Oh I kind of forgot about the disclaimer- don't own anything, Tamora Pierce does!
Thanks for all of the reviews! Makes me feel so loved!
Chapter 2-Prophecy and so much more
Kel started hyperventilating. Alanna would have thought it was quite humorous if the situation hadn't been so dire. Alanna looked around for something that Kel could breathe into, but came up with nothing. Alanna turned back to Kel to help her with a breathing exercise she learned from Maude—the healing woman of her old fief Trebond, and chief caretaker at her home the fief Pirate's Swoop—taught her when she was pregnant with her first child Thom. It was also used for people that had problems with hyperventilation.
"Breathe in-one, two, three-breathe out-one, two, three-breathe in-one, two, three-breathe out-one, two, three—"Alanna kept coaching Kel until her breathing had regulated.
"You can use that breathing exercise throughout the pregnancy-with the contractions and the actual birthing of the baby," Alanna said dryly.
Kel looked at her sharply. "I don't intend to keep Joren's," she spat the name out like it was a curse, "baby. I don't want anything to do with him, much less have his baby."
"You may not have a choice," Alanna said under her breath, but Kel heard her loud and clear. "Why not?" an alarmed Kel demanded.
Alanna heaved a big sigh. "We need to go talk to King Jonathan. Kel, when we talk to Jonathan—Raoul, Myles, George, Thayet, and Joren are going to be there."
Kel glared at Alanna. "I don't want anyone to know about this! Especially not Joren! I already told you that I don't want anything to do with Joren!"
"Kel. Whether you like it or not, you are going to have something to do with Joren! It can't be helped. You happen to have Joren's baby growing inside you at this very moment," Alanna said patiently though it was running thin fast.
"Then get rid of it!" Kel cried.
"Kel. There is a reason that you are pregnant with Joren's baby. There has got to be a prophecy. C'mon we are going to talk to the king!" Alanna grabbed Kel's hand and pulled her along. Kel, admitting defeat, trailed after Alanna.
When they got to the king's chambers, Alanna straightened her clothes while Kel slipped her Yamani face on. Alanna knocked and they heard a muffled, "Come in."
When Alanna and Kel walked in, they saw Sir Myles and King Jonathan sitting behind a table talking. Myles glanced at the two women and smiled. King Jonathan, however, stood seeing Alanna's furtive glances at Kel. One look at Kel told him he would learn nothing from her. He motioned for Alanna and Kel to sit. Kel sat down, but Alanna remained standing. Jon frowned at her. Alanna stood up straighter.
"Your Majesty, could you please beckon George of Pirate's Swoop, Lord Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, My lady-Queen Thayet, and Joren of Stone Mountain," Alanna said in her most noble-like voice.
This caught Myles's attention. He watched on with interest. Jonathan frowned at Alanna, but motioned for the messenger who was standing at the door to go get those people. After the messenger left, Alanna seated herself.
King Jonathan remained standing with a frown still on his face. "Wasn't one of those a squire?"
Alanna nodded, glancing at Kel whose face was still carefully blank. King Jonathan was beginning to be unnerved by Kel's unresponsive behavior.
Myles grinned at the younger man. "Sit down Jon. You will work yourself into a fit."
At this point, the messenger came in looking harassed. He bowed to the king. "All of whom you have summoned are here, but Buriram Tourakom, Veralidaine Sarrisri, and Numair Salmalin were dining with my lady Queen Thayet and Buriram insisted that she come as did the two mages." There was an impatient sigh, followed by Buri's voice, "Jon, would you please let us in?"
Jonathan grinned outright at the messenger. "You might want to let them in. The women are capable of bodily harm."
The messenger's eyes widened, and he scurried out of the room. Thayet came in and curtsied, then took her seat next to Jonathan's chair-he hadn't sat down yet. Everyone followed either bowing or curtsying. Finally, Joren was the last one to came in, and he bowed mockingly to the king. Jonathan frowned at him, but didn't say anything.
When Jonathan sat down, Alanna stood up motioning for Kel to stand up too. Kel obeyed silently. Alanna took a deep breath and stared. "Kel has been getting sick lately." There was some concerned looks, but everyone listened to see what Alanna was going to say. "I had an idea of what was wrong with her, so I took some tests. It seems Keladry is pregnant."
