Pawns and Queens--A 15th Century Gwynedd Story--Chapter Twenty-Three

[Evie]

Previous chapter: https://www.rhemuthcastle.com/index.php/topic,3243.0.html


Chapter Twenty-Three

August 13, 1464
The Duchess of Carthmoor's apartment
Rhemuth Castle
Near midnight

Catalina awoke with a start, breathing rapidly with fright. The room was dark, her bed curtains drawn, and for several long moments she felt quite disoriented, her mind still filled with visions of fire and smoke and the sounds of distant screams and battle.

She sat up quietly, not wishing to wake up Amina, for in Colin's absence she had taken to sleeping in her own official bedchamber again with her camarera. It had seemed more appropriate than remaining in Colin's bedchamber with him and his squires all gone off to war, and Lords Salim and Riordan still sharing a room in the same apartment. Not that she didn't trust her men, but she knew it would appear unseemly to continue sleeping in such close quarters with them just on the other side of their shared sitting room. Somehow the separation of one extra adjoining wall separating the ladies' side of their suite from the mens' side restored the appearance of propriety. At least Amina was well pleased to have her back in her own bedchamber, even though Catalina missed sleeping in her husband's bed.

The nightmare had faded, but not the odd throbbing on her chest, a pulsating rhythm that would not stop. She reached a hand absently to her collarbone, touching the ring on the chain around her neck, and that's when she remembered.

"Oh, sweet Jesú, wake up, Amina!" Catalina leaped out of bed, using a quick touch of her finger to her bedside candle's wick to light the room before throwing a kirtle swiftly over her nightrail. Amina turned on her truckle bed with a quiet moan. Catalina bent to shake her. "Amina! ¡Date prisa!"

Amina finally sat up, looking around the dimly lit room sleepily. "¿Qué pasa?"

"Quickly, we must hurry!" Catalina urged, tugging at the front lacing of her kirtle. Amina jumped up, understanding the need to dress her lady even if she understood nothing else that was happening. Catalina brushed off her attempt to attach the sleeves to the dress, instead reaching for the nearby clothes bar to grab Amina's kirtle and hand it to her.

Catalina slipped on her shoes and grabbed her belt and throwing daggers. "I'll go wake Salim and Riordan. Please be dressed when I return. Madre de Dios, I hope we're not too late!"

#

As Catalina entered the larger salon which connected the two apartment wings, Salim and Riordan came bolting out of their adjoining apartment, unarmored and only hastily clad in the essentials, but with swords belted on and drawn, having both been awakened by sensing her acute distress and fearing she was under some sort of attack. As they stared at her in question, there was a disturbance in the corridor on the other side of their main entrance.

"Hold, in the name of the King!" the sentry cried out.

"It's me, Balian!" the boy replied, his voice frantic with fear. "Please, I need the Duchess's help! Hurry!"

Catalina bounded across the narrow room and threw open the door to let in her husband's crying son.

#

"I dreamed it too," Catalina said as soon as Balian had poured out his tale of the nightmare that he knew was much more than just a dream. "Wait here; we will go get your family and return as soon as we can."

Salim and Riordan exchanged a quick glance. "You're staying here, Sultana," said Salim in a voice that brooked no argument. "You're bearing the heir, and there's no telling how much closer the enemy has moved towards the lodge in the time since you received the distress call. We'll go."

"I have to go too!" Balian told them, his voice quaking with fear. "Mama won't come if I don't. She's too afraid. But she'll come if I tell her she can trust you."

This was an unexpected complication, but there was no time to stand around and argue when they could continue the discussion on the way to the portal. Catalina beckoned to Amina, who had finally emerged from their apartment. "The Library Annex is closest," she said.

"Agreed, though you will need to let us back into the Castle," said Riordan. She nodded. The Annex Portal's warding would not permit anyone through who did not have Haldane blood or royal permission to enter and leave at will, and while the King trusted Catalina's retinue, he preferred to strictly limit those who had permission to enter or leave the Castle unescorted through that route.

"Balian," Catalina tried to reason with her husband's son as they dashed through the corridor towards the library tower, "Your mother called for our help. Surely she must fear being captured by the enemy much more than she fears me. I have no wish to harm her."

"She thinks she's calling Uncle Cam," Balian said. "Remember, he was meant to go if she called for help, only he's not in Rhemuth anymore. If she sees strangers arriving through the portal, she will think it's a trap."

