In the afternoon, while Lara and Sarisa were somewhere in the demon capital pretending their outing was a dignified tour and not absolutely a date, Malvoria had decided she was perfectly calm.
Completely calm.
Majestically calm.
So calm, in fact, that she had only threatened three servants, reorganized an entire stack of diplomatic papers by throwing them into different emotional categories, and asked Elysia if she was "feeling strange" seven times in twenty minutes.
Elysia, who had the patience of a saint and the terrifying insight of a woman married to disaster, had finally looked up from her tea and said, "Malvoria."
"What?"
"If you ask me one more time whether I feel strange, I will start describing false symptoms just to watch you panic."
Malvoria had shut her mouth at once.
For nearly four minutes.
Then she summoned the healer.
Now they were sitting in the private medical wing of the demon castle, waiting.
Malvoria hated waiting.
The room was too clean, too quiet, too full of bottles and polished tools and calm little jars with labels written in neat script.
Sunlight came through the tall windows in a golden sheet, landing on Elysia's hair and making her look unfairly peaceful.
She sat beside Malvoria, one hand resting lightly over her stomach, not visibly nervous but quieter than usual.
That made Malvoria want to set something on fire.
Not because she feared pregnancy. No.
If anything, the possibility had lodged in her chest since last night like a small, impossible flame, bright enough to make her feel unsteady every time she thought about it too directly.
A second child.
Another baby.
Another little person with Elysia's eyes or Malvoria's temper or gods help them both, Kaelith's sense of drama.
The thought made her stupidly happy.
And that was the problem.
Hope was dangerous. Hope made people soft in inconvenient places. Hope made queens sit in medical wings and pretend they were not counting every breath until someone in a white robe came back with answers.
Elysia glanced at her. "You're pacing while sitting down."
"I am not."
"Your knee is shaking."
Malvoria looked down.
Her knee was, unfortunately, betraying the crown.
She placed one hand over it and forced it still. "There. Fixed."
Elysia's mouth curved. "You are not stressed?"
"No."
"Not at all?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then why did you ask the healer to come immediately instead of waiting until tomorrow?"
"Efficiency."
"Of course."
"I am a queen. I like results."
"You are a wife. You like worrying."
Malvoria turned her head slowly. "That is a rude accusation."
"It is also accurate."
Malvoria looked at her, at the faint smile on her mouth, the softness beneath it, and something inside her gave way. Just a little.
"If you're not," she said quietly, "it's all right."
Elysia's smile gentled.
"I know."
"I mean it. I will not be disappointed in you."
"I know that too."
"No, you know it in your very clever, annoying head. I need you to know it here." Malvoria reached out and placed her hand lightly over Elysia's, where it rested against her stomach.
"If there is no baby, I still have you. I still have Kaelith. I still have enough chaos in this castle to age me backward out of spite."
Elysia laughed softly, but her eyes shone a little.
Malvoria swallowed, immediately furious with herself for nearly causing tears when she had specifically planned to be majestic.
Then the door opened.
A young assistant stepped in and bowed. "Your Majesties, the healer will see you now."
Malvoria stood so quickly the chair scraped the floor.
Elysia rose more gracefully, because Elysia always had to make her look feral by comparison.
She took Malvoria's hand before they entered, and that small touch settled Malvoria more than any royal discipline ever had.
The examination room was warmer than the waiting chamber, lit with amber lamps and lined with soft curtains.
The healer, Lady Mereth, was an older demon woman with deep brown skin, silver horns curved close to her head, and eyes that had seen enough royal panic to no longer be impressed by any of it. She bowed once, then gestured toward the cushioned examination couch.
"Your Majesty," she said to Elysia, "please lie back. We'll begin gently."
Malvoria positioned herself at Elysia's side like a guard dog in silk.
Mereth gave her one dry glance. "You may breathe, Demon Queen. It is allowed during medical examinations."
Elysia smiled.
Malvoria did not dignify that with a response.
The first part was ordinary enough. Questions about symptoms, dates, appetite, fatigue.
Elysia answered calmly, though Malvoria noticed the way her fingers tightened around Malvoria's hand when the healer began the magical examination.
Mereth placed one hand just above Elysia's stomach, not touching at first, only hovering. A soft violet glow gathered around her palm. I
t spread slowly, sinking into the air above Elysia like moonlight poured into water.
The room went silent.
Malvoria forgot every joke she had ever made.
The magic pulsed once.
Then again.
Mereth's expression changed.
Only slightly. But Malvoria saw it.
"What?" she demanded at once.
Mereth lifted one brow. "Patience."
"I am being patient."
"No," Elysia murmured, eyes closed. "You are being threatening."
"I can do both."
Mereth ignored them and moved her hand lower, then to the side, murmuring a quiet diagnostic charm beneath her breath.
The violet light deepened. Threads of gold appeared within it, delicate and bright, and Malvoria felt Elysia's hand tighten again.
Then Mereth smiled.
It was small, but unmistakable.
"You are pregnant," she said.
The world stopped.
Malvoria stared at her.
Elysia's eyes opened.
For one strange, ringing moment, there was no castle, no queen, no investigation, no Celestian rot, no political storm waiting outside the walls. There was only that sentence, alive in the room.
You are pregnant.
"How far?" Elysia asked, voice softer than usual.
Mereth's hand shifted again, the glow shimmering over her palm. "My estimate is three or four months. We will refine that with a few more checks."
Malvoria made a sound.
It was not queenly.
It might have been half laugh, half breath, half something entirely embarrassing and impossible to divide cleanly.
Elysia turned her head toward her, and the look on her face made Malvoria's chest ache. Wonder. Relief. Fear too, a little.
Joy, carefully held because it was still new and fragile and too important to fling around the room like Malvoria wanted to.
Malvoria bent over her and kissed her forehead.
Then her cheek.
Then her mouth, quickly, because Mereth made a pointed throat-clearing sound that suggested royal restraint was medically encouraged.
"You are impossible," Elysia whispered, though her fingers had curled into Malvoria's sleeve.
"You're pregnant," Malvoria whispered back, as if Elysia might have missed it.
"Yes, love. I was here."
"With our baby."
Elysia's mouth trembled at the edges. "Yes."
Mereth continued the examination with admirable professionalism, though Malvoria suspected the woman was secretly delighted to watch the Demon Queen slowly lose the ability to function.
She checked Elysia's pulse, ran another scan, asked more questions, drew a small sample of blood into a crystal vial that glowed faintly when sealed.
Malvoria answered nothing because every question was directed at Elysia and also because her brain had temporarily been replaced with tiny baby shoes and panic.
Three or four months.
How had she not noticed? Had Elysia been more tired? Eating differently? Sleeping more?
Malvoria began mentally replaying every day of the last season and immediately blamed herself for every cup of tea she had not personally inspected.
Elysia, sensing the spiral with marital accuracy, squeezed her hand. "Do not start."
"I have started nothing."
"You are blaming yourself for not knowing sooner."
Malvoria opened her mouth.
Elysia narrowed her eyes.
Malvoria closed it.
Mereth made a satisfied sound and adjusted the flow of magic one final time. The violet light expanded gently, then condensed into two small bright pulses.
She went still.
Malvoria saw it.
"What?" she asked again, sharper this time.
Mereth did not answer immediately.
Instead she leaned closer, her expression focused, then ran the scan again with both hands this time. The light shimmered. Two golden sparks appeared within it, side by side, faint but steady.
Elysia's breathing changed.
Malvoria's heart slammed once against her ribs.
Mereth looked up at them, and this time her smile widened.
"Well," she said softly, "looks like it's twins."