"It's been too long, Pierre," she said, fiddling with the ring between her fingers.

"How did you know I was here?"

She shook her head, "I don't know. Maybe I'm psychic."

"That's impressive," he commented, as he walked slowly to where she still sat on the sofa.

"Yeah, if it wasn't for the huge, great mirror you're reflected in," she told him, a smile forming on her lips.

"Ah, not quite so impressive then," he corrected himself, sitting down next to her, "Is it still anger you feel for me?"

She looked up at him, "I'm not sure I was ever really angry with you, not for any serious length of time. I was hurt. I loved you so much, when you said you were leaving it felt like someone was ripping my insides out."

"Do you think it was any easier for me to walk away from you? I was doing the best I could for everyone involved."

"I know," she admitted, "I know how tough the decision must have been for you. Not just because of me, but because you were leaving behind everything you'd ever known."

"Can we…start again? Just, get to know each other again," he asked, hesitantly.

"No," she replied, "Not yet. There's something you need to know."

O>

"Hello, Luke."

She didn't know if she was crying or not, her whole body was numb. This was the moment she had been dreading for the last five months, since the day she found out about the baby she was carrying.

It had been as she was recovering from the despair over Pierre's departure that she had discovered her pregnancy. At first she put the symptoms down to the lack of food and exhaustion, but when she finally thought it through, her world toppled once again. A baby with a man she loved was something she had always wanted, but now she was alone and scared, a situation she hated being in.

The doctor confirmed her suspicions and explained her options, gently suggesting a termination given her horror at the news of the imminent child, but she had refused. The baby had been conceived in love, no matter what had happened since, and the thought of killing it, of killing off the last link to Pierre she had, was still too much to bear.

Already four months gone, she had waited a further month, until her bump was almost noticeable, to ask the king for six months leave to look after her father, stating that he had had a nasty fall and needed help until he was back on his feet. The king, who was always kind and fair, except, of course, when it came to his sons, allowed her the time, wishing her father a speedy recovery.

And in fact she wasn't lying completely. She returned to her father's house in the countryside, far away from Pyrus, which she had been renting out for many years, ever since moving to the palace. Luckily, the last tenants had just left, so there she spent the remainder of her pregnancy.

It was the house she had grown up in, the small town she had always loved, and she was happy there. Many residents remembered her and her father and she found herself once again a member of a community.

"I'm so sorry that I have to do this, baby, but I don't have a choice. I'm going to give you to lovely people who are going to look after you and then some more people are going to come and they're going to take you home to be their little boy," she explained as if the child could understand.

A woman entered the hospital room quietly and walked over to the bed, "Are you ready?"

Charlotte looked between the woman and the baby, "No."