Life within the palace was peaceful, yet never idle. Several months into Leonidas's kingship, he had grown into his role with ease. The former king Androcles had remarked that his son had shed his youthful arrogance, replacing it with level-headed reason, and not a moment too soon. Leonidas had just finished negotiations on a trade agreement with a neighboring city; he and the other leader had cooperated to develop a system that would benefit all the people that depended on them.
Leonidas stood on the balcony of his bedchambers, staring out over the city. He had just returned from his afternoon walk through the Spartan marketplace. He liked to see the people; the proud young mothers with their strong boys, so determined to prove themselves. Bare hours ago, Leonidas had come upon a group of boys playing, and their leader had challenged him.
Youthful arrogance, indeed, he thought with a small smile. He had taken the boy's challenge and knocked him onto his back in the blink of an eye. He'd then pulled the boy to his feet and explained the importance of teamwork in the Spartan army, and then gone on to show them a few simple battle strikes. Leonidas knew that in a few short years, they would recall his words once they were entered into their own trials in the agoge.
He thought of those boys, and wondered if tonight would be the night that he and Gorgo would conceive an heir. They had adjusted to each other, and Leonidas prized her above any other woman. So deep was his devotion, he often failed to recognize the women of Sparta; he felt more or less indifferent to any female other than his wife, and he knew it was the same for her, he had witnessed her complete awareness of him and her own indifference to the other men she dealt with in the palace.
Soon, he knew it had to be soon, there would be an heir to share her body. Leonidas frowned slightly. His mother had died while carrying a child- from what his father had explained, her death had occurred suddenly, without symptom or warning. Androcles had mentioned that the late queen's body had been passing blood, so much that she had died from the amount spilled. The startling image of Gorgo, swollen with child and covered in blood entered his mind.
Repulsed by the thought, Leonidas shook his head. No. Gorgo will not die, I will never allow it!
If his queen should die from their child...Leonidas knew that if such a thing were to occur, he would likely go mad. It happened rarely in Sparta, that a woman died giving birth, leaving her husband a broken shell of a man. Spartans were reputed as stoic, unyeilding warriors and while thier fighting prowess was second to none in all the known world, no man was made of stone.
Gorgo had proven herself to be a fine wife and queen, and no man was more proud than her father Cadmus. He had gone off to meet with leaders far outside of Sparta- he had not expected to see Gorgo again until after her service to the Ephors was complete and upon his return he had learned that she had become queen!
Amazement and joy had flooded his features upon seeing her, and he had been quick to bless the gods that she had been spared the duties of an Oracle. Leonidas smiled in contentment as he glanced down into the gardens. Androcles, Cadmus and a few men of the Senate were down there, laughing with each other.
The friendships of the kings and the Senate were based on mutual respect and admiration, one balanced the other.
He turned as the sound of another entering the room, and smiled to see it was Gorgo. She had also matured a great deal since taking her crown, near a year ago. She had lost her girlish insecurities, both in his bed and as the secondary leader to Sparta. The woman was confident, strong in her own right, and no longer the girl he had known, she was now the woman he'd always known her to be.
She smiled and rushed into his arms, kissing his throat and then resting her head on his shoulder, simply allowing him to hold her. "Leonidas, have you many duties tonight? Any visitors or meetings with the Senate?" She asked, after a few moments of peaceful silence.
Leonidas drew back from her. "No, not tonight, thankfully. What is it, my queen?" He grinned hungrily at her. "Do you wish to 'practice' tonight?" He asked her. It was a shared joke between them, that though they had not yet conceived an heir, they would 'practice' every night until a child came of their efforts.
Gorgo looked down, her cheeks suddenly red, as she always blushed when he spoke of making love to her. Leonidas found it amusing that she still held embarassment at the mere mention of it, but he watched as her hands moved forward to rest over her womb. "Leonidas, we need not practice any longer."
Joy, fierce and proud swept over the king. "You are...you carry my child?" He asked, taking her hands into his.
Gorgo smiled, "It is my child as well, I should think." She teased him.
Leonidas kissed her deeply. "When did you know?"
"I only just realized after consulting the midwife that serves the Senate wives. I gave a blessing to Demeter before coming to tell you. A child, Leonidas, the Spartan heir!" She gushed, kissing his face and holding him close to her.
