualla breathed, and there was a note of reverence to it. "Mine mother spoke of the Aleesh there. It was said they kept the blood of Inwe alive until Old King Haelin's black hounds came. Thousands of our people, spread across dozens of townships. When Ejasta fell, nearly all what remains of us fell with it."

    Enfri paused in thumbing through the pages. "So many. My father... Well, I only recently was given an idea of how much of a blow it was when Althandor annexed Ejasta into the Five Kingdoms. Is that where your family hails from?"

    Odjualla shook her head. "Nay, Majes... Sky Woman. Many among Landon's pilgrims do, but nay all. Mine parents emigrated to Vayl before I came of age and settled on the Fork. Where the river splits before reaching the sea."

    "Emigrated from where?"

    Odjualla chewed her lip.

    "It's alright," Enfri said. "I don't mean to pry, and I understand it's not exactly something you're used to saying out loud."

    She curtseyed. "Forgiveness, Sky Woman. I was taught from mine earliest memories to hide mine hair and keep mine eyes lowered. Nay speak of our people. Avoid others."

    "It's a lonely life," Enfri whispered. "All you want is to be a part of your neighbors' life, as much as they are of yours. Only, you can't."

    "I was fortunate." Odjualla wiped surreptitiously at the corner of her eye. "I found mine Lautha. His people came from the same place as mine, and we made our family." She patted her stomach. "Another comes. Our fourth."

    Enfri found the page she was looking for. It detailed strep throat, and she was positive Vinri had one of the many strains of the disease. Not all that dangerous, but it was contagious. Nothing a little tincture and a spark blossom couldn't clear out. "I was lucky, too," Enfri said as she looked for the recipe for Grandmother's favored treatment for strep. "The assassin's found me, but I must've been in one god or another's good graces that it was Jin who did."

    Odjualla's breath caught in her throat. "A black hound found you?"

    Enfri felt a stab of worry. This would have to spread among the Aleesh sooner or later. Best that it came from her direct. "Jin, the younger princess. It was something of a debacle, really. Both of us nearly got sent Beyond a number of times, but in the end..." Enfri couldn't hold back her smile. "I love her, Goodwife Weaver. With all my heart, I love Jin Algara."

    The stunned look on Odjualla's face might have been comical had it not come from a valid fear of genocide. "Sun's light," she murmured. "I've oft enjoyed tales of foes become lovers, but..." She covered her mouth and let out a girlish giggle. "She must be lovely."

    Enfri heard conversation from just outside the field lab. Someone arrived and spoke with Enfri's guards. "You can see for yourself, if I don't miss my guess."

    Odjualla stiffened as Jin pushed aside the tent flap and came in. On the table, Vinri let out a nearly inaudible squeak of fright.

    Jin noted Enfri's visitors and stopped just inside the lab. She stood straight, though Enfri could sense she was aware of how her presence unnerved the Aleesh. "I apologize for intruding," she said.

    "My light, this is Odjualla Weaver and her youngest, Vinri. Goodwife Weaver, this is Jin Algara, my betrothed."

    Try as she might, Enfri couldn't stop her heart from fluttering each time she said that.

    Odjualla bobbed a hurried curtsy. "Y-your Highness."

    "An honor, Goodwife," Jin replied, bowing her head. "As I am sure you have noticed, Enfri is overjoyed to have you here."

    Enfri went to her workbench and measured out the parts for herbal tincture. Her bottles of distilled herbs clanked and rattled as a dragon landed somewhere nearby. "What brings you?" she asked.

    Jin inclined her head to Odjualla again before coming to Enfri's side. "Ban asked me to tell you that the last battalions have arrived from Ecclesia. They are weary after the forced march but will be able to move out with us in the morning."

    "Hold this," Enfri said, handing over a tiny vial of clear liquid. Jin took it without comment. With her hands free, Enfri could reach up to her shelves of herbs and pluck a few stalks of starling grass. "As I meant to say, Goodwife Weaver, Vinri appears to have a mild case of strep throat. You might want to have your other children keep their distance until the cough clears, but with this remedy, it should clear up after a good night's rest."

