21. Karmen

21

KARMEN

" I was pregnant with Ra's heir," I whispered. "A solar queen. His heart's desire."

Tremors shook my shoulders, my whole body trembling as if I was freezing cold. Sunzi tightened his arms around me, his chin on my shoulder.

Shara stood quietly and moved away to give me a private moment, or so I thought, but then she returned with a blanket, tucking it around me. I grabbed her hand in mine before she could return to her seat, so she simply dropped to her knees beside us. Still holding my hand while I told her.

Everything.

How Sunzi had first noticed the spark and got me out of Heliopolis. Waking up in the hospital in Chicago with no memory of what had happened or who I was. Finding Eivind outside. Meeting his sister. The sundogs coming with the dawn. Claiming my Blood, even though they were still Soldiers of Light.

"I couldn't keep it," I whispered hoarsely, searching her eyes. Desperate for understanding—but terrified of her reaction. "Sepdet tore his way out of his mother's body and devoured her. I refused to risk it. I want no part of Ra to linger inside me. Ever again."

Her eyes shimmered like bottomless wells of inky oil, glimmering in the light of the moon. She nodded, squeezing my hand, and tears dripped down her cheeks. "What he did to you was an abomination. I'm glad you're free."

Tears. Tears for me. "But am I?" My teeth chattered so much I was afraid she wouldn't be able to understand my words. "High Lord Amun said his Sun still burns in me. I embraced Sól's power and felt Her burn everything away, but now I'm not sure. I'm bleeding so much. I just don't know, and I have to be sure."

Nodding, Shara patted my clutched hand with her other. "Of course, I completely understand. Dr. Borcht can run some tests and give you an answer. She may even have human medication that can help. I've trusted her with my care in the past."

"Okay," I breathed out, though I didn't release her hand.

Immediately, the door opened and a slim woman with dark hair pulled back in a neat bun stepped inside carrying a black bag. Shara shifted slightly to the side, making room for the doctor, who set her bag on the table beside the sofa. She inclined her head and curtsied politely. "Your Majesty, I'm Dr. Mala Borcht. Before we get started, I feel you should know I have viewed some of your medical information already. Dr. Mason from Northwestern Memorial Hospital sent your blood work to my lab for additional testing."

Accusations stabbed through me, though I shouldn't be surprised. He'd been incredibly curious about me and realized I wasn't human from the beginning. No wonder Shara wasn't surprised by my secret. Here I'd dreaded bearing my soul to her, to anyone, and she'd already known.

Dr. Borcht sighed heavily, giving Shara a look that I could only interpret as regretful. "I admit I would have told my queen about your medical history, but she refused to listen. She said it was your secret to tell, if you wished."

My eyes widened and I searched Shara's face again. "And Smoak didn't tell you, right?"

Her lips quirked. "I forbade it. I admit that I suspected, but it was your news to share in your own time."

"I see you've lost a great deal of blood," Dr. Borcht said, drawing our attention back to the matter at hand. "May I examine you, Your Majesty?"

"What will that entail?"

"First, only some questions while I draw some blood with a syringe to take to the lab for testing."

At my nod, she asked me when the bleeding had begun, how long, how much. If I had any cramping. How many weeks or months I might have been pregnant.

"Honestly, not very long, though it's hard to measure the passage of time when I'm not here. Sunzi got me out of Heliopolis immediately."

Dr. Borcht looked up from her notepad where she'd been writing quickly. "As in moment of conception immediately?"

"I believe so," Sunzi replied. "My sunfire was drawn to touch her in that moment, and we saw the initial spark."

"Incredible." She scribbled frantically. "So when Dr. Mason ran your bloodwork in Chicago, it might have only been hours, yet there were already increased levels of hCG. It usually takes at least ten days for us to be able to notice a measurable difference in humans."

"Is that bad?"

She glanced up, a wry smile curving her lips. "Not at all, just different. Please forgive my enthusiasm during this difficult time, Your Majesty. I've not had the first-hand chance to study hCG levels in Aima queens. In fact, no one has since it's been so difficult for queens to conceive for the last few hundred years."

I couldn't help but tense a little, braced for chiding remarks at my decision. But they didn't come. From either of them.

She pulled out a syringe and took a couple of vials of blood from my elbow. "If you were human, I'd be concerned about continued hemorrhaging after a miscarriage, but for an Aima queen, your special gifts are centered in blood. I believe your body is doing exactly what it needs to do in order to purge itself of any incomplete particles that might be lingering in your uterus. I'm going to give you some oral medication to take in a few days if the bleeding doesn't stop on its own, and I'd like to take another sample of blood in a week to make sure your hCG levels are returning to normal. Will that be acceptable with you, Your Majesty?"

