p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Katsa's arms wrapped around Bitterblue, holding her tightly. She bent slightly, to kiss the top of the queen's head. Pulling back, she met Bitterblue's tear-filled eyes./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm sorry, Blue, that we didn't get to spend much time together during my stay. It's all my fault."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bitterblue shook her head. "I'm happy just to have had you here, close to me. Besides, I haven't had time to make use of my cipher for some time. I look forward to exchanging letters."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I look forward to it as well. Your's will be the first I write after Po and I welcome our child into this world."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bitterblue reached out to Katsa's belly hesitantly. Katsa grabbed her hand and pulled it the rest of the way. Bitterblue's eyes widened. Katsa, as usual wore a tunic. span style="font-style: oblique;"It may likely be Po's/span, thought Bitterblue. It was so ill-fitting that Bitterblue could barely see the shape of her belly unless a breeze caused the fabric to cling a certain way. span style="font-style: oblique;"No wonder we'd all thought she'd lost it/span. Beneath her hand, she could feel the roundness and silently wished she could feel the baby move. It amazed her, that a life could grow inside a person. She'd seen many women with child but never had it been so close, never had the woman been someone she cared for. At least not since her mother. Ashen had been pregnant with a second child when Bitterblue was only four. She remembered it vaguely, and as she tried to recall it in that moment, the memory was still fuzzy, hidden behind a dense fog in her mind. The earliest memories were still the hardest to find. She could only recall that the child was not carried to term. She was glad that that was not the case with Katsa. She had been overwhelmed with joy when she learned the news./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She looked up at Katsa and smiled before letting her hand fall away from Katsa's belly. "I'll be on the first ship out there!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Katsa smiled but it did not reach her eyes. She reached forth to tuck a stray lock of Bitterblue's hair back into place. To her, whenever she looked at Bitterblue, she was reminded the little girl of ten, with eyes so wide they seemed to take in the whole world./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She stepped back from the Monsean queen. She hated to leave her, it hurt almost as much as when she and Po would part. She had one thing to look forward to, and that was Po. They would depart from Monsea together, traveling to Po's castle in Lienid, where she and Po could spend the remainder of her pregnancy in a less intrusive manner. Katsa felt that although Bitterblue enjoyed her company, her presence here had been nothing but intrusive to the newlywed couple./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It bothered her more that she hadn't had an opportunity to really talk to Giddon in private. Her gaze fell upon him at that moment as he stood, exchanging words with Po. span style="font-style: oblique;"Well at least the two of them were able to move passed what happened/span. Katsa couldn't bear the thought of Po losing his friendship with Giddon, especially after everything they'd been through, especially because of her. She didn't blame him, not one bit. She wanted him to know that but for some reason the words wouldn't come./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Giddon met her gaze at that moment and the corners of his mouth curled up in a smile. Katsa couldn't recall the last time he smiled at her like that, if he ever did. She saw something in his eyes then. Not able to fully discern what it was, she smiled back. Giddon nodded. They shared a silent moment, one of understanding. One day she hoped to have the words for him, the words he deserved./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Katsa felt the weight of another gaze and her eyes shifted to Po. He was looking at her with such love, it warmed her heart. Although Po could not physically see, he mastered the illusion of doing so. She knew, if not for the ever growing reach of his grace, that he would not be able to pull of such a feat. Po never ceased to amaze her. Her love for him had only ever grown./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Po crossed the space between them but his attention shifted to his cousin./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Beetle," he said. Katsa watched as Bitterblue's eyes once again glistened. "Little cousin, don't cry. This is not goodbye, not ever."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The queen rubbed her eyes as Po reached down to bring her into his arms. He whispered into her ear, so low that even Katsa's astute hearing did not pick it up. When Po again stood up straight, Bitterblue wore a smile./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Po's hand reached for Katsa's, interlocking her fingers with his. He brought her hand up to his mouth, planting a kiss onto the back of her hand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Ready, love?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Katsa smiled. Her free hand came to rest on the swell of her belly. "As ready as we'll ever be."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Together they turned, facing the large Lienid ship./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As they climbed the ramp onto the ship, Katsa inwardly cursed. For the first time, she cursed the seclusion of Lienid. The sickness that had come with her pregnancy had eased as of late, but as she felt the sway of the ship, it seemed to creep up on her. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to lay down and snuggle against Po's larger frame./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She let Po keep possession of her hand. She was not concerned with her balance, although she expected with the coming months, she likely would be. She continued to hold his hand because he was her lifeline, and if it comforted him to help the woman carrying his child onto the massive rocking ship, that was something she couldn't deny him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm sorry, Blue, that we didn't get to spend much time together during my stay. It's all my fault."