Another moon passed and yet another and many nights of passion and pleasure came with them. Exhausted from their initial festival excitement the king and queen remained active but not as wild as they had once been. However, a quarter moon passed where Julia was feeling much too tired to even get out of her bed chambers.
MinHo was growing worried, seeing how his queen was still asleep beside him when his butler came to fetch him was disconcerting... She was always out and about running the castle before he was...
That particular morning MinHo awoke once again before his wife. He sighed, motioning to the butler to hold on a moment as he leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. He was much surprised to find it slightly warm, thankfully not enough for concern, but he'd make sure to announce his findings to the maids in case it was something to fret over.
He wasn't able to leave without tracing the contours of her delicate face with his finger. Amusement flickered on his face when her eyelids twitched and he kissed them both individually before trotting out of bed and to the bathing quarters.
His kingdom awaited him, and with the discussion he had with parliament today he'd have to cast aside his concerns about his wife.
Much later, when the sun was tipping down into afternoon, Julia manager to spur herself from her slumber long enough to take in a bowl of stew and a slice of bread the maids had brought her. Even then, her nausea that she'd been hiding rose up and forced her to lose all that it provided.
"M'lady?" he called anxiously.
She hardly managed to pull herself back up onto trembling legs when the door to the room opened and MinHo strode in. He was having a boisterous conversation with a man that she knew to be JongHyun, Duke of Cheshir, but he halted immediately - in both speech and step - when he saw Julia missing from her bed. Embarrassed at being caught, Julia sprung to the door, hastily hiding herself behind a robe so the Duke wouldn't see her sleeping attire and curtsied to MinHo.
"I'm sorry my lord, it appears the maids let me over sleep again... I'm afraid I"m behind in my duties," she apologized.
But MinHo heard none of her nonsense. He forgot about his partner and moved swiftly to his wife's side, taking her hand in his.
"Your skin is warm," he commented in a murmur. One hand pressed to her forehead where he could see a thin glean of sweat beading on her tanned skin. The fine hairs at the line of her crown of hair stuck to the moisture like a beggar boy would cling to a gold coin. By then he'd really begun to stress about the state of the queen and decided to call in the doctor from the neighbouring village.
"Are you ill, m'lady?" he asked.
"There is nothing to worry about, my lord... It is simply a spell of wooziness and no more... The maid said it would pass..." Julia passed off, but even from the airiness in her tone MinHo could see that not all was right.
"Lay down m'lady; I'll send for the doctor..." With care MinHo spared for no other he guided his wife to the bed. She drifted down onto a mattress like a feather floating down to the ground, and he tucked the blankets in around her, leaving her arms free enough to do what they pleased.
"Duke, would you please fetch a maid and tell them to send word to the doctor?" MinHo asked without looking away from Julia.
"Really, you mustn’t trouble yourself with this," she begged though her eyes were closing.
The word for the doctor somehow spread throughout the kingdom until people in their homes were discussing the well-being of the queen during their evening meal.
"What do you think she has?" some asked. "Could she possibly be with heir?"
However, not even the nobles had their questions asked yet. Even MinHo, the high king, was pacing maniacally outside the doors to his chambers, flanked by the Duke and his servants and many maids who tended to the needs of his queen.
His mother was also standing nearby, and his father obviously not far off.
"You must calm down, son," his father advised. "If your heart is in a tangle, how will it strengthen hers?"
"I cannot calm when my wife is wasting away and I am helpless," MinHo muttered, eyes trailing over the stone of the floors as he moved from one side of the corridor to the other.
"It might just be her body reacting to a nuance in its habit," his mother piped in. The calmness to her voice, and the certainty, had him pausing in his rapid steps.
"What do you mean...?" he dared ask.
He watched her tweak her wedding band round her finger, purse her lips, tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and finally straighten her shoulders to face him.
"I mean, what if she is bearing child right now?"
MinHo was stunned into silence, unable to comprehend what his mother had suggested to him. Julia? With child? It was impossible... Well, not so much impossible as unlikely. After all their tries, all their attempts of passion coming out moot he would be highly surprised if something came out of it... Especially now with their hopes so low...
"Do not look so astonished son; it was bound to happen eventually," his father added.
However, MinHo was gone by then. The doctor was exiting the bed chambers of his wife, his expression not grave but not one admitting much other than an impassive interest to his clientele.
"How is she faring?" MinHo asked, stepping into the way of the doctor to assure he couldn't escape without recounting the details of his finds.
The doctor adjusted his small drunk, fingers dancing through his thinning hair and eyes staring deep into the king.
"She is not very ill, your majesty, simply suffering from a branch of your common illness. With due rest and time and the proper herbs brewed in her tea she should recover well," he informed him as well as the crowd around him.
Something in MinHo's heart sank, hearing that there was nothing to do with an heir. His parents had gotten his hopes up... Something he wouldn't be fooled by again.
"Is that all?" he asked tentatively.
"No."
"What is it? Is something else wrong?" MinHo asked, panic stripping him of his dignity.
The doctor chortled, patting the young king on the shoulder. "No, no, your majesty... But if I were you, I'd start tailoring the prince's crown to fit a head of small sizes."
With his final words he left the ensemble of nobles and working class in a mangled fit of emotions. All of them torn between euphoria at the news and, if they were MinHo, worry about the future.