Everyone's heads turned to Kel, who was very embarrassed but didn't let it show. Joren—the only one not concerned—smirked. "Whose baby is it? Or do you even know?"
Alanna chuckled. "I did a test for that too. The baby is yours, Joren." Joren's cocky look turned into one of disbelief.
"It can't be! I have never had sex with her!" Joren cried.
Alanna smirked at him. "I know." Joren breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Alanna was joking about the baby being his. "—but the baby is still yours."
Joren blinked at Alanna. "Do you not know how babies are made? It takes two people, and the usually like each other—"Alanna cut him off. "Of course I know how babies are made! I have three of them!" Alanna was loosing her temper, so George got up and stood beside her, offering her silent comfort. Alanna gave him a small smile.
Joren, watching their little display of affection, was getting irritated. "The baby is probably Queenscove's or that oaf-Cleon of Kennan's."
Kel, who was also getting irritated, was trying not to say or do something to Joren. She managed to keep her blank facade though.
Alanna, somehow sensing Kel's irritation, looked at Joren. "The reason I have called everyone here wasn't to tell every one the happy news," Alanna said sarcastically.
Raoul was still in shock over learning that his squire for two years was pregnant with her worst enemy's baby. He still managed to choke out, "Why did you call us here?"
"I'm getting to that!" Alanna snapped. She took a calming breath. "Kel is a virgin. She has never been with anyone unless she was unconscious when it happened." Everyone threw Joren accusatory looks. Joren made a face and shuddered. 'Kel. Naked. They must think I'm insane!'
"Okay. We need to know if there's a prophecy involved. That would give us at least some answers," said Alanna carefully.
All the women stood up and walked over to Kel while the men—with the exception of Joren—went to discuss any prophecies that might be helpful. The women were discussing the sex of the baby and baby clothes and Kel started feeling like she was going to throw up. Her eyes bugged out and she put a hand over her mouth.
Queen Thayet—the only one noticing Kel's problem—quick as a flash, grabbed a trash bin and held it up to Kel just in time.
After she got done throwing up, Kel looked up into sympathetic faces—with the exception of Joren.
King Jonathan cleared his throat, taking the attention away from Kel-for which she was grateful. "We think we found the prophecy." He gestured for Myles to read out of a big book on the table.
The Protector of the Small will bring into this world survival,
Born from warriors—the Protector of the Small and the Stone Prince—survival will be
Vital on the eve of the apocalypse. Survival will rise above the rest to stop or help the
Enemy take over.
Everyone looked at each other then back at Myles who all of a sudden looked older. Alanna stepped forward. "Myles? What does it mean?"
He looked at everyone then fixed his gaze on Kel who had turned white. "It means that the baby will either be our savior or our destructor. The best we can do is love the baby as we raise him or her. If they are loved and know—if you keep the prophecy from them it wont help—that they are loved then it might help our chances." He gave Kel an apologetic look.
Kel looked down at her stomach and settled a protective hand over it. She got a determined look on her face. "I will raise this baby to the best of my ability. She-or he-will always be loved. No matter what," she muttered to herself. Joren who had come to stand next to her looked at her strangely.
"What about me?" he asked quietly. "I want to help raise my—our baby too!"
Kel looked at him and saw that he sincerely wanted something to do with the baby. She sighed and rubbed her neck warily. "I'm tired. We can talk tomorrow or something." With that, she bowed to the king and queen and left the room.
When Kel walked out, Joren noticed all of the hostile looks that were being sent his way. He started to back out, but Raoul stopped him. Raoul practically dragged him to a chair and pushed him into it. When Joren tried to get up, Alanna bound him with her Gift.
The adults formed a semi-circle around him. King Jonathan regarded him with cold eyes. "I am the king. I will not bodily harm you if you hurt Kel, but I'm sure that there's people here who would."
Raoul took over with Jon's speech. "If you hurt her emotionally or physically, I will hang you off the side of Balor's Needle for an hour. If you happened to slip, it wouldn't be our problem."
Joren looked at the ladies, but he saw no sympathetic faces. Daine gave him a crooked smile, and he sighed with relief, thinking that he had an ally. "There are animals almost everywhere you go. You will be watched."
