My Sister's Prince

Chapter Thirteen:

     Eulalie heaved into the chamber pot for what felt like the thirteenth time that morning. "Have I ever told you that I hate throwing up?" She called out to Elisabetta. The maid came into the dressing chamber and applied a cool wet cloth to the back of Eulalie's neck. She started dabbing at the mess around the Queen's mouth, but Eulalie pushed her hand away before she continued heaving into the porcelain bowl.

     "There there, my Queen," Elisabetta said, humming and rubbing Eulalie's back. The movements were calming, though Eulalie could feel her stomach continue to swirl. 

     "Alaric" she called out in between burps and ragged breaths. She had been up since before dawn, and she didn't know how there was anything still in her stomach to let up. Her husband had nursed her in those early morning hours, but once the palace awoke, he had to begrudgingly leave to attend to his own duties. 

     "Now, your Majesty, you know that his Highness needed to leave to start his day. You should do the same. How about we get some food in you? We need to make that little prince in your belly nice and strong, eh?" Eulalie knew Elisabetta was trying to be helpful, but she felt like ripping her head off at the suggestion of putting any kind of sustenance back into her stomach. 

     Eulalie straightened up, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "What makes you say the child will be a boy?" She rubbed a hand along her slightly swollen abdomen. In the past weeks, she had watched with glee as her midsection slowly rose. She was nearly two months along, and she had hoped that the morning sickness would subside by now. 

     Much to hers and Alaric's delight, however, the rising in her belly was beginning to reveal the child within. She would circle her hand over her abdomen and feel their child grow with glee. She never knew she could be so in love with a little bump. 

     "Don't all queens wish for an heir, my Lady?" Elisabetta asked, looking down at Eulalie with big, wide eyes. Eulalie hadn't thought about the sex of the baby much. She had become so caught up in wishing for the safety of her womb and the child within that the sex had been reduced to an afterthought.

     She thought for a moment on the matter, wondering what Alaric would think. She was sure that he hoped for a little boy, with the same perfect curls and freckled cheeks, to take his place as King when they grew old. As she stroked her belly and thought of the child within, Eulalie finally came to a conclusion.

     While she would, overall, pray for the child's health over everything, she wished for a girl. A blushing baby girl. Perhaps it was to make up for her disastrous relationship with her mother or to have a young daughter to keep her company throughout her day, she wasn't sure. In this world that had entirely belonged to her husband, one that she had married into, a baby girl that was all hers seemed to fill her heart with joy. 

     Alas, all of this was wishful thinking. She wouldn't know the sex of the baby for months until the birth, and there was plenty to do to prepare for their arrival until then. She had mostly stayed in her rooms these past weeks, so overcome with sickness and fatigue that leaving to look to her duties seemed trivial. She could hardly walk out through her bedroom door without that familiar wave of sickness hitting her. 

     In the past few days, the sickness had let up, much to her relief. She was expected in the throne room that afternoon for a meeting of the royal family. She groaned as she thought about sitting in front of her mother-in-law for the event. Eulalie knew that Violet wished she wasn't pregnant. If her plan of poisoning her with the cotton root tea had worked, Alaric would have had cause to annul the marriage, or worse, take up a mistress to replace Eulalie so that the kingdom may be provided with an heir. 

     What Violet did was unforgivable. Favor against Eulalie was already rife throughout the kingdom over the strange "switch" of the Fennelwick sisters before the wedding. The Queen-Mother wasn't the only one who wished that Eulalie wasn't here. The court was filled with like-minded vipers that would give anything to see her gone. 

     A love match for a marriage was an incredibly dangerous thing, Eulalie understood that. For courtiers who positioned their female relatives towards the king for favor in their own private affairs, their efforts would turn up fruitless thanks to Eulalie's presence. The king would be less interested in diplomatic or military missions as they meant less time away from his own wife. 

     The Queen, when loved by her husband as Eulalie so clearly was, was much more powerful than anyone at court knew what to do with.

     Good.

     Eulalie began to dress for the day, with the help of  Elisabetta and Muriel, who had joined them in the room. 

     As she was helped by firm hands into the silk cream dress, Eulalie, who had stepped into that same dress so many times before, noticed something was off. 

     Inspected her figure in the mirror, Eulalie noticed that the bodice of the familiar dress had been altered so that her ballooned midsection was on full display. More than that, layer upon layer of fabric had been gathered around her womb to make her bump appear even larger than it already was. "Elisabetta, what's the meaning of this?" She questioned, turning to her concerned maid.

     The girl stuttered for a moment, confused by the Queen's reaction. "Do you not like it, m'Lady? She told me that you would..." Contemplatively, Elisabetta tapped her chin with a small finger.

     Though she knew automatically who it could've been, Eulalie asked anyway. "Who did? What did she say?"

     This time, Muriel chimed in, hope in her voice. "The Queen Mother, your Highness. She asked us to alter the dress in order to better accentuate...your condition. She said all ladies love showing off their wombs. She asked us to keep it a surprise, my Lady." 

     It was true, Eulalie loved her little bump and the mysterious little person it held within. On the other hand, she had been wanting to keep her pregnancy as private as possible. She could've worn her other dresses for another month at least without her bump being on display such as it is today. She was worried about what this could mean for her baby. Would her bump put an even bigger target on her back amongst those very same vipers at court?

     Rushing through the rest of her routine, she stormed out of her room with her mind at war with itself. She was about to stomp all the way over to the Queen Mother's quarters when she heard a voice from behind her. 

     "Your Majesty!" Violet called. She must have been waiting by the door to Eulalie's room. In Eulalie's anger, she likely stormed right by her. 

     "You!" Eulalie exclaimed, earning looks of shock from the courtiers that surrounded them. She grabbed at her dress, "what is this? Why did you do this?" 

     "Do you not like it, my Queen? I remember how proud I was to show off my own womb when I was carrying King Alaric in my belly. Why are you trying to hide your condition from the public? Have you something to be ashamed of? An indiscretion, perhaps?" She flicked a manicured eyebrow up, and just like that, Eulalie could see the rumor mill going to work. Courtiers began whispering behind fans and raised hands, and all eyes seemed to be on her, or rather, her stomach.

     Her cheeks reddened. Of course she had nothing to hide, and she told as much to her poisonous mother-in-law. "How dare you-" 

     "I thought it best for the security of the kingdom that your bountiful womb be on full display. That the kingdom watches your child grow just as you do. We need shows of strength, such as this, in order to protect the monarchy. I'm sure you understand, as Queen, your Highness." Every word the interrupting woman spoke seemed to drip with duplicitousness and hatred. 

    Eulalie was speechless. Her head was suddenly throbbing, and she felt the familiar urge to heave once again. An idea popped into her head, and before the rational side of her mind could rebuke it, she acted.

    Eulalie, the Queen of Absalon, bent over in a flash and released the contents of her stomach all over the Queen Mother's shoes and that abhorrent dress. When she finished, she looked up to Violet with a devilish smile. 

     "You were saying?" She teased as she wiped her mouth with her hand.