Victor Rosevale's Arc

Chapter 15 of 18

Victor dropped the shift the next morning. He told the kitchen master he was needed at home. The man grunted and marked the slate. Victor walked back through the gate with the sun still low and the coin pouch a little lighter. Sable was awake when he came in. She had the fire going and a pan on the coals. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "You are early," she said. "I am done for the day." She smiled and pushed a plate at him. Eggs, bread, a wedge of hard cheese. He sat and ate all of it. He had not finished a full plate in weeks. When he was done she took the plate away and set a mug of water in his hand. "Drink that. Then sit." He drank it. He sat. The days that followed settled into something he had forgotten. He worked one shift instead of two. He came home while the light was still good. He ate what Sable put in front of him and did not argue. At night he lay in the bed beside her instead of on the bench by the fire. Her belly pressed against his side under the blanket. He slept without waking. Seraphina came on the fourth day to check on Sable. The elf midwife set her satchel down and put her hands on Sable's stomach with the same quiet care she always used. She listened. She pressed. She asked Sable three questions and got three short answers. Then she looked at Victor. She looked at him a long time. "Better," Seraphina said. "Your color is back. Keep doing what you are doing." "The baby?" "Still turned. But strong. Sable is strong." She picked up her satchel. "Two more weeks of this and you will both be ready." She left. Sable crossed the room and sat down in his lap on the bench. She was heavier than she used to be and she did not care. She put her arms around his neck. "See," she said. "I see." "Say it." "You were right." She grinned. She kissed him. He held her there and felt the shape of the child between them.