The Fire Inside

Amoret

Camille arrived at the hospital, making the driver go around the back to avoid the stream of more reporters who will no doubt stay the night, all craning not only at the children but at her daughter, whose face still had yet to be seen by the public. A receptionist met her outside and ushered her in and up the stairs, pushing through a majority of reporters who turned to ask her questions. She kept her head up and pushed through the crowd in front of the wing, throwing open the door and closing it quickly behind her. She took a deep breath as the lights of flashing cameras faded out past the blue curtains of the antechamber. Camille composed herself before stalking over to the wing door and passing through towards Kova's bed.

    Mor sat on the bed while Elise brushed the knots from her wet hair, her light brown locks already curling at the end.

    Camille sighed in relief when she saw her, taking a deep breath and relaxing in knowing her daughter's safe. "Hey, love." Elise didn't stand because she was busy brushing Kova's hair, so she bowed her head in greeting.

    "Your Majesty."

    Mor had been fidgeting with her hands while Elise brushed her hair, but looked up at her mother's voice. "Good evening, ma'am."

    Camille sat on the edge of the bed, still adjusting to her daughter calling her ma'am. But she didn't push it, knowing Kova was taking it at her own pace. "Good evening, Kova." She set the book on the nightstand. "Did you just finish taking a bath?"

    Mor nodded, clutching the cuffs of her long-sleeved nightshirt. Maggie moved from her position at the foot of the bed to rest her head on Mor's lap. Elise noticed the movement and reached out to grab Mor's hand gently in reassurance.

    Camille also noticed the movement and gave her a gentle smile. "Hey, I'm sorry if I made you anxious. This is just as new to me as it is to you, I'm not entirely sure how to act. If I'm ever overstepping my boundaries, just let me know and I'll stop. Okay?"

    Mor nodded again. Elise finished brushing her hair and left them with a smile and a promise to return after a moment. Mor noticed as Camille grabbed the book off the nightstand. "What's that?" she asked quietly.

    "This," Camille started as she opened the book, "Is one of our family photo albums." Inside the first page was a picture of a twenty-three-year-old Camille holding a baby in her arms. "This was taken the morning Damien was born." She pointed to it, then continued flipping, explaining pictures of Damien growing up, to age five.

    "Here," Camille flipped the page again, "is a picture of you when you were just born." Mor stared at it intensely.

    Camille had been right. Even right when she was born and her mother was holding her, baby Kova already had a little cord hanging out of the blanket she was swaddled in, stuck to where her heart was. Tubes came out of her nose too. "You see," Camille said gently, "you were born two and a half months early, so you were a tiny little thing and your heart kept skipping beats. On top of that, both you and Damien didn't have great health when you were born. They had to be really careful."

    Mor touched the picture slightly. "Is that what this is for?" she asked, pointing to the cord.

    "Yes. It was placed on your heart to monitor beats." Camille flipped the page and showed the next picture. "This here is the first time Damien held you. It..." She paused. "...it was about two days before you went missing."

    "Did I get better before I...was gone?"

    "Mostly." Camille rubbed Kova's back. "After eleven days your heart had stabilized enough to take the cord off, but you were still on close watch in the nursery." Her heart stuttered. "The nurse that was attending to you the night you went missing, we found out that she'd taken you from there. It was...it was awful." Camille looked down, pressing her hand to her mouth. She was fighting tears at this point but tried to press on. Kova clearly didn't know what to do, but she tried to comfort her mother by patting her hand. Camille grasped her daughter's hand tightly before going on. "When you were taken," she tried to compose herself, "I was so scared. You still had to be under close care, but we didn't even know where you'd gone. It was just terrifying." She pulled Kova close to her chest, wiping at her eyes. Kova sat there, awkwardly holding herself in the embrace before hesitantly wrapping her arms around her mother's waist. "I'm sorry, you don't need to see me cry. It's not important to dwell on the past. You're here with us now, that's all that matters."