*** Elora ***

A letter. I've written so many of these before, asking nobles for their support. Asking them if they would help me improve the Queendom. I could write them out so quickly. My hand was all that slowed me down. Now, it's my mind.

"Just start by addressing her, Your Highness," Sedriresa says. "Start, and your mind will take over. You know how to write letters. This request is no different."

"Will they even care?" I ask. "I'm a joke, a fraud. I'm asking them to do something. Was I even right to send my letters before? I don't know what I'm doing. I can't even handle a marriage."

"You're asking to help your wife..."

"She isn't my wife anymore."

"She will be, Your Highness," Sedriresa says. "Put in the work, and she will be your wife. You won't be her favorite wife, or even well-liked, but she will be happy to be married to you. If you only count on that child for the marriage, you won't have a happy marriage; you will have one that drains you. One where you give your very being over to her and she just asks for more. She won't be happy, and you won't be happy. You need to write this letter. And after we write this letter, we will start looking for those who are in the city. It may have to wait until after the war, but we'll have a good-sized gathering. One that proves you can listen and take action."

"Can I?" I ask. "Ow!" Why would she flick me?

"Do I need to bring out a whip? How about a belt? I watched you as you went through all those years of training. I saw you grow up. All your maids did. We saw you turn into a soldier and how you could listen to anything they said, and you would do it. They beat all the childhood innocence right out of you. You would make a mistake the first time, they would hit you and say, 'Do it again,' and you would fix it. Eventually, you stopped making mistakes. Eventually, you learned to listen. Do I need to train you again? Is that what you need? Address the Lady. She's a Baron and you're a Princess. Listen to you? She doesn't have a choice. That wasn't a problem for buying Princess Alzi; why is it a problem now? You're asking her to share the gift Princess Alzi gave the world. You should have no problem ordering her to do that. You know how to listen. You're just too scared to do it."

"I- What do I say? How? I need you to send your kid to the capital because I fucked up?! What else is there? She has no real reason to listen to my wishes. Just a stupid request during a war."

I feel my maid hug me from behind, her hands working past my growing belly, her head landing on my shoulder.

"I love you," Sedriresa says. "I love you. I know you know what to say. I've seen you ask things similar to this, Elora. You're asking her to let the child know both of her parents. You're asking her to help a Champion be united with her family. You're asking her to help the Queendom. That is all. You're letting your mind trick you into this failure-focused attitude, and I don't know how to knock you out of it. This is just a small part of what will help you build a relationship with Princess Alzi. You won't tell Alzi you're doing this until you complete it. And even then, it will just be a comment. This isn't for praise. This isn't a favor that Princess Alzi will have to return to you. This is just you doing the right thing. And that is what you ask her to do. You ask her to do the right thing. She got pregnant and had a child. Both parents should know and raise the child. That is the future that Princess Alzi wants. Fertility seems to be working toward that possible future. So, see the vision that Princess Alzi has and work towards it. That is what you are going to do. You had your vision, but you think Princess Alzi has a better one. So take it and work on implementing it with her. That is how this starts. Then we work on fixing the damage the stupid sale did. Prove you want the same things she does, and let that be the gateway to an actual chance to prove that you are worthy of her love."

"I'm not worthy."

"I think you are."

She gives me a soft kiss, and her hands start to wander up my belly.

"Let me prove it," Sedriresa whispers.