*
She considered going straight to Daniel’s room when she reached the island headquarters but it was the middle of the night and she wanted to sleep, not talk. It was only after lunch the next day that he heard she’d arrived and came to wake her.
“Morning,” she said, propping herself up against the pillows and rubbing sleep from her eyes.
“It is past noon.”
“It was a long trip,” she said. “And this kid likes me to sleep, when it’s not kicking me awake. Can you see? There.”
She pointed towards where the foot – at least, she guessed it was a foot – had been a moment before, but the child was apparently shy. While Daniel was watching there was no movement.
He sat on the edge of the bed and cupped his hands around her waist before leaning across to kiss her. “Welcome home.”
“I suppose you want me to get up now.”
He frowned. “At some time you should call the council. We need to hear of your progress.”
“Well.” She yawned and stretched, arching her back to try and stretch the pains from her spine. “You could call them, and I’ll be there once I’m washed and dressed.”
By the time she reached the council chamber the others were already seated, and the room fell into silence the moment she opened the door. She lowered herself awkwardly into the nearest chair.
“Welcome back, Eleanor.” Laban smiled across the table. “What news from the city?”
“We’ve consolidated four rebel districts in Almont,” she said, “defended by fifteen units of Revolutionary Guards, each about a hundred strong. They’re not the Specials, by any means, but they’re basically okay and we’ve had a few successful raids on the city’s armouries and grain stores. Of course, First Corps are my personal project. They’ve been continuing a wave of attacks against the palace guards, but I’ve diverted them now into getting one of the city gates under our control. Further out, we’re in touch with similar districts forming in Dashfort and Bastion, all with Association men at the helm. Mistleton was the first town to fall completely to the rebels, and we think Lashquay won’t be far behind.”
There were murmurs of approval from around the table.
“We haven’t really crossed swords with the main Imperial forces yet, though we’ve had to execute a couple of spies. I think the Empress is waiting to see what we do next.”
“And what are we going to do next?” Gerald asked.
“For as long as she’s waiting for us to make a move, we’ll take it slowly,” Eleanor said. “Strengthen our defences and make sure our supply routes are solid. I’d rather take longer and make sure we get it absolutely right.”
“You’re turning into a proper field commander,” Don said. “When I suggested you go and stir up some rebels I never imagined you’d take to it so naturally.”
“It’s all pretty obvious when you just look at it. Well, this part is. I’m not quite sure how we go from a few towns and districts to control of the whole Empire.”
“Slowly,” Don said. “Just like you said.”
“Well, I won’t be doing anything for the next couple of months,” Eleanor said. “Although if anyone wants to go out and take my place, I can give you the codes you need to get past our guards.”
“Best if you keep control,” Don said before anyone could volunteer. “At the moment it’s completely clear who’s running the show, and we don’t want anyone getting confused over that.”
“Just tell us when you need backup,” Gerald said.
“And when you are ready for us to remove the Empress,” Daniel added.
“I’ll need all the help I can get when that time comes,” Eleanor said. “My guard units aren’t cut out for that kind of mission. But before we knock the Empire spiralling into chaos we need to make sure the dice are going to fall the right way.”
She went down to the practice hall after the meeting, and was just warming up with some gentle exercises when Gaven found her.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
She looked round in surprise; he was the last person she would have expected to engage in small talk. “Tiring,” she said, wiping sweat from her forehead. “I’ll be glad when this nonsense is over.”
He nodded, trying as hard as an eighteen-year-old boy could to look as if he understood the trials of pregnancy. “Have you thought about schools?”
“We’re going to keep it here with us,” Eleanor said. “I’m not going through all this just to give another child to the Empire.”
“Have you considered Venncastle?”
She hesitated for a moment, caught off-guard by the earnest expression on his face. It was almost as though he expected her to not only consider such an absurd suggestion, but to jump on it with relief. “Venncastle sided with them,” she said. “We had to prise you away from your assignment, remember.”
“But you managed it,” he said. “So you could do it again. Think about it, at least. You know he’d be well trained with us.”
“No point worrying about that until we find out whether it’s a boy or a girl, anyway.”
“You mean you don’t know?”
She shook her head. “How could I? I can’t see through my own skin.”
