"What happened? Is there something wrong?" Loras asks once the medic calls them back inside."No, Your Majesty. Quite the opposite. The young lady is in great shape, but from now on I recommend bed rest for as long as possible and to adapt her diet to one rich in milk and vegetables. Trying avoiding fats and too much sugar.""Is it something wrong with her diet? I told you, you eat too little!" Tamara asks the medic and then turns to scold Astrid in one breath."Her diet should change, Your Grace as it's important for the child in her womb to get everything they need." The medic explains."Child? What child? Are you pregnant? Tamara bursts out in shock and then turns to the medic. "Why didn't you start with that?!""Forgive me, Your Grace. Usually, it's the mother that wants to give the news herself, but I can understand the shock might be too fresh for the lady now." She turns to the king. "Congratulations, Your Majesty! May God give us a healthy prince or princess!"Loras is just as

The next morning comes painfully slow as Astrid finds herself unable to sleep again. The avalanche of mixed feelings, fears and hopes is taking over every time she dares to close her eyes. At her side, Loras is peaceful, with his closed eyes and relaxed face, the king almost looks like he's smiling.She brushes the tip of her fingers over the lines of his face. She does this so often when she can not sleep. It is so relaxing. To feel him, to take in all the small details about his gorgeous face, to reassure herself that he is real and he is sitting right next to her. Sometimes everything feels like a mirage. Especially at night, when everything is quiet, and there is nothing chaotic going on... it's easy to wonder if everything is real. Because her life does feel like a fairy tale. She was a simple girl, another face in the crowd that wouldn't command a second look, then she lost everything, she wasn't even a simple girl anymore, she was a nobody, a slave among hundreds of others. And

"Astrid! That's enough! The medic said that you have to move around in order for the... for it to come out! It will rot inside you!" Tamara shouts, pulling the blanket off Astrid.She doesn't even want to hear it. She feels horrible now, she can't even imagine how she will feel trying to get into labor to deliver a dead baby. No way! Plus, there is no point! After Loras heard that she didn't want the baby, he just stopped caring. And she can't blame him, but it still hurts like hell."Astrid!"The princess groans at her lack of success and storms out of the room.It's been like this for three days. She will give up eventually. She will distance herself and at some point, she will stop caring. And Astrid would die, without love or affection around her. Just like her child died.It feels so weird to think about those words. They've been spinning around her head since it happened, and they still feel unnatural. Her child died. The child that she didn't even think she wanted, died. And it

"Ben?!" Astrid runs into the house followed closely by her little brother. She ruined his stone castle, trying to play with it and now the boy is after her for revenge. "Help! Mars will kill me!"Ben doesn't ask any questions. Her big brother, who is always on her side, never does. He just drops the fire logs he was holding and picks her up, lifting her up on his shoulders. He is very tall and for little Astrid she feels like being at the top of the world, where no one can hurt her."Astrid! I will cut your hair for this! You will look like a boy! You are flat like one anyway!" Their little brother, Mars, comes running in with a pair of rusty scissors in his hands. They are the scissors their mother uses to trim the bushes in the garden."Mars! Didn't mother forbid you from playing with those? You up for a beating, idiot?" Ben kicks him in the stomach, throwing him on the floor like a sack of potatoes. "Are you a baby? If you have the energy to play with rocks, go to the mill and help

"Ben, please. Let's just talk for a moment.." Astrid pleads with him, but her brother looks at her like she just grew another head. "Please...""Astrid, this may be our only chance...""But I don't want to leave.""You... want to stay here? Because of the child? There are ways to get rid of it. And sister, if you want to keep it we can find a way to do that too, but we need to run away first.""Ben! Listen to me for a second! I do not want to leave! Now sit down and let's talk!" Astrid loses it and snaps at her brother. He looks at her in shock, but he sits down on the bed. "How are you alive?"He clears his voice, looking away. The memories clearly pain him and he doesn't want to recall them but he knows he must."That beast knocked me out. When I opened my eyes... everyone... Mother, father... all our brothers... they were laying there. Slaughtered by the brutes that took you. I could still hear you scream and cry. I tried to crawl to the door, but I couldn't feel my body, the world