Divine By Choice. P.C. Cast

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СКАЧАТЬ brought your tea, Rhea.” Alanna offered me a steaming mug of fragrant tea. I took it and perched on the chaise across from them.

      “Thanks.” I blew at it and sipped.

      “Your words forced me to listen,” the Huntress explained slowly. “I finally really listened to what he had been trying to get me to hear for quite some time. He does love me. Me.” Her face was radiant. “He does not wish I was younger. He does not want me to change and be a mate who stays close to his hearth. He understands that my position as Lead Huntress is, and will continue to be, my life.” The happiness that suffused her face made my breath catch. “He simply wants me.”

      “Uh, Vic,” I said. “That’s what Alanna and I have been trying to tell you for ages. I guess I should have tossed my cookies on you sooner.”

      This obviously reminded Alanna of the original purpose of their visit. “A daughter!” she shouted joyfully.

      “A child! What a blessing,” Victoria chimed in.

      “You two can quit grinning at me now. You’re making me nervous.”

      Two quick knocks sounded against my door.

      “Come in!” I commanded. Three silken-clad maidens rushed into the room, carrying trays laden with what looked suspiciously like breakfast. All three of them began gushing at once.

      “Congratulations, my Lady!”

      “We are so very pleased!”

      “The news is joyous!”

      When I had first arrived in this world the general populace had treated me like a person who should be revered and honored, literally placed on a pedestal. The people who were close to me and used to dealing with Rhiannon on a daily basis treated me like I was a live bomb. They handled me carefully, but acted as if they expected me to explode at any moment into a goddess-level tantrum. It had taken a lot of consistent effort to convince the people I came in contact with on a regular basis that I had changed (unfortunately, I couldn’t tell them I was literally a different person). Although it made me happy that over the past six months I had been able to coax my maidens into being at ease around me, this morning their familiar affection was making my head hurt. I felt dizzy as they milled around me, touching me reverentially after they set out my morning meal.

      “Thanks, girls.” I tried to smile at them. “You may leave now.”

      “Yes, my Lady!” They melted into graceful curtsies. As they scampered to the door, I heard one of them whisper to the other, “Our Lady is not a morning person.”

      “They give me a headache,” I said after the door closed.

      “They adore you,” Alanna corrected me.

      “They still give me a headache,” I grumped.

      “Eat something. It will improve your humor,” Alanna said.

      “We hope,” Victoria added.

      I wrinkled my nose at her, then shifted my gaze to the food. There was a lovely fresh-fruit salad, some bran muffins that looked like they were still warm from the oven, thin sliced bread that had been toasted to a golden brown, as well as another pot of my herbal tea and pitchers filled with cold water and milk.

      “I don’t know if I can eat.” My stomach lurched dangerously.

      “Try the toast first, then eat the bananas that are in the fruit salad. I directed the cook to bake these particular muffins because they are simple and healthful. Many times the key to controlling the sickness in the first months of pregnancy is to discover what soothes the mother’s stomach,” she lectured in her musical voice.

      I took a deep breath and picked up a piece of toast. After a sniff I started to nibble. My stomach stayed inside my body, which I took to be a good sign.

      “Actually, the muffins are from a centaur recipe,” Vic said as she grabbed one off the platter and broke it open.

      “Do centaurs go through this sickness thing when they get pregnant?” I asked Vic. As always my curiosity was piqued by these incredibly interesting beings.

      “No.” She smiled at me apologetically. “But we carry our young within us through four full seasons.”

      My eyes flew to Alanna. “That doesn’t mean I’ll have to—does it?” I sounded panicky (because I felt decidedly panicky).

      “No,” Alanna reassured me, and I let myself breathe again. “ClanFintan only mates with you while he is in his human form.”

      “Your gestation and birth will follow the same rules as any other human female’s would,” Vic added.

      Her words reminded me of last night’s spirit journey and I felt a smile spread over my face.

      “Epona let me witness a birth last night during the Magic Sleep.” I explained to my friends. “It was amazing.”

      “It is truly a blessing.” Alanna beamed at me.

      “A wondrous miracle,” Vic said through a mouthful of centaur muffin.

      “I really am hap—”

      Without warning my stomach revolted. I turned my head in time to miss my friends and spew semi-chewed toast and herbal tea all over the floor.

      “Oh, yuck.” I wiped my mouth with a shaky hand, looking desperately at Alanna as she hurried to my side. “Are you sure I’m not dying?”

      “I am sure,” she said as she poured some water from a pitcher into a goblet and offered it to me.

      I drank gratefully, rinsing the nasty taste from my mouth.

      “Come along.” Alanna pulled me to my feet. “You will feel better when you have bathed and dressed.” She handed me a muffin and my mug of tea. “ClanFintan told me that he could be found around the temple grounds overseeing the building of the new centaur quarters, and checking the winter supplies.”

      “I have business near the new quarters, too.” Vic gave me a quick hug, then she wrinkled her nose. “You smell, Rhea.”

      “Thanks for mentioning it.” I purposely breathed heavily in her direction, and she retreated hastily to the door. “I will see you after have recovered and returned to your goddess-like self,” she threw over her shoulder.

      “You may have to wait till spring for that!” I yelled at her hind end.

      I turned back to catch the surreptitious smile Alanna was trying to cover with a cough. “You know,” she said, “the ill feeling usually only lasts for a small part of a pregnancy. And,” she continued, ignoring my malevolent look, “I have noticed that women who are very ill in the beginning have the healthiest, happiest of babies.”

      “Well, I suppose that’s something.” I was still grumping, but it did make me feel better. I sniffed at the muffin in my hand, and realized I suddenly felt hungry. Taking a bite, I was happily surprised by the wonderful, nutty taste that suffused my mouth. “Do you think there’s a limit on how often a pregnant woman can puke in СКАЧАТЬ