Page 88 of Seized to Sacrifice
‘It’s obvious that you're with child,’ Maeve said. Then she frowned. ‘You didn’t know.’
‘How doyouknow? It could be anything.’
Maeve shrugged. ‘Sometimes I just know things. I often think it was probably best that I was taken into the Camp as a child. No doubt I’d have been burned as a witch in my village the first time I predicted the crops failing or something.’
Elle gaped.Pregnant?
‘It’s not possible,’ Elle said faintly.
She understood how it worked and it was too soon for sickness as far as she knew.
‘I’ve not been here long enough to …’
‘There was no one before you returned to your unit?’ Maeve asked. ‘I thought you’d only been back with your Brothers for a few days. You must be a few weeks along at least.’
Elle swallowed hard. ‘This isn't possible,’ she muttered again.
She went into the tent and grasped Maeve’s hand.
‘Please tell no one.’
Maeve nodded. ‘Of course. Know that your secret is safe. I'll bring you a tea that will help settle your stomach in a bit.’
Elle squeezed her new friend’s fingers. ‘Thank you.’
Maeve left and Elle sat down heavily. Had she been with someone else before she’d woken in the forest? Was it different somehow for a god? She’d thought this human body was new. Rye had been her first. How could she be carrying a babe?
Feeling adrift and wondering if this was yet more that her mind couldn’t comprehend, she laid back on the bed and curled up into a ball. She needed to understand what had happened to her. Whose babe was it?
A horrible thought came to her, making her feel even more ill. It couldn't somehow be Ceres’, could it? Surely, she would never have lain with him … not willingly at any rate.
Going down that dark line of thinking, she didn't notice that anyone had entered the tent until she heard Maeve’s voice.
‘I’ve brought you that tea,’ she said. ‘You must be several weeks along if you’re feeling so ill.’
‘Thank you,’ she frowned as her words registered.
‘This is impossible,’ she whispered to herself.
Maeve poured some of the tea from the jug she’d brought into a cup and handed it to her as she sat up.
‘Yet here you are with a babe in your belly.’
* * *
Thorne
Thorne clenched his fists,furious. He’d heard enough. He stormed into the tent.
‘You're with child?’ he asked angrily.
He strode forward and slapped the cup out of Elle’s hand.
‘Trying to get rid of this one too?’ he sneered. ‘Were you going to bother to tell us this time?’
Elle got to her feet, standing toe to toe with him, her eyes flashing. Then she slapped him hard enough to knock him off his feet.
He fell to the floor and stayed there in shock as she came to stand over him, the fury not leaving her countenance.