Joren considered everything that they had said, looking at each and every one of them. Alanna, George, King Jonathan, and Numair were mages. Plus all of them could probably beat him up. Buri, Raoul, and Thayet could beat him up even though two of them were women. Daine was a Wild Mage, meaning she had friends everywhere. In fact, the only person he even had a sliver of a chance against was Myles, and Joren highly doubted that he could take a full fledged knight. He sighed in defeat. "I will not harm Kel. I promise on my family name and all of my ancestors."
George grinned at the young squire. "Kid, when a woman is pregnant, almost anything you say will either make them cry or laugh. Do not ever and I mean ever comment on their size. Even if it's to say how beautiful they look. If you tell her she looks beautiful, she might think you prefer bigger women. If you say that it will go back to normal in 9 months, she will think you are calling her fat. Matter of a fact, it's better if you just don't talk when you are around Keladry."
The guys were chuckling while the women were glaring at George. Joren had a disgusted look on his face. "Okay. I will not have that problem because 1. I would never tell the Lump that she was beautiful, 2.She wouldn't care what kind of women I prefer, and 3. It wouldn't matter if I was calling her fat, she wouldn't care."
Thayet walked over and popped Joren in the back of his head, earning surprised looks from everyone except for Alanna, Buri, George, and Jon. "You do not ever and I repeat ever call a pregnant woman fat."
Joren was getting mad. "You didn't have to hit me!"
By this time, King Jonathan was very amused. "Believe me when I say this is for your own good. If you were to call her fat, she would either burst into tears or hit you with the closest thing. If you say anything at all whatsoever that offends them, they will get mad and throw something at you. Even if that something happens to be a statue," Jon said, rubbing his arm where seventeen years ago—when Thayet was pregnant with their first, Roald—Thayet had broke his arm in three places hitting him with a statue of a unicorn.
Thayet, realizing what Jon was thinking about, grinned at Joren. Joren, figuring out that he might need this information, stored it in his knowledge of pregnancies and children.
After about ten more minutes of unwanted advise, King Jonathan let Joren go.
Joren went straight to bed. He was exhausted from the long talk he had with the king and queen and their closest friends. That night, he dreamed of a baby girl who brought great joy to his life.
A/N You know, that last little bit was kind of corny. I hope you like it. I will try to update often!
Thanks for all of the reviews! Makes me feel so loved!
Chapter 2-Prophecy and so much more
Kel started hyperventilating. Alanna would have thought it was quite humorous if the situation hadn't been so dire. Alanna looked around for something that Kel could breathe into, but came up with nothing. Alanna turned back to Kel to help her with a breathing exercise she learned from Maude—the healing woman of her old fief Trebond, and chief caretaker at her home the fief Pirate's Swoop—taught her when she was pregnant with her first child Thom. It was also used for people that had problems with hyperventilation.
"Breathe in-one, two, three-breathe out-one, two, three-breathe in-one, two, three-breathe out-one, two, three—"Alanna kept coaching Kel until her breathing had regulated.
"You can use that breathing exercise throughout the pregnancy-with the contractions and the actual birthing of the baby," Alanna said dryly.
Kel looked at her sharply. "I don't intend to keep Joren's," she spat the name out like it was a curse, "baby. I don't want anything to do with him, much less have his baby."
"You may not have a choice," Alanna said under her breath, but Kel heard her loud and clear. "Why not?" an alarmed Kel demanded.
Alanna heaved a big sigh. "We need to go talk to King Jonathan. Kel, when we talk to Jonathan—Raoul, Myles, George, Thayet, and Joren are going to be there."
Kel glared at Alanna. "I don't want anyone to know about this! Especially not Joren! I already told you that I don't want anything to do with Joren!"
"Kel. Whether you like it or not, you are going to have something to do with Joren! It can't be helped. You happen to have Joren's baby growing inside you at this very moment," Alanna said patiently though it was running thin fast.
"Then get rid of it!" Kel cried.
"Kel. There is a reason that you are pregnant with Joren's baby. There has got to be a prophecy. C'mon we are going to talk to the king!" Alanna grabbed Kel's hand and pulled her along. Kel, admitting defeat, trailed after Alanna.
When they got to the king's chambers, Alanna straightened her clothes while Kel slipped her Yamani face on. Alanna knocked and they heard a muffled, "Come in."
When Alanna and Kel walked in, they saw Sir Myles and King Jonathan sitting behind a table talking. Myles glanced at the two women and smiled. King Jonathan, however, stood seeing Alanna's furtive glances at Kel. One look at Kel told him he would learn nothing from her. He motioned for Alanna and Kel to sit. Kel sat down, but Alanna remained standing. Jon frowned at her. Alanna stood up straighter.
"Your Majesty, could you please beckon George of Pirate's Swoop, Lord Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, My lady-Queen Thayet, and Joren of Stone Mountain," Alanna said in her most noble-like voice.
This caught Myles's attention. He watched on with interest. Jonathan frowned at Alanna, but motioned for the messenger who was standing at the door to go get those people. After the messenger left, Alanna seated herself.
King Jonathan remained standing with a frown still on his face. "Wasn't one of those a squire?"
Alanna nodded, glancing at Kel whose face was still carefully blank. King Jonathan was beginning to be unnerved by Kel's unresponsive behavior.
Myles grinned at the younger man. "Sit down Jon. You will work yourself into a fit."
At this point, the messenger came in looking harassed. He bowed to the king. "All of whom you have summoned are here, but Buriram Tourakom, Veralidaine Sarrisri, and Numair Salmalin were dining with my lady Queen Thayet and Buriram insisted that she come as did the two mages." There was an impatient sigh, followed by Buri's voice, "Jon, would you please let us in?"
Jonathan grinned outright at the messenger. "You might want to let them in. The women are capable of bodily harm."
The messenger's eyes widened, and he scurried out of the room. Thayet came in and curtsied, then took her seat next to Jonathan's chair-he hadn't sat down yet. Everyone followed either bowing or curtsying. Finally, Joren was the last one to came in, and he bowed mockingly to the king. Jonathan frowned at him, but didn't say anything.
When Jonathan sat down, Alanna stood up motioning for Kel to stand up too. Kel obeyed silently. Alanna took a deep breath and stared. "Kel has been getting sick lately." There was some concerned looks, but everyone listened to see what Alanna was going to say. "I had an idea of what was wrong with her, so I took some tests. It seems Keladry is pregnant."
Everyone's heads turned to Kel, who was very embarrassed but didn't let it show. Joren—the only one not concerned—smirked. "Whose baby is it? Or do you even know?"
Alanna chuckled. "I did a test for that too. The baby is yours, Joren." Joren's cocky look turned into one of disbelief.
"It can't be! I have never had sex with her!" Joren cried.
Alanna smirked at him. "I know." Joren breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Alanna was joking about the baby being his. "—but the baby is still yours."
Joren blinked at Alanna. "Do you not know how babies are made? It takes two people, and the usually like each other—"Alanna cut him off. "Of course I know how babies are made! I have three of them!" Alanna was loosing her temper, so George got up and stood beside her, offering her silent comfort. Alanna gave him a small smile.
Joren, watching their little display of affection, was getting irritated. "The baby is probably Queenscove's or that oaf-Cleon of Kennan's."
Kel, who was also getting irritated, was trying not to say or do something to Joren. She managed to keep her blank facade though.
Alanna, somehow sensing Kel's irritation, looked at Joren. "The reason I have called everyone here wasn't to tell every one the happy news," Alanna said sarcastically.
Raoul was still in shock over learning that his squire for two years was pregnant with her worst enemy's baby. He still managed to choke out, "Why did you call us here?"
"I'm getting to that!" Alanna snapped. She took a calming breath. "Kel is a virgin. She has never been with anyone unless she was unconscious when it happened." Everyone threw Joren accusatory looks. Joren made a face and shuddered. 'Kel. Naked. They must think I'm insane!'
"Okay. We need to know if there's a prophecy involved. That would give us at least some answers," said Alanna carefully.
All the women stood up and walked over to Kel while the men—with the exception of Joren—went to discuss any prophecies that might be helpful. The women were discussing the sex of the baby and baby clothes and Kel started feeling like she was going to throw up. Her eyes bugged out and she put a hand over her mouth.
Queen Thayet—the only one noticing Kel's problem—quick as a flash, grabbed a trash bin and held it up to Kel just in time.
After she got done throwing up, Kel looked up into sympathetic faces—with the exception of Joren.
King Jonathan cleared his throat, taking the attention away from Kel-for which she was grateful. "We think we found the prophecy." He gestured for Myles to read out of a big book on the table.
