6 October 2019: Sorry for the delay in posting. My health has been a bit crap, and well, writing is a struggle these days. Hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Content Notes: Nothing has been changed from the AO3 version. It is the same as what is posted there.

Content Warnings: This chapter contains severe food allergies, so tread lightly if you find that upsetting.

Chapter 26
In which Umi and Clef visit Chizeta

Two weeks after her last visit to Cephiro, Umi stood in the Tokyo Tower gift shop staring at all the pretty sweets and wondering what Tarta and Tatra might like. She already had two gifts her mother had insisted on getting, but as they always brought little snacks and presents when they visited, Umi wanted to return the favour.

She shifted the bags in her hands to look at her watch. Hikaru wasn't late, but Umi was getting impatient. She wanted to be in Cephiro already.

Hikaru arrived not five minutes later, out of breath. "I ran all the way," she said, and eyed Umi's bags. "Should you be carrying all that?"

"It's not that much," Umi insisted. "Mama brought me over in the car, so it's not like I had to carry everything through the city."

"Well, I can take them now," Hikaru insisted. There were two large shopping bags, one with Clef's birthday cake and present and the other with the gifts for Tarta and Tatra, and Umi's overnight bag. Umi had travelled to Cephiro with plenty more than that before.

"I'm fine," Umi insisted.

"Then why was it you insisted on getting to Cephiro early, again?"

Umi pulled a face and turned back to the shelves and her indecision. "What would you take?"

"If I had the spending money with me, one of everything, probably."

As she did have enough spending money, Umi did just that - twice over, so Tarta and Tatra wouldn't have to share. She also made sure to get a few extra of the ones she knew Clef liked.

Though it eased some of the strain, making the jump to Cephiro with Hikaru still didn't stop the inevitable headache that slammed into Umi with the flood of her awakening magic. She swayed on her feet as the wave of nausea hit, covering her mouth and sucking in a breath through her nose. The energetic flutter of the baby moving didn't help the feeling in the least, and Umi could barely pay any attention to anything but putting one foot in front of the other as Hikaru guided her upstairs.

When they made it to Clef's rooms, Umi shrugged off her school jacket and tossed it aside before collapsing into the nearest armchair. She pressed a hand to her head, willing the lightest touch of cold magic into her fingertips.

It was probably her imagination that these headaches were getting worse. Maybe she should mention them to the Healers. But not this afternoon - today she needed them to say she was fit to go to Chizeta.

Travelling to Chizeta was hardly going to do the things to her magic that leaping through dimensions did. A holiday could only be good for her, couldn't it? People kept telling her to relax.

Which it was completely impossible to do with a splitting headache. She felt so ill. Umi nearly burst into tears of gratitude when Hikaru handed her the steaming cup of tea; just breathing the scent of it was enough to start easing the pain.

Making the leap between worlds did use a lot of power, and she did have that magic-strain thing, so the headache probably didn't mean anything bad. She'd even seen the Healers since the headaches started. It was fine, just - so irritating.

Her heart was still beating fast after she'd had half the cup of tea, and she felt jittery. "Maybe I should have some of the calming blend after I finish the headache stuff."

"That's a bad idea," Hikaru said, firmly. "You don't mix the medicinal blends."

Rubbing a hand over her belly, Umi sighed. "Fine." The baby hadn't stopped moving since they'd arrived. That was probably down to the rush of magic. It always used to give Umi an extra burst of energy, but now it just made her feel itchy and restless. If it didn't settle properly in the next few hours, she wasn't sure she'd pass the medical examination.

The medical examination she probably wouldn't need if the baby hadn't happened.

"Don't get pregnant," Umi complained. "It makes everything so complicated, it's no fun."

With a laugh, Hikaru reached over and patted her hand. "You must have had some fun making the baby, or you wouldn't still be sneaking off to see Clef every time we visit."

"I didn't sneak off!" Umi gestured a little wildly with her cup. "You three were still asleep."

Hikaru was barely holding back a laugh behind a bright grin and sparkling eyes as she said, "Hopefully your rooms in Chizeta are close to one another. You wouldn't want to scandalise anyone by creeping through the palace in your nightgown for a midnight visit."

Umi threw a cushion at Hikaru for that.

The playful conversation helped Umi's nerves nearly as much as the tea had eased the headache, and by the time she'd finished a second cup of tea, Umi was relaxed enough she managed to shut her eyes and have the nap she'd wanted in order to have the best shot she could at getting past the healers

When the beeping of her watch's alarm woke Umi several hours later, Hikaru put down her school work and made Umi another cup of tea while they raided Clef's meagre selection of snacks.

Despite the nap, tea, and a snack going to more or less to plan, Umi hadn't managed to shake the dizziness. When she stood, the world tilted slightly and she remained a little unsteady on her feet as she made the trek down to the Healers hall. It was probably all her fault for not resting in Tokyo as much as she should have, but she wanted to spend time with her school friends before they all went their separate ways after graduation. She might never see some of them again, was she meant to just say goodbye now?

By the time she was actually ushered into an examination room, Umi was wearily certain she wasn't going to be able to go.

