The time had come to tell my family my secret.  No matter how I tied my obi, I could not hide the swell of my belly any longer.  Had it been winter, the layers of my kimono would have done the job.  As it was the height of summer, I was out of options.

    I stood before my closet, trying to decide what to wear for my visit to Eldest Brother, when I heard gunshots and screaming.  I ran outside, picking up a blade as I went.

    My people gathered in the courtyard, looking down at a body.  The face was gone; only a mess of blood and bone remained between the loose gray hair and deep blue kimono.  A deep blue kimono I recognized.  My mother’s.

    I do not remember the next moments.  When I next knew my surroundings, I was holding my mother’s body to my own as I slowly made my way home.  I briefly saw my sister’s face; I assume she Trumped me and realized what had happened, then ended the contact.

    I sat in the courtyard of my home, cradling my mother’s inert form for some time; I know not how long.  When my mind cleared, I called servants to take her body for burial preparation.  I returned to the site of her death and began questioning those who had been present when she died.  No one had seen anything, only heard the gunshots and seen her fall.

    I Trumped Fatima-san then, but she was just disembarking from the dirigible that had delivered her to New Kyoto.  She told me that her own mother had been killed recently, and we spoke of these murders.

    It was then that I opened the shawl that covered my pajamas and showed Fatima-san just why I would miss my mother’s assistance so badly.

    My sister gently questioned me about my plans and the safety of the child’s father.  I assured her that although I would not have to raise the child alone and I believed the father to be perfectly safe from whoever murdered my mother, I would not go to him to give birth.  Fatima-san was also concerned with a great storm that was to hit Argent in a week’s time.  We discussed preparations for New Kyoto, including the possibility of evacuation.

    Sterling-san Trumped me briefly to add his warnings for the storm.

    As Fatima-san ordered the investigation of my mother’s death, I received another Trump call, this time from Merlin-san.  He had contacted me to inform me of a ball three days hence in honor of a new ambassador.  I asked to speak with him privately, and went through to him.

    My advanced state of pregnancy was a surprise to him, and he felt it would be so to our father as well.  However, he did not believe that our father would be angry or would demand to know the father’s name.  Somewhat relieved, I sought advice on a proper dress for the ball.  Merlin-san told me that Princess Flora-san was not available, so I went to Vialle-san.  She took me to her dressmaker, where I was fitted for a dress with something called an “empire waist.”

    Two days later, I found Corwin-sama alone and told him of my pregnancy.  He was surprised but kind, and as Merlin-san predicted, undemanding.  He said that he understood that I would not wish to “kiss and tell.”

    The next day was the ball.  Attendance was slight, largely due to the absence of all of my aunts and uncles but Prince Random-san.  I myself did not find an escort among the nobility of Chaosians as I normally do, as I did not wish to have a blameless person connected with my public presentation. 

    Merlin-san’s mother as present.  The Lady Dara, Duchess of Sawall, was very pleasant, but I noticed that she and Corwin-sama did not converse other than to greet one another.

    I greeted the guests as I walked about the room, glass of fruit juice in hand.  The first pain surprised me so that I broke the glass in my fist.  Fatima-san came to my side with an offer of help.  I told her that I had hoped to attend the entire ball, but she was of the opinion that this would be impossible.  She took my arm that I might make my regrets to Corwin-sama.  My father knew the problem before I could speak of it, and offered to attend me.  We left arm in arm, and were soon directed by servants to the room Sterling-san had ordered readied.

    It was a strange sort of pain, coming and going, gradually cycling toward shorter durations of each until my body expelled the child.  It was less painful than two broken legs, but moreso than any wounds I’ve taken other than that.  The doctor placed my child on my chest as my father cut the cord.  A boy.  My boy, who would not have to be or do anything other than what his heart and mind led him to.

    I understood then that the storm had arrived, and my family was busy defending Argent and looking into its cause.  As I was left alone, I took the opportunity to Trump Julian-san.

    We stared at one another, our thoughts of how tired and disheveled the other looked clearly written on our faces.  We each assured the other that we were well, and then I realized that despite how exhausted he looked, Julian-san looked much younger than when I saw him last.

    “Your hair is black,” I exclaimed in wonder.

    “Yes,” he answered, his voice filled with the pleasure of knowledge and anticipation of its use.

    “You have a son,” I told him.  We spoke of naming him, and Julian-san insisted that I choose the child’s name.  I promised that I would bring the child to him when the storms passed, and the contact was ended.

    I rested and nursed for hours, then took the baby with me in search of other family members.  I was directed to a meeting room which at first seemed unlikely, but I stepped through the doorway -- and some sort of soundproof warding -- to see my father and siblings gathered.

    I assured them that I was well, and passed the child to Rune-san.  It was apparent that he and Kevin were intoxicated and held some bizarre anger about hamsters.  Sterling was upset that Corwin-sama had not warned us of Julian-san’s plans.  Our father soon left the room, and the rest of us talked and ate for hours.

    As the storms abated and cleanup began, reports of monster attacks filtered in from outlying villages.  Corwin-sama sent Sterling-san and me to investigate.  I went by horse, and Sterling-san by dirigible.

    I spoke with the villagers, who described jellyfish that grabbed people and bore them away, or burned to death those that fought.  I saw some of these creatures lurking nearby, but they did not offer violence, nor did I.

    It became apparent that Sterling-san was not so lucky, and he fought to keep his crew safe and ship unharmed.  I saw that Kevin-san was now aboard, and he gestured to me to stab a jellyfish that he had somehow frozen and cast overboard.  I did so, and nothing happened, other than activating Kevin-san’s obvious pleasure.

    The creatures approached me then, their tentacles plucking at my blade, hair, and clothing.  When they pulled too roughly, I slapped them away.  We interacted in this way for some time until the creatures left my presence briefly and returned with more of their fellows.  They lifted me off the ground, and rather than be burned horribly, I allowed them to take me.

    The creatures shifted Shadow of their own accord, and took me to a place seemingly without form.  The air became very thin, and I slapped at my captors, miming my distress and imminent death from lack of air.  I was deposited on a flat rock that somehow hung in this light-filled nothingness, and presented with colored rocks.  Realizing that these strange yet sentient beings wished to communicate, I arranged the rocks in a rainbow, color wheels, and any other logical way to place them that I could think of.  The creatures seemed to discuss me, and were joined by a much larger jellyfish.  This creature bombarded my mind with flashes of color, and I knew no more.

    I woke some time later, the creatures having withdrawn to converse with their leader.  Sterling-san Trumped me then, and pulled me from the strange surroundings.  I joined him and the rest of my siblings in a carriage en route to Amber.  I stayed long enough only to see the vaunted place, and then returned home to feed Kaji.