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“Silver,” she said. “Yes. It’s very nice.”
“In fact, add more,” said Cha
Nods of understanding were thrown around, but Cha
“No, no, none of this is good enough.” Cha
No one pointed out that she had not told them this before. But of course, they should have known before coming to this meeting. Naturally.
Levana shook her head behind her sister’s back.
The baby started crying.
Wheeling around, Cha
Levana blinked. “Me? Why me? Where’s her na
“Oh, for star’s sake, she only wants to be held.” Cha
A servant rushed forward with a glass of water, but Cha
The baby’s screams grew more fervent. Levana approached her, hesitant.
Someone clapped. “Let’s adjourn for today,” said one of the event pla
Levana stood over the child for one dread-filled moment, watching at how her face reddened and pinched, at how her chubby arms writhed against the blanket. Her tufts of dark brown hair wisped in every direction.
Though the child was seven months old and hinting every day that she was about to start crawling, Levana could still count the times she’d held her niece on one hand. There was always someone else there to take the baby, and just like with Winter, this child did not seem to be warming up to her at all.
Huffing, she squared her shoulders and crouched down, scooping up the baby as gently as she could. Standing, she nestled the child in the crook of her arm and did her best to coo comforting words at her, but the crying went on and on, little fists thumping the air, beating against Levana’s chest.
With an a
Once, she had persuaded Evret to go out on a boat with her, but he’d spent the whole time wishing he was back home with Winter, going on and on about how quickly she was growing, and speculating on what her first word might be.
That seemed like a long time ago.
In fact, it had been a long time since they’d done much of anything together.
Bouncing little Selene as gently as she could, Levana examined the face of her future queen. She wondered if this child would grow up to be as spoiled and ignorant as her mother, who cared more about the flower arrangements than political policy.
“I would be a better queen than your mother,” she whispered. “I would be a better queen than you.”
The baby continued to wail, spoiled and stupid.
There was no point thinking it, anyway. Cha
“I could drop you over this balcony, you know,” she said, cooing the words softly. “You couldn’t do anything about it.”
The baby did not respond to the threat.
“I could force you to stop crying. Would you like that?”
It was a tempting thought, one that Levana barely managed to withstand. They were not supposed to manipulate young children, as studies suggested that too much tampering when they were so tiny and impressionable could disrupt the way their brains formed.
Levana was begi
Turning, she saw that Cha
She took the baby out of Levana’s arms without preempt, without even a thank-you.
“Are you all right?” asked Levana. “You’re not dying, are you?”
Shooting a glare at her, Cha
It occurred to Levana that maybe babies weren’t affected by glamours, and they all hated her because they could see what she was underneath.
“You’ve had that cough for a long time. Maybe you should see Dr. Eliot.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the queen,” Cha
“What doctors?”
“The ones that had the baby. Darnel, I think … the man is … heavens. Ancient. Sixty, maybe?”
Levana clenched her teeth. “I had heard they were expecting, yes.”
“Well—they are finished expecting. The baby was a shell.”
Eyes widening, Levana clasped a hand over her mouth. Pretending horror, but mostly to hide the bout of glee that threatened to spill out. “A shell?”
“Mm. A girl, I think. That thaumaturge went to collect her yesterday, for…” Cha
“Blood platelets. For an antidote to the disease.”
“Yes, that’s right. How can you remember all this?”
Frowning, Levana glanced down at the baby, who was now in a satiated stupor as she sucked on the bottle’s nipple. She turned back to the view of Earth, of the lake, of all the happy couples.
“A shell,” she murmured. “How embarrassing.”
“I’ve noticed that you’re not getting any larger,” said Cha
Setting her jaw, Levana didn’t respond.
“Tell me, how is wedded bliss these days? It’s been a while since I heard you wax on and on about how much you love your husband. I rather miss those days.”
“We are fine, thank you,” said Levana. Quickly realizing how very un-fine that sounded, she added, “I still love him very much. We’re quite happy together.”
Snorting, Cha
“I am not lying. He is everything I have ever wanted.”