She chewed on her lip when the healer tutted at her for the amount of magic she'd used that day. Despite the power usage, her magic levels were looking better than they had last month; the healer showed her a measurement Umi couldn't read, nodding approvingly. "That's back in normal ranges," the healer said, then frowned slightly. "But your blood pressure is a little higher, too."

When the healer said "We'll need to keep an eye on that" with exactly the tone of voice Dr. Matoba had used two days before, Umi sighed and started planning what she was sending with Clef when he left without her.

She wasn't expecting the healer to look at the notes, hum a little, and nod decisively. "This is a trip for pleasure, not any kind of work or training?"

"Yes? Well, for me it is?"

"Then I don't think there should be any real problems."

The next thing Umi knew, she was being handed a certificate declaring her fit to travel, and she thanked the healer and shot out of the room before they could change their mind. She rushed upstairs to pack the rest of her things as quickly as she could.

Clef's distinct lack of enthusiasm when she presented him with the certificate was disappointing, but Umi figured it had more to do with travelling than the state of her health. He admitted "Transports make me ill" as they made their way up to the landing platform after dinner.

Even though Clef looked a little grey about the prospect of their journey, Umi couldn't help but be excited. She was about to travel in a real spaceship!

They'd spent some time on the NSX while Eagle had been recuperating in Cephiro and during a few of his visits to Cephiro afterward, but they hadn't actually gone anywhere on it.

Umi pulled her camera out of the gem on her bracelet and tried to snap a picture of the ship. She probably should have come up before dinner and taken a photo in the light of the day; the flash probably didn't do it justice.

She took a few more before Clef took her hand and pulled her toward the gangplank, muttering, "Let's get this over with."

They were met by an attendant who greeted them both by name before going over the safety procedures. This involved a brief tour to point out the different types of emergency exits and equipment available, but Umi was struggling to take all of it in. She was distracted by just looking around.

The interior of the ship was a blend of the sort of private jets she knew from home and the otherworldly extravagance of the Bravada. The main cabin area was a large comfortable seating area with an overabundance of cushions. That led on to a little corridor with a shower room on one side and a toilet room on the other. One of the exits was in the skylight above - or so Umi thought the attendant had said. Beyond that, the surplus of large silk-like, embroidered cushions covered most of a large fluffy looking bed.

It definitely didn't seem like a terrible place to spend the next day or more. Even if they stayed right here the whole time.

.*.*.*.

To say Clef didn't like transports was an understatement. He loathed them. After he'd been on the first out to Autozam to set up the atmosphere programme, he'd declared himself far too old to be doing that again.

With the way a mage's magic was linked with the heart of Cephiro, moving away from her was rather akin to having a tether constricting ever tighter around the chest. Or at least that's how it felt to him, but maybe he was just too entangled with Cephiro to be traveling so far. The other mages who'd gone to Autozam with him seemed to settle in well enough after a few days adjustment, while he had been uncomfortable nearly the entire time.

Then again, he had been fretting about leaving Cephiro so soon after the reformation at the time. So anxiety might have been a part of it.

Either way, Umi looked about as ill as Clef felt as they left Cephiro's sky, strapped into seats in the sitting area. Her face went pale and her grip on his hand tightened.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Debating if I need one of those travel sickness bucket things or not," she said, forcing out a little laugh. "I swear being pregnant has made my motion sickness worse. I've never liked take-off."

Clef pulled her close and rubbed her shoulder. Umi leaned heavily against him, her breath coming in sharp gasps as the transport sped up with the thrust of ascent, and he was overwhelmed with sudden concern that the Healers hadn't considered the strain long-distance travel might have on her, not if the start of the journey made her feel this awful.

She was only a few months out from a major injury. How could they issue clearance without at least some provisions? He'd checked the certificate twice - there was no emergency plan, no warning signs listed.

But he wasn't a healer. Surely, they must know what they were doing. Umi never had liked the little flying transports, and these first minutes were very disconcerting…

He made himself breathe, and wait a little longer.

Umi stayed against him until the flight course steadied and the attendant came over to offer them refreshments. She was breathing far easier when she moved toward the window, and she was looking much better as she watched Cephiro disappear.

"This is so cool," she murmured, pressing her face against the glass with the enthusiasm of a child.

Clef rubbed his face and took a deep breath, flopping back in his seat.

.*.*.*.

Once Cephiro was out of sight Umi dragged Clef into the bedroom and settled into a nest of cushions, curled around a cup of tea she had him make for her. Clef went with her willingly, relieved at how swiftly she seemed to be feeling better; maybe the distance really wasn't going to affect her the way it did him.

She told to Clef about her week, all about the shrine visit and happily showing him a little charm for a safe birth. While he didn't fully understand what a domesticated wolf had to do with an easy birth, he couldn't help but smile when Umi slipped even closer to him to show the support wrap she was now wearing around her belly. She stayed leaning against his shoulder as she launched into a story about one of her school friends and someone working at a cafe.

Once she'd finished, she nudged him with her foot. "It's your turn to talk," she declared. "How have things been in Cephiro?"

She grinned at him as he explained the continued arguments he had been having with his administrators to get an extra week away to travel to Tokyo with her. "They told me I should be taking more time off at my age," he said, with a dramatic wave of his hand. "Now they're complaining when I'm doing just that!"