“Venncastle fathers have been testing this for decades.” He started towards her and then hesitated, realising she’d be a dangerous woman to touch without invitation. “May I?”
“Okay.”
She watched, fascinated, as he pressed his fingers gently to her sides and felt around the bump.
“Have you done this before?” she asked.
“No.”
“So how confident are you?”
He placed his hands flat against her skin and held still until the baby kicked him, once and then again.
“All the signs suggest a boy,” he said, straightening and stepping away from her. “I could be wrong, of course, but if I’m not...”
He left the sentence hanging, unfinished.
“Thanks.”
“So you’ll think about Venncastle?”
“I’ll think about it,” she said. It would be hard not to think about it, though she knew that she couldn’t even raise the idea with Daniel without a fight.
“Good.” He nodded and made a hasty retreat from the hall.
She tried to get back into her exercises but she struggled to maintain the necessary levels of concentration. The more she thought about it, the more sure she felt that Gaven’s diagnosis was correct. They were having a little boy. It made the whole thing feel suddenly more real, as if the blob that was growing inside her had suddenly coalesced into a real person. She walked across to Daniel’s lab in a daze.
“We need to think of a name for our little boy,” she said as she pulled out a chair.
“A boy?” Daniel asked. “How do you know?”
She wasn’t sure what compelled her to lie, but mentioning her conversation with Gaven felt like a bad idea. “I found out in Almont,” she said. “One of my volunteers used to be a midwife.”
“We have many practicalities to discuss,” Daniel said. “Quite aside from his name. Where will he live once he is born?”
“He’s going to live here, of course. What do you mean?”
“What had you imagined? Will I keep him in my rooms? Or yours?”
“Mine. You live in a lab.” She waved her arms towards the shelves full of specimens, ingredients, and potions. Even the desk between them was cluttered with neat rows of bottles and equipment.
“But you could both live here, with me. Everything would be easier if we shared rooms.”
“You can come round any time you like. I’m not moving into the apothecary, and I know you don’t want to leave your work.”
“And as we are to be parents, do you not think we should be married?” he continued, ignoring her comments.
“Why?”
“Under the old family ways, marriage was not optional.”
“I thought we were trying to breed our own li
ttle warrior of the revolution. I’m not sure that’s quite what it was all about in the old days.”
“But we should do this properly.” He unclipped the name bangle from around his wrist and started to separate the two halves. “Here.”
She took the half he was offering and removed her own bangle slowly, wondering why it felt so strange. They were bringing their own little boy into the world. Compared to that, the exchange of wedding tokens could make no practical difference to their relationship, and yet it felt inexplicably significant. The feeling made her nervous.
She passed him half of her bangle, connected the remaining half to the piece he’d given her, and snapped the whole thing closed around her right wrist.
“If you will not live here, I will move to your rooms,” he said as he fastened his own bangle in place. “I do not need to work all night.”
“That’s that, then,” she said, although it didn’t quite seem real. “Married. How long do you think it’ll take the others to notice?”
“Everyone here is trained in observation,” he said. “I would be disappointed if it was long.”
Eleanor nodded. She was afraid he was right. “I’d better get on,” she said, getting to her feet. “I promised Don I’d go into a bit more depth on my plans for the next stage of the revolution.”
“When will you be ready?”
“Ready for what?”
“To take this revolt seriously. It is all just a game until we take the throne from the Empress.”
She sank back into the chair. “It’s all about timing. She’s useful to us – she’s an enemy everyone can hate. We’re uniting people against her as much as anything. If you kill her today, someone like Leon inherits, and suddenly the Empire doesn’t look so bad.”
A smile touched the corner of Daniel’s lips. “I think I see. We need to remove the line of succession first.”
“That’s not what I meant. We just need to have an obvious successor to step into the void, and it takes time to position someone like that.”
“Who?” he asked. “You?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.” It hadn’t crossed her mind, but once he said it she saw that she might be an obvious choice. She’d certainly fallen into a leadership role; in the eyes of most revolutionaries, she was the one holding the reins.
“We should start work on the heirs at once,” he said. “It will be easier with the family out of the way.”
She thought back to Leon and Donna, and the effort she’d put into hiding their son. “They haven’t done anything to deserve it. We could just let them slide into the history books.”
“This is a war, Eleanor. It matters little what they have or have not done, if they stand in the way of progress.”