On the Wings of Cranes [Eighty-Six: 86]

Chapter 2: Born Among Sin

Stellar Year, 2139

Sophia panted heavily, her breathing haggard, her heart beating in her ears. The muscles in her body ached.

"It's best to stop for now." She heard Grandmother say.

"No..." she took a deep breath and shook her head. "I... I can keep going."

"Too much exercise is not good for a child's body. Take a break for the rest of the day. We can begin again tomorrow."

"I..." A huff. "...I understand." Another huff.

She supposed she could use the time to read up on pregnancy and medical books father had left behind, which they were allowed to keep by the Republic's government.

Those bastards.

Someone coughed.

Sophia looked up to her grandmother.

"You are glaring."

Right. She must not let others see or hear her thoughts. Immediately, she plastered on the smile she had been practising in the mirror for the past few weeks.

"Your eyes need to be smiling too. Like your grandfather."

"Are you saying I must be a smiling fox to fool my enemies?"

"That's the idea, yes, but you are not doing a terribly good job at it."

Her smile dropped.

Brunnhilde snickered at her granddaughter's surly expression.

"I will."

"If you practice, then maybe."

"I am." She gritted out.

"Practice more."

Sophia imagined her soon-to-be-born baby sibling and curved her lips again.

She wondered what he would look like.

Brunnhilde smiled deeper. "It's a bit better."

Since she was also smiling through the pain of her body, she would take that as an improvement.

"Another thing." Grandmother started, before she took a sip of her tea. "We need to talk about your paternal family."

Sophia barely stopped herself from sneering again at the mention of the Bismarck Family, if not for Grandmother's knowing look over the rim of her teacup.

The older woman was definitely doing this on purpose.

With a roll of her eyes, Sophia dropped her forced smile and climbed onto a chair. Now her cheeks felt stiff. She gulped down the glass of water that was already on the table before turning her attention back to Grandmother.

"What do they want from us now?" she asked, almost growling.

"Nothing now." Brunnhilde said.

Sophia raised her eyebrows at the last word.

"Do you recall Celena's bloodline gift?" Grandmother asked.

"Yes. It's intimidation."

"Your biological father, Erland von Bismarck, inherited the gift." Saying nothing further, Grandmother took another sip and this time, she didn't look up.

As Sophia watched her grandmother cut into a piece of cake, she sighed internally. Ever since the flag incident, the older woman had liked to test her in this manner. Dropping hints and letting her figure the rest out.

Nonetheless, she enjoyed the challenge, so she placed a hand under her chin and began to mull over the new piece of information that had just been dropped into her lap. Intimidation was rarely ever passed down the generations in most noble houses after the fall of the Republic's Monarchy because the houses tend to mix with the more common bloodlines. The Great Nobility was a different story however. As she remembered, the Bismarck Family was one such nobility...