Adrian Silvercrest's Arc

Chapter 12 of 23

The study lesson ended with Eric asleep on Aldric's shoulder. For weeks after, the house held. Then one morning Elara set down her tea and didn't pick it up again. She pressed a hand to her stomach and looked at Adrian across the table. "I think it's happened again," she said. Adrian went still. "You're sure?" "I'm sure enough." Aldric came in with Eric on his hip. He looked at Elara's face and set Eric on the floor. "How long?" "A few weeks. Maybe six." "Sit down," Aldric said. "You're grey." She sat. She did not argue, which frightened Adrian more than the news. By the end of the week she could not stand without holding the wall. By the second week she stayed in bed. Her hands shook when she lifted the cup. Aldric brought soup and she took three spoonfuls and slept. Aldric closed the bedroom door behind them in the hall. "The child has my magic. It's pulling from her. She hasn't got enough to give." "Then stop it," Adrian said. "I can't stop a child from being what it is." "Then feed it. Feed her. Take from me if you have to." Aldric looked at him. "You don't have any to take." "Then take from yourself." Aldric didn't answer. He went to the study and shut the door. Adrian sat with Elara. He held the cup to her mouth. He wiped her forehead with a wet cloth. Eric climbed onto the bed and patted her hand and said mama, and she smiled with her eyes closed. Aldric came out of the study on the third day with dark circles under his eyes. He sat on the edge of the bed and put his palm flat on Elara's stomach. His hand glowed faint blue. He held it there a long time. When he took it away he was pale as paper. "I've tied a line from me to the child," he said. "It will pull from me instead of her. It will hurt. I can hold it until she delivers." "How long?" Adrian asked. "Months." "You'll break." "I'll hold." He held. Elara's color came back within a week. She ate. She walked to the kitchen and back. Aldric grew thinner. He worked less. He slept in the chair beside the bed with his hand on her belly. The baby came in late spring. Elara delivered in their bed with Adrian holding one hand and Aldric the other. The girl cried once, sharp and clean. Her hair was white. Her eyes, when she opened them, were blue. Aldric let out a breath and slumped against the headboard. "Hope," Elara said. She was crying. "Her name is Hope." Adrian looked down at the child. White hair like his. Blue eyes like Aldric's. A pull of magic already warm against his wrist where she gripped his finger. He had made this. All three of them had. And the village would see it tomorrow.