If she let Balian go with them, she would be putting him at great risk. If she kept him behind, Melisande might agree to be rescued by strangers she had no reason to trust, or she might not. If either of them got killed because she made the wrong choice, Colin would never forgive her. ¡Madre del Amor Hermoso!"

They reached the Annex. Catalina stepped inside, reaching out her hand to pull each of her retainers through in turn, Balian stepping through after them. There was no more time to decide.

"Do you know how to go through a Portal by yourself yet, or will someone need to bring you through?"

"I've gone through and back once with Papa, but I can't do it by myself yet," he admitted.

She took a deep breath, sharing the Portal signature with each of her retainers in turn. "Amina, you will need to bring the two little girls through. Riordan, please escort Bal...no, wait." Catalina eyed Salim's Eastern style robes dubiously. "Melisande might be less trusting of someone who looks overtly Andelonian, so Salim can escort Balian and Riordan can bring Melisande through. Do not delay for any reason. We can supply clothing or any other needs once they get here. Balian, do exactly what you are told, and if it's clearly unsafe for you the moment you arrive, Salim will bring you straight back through. No arguments." Taking a steadying breath, she added, "You are the only one of us who has seen where the Portal is in relation to the lodge. How long do you think it will take to jump through, rescue your mother and the girls, and return? Can you give a guess?"

"Papa built it in the stable. It's right beside the lodge. I don't think it would take more than ten minutes."

Catalina nodded, looking up at Salim. "Be back in ten minutes or less, or so help me, I'm coming after you!"

#

August 14, 1464
The Duke of Carthmoor's hunting lodge
Candor Rhea
Midnight

Madre de Dios, her Señora was loca to have agreed to this scheme, and for what? To rescue her husband's puta and his bastardas? Por qué? It made no sense at all to Amina to risk their lives, to risk falling into enemy hands just to rescue these rivals for her preciosa's love, a husband so unworthy of her that he had gotten his puta pregnant yet again even while preparing to take a wife.

Her princesa did not deserve to be shamed by such treatment, yet Amina knew better than to protest by now. No matter what she said or did, it would fall upon deaf ears, for Catalina was utterly besotted by her handsome but morally corrupt prince.

And now they would all be in danger, and Amina would likely end up saddled with the two little baseborn brats once they returned to Rhemuth, for even though it sometimes seemed like all the ladies of the Royal household were embarazada all at once–hardly a surprise in this cesspit of lustful swine that was Gwynedd–had any nursemaids been hired or a nursery established yet? Of course not! Rhemuth's Queen had yet to select a proper camarera for herself, much less designate her own ladies-in-waiting, so even those tasks had been delegated to the princesa's ladies, who were turning hopelessly Gwyneddan as each month blended into the next, even taking on Gwyneddan names and allowing themselves to be called upon by Gwyneddan lords, and giggling in corners hoping to draw the eye of some foreign duke or earl. But not Amina. She had higher standards to keep.

She was relieved to see that the fighting and fires had not yet spread to the remote hilltop where they emerged from the stable on the other side of the jump. The stone lodge loomed as a dark silhouette against the burning village below, though even that seemed uncomfortably close, maybe no more than a mile away.

Salim took the lead, sword drawn, one hand clasping the boy's as the Duke's son led them into the lodge. There had been a momentary hesitation as they had discovered the door was locked, though Riordan had made short work of unlocking it. How had the stupid puta expected to be rescued through a locked door?

The Deryni extended their senses, immediately locating the three whom they sought huddled together in an upstairs room. No other living beings appeared to be nearby, at least for the moment.

"Mama!" Balian called out quietly as he bounded up the stairs, the three Andelonians following close behind him. "We're here for you and the girls!"

"Balian?!" The woman sounded startled, fearful. 'Why are you here?"

"To bring you home to Rhemuth, Mama!"

They rounded a corner at the top of the stairs. A door opened and a woman peered out, her eyes widening as she saw strangers looking back at her.

"Uncle Camber had to go off to war, Mama. But this is my weapons master at the page school and his friends."

Melisande looked slightly less wary. "All right." She stepped back to let them enter the room. Beyond her, two little girls stared out a window at the village below.

"Look, mummy! Horsies!" said the youngest.

Riordan crossed the room in three long strides, taking a quick peek outside. "They're heading in this direction. We need to go now!" Scooping up both girls, he thrust them into Amina's arms. "¡Vamos!"

"Come now, my lady!" Salim urged as he steered Melisande towards the stairs.

