Jamie watched his wife as her tears finally began to ebb. The shaking didn't cease, however, even as she rose to sit, her fists gripping the quilt as though she would rend it in half. It was almost amusing to watch such a tiny woman in such a violent fury, but Jamie simply couldn't bring himself to feel any mirth. When her fingers finally relaxed and her palms slid to cover her womb protectively Jamie knew he had a long road ahead of him. It would be near impossible to convince her that giving up the baby was the right thing to do, but it had to be done.
Jamie found himself in a precarious position. The witch had threatened him with the curse of madness first, but more so, she'd promised that all of his progeny would be cursed as well. He didn't know if Rosella, too, would be afflicted, but he just couldn't take the chance. A protective streak he had never known before began to assert itself. There could be more babies. There was only one Jamie and Rosella.
All his life, Jamie had wanted power. He had felt helpless as a child, and even more so as an adult in service to his father and brothers. Becoming king had seemed to be the ultimate fulfillment of his dream. He had power over a whole kingdom, dozens of lords and ladies and hundreds of serfs and peasants. And yet, he still wasn't the master of his own destiny. The sorceress had taken that from him. She was forcing him to choose between the family he so desired and his own sanity. He hated to give her that kind of control over him. He just couldn't see the alternative.
As he watched Rosella, her green eyes hardening with resolve, he felt guilt begin to creep in. It would be the culmination of all her fears, that he was so very callous of her feelings that he would rob her of her own choice. This would need to be done with a delicate hand. He was glad he had 9 months to convince her. If he failed to sway her... well, breaking her heart was a better alternative to loosing her as well as his own mind.
Jamie sat down on the bed, taking his wife's hand in his. He wasn't sure how to begin, but she beat him to it.
"We can't fight her, can we?"
Jamie shook his head sadly. Even with an army of wizards, there was little chance they could prevail. Her own parents had found that out first hand.
"We have to give her an apprentice, we have to fulfill my parents' bargain."
Jamie's sense of hope, that she knew the futility of defying the sorceress, was short lived.
"I'll go instead, once the baby is born. I'll be her apprentice."
She squeezed his hand tightly, staring out the small tower window at a clear blue sky that hadn't been entirely cloudless for decades. They had felt such elation when the curse was lifted. Now it was all for naught. The alternative was even worse. Jamie almost wished they could go back to the way things were, but he knew it wasn't possible.
He wanted to argue with her. He wanted to, but there was a small part of him that said 'let it be.' He would have his heir, he would have his kingdom, and everything he'd ever wanted. He just wouldn't have his Ella. That bothered him more than he thought it would.
"We won't give up just yet, Ella. We have nine months to come up with a plan. I don't want to lose you or the baby. You're mine, and I intend to fight for you."
It wasn't a declaration of love, but Rosella held it close to her heart anyhow. He was willing to fight for her and their child. She had to admit, it was more than she'd expected. It would have to be enough, for now.
Nine months later...
Jamie had visited dozens of wizards, witches, fairies and any other magical creature he could find. They'd all said the same thing: Lady Severna was too powerful. In all honesty, they didn't think he could have even broken her first curse without her help. The only real solution anyone had offered was from the dwarves in the nearby mountains. Their suggestion: kill the bitch. Unfortunately, not a one had a suggestion as to how that could be done.
An assault on her mountain fortress was a suicide mission. The few hundred men Jamie would be able to rally would face sorcery, not another army, and even with enchanted weapons and armor, there was little chance that they would even be able to get inside and confront the sorceress directly. The only hope Jamie had was that she would come out to fight herself. He knew she was prideful and overconfident, traits in himself that he easily recognized. Any attack would hinge on playing up to her ego and catching her off guard.
It would have to work. Jamie just couldn't see the alternative. He'd spent the last nine months watching as a strange calm settled over his wife. Rosella had come to terms with the fact that she would sacrifice herself for her child and Jamie. As she lost her fears, Jamie's had grown.