Leonidas held her and guided her to the bed, where he had her sit down. "You should not work yourself up," he said, suddenly concerned, though no less thrilled. He could feel his heart pounding with joy within his chest. "I'll have servants see to your every need, you should be put on bedrest..."
Gorgo frowned at him and stood up when he wished for her to remain seated. "No, Leonidas. I won't stay in bed for months like an invalid."
"But you could be hurt, the child could be lost," he protested.
Gorgo shook her head. "No, Leonidas. All the women of Sparta take greater risks when they are days from the birth; have you forgotten that I am queen? I cannot appear weak to the people."
"But-"
"I asked the midwife, husband. It is safe to move and go about my own duties- only when my body swells with the child will I need to rest more often, but I will still be able to act as the queen." Gorgo assured him.
Leonidas regarded her for several long moments. "There is nothing I can say that will stop you, is there?"
Gorgo smiled at him. "No, Leonidas, there is not."
He nodded at her and took her hands once more. "I knew there was a reason that I chose you as my queen."
They retired for the night after announcing the birth to their father and the Senate, amid the joy rushing throughout the palace, they retired after giving blessings to the gods. Leonidas sacraficed a fine bull to seal the blessing, and ensure safe growth for the child within the womb of his queen.
He sat in their bed and watched as she shed her robes. His eyes absorbed her naked flesh. The only thing adorning her long golden body was the necklace he'd given to her the year before, the night of their wedding. Leonidas would give her another gift in the morning, a token of his gratitude that she would bear his heir.
Leonidas watched her as she moved toward the bed, his gaze affixed to her stomach. It was the same as it had been since he had first seen her naked, that day in the river. In truth, he felt nervous to touch her now. A woman with child was a delicate, dangerous thing. In Leonidas's mind, if Gorgo so much as became startled, she might lose their child and very well die in his arms. He remained very still as she moved to lay down beside him.
They were silent for a time, listening to each other breath in the darkness. Gorgo could feel her husband's eyes on her, staring even when he could not see her. "Leonidas. Tell me what troubles you," she implored.
"Nothing troubles me, Gorgo." He said.
"Liar. You fear for the child. I know what happened to Sparta's former queen." She said. Even as she said the words, regret fell upon her for saying them. Despite the dark, she could feel Leonidas withdraw from her. "She died, my love, but you must not live in fear that the same fate shall fall upon me."
Leonidas was quiet for a time. Though he was a fine king, he felt he had never known such immense responsibility. "How can I not? Danger is present in every breath we take. You and this child are my life."
Gorgo reached out in the dark and took his hand, placing it over her heart. "I will not die from a turn in the winds, my king. I am strong, you know I am."
His hand moved from her heart to cup her face. He kissed her. "Yes, I know you are strong." He took a deep breath, feeling more comfortable and almost lighthearted. "Is there a way you can tell if the child will be-?"
Gorgo kissed his throat. "A little boy or girl? No, not this soon. The midwife claimed that there might be ways to tell, but none of them are sure."
Leonidas nodded. "I see. Have you thought of names?"
She fell silent and touched his face, smoothing his beard. "I have thought of names, but I wish to wait until after the child is..."
Gorgo did not have to finish. Perhaps in all the excitement, Leonidas had forgotten the harshest of all Spartan tests; no child in all the city was permitted to live without first being inspected. Those deemed worthy were able to live. Those who were not...
It was necessary to ensure the future of Sparta. The citizens could not be weak or deformed, too mishapen to fight as warriors but still able to breed more like themselves. Sparta was too powerful a city to allow itself to be defended by those seen as less than human. There had been no history of weakness or deformity in all of Leonidas's family, and none that he knew of in the house of Cadmus.
It was unlikely that a child of theirs would be weak or anything less than Spartan, but the fear remained that should the gods ever be offended, they could be cursed with misshapen or even stillborn heirs. Gorgo could not give a name to a child that might be cast off the jagged cliffs to die- to become attached to a babe, only to have it killed, would be a deadly strike to her heart.
Leonidas held her in the night, and spoke of the child no more. There was no need, for he knew that it would occupy Gorgo's mind until the day of the birth.