"Aside from some bruising, she's okay. However, she's also pregnant," said Gwyn to me, and the room seemed to shiver around us.
"The Bride of the Serpent," I whispered.
"There's some sort of Pattern effect which is disrupting my abilities, so I can't..." Gwyn trailed off as I looked away. The sum of all fears... I was quiet, though I am certain my mood washed across my face as quickly as a summer squall.
The awkwardness was put to an end by the muted explosion that came from the room; rushing in, our Uncle Bleys was gasping for air and the guards Benedict had left were unconscious in a heap on the floor. Better yet, the collar lie in pieces on the floor. Just that symbol gave me some small hope, but still... this whole situation screamed trap at me.
I helped Bleys up, and he recovered quickly enough. We turned in unison to find Gwyn holding a pouch containing Ciro's prizes. Gwyn looked at me and we both knew that this smelled of a trick.
"Bleys, can you make sure... she's okay, in her mind?"
My uncle set to work for a long while as I pulled three Jewels from the leather sack. Blue, white, and green. All four now in the same place. This was not good, not by a longshot. And in order for them to go back where they belong... Glancing at Bailey, I remembered Ivory and Trumped Gen.
*****
Without too much in the way of questions (for Gen), she, Bishop, and the others left to replace the Jewel of Life. I had given the white Jewel to Benedict along with Gwyn, who, though irritated, gave me a sympathetic look.
"The child is yours, Quentin," said an exhausted Bleys, mopping sweat from his brow. "Ciro threatened the life of the child if Bailey did not comply. He also killed her mother to prove he'd do it. She is Bailey, nothing more nor less."
I nodded, and thanked him. My heart was pounding in my chest, but there was still some questions that needed to be answered before I could shake the darkness from my soul. For his help, I gave Bleys the final Jewel to hold until such a time as we could put it back where it belonged. An then I was left alone there, watching her sleep. How long ago, exactly, was it? She was sitting there, looking anxious; I had come in, still freaked from my Tir experience, and then saving her at the Gate... I had tried to take her out for dinner...
Do not hope, Quentin. Hope allows for disappointment and despair. Hope makes you weak, allows your enemies to defeat you. Ciro had you because of your concern. He made you jump, knowing it should have killed you. In fact, if you were smart, you'd cut your losses and
Bailey woke.
*****
"He told me you were dead."
"For a while, maybe. I thought the same of you."
Her eyes looked at me with equal measures of disbelief and suspicion, and I think I may have looked the same, as we began sending out emotional feelers towards the other. She told me how Ciro had held the life of her mother and her -- our child over her, but she was able to hide the Jewels somehow. I filled her in on what had happened, walking over to her. "I was just hoping... that you hadn't been... things hadn't... changed."
"Haven't they?" she said, looking at me.
"What?"
"Do you still love me, Quentin?"
"I jumped into the Abyss for you, Bailey..."
"Quentin..."
"I love you, Bailey. I always have, and I always will." I was barely able to get the last word out before she leapt into my arms, sobs wracking her body, and I held her there for a long, long, while.
*****
Sarah needed to be pried from behind my leg, but she and Bailey seemed to interact well enough, especially when kittens are thrown into the mix. I don't think I quite got around to the exact story of finding Sarah before we were all over each other, but I'm sure that will keep for later.
*****
"Sometimes I have to remind myself I'm not dreaming."
"Not a dream," I said softly. "Bailes... I... thought you were... and I looked... I tried *so* hard..."
"You went into the Abyss after me?" she said, smiling at me.
"But... I came back out without you, and I came back, and I gave... I told myself you were gone. It was Luke that found you, not me." I looked away. "I thought you were dead. I... gave up."
"Quentin, I don't blame you." She pulled my chin down to look me straight in the face. "And I believed Ciro when he told me you were dead."
I tried to describe to her the depths of what I was feeling, then. "And when Luke Trumped me, having found you, I could only think that this was the trap, to send you back to me. Which is why when you first woke I didn't run to you, gather you in my arms and not let go... I was so suspicious, I didn't trust enough in you to know... that you would have done exactly what you had to do." A pause. "I don't say this much," I chuckled. "You've humbled me, love. Can you forgive me for these things?"
"If you can forgive me for what I almost did."
"Already done," I said softly, kissing her forehead. "And I promise I will never give up on you again."
"Nor I you, especially given the extra motivation..." She smiled, patting her abdomen.
I chuckled. "It's rather... shocking to me that yesterday I was wondering if I could live anymore without you, and now, we're having a child..."
"Are you... okay with this?"
Another soft smile. "I can't think of a better mother for my children. Though I might ask you the same question..."
"Not exactly a role I'd seen for myself," she said, chuckling, "but it's growing on me."
"You mean *in* you. I might have a problem if you were reproducing nonsexually."
She dissolved in a spate of giggles at that. "How do you think Sarah is going to feel about this?" she asked when she finally stops laughing.
I shrugged. "I've only come to know her for the last few days, but I'd be willing to guess that she'll be okay with it, as long as in all of the things that will happen she's not forgotten about."
"She's a very sweet girl. Not at all like her father."
"Yes, she must have gotten that from the prostitute side of the family." I immediately cringed at my sarcasm. "Tell me I didn't say that."
"Said what?"
"Thanks. I'm hoping that when things settle down here, I'll have the opportunity to properly attend to my domestic obligations."
"Good, because you are going to share in diaper duty." She poked me in the side.
I snorted. "A Prince of Amber does *not* change diapers."
"Oh, really? Well, *your highness*, then perhaps conjugal relations should be terminated so you don't run the risk of more diapers to change in the future..." Her smile betrayed her.
"You fight dirty, my dear."
"Given the subject matter..."
"Wrong dirty," I said, kissing along her collarbone. "But I'll do what I can, 'Mommy'."