Melisande hesitated. "Our bags...." She paused at the top of the steps, looking around for where she had left them.

"There's no time, my lady," Riordan said, as in the distance they could hear the sound of hoofbeats drawing closer. Amina cast a look behind her, taking one last look at the bedchamber where her preciosa's husband likely took his pleasure of his puta, her eyes alighting on the open bag, half filled with clothing. On top of the neatly folded clothes, she was startled to see a short length of ribbon with Andelonian stitchwork pinned to the filmy garment beneath it. She recognized it at once, and the sight filled her with rage. She had watched Queen Noora make it; it was intended for the princesa, not her husband's whore!

Amina stepped to one side, deliberately blocking the wicked woman's view of the bag. "We leave now, before the enemy arrives, no? Quickly, we must go! If we do not go at once, they will violate the children!"

Riordan shot her an angry look as they all felt the woman's surge of panic, but Amina's words had the desired effect. She hesitated no longer, swiftly following her unknown Deryni rescuers down the stairs and running out the door towards the stables, haste now more important than stealth.

#

Riordan entered the stable first, checking to be sure no one lay in wait for them in the shadows before urging the others through. Amina stepped onto the Portal stone first, vanishing with the two little girls. He beckoned to Melisande, who shook her head.

"Balian next," she whispered.

Salim nodded, handing over the boy for Riordan to bring through while he kept alert eyes on the entrance to the stable. "Step onto the stone as soon as they leave, my lady, then I'll bring you through," he said in a low voice.

Riordan and Balian vanished. Melisande stepped onto the stone. Salim moved to join her, linking his mind to hers and focusing on the Portal signature to make the leap when a sharp explosion of pain shot through his leg. He stumbled, knocking her off the stone and onto the stable floor.

The approaching hoofbeats stopped.

#

August 14, 1464
The Library Annex
Rhemuth Castle
Shortly after midnight

Several seconds passed.  "Where's Salim?" Catalina whispered.

"Where's Mama?!" Balian asked, alarmed.

Riordan's eyes met Catalina. "Bloody hell!"  He stepped back onto the Portal stone. Before he could argue, before he could even notice what she was doing, she stepped onto it alongside him.

#

The man with the crossbow was bent over the strangely dressed Moor and the terrified woman, which is why he didn't notice the sword that swung down to end his life. Riordan kicked the man aside, noticing for the first time that Catalina had jumped through also. She moved to crouch beside their fallen friend and the Prince's woman, who appeared unharmed, just stunned.

Get her out of here! Riordan ordered, glaring furiously at the Princess. Catalina grabbed Melisande's hand, yanking her onto the Portal stone before she had time to question who this new rescuer was, and linking with her mind to pull her through to safety, pulling Melisande off the Annex Portal stone and waving her towards her children to clear the way for Riordan to bring Salim through. Several very tense heartbeats later, as Catalina turned a deaf ear to Amina's frantic admonishments and wondered whether she would need to go back and assist, the men finally came through, Riordan straddling Salim's body as if he had made the jump immediately after dragging the man onto the Portal stone, which he very likely had.

"He'll need a Healer," Riordan informed her as soon as they arrived, his voice tense as he removed his shirt, using it to staunch the flow of blood around Salim's wound.

Catalina's eyes flicked up to where Balian stood, pale-faced, beside his mother and sisters. "Balian, you know where Master James's room is, yes? Beside the Infirmarium." At his nod, she told him, "Run and fetch the Healer, and be quick about it! You will need to bring him through the ward also. Tell him Lord Salim has taken a crossbow bolt to the leg."

"Yes, my lady!" Balian ran to fetch the Healer.

Catalina met her weapon master's gaze. "Hold on, my friend. We are getting help."

"Good...to know." Salim smiled weakly, the smile turning into a grimace. "Lend me your energy, Sultana. I'm going to sink into a deeper trance and see if I can slow my heartbeat, so don't panic if you sense the change. I'm not planning on dying and missing your birthday."

"You can draw it from me, brother," Riordan said, his voice still tense with anger. "She seems to have forgotten she's carrying the damn heir!"

"I've hardly forgotten, but there's no way you could have got them both out in time without help." In a gentler voice, she replied to Salim. "You'd better not miss my special day," she whispered, moving her hand to his leg and focusing on trying to alleviate some of his pain so he could better focus on what he was attempting to do. "If you die on me, I'll kill you!"

