Sorry I haven't written for ages and AGES, i've been so busy with school,
module exams and everything (and I'm writing a book [or trying to] so that
takes up time too). Anyway, hope you enjoy this, I had a brainwave recently
about how I'm gonna finish this and it's quite good so I PROMISE I'll try
to write more and quicker!!! Hana X
Chapter 5
Word about their news spread quickly, and soon Nynaeve and Lan couldn't walk anywhere in Tar Valon without random people congratulating them. Nynaeve secretly thought it was Elayne's doing - that girl had a mouth like a gleeman - but she didn't want to confront the Queen of Andor about such matters.
Time seemed to speed up around her, and in what seemed like no time at all, Nynaeve began to show. No one except Lan noticed at first. At five months, she just looked like she'd eaten a bit too much. Two weeks later, and her dresses began to stretch over her stomach and breasts. Another fortnight later, and she had to have new dresses made. At six and a half months, it was obvious to even the most wool-headed stable boy that she was pregnant, also because of the fact that her favourite dress styles were tight clingy ones that hung to every curve and were extremely low necked. A month of uneasy sleep and an aching back followed. One night in particular stuck in Nynaeve's mind.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~FlashBack~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was dark when Nynaeve opened her eyes. The only sound was that of Lan's heavy breathing next to her on the bed. She gently lifted his arm from across her six-months pregnant stomach and wriggled out of the covers. Easing herself silently from the bed, she wondered what time it was. She rubbed her sore back. She didn't remember going to bed at all. She remembered falling asleep in the armchair in their room though.
Her husband moved slightly and she froze, not wanting to wake him up. I guess I am not the only one who is always tired nowadays, she mused. She channelled a small candle alight and wove a delicate shield of Air around it so it didn't appear too bright. She found she was naked and blushed at the thought that Lan must have undressed her. She blushed again at the fact that she had actually blushed in the first place.
So what if he has undressed me? She thought. We have been married for a year and more now, and we have done - she flushed even harder, until she thought her face would burn off.
Lan shuffled again. Nynaeve eased open the door to their wash chamber, then closed it silently behind her before channelling on the lamps. She used Fire to heat the wash water that stood in a glazed pitcher until it was steaming. Then she poured it into the Sea Folk porcelain bowl. She washed her face and body, and then wet her hair. She had to wash it every day now that she was pregnant, because it was incredibly greasy and lank. Just as she was about to pour herbal shampoo onto her dripping locks, she heard the door open slowly and someone come in.
"Did I wake you?" she asked Lan, who closed the door behind him.
"No, I just woke up suddenly to find you were not there. It's okay," he said, seeing the sorry look on her face.
He walked over to his wife and took the shampoo bottle from her. Then he leaned in and kissed her on the lips, just softly at first, wondering if she was in the mood for kissing. She was, it seemed, for in reply she put her arms around his neck and returned the kiss whole-heartedly.
His mouth tasted so good! Why did she not do this more often? She realised they did actually do this often, but at that moment in time all she could think about was then and there, and that she wanted the kiss to go on forever.
By the time they broke apart, Nynaeve's hair had started to dry a bit. Light, but he was a good kisser! Thorough but at the same time gentle.
"What was that, my heart?" Lan murmured, kissing her neck, his strong arms wrapped round her swollen body.
Nynaeve realised she must have spoken her last thoughts aloud. "I just said what a good kisser you are!" She laughed.
Her husband straightened up, so he was towering well over her, and stared into her eyes, his icy blue ones so full of longing that she actually felt herself blushing. Only then did it really hit her that she was completely naked. She expected to feel her face burn up in flames, but if anything that realisation just made her calmer.
"Do you think so?" He said quietly, never shifting his gaze a hair.
"al'Lan Mandragoran, I have sworn on the Oath Rod never to speak one word that isn't true. So in that way, yes, I do think so. In the same way, whatever I say must be the complete truth. Like when I say I love you, with all my heart, for all of time. Do you understand?"
