My legs had gone numb from standing so long, but I refused to descend.
I didn't want to appear before them.
It would make me feel like a pathetic joke—the scheming rival standing between fated mates, just like in those tragic ballads the pack elders sang around the fire. The kind of story I used to scorn.
Perhaps my mind was elsewhere. Perhaps the numbness had spread too far. Going down the stone stairs, I misjudged a step.
My foot met empty air. I fell hard.
Pain exploded through my abdomen like claws raking from the inside.
I curled up on the cold floor, feeling something warm and wet seeping down between my legs.
All color drained from my face.
With trembling hands, I pressed my palm against my lower belly. A terrible thought surfaced—one I couldn't bear to name.
"My Lady!"
Mira came running from the kitchens, panic in every step. When she saw the blood spreading across the polished stone, her voice cracked with horror.
"I'm sending for the Healer's Lodge immediately."
The healers arrived with their stretcher and herb-pouches, their urgent voices shattering the morning quiet of the Keep.