"You haven't listened in centuries, it's no wonder they're surprised."

He huffed. "Well, they'd best get used to it."

As usual, Clef struggled to sleep more than a few hours with the ship vibrating faintly through the bed. Whereas Umi easily slept the whole night through, then proceeded to have not one, but two long naps over the course of the next day's travel. Her fatigue worried him, but he did his best to assure himself that the Healers must have known what they were doing. And Umi was growing a whole new person; that took rather a lot of energy.

As Chizeta approached, Umi got more and more excited, alternating between grinning at him and staring out of the windows. When they finally landed, she practically threw herself down the gangplank to throw her arms around Tarta, both of them enthusiastically declaring how happy they were to see each other.

Clef followed more sedately, watching the bouncing with no little relief.

Tatra stepped up beside Clef and smiled at the two of them. "I'm so glad Umi was able to make the trip. Tarta has been looking forward to seeing her."

"Umi would have been devastated not to have come," Clef agreed.

"If that had happened, we'd have just had to have come back to Cephiro to see her," Tatra said decisively as they followed the other two into the palace.

Umi complained as Tarta pulled her along. "Go slower!"

"What, less than a year since you quit that fighting club and you're already out of shape?," Tarta snapped back.

Tatra laughed and then called out, "Sister-dear, you should let our guest rest. It's been a long trip."

Tarta slowed down, but she and Umi still stayed several paces ahead, disappearing into the room at the end of the corridor well before Clef and Tarta could catch up.

"This is our best guest room," Tatra said with a smile as she guided him in. "Tarta insisted we put Umi in here."

The bedroom was at least as big as the main room of Clef's apartment in the castle, if not bigger, and was decorated in blues and golds. Positioned at the corner of this end of the palace, there were windows along the length of two walls. A breeze ruffled through long sheer curtains as Tarta proudly declared, "This room has the best evening breezes this time of year."

Clef and Tatra watched in amusement as Tarta towed Umi about the room, showing her all the little details - the window screens, the lights, the kettle in the tea service tucked in the corner - while Umi admired it all with the same level of enthusiasm. When they got to the bathroom, Umi leaned out of the doorway to call "Hey, Clef, come see this. It's gorgeous."

The ensuite bathroom was probably half the size of his private one at the castle, but it was decorated in hand-painted tiles from floor to ceiling, all detailed in the bright blue that was on the walls of the room.

Tarta looked over at Clef, like she'd just remembered he was with them. "Oh, and, um, your room is through here. Tatra insisted on adjoining rooms." She opened the door in the wall beside the bathroom and stepped through. She stopped a few steps in and all but shrieked, "There's no bed! Why's the bed not set up?"

The room, indeed, didn't have a bed. Where there had been a large round bed in the other room, this one had a sunken seating area of the same shape.

"I wasn't sure what you would prefer," Tatra said, walking past her dumbfounded sister point out a set of controls on the wall. "These will bring down the second bed if you would rather not share, otherwise, you simply have a little extra space to spread out."

"They're lovely rooms," Umi said quickly, a bright flush colouring her cheeks. "Thank you."

"But before you retire for the evening, let me insist on feeding you," Tatra said before ushering them down the corridor to a small reception room.

Large cushions surrounded a low table covered in a wide array of food and drink. Umi immediately went to investigate the offerings, but Clef only had eyes for the teapot. He sat himself down next to Umi and filled a cup nearly to the brim with the steaming liquid. Beside him, Umi and Tarta had cheerfully started chattering away, but he wasn't really paying much attention to what they were saying, focused on pulling heat from his cup so he could drink it sooner.

When he'd nearly finished the first cup, Tatra picked up the teapot and offered him more.

"Is it still too early to ask if we'll be invited to the naming?" Tatra cast a glance at Umi over Clef's shoulder. "I believe Cephiro shares that tradition. Though, Umi's land may not?"

Umi spoke up from his other side, sounding torn between sighing and laughing. "We haven't even discussed names yet. Clef keeps saying it's too early."

A plate clattered and Clef turned to see Tarta staring at Umi with wide, disbelieving eyes. "You really are pregnant? Why didn't you say something?"

"We've only been here five minutes!" Umi protested. "Last time I saw you we were in public the whole time. I wasn't going to announce it to the whole ballroom."

"But you didn't even tell me that you and he were together!" She threw out a hand to gesture to Clef.

"We weren't. Not officially, at least."

Tarta glared at her. "Having a baby together is pretty official."

"Not when Clef's not allowed to have one," Umi sighed.

"What?"

Clef quickly decided it was best not to weigh into that conversation unless he had to, and turned back to his second cup of tea, hoping it would ease a little of his headache before Umi and Tarta descended into shouting about all the things Umi hadn't dragged Tarta aside to tell her and made it worse.

"You look tired," Tatra said. "Why don't you retire for the night? We'll look after Umi."

Taking another long drink of his tea, Clef decided that sounded like a good idea. He glanced back over at the other two. The disagreement had already advanced to large hand gestures and raised voices.

"Please make sure Umi doesn't over-stress herself," he said as he pulled himself to his feet. "She still isn't fully recovered from straining her magic."

