May Queen's Sister

Part Ten

(Anna's POV)

Trigger Warning: emetophobia (there are mentions of vomit)

Anna held on to Pelle's arm as their group followed the rest of the village to what seemed to be a circular platform. Anna could make out about 10 elderly looking men and women sitting around the platform, each with a flower crown on top of their heads. One of the elderly women at the front of the platform stood up, grasping everyone's attention.

"Whose that?" Anna whispered into Pelle's ear,

"That's Siv" he replied quietly, not adding anymore explanation.

Siv started addressing the crowd in Swedish, Anna being able to catch some words hear and there. Luckily, Siv seemed to have remembered that not everyone present could understand her so she switched over to English.

"Forgive me - I'm excluding the ones who aren't of Swedish tongue. Welcome to Harga, and happy midsummer! I believe it is the hottest and brightest that we've had in at least a decade, and this is our biggest party in almost a century! so - wow, yah?"

Siv takes a pause, a huge smile resting upon her face as she finishes up her speech.

"All right, my fellow merrymakers. Without any further blathering - let's raise our glasses and let our Nine- Day Feast begin! Skal!"

"Skal!" the crowd cheered back.

Anna felt a wave of sickness wash over as the crowd drank their drinks, not wanting to make a scene she tugged on Pelle's sleeve. She was glad she didn't need to tell him what was wrong as she felt if she opened her mouth it wouldn't be words that would be coming out. She noticed Pelle make a motion for Dagny to come over, saying something in Swedish when she rushed over. Dagny didn't reply but just took Anna's hand, leading her away from the group towards one of the bigger building on the compound.

Once inside, Anna took notice of the multiple beds filling the building as Dagny walked her over to one of the beds and motioned her to lay down.

"Is this your house?" Anna asked

"yes and no" she replied as she walked to the other side of the "house" before returning with a bucket, placing it on the floor beside Anna's bed.

"It is not just mine, everyone younger than 32 sleeps here and then we move"

"Why 32?" Anna asked,

She than felt a wave of nauseous rush over her, grabbing the bucket in the nick of time. She made a mental note in that moment that any future kids can be carried by Pelle. 

Dagny just rubbed Anna's back, helping her lie back when she no longer had a death grip on the bucket.

"To answer your question; we think of life like the seasons. You are a child until you're 16, and that is the Spring. At some point we all do our pilgrimage, and that's between 17 and 32. That's Summer. Then, from 33 to 52, you're working age - Fall. And finally from 53 to 72, you become a mentor, Winter."

Anna knew some information about the pilgrimage part as Pelle had told her more about when they started to become serious. However, when Anna would ask him if he planned on going back after his pilgrimage was done or was going to stay, he would always divert. After a while Anna just stopped asking letting it be lost to the back of her mind. But ever since she found out about her pregnancy it was creeping it's way back to the forefront. 

Would Pelle stay where they currently are or would this pregnancy make him want to go home even more. She could see him wanting them to raise their child with his family, here where he grew up. But she could also see the benefits of raising their child back home, the place were they met, where her friends and sister lived. What if this broke them apart? She knew Pelle wasn't the type of person try and go for full custody but how would joint work especially if they lived in different countries?

Anna immediately reached for the bucket, hoping she threw up the worries that were invading her mind.

"I'm going to get you some water and a cold towel, you just stay here" Dagny told her,

Anna nodded, "Would you mind if I take a little nap?"

"Take as long a nap as you'd like" Dagny chuckled, "I'll even make you some broth for when you wake up."

"You don't need to" Anna mumbled, her eyelids feeling heavier,

"It's no trouble, besides you probably want to avoid solid foods until your stomach settles," Dagny explained as she made her way to the door, "I know that was the case when Vera was pregnant."

Anna wasn't sure if she heard Dagny correctly, did she know she was pregnant? 

Anna just hoped it was a figment of her imagination as she close her eyes and drifted to sleep.

Author's Note: Hey everyone! sorry it took so long for the update, life's just been a bit crazy. The craziness has died down a bit so I plan to get a couple of chapter out soon. The next chapter though I was wondering do you guys want it from the group's perspective after Anna left? or should it just be picked up after Anna wakes up?