The business of Acorilan and its newest territory monopolized their energy and attention for weeks after the successful annexation of the majority of Torguria. After remaining in Brinnock for a few days with a contingent of Bedrock and Spire, Jularra moved on to tour the neighboring towns and cities to collect a more thorough understanding of the spoils she'd won for her people.
After a month spent assessing and evaluating Brinnock with a newly installed magistrate, Jularra felt she had enough information to monitor and rule her new territory intelligently, and prepared to return to Morganon. She met with Korden before her final departure.
“We've received the final tallies,” Korden called from horseback.
Jularra stood next to her own horse, glanced at him, and then looked away again.
He trotted over to her and dismounted. “We should have enough supplies for our people as well as the Torgurians, and enough to sustain us while we work to rehabilitate our fields.”
When she still didn’t respond, he chuckled.
“What?” she said, distracted.
“Do you have any idea how much your face twitches when you’re thinking? Calculating?”
She registered Korden’s words even as she finished up a few other topics internally.
“Jularra?”
“Good! Plenty of supplies? Good,” she clipped cheerfully. “It was worth it. I’m so proud of our forces.”
Jularra hadn’t looked directly at Korden since he rode up. He leaned in and tried to catch her eye.
“Do you still doubt your decision to attack?”
Jularra shook her head, inadvertently frustrated that he couldn’t read her mind. “No, it’s not that. Not at all. This needed to be done.”
Korden leaned back and turned to his horse, squinting at the morning sun. “Is there something wrong?”
Jularra glanced at him before cutting back to a caravan of wagons carrying grain back to Morganon. “I went to see a piss prophet this morning.”
Korden looked down and shifted his weight while recollecting the term. Then he whipped his head up as Jularra looked straight at him for the first time.
“I’m fairly sure I’m pregnant.”
Jularra gave Korden time to reply, but he didn’t speak immediately. His mouth hung open while the rest of his face seemed frozen in place with no discernible expression. Biting her lip, Jularra squinted with silly curiosity at his frozen silence.
He finally spoke.
“Are you all right? How do you feel about it?”
She felt her eyebrows raise. Jularra took a deep breath, then let out an involuntary, “Ha!” She looked down as she spoke softly. Almost to herself.
“Your first concern is if I’m all right…”
She looked at Korden.
“I’m relieved, I think.”
Korden swallowed, and his stance loosened. Jularra stuck her hand in a sack of flour waiting to be loaded into the nearby wagons, and let it trickle out of her hands.
“You know I hate… not having a say in my fate. I hate not having choices. Not having options. But I think I’ve come to appreciate that, somehow. If it means our people survive—to the next month, the next year, the next generation—then that’s always the decision I would want to make. Choice is an afterthought.”
Jularra watched as Korden dropped his head. He nodded a bit to himself, and then they both turned to look at the grain wagons. The creaking of the wheels as they rolled was one of the sweetest sounds she had heard in a long while.
“What are your plans, then?” he asked. They both continued to stare at the caravan of wagons.
Jularra played with another palmful of flour. She shrugged.
“I’ll go back to Morganon and have the child. And then, later on, I’ll…”
Her mind stumbled as she tried to finish her statement. Korden stirred and turned away from watching the wagons, fumbling around with his saddle and fidgeting in his armor.
“Will you help me raise her? Until that time comes?”
Her voice was uncharacteristically soft and demure. It was soaked in the wisdom and strength of maternal power and possibility. Jularra’s thoughts on the future were now centered only around her unborn child, and the people of Acorilan.
Korden started to settle. He rolled his head around and turned back to the wagons.
“I will,” he said firmly.
Her bottom lip twitched. Once. Her other features stood their ground. She shuffled softly over to Korden and gently grasped his hand. With no fanfare or theatrics, she lifted his hand up in the small space between them and kissed the back of it, before lowering it and releasing it. She stepped back to the nearby wagon.
“Make sure these supplies are protected and distributed as discussed,” she ordered.
Korden cleared his throat. “Yes, of course.”
“Like you said,” Jularra added, “the reports indicate there is plenty enough to go around. Let’s make sure no one goes without.”
“Understood.”
“What’s the latest on any remaining resistance?” Jularra continued down her ever-evolving list of concerns.
“Well, the previous reports that had the lion’s share of Torgurian armies already in Brinnock are holding. We’ve converted most who weren’t killed during the attack, but our scouts now say as many as two thousand are still spread out along the outlying counties.”
“Two thousand?” Jularra whispered in shock. “That’s up quite a bit from the last estimate. How large a concern are they?”
“They could pose a threat if they’re consolidated and organized.”
“Then let’s do all that we can to ensure they don’t consolidate or organize.”
“Right.” Korden nodded. “We’ve about finished shoring up Brinnock’s defenses. And a few thousand of our people are already fortified in the city. We’ve also made sure the garrison is made up of a healthy mix from our various counties so the lords will remain invested in maintaining our hold on Brinnock.”
“But what about those outlying areas?”
“Once we leave Brinnock properly defended, we can establish or fortify existing garrisons to watch over roads and fords.