    "Strep?" Jin murmured. She looked to Vinri. "My sympathies, my lady. It must feel wretched."

    Vinri pouted as she gave another nod.   

    "The surgeons back home had an alchemical investiture to cure strep. I contracted it often when I was younger, so I took the time to learn the manifestation."

    Enfri dropped back down to the flats of her feet. "Really? Sorcerers can mimic alchemy, too?"

    "Indeed. It will not be in a potion, but anything that affects the Weave can be replicated." She looked to Odjualla. "With your permission, Goodwife?"

    Odjualla took a step forward and raised a hand slightly. She hesitated, but after seeing Enfri's nod of encouragement, she gave her assent.

    Jin set down the vial she was holding before standing in front of Vinri. The little girl looked up at her without a hint of anxiety. Her tiny feet kicked underneath her. "I will need to touch you. Is that alright, my lady?"

    Vinri nodded.

    "Now, you must not swallow while I do this. Understood?" Jin put her hands around Vinri's neck, the thumbs pressing against her larynx. "You may feel as if your throat has gone cold. That is normal. It will be uncomfortable for a few moments, but there will be no pain."

    Vinri's kicking feet went still, and her hands gripped the edge of the table tighter. The experience was uncomfortable, but she endured it without fidgeting. Jin's brow furrowed with effort, and it was nearly a full minute before she removed her hands.

    "It is done. You may swallow again, and you must tell me if it still hurts."

    After testing her throat, Vinri beamed up at Jin with a wide, toothy grin.

    For some blustering reason, Enfri wanted to cry. "I think that's all the answer you can expect, my light."

    Jin smiled and cupped Vinri's cheek with a hand. "It is enough of one. To your mother, my lady." She assisted Vinri off the table and guided her with a hand on her back towards Odjualla.

    "The infection has been erased," Jin explained. "She will no longer be contagious, and you need not keep her from her duties."

    Odjualla crouched down to bundle Vinri up in her arms. She stood with a concerned expression. "Her duties?"

    "Of the utmost importance," Jin said with a straight face. "Arshir the Custodian has taken on the task of caring for the children of our camp workers. She requires a helper to play with them. Your daughter strikes me as perfect for the job."

    Vinri started bouncing in her mother's arms, her eagerness to go cavorting with other children as plain as day. Odjualla laughed at her daughter's antics and nodded. "It shall be, Your Highness. Thank you. Mother Sun's blessings on you both."

    Jin returned the wave Vinri gave her over her mother's shoulder as they left the tent.

    "Jin," Enfri exclaimed once they were alone. "That was wonderful."

    The woman had the audacity to blush. "It was not so remarkable. A simple restoration spell. Nothing more."

    "No, it was," Enfri insisted. She took Jin by the hands and looked up into her eyes. "The way you set her at ease, didn't speak down to her, asked permission to touch her, and everything. Winds, you're good with children."

    Jin pressed her lips together and dropped her eyes. "I hope I am not about to surprise you again."

    "What do you mean? How?"

    Her shy smile made Enfri's heart race. "I've dreamed of being a mother since I was four years old."

    "First dresses, then dancing, and now this," Enfri said. "You know, when we met, I'd have never guessed you were such a blustering girl."

    "Enfri, I am a girl."

    "Winds, I know that. It's only... the longer we're together, the more I realize that being a royal assassin isn't what you are. It's just what you do, and you being you, you do it as best you can. Then there's this whole other side of you, who you really are." Enfri held her hands tighter and drew closer. "I learn more about you every day, and each new thing is a new reason for me to fall in love with you."

    Jin bent down to kiss her. It was a brief kiss but passionate enough to make Enfri weak in the knees.

    "So?" Jin asked once she pulled away.

    "Hmm?"

    "What do you think?"

    What Jin was asking struck Enfri with its full magnitude. She asked about their future. Of a family. The blood drained from Enfri's face, leaving her lightheaded.

    "I..."

    "Your Majesty?" The high and reedy voice just outside the field lab startled Enfri enough to make her jump.

    She and Jin both looked to the side and saw a stocky Altieri oldwife standing outside in the light rain. The woman was bundled up in thick furs and had her head covered by a heavy, woolen shawl.

    "Mistress Hana?" Enfri gasped. Her lightheadedness only got worse and was accompanied by a creeping feeling of dread.

    The steward of Enfri's estate in Ecclesia took Enfri saying her name as leave to enter. She bobbed a curtsy worthy of a woman a third of her age. "Your pardon, Majesty. Your Highness, your pardon."

    "Hana," Enfri said. "Winds and storms, what in the name of the king are you doing in Nadia?"

    "Attending to my empress, Your Majesty," Hana said. "When the last of your armsmen were called, it was assumed you wished your household to follow."

    Visions of maids and butlers waiting on her hand and foot rushed through Enfri's head. It made her wish for a place to hide. The constant hovering was bad enough, but Hana and her goons took entirely too much pleasure in making Enfri's tea. Her tea. No one, maid or mighty, had any business meddling with a sky woman's tea.

    "B-but the estate," Enfri stammered. "Winds, the holdings in Ecclesia, the Corwyn's family, and the clerks."   

    "All managed and seen to, Your Majesty," Hana assured her. "I arranged for two hundred armsmen to remain in the White City to secure your estate, your guests, and your holdings in addition to fulfilling your obligations to the security of Ecclesia."

    Wasn't Sasha supposed to keep her from sending maids after me? To say nothing of Hana herself.

    Enfri was speechless. Jin, thankfully, asked the questions Enfri was unable to.

    "Is it not the place of the house steward to remain at the estate?" she asked.

    "The house steward's place is with the head of house, Your Highness," Hana replied.

    "With respect, Mistress Hana, this is a legion engaged in military action. It would not be appropriate for the Dragon Empress to be followed by servants. Reyn has seen to Enfri's needs as her handmaiden and has performed her duties most admirably."

    "One girl cannot see to the needs of an empire," Hana pressed. "Not even an empress and certainly not a single scribe. I shudder to think how much work that poor thing has taken on without a staff to support her."

    Enfri let out a long breath. For better or worse, Hana was right. Shan Alee was only growing, and Reyn was working herself hard to keep the paperwork in order. There were also other concerns about Reyn, that she was far too overqualified to be a mere handmaiden and scribe. Enfri had intended to bring this up to Reyn while they were in the bath before Calton derailed it with his arrival.

    She didn't need a handmaiden half as much as she needed... well... a Reyn.

    "As you say, Hana," Enfri relented. "As of now, you and your staff are to take over Reyn's duties. I need her for other things, in any case."

    Hana smiled broadly and dipped into another curtsy. "Yes, Majesty. I will have everything arranged within the hour."

    Enfri found Jin's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Can we continue our conversation later?"

    She nodded but was clearly disappointed their talk had been interrupted. Enfri promised herself to make it up to Jin. This was an important subject for the both of them and would need to be given all the attention it deserved.

    But before Enfri had a talk with Jin about motherhood, Enfri needed to come to terms with her own issues. Soon, she'd need to speak to Yora about Mierwyn.

    "I'll let you get to it, Hana," Enfri said. "As for us, we have a Melcian princess we need to have a chat with."

    "Of course, Majesty. If you wish, I can have tea waiting for..."

    "No!" Enfri said hurriedly. "No tea. At the command of the Dragon Empress, absolutely no one at any time will ever make me tea I didn't ask for."

    Jin was taken aback by Enfri's outburst, and she was even more surprised when Enfri darted out of the tent before Hana could argue the point. When Jin finally caught up with her, Enfri had reached the end of the line of surgeon tents and leaned against a tentpole.

    "Winds," Enfri muttered. "Winds and storms, that might be the most childish thing I've ever done."

    Jin reached her side and had an amused gleam in her eye.

    Enfri looked away, embarrassed. "She's not following, is she?"

    "Too shocked to consider it," Jin said. She pulled Enfri into an embrace. "Just as you learn new things about me, my heart, every day you manage to remind me that no matter what changes around us, whatever you must do, you're still the Enfri Page I fell in love with five years ago."

    There was something like desperation in the way Jin held her, as if she were holding onto a ship's fallen mast during a storm at sea.

