When Attolia became pregnant again, there were widespread celebrations and private anxiety around the country.
Before that, when Irene realized she was pregnant again, she kept the news to herself for as long as possible. She feigned evidence of her monthlies and dressed to subtly hide the bump.
Eugenides figured it out immediately, of course, but then, she hadn't been trying to fool him.
When it was finally publically announced, Attolia acted supremely confident that this time, all would go well.
In private, Irene said to her husband, "We can't afford another miscarriage." It would cast doubts on her ability to produce an heir.
He spread his arms helplessly. "I cannot steal health," he admitted.
"No," she agreed. "But if it came to it, you could steal a child." An orphan, preferably, an infant from a poor family that could be paid off if no suitable orphan could be found.
"And if we had a child? Later?"
The river knew its time.
If this child died, there would be no later.
There was much talk, of course, about the gender of the child.
Gen flipped a coin in the air, tumbling it over his fingers. "Heads, it's a girl, tails, it's a boy."
"Tails," she said instantly.
He pressed his lips together and flipped it.
It lodged in a crack between two marble blocks in the floor and refused to land either way.
Irene went very white. Eugenides snatched it up.
"It doesn't have to be a bad omen," he offered.
She wondered if he believed his own lie.
"Why do you want a boy?" he asked her later when they were alone in her room.
"We need an heir," she reminded him, one eyebrow arched.
He looked up at her, frowning. "Yes. And?"
She was a silent for a long moment. "I would not want our child to become like me."
"Ah." He leaned back against her legs. "In the unlikely event that you die, I promise not to marry her off to someone she's likely to poison."
"Mm. Why do you want a girl?"
Eugenides shrugged. "Helen thinks she's having a boy."
"Oh?"
"She might have had a dream about him," Gen admitted.
"Ah." This was not part of her world, but she accepted it because it was part of him. "And you don't think our potential daughter likely to poison her cousin."
"Break his nose maybe. Or his hand."
"You're impossible."
When the time finally came, the tension in the palace could have been cut with Eugenides' hook.
Eugenides paced outside the room and tried not to think about the suspended coin.
The door opened. Phresine stepped out with a bundle in her arms.
"The Queen is fine," she said gently. "Come meet your son."
Son. A dozen new plans swirled through his head. All vanished when he took a hesitant step forward and looked into that tiny face.
"My son," he breathed. His Eddisian accent was out in full force. He reached out his arms and cradled him carefully. "Your mother was right," he whispered.
Phresine cleared her throat. "It seems you both were."
Gen's head snapped up.
"The Queen is still holding your daughter."
Twins.
He passed into the room in a daze. Sure enough, an exhausted Irene was cradling another perfect bundle.
All well. All safe.
Phresine beamed at all four of them. "And what shall I announce as their names?"
Gen's eyes widened. He turned to his wife. "We never actually discussed that."
Irene's face went still. "No. We did not."
"Dite and Agape?" Gen suggested cheekily.
"If my arms weren't full, I would throw something at you."
A/N: Prompt #5 - Souls.