Lady Korinne thought about it. Mirrel had seen Soth and the elf-maid kiss, nothing more. How much harm could there be in that? And if she didn't do this, there was a chance they might do more than kiss the next time they met. And besides all of that, Soth was a Knight of Solamnia, a
Knight of the Rose, a noble and honorable man whose life was dictated by the writings of Vinas Solamnus. The Oath and the Measure. This one small indiscretion with an elf-maid would hardly put a black mark on Soth's soul after years of living honorably in accordance with the strict knight's code. If such was the case, the witch's stipulation would be a blessing more than a curse. 'He's a good man,' Korinne said at last.
'Are you so sure?' asked the witch.
'Yes.' There was a slight tremor in Korinne's voice, as if her conviction was losing some of its strength.
'You love him, don't you?'
'Y-yes.'
The witch moved closer. 'Perhaps you should fear him instead. There are dark branches in his family tree and it is only a matter of time before the darkness infects the entire trunk, all the way down to the roots.'
Korinne's heart was pounding. She swallowed and reassured herself that the witch was merely playing games, trying to scare her.
'You still want the child, do you not?' asked the witch.
Korinne nodded.
'Then you shall have it.'
The witch's eyes rolled back in their sockets as she placed a hand on
Korinne's belly. The gnarled hand felt warm, almost hot, against her skin. The fire flared and the witch's lips mouthed an unfamiliar string of syllables and words.
Korinne felt a strange tingle inside her, the blossoming of something straining to make room for itself. Her eyes began to feel heavy with sleep. She tried to keep them open, but eventually was forced to give up the fight as all of her energy and strength was being drawn by the new thing inside her.
She could feel it.
Growing.
'Milady, wake up!'
Korinne felt a gentle pat against her cheek. 'What? What is it?'
'We must be going. It will be light in a few hours.'
Korinne's eyes fluttered open. Mirrel was there standing over her. She glanced around, and slowly recalled where she was. 'Have I been asleep long?'
'Only a short while.'
'Then we best be leaving.' She tried to get up, but couldn't. Her limbs ached with exhaustion. Mirrel hooked an arm around her body and helped her to her feet.
As the two women made their way to the door, Korinne turned in the direction of the old witch and said, 'Thank you.'
And suddenly the cottage was filled with the sound of the witch's raspy laugh. 'Don't thank me,' she said. 'You might want to curse me later.'
The words made Korinne shiver.
Chapter 17
'How was your trip, my dear Loren?' Lady Korinne asked as both she and her husband retired to their chambers following his return from Vingaard
Keep.
'Strange,' said Lord Soth, a sour expression on his face.
'Oh, how so?' said Korinne, barely able to hold back a smile. She lay back on the bed and raised a closed hand over her mouth.
'Well, Eward Irvine is a fine and experienced knight. In fact he's been a Knight of Solamnia longer than I have.'
Soth paused to remove his boots. 'Yet he called me with such haste to Vingaard Keep that I had thought there must be something happening there of grave importance, an insurrection or a rebellion of knights.'
'But that wasn't the case?' Korinne prodded.
'No, far from it,' said Soth. 'When I got there he failed to greet me, then kept me waiting for hours. And then, once we finally met, he asked me to help him plan strategies for mock-battles between detachments of knights.'
Korinne was silent, chewing her bottom lip to help keep her good news from spilling prematurely from her mouth.
'That's a task for pages and squires,' said Soth. 'Well, at least one thing is for certain. I'll be thinking twice before I answer the call of your cousin again.'
He turned around to see Korinne lying on the bed, smiling gleefully.
'What?' asked Soth. 'What is it?' He looked himself over to see if there was anything amiss with his clothing.
'Do you recall that you didn't want me to speak of children until I was sure I was with child?'
Soth thought about it. 'Yes.'
'Well, I am now sure.'
Soth's mouth opened slightly and stayed that way for a long while. Then he swallowed and asked, 'You are absolutely sure?'
Korinne couldn't blame him for asking. She had raised his hopes on the subject far too many times. In answer she simply nodded, then smiled.
'Paladine be praised!' Soth shouted, crawling onto the bed next to
Korinne. He took her in his arms and hugged her.
Korinne felt tears welling up in her eyes.
'My wife is with child,' he whispered. 'This is wonderful news.' Then he kissed her.
As her lips touched his, Korinne began to cry. And despite the joy of the moment, she couldn't help but taste the bitterness in the tears as they rolled down her face.
'A celebration!' said Lord Soth later that day. 'In the grand hall.
Everyone in the keep shall attend.' 'What's the occasion, milord?' asked the keep's cook, an elderly yet still quite stout man named Pitte who had been preparing meals for three generations of Soths. He had been called into the grand hall along with several of the keep's other key stewards.
'I — he paused and began again-'I am going to be a father.'
The assembled men and women inhaled a collective gasp.
A broad grin broke across Soth's face as he finally had the long-awaited pleasure of telling someone-anyone- of his good fortune.
Lady Korinne stood by his side, holding his hand tightly and grinning from ear to ear.
A little distance away on Korinne's right stood Mirrel, who was also smiling broadly.
'Wonderful news, milord.'
'A grand reason to celebrate.' 'I'll prepare a grand feast, milord,' said Pitte, obviously happy to soon be serving a fourth generation Soth.
'It's a little early for the harvests to come in, but I can whip up a grand banquet with stews and soups, pastries and pies.'
Soth nodded. 'I'm sure it will be a fine meal, Pitte.
You've never served us anything but.'
Pitte smiled, revealing the few remaining teeth in his head. 'Thank you, milord. When would you like this feast to occur?'