Tatra nodded. "Of course."

.*.*.*.

Umi started her morning staring at a large insect-thing halfway up the wall across from the bed. She hadn't thought anything of it when she'd gotten up to use the toilet - the golden body and iridescent wings blended into the decor of the room - but when she returned, it had not only moved, but it started to make noise.

The fact that it looked similar to a cicada and was making the same sort of loud droning noise suggested it was probably harmless, but given it was bigger than her hand, she wasn't sure.

Wanting a second opinion, she prodded Clef in the shoulder. "Clef. Clef."

"Sleeping," Clef grumbled, moving away from her. "Not now."

"Wake up!" Umi shoved him harder until he finally rolled over and blinked up at her with bleary eyes. "Do you think that bug is dangerous?"

"I think it's loud," Clef complained before dragging a pillow over his head.

"A lot of help you are. You aren't even awake right now, are you?" Umi crossed her arms and turned to glare at the giant not-a-cicada.

One of the wooden window screens near the blasted thing was hanging wide open. Tarta had shown her how they worked, and one of them must have failed to latch it back yesterday. But even if it had come in that way, how was Umi supposed to get it back out?

Arming herself with one of the larger pillows, Umi took a few tentative steps towards it.

"Hey," she said, feeling a little silly, but the past few years in Cephiro has taught her that it was polite to talk to something before assuming it wouldn't understand you. "You're kind of freaking me out. Can you go back where you came from?"

It didn't move or respond, just stayed put making the same loud vibrating hum. Maybe in Chizeta a bug was just a bug.

Opening all the screens and curtains near the thing, Umi took a breath. "Sorry, but I asked you nicely," she said before swinging the pillow at it.

Startled, the bug flew first at her then out through the nearest window when she flailed her hands and the pillow at it.

Once it was gone, Umi pulled all the open screens shut and made sure the rest were securely latched so there wasn't a chance of any more coming in. When she was done, she turned around and looked over at Clef curled tightly under the covers. If he actually managed to fall back to sleep through that (if he'd actually woken up), he must have really been tired.

Umi quietly picked up her bracelet off the bedside table and summoned her little white linen dress out of the gem. She'd been really happy it still fit when she was packing for this trip, even if it was a fraction shorter on her than it had been. Not only did she like the way she looked in it, she liked the memories she'd made the last time she'd worn it.

Mako had been right when she pushed Umi into buying it. The dress had been a good luck charm for getting Clef's attention, even if it had gotten her a little bit more than she'd bargained for.

Umi patted the curve of her belly. "Guess we'll go find someone more awake to talk to," she murmured and headed out to find more conscious company and, more importantly, breakfast.

.*.*.*.

Clef stayed in bed until late into the day. When he could no longer sleep, he drowsed contently in the soft nest of pillows listening to birdsong outside the windows. The stretch of his magic had settled into a slightly irritating itch that he might just be able to ignore, and for the first time in a very long time, there was nothing demanding his attention, no paperwork waiting on a desk to eat his time. He could rest, and not worry about any of it.

He had no idea what time it was when Umi returned.

She dropped onto the side of the bed heavily enough to bounce the mattress and jabbed him in the shoulder with her finger. "Are you planning to sleep all day?"

"I can if I want to." Clef curled tighter around his pillow. "I'm on holiday."

"I thought yours was a political invitation." Umi poked him again. "Doesn't that mean you should be working?"

"And what should I be working on?" Clef rolled over to look at her and his breath caught.

He hadn't been expecting her to be wearing that dress. Especially when she'd complained about none of her old clothes fitting her. If anything, it fit her better than before. The bodice sat snuggly about the new curve of her chest, rather than giving him glimpses of her breasts as she bent over him.

Umi's grin grew devious. "Given you're on a state visit, shouldn't you be working to maintaining good relations with your neighbours?"

"How might I do that?" Clef reached up to brush Umi's hair back over her shoulder.

Fingers combing through Clef's hair, Umi leaned further over and kissed him. "I can give you a few suggestions."

"I'd love to hear them." Clef shifted up to kiss her again, guiding her back down onto the bed with him.

"Just a moment." Umi pulled back and unfastened the timepiece from her wrist. It let out a few short beeps as she fussed with the buttons before setting it on the bedside table and turning her attention back to Clef. "Where was I?"

Clef brushed his lips against Umi's neck "You had suggestions for promoting good relations."

"You'll need a mutually beneficial arrangement, of course."

"Of course." His hands found the bottom hem of the dress, sliding underneath it. "You know I'm nothing but fair." He twisted them until she was laying against the pillows, grinning up at him.

"Honestly, you're a little too obliging at times."

Shifting lower on the bed, Clef ran his hands down her legs, shaking his head. "One can never be too obliging," he murmured, trying not to laugh, and set out to prove it.

.*.*.*.

The quiet peace of the room was shattered when Umi's timepiece let out a shrill sort of shriek. Clef flailed out a hand toward the noise, swatting it unthinkingly, and yanking his hand away when a spark flashed between his fingers and the casing.

"Did you just break it?" Umi lifted her head from his shoulder. The smouldering wristband was probably answer enough, but she still reached across him to poke it. "Wow, that's really fried."