The Protector of the Small will bring into this world survival,
Born from warriors—the Protector of the Small and the Stone Prince—survival will be
Vital on the eve of the apocalypse. Survival will rise above the rest to stop or help the
Enemy take over.
Everyone looked at each other then back at Myles who all of a sudden looked older. Alanna stepped forward. "Myles? What does it mean?"
He looked at everyone then fixed his gaze on Kel who had turned white. "It means that the baby will either be our savior or our destructor. The best we can do is love the baby as we raise him or her. If they are loved and know—if you keep the prophecy from them it wont help—that they are loved then it might help our chances." He gave Kel an apologetic look.
Kel looked down at her stomach and settled a protective hand over it. She got a determined look on her face. "I will raise this baby to the best of my ability. She-or he-will always be loved. No matter what," she muttered to herself. Joren who had come to stand next to her looked at her strangely.
"What about me?" he asked quietly. "I want to help raise my—our baby too!"
Kel looked at him and saw that he sincerely wanted something to do with the baby. She sighed and rubbed her neck warily. "I'm tired. We can talk tomorrow or something." With that, she bowed to the king and queen and left the room.
When Kel walked out, Joren noticed all of the hostile looks that were being sent his way. He started to back out, but Raoul stopped him. Raoul practically dragged him to a chair and pushed him into it. When Joren tried to get up, Alanna bound him with her Gift.
The adults formed a semi-circle around him. King Jonathan regarded him with cold eyes. "I am the king. I will not bodily harm you if you hurt Kel, but I'm sure that there's people here who would."
Raoul took over with Jon's speech. "If you hurt her emotionally or physically, I will hang you off the side of Balor's Needle for an hour. If you happened to slip, it wouldn't be our problem."
Joren looked at the ladies, but he saw no sympathetic faces. Daine gave him a crooked smile, and he sighed with relief, thinking that he had an ally. "There are animals almost everywhere you go. You will be watched."
Joren considered everything that they had said, looking at each and every one of them. Alanna, George, King Jonathan, and Numair were mages. Plus all of them could probably beat him up. Buri, Raoul, and Thayet could beat him up even though two of them were women. Daine was a Wild Mage, meaning she had friends everywhere. In fact, the only person he even had a sliver of a chance against was Myles, and Joren highly doubted that he could take a full fledged knight. He sighed in defeat. "I will not harm Kel. I promise on my family name and all of my ancestors."
George grinned at the young squire. "Kid, when a woman is pregnant, almost anything you say will either make them cry or laugh. Do not ever and I mean ever comment on their size. Even if it's to say how beautiful they look. If you tell her she looks beautiful, she might think you prefer bigger women. If you say that it will go back to normal in 9 months, she will think you are calling her fat. Matter of a fact, it's better if you just don't talk when you are around Keladry."
The guys were chuckling while the women were glaring at George. Joren had a disgusted look on his face. "Okay. I will not have that problem because 1. I would never tell the Lump that she was beautiful, 2.She wouldn't care what kind of women I prefer, and 3. It wouldn't matter if I was calling her fat, she wouldn't care."
Thayet walked over and popped Joren in the back of his head, earning surprised looks from everyone except for Alanna, Buri, George, and Jon. "You do not ever and I repeat ever call a pregnant woman fat."
Joren was getting mad. "You didn't have to hit me!"
By this time, King Jonathan was very amused. "Believe me when I say this is for your own good. If you were to call her fat, she would either burst into tears or hit you with the closest thing. If you say anything at all whatsoever that offends them, they will get mad and throw something at you. Even if that something happens to be a statue," Jon said, rubbing his arm where seventeen years ago—when Thayet was pregnant with their first, Roald—Thayet had broke his arm in three places hitting him with a statue of a unicorn.
Thayet, realizing what Jon was thinking about, grinned at Joren. Joren, figuring out that he might need this information, stored it in his knowledge of pregnancies and children.
After about ten more minutes of unwanted advise, King Jonathan let Joren go.
Joren went straight to bed. He was exhausted from the long talk he had with the king and queen and their closest friends. That night, he dreamed of a baby girl who brought great joy to his life.
A/N You know, that last little bit was kind of corny. I hope you like it. I will try to update often!