Lucia woke the next morning feeling as though her body was being weighed down by stones. Her limbs felt heavy, her head swam in a dizzying haze, and a deep nausea churned in the pit of her stomach. Every day since she had discovered her pregnancy, it felt as if the weight of the world was pressing down harder on her fragile frame.
She sat up slowly, breathing deeply to suppress the wave of nausea that threatened to overtake her. Her hand instinctively moved to her abdomen, where the faintest swell had begun to show. The life inside her—this cursed, forbidden life—was draining her strength faster than she could regain it.
The thought of staying home, resting, and hiding away from the world crossed her mind, but she dismissed it quickly. There was too much to do, too much at stake. The pea