"Sorry." Clef grimaced at the smoking remains. He'd known better than to touch it. Technology did not agree with his magic in the least.

Umi grinned at him. "You'll just have to make it up to me."

Clef bit back a smile, trying to feign a serious tone as he glanced at the darkening windows. "I'm not sure the markets will still be open today."

Blinking down at him, Umi asked, "What do the markets have to do with anything?"

"Well, if you're going to ask for a replacement…" Clef pushed himself up on his elbows.

"Oh, you know what I mean."

"What would you have me do, if you don't want me to replace it?" Clef asked before catching Umi's lips with his.

Umi leaned into him as she kissed him back with enthusiasm. Magic-drenched fingers tangled in his hair as she dragged her teeth across his lower lip, and Clef shuddered against her, tugging her closer only to have her pull away.

Face flushed and magic still rushing through her touch, Umi pressed her hand against Clef's chest and sat back up. "We need to get ready," she insisted, before coaxing him out of bed.

Freshening up might have taken less time if they'd showered separately, but Clef was enjoying the closeness, and Umi didn't seem to mind his inability to resist touching her and tracing his hands over the changing shape of her body.

While he may have been the reason it took them longer to bathe, Clef was dressed well before Umi. He'd chosen a lightweight tunic and trousers, and by the time he'd cinched a belt about his waist, Umi had only just put on her underwear - her hands still behind her back as she fastened the soft-looking support for her chest.

"What do you think I should wear?" Umi asked, summoning a mass of clothing out of the gem of her bracelet and onto the bed. "I couldn't decide what to bring, so I just brought everything." Every bit of cloth he'd sent to her at the castle cascaded across the covers.

"I don't even know how any of this was supposed to go together anymore. Caldina pulled everything apart at Festival, insisting I wasn't going to wear a combination you'd chosen." Umi sat down on the edge of the bed and toyed with the edge of one of the sashes. "I don't understand why she thinks so badly of you."

"If I had to wager a guess, I'd say she must have had a bad experience with a powerful person," Clef said, running a warming spell through Umi's hair with his fingers. "She wants to make sure you don't end up in a terrible situation - she only wants to protect you. "

"Maybe." Umi sighed, a sound full of irritation.

Clef placed a hand on her shoulder. "My circumstances do make the baby situation look like a problem it would be logical for me to wash my hands of."

Umi snapped her head around to glare at him. "The baby is not a problem."

"No," Clef agreed. "And I'm not going to do that. But I can see why she's worried."

Wrinkling her nose, Umi summoned a hairbrush out of her bracelet and turned away. "What do you think I should wear?" she repeated.

Stroking his fingers over the selection of fabrics, Clef remembered every purchase and every thought of what Umi would look like wearing it. Of all this, he'd only seen Umi in one outfit. There were still plenty of options… Maybe they needed to be narrowed down. "Do you want to disguise or accentuate your bump?"

"Given how much you seem to like it, we could accentuate it." The slow lingering brush of Umi's fingers over the swell made Clef's mouth go dry, and he swallowed down the desire to trace that touch. Umi tilted her head and a grin bloomed across her face. "You know, I never expected you to have a pregnancy kink."

"I do not," he objected. Umi just stared at him, grin only growing wider, until he flushed and crossed his arms defensively. "Well. Do you want me to stop?"

She beamed triumphantly. "No."

Starting with a sash that was a slightly darker colour than his own belt, Clef chose a few light-weight pieces for Umi to wear, before helping her with her hair. Two long plaits were wrapped about her head and fastened into place with clips to match the brooches Clef pulled from the muddled selection, then he set about getting her dressed.

The first layer was sheer pink fabric, and Clef used those brooches to catch it at her shoulders and halfway down her arms. The hem brushed Umi's ankles. He unfolded the sash to its full width, wrapping it so it covered her from her chest to several inches below her hips, highlighting the beautiful shape of her body. Even once the sash was securely tucked and pinned in place, Clef's hands lingered on Umi's hips.

"Admit it's a kink," Umi said, voice full of laughter as she slid her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"It's not a kink to be attracted to your partner," Clef countered, trailing kisses across her skin. He nipped playfully at her neck as she leaned into him.

"Don't you dare leave a mark."

"I could always heal it. I can just about manage that."

"No, I'm serious. We don't have time to get that distracted." She held him out of reach and glanced over his shoulder toward the side of the bed before grimacing. "And since you destroyed my watch, we're probably already late."

"I don't think it's my fault you propositioned me instead of washing."

"Oh, shut up. You started it," Umi laughed, grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the room.

She enthusiastically led him through the twists and turns of the corridors. When they stepped out into a courtyard strung with glittering lanterns and featuring a small stage, she was practically bouncing.

"So, I know you said you don't really celebrate birthdays anymore," she said. "But living seven-hundred and fifty years deserves some sort of recognition - if you really are that old - so we're having a miniature celebration."

The rush of fierce affection stole any response from Clef, even as she teased him about being too old to remember his age. (She knew perfectly well time had passed more quickly in Cephiro between her first summoning and her second than it had in her Tokyo.)

