Chapter Sixteen....Empire of Three (continued)
Andromache had finally managed to sit up, propped up on pillows and had dutifully sipped at the water Timo had
brought for her. Without the rocking of the boat or the cloying smells of medicine and sickness, she seemed to be
doing fairly well. Shaky. But fairly well. Gingerly, she touched her stomach. Awed and torn between being amazed
at the life inside her and the fact that that life had tried to make her sick enough that she'd thought her own was
ending. She still wasn't sure she was willing to entirely believe that she was pregnant. It didn't seem real.
The door opened and she looked over. And suddenly nothing else in the world mattered. Smile breaking into a grin
that became a laugh she raised her arms for her husband.
Hector rushed over to her bedside and into her arms, embracing her tightly before he backed off. "Sorry, sorry." He
said, but grinning. After all, an hour before they had both thought she was near death. He shouldn't be squeezing
her so tightly and that was the end of that story!
Suddenly she seemed a whole lot more fragile and breakable now that apparently she was carrying his child. He
sat down carefully on the edge of the bed, so as to not disturb her. "So I guess we can call off the funeral plans
now?" He said, still smiling like this was the happiest day in the world. Which it was. It even eclipsed their wedding
day, which he didn't think was possible.
Andromache laughed again when Hector pulled her into his arms. Both for the joy and for the release of all the
tension and fear and worry. She took his hand when he sat down, twining her long fingers through his and
grinning. Like an idiot no doubt, but so was her husband. The swoop from death to a new life was a bit heady.
And she was carrying his child...
The thought alone was enough to make her pale face soften and her eyes glow with an inner contentment. Their
child...
"I might not have gotten you out of that parade after all." she teased.
"That I know. I could see it in my father's face, he's planning one right now." Hector said with a grin and stroked her
pale face with his free hand. "are you okay? Really okay?" She looked better, but that might just be from an inner
glow that he couldn't miss, one that mirrored his own.
But sometimes, also just knowing what was 'wrong' was enough to make someone feel better, because it removed
the specter of mystery that would surround their ailment
"We should send messengers to your father."
That brought another hiccup of a laugh. The thought of telling her father. Or more honestly, her multiple sisters.
She was suddenly glad they hadn't found out until she was safely back in Troy. Not that they wouldn't, that the
entire family short of one, wouldn't be delighted that she was pregnant. She just... didn't want to think about the
celebrations she would have been subjected too. The thought made her eyes go wide and she looked back at her
husband.
"Your father knows?" Which was a silly question because of course he must by now. And already be planning
celebrations that would make their wedding look mundane.
She wasn't called on to make as many appearances and rides through the city at every given opportunity the way
Hector was. The few she had been on were mostly smiles and waves and cheerful voices and she hadn't minded.
"Is there a back way into the palace?" she asked entirely seriously.
"Father was the one who told me." Hector said. "He's got it all planned, I think all we have to do is comply, with the
whole parade, national holiday, celebration thing. I think he's even picked out a name already, which we'll probably
hate anyway." He chuckled.
"There's a way back into the palace from here, but its a bit of a hike." He said. "Can we move you? Are we
supposed to?" He was back into unknown territory now, but at least as scary as it was, it was better than where he
had been.
"If the alternative is lugging myself around in a chariot and having to stop every hundred feet to lose what little I've
gotten down, you bet I can walk." Andromache stated, putting her hands on either side of the bed as if that was just
what she intended to do. She felt shaky and tired and still a little sick. But even then she would have endured. For
her father in law and to make him happy. It was the thought of getting sick in front of all of Troy that put the
strength into her determination not to however.
"Nonsense." Hecuba stepped forward, well aware she'd been quite forgotten by both her son and daughter in law.
"I'll speak to Priam. You're going to stay right here. Until evening when its cooler and you've had some time to rest.
Then we're going to send you back to your room in a nice, comfortable palanquin." She saw the look on her
daughter's face and thought that, several years of living with her oldest son had certainly rubbed off on the girl.
"And there will be no arguments about it." She fixed her son with a stern look. "I expect you to help me with this,
Hector."
"Oh absolutely." Hector said with a serious face. "There's no possible way that she can go tromping around Troy,
being exposed to all those people and smells and the like. I completely agree." He said, nodding at his mother.
Then he grinned and picked her up.
"Which is why I'll carry her in the hidden ways you know I know, and you know I know you don't know." He said and
winked at his mother.
"Hector!" his mother protested, surprised enough to forget to hide it.
Andromache, in her husband's arms where she belonged, wound her arms around his shoulders and rested her
face against the side of her throat with a "gods, I love you" that was probably only half faked desperate relief.
"Make sure she eats, at least a little, every couple of hours, whether she wants to or not. And she needs liquids.
Lots of them. Don't let her give you back a goblet that's still half full." Timo instructed, voice calm and unruffled. Oh,
she made love charms. The kind that worked. She just didn't give them out to the silly girls that chased after her
crown prince. Not before. And certainly not since his wife had come along. She was just amused it had taken them
so long to start on babies considering how much - affection they displayed toward each other. "I'll be by to check in
on her tomorrow."
"Hector!" his mother protested again without as much fire. "Really, she's just fine here too, you know?"
"Absolutely. She'll drink enough to float a boat herself, I promise." He said mock gravely nodding to Timo, who had
overseen his own birth so many years ago. "And she's better in our apartments." He said to his mother and kissed
her cheek on his way out.
He was still laughing when they made it to the back passages of the tunnels, usually used by servants to quickly
and efficiently stock and staff Priam’s many parties and country wide celebrations. But he wasn't kidding that it was
a hike, with mountains of stairs and ramps. Luckily she was light and he was in good shape.
"Mother's going to let me have it later, you know." He said with a grin.
"I'm trying to decide whether I feel more guilty about that or all the stairs you're having to carry me up."
Andromache agreed, cheek resting against him. Thinking - a child! She was going to have a child! A little bit of
her... and her husband... and entirely its own as well. She was still getting used to the idea. "But I will feel better
once we're home." she added softly. She loved her family and she loved traveling. But their apartments
overlooking Troy were precious. A world that was just theirs and exactly the way that world should be. She was
quiet for a while, tired and enjoying the feel of being safe in his arms. Both she and the child were...
"Your mother says now that I'm off the boat and in open air it should be easier." she stated after a minute. "I can't
believe with all the sisters and wives I've watched over I didn't realize what was going on sooner." She felt a bit
guilty and a bit stupid for that. But - all that they'd dealt with on their visit with her family... and it hadn't exactly been
what she'd consider 'normal' morning sickness though she'd never been on a boat for an extended voyage with a
pregnant woman before to know what 'normal' was supposed to be... She shut her eyes, lulled by the sound of his
heart. "I'm sorry I worried you." she said quietly.
“There is nothing to apologize for.” He said firmly as he climbed the innermost levels of Troy, taking the long way
around away from the kitchens. “And how were you supposed to know? My father said every woman is different,
and if there’s anyone besides Timo that should know, it would be Father.” After all, the king had twenty children!
His heart felt about to burst...a child. It was simply unbelievable news, especially since he had talked himself out of
the chance to be a father, to have little pieces of him running around, after that...unfortunate....conversation with
her mother.. “But..its good to know my streak on being obeyed hasn’t been broken yet.” He teased her as he
finally made it to the apartments without running into anyone or any strange scents. “Okay, so I’m supposed to
make sure you eat, and drink...what else?”
To say he felt a little lost was putting it lightly.