She sensed rather than saw Salim's inward amusement just before he slipped into the trance. Catalina checked Salim's vitals. They seemed stable enough at the moment, and Riordan's swift check under the wadded linen of his shirt revealed that the flow of blood beneath it was starting to slow down. Despite that, Riordan continued applying steady pressure around the wound. Catalina looked up, spotting Amina hovering uncertainly next to the Annex entrance, looking like she was torn between wanting to help and not knowing what to do.

"¡Ven aquí!" Catalina beckoned to Amina to join her. "You know how to relieve pain and check to make sure breathing remains steady. Watch over Salim and do anything else Riordan tells you to do." She stood, crossing the room to where Melisande stood, her frightened daughters clutching at her skirt.

"I am Catherine, Colin's wife. You are unharmed, I hope? You appeared to have been winded by a fall when I arrived."

Melisande swallowed nervously, belatedly gathering herself out of her growing shock and giving the woman before her a deep curtsey. "I wasn't harmed, Your Highness. Your man fell suddenly, and I wasn't strong enough to catch him."

Catalina nodded. "Balian should be back soon with our Healer. Once he has tended to Lord Salim, I'll ask him to give you a quick check also, if you will permit, just to make sure your child has suffered no harm during the fall." She dropped a quick glance towards Melisande's abdomen, swollen with Colin's child.

Crouching to look at Colin's daughters closer to their eye level, she asked, "And what of you two? I hope the Portal jump here with Lady Amina didn't scare you too much?"

Anneke found her voice long enough to say, "The world went black and came back, but we were here instead of there. And my tummy felt icky."

"Yes, it's like that, isn't it? But only for a second. You'll eventually get used to it." She glanced up at their mother. "Your girls are lovely," she said as she straightened. "I'm very sorry I don't have an apartment set up for your family yet, but for tonight you can use Colin's chamber, and I'll work on finding rooms for you tomorrow. I think there is a vacant apartment in the end of the apartment block facing the Page School, so Balian can visit you when he's not at his studies or on duty."

As if summoned, Colin's son suddenly reappeared through the doorway ward just then, bringing Master James with him. As the Healer crouched to examine his patient, Catalina waved Amina to one side.

"Melisande and her daughters will stay in Colin's room tonight, so go upstairs and make it ready for our guests." At Amina's mutinous look, she added, ¡Basta! It will be only for one night; surely you can force yourself to make them feel welcome for that long. I will be up shortly to see that everything is in order.

She ignored her camarera's tight-lipped look of disapproval as she turned to assist the Healer and Lord Riordan.

#

The Healer and the Andelonian lord had managed to remove the crossbow bolt, Melisande distracting her children from the sight by showing them the ornately bound books and the pretty window alcove while the men worked, until at last the desert lord was Healed of his initial injury, rising with some assistance to be helped by his friend to the Infirmarium, Balian leading the men through the invisible barrier which apparently for some reason he could pass through unaided but they could not, for the Healer wished to keep him for observation another day or two longer due to the blood loss, which might have been fatal had the bolt been any closer to some blood vessel in his upper thigh. Whatever Deryni technique the man had used on himself had also somehow helped. Not for the first time, Melisande felt somewhat in awe of what Deryni could do with their powers and wished that she could share them.

The Healer had given her a quick check then, assuring her that the baby was still thriving inside her, only asleep for the moment, and he recommended that she and her children should find their beds and do the same. At that, the Andelonian Princess had asked Balian to assist the Healer and his mother through the doorway, his sisters also able to walk through it unaided, which caused her to give the princess a questioning look.

"They're Haldanes," said Princess Catherine. "Only those of Haldane blood or the few they permit to pass through the ward unescorted are able to pass through it."

As Balian pulled her through the invisible barrier, Melisande found herself in the garderobe corridor off the Royal Library. Disconcerted, she looked back over her shoulder, this time only seeing a stone wall behind her. She had spent several years of her youth in this castle, and never once had she suspected anything lay behind that wall.

The Healer took his leave of them. Balian followed the Princess and the rest of his family up to the apartment that Melisande vaguely recalled had once been King Uthyr's and Queen Soraya's, though he took his leave of them at the door with a quick, fierce hug for his mother, saying he needed to return to his bed at the Page School. Princess Catherine had escorted her the rest of the way to Colin's room, taking a quick look around to assure herself that a fresh jug of water and a basin had been supplied and various other items like linen towels and a comb laid out for her use, and showing her where the garderobe was located before leaving for her own bedchamber, departing the long way around through the main apartment even though Melisande could easily surmise that the other door within her beloved's bedchamber directly connected with his wife's.

