Chapter Forty Four
'Six months along and no name yet. We can't seem to agree on anything. Every name I suggest is too proper or old-fashioned and every name he likes is too…plain. I refuse for my child to have a boring name like Sarah or Benjamin (his most recent suggestions). At this point I think that he is saying any name he can think of just to get on my nerves.
I kind of deserve it though. I keep waking him up at night either by kicking, for cravings, or by crying. No one told me pregnancy would be this emotional.
On the bright side though, the baby hasn't stopped moving around. They are such a little wiggle worm! I absolutely love it. Especially when I laugh. The baby stretches and moves around like they are laughing too.
Halt just rolled his eyes when I told him that, but then immediately started trying to make me laugh.
He's such a dork. I love him to bits.'
'Halt and Pritchard are away for the night on some night time training thing.
Our hut is very small…but it feels very lonely without them.'
'Pritchard has put me on bedrest! For at least the next week!
They got home early this morning, saw me waiting up for them, and then he ordered me to bed right then and there! It was humiliating! And Halt, damn the man, just picked me up and carried me to bed when I protested! I'm pregnant, but that doesn't mean I can't walk!
Damn him. Damn Pritchard.
Damn them both.'
'They are actually making me stick to this whole 'no leaving the bed for a week' thing. It's infuriating. Two days in and I have never felt more stir crazy in my life. The only thing I can do is sleep.
I am done with sleep!
On the plus side, it gives me plenty of time to think of baby names Halt will hate.'
'So we have decided that our child will not be named Romeo or Juliet. The first names we both agree are horrible. I also don't enjoy Mercutio, Tybalt, Rosaline, or Laurence. I appreciate Pritchard giving me the book of plays to stave off boredom, but I have no clue what the author was thinking when he named his characters. Hopefully his other plays will have far better suggestions.'
'Halt won't let me name our child after anyone from the book of plays. Which is sad because I actually really liked Olivia, Sebastian, Helena, and Lysander.
Halt hated all of them.
We'd better agree on a name soon otherwise our child will be picking out their name themselves.'
A soft knocking woke her up. Squinting her eyes against the afternoon sun pouring through the window, Nel slowly looked around the room. Selethen still clung tightly to her, refusing to let go even in his sleep. A smile stretched across her face at the sight, happy to see him at peace. They must've dozed off at some point after their conversation, which didn't surprise her. Heavy conversations and all the crying he'd done would tire anyone out.
Nel frowned as the details of the conversation came back to her.
How could Atanyan-anyone-abuse a child like that? And then just never stop? Selethen had dealt with it for 16 long years.
For the first time in her life, Nel felt hatred bloom in her chest. It was a strange feeling, she'd never hated anyone before, never had a reason to. She'd been more afraid of Morgarath than anything, angry at Duncan, and just plain grew to not like Anthony, but hatred was new. And she hated Atanyan.
That soft knocking pulled her from her thoughts, reminding her of what woke her up.
As gently as she could, Nellie peeled Selethen's arms off of her, giggling at his sleepy grumbles. Normally he was an incredibly light sleeper. If he wasn't waking up, then he was really exhausted.
Nel moved out of the room and towards the door, wiping sweat off her forehead. Cuddling was amazing, but through the hottest hours of the day? Not so fun.
Nel got to the door just as the knock came a third time. Opening it slightly, she saw her father smirking on the other side.
"Judging by your face, I'm guessing you just woke up."
"You guessed right," she said with a grin, "What are you doing here?"
"We had dinner plans, remember?"
Her eyes widened and she looked at him guiltily, "I'm sorry, I forgot. I didn't even realize it was that late." She opened the door to let him in. They must've slept far longer than she thought.
"It's alright, we still have time to eat." Halt said before catching a glimpse of Selethen through the open door to the bedroom. "Looks like you weren't the only one who crashed."
"It's been a long day." she told him, moving to the coffee pot which was, sadly, cold by now.
Halt turned to her suspiciously, "What happened?"
