Livia screams again, unable to stifle the sound, and Laia looks over my
shoulder.
“She’s close,” she says. “She’ll have another contraction in only a few
moments. The child is coming.”
I do not know how in the burning skies she got here. Perhaps it is an
assassination attempt. But why would Laia of Serra risk such a thing when she knows that hurting my sister would result in her immediate death?
“I have no wish to harm her,” she says. “Fate led me here, Blood Shrike. Let
me help you.”
“If my sister or the babe die,” I say to her as I stand aside, “so do you.” A grim nod is the only response. She knows. Immediately, she turns to Faris,
who squints as he looks at her.
“Hang on a minute,” he says. “Aren’t you—” “Yes,” she says. “Hot water, please, Lieutenant Faris—two pots of it. And
clean sheets from the laundry—a dozen of them. Towels too.” She goes to my sister, taking her by the arm.
“Let’s get you out of these clothes,” she says, and there’s a gentleness to her
voice, a sweetness that immediately calms Livia. My sister sighs, and moments later Laia unlaces her dress, ordering Rallius to turn away.
I shift from foot to foot. “I don’t know if this is appro—” “She’s giving birth, Blood Shrike,” Laia says. “It is hot, difficult work, and
she shouldn’t be trussed up for it. Bad for the baby.”
“Right,” I say, knowing I sound like an idiot. “Well, if it’s bad for the
baby . . .”
Laia glances at me, and I can’t tell if she’s irritated by me or laughing at me. “Once Lieutenant Faris returns with the water,” she says, “pour it into the
basin, please. Wash your hands well, with soap. Remove your rings. You can leave them there.” She nods to the basin and helps a now scantily dressed Livia settle herself at the edge of my simple wooden desk chair.
Faris comes in, takes one look at Livvy, and turns bright red before I take the
water from him and he asks, in a choked voice, where Laia wants the sheets.
“Stand watch, Lieutenant Faris,” Laia says as she takes the sheets. “There
were only two guards outside and they barely searched me. If I got in here with relative ease, so can your enemies.”
The drums thunder, and I hear the panic in the order given out. All units to the
second-level gate immediately. Breach imminent. Bleeding hells, has the first level been breached? “I should go,” I say. “The city—”
“I cannot do this alone, Shrike,” Laia says quickly. “Though I’m sure your
man here”—she nods to a wild-eyed Lieutenant Rallius—“would help if