YOU SAID IT AGAIN MY HEART'S IN MOTION EVERY WORD FEELS LIKE A SHOOTING STAR I'M AT THE EDGE OF MY EMOTIONS WATCHIN' THE SHADOWS BURNIN' IN THE DARK

They were married and they were crowned and nothing changed. Alanna wasn't sure she was ready to be queen, Jonathan wasn't sure he'd made the right call. It was even worse to watch George and Thayet fall madly in love and announce their betrothal. Alanna, even sitting at Jonathan's right hand, his hand gently covering hers, couldn't help but look at the thief-turned-baron and wonder why she hadn't told him yes. He'd never formally asked, but he'd wanted to. She knew it as well as he did. Watching him fall in love with Thayet while she fell out of love with Jon… it killed her.

One night, four months after their wedding, Alanna slid into bed beside Jonathan with a soft sigh. He looked up from the document was reading. "You all right?" he asked, concern filling his blue eyes. He might not want to be married to her, but he still cared for her.

"Mhm," Alanna answered, nestling down into the pillow. "Just tired, that's all." Jonathan looked down at her. She felt his gaze and opened her eyes. "Problem?"

He put down the parchment and cleared his throat. Uh oh, she thought. "Are you ready to take off that… ah… charm?"

"Excuse me?"

Jonathan reached down and lifted her pregnancy charm, on the same chain as her ember from the Great Mother Goddess. Alanna shivered at the memory of her seventeenth birthday, when this was new and his touch excited her. How she wanted to feel like that when his fingers brushed her throat now! "Are you ready to take this off?" His blue eyes were steady.

"You mean have a baby?"

"Well… yes."

"Am I ready to give you an heir, you mean?"

"Stop delaying, Alanna." His blue eyes flashed. She sat up, feeling anger rise in her stomach.

"Well, excuse me," she snapped. "I'm sorry for thinking that having a child – the heir – isn't something that needs a bit of consideration!"

"We've been married four months. You haven't been considering?"

"No." Jonathan held her eyes, and she matched his stare. Part of her wanted to hit him, another wanted to fling herself at him, and a third wanted to roll over and just go to sleep to avoid another argument. "Fine." She practically flung the chain off her neck, feeling lighter without the ember around her neck. "Let's have a baby."

He immediately softened. "Are you sure?" he asked quietly. "I don't want-"

"Shut up and kiss me," she snapped, fire burning in her violet eyes. Jonathan tossed the paper in his lap aside and crashed his mouth into hers, pressing her back down onto the bed. Alanna pulled him down on top of her as he kissed her fiercely. This is what I missed, she thought somewhat giddily. This feeling right here.

Five months later and the queen was showing. The monarchs arrived at Pirate's Swoop with the queen holding her belly, looking unhappy at being unable to ride. Jonathan looked annoyed, causing George and Thayet to exchange a look. They suspected Alanna had given him an earful of her displeasure on the way down, and the baron and baroness knew better than almost anyone the marital problems in the royal wing.

"Welcome, welcome!" Thayet greeted, embracing her friends. "We have rooms all prepared." She pressed a hand to Alanna's swollen belly. "Baby giving you much trouble?"

"None at all," Alanna lied, smiling sweetly. Thayet winked at her, and Alanna smiled for real.

"D'you have a preference boy or girl?" George asked, guiding the king inside.

Jonathan shook his head. "A king might be better for the sake of inheritance, but a part of me wants a little girl like her mother." The friends exchanged a smile at the memory of little Alan of Trebond.

"Names?"

"Roald for a boy, but we're still deciding for a girl." George nodded. "What about you? Are you and Thayet thinking about babies?"

"Of course." George smiled wistfully and Jon felt a pang of longing. He doubted he ever looked quite like that when it came to his wife. "But we're waitin' a bit. We want t' enjoy each other." He glanced at the king. "Guess ye didn't have that luxury?"

"No. We need an heir, just in case." Jonathan sighed. "Not to whine, but it's not easy being king."

George, who knew about the pressure of kingship, laughed and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "I know just what ye mean."

Prince Roald was four months old, and never seemed to stop crying. "Damn it, won't he be quiet?" Jonathan grumbled when the child woke them for the fifth time that night. Until he stopped suckling, they kept him in their room, hoping to spare the palace nursemaids. "Alanna, Roald's crying again."

"I can hear that," she snapped. "You get him. I got him last time."

"He doesn't want me."

"Oh, you can understand him now? You have conversations? What's his opinion on the state of the wheat harvest this year?"

"Must you always be so sarcastic?"

"When I'm on this little sleep? Yes. Can you please shut him up?"

Jonathan picked up the child and bounced him on his hip, cooing in a begging tone. The baby began to quiet, and fell asleep on his shoulder. Failing to suppress a yawn, he laid the child back in his crib, climbing back in beside his wife. "Thank you," she grumbled. "Maybe that will be the last time for the night."

"From your lips to the gods' ears," Jonathan agreed. He settled back to sleep, facing away from Alanna's back.

"Thank you for coming out with me," Alanna said to Thayet as they rode into the Royal Forest with a few guards. She couldn't go anywhere without someone watching her, no matter how often she reminded Jonathan she was a full-blooded knight. "I had to get out of the palace. It's so gods-cursed stuffy in there." The queen rolled her head around, stretching out her neck, and stretched down into her heel. It felt very different to be back on Moonlight, no matter how familiar the mare was.

"It's no problem," Thayet answered. "Jon won't miss you too much?" Alanna sighed, and Thayet paused. "Everything all right?"

"Fine." Her tone told the woman it wasn't. "How do you and George do it, Thayet?"

"Do what?"

Alanna glanced at her friend with a look she couldn't describe. "Be in love."

This was awful. I'm going to write the last chapter right now.