She spent nearly all her time with him, contributing to the ruling of the kingdom, coordinating meals that she knew he loved, and spending any moment they could steal making passionate love, even as her expanding belly made it more and more challenging. Jamie had confirmed what he'd suspected that night months ago when the curse was broken: that Rosella was smart and strong and everything he could ever want in a wife. She was quite simply irreplaceable.
Although he'd tried a few times to bring up her decision to sacrifice herself instead of their child, he'd had no success. Rosella was convinced that it was only right for her take responsibility for her parent's mistakes. As Lady Severna said, she was brought into this world through the sorceress's magic, it was only right she should be the one to suffer.
After five months of hearing the same argument, and having nothing better to suggest, Jamie had begun to make his own plans.
His first thought was to just end the pregnancy. However, he knew that the witch would merely take the next child, and he wasn't prepared to go forever without an heir. It would buy him time, but time for what?
Briefly he considered trying to trick Severna, and give her someone else's child. He rather doubted she, with her strong magic, wouldn't sense the difference immediately. Her wrath at being deceived would surely be worse than what they were contending with now.
However, Rosella wasn't magical. Jamie's growing respect for his wife was only outmatched by his growing possessiveness. He knew that if he took the child himself, while Rosella was recovering from labor, she would never forgive him, and might even try to mount a rescue. Then he would lose them both. If she never knew he took the child, though, then perhaps they could live their lives without any more curses hanging over their heads.
Finding a peasant woman in the kingdom who was willing to give up her child, even if it was to be raised as the crown prince, without alerting anyone to the trickery, however, was becoming a challenge. He'd had Stephen track down all of the women in the kingdom and surrounding kingdoms whose pregnancy was as advanced as Rosella's. Getting the two to be born on the same day would require a little help, and he'd enlisted a willing midwife who knew a potion to bring on labor.
As it stood, Stephen had found two women who fit their needs, but he wasn't sure if they'd agree. He'd been feeling them out, subtly, and both were so excited to be mothers, one with her first pregnancy and the second with six girls, and she was certain it was a boy this time. Convincing either woman to give it up would be a challenge. Stephen wanted to recruit the second woman. If it were another girl, she would probably not argue too much. But if it were a boy... Jamie thought the first woman would be a better bet. She was young and healthy, and could have more children, regardless of gender.
It was settled, and Stephen began the onerous task of wooing the young woman and her husband to their side. They were quite reluctant at first, but the promise of gold, land, and a place at the Ilstorian court eventually won them over. Knowing that their child would be raised as royalty helped as well. Jamie slept peacefully for the first time in months the day that they pledged their silence, and their first born, to their king.
Now it was simply a matter of waiting for Rosella to go into labor. The peasant woman was just a little behind the queen in the advancement of the pregnancy. It was a perfect fit since Jamie wasn't sure if he could trick Rosella into drinking the bitter brew that would bring on the birth. However, the other child didn't seem to care that he was supposed to be the one to arrive last. The pregnancies were in the beginning of their last months, but still too early. Then the other woman began to feel a stabbing pain in her back, and the midwife confirmed his fears: the other woman would deliver first.
Jamie paced outside the door to the tower room he and the queen still shared. In his hands he held the vial of noxious liquid. He went over his practiced speech in his mind. He planned to tell Rosella that the midwife was concerned for the child's health and this potion would help. Rosella had refused all other potions from the woman, however, so he knew he had to be his most persuasive. Trouble was, he was so nervous. He had no idea if his ploy would even work. He had to admit, he even feared that Lady Severna herself would someday come back to expose his betrayal. In the last few weeks he had begun to doubt himself, doubt that he was doing the right thing for himself, his family, and his kingdom. He'd come too far, however, to give up now.
Just as he put his hand on the door to begin his climb up the steps, the midwife appeared from the shadows, her dull gray robes blending into the stone. The woman seemed more like a witch than a midwife. She was old, like a crone, with long, stringy gray hair and a thick bulbous nose. Her hazel colored eyes, nearly swallowed in swaths of sagging, wrinkled flesh, were the only thing that belayed her age, as they were sharp as knives. She gave a short curtsy, hardly low enough to honor her king, but Jamie was too anxious to correct her.
"What is it? Is the other child born already?"
The woman nodded solemnly.