She slipped her arms about my neck. "That just sounds so... strange."
"You're sure you're okay with it? I mean, I'd entertained the idea of this after having wed you... but circumstances always arise."
"Indeed they do..." She was quiet for a long moment. "When I first learned of it, I was terrified, though that was a much because of the situation I was in as this." Bailey patted her abdomen. "But when I thought you dead, and thought that this child would be all I had of you... I wouldn't have given it up for anything... almost."
"And you wonder how I could not love you."
"I was afraid... that you wouldn't anymore, after what happened."
I sighed softly and leaned back against the headboard. "When I came out of the Abyss without you, I had reached the depths of despair. I could only hope you had found peace in death, because the alternatives were worse. In my dreams you returned to me, but you... were no longer you. When I heard that Bishop found the Jewel of Life missing, I knew inside that it was you -- and it only confirmed my thought that you had been... corrupted, somehow. And when Luke and I found you, I thought, well, she hasn't been corrupted, but made to do what she did."
I closed my eyes. "For a while I was angry, because I could not understand why you would have helped Ciro, even if you had to die not to. I couldn't imagine an excuse. But when you told me..."
"I think I can understand it now because of Sarah."
I looked at her again. "This is why I asked your forgiveness. My short time without hope almost twisted me heart irrepairably. But when you woke, and we talked -- I felt the heavy weights and burdens on my soul lift. You redeem me yet again."
There was a pause, and then I chuckled. "That's as existential as I get."
She smiled a wan smile. "Are the others going to be as understanding?"
"They'd better. I'm sure those who count will understand."
"And you'll beat up those who don't?" she chuckled.
"Not worth the effort, my dear."
I tried to tell her then of the things that had happened to me, and I mentioned the Abyss.
"What... what happened, there?"
"It is a long and somewhat disturbing story, I will warn you. I will tell it to you, but I want you to be prepared." She nodded solemnly, and I began the recollection. "I hobbled along, when I was encountered by... what I can only guess was the... spirit... of Brand."
"How...?"
"He said that the Serpent had taken his physical body and left what was left to drift there. From the conversations we had over the next week or so, I had little reason to doubt that it was really him."
She looked as if someone had punched her in the gut. "He's been trapped in there, all this time..." Her voice was small, almost child-like.
"I believe that he considers that his punishment for what he had done. I asked him about leaving, but he did not think he would have anywhere to go if he was able to leave. It was hard to read how he really felt about things, unless we were discussing you."
"How did he seem, then?"
"Concerning you, or otherwise?"
"Both." I couldn't read her expression.
"Well... he no longer seemed driven mad by whatever had propelled him to do what he had during Patternfall. He was very... sarcastic? His tongue was sharp, sharper than mine." A pause. "When we discussed you, he... mellowed. His last words to me, before I escaped, were to tell you, should I find you... that he loved you."
There was a long silence before she began to cry, and I pulled her into my arms and held her again.
"I never really got over his leaving," she eventually sniffled. "And now, knowing this..."
"I know. I could have not told you, but... that would be a lie to you both."
"I'm glad to know, in some ways. Things make... sense, now."
I kissed the top of her head. "How do you mean?"
"I always felt, deep down, that he wasn't really gone."
"I sometimes think my mother is watching, sometimes, especially when I'm doing something she'd disapprove of. Perhaps this is the nature of things."
She laughed a bit. "I think that's a guilty conscience."
"Maybe. Not ever having much of one, I've had to depend on others to help me out in that regard. I think you're doing a good job."
"So I will have 2 kids to keep tabs on, then."
"Perhaps. Unless you want, like, a whole brood." I grinned.
"Let's see how this one goes," she commented dryly. "Remember who has to give birth to them..."
"Yeah, but who's gonna have to make the late-night trips into shadow to get you pickles and ice cream?"
Bailes made a face. "I still think my pain will outweigh yours."
"Yeah, well, you're probably right. Guess you'll just have to be pampered for the next 9 months or so to make up for that."
She stretched. "Now *that* I like the sound of."
"I knew you would. Of course, considering everything happening around us right now, I might have to hold of on the pampering and wedlock and such. But I won't forget, I promise."
"Is this all the proposal I'm going to get?" She smiled.
"How about I Trump Benedict, get the white Jewel from him and glue it to a ring?"
"How about not." She looked faintly uneasy at that suggestion.
"I was kidding."
"I'm sorry. Being near those things just makes me... uneasy, now."
I hugged her. "You're perfectly justified in that feeling. Would getting down on one knee and begging for your hand in marriage help cheer you?"
She grinned wickedly. "Just the thought of you on your knees begging would be cheering."
I hopped over the side of the bed to my knees. "How's this for a start?"
"Very good," she laughed.
"Marry me, baby."
"On one condition."
Uh oh. "Which is?"
Her smile lit up the room. "No more jumping into Abysses."
I chuckled, faked a sigh, and shook my head. "Fine. You take away all my fun."
"Yes, Quentin, I will marry you."
I raised my hands. "Gooooooooal!"
She laughed, and pulled me back into the bed, and I gathered her into my arms. "Thank you, love. For all things," I whispered.
"Thank you. For all you have done for me." She held me tightly as we slept.
*****
I was woke by the sound of a horse clomping in the hallway and a pounding at the door. Bailey was dead to the world, so I threw on some clothes and answered the door to find a very disturbed-looking Gen. The mission had gone badly; she brought the Jewel back, but the others were still in Ivory...
Ciro.
The time has come, old friend, for me to enact my vengeance. For Bailey, for Sarah, for our child, and for every other life you carelessly infect with your machinations. I can't, and won't live any more of my life with your shadow falling on us.
Now I just need to figure out what to say at the exact moment of your demise.
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