+365
"So ... what do you think?"
"Of the decor?" Elsbeth asks sleepily, raising her head from where it is pillowed on Logan's chest. "It's fine. I think we'll have to move the suit of armour though. I don't really fancy that leaning over me in the night."
That's a good point. He didn't mean the decor though. He means this, this little cottage just outside Brightwall, their home. He means of the life they're about to start. The life they have already started, stirring in Elsbeth's belly. He strokes over her abdomen now, over the roundness that now no longer needs to be hidden. Lying like this, with a fresh dew on her skin from their lovemaking, she glows in the afternoon sunlight. They had just got away with it, managing to hide her condition from all but the servants of Elsbeth's bedchamber, and they had been well-compensated for their silence. Now that there is no longer any need for concealment, the bump seems to have expanded, and Elsbeth truly glows. Against his hand, there is a sudden series of thumps.
Elsbeth smiles contentedly. "The baby likes it too."
It is not quite the first time Logan has felt their child kick, but the sensation is new enough that it still thrills and mystifies him. He has no idea how Elsbeth has managed to create the miracle of life, much less really conceive of his own role in it. He rubs his palm over her skin. "I'm glad." They lie there in silence a little while, before Logan thinks to ask. "So what will be your next quest, Hero?"
She laughs. Laughs because he doesn't even need to question that there will be a new adventure, knows that there was never going to be a life of quiet retirement after she relinquished her throne. Then she stretches and reaches up to smooth her fingers through his hair.
"Well, I hear there's someone in Brightwall having problems with abusive gnomes."