Melisande recognized Colin's bed at once, although she had never shared it, for he had shared an apartment with his brothers in those days. She had only seen glimpses of it through an open door on rare occasions when the boys would smuggle her into their sitting room late at night, along with Miranda, the younger girls being deemed too young to stay up so late and more likely to tell on them for their forbidden yet fairly innocent pastime of sharing scary stories with each other or telling tall tales in hushed whispers and muffled laughter. Devyn FitzCassan and Joss of Lendour had sometimes joined in on their fun.

They had all been friends back then. It had been a year later when she realized that strange new feeling she was developing for Colin might be love. Almost two years later when he realized that he loved her in return.

Emmeline was already asleep, so she tucked her youngest child under the covers, Anneke sleepily climbing in beside her, still dressed, but Melisande did little more than remove her daughters' shoes because she was too exhausted.

She crawled into the bed from the other side, instinctively knowing it was Colin's preferred side of the bed, because she knew his habits. She lay back on his pillow, imagining she could still detect the faintly remembered scent of him lingering on its linen surface, before sitting up and reaching for the candle to blow it out. Something on the bedsheet caught her eye, and she paused to look at it more closely.

It was a single strand of long black hair. From the length of it, she knew it was Catherine's.

Mellie extinguished the candle, falling back onto Colin's pillow and allowing her tears to flow in silence, for she did not wish to wake their daughters.

#

Catalina lay in the darkness of her own bedchamber, her curtains drawn tight despite the summer heat as if to ward off the waves of disapproval radiating off her camarera.

It had been one thing to offer her home as sanctuary for Colin's amour du cœur when the thought of needing to evacuate his young family had been merely theoretical; quite another to be faced with seeing the woman in person.

She was beautiful, perhaps not in the exotic, sultry way that might catch many men's eyes more quickly, but the woman's eyes were a mesmerizing shade of blue, her features delicately exquisite, her expression vulnerable yet at the same time filled with a determined strength. Deep down, Catalina knew mere physical beauty wouldn't have been sufficient to catch and hold Colin's attention, much less his love, for ten long years, yet the discovery had been disconcerting nonetheless, awakening insecurity, for Catalina was well aware how fragile her husband's newly-awakened tender regard for her was. She had thought Colin was beginning to love her, but would that change once he returned to Rhemuth and was reunited with this lovely lady who had such a secure hold on his heart?

How could she have done otherwise, though? The thought of leaving Melisande or Colin's children to the mercies of those who had left scores of ravaged villages and destroyed lives in their wake would have been unthinkable.

It had been the right thing to do, of that Catalina was certain. But it was extremely painful nonetheless.

Catalina closed her eyes, hoping to catch a little more sleep before dawn.


Next chapter: https://www.rhemuthcastle.com/index.php/topic,3248.0.html

[JudithR]

What an act of generosity and courage.  I'm liking the Catalina and her "court" with the exception of Amina (whose a piece of work) more and more.

Now worried about Melisande's unborn child.

[DerynifanK]

Well you promised excitement and you certainly delivered. Catalina is an amazing person, so brave and generous to rescue Colin's family. Once he knows what she did I think he will love her more. But it gets more complicated. You always leave me with more questions. Did Amina take the ribbon or leave it to be destroyed? Will Catalia find out what Amina did and will it lead to harm or even death for Melisandre and the baby? She needs to send Amina back to Andelon. She is dangerous and intractable in her hate.

[Evie]

What an act of generosity and courage.  I'm liking the Catalina and her "court" with the exception of Amina (whose a piece of work) more and more.

Now worried about Melisande's unborn child.

Yeah, it's a pity that bag of clothes got left behind, or at least that garment right at the very top of it, which might have been swiftly retrieved by a certain someone who was well-aware it was right there if she hadn't been all up in her self-righteous high dudgeon. It's quite possible that will have future repercussions down the road....

Well you promised excitement and you certainly delivered. Catalina is an amazing person, so brave and generous to rescue Colin's family. Once he knows what she did I think he will love her more. But it gets more complicated. You always leave me with more questions. Will she find out Amina did and will it lead to harm or even death for Mellesande and the baby? She needs to send Amina back to Andelon. She is dangerous.

Very good questions, and I promise you will get answers for every one of those. Just not today. 

[Demercia]

Beautifully done.  I love the fact that Balian is so trusting of Catalina.

