How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 43 - The Picture Of Happiness

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We returned to our perfect life.

Or perhaps we simply became skilled at pretending that the six months without her had never happened.

No one spoke of the corpse that had worn my wife's jewellery, nor did they mention the empty grave bearing her name. Her belongings simply returned to their proper places, her laughter sounded within the palace halls once again, and each night, she slept beside me.

Ria kept her word. She said we could begin again, and so we did.

Several weeks after our return, she gave birth to our second son, Ambrosius.

When they placed him in her arms, I could not speak for several moments. Six months ago, I had believed I would never see her again. Now she sat beside me with another son against her chest, alive and exhausted, while the child I had never known existed opened his eyes upon the world.

She rested against the pillows with him held to her chest, her loose hair clinging to her face while I sat beside her, one hand curved protectively around our son's head. 

He was smaller than Evan had been, his tiny fists clenched as though he had already decided that entering this world had been a personal insult.

"He looks angry." Ria murmured, playing with locks of his darkened hair.

"He has been dragged into a world where his every action will be judged by ugly old men. His anger is justified." A tired laugh escaped her as I leaned down to kiss her temple. 

And to think that I had almost lost this.

The thought came without warning, darkening a moment that should have held nothing but joy. Had I arrived at that village any later, she might have given birth, another person might have held her hand, and someone else might have heard my son's first cry all while I remained hundreds of miles away, believing them all to be dead.

My arm tightened around her before I could stop it, and she noticed.

"I am here." She whispered as I looked at her, though her own eyes remained on Ambrosius as she gently traced one finger over his cheek. Whether she intended those words as comfort or a reminder, I did not know.

A quiet knock sounded at the door before Ria's friend, Balbina, entered with Evan in her arms. He had spent much of the morning trying to force his way inside our chambers despite being repeatedly told to wait. 

The moment he saw us, he began wriggling so fiercely that Balbina barely managed to lower him safely to the floor.

"Mama!" He hurried towards the bed, only to stop when he noticed the bundle resting against her chest, and his excitement gave way to suspicion, but Ria simply smiled, extending one hand towards him.

"Come and meet your brother."  I reached down and lifted him onto the bed, settling him carefully between us as he leaned towards Ambrosius who continued to sleep, unaware that he was being inspected.

"He is very small." Evan eventually pointed out.

"He will grow. Just as you did." Ria responded as his brows drew together, but thankfully, his attention quickly returned to the baby as he reached out before hesitating, fingers hovering uncertainly above Ambrosius's head.

"May I touch him?" He asked.

"Gently." So he placed one finger against his brother's cheek to which Ambrosius stirred, turning instinctively towards the touch before opening his mouth in a wide yawn. Evan immediately drew back, startled, then burst into delighted laughter.