    "Is everything alright, Jin?"

    "Yes," she replied, a little too quickly. Her expression tightened. "Yes, I hope so."

    Enfri leaned back and peered at Jin's face with worry. "My light..."

    "Come. Now that you've seen to the Aleesh, we must deal with Nkeoma." She separated from Enfri and pulled her along by the hand.

    Despite Jin's assurances, Enfri worried. She let herself be guided through the camp. The whole while as they walked, all manner of concerns ghosted through her head. She hoped she hadn't hurt Jin by postponing their discussion about the future.

    When all things were considered, the two of them hadn't been together all that long. They'd left Enfri's home in Sandharbor on the third of Elm, and it was now just barely two months later on the second of Steed. By any measure, they'd been having a whirlwind romance.

    Enfri was about to suggest they slow down and enjoy an extended betrothal when they came upon a large number of House Yora armsmen and knights. Two of Rav's Onyxes and all three of the Amethysts were keeping close watch over these tents. An additional two dragons wearing their human forms led the detachment of guards, and they approached Enfri and Jin when they arrived.

    Deebee looked relieved and curious in equal measures. "I hope there were no serious illnesses among the Aleesh."

    "Nothing worse than a sore throat," Enfri said. "Has Nkeoma been behaving herself?"

    The second dragon, another silver named Jalla the Historian, gave a bitter laugh. He had the same coloring as Deebee, except his long hair was black rather than gold. "She complains over her treatment, but I've never seen a prisoner of war given such accommodations."

    "It is her due, Lord Historian," Jin said. "The Law of the Highest King requires us to afford members of an elder house every consideration. Even if they are our enemy."

    Enfri had to take a moment to reorder her thoughts. She hadn't seen Jalla's human form before today, and she wasn't used to seeing other silvers yet. He and another two silvers, both female, hadn't arrived to answer Deebee's summons until recently. As far as they knew, they were all that remained in the world of their chroma.

    "Once you're done with the Melcian princess," Deebee said, "there's a small matter Jalla and I would like to discuss with you."

    "Certainly. What is it?"

    Deebee shook her head. "It can wait, love. It's important but not urgent. In any case, I would want Kimpo to be present."

    That only deepened Enfri's curiosity, but it was Jin who guessed correctly.

    "This is about you becoming a mother?"

    Enfri's jaw dropped.

    "Quite so," Deebee said. She caught the flabbergasted look Enfri was giving her and chuckled. "I'm afraid I've been neglecting my responsibilities as Eldest. I've spent so long searching for the mighty, then watching over Yora, then you, that I haven't given an egg. Imperials give so few and they are so rarely viable that it's really somewhat unforgivable that I haven't been pulling my weight."

    Enfri pointed a shaking finger at her and avoided looking in Jalla's direction. "But, Kimpo is your mate."

    Deebee scoffed. "Winds and storms, love. You really mustn't attribute mortal sensibilities to how the mighty handle this sort of thing."

    "Another gap in your tutoring, Deebee," Jin said. "My heart, I think you're unaware of something about dragon biology. To put it inelegantly, dragons don't have sex."

    "Not for procreation, at least," Deebee added with a smirk. "Females lay the eggs, and males enchant the life into them. I've said it before, but it truly is preferable to the messy way humans get it done."

    Enfri raised an eyebrow. "So it's like fish spawning?"

    "Bite your tongue," Deebee squawked. "Or... yes... more or less, but it's far more sophisticated."

    "What Deebee is trying to say, my heart, is she wishes to speak with you about you getting a baby brother."

    Children are on everyone's mind nowadays, Enfri thought. She supposed it was natural. As Shan Alee began to grow beyond a few holdings and banners, thoughts inevitably turned towards the future.

    She just wished everyone would stop putting so much pressure on her to join in.

    Concerns for another time. The future still lay in the future and could just wait a blustering moment. There was a princess and her cadre of angels waiting ahead, and Enfri needed to find a way to get the rest of her people under her wing before Elise did and without it causing an all-out war with the Five Kingdoms.   

    Enfri missed the days she only had to worry about feeding her geese on time.