"That's it?" I whispered, my voice quivering with relief.

"Honestly, yes, I believe so. Like humans, Aima gestate for approximately forty weeks, so it's still very early. Though if you're still concerned in a few days, I can arrange some private time in my lab with a sensitive ultrasound machine. We can examine every inch of you from the inside out. I don't think that's necessary, though. Your body is taking care of itself as we speak. Feed well and deeply. Rest as much as you can in a safe location. If the bleeding continues after three days, take this medication and have your consiliarius update me." She handed Dagny a card. "We can meet back here if that's convenient, or I can come to you. With Queen Shara's assistance, I can fly anywhere in the world in a matter of hours if your condition worsens."

On my right, Dagny reached over to dab at my cheeks with a handkerchief. I didn't even realize I was crying. "We'll take very good care of you, Your Majesty. The staff is eager to welcome you home, and nothing will be able to reach you through the Sunna blood circle."

I made a sound that was as close to laughter as I could get after so many centuries of hell. "These are happy tears, not sad. Tears of relief. I was terrified there might be some chance that Ra's spawn had somehow burrowed itself deeper in me and that's why I was bleeding so much."

"Not at all," Dr. Borcht replied. "In my experience, if an Aima queen is bleeding, her body is doing the fighting it needs to do to protect itself. If you weren't bleeding, I'd be more inclined to believe there was a slight chance the embryo was still implanted. Is there anything else I can assist with?"

Shara rose gracefully and released my hand. "Thank you, Dr. Borcht."

"It's a pleasure to be of assistance, Your Majesties. I'll show myself out."

Shara waited a few moments for the doctor to leave and close the door behind her. Her lovely face changed, still young and beautiful but hard, cold, and, dare I say, deadly. "If you're up to it, could you tell me about the Heliopolis attack?"

I described the portal appearing out of nowhere, slicing through the table. My Blood frozen, unable to move or even speak.

She nodded grimly. "That's exactly how they attacked us in Kansas City. Only Soldiers of Light hopped through and tried to drag me back through the mirror."

We both knew exactly what would have happened to her on the other side once she was captured by the vizier without her Blood's protection. "They wanted me to come through, but they couldn't reach out through the portal to me."

"A limitation because they lost Ra's power?"

Sunzi shook his head. "I believe it's because the Keys of Heaven are with me, Your Majesty. They were limited to working only with Greatest of Seer's magic rather than sunfires, and none of the remaining Soldiers of Light carry sunfires either. They wouldn't be able to function long outside of Heliopolis, especially against us."

"What are the Keys of Heaven?"

"My sunfire can open any portal to any location as long as we have some visual or physical aid to make the connection. In Heliopolis, those were usually obelisks, but if we see a picture of a location, especially with a map, I can open the way there."

"I can do a similar thing with water and trees, but yeah. I need to be able to visualize where I'm going." She paused, her eyes narrowing. The air felt heavier, charged with electricity, though she didn't move a finger or whisper a command. "Were you the one who opened the portal into my bedroom in Kansas City?"

Sunzi's thighs tensed beneath me, though I didn't think the other queen would be able to tell beneath my stained skirts. "No, Your Majesty. Believe me or not as you wish, but my sunfire was very particular about when and how the Keys worked. We mostly used them to pass through areas of Heliopolis that were off limits even to other denizens."

She continued to stare at him, her gaze weighing heavily as if deciding whether she could believe him. Or worse, whether she could use him in some way. Sunzi's Keys opened the way to places outside of this world. Like my childhood home we'd been using to rest and learn about our new lives. Heliopolis, which wouldn't be a place she could reach without Smoak's assistance.

A surge of what I could only call jealousy pulsed through me. Not at the thought that she might wish to access Heliopolis or even my former home.

She might attempt to use him . Sunzi. My Blood. My alpha.

Mine.

I couldn't entirely control the rising energy. My hair crackled around my shoulders, rippling like living flames.

Casually, Sunzi lifted his hands up and smoothed my hair back down with long, soothing strokes of his hands. "What color was the portal of which you speak, Your Majesty? That will tell you whether it was sunfires or priest magic. You saw what the Keys of Heaven generate outside your nest."

Nodding, Shara laughed softly and the air lightened. "You're right, of course. My apologies for doubting you, sir. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Sun Tzu Sunna." To me, he said, :Have no fear for my sake, my queen. The only queen with free rein to use me any way she desires is you.: