LENA
The courier had been gone five days, and no news came from Lucien. I stood by the window of my room, looking east over the forest while the sun rose there, and some kind of hope went out like a sigh on my soul.
“Maybe he didn’t think it was true,” I whispered to my reflection in the glass. “Selena may have done too much damage to repair.”
I put my hand on my stomach, where the baby was getting stronger every day. The healers told her everything was going as it should, and that despite the trauma and stress, the child was thriving. It was the only piece of knowledge that kept me from fully succumbing to despair.
“Your father will come,” I whispered to the baby, but at that point, I’m not sure I believed it myself. "He has to come. He has to believe the truth."
I was interrupted fr