[Evie]

Beautifully done.  I love the fact that Balian is so trusting of Catalina.

I'm sure it took him a little while to work up to that, but her spirited defense of him to his grandmother the Dowager Queen (which he heard about from his friend Adam), and Queen Soraya's softening towards him as a result, would have gone a long way towards assuring him that his father's new wife isn't the enemy. And at any rate, with Camber gone from Court, there wasn't really anyone else he could turn to who would be able to get to Candor Rhea in time to help.

[revanne]

That's one less group of people to worry about, though, like Judith, I'm now worrying about Melisande's confinement given Amina's latest bit of spite. Still at least Rémy won't get his hands on them, which didn't bear thinling about.

Oh, and thank you for not killing Salim.

[Evie]

That's one less group of people to worry about, though, like Judith, I'm now worrying about Melisande's confinement given Amina's latest bit of spite. Still at least Rémy won't get his hands on them, which didn't bear thinling about.

Oh, and thank you for not killing Salim.

He came very, very, VERY close to dying in this scene, but I decided I still wanted him around for a future scene or three. And more to the point, I didn't want you turning up on my doorstep with a machete. 

[revanne]

Envisages an interesting conversation with your border agency. 

"Why are you visiting the US"

"To carve up a friend I made online for killing a fictional character I fancied."

"Come right away in Ma'am".

Maybe not.

[Evie]

Envisages an interesting conversation with your border agency.

"Why are you visiting the US"

"To carve up a friend I made online for killing a fictional character I fancied."

"Come right away in Ma'am".

Maybe not.

🤣🤣🤣

[DerynifanK]

What an act of generosity and courage.  I'm liking the Catalina and her "court" with the exception of Amina (whose a piece of work) more and more.

Now worried about Melisande's unborn child.

Yeah, it's a pity that bag of clothes got left behind, or at least that garment right at the very top of it, which might have been swiftly retrieved by a certain someone who was well-aware it was right there if she hadn't been all up in her self-righteous high dudgeon. It's quite possible that will have future repercussions down the road....

Well you promised excitement and you certainly delivered. Catalina is an amazing person, so brave and generous to rescue Colin's family. Once he knows what she did I think he will love her more. But it gets more complicated. You always leave me with more questions. Will she find out Amina did and will it lead to harm or even death for Mellesande and the baby? She needs to send Amina back to Andelon. She is dangerous.

Very good questions, and I promise you will get answers for every one of those. Just not today. 

Just curious, how many chapters are there total in this story? I think you may have said but I've forgotten.

[Evie]

Just curious, how many chapters are there total in this story? I think you may have said but I've forgotten.

Thirty-eight chapters plus a short epilogue. I haven't decided for sure yet, but I might post the epilogue attached to the end of Chapter Thirty-Eight, since it is just a few extra pages, but I want to be certain it will all fit into one post properly if I do that, since there is a post line limit, but I'm not certain what it is.

[Evie]

Also there is another short spin-off story that should be posted in just a few weeks, plus another one that I will likely post on the heels of this one once it is complete, since that spin-off has five chapters rather than just being a short story, so it seems like it would be easier to post it as a follow-up even though chronologically it is more like a prequel to this one. (It's the story of the early days of Cinhil and Alixa's marriage.)

[DerynifanK]

That's one less group of people to worry about, though, like Judith, I'm now worrying about Melisande's confinement given Amina's latest bit of spite. Still at least Rémy won't get his hands on them, which didn't bear thinling about.

Oh, and thank you for not killing Salim.

Yes, thank you for not killing either Salim or Riordan. Don't want to see Amina killed but would really like to get rid of her Hope she is not asked to care for the two little girls. That would not be a good idea.
 Hope you get over that cold soon Revanne

[Evie]

Yes, thank you for not killing either Salim or Riordan. Don't want to see Amina killed but would really like to get rid of her Hope she is not asked to care for the two little girls. That would not be a good idea.
 Hope you get over that cold soon Revanne

Oof, yeah, I can imagine neither Amina nor those poor girls would want to end up stuck with each other. Of course, given that at the moment we've also got a few pregnant ladies in the castle, it could be that there will be a royal nursery set up for the little munchkins very soon. And in the meantime, it's not like Mellie is going to have a ton of things to do initially while stuck in Colin's family's castle as a refugee, so she's quite available to spend time with her own daughters (and Balian, when he's free) for the moment while she adjusts to this sudden upheaval in her life.