Ciri was surprised when she woke in the morning, Avallac'h was standing at the hearth talking to Regis. The two must have been out for several hours, but she had not heard them come in. She watched her elf turn and give her a tired smile, before bringing her a mug of tea. She was worried he had trouble.
"Just went for a walk...like before." He told her. "I needed to clear my head..."
She accepted this, he had done this a thousand times at Toussaint, wake in the middle of the night to go off for a run or a raid. He'd return in the morning, pump cold water over his head and continue on as if nothing had happened.
"I should be going," Regis said. "I'll see you tonight?"
"Yes, we'll be here for a while...and thank you."
Regis left, leaving them to have breakfast.
Crevan sat in the library, having laid out books on human statecraft and diplomacy for the young king. As per the agreement they had reached. The Aen Elle would pay reparations to the Court of Thorns and in turn, it would teach the Aen Elle king on the politics of the current world. He looked up at Regis as he returned.
"...You're still a good man..." Regis said as he paused at the table.
He had needed that, praise from an old friend. The Higher vampire gave a toothy smile and disappeared into the stacks. He would talk to Regis at lunch, for now, he had a young student he needed to teach.
Pen moved through her Kata, slow and deliberate. The battle, its all too quick settlement worried her. It was the screams of men waking from nightmares, some too proud to ask for help or speak with the healers. It was her own Nightmares and those of her daughter. She stopped and shook her head.
"...I'd say we should get plastered," Aethen said. "But that would do neither of us good..."
"No, it wouldn't..."
"Too bad Fred is still in for repairs..."
She laughed, yes the much-abused practice dummy.
"...Wasn't the Aen Elle king supposed to be here today?"
"Yes, he's in the library, Crevan is teaching him." She said. "We thought it best if there was someone who could speak the dialect to him."
"All the better he understands, and the viceroy?"
"Yes, I have to meet with him to hammer out the details."
"Well, get bathed and presentable...I'll be waiting for you."
She smiled as she headed off to the bath.
Dinner brought Pen to see Ciri and Avallac'h. The sage was reading while Ciri was napping, unusual for her. She remembered what her first pregnancy was like, she had slept for hours it seemed. She brought the same sausage rolls she had enjoyed, a simple meal that did not require more than one hand and could be spiced to the taste. She set the tray down, Avallac'h took one and resumed his reading.
"Do not get grease on the pages..." She said laying a napkin beside him. "Most of these are for Ciri..."
A grunt behind a mouthful, a pause and he set it down.
"Venison..." She said. "and boar..."
"...She will like them..." He said. "if she is hungry, she was not at lunch."
"She might be when she wakes," Pen said. "I will have the midwife brew up some anti-nausea tea, it should allow her to eat a bit more."
"Seeing you fight, I have forgotten you are a mother as well..."
"Yes, It can be easy to forget sometimes." She said.
He paused and set down his book. "I do not feel worthy of this gift, a child to carry the very thing I strove to use..."
"What makes you feel so unworthy..."
"I wanted this, once, with Lara..." He said. "After all, I have done, I'm finally granted it with her near echo...it is good that there was no child between Lara and I."
Pen knew that not to be true, but she could not tell him.
"...I should go...Make sure Ciri eats." She said.
He tilted his head in acknowledgment and returned to his bock.