Tatra gave them a welcoming smile as Umi drew him across to sit with the princesses. "Umi thought you would be interested in a demonstration of Chizetan magic."

Clef sat up straighter and looked up at the people on the stage. Umi was nearly vibrating with excitement beside him. "That sounds fascinating," he admitted, and Umi actually cackled aloud.

The demonstration was far more in-depth than Clef had expected. He'd anticipated a display of illusions like the storyteller he'd taken Umi to see last year, but not only were they shown what the spells did, but also how. The lesson was particularly inspiring for Umi, as she sat beside him mimicking the hand movements. Then he felt her push power into the gestures and Clef reached over to lay his hands over hers.

"You're cleared for travel. Not magic," he reminded her.

"But it looks like fun!"

"Then pay close attention, and you can try it when you're well again," Clef said.

Umi grumbled, but took hold of his hand, lacing their fingers together while they watched the rest of the demonstration. That wasn't the end of the conversation, though. She brought it up with the Princesses when they settled down to eat dinner.

"We can have an instructor come visit you in Cephiro," Tatra suggested. "You could consider it a union gift."

Tarta crossed her arms. "Or it could be Umi's birthday gift. Seeing as she's not going to be here to celebrate."

"It will have to be next year's birthday," Clef said, and Umi pouted at him. He pulled a face at her. "You're probably not going to be recovered enough this year."

"What if I want to tell the baby stories?" Umi asked.

"We'll have books with illustrations. And you're perfectly capable of using your words."

With a melodramatic sigh, Umi looked wistfully away. "But it would be so cool to make pictures with magic instead."

"You should still have time to learn before your child is old enough to really appreciate them," Tatra said, and Umi sighed again but dropped the subject.

Umi was bound to work out the spell well before the princesses could send her a tutor. Clef laughed in spite of himself at the thought of Umi bent over their child making images with wisps of frost as she told stories from her own childhood. He could just see her smug grin at having worked out how to do it on her own.

After dinner, someone brought over a tray with a beautiful cake on it. It was a larger version of the little chocolate cake Umi had presented him with at Ascot's birthday picnic, but it had even more decoration. She must have spent days on it.

"Oh, Umi, you shouldn't have," Clef said as she passed him a slice.

"Baking's relaxing for me, so don't go complaining that I should have been resting. Also, I wanted to," Umi said, plucking a bit of chocolate webbing off the top of his cake and eating it with great satisfaction.

Even when Umi turned to her friends, Clef couldn't take his eyes off her. He'd been accused of being old-fashioned in his clothing choices, but Umi looked breathtaking in traditional Cephiran clothing. She moved with the ease of someone who'd dressed this way for centuries, and he wanted that to mean something.

The way her hand calmly drifted back to her middle while she was deep in conversation made him pause. Yesterday, Umi had been excited when she was talking about the pregnancy and the socks her grandmother sent her to stop the baby catching a cold. Even tonight, she spoke of their future and he found himself looking forward to it. As complicated as everything was, he was so much happier with her than he'd been in a long time.

He'd been so deep in thought that he hadn't even finished his slice of cake when Umi turned to him asking if he wanted to play a card game with them.

"Is something wrong with it?" Umi asked, pointing at his plate. "Was it not what you wanted?"

"It's perfect," Clef assured her. "I was just thinking."

"About?" Umi wriggled closer.

The corner of Clef's mouth twitched up, "Things."

Umi lowered her voice. "You think you'll be up to things again tonight?"

"As long as you don't keep me out too late."

"You know what, I take it back," Tarta declared. "Go back to being secret about-" she waved a hand at them "-that. I don't want to know."

"Sorry," Umi laughed, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

The game turned out to be a variant of one Clef knew from his youth, so he caught up quickly. But Umi picked it up even faster, winning multiple hands easily. It wasn't until Umi and Tarta burst out giggling and cards were laid down on the table in a nearly impossible combination that Clef realised Umi's 'skill' was entirely manufactured.

"Hey! It's not polite to cheat someone on their birthday," Clef complained, slapping his cards down on the table.

"I thought you were 'too old for birthdays'," Umi teased.

Tatra leaned over with a laugh. "I suggest we try to beat them at their own game."

The cards were dealt again and Clef joined forces with Tatra to beat the other two at their new version of the game. Their subtlety in trading cards decreased as the level of laughter grew. It was more fun than Clef'd had in several decades.

By the time Clef and Umi returned to their room for the night, Clef was glad he'd agreed to this holiday.

.*.*.*.

Umi was slow to get out of bed the next morning, lingering to enjoy the gentle, drowsy reverence of Clef's morning attention.

"You're here to visit the princesses," Clef said. "Not spend the day with me."

"I can do both."

"Not in bed, you can't." Clef gave her an encouraging shove.

Separate showers meant Umi was dressed before Clef even emerged from the bathroom. She tried to replicate what Clef had done with her sash yesterday on the outfit she'd chosen for the day, and she more-or-less succeeded. It was a little disconcerting to actively be showing off her growing belly when she'd spent the last month in Tokyo trying to keep it hidden, but she liked the way it made Clef look at her.

Breakfast was in the little reception room they'd used their first night. The fresh bread, roasted fruits, and spiced grains smelled amazing, and Umi started filling a plate almost before she'd sat down.

