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Daine waited another week before she could summon enough courage to reveal her pregnancy to the rest of Tortall. Numair had been given strict orders not to tell anyone, and he reluctantly complied. Kitten was a problem; Alanna, Tortall's lady knight, had visited the Salmalin home soon after Numair's own return, to see how the mage was recovering, and to report on the successfulness of his mission. Daine, already beginning to don herself in baggy gowns out of cautiousness rather than need, had been talking to her friend when Kitten arrived and proceeded to behave exactly as she'd done when in Numair's presence. Daine was forced to bundle her out of the room, explaining to Alanna that she'd eaten something she'd ought not to that morning, all the while muttering under her breath, "Where's the Graveyard Hag when you need her?"
Now, she stood outside the door to King Jonathan's study, preening her dress down to satisfy her fiddling hands.
She'd asked both the King and Queen earlier whether they would have spare time on their hands at noon. Once either of them opened the door to the study, she would have to swallow her fears and bring her secret out into the open.
"Goddess, I don't know why this is so difficult…" She murmured quietly. The tension of having to wait to be seen added to her mountain of emotion.
Suddenly, a white mist spilled out from thin air before the woman. It billowed up, and then cleared. From its receding depths waddled a familiar friend, his eyes livelier than they'd been in years.
"Badger!" Daine almost yelled, kneeling to greet the god that had been her spiritual guide since she was thirteen.
-Hello again, Kit.- He replied indifferently, as if they'd met yesterday.
"Why are you here? There's nothing wrong with Ma, is there?"
-What do you think my being here is owed to?- The badger god said, with his age long tone of 'work it out for yourself, you idle person'.
"You-you know?" She glanced down at her belly.
-My dear Kit, practically all of the Divine Realms know, even the dragons…though they didn't have much to say about it, naturally. Broadfoot sends his congratulations, as do Weiryn and Sarra.-
"That's fair good to hear." She reached for Badger's silver claw around her neck, its weight and coldness a comfort. The badger god himself swung his head towards the door.
-I'd best be off,- The mist began to collect around his form again. -Don't be afraid, Daine. You've nothing to be ashamed of.-
And with that, the badger god was gone. When Queen Thayet opened the study door, the last few wisps of magic had faded away.
"Daine-a pleasure to see you again. What do you require of my husband and I?" She asked in her gentle, dignified tone.
"Well, it's rather important…" The wild mage shuffled on her feet awkwardly.
"Not to worry. Do come in."
The two women drifted into the study. King Jonathan of Tortall sat in his chair at the end of the room, his smile welcoming as always. He indicated to an empty seat in front of his desk, and this Daine took shakily.
"Now, Mrs Salmalin," The King addressed her formally as he had done so since Numair and Daine's wedding four years ago, and most people had now assumed that this way of address was partly for his own amusement. "Let's hear what you have to say."
Daine took a deep breath, tossing her gaze between the two monarchs. Thayet stood beside her chair, her hand clasped on its wooden shoulder.
"Well, it concerns me and Numair…"
"Nothing wrong, is there?"
"No, not at all. The thing is…"
"Go on." Thayet said softly as Daine faltered.
"…I'm expecting." She finally blurted out, the heat flowing to her face. For a moment or two, silence hung in the air like a suffocating sheet of ice, but it was soon burnt away by the ever growing smiles of both Thayet and Jonathan.
"I wondered when the first Salmalin child would be," Said the King quite simply. Thayet moved her hand to Daine's shoulder, and squeezed it reassuringly.
"I can imagine how hard it must have been for you to tell us," She began. "You needn't be afraid. How old is the child now?"
"Six weeks, I believe." Now that she had proven herself, Daine found it easier to talk about the unborn child that grew within her.
"I'll have letters sent out this afternoon. To Alanna, Onua-"
"Hang on!" Daine cried, instantly grimacing when she realised that she'd cut off the King. "Apologies, sire. But, why must everyone know?"
"Mrs Salmalin, you and Numair are Tortall, and all its nations' most renowned mages. Your children are eagerly awaited and welcomed." Jonathan began to arrange papers on his desk, pulling a quill and accompanying bottle of ink towards him.
"Show our expecting mother out, Thayet dear." He issued the final, calm parting, and immediately turned his attention to the writing of letters bearing Daine and Numair's wonderful news.
Thayet dully led Daine from the study, embracing her tightly outside.
"I'm so happy for you, Daine." She said, as they broke away. "To think when I first met you when you were talking to those ponies of yours, all those years ago."
The soon-to-be mother nodded.
"You look the very depiction of fear. Mind, I was the same when Prince Roald came."
Daine remained as a rabbit would when facing a hungry wolf.
"Daine…you are peculiar, sometimes. This child is a gift, my dear. Soon you'll thank the gods each day for it," Thayet tutted in a teasing way.
"But I don't know anything! I don't know how to care for myself while I'm pregnant, I don't know what to do for when the child comes-" Daine finally spoke, more fears tumbling from her mouth.
"I realise you're worried. But you have months to learn, and learning it all won't be near as hard as learning how to use your wild magic when you were thirteen was."
"But this is different." She complained.
"It isn't. The only difference is that you can be prepared for this-you know all about it. You'll be a fantastic mother, Daine, I know it. If you use the same love and care as you do for Numair and all your animals, then that child couldn't be in safer hands."