He shifted his gaze then. He shifted it to complete blackness as he leaned in once more to kiss her tenderly. He understood. He understood better than she thought. When he said he loved her, he said it in the way that she did, by the oaths Accepted took on the Oath Rod on being raised to Aes Sedai. When he spoke to his wife about his love for her, he spoke as if he had actually taken the Oaths, speaking not one word that is not true. And it is true, he thought, still lost in the kiss. There are no words truer.
A few minutes later when they had to breathe, Nynaeve smiled at her husband, not sure what she was expecting to see - a king as legendary as the Creator maybe, or a man so great people bowed when they heard his name - but she only saw the beautiful man she had fallen hopelessly in love with. His lips were slightly redder than usual from kissing but he looked no different otherwise.
Well, he is a king, by rights, she thought, and there is no man greater so far as I'm concerned. She realised that her thoughts during the kiss were only reflecting what he actually was. Lan had not changed. He could not because he was already what Nynaeve wanted. Here, stood in front of her, was her perfect image of a man. Except he was not just an image. He was as real as she.
Laughing softly to herself, she reached out for the bottle of shampoo, but Lan stilled her hand by putting his on her arm.
"May I?" he asked.
And so she found herself, five minutes later, sitting with her head back over the basin, with Lan massaging herbal lotion into her hair. Oh, but it was a glorious feeling! His strong hands were so gentle, so caressing, like a warm hug on a cold night. It took another ten minutes or so for him to complete the two washes and rinse all the lather out. By the time he finished, Nynaeve's scalp was tingling.
He picked up a wash towel - hair towels were not big enough for all her hair - and wrapped it snugly around her head, enclosing her dripping locks. He also draped her blue satin robe around her; it only just fit her now, and he had to stretch his arms around her from behind to tie it.
Nynaeve stood up and yelped as she slipped on the sopping floor. Lan was there in a heartbeat, scooping her up and sweeping her back into their bedchamber. He deposited her on the bed with a kiss and a soft word, and started to stride back towards the lighted room.
She reached out to him, taking his hand in both of hers. "Leave it," she said simply.
He turned to survey her and said slowly, "As you command, so do I obey."
Laughing, she pulled him down to kiss her. "Then come and lie with me. We need to discuss baby names."
As soon as their lips met however, Nynaeve got a sudden pain in her stomach. It felt like. but it couldn't be. And then just as suddenly as it had come, it disappeared. Instinctively she put a hand to the spot where it hurt, but felt nothing except the lumps and bumps of her child nestled safely in her womb.
"What happened? Are you alright? Is the babe okay?" Lan asked.
"I. I'm not sure. I think that it. I think it just kicked." She smiled suddenly, then found herself laughing with joy.
The look on Lan's face suddenly made him a hundred times more gorgeous than Nynaeve had even seen him before. He looked proud and loving and plainly beautiful.
The feeling came again. Quickly she grabbed his hand and held it where she felt the kick. As she felt it a third time, she looked into her husband's eyes and the love and excitement showed there made her draw breath. What Lan had just shown her in one glance, a lesser man could not convey in ten years. He actually seemed lost for words.
"Light!" he whispered eventually. "That was the most beautiful thing I've ever felt, next to you, of course. Selene. Surely there is not better name for something so beautiful."
"Selene. Yes, I like Selene. How are you so sure it's a girl?"
"I. I don't know. I just am."
He lifted her hand and fingered the moonstone ring. Then he lay down next to her on the bed and pulled her into him so her body fit perfectly with his, her back along his front. He wrapped his arms around her, hands on hers on her stomach. She snuggled back, the warmth of his body soothing her soul. And they lay there for the Light knew how long, Lan whispering and kissing her neck, Nynaeve just floating somewhere between heaven and paradise.
She finally drifted off at dawn.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*End Flashback~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A month later and she was forced by the Amyrlin herself to give up teaching. She spent her days wandering around the Tower grounds with Lan, or visiting Elayne in Caemlyn.
*^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^*
"I love you, Nynaeve," Lan said, kissing her softly. They were out in the Amyrlin's Gardens - Egwene had given them her permission of course - because in the Tower grounds they were frequently badgered about her health and that of their child. Here they had the gardens all to themselves.
She put her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Being so short, and with her enlarged stomach, it was not easy, but Lan was strong and he held her in the air like she was as light as a feather.
When he set her back down, she took his hand and pulled him down onto a carved bench engraved with lovers and tiny Lover's Knots. "I love you too, heart of my heart," she replied. She rested her head against his chest and they talked about how beautiful the gardens looked. All the while they talked, Lan held her close, his arms around her, his hands on her stomach.
"I like those pink orchids," she said.
"They are indeed beautiful, just like you," he replied.
"You are incredibly sweet, Lan Mandragoran," she laughed. "I suppose in that way you are like these flowers too!"
He laughed with her. "I thank you for comparing me to orchids!"
Suddenly she felt the babe kick. Lan obviously felt it too, for he laughed again and kissed her head, saying "Does it not hurt when our child tries to break it's way out of you two months early?"
"Yes, it is very painful, especially when it gets restless at night."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked.
"Well, I wouldn't say no to a massage. That eases the pain tremendously." She put on her puppy dog face and smiled up at him. "Please?"
Lan felt his heart melt when he looked into those innocent eyes. "How could I refuse such a tragic little face?" He leaned down and kissed her soft cheek, then began slowly rubbing her stomach. She laughed a lot because it tickled, but after that she concluded her husband must have magic hands, for the pain ceased almost immediately. She didn't tell him this however, because she loved his hands caressing her as much as she knew he loved it too.
So they sat and passed many days this way. When she got hungry, Lan found an Accepted who brought food to them. When she got tired, he would produce a rug and they would lie down together in the early summer afternoons, talking, snuggling and kissing, sharing secrets and fears, dreams and desires. Nynaeve seldom got angry now that she didn't have any classes to teach. Her temper had dissolved greatly when she married Lan, but now that she was with child, it had altogether disappeared, something that Elayne frequently pointed out.
*^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^*
"Nynaeve, it is so unfair," Elayne said one hot summer's day. Nynaeve, seven and a half months pregnant, had Travelled to see her friend in the Royal Palace in Caemlyn, and they were sat inside, sipping iced fruit drinks.
"What is?" she asked.
"When I had my children I completely lost my figure. I put on so much weight you would think I had eaten all Caemlyn's food supplies in nine months. But you look completely gorgeous even with. well, you know."
"A huge stomach? Oh yeah, Elayne, I'm not fat at all!" She laughed sarcastically. "I have gone from a dress size 6 to a size 14 in the space of two and a half months!" Today Nynaeve was wearing a dark sapphire dress made of light satin. It had embroidered flowers and little pearls and blue sapphires all over it, and was incredibly beautiful. The neck was extremely low - Elayne was shocked at how low Nynaeve wore her dresses - and it emphasized her bust, which had increased two sizes in pregnancy. For a heavily expecting woman, Nynaeve looked stunning. She wore her hair down so it flowed over her shoulders in dark waves, rippling to past her waist when she stood up.
Elayne actually found herself feeling a little jealous when she remembered what she had looked like when she was expecting. "Yes, but do you have swollen ankles, swollen legs, swollen arms? I was so repulsed by what I looked like, I had to make Rand tell me a hundred times that he thought I was beautiful before I could stand in front of the mirror!"
Nynaeve blushed slightly. "Well, Lan tells me that he thinks I am gorgeous every minute of every day, and even when I say I disagree, he just stresses it more strongly, and then he says he wants to prove it and then." She blushed harder, her cheeks reddening violently.
Elayne smiled. "You know, he has really changed you. I remember a time about two years ago when you would get angry if he so much as said you looked nice, reading into it all manner of things that he didn't mean."
"I- " Nynaeve started, with the merest trace of anger. "I just can't bring myself to be angry at all." She admitted, the edge in her voice disappearing. "My temper seems to have gone along with my waistline!"
Elayne laughed. She stood up and went to give her friend a hug. "I think maybe mood swings for you have the opposite effect."
It was Nynaeve's turn to laugh. "You mean because I had a temper in the first place, now the mood swings have had 'the opposite effect'?" The look of embarrassment and terror on Elayne's face made Nynaeve laugh harder. "It's okay, I can't be angry remember?! Oh Elayne, I may be pregnant but I'm not stupid. I think you're right. Maybe I'm no longer a temperamental person. I just don't seem to know which way is up and which down lately. I'm always so confused, and I haven't had a good night's sleep in ages. Was it like this for you?"
"Yes, but at least you have Lan with you all day, every day. And every night for that matter, I suppose. I love Rand with all of my heart, but I couldn't help getting angry with him when his 'duties' kept him away from me. Light, I know he's the bloody Dragon Reborn, but surely he could have taken time out to be with his wife and unborn children. I told him that much, and he did try harder after that. You are so, so lucky to have Lan. He adores you no end, and his babe you are carrying means the world to him."
Nynaeve blushed again. "Yes, I know he does. And I feel exactly the same way about him - though not the bit about the babe!" She laughed.
Their general chit-chat continued for a while. They talked of husbands, children, Aes Sedai things, and the state of the nations. When Nynaeve finally got tired, Elayne wove a Gateway for her, into her bedchamber. Nynaeve eased herself out of her chair and thanked the Queen for the drink and the chat.
"I'll come and see you next time," Elayne said as Nynaeve was about to step through. "Though I might not be able to for a few weeks. I have to go with Rand to sort out food supplies in Tear."
Nynaeve laughed. "Good, because I don't think I'll be able to visit you in a few weeks." She patted her huge stomach. "I'll be eight and a half months pregnant by then! And from what you've told me, I'll have a job channeling too. I may even have to light my own lamps! Well, I'll get Lan to, of course!"
Elayne laughed with her, then sobered and hugged her. "Take care of yourself. Let Lan do everything for you - I suspect he does now anyway - but still, be careful."
"I will. Do not worry about me. Worry about Rand and your country. I'll be fine."
With a last hug, Nynaeve stepped through the Gateway and once again arrived in her bedchamber, into Lan's awaiting arms.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 5
Word about their news spread quickly, and soon Nynaeve and Lan couldn't walk anywhere in Tar Valon without random people congratulating them. Nynaeve secretly thought it was Elayne's doing - that girl had a mouth like a gleeman - but she didn't want to confront the Queen of Andor about such matters.
Time seemed to speed up around her, and in what seemed like no time at all, Nynaeve began to show. No one except Lan noticed at first. At five months, she just looked like she'd eaten a bit too much. Two weeks later, and her dresses began to stretch over her stomach and breasts. Another fortnight later, and she had to have new dresses made. At six and a half months, it was obvious to even the most wool-headed stable boy that she was pregnant, also because of the fact that her favourite dress styles were tight clingy ones that hung to every curve and were extremely low necked. A month of uneasy sleep and an aching back followed. One night in particular stuck in Nynaeve's mind.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~FlashBack~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was dark when Nynaeve opened her eyes. The only sound was that of Lan's heavy breathing next to her on the bed. She gently lifted his arm from across her six-months pregnant stomach and wriggled out of the covers. Easing herself silently from the bed, she wondered what time it was. She rubbed her sore back. She didn't remember going to bed at all. She remembered falling asleep in the armchair in their room though.
Her husband moved slightly and she froze, not wanting to wake him up. I guess I am not the only one who is always tired nowadays, she mused. She channelled a small candle alight and wove a delicate shield of Air around it so it didn't appear too bright. She found she was naked and blushed at the thought that Lan must have undressed her. She blushed again at the fact that she had actually blushed in the first place.
So what if he has undressed me? She thought. We have been married for a year and more now, and we have done - she flushed even harder, until she thought her face would burn off.