"W-What do you mean?" she asked, wanting to bite her tongue the second she stuttered.
"Give me some credit Nellie, I raised you. You only say that you've had a long day when something happened that you don't want to talk about, you're stuttering, and you're playing with your ring." he explained, looking pointedly at her hands where she was indeed twisting her ring around, "What happened?"
Nel cursed to herself. Why did her father have to read people, read her, so well? Why did she have to be an open book?
"It's complicated. I'm not really sure how to explain."
"Is there something you can't tell me?" he asked, still looking at her intently.
Nel thought over the things Selethen had told her. He hadn't actually said not to tell anyone else, but letting her father in on something that her husband so obviously didn't want people to know felt far too much like a betrayal, no matter how much she trusted him. It wasn't her place to tell it, not without his permission.
"Yes." she said quietly, "There is. I'm sorry Dad."
"Don't be." Halt said immediately, "There have been lots of things I haven't been able to tell you over the years. Just…tell me you aren't in trouble, please."
"I don't know what we're in." she admitted, "Like I said, it's complicated."
Taking her hand, Halt led them to the couch, "What can you tell me?"
Nellie sighed, thinking over everything once again. She still had so many questions, the biggest one being why did the Emrikir need them to have a child? Just to find another victim? And what about Selethen? She promised to help keep him safe, but how did she do that?
"Nellie?" her dad prompted her when she didn't answer.
Taking a deep breath, Nellie began, choosing her words very carefully, "When I took that report for you, I ended up overhearing this conversation. The Emrikir…he's obsessed with Selethen and I having a child and we don't know why."
"Obsessed how?"
"He's, well, he ordered Selethen to get me pregnant." she said as gently as she could, watching as the expected anger filled her father's eyes. Quickly, she kept talking, trying to keep her voice low and calm, "But he refused, ok? Selethen refused to follow his orders."
She saw Halt take a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm, "Ok, then what happened?"
"Atanyan threatened him, trying to scare him into having a child. Dad, he's horrible. He's been fooling us all along."
"All of us?" he asked in disbelief, eyes moving to look at the bedroom again.
"That's the complicated part," she explained, squeezing his hand, "But I promise, Selethen is on our side in this, not his. Just…trust me, please?"
Halt sighed again, obviously not liking that answer, "Fine. Fine. If you say so, then fine, but I swear, if he hurts you-"
"He won't. I promise." she assured him.
Halt huffed, "But why would Atanyan need your child? Why does he need you pregnant?"
"That's what I can't figure out." Nel told him, looking equal parts frustrated and thoughtful, "There's no benefit except having an heir in case the war kills them, but my gut tells me that's not it."
"Mine too." Halt agreed, "We aren't seeing the whole picture."
"He was trying to make Selethen get me pregnant before we were even married. He doesn't just need our child…he needs our child as soon as possible," Nel said, eyes widening in realization, "But why?"
"He what?!" Halt burst out at her words.
Nel tried to shush him, but it was too late.
"Nel?! NEL?!" Selthen yelled not a moment later, bursting through the bedroom door with his sword already in hand, eyes blown wide in a full-on panic.
He caught sight of them almost as soon as he burst in, relaxing slightly when he saw her sitting there with just her dad.
"I-I heard screaming and you-you weren't there anymore." he stammered out, lowering his sword, "I-I thought-"
"It's ok," she said immediately, going up and wrapping her arms around him, "I'm still here. I'm ok. I'm not leaving."
There was a dull 'clang' as the sword fell to the ground, Selethen holding her tightly to his chest. Nel let him, knowing he needed the reassurance she was still there. He was so scared she would leave him. It was heartbreaking.
Halt cleared his throat uncomfortably and Nel winced. It had been a few hours, but Selethen's eyes were still a little puffy from crying and with this current display-well that was going to be difficult to explain to him.
"Don't scare me like that." Selethen whispered before pulling away, keeping an arm around her as he looked at Halt, rearranging his expression to look a little more everyday, "Why were you yelling anyway?"