"Didn't you pack anything else from home?" Tarta asked, tugging at Umi's sleeve. "That's three Cephiran outfits in as many days."

"Most of my summer clothes don't fit because of the new resident," Umi said, patting her belly. "Besides, all of this stuff is new, and I'd like to wear it."

"It suits you," Tatra said, setting down her cup of tea. "And the fabrics are beautiful. If Cephiro is interested in exporting it, I do believe there is a market for it."

"You'll have to talk to Clef about that. I don't know anything about it - just that it was probably expensive, given Clef got cut off by the person who looks after his accounts for buying too much." Umi shovelled a spoonful of food into her mouth. It was just as good as it smelled, if not better.

Clef appeared not long after and sat down close enough to Umi that his knee knocked into hers when he moved to serve himself some food.

"Better rested this morning?" Umi teased.

"Might have been more so, if someone hadn't woken me up so early." He nudged her with his knee again, the touch full of the spark of his magic and sending a shiver through Umi.

With a laugh, Umi pushed back before turning back to her breakfast.

When they finished eating and headed out to the marketplace, about a dozen guards joined them. The tall muscular women moved in smooth formation around them as they stepped out the gate and into the main street.

"Our parents insist," Tarta said, looped her arm around Umi's. "You'd think we were little children bound to be kidnapped."

"More like run off to invade a neighbouring country," Umi shot back with a grin.

Ahead of them, Tatra and Clef were deep in conversation about export and trade. From what she'd heard of the conversation, it sounded like Clef would have to discuss any trade proposal with the Merchant's Guild, but he was more than happy to talk about the dying and weaving that was done in Mazda and the potential for selling some of it. He sounded proud of his ward's industry.

"It's so weird to think that you and that old guy are together," Tarta said.

Umi laughed. "Not as weird as the fact I'll be a mother next time you visit us."

Tarta pulled a face. "Why did you want to go and have a baby so soon? I know he's super old, but I doubt a few more years would have made much of a difference. I mean, the guy's already got seven centuries under his belt, what's another decade?"

"Mostly I was thinking he looked really hot now he's let himself grow up again," Umi admitted. Tarta had been more concerned with Umi not telling her about the baby than how it had happened until now. "The baby was a bit of a surprise, to be honest."

"That's what contraceptives are for!" Tarta flicked her on the forehead. "I'd think your ancient mage should have known better."

"Sometimes they fail for unexpected, ocean-moving reasons, and you end up with a baby a few years sooner than you expected to start thinking about that kind of thing."

As they made their way through the market, the guards maintained an even formation, blocking off two stalls at a time. While Umi was thankful that she didn't have to worry about Clef getting lost or overwhelmed in the throngs of people, she would rather have blended into the crowd a little more.

It was still fun. Tarta kept cracking jokes about various items that had her laughing so hard her sides hurt.

They made it around maybe half of the market stalls - having only purchased a little paper-knife and scarf - when Umi started feeling hungry again.

"What's the plan for lunch?" she asked Tarta, looking longingly past the guards toward the food stalls at the end of the row.

Tarta craned her neck to look over at what Umi assumed was some sort of clock tower. "If we head back once your mage is done with his shopping, food should be nearly ready."

Clef had gotten distracted by a stall selling little mechanical things several long minutes ago and was still talking with the stall-holder, who was gesturing to a second display. Umi fidgeted as Clef picked up another little round box-like thing and started asking questions. His enthusiasm would normally have been cute, but mostly Umi just felt irritated that he was taking so long. She shifted on her feet and sighed.

"You took longer at the weaponsmith's." Tarta nudged her with an elbow. "Don't be so tetchy."

"I'm just hungry," Umi complained.

Tarta rolled her eyes and opened the little bag looped over her wrist and held out a paper packet. "Then eat something."

Umi popped one of the little strips of bright green, dried fruit into her mouth. It had a sharp, almost citrus sort of tang that sat heavily on her tongue, making her blink. It was too sharp to be even vaguely pleasant; it didn't get any less intense as she chewed it, either.

She ate another couple of pieces, but her tongue was starting to tingle all over at the sharpness. It was so strong it was almost starting to taste like metal in her mouth. She passed the packet back and pulled a face, not hungry enough to eat any more of that. "Does it always have that sort of… after taste?"

"After taste?" Tarta blinked at her in confusion.

"It's like-" Umi stopped, trying to think of how to explain the way her tongue was practically itching. "Ugh, I don't know. It tastes bad. Like blood or something. Do you just like it because it makes your mouth all tingly? We've got better sweets back home that do that."

Tarta was staring at her. "Make your mouth tingly? Umi, what-"

"Ugh," Umi muttered again, trying to swallow to get rid of the taste. She needed a drink. Her tongue was feeling so weird; it was like it was taking up too much of her mouth.

Not just her tongue. Her throat felt weird, tight and wrong in a way she'd never felt before.

A hand suddenly rested on her arm, Tatra suddenly in front of her, and waving over some of the guards. "Umi," she said, urgently, "how do you feel? Did you just eat something?"