Lan shuffled again. Nynaeve eased open the door to their wash chamber, then closed it silently behind her before channelling on the lamps. She used Fire to heat the wash water that stood in a glazed pitcher until it was steaming. Then she poured it into the Sea Folk porcelain bowl. She washed her face and body, and then wet her hair. She had to wash it every day now that she was pregnant, because it was incredibly greasy and lank. Just as she was about to pour herbal shampoo onto her dripping locks, she heard the door open slowly and someone come in.
"Did I wake you?" she asked Lan, who closed the door behind him.
"No, I just woke up suddenly to find you were not there. It's okay," he said, seeing the sorry look on her face.
He walked over to his wife and took the shampoo bottle from her. Then he leaned in and kissed her on the lips, just softly at first, wondering if she was in the mood for kissing. She was, it seemed, for in reply she put her arms around his neck and returned the kiss whole-heartedly.
His mouth tasted so good! Why did she not do this more often? She realised they did actually do this often, but at that moment in time all she could think about was then and there, and that she wanted the kiss to go on forever.
By the time they broke apart, Nynaeve's hair had started to dry a bit. Light, but he was a good kisser! Thorough but at the same time gentle.
"What was that, my heart?" Lan murmured, kissing her neck, his strong arms wrapped round her swollen body.
Nynaeve realised she must have spoken her last thoughts aloud. "I just said what a good kisser you are!" She laughed.
Her husband straightened up, so he was towering well over her, and stared into her eyes, his icy blue ones so full of longing that she actually felt herself blushing. Only then did it really hit her that she was completely naked. She expected to feel her face burn up in flames, but if anything that realisation just made her calmer.
"Do you think so?" He said quietly, never shifting his gaze a hair.
"al'Lan Mandragoran, I have sworn on the Oath Rod never to speak one word that isn't true. So in that way, yes, I do think so. In the same way, whatever I say must be the complete truth. Like when I say I love you, with all my heart, for all of time. Do you understand?"
He shifted his gaze then. He shifted it to complete blackness as he leaned in once more to kiss her tenderly. He understood. He understood better than she thought. When he said he loved her, he said it in the way that she did, by the oaths Accepted took on the Oath Rod on being raised to Aes Sedai. When he spoke to his wife about his love for her, he spoke as if he had actually taken the Oaths, speaking not one word that is not true. And it is true, he thought, still lost in the kiss. There are no words truer.
A few minutes later when they had to breathe, Nynaeve smiled at her husband, not sure what she was expecting to see - a king as legendary as the Creator maybe, or a man so great people bowed when they heard his name - but she only saw the beautiful man she had fallen hopelessly in love with. His lips were slightly redder than usual from kissing but he looked no different otherwise.
Well, he is a king, by rights, she thought, and there is no man greater so far as I'm concerned. She realised that her thoughts during the kiss were only reflecting what he actually was. Lan had not changed. He could not because he was already what Nynaeve wanted. Here, stood in front of her, was her perfect image of a man. Except he was not just an image. He was as real as she.
Laughing softly to herself, she reached out for the bottle of shampoo, but Lan stilled her hand by putting his on her arm.
"May I?" he asked.
And so she found herself, five minutes later, sitting with her head back over the basin, with Lan massaging herbal lotion into her hair. Oh, but it was a glorious feeling! His strong hands were so gentle, so caressing, like a warm hug on a cold night. It took another ten minutes or so for him to complete the two washes and rinse all the lather out. By the time he finished, Nynaeve's scalp was tingling.
He picked up a wash towel - hair towels were not big enough for all her hair - and wrapped it snugly around her head, enclosing her dripping locks. He also draped her blue satin robe around her; it only just fit her now, and he had to stretch his arms around her from behind to tie it.
Nynaeve stood up and yelped as she slipped on the sopping floor. Lan was there in a heartbeat, scooping her up and sweeping her back into their bedchamber. He deposited her on the bed with a kiss and a soft word, and started to stride back towards the lighted room.
She reached out to him, taking his hand in both of hers. "Leave it," she said simply.
He turned to survey her and said slowly, "As you command, so do I obey."
Laughing, she pulled him down to kiss her. "Then come and lie with me. We need to discuss baby names."