Nel watched as Halt took in her husband's appearance and knew that he wasn't doing a good job of hiding everything.
"Nellie just told me Atanyan's been trying to get you two pregnant since you met and is now threatening you because of it. I'm sure you can understand my shock."
Selethen rounded on her in disbelief, "You told him?!"
"Not everything!" she said quickly, "I promise! He just told you everything I've told him! I wouldn't do that to you, I swear!"
The tension in his shoulders slowly faded as her words sank in. He took a few deep breaths before giving a small nod. "Al-Alright."
Halt looked back and forth in confusion, "What is going on?"
"It's complicated," she said as a way of explanation, "but we have to figure out what to do next."
"I agree." Selethen said, taking another deep breath.
He was fighting so hard to stay in control, Nel thought sadly. She'd had breakdowns before and picking yourself back up was difficult. Especially if you had been holding things back as long as Selethen had.
"What benefit is there to you two having a child?" Halt asked, moving over so there was enough room for them both to sit down. They accepted gratefully, Nel in the middle, thinking over his words.
"Any child we have would help strengthen the treaty, cement the alliance even more." Nel suggested, "People in Arrida haven't exactly been happy about the alliance. Maybe he's hoping a child would help?" Even as she said it, Nel knew it was wrong. The conversation she'd overheard with the maids had proved that a half-Araluen child wouldn't be accepted in Arrida.
Selethen obviously agreed, shaking his head, "They aren't happy, but they wouldn't revolt over that. Especially not during a world war."
"Nel had a point," Halt said, "Why does he need you to have a child so soon? Why did he push you to try for a kid before you were married?"
"It would be easy to pretend we had waited. Just say that the baby came a month early. It isn't that uncommon in pregnancies." Nel pointed out.
"Ok, so a baby that could pass as legitimate, but why?" Halt asked again, "It's not like a baby affects the treaty at all, except to strengthen it."
"No, it wouldn't. All details about our children would've been in the marriage contract, not the treaty." Selethen muttered, running a hand through his hair.
"The marriage contract?" Nel asked.
He nodded, "We signed it during our wedding, remember? It would've detailed the entire alliance between the countries and officially sealed the treaty. By signing it, we agreed to use our marriage as a means of a legal union on behalf of our countries. It's standard practice in an arranged marriage. The treaty even has a clause mentioning it and how our specific union was the method of uniting all the countries."
"So, if any document was to have any info on your future children," Halt began slowly.
"It would be the marriage contract." Selethen repeated in confusion before his eyes widened in understanding.
"Where would Atanyan keep his copy?" Halt asked.
"Locked. All documents of national importance are locked in a safe in the treasury, under constant guard." Selethen answered, "The safe also has two keys. Both Atanyan and Yasmine have one, but you need both to open it."
"Easy enough to get. They can't sleep with the keys." Halt said, already working through the problems, "If we go in right before the guard changes, I can get in without being noticed. You two provide a distraction. End of his shift, so the guard will be tired and distracted-"
"Won't work." Selethen cut in, shaking his head again, "The treasury room is kept on a constantly rotating guard schedule with at least 6 guards. Only one gets switched out at a time. The randomization stops exactly what you're suggesting."
"Could you get on that schedule?"
"If we were here for a couple of months, sure, but we're meant to leave at the end of the week."
"What if there was an emergency? Reports of a fire or break in somewhere else?"
"Treasury guards have mandatory orders not to leave their post unless specifically ordered in-person by the Emrikir or Emrikil. Just in case of-"
"Exactly what I'm suggesting. I'm only saying this because we're planning a break in, but damn this security!...otherwise I find it very commendable."
"Thank you. I suggested the in-person orders actually. We had some very decent forgers a few years ago."
"Really? Well done. Now, what if we-"
"Would you two stop?!" Nel burst out. The two of them looked at her in shock, "Is this really our best plan?! Becoming thieves?!"
"Well…what else would you suggest?" her dad asked, eyebrow raised as if this was the only obvious answer.
