Picking the Wrong Side

20 March, 1360. Westerhaven Palace, Islia

The piercing winter cold gradually started giving way to days of weak sunshine and the faintest promise of warmth.

To Camilla, the gently changing weather was like an insult. How could the weather turn mild and suggest the coming of new life, when she felt frozen in place with anguish and fear?

She had no idea if the letter she'd written to William in Tession's rooms had even reached him. It had been surprisingly hard to find the right words.

She had written that she loved him and missed him terribly. Then at the bottom, almost as an afterthought, she had scrawled with an unsteady hand -

As of a few days ago, I've discovered that I'm with child. Our baby will be born towards the end of the summer. I hope that you can find happiness in this news and that you'll be back with me very soon so we can await our son or daughter together.