As soon as their lips met however, Nynaeve got a sudden pain in her stomach. It felt like. but it couldn't be. And then just as suddenly as it had come, it disappeared. Instinctively she put a hand to the spot where it hurt, but felt nothing except the lumps and bumps of her child nestled safely in her womb.
"What happened? Are you alright? Is the babe okay?" Lan asked.
"I. I'm not sure. I think that it. I think it just kicked." She smiled suddenly, then found herself laughing with joy.
The look on Lan's face suddenly made him a hundred times more gorgeous than Nynaeve had even seen him before. He looked proud and loving and plainly beautiful.
The feeling came again. Quickly she grabbed his hand and held it where she felt the kick. As she felt it a third time, she looked into her husband's eyes and the love and excitement showed there made her draw breath. What Lan had just shown her in one glance, a lesser man could not convey in ten years. He actually seemed lost for words.
"Light!" he whispered eventually. "That was the most beautiful thing I've ever felt, next to you, of course. Selene. Surely there is not better name for something so beautiful."
"Selene. Yes, I like Selene. How are you so sure it's a girl?"
"I. I don't know. I just am."
He lifted her hand and fingered the moonstone ring. Then he lay down next to her on the bed and pulled her into him so her body fit perfectly with his, her back along his front. He wrapped his arms around her, hands on hers on her stomach. She snuggled back, the warmth of his body soothing her soul. And they lay there for the Light knew how long, Lan whispering and kissing her neck, Nynaeve just floating somewhere between heaven and paradise.
She finally drifted off at dawn.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*End Flashback~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A month later and she was forced by the Amyrlin herself to give up teaching. She spent her days wandering around the Tower grounds with Lan, or visiting Elayne in Caemlyn.
*^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^*
"I love you, Nynaeve," Lan said, kissing her softly. They were out in the Amyrlin's Gardens - Egwene had given them her permission of course - because in the Tower grounds they were frequently badgered about her health and that of their child. Here they had the gardens all to themselves.
She put her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Being so short, and with her enlarged stomach, it was not easy, but Lan was strong and he held her in the air like she was as light as a feather.
When he set her back down, she took his hand and pulled him down onto a carved bench engraved with lovers and tiny Lover's Knots. "I love you too, heart of my heart," she replied. She rested her head against his chest and they talked about how beautiful the gardens looked. All the while they talked, Lan held her close, his arms around her, his hands on her stomach.
"I like those pink orchids," she said.
"They are indeed beautiful, just like you," he replied.
"You are incredibly sweet, Lan Mandragoran," she laughed. "I suppose in that way you are like these flowers too!"
He laughed with her. "I thank you for comparing me to orchids!"
Suddenly she felt the babe kick. Lan obviously felt it too, for he laughed again and kissed her head, saying "Does it not hurt when our child tries to break it's way out of you two months early?"
"Yes, it is very painful, especially when it gets restless at night."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked.
"Well, I wouldn't say no to a massage. That eases the pain tremendously." She put on her puppy dog face and smiled up at him. "Please?"
Lan felt his heart melt when he looked into those innocent eyes. "How could I refuse such a tragic little face?" He leaned down and kissed her soft cheek, then began slowly rubbing her stomach. She laughed a lot because it tickled, but after that she concluded her husband must have magic hands, for the pain ceased almost immediately. She didn't tell him this however, because she loved his hands caressing her as much as she knew he loved it too.
So they sat and passed many days this way. When she got hungry, Lan found an Accepted who brought food to them. When she got tired, he would produce a rug and they would lie down together in the early summer afternoons, talking, snuggling and kissing, sharing secrets and fears, dreams and desires. Nynaeve seldom got angry now that she didn't have any classes to teach. Her temper had dissolved greatly when she married Lan, but now that she was with child, it had altogether disappeared, something that Elayne frequently pointed out.
*^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^**^*
"Nynaeve, it is so unfair," Elayne said one hot summer's day. Nynaeve, seven and a half months pregnant, had Travelled to see her friend in the Royal Palace in Caemlyn, and they were sat inside, sipping iced fruit drinks.
