The moment she was carried out of the room, her head suddenly seemed to stop swirling.

Claire hadn’t even noticed that strong hands had wrapped around her until she was set down at the bottom of the staircase.

She swayed gently and the same strong hands came up behind her waist to steady her.

"I am fine now, thank you." She sounded breathless.

After pausing to catch her breath, she started walking towards the opposite direction - towards the gardens instead of her tower.

The last thing she wanted was to be confined to her thoughts.

And without a word of question, her olive-skinned guard followed quietly behind her.

As she stepped out into the morning sky, the glow of the sun seemed to bathe her with soft caresses. It was so mild and gentle she could almost imagine it’s touch.

Her stomach seemed to settle quite a bit and the bile in her throat sank inside.

"Claire!" Aurora’s familiar voice called out to her.

Smiling, she glanced around in search of her sister.

She saw her burly guard first before the little red-headed girl came into view.

She was beaming widely, hopping with excitement that her guard seemed aloof to.

"Why are you in the gardens?" She asked as soon as her sister reached her, completely forgetting about her illness of earlier.

Claire couldn’t help the feeling that she had been neglecting her sister so much in the past weeks. They barely talked and she spent most of her time on her own, or in the company of the King.

"Arlan just left."

Her stomach sank.

"Oh." Was the only thing she could utter.

Rory studied her for quite a bit before saying, "You don’t seem to happy about it, Claire." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Claire held her hands and pulled her to her, needing the comfort much more than her sister did.

"I thought he would hate us."

Her sister tried to pull away but her grip only tightened.

"Why, Claire? Why would you ever say such a thing? Because his father was killed? Arlan would never blame us! We had nothing to do with it. The King was kidnapped and -"

"All his father’s properties is to be given to us, Aurora. I know you may not understand all of this now, but Arlan is now poor. Very, very poor." Her voice softening, she added, "Much poorer than we were because his father left him nothing but a bad name, and he has no one to care for him. He is all alone."

The words seemed to take shape in her sister’s head because she struggled out of Claire’s grip.

"We will take care of him, won’t we Claire? We can, I won’t be any trouble to you, neither would he."

Claire patted her sister’s head gently, letting a crack of a smile show on her dry lips.

"I never planned to throw him out, after all he is a sweet boy. But you have to understand that it is his choice to stay with us or not."

Aurora nodded, her eyes brightening with renewed hope.

"I love you, Claire." She wrapped her arms around her without warning.

Claire, although startled, smiled.

"You love me because I don’t intend to turn your friend away?" She couldn’t help but ask.

Rory shook her head, not bothering to look up.

"I love you because you’re not like anyone else. After all his father had done to you and to me, any normal person would have wished Arlan and his kin evil."

Claire gulped.

It was indeed a good thing that no one knew about the last crime Jarren had commited before he died. And she had a feeling that ’that’ was the real reason he was executed, not because of the King’s kidnapping.

When Aurora finally drew back, she studied her face and muttered, "You look sick and pale. Don’t you eat well?"

When was the last time she ate?

The evening before they had ridden back to the palace. Had it really been a while day since she had eaten?

"I eat well, Rory. I just don’t find the time to dawdle over meals and stuff myself till I am full."

Rory coloured at her words.

Becoming serious, Claire pulled her aside to ask, "What exactly did your maids say about signs concerning women with children in their bellies?"

Rory looked at the ground.

"I was eavesdropping, I was not supposed to heat them, Claire. I hope you are not upset." She then looked up with wide eyes.

The last thing on Claire’s mind was to be upset. After hearing the suspicions from Falstaff and the likes, she wanted to know for sure if there was any possibility that she was with child.

"I won’t be upset, Rory. It is their fault for talking about such things in your presence, not yours. Now," She smiled a little, "tell me everything you heard."

Rory then went into details about the chief baker’s daughter’s affair with one of the footmen and how one of the maids suspected her because she was always too tired to carry out her chores early in the mornings and would retch out her guts terribly. When the maid had confronted her about her suspicions, the girl confessed to have missed her time of the month twice.

Claire’s eyes bulged at the way her sister spoke so knowledgeably of a topic she had no inkling of comprehension concerning.

"Oh. Is that all?"

Instead of answering, Rory asked, "Do you think you are with child?"

Claire shook her head quickly. Too quickly.

She wasn’t, was she?

Her time of the month was late in coming, but given the series of events that had occured, it was quite understandable.

"Rory! Why would you ever ask me such a thing?"

Her sister coloured with embarrassment and reached for her hand.

"Are you really with child?" A very familiar voice asked behind her.

Claire spun around, her heart in her throat.

But her sister was quicker than she was.

"I think so too."

Claire felt the colour drain out of her face completely.