Once Thèadan’s face was completely covered with the healing mud, save for his lips around his eyes, Baiza wiped her hands clean of the mud with the towel in her lap. She took her time, cleaning off each individual finger while she watched the mysterious Mes’Mo’Tanian stretch his arms out and relax in the cool mud. He was an attractive man to be sure, but was riddled with scars that caused her to wonder just all he had been through in life. It was untoward to ask however, and Baiza remained silent until Théadan finally spoke again and agreed to explain how he had met the duchess. Hearing he had met her outside Vanam brought a confused frown to Baiza’s lips; she had assumed they had met in Mes’Mo’Tan. The announcement of his full name did not do much to change her expression, nor did the revelation of his title. She had not known the surname of the Mes’Mo’Tanian royals, but his royalty made sense with the way he held himself and spoke so properly in the common tongue. She could only assume Mes’Mo’Tan was like Khlurios, where only the nobles knew the common tongue.<br/><br/>Théadan’s admittance it was he who had stolen the duchess from her home and away from Khlurios floored her. Baiza stared at the outsider to her world, shocked he would admit such a thing to her. He was the reason for the heartache many had felt with the loss of their beloved general’s widow. Anger bubbled up first, and Baiza clenched her jaw to keep from acting rashly, the desire to protect a friend’s child strong. But she also knew Théadan to be dedicated to Niemah’s daughter, so there was far more to the story than just him kidnapping her. When he looked up at her to see what her reaction was to such a revelation, Baiza tried her best to relax her face and not show the contempt that had been beginning to build inside her. She was still not fully sure what to say regarding it however.<br/><br/>Luckily the prince asked her questions, prompting her into speaking, and Baiza sighed heavily. Her gaze left him to drift out to the doors letting sunlight and a small breeze into the room. “This country mourned the loss of General Lahkimpur greatly,” Baiza started, hands folding neatly in her lap, “The loss of the war lowered our spirits even further; so many lives and villages were destroyed. Many had just begun to think we could start to rebuild when news traveled across the country that Vanam had been burned and the<i>Sitvati </i>was missing. You rubbed salt in our open wounds by taking her away from us.” Baiza’s dark eyes jumped back to Théadan then, and she offered him a small smile, “But you have also returned her…and there is joy in her heart. I may not know the<i>Sitvati</i>now that she is an adult, but if she has retained the attributes I admired in her and her mother, there is goodness in you, Théadan. There will be people here who will not see past the wrongs you have done to Khlurios, but I would prefer to consider the rights as well. As for your relationship…”<br/><br/>He needed to sit in the mud a while yet, so Baiza paused before continuing and  adjusted to stretch out her legs to keep from becoming sore. She studied Théadan for a long beat before a frown began to form on her gracefully aging features, “Given your country’s treatment of ours and your royal title, I cannot imagine your family would approve of your relationship with a Khluri duchess. At what point did you decide your captive was more important to you than your blood? Why do you consider her worth the anger and contempt you are going to face from many Khluri?” Gauging how Théadan reacted to such questions would help Baiza decide what she made of his connection to Navia.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>A dozen emotions plagued her. They twisted, pulled her every which way, and Navia felt weak at the knees. Joy, fear, uncertainty, relief, but most of all disbelief and shock. How many times had she been in the exact same situation with Osa? How many tears of disappointment? Of scraped knees after dropping onto them in sorrow? Only for it to finally end in her favor? Navia did not know what to do with the information, could not full wrap her head around what Osa was telling her. “Ragná was right,” she muttered finally before pursing her lips together to try to moisten them. Suddenly her throat was so very dry, her body flushed, and her knees so shaky. “It’s not wrong? The wine can’t be wrong?” Navia had to be sure before she allowed the truth into her heart, before she even considered the immense joy it would bring her to go to Théadan and tell him. If there was even a sliver of doubt she was pregnant, she did not want get her hopes up again.<br/><br/>“Who is Ragná?” Osa asked instead with a flummoxed expression.<br/><br/>“Don’t know everything, do you,” Navia muttered before lifting her head to smile weakly at Osa, “She’s a Mes’Mo’Tanian woman who reminds me of you. She told me I was pregnant a month ago.” She had been adamant and coarse about it, and had somehow sensed it about Navia, just like Osa. The elder woman’s unamused snort before she rounded the table to face her was reminiscent of Ragná as well.<br/><br/>“The wine can be wrong,” Osa explained instead of commenting further on Ragná, taking Navia’s hand and leading her back to the mirror. She stood the duchess before the mirror, then placed the hand she held low on Navia’s abdomen, where she had placed her own hand earlier. “It is not this time,” Osa said lowly, “Feel how it is firm? That is not muscle. Now turn to the side.”<br/><br/>Frowning, Navia did as she was asked, then looked at her reflection as Osa lifted their hands so they could see the small bump beginning the form. Navia gasped softly upon seeing it; there was the concrete proof she needed. It was small still, likely not noticeable unless someone was looking, but it was there all the same. Her body was growing; her child was growing. A small amazed laugh escaped her and she smoothed a hand across her abdomen with an expression of pure astonishment. “We did it,” she murmured, “We weren’t even trying and we did it.” Though to be fair, they had made love so many times, if Navia had thought it possible to become pregnant, she would have thought it to be inevitable.<br/><br/>“The impossible,” Osa agreed with a wry smile.<br/><br/>“What can you feel?” Navia suddenly asked, reaching for the woman’s hand to place beside hers, “Are they all right? Are they happy? Do you know if they are a boy or girl? Can you tell anything?”<br/><br/>“It is healthy,” Osa assured her, before shaking her head, “But that is all I can tell. You will have to wait for it to grow before I can know more. You must watch your meals and your activity, Navia. Your every decisions affects your child now.”<br/><br/>“I have to tell Théadan,” Navia announced before turning to reach for her robe. She was reluctant to put it on, she wanted to marvel at her abdomen forever, but the excitement to tell Théadan was nearly bubbling over.<br/><br/>“Perhaps you should think of when it would be best to tell him,” Osa suggested, raising a brow at the hasty way Navia dragged on the robe and sloppily tied it. She worried the younger woman would not gather her emotions together well enough to tell her lover her news if she did so right away, “I assume you want it to be a special moment for you both. You might also like to take some time to process this; you have wanted this for years and have only been with him for a few months. Give yourself time to come to terms with finally reaching your goal and celebrate it.”<br/><br/>Navia was tugging her hair out of the robe so it could tumble down her back when Osa advised she wait to tell Théadan and a small frown formed on her lips. She wanted nothing more than to burst into the room Baiza had led him into and press a multitude of kisses upon his face while she told him what they’d done. Perhaps Osa was right though; maybe she should take some time to make it a special moment for them. It was likely to be the most important thing she ever told him, after all. Navia mulled it over for a long moment, then she nodded and grinned at Osa, “I know exactly where I should tell him.”