"What is?" she asked.
"When I had my children I completely lost my figure. I put on so much weight you would think I had eaten all Caemlyn's food supplies in nine months. But you look completely gorgeous even with. well, you know."
"A huge stomach? Oh yeah, Elayne, I'm not fat at all!" She laughed sarcastically. "I have gone from a dress size 6 to a size 14 in the space of two and a half months!" Today Nynaeve was wearing a dark sapphire dress made of light satin. It had embroidered flowers and little pearls and blue sapphires all over it, and was incredibly beautiful. The neck was extremely low - Elayne was shocked at how low Nynaeve wore her dresses - and it emphasized her bust, which had increased two sizes in pregnancy. For a heavily expecting woman, Nynaeve looked stunning. She wore her hair down so it flowed over her shoulders in dark waves, rippling to past her waist when she stood up.
Elayne actually found herself feeling a little jealous when she remembered what she had looked like when she was expecting. "Yes, but do you have swollen ankles, swollen legs, swollen arms? I was so repulsed by what I looked like, I had to make Rand tell me a hundred times that he thought I was beautiful before I could stand in front of the mirror!"
Nynaeve blushed slightly. "Well, Lan tells me that he thinks I am gorgeous every minute of every day, and even when I say I disagree, he just stresses it more strongly, and then he says he wants to prove it and then." She blushed harder, her cheeks reddening violently.
Elayne smiled. "You know, he has really changed you. I remember a time about two years ago when you would get angry if he so much as said you looked nice, reading into it all manner of things that he didn't mean."
"I- " Nynaeve started, with the merest trace of anger. "I just can't bring myself to be angry at all." She admitted, the edge in her voice disappearing. "My temper seems to have gone along with my waistline!"
Elayne laughed. She stood up and went to give her friend a hug. "I think maybe mood swings for you have the opposite effect."
It was Nynaeve's turn to laugh. "You mean because I had a temper in the first place, now the mood swings have had 'the opposite effect'?" The look of embarrassment and terror on Elayne's face made Nynaeve laugh harder. "It's okay, I can't be angry remember?! Oh Elayne, I may be pregnant but I'm not stupid. I think you're right. Maybe I'm no longer a temperamental person. I just don't seem to know which way is up and which down lately. I'm always so confused, and I haven't had a good night's sleep in ages. Was it like this for you?"
"Yes, but at least you have Lan with you all day, every day. And every night for that matter, I suppose. I love Rand with all of my heart, but I couldn't help getting angry with him when his 'duties' kept him away from me. Light, I know he's the bloody Dragon Reborn, but surely he could have taken time out to be with his wife and unborn children. I told him that much, and he did try harder after that. You are so, so lucky to have Lan. He adores you no end, and his babe you are carrying means the world to him."
Nynaeve blushed again. "Yes, I know he does. And I feel exactly the same way about him - though not the bit about the babe!" She laughed.
Their general chit-chat continued for a while. They talked of husbands, children, Aes Sedai things, and the state of the nations. When Nynaeve finally got tired, Elayne wove a Gateway for her, into her bedchamber. Nynaeve eased herself out of her chair and thanked the Queen for the drink and the chat.
"I'll come and see you next time," Elayne said as Nynaeve was about to step through. "Though I might not be able to for a few weeks. I have to go with Rand to sort out food supplies in Tear."
Nynaeve laughed. "Good, because I don't think I'll be able to visit you in a few weeks." She patted her huge stomach. "I'll be eight and a half months pregnant by then! And from what you've told me, I'll have a job channeling too. I may even have to light my own lamps! Well, I'll get Lan to, of course!"
Elayne laughed with her, then sobered and hugged her. "Take care of yourself. Let Lan do everything for you - I suspect he does now anyway - but still, be careful."
"I will. Do not worry about me. Worry about Rand and your country. I'll be fine."
With a last hug, Nynaeve stepped through the Gateway and once again arrived in her bedchamber, into Lan's awaiting arms.
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