She tried to swallow again, nodding, but it was so difficult. Everything was too tight and swollen, and her breath was starting to whistle strangely. Umi's hands started shaking as she grabbed onto Tatra's arms, the faint dizziness she'd been living with for weeks flaring up and the world tilting.

There was a commotion in the background, several of the Guard dashing off and Clef pushing his way through to her as someone pulled a seat up and urged her to lean forward slightly, keep her head up, keep trying to breathe as the world around her started to break up into fuzzy static, the sound of her panicked whistling breaths overtaking everything else.

.*.*.*.

It happened with no warning. One moment, Clef was asking Princess Tatra and the stallholder about various timepieces in a well-stocked market stall, looking to replace Umi's he'd broken, while Umi chatted with Tarta behind them.

The next, Tatra was shooting a sharp look behind him and then was gone. A rush of fear hit him even as he spun around to see Umi with a hand to her throat and her face pale, two of the Guard dashing away as Tatra snapped an order to fetch a Healer.

He made it to Umi's side as a couple of the Guard pulled a chair from behind one of the stalls and got Umi down on it, another taking her wrist and clearly checking her pulse. Tatra was holding Umi's other hand, and pressed it to his without hesitation; Umi's skin was clammy, almost cold.

More frightening still was the wheeze in her breath, the repeated cough, the way she was barely responding to any of them

"What-" he started turning to Tarta. She'd been with Umi, had something happened, someone attacked them, or-

"Do you know any spells for allergic reactions?" Princess Tatra asked, voice low but urgent.

A chill ran up the back of Clef's neck, and he shook his head, even as the people around them parted to let through a woman with a healer's bag, who took one look at Umi, and yanked the bag open.

"It was these," Tarta said, miserably, showing the healer a small bag of some dried fruit. "I didn't know she had an allergy!"

"Neither did she, so far as I know," Clef said, kneeling at Umi's side and looking up into her face just in time to see her eyes flutter all the way shut. He yelped and got his hands on her shoulders as she slumped, even as Tatra caught her too. "Please, please- Umi-"

The healer nudged him out of the way so she could get through, and then she was administering some kind of medicine before reaching to Umi's neck to check her pulse. "We need to get her to a treatment centre, now."

"Transport is on the way," one of their Guard reported. "We will need to carry her to the edge of the market. Can we move her yet, or should we wait?"

Umi moaned slightly, and Clef tightened his grip on her shoulders, running through every healing spell he'd ever learned - there weren't many. He'd shown little skill at any of them, and in Cephiro he'd always been able to call for a healer. Nothing he'd learned covered allergic reactions.

He was cursing himself for that as the Chizetan healer gave Umi a dose of something else, this one a liquid squeezed into her mouth. "A moment to see if that helps or if we'll need a second dose," she said. "Is the treatment centre-"

"They're alerted and preparing for our arrival," Tatra confirmed, and her hand was on Clef's shoulder as she moved out of the way of the bodyguards.

The healer nodded, her eyes on Umi's face, her hands checking her pulse again. "Her breathing's easing. Let's go."

Princess Tatra had to pull Clef out of the way so the bodyguards could lift Umi and carry her swiftly out of the aisle of stalls. He wanted so hard to object, to take her himself - but the guards obviously had medical training for this kind of thing, working in a team to support Umi and move her as swiftly as possible without jolting her around.

They were ushered into a small craft which shot back to the Palace, landing in the gardens. From there they rushed straight inside to the medical centre, and then it was all a matter of staying out of the way while a team of people did who-knew-what to help Umi breathe again, until the colour was starting to come back to her face, and the horrible rash that had spread across her throat and chest started to subside.

When Umi came around, the first thing she did was look about the room until she found him, and the second was to rest her hand on her belly, her voice raspy and faint.

"Our baby- is our baby-"

"You're both going to be just fine," the lead medic assured her, patting her on her shoulder. "The baby's heartbeat is strong and steady, and yours is getting there. I need you to answer a few questions now, if you can. Have you ever had an allergic reaction before?"

"No?" Umi murmured, even as Clef's shoulders stiffened on the other side of the room. He'd seen them checking heartbeats, but had figured that was only an interim measure, while they were busily keeping Umi breathing. Weren't they going to run any more checks now?

But no, it seemed they weren't - at least, nothing detailed, nothing comprehensive. Not for Umi, not for the baby.

How could they possibly know both were 'going to be fine' if they didn't check?

He held in the fear until they finally let him across the room, to sit by Umi's side and take her hands in his. She gave him a wavering, exhausted smile, and he could only hold her hands tighter.

There was no reaction from her magic to his. Understandable, at the moment, perhaps, but-

She'd been injured so badly, so recently. And Chizeta's magic was nothing like Cephiro's. If something were to be wrong with it, he realised, there would be no way of them knowing - and nothing they could do about it, not here.

He looked up at the princesses, both of whom had stayed the entire time. "We need a Transport," he said, firmly as he could. "I'm taking Umi home."

"But-" Tarta looked about the room, at the medics who were all staring at him, mostly looking affronted. "We have the best healers in Chizeta right here, and-"

"I'm taking her home. Now." Before she could get any worse.

Princess Tatra nodded somberly. "I'll make the arrangements."

.*.*.*.

to be continued...