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bitterblue shook her head. "I'm happy just to have had you here, close to me. Besides, I haven't had time to make use of my cipher for some time. I look forward to exchanging letters."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I look forward to it as well. Your's will be the first I write after Po and I welcome our child into this world."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Bitterblue reached out to Katsa's belly hesitantly. Katsa grabbed her hand and pulled it the rest of the way. Bitterblue's eyes widened. Katsa, as usual wore a tunic. span style="font-style: oblique;"It may likely be Po's/span, thought Bitterblue. It was so ill-fitting that Bitterblue could barely see the shape of her belly unless a breeze caused the fabric to cling a certain way. span style="font-style: oblique;"No wonder we'd all thought she'd lost it/span. Beneath her hand, she could feel the roundness and silently wished she could feel the baby move. It amazed her, that a life could grow inside a person. She'd seen many women with child but never had it been so close, never had the woman been someone she cared for. At least not since her mother. Ashen had been pregnant with a second child when Bitterblue was only four. She remembered it vaguely, and as she tried to recall it in that moment, the memory was still fuzzy, hidden behind a dense fog in her mind. The earliest memories were still the hardest to find. She could only recall that the child was not carried to term. She was glad that that was not the case with Katsa. She had been overwhelmed with joy when she learned the news./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She looked up at Katsa and smiled before letting her hand fall away from Katsa's belly. "I'll be on the first ship out there!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Katsa smiled but it did not reach her eyes. She reached forth to tuck a stray lock of Bitterblue's hair back into place. To her, whenever she looked at Bitterblue, she was reminded the little girl of ten, with eyes so wide they seemed to take in the whole world./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She stepped back from the Monsean queen. She hated to leave her, it hurt almost as much as when she and Po would part. She had one thing to look forward to, and that was Po. They would depart from Monsea together, traveling to Po's castle in Lienid, where she and Po could spend the remainder of her pregnancy in a less intrusive manner. Katsa felt that although Bitterblue enjoyed her company, her presence here had been nothing but intrusive to the newlywed couple./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It bothered her more that she hadn't had an opportunity to really talk to Giddon in private. Her gaze fell upon him at that moment as he stood, exchanging words with Po. span style="font-style: oblique;"Well at least the two of them were able to move passed what happened/span. Katsa couldn't bear the thought of Po losing his friendship with Giddon, especially after everything they'd been through, especially because of her. She didn't blame him, not one bit. She wanted him to know that but for some reason the words wouldn't come./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Giddon met her gaze at that moment and the corners of his mouth curled up in a smile. Katsa couldn't recall the last time he smiled at her like that, if he ever did. She saw something in his eyes then. Not able to fully discern what it was, she smiled back. Giddon nodded. They shared a silent moment, one of understanding. One day she hoped to have the words for him, the words he deserved./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Katsa felt the weight of another gaze and her eyes shifted to Po. He was looking at her with such love, it warmed her heart. Although Po could not physically see, he mastered the illusion of doing so. She knew, if not for the ever growing reach of his grace, that he would not be able to pull of such a feat. Po never ceased to amaze her. Her love for him had only ever grown./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Po crossed the space between them but his attention shifted to his cousin./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Beetle," he said. Katsa watched as Bitterblue's eyes once again glistened. "Little cousin, don't cry. This is not goodbye, not ever."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The queen rubbed her eyes as Po reached down to bring her into his arms. He whispered into her ear, so low that even Katsa's astute hearing did not pick it up. When Po again stood up straight, Bitterblue wore a smile./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Po's hand reached for Katsa's, interlocking her fingers with his. He brought her hand up to his mouth, planting a kiss onto the back of her hand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Ready, love?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Katsa smiled. Her free hand came to rest on the swell of her belly. "As ready as we'll ever be."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Together they turned, facing the large Lienid ship./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As they climbed the ramp onto the ship, Katsa inwardly cursed. For the first time, she cursed the seclusion of Lienid. The sickness that had come with her pregnancy had eased as of late, but as she felt the sway of the ship, it seemed to creep up on her. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to lay down and snuggle against Po's larger frame./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She let Po keep possession of her hand. She was not concerned with her balance, although she expected with the coming months, she likely would be. She continued to hold his hand because he was her lifeline, and if it comforted him to help the woman carrying his child onto the massive rocking ship, that was something she couldn't deny him./p