She turned to Selethen, "It's our marriage contract. Can't we ask to see it?"
"Well, technically yes." he said slowly, "But Atanyan would ask why. He'd grow suspicious of us and that would make things worse."
"Ok, then we'll just have to get the other copy."
"Other copy?" Halt asked.
"We signed two during the ceremony." she reminded him, "It's a contract. Pauline says that each party in a contract keeps a copy. At the very least their scribe would know what it said. So who has the other copy?" this time she raised an eyebrow at him.
"That would be Duncan. The marriage contract was only between Araluen and Arrida, the other countries weren't able to take part in those negotiations." Selethen explained.
"That makes things easier then." Halt said, "Duncan owes us. There's no way he'll deny us access to the contract and if he did, we could just set Pauline or Cassandra on him."
Nel laughed, her boys cracking a smile beside her.
"At least now we have some sort of plan, but how are we getting to Araluen?" Selethen asked.
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't we just send a messenger pigeon? It's much faster." Nel looked at him in confusion.
"And risk him following through on those threats while we wait for a response? Not likely. We're leaving, preferably to Araluen, without Atanyan knowing. At least until it's too late to stop us."
"Well luckily I happen to know of a ship bound for Toscana in the morning." Halt smirked, "I'm sure it won't be difficult to get the captain to go for Araluen instead."
"I thought the refugee ships were sailing back next week?"
Halt sighed, "Did you not read that report earlier?"
"It wasn't addressed to me!"
Halt's eyebrow went right back up, "So?"
"Dad!"
"It's like I taught you nothing." Halt groaned, rolling his eyes, "Work got done early and the captain's eager to leave. Says he can't stand the heat. As far as I know, it's not illegal to leave the country, so we can get passage from him."
"Sailing in the winter isn't easy." Selethen pointed out, "It's not as bad as it is up north, but we'll be in for a tough trip nonetheless."
"I don't think we have a choice." she sighed, already grimacing at the thought of a boat.
"I'll go make the arrangements then. Start packing, we'll leave at dawn." Halt said, leaving a minute later.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but your dad might be a saint." Selethen said, relaxing against the cushions, "Helping without pushing for the full story?"
"He's good like that." she smiled, leaning against him, "Are you really ok with going to Araluen?"
"I wouldn't have suggested it if I had a problem with it."
"Ok, just making sure."
"Hey, is everything ok?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"I should be asking you that."
"You know what I mean." he huffed.
"Just thinking." she muttered.
"About what?"
"It's silly." she sighed, "But Aloom told me that you were supposed to marry Cassandra. Everyone expected it. Everyone in Arrida knew the treaty would end in marriage."
"Yes, and?" Selethen sounded very confused.
"And so why didn't Atanyan bring you to the negotiations?" she asked, "He had to send for you to come separately. If he knew you were going to get married to seal the treaty, why did he leave you behind in Arrida?"
"I…don't know." Selethen realized, "He never said."
"And, in Araluen, he never brought up marriage until the night before the treaty was signed. If he was so concerned about uniting the countries and us having a child, wouldn't the arranged marriage be one of the first things to discuss?"
"What exactly are you suggesting?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't make any sense." Nel groaned.
Selethen pulled her close, "We'll figure it out, I promise."
She smiled, "I know, but we should start packing. We have to be up before dawn."
"Something I'm sure you're looking forward to," he joked.
Nel just rolled her eyes. At least he was feeling better.
Ok, totally wasn't planning on posting a chapter today, but I got off work early and decided to take advantage of that fact. The next couple weeks are still insanely busy and I'm not sure how much longer I can ignore the pained cries of my other story begging to be updated, so I have no clue when the next chapter will be up. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!
Random Arasel Tidbit:
Nellie forgets to cut her hair. All the time. She doesn't have long hair because she likes it, she just legit forgets to get it cut.
Sel is the opposite. He has a regular appointment to get his hair cut because he can't stand it being any longer than it currently is as it is both itchy and distracting.