As time passed Rosalina grew stronger and little was mentioned about her marriage. The King Queen seemed to be growing closer and happier. Three months after the disrupted feast the Royals had something of a miracle to celebrate. The Queen fell ill and a doctor was sent for. The doctor finished his exam and went to talk to the King while Rosalina and Bethany attended to Rosette.
The King waited impatiently in the sitting room for the doctor. Finally he emerged looking shocked and confused. " What is it?" The King demanded. " Your Majesty, it is hard to say." the doctor said. " You do not know what is plaguing my wife?" Edmund questioned. " I know what it is. It is just hard to say. I do not understand how it is possible." the doctor responded. " Tell me what is wrong, speak plainly, sir." Edmund commanded. " Her Majesty is with child, Your Majesty." The doctor announced. " Are you certain? You, yourself, even said she would never conceive again." The King questioned. " That is true, I examined her and the infection had spread to her womb and she should not have conceived. However I am certain that she is at least three months on." the doctor explained.
" This is wonderful, thank you, doctor." The King smiled and ran into the Queen's bedchamber. Rosalina was handing her a cup, " What is in that?" the King asked. " Tea, made from the chamomile flower, to settle her stomach." Rosalina answered. The Queen took the cup and drank the liquid. " Good, sweetheart I have wonderful news." Edmund announced. The Queen swallowed, " What is it, my love?" she asked. " We have been granted a miracle, the Doctor is sure that you are with child." he responded. " I do not understand. He told me that it would be impossible for me to conceive again." she questioned. " I know he is just as surprised as but said he is certain that you are three months on." the king explained. Oh, Edmund this is amazing." she started to cry and smile. " Rosette, my love. This is wonderful news but I do not want you to get overly excited. You need your rest. We are going to keep this news to those we trust the most, Bethany, Rosalina, Edric and the doctor. I want to remove you from the city. I want to take you somewhere peaceful and good for your health." he announced. " Yes, Your Majesty." she smiled. " Rosalina, I am putting you in charge of the Queen's health and happiness. I want you to employ any means to keep the Queen healthy and always smiling. Do whatever it takes" he commanded. " Yes, Your majesty. I will make it my top priority." she vowed. " Bethany, my jewel, I want you to stay close at all times. Having you around lifts your mother's heart." he said. " I will only go as far as my apartments." Bethany responded. The Queen finished the tea and Rosalina took the cup and Bethany and left the room.
The King and Queen were left alone. " Can I get you anything, sweetheart?" he asked " Just you." she responded. The King removed his boots, climbed in the bed and pulled his Queen close to him. " Edmund, I am afraid." she admitted. " Of what, my love?" he asked. " Disappointment." she answered. " We will not have the same disappointment as before. I am not seeking a male heir, we have Bethany. If we have a son it will be an incredible surprise and gift. If we have another daughter I will not love her any less. If you are worried about the child living, I believe you can push that thought from your mind. We have something this time we did not have before." he commented. " What do you mean?" she looked into his eyes questioningly. " A young redhead with emerald eyes who can survive poisoning," he responded. She smiled, " you are right, Rosalina will do everything to insure all of our health and happiness," she realized the gift that had already given them so much. " That is why I put her in charge of your health. I know that she still holds secrets of healing that my doctors could never hope to understand." he confessed. " I am so happy she came into our lives. Where do you think we would be without her?" she questioned. " We would be divorced, you would have been sent far away most likely to pass into obscurity. I would be married to that lying, manipulative woman, Still no closer to a male heir that I was seeking. Our Kingdom would hate me, I would have had to break with the church because they would never grant an annulment of our marriage. Bethany would have been hurt the most .I would have allowed Josephina to continue to convince me to keep mother and daughter apart. Bethany would have been labeled a bastard born of incest.
Most likely never to marry and to never have children of her own. The worst possible future is what comes to mind." he responded. " That is an awful future. Were you really going to send me so far away, disown Bethany and keep her away from me?" she questioned with sadness in her eyes. " Unfortunately, that was the plan. I wanted you as far away from me as possible and Josephina made me believe that if you and Bethany were allowed to communicate that you would plot to place Bethany on the throne, by force if needed." he admitted. " How could you believe I would plot anything against you?" she asked. " I really do not know. You have never given me reason to believe you would harm me or the Kingdom. I was a fool to believe anything that woman said." he responded. " Rosette, I am sorry I ever thought evil things about you. I was not thinking and allowed others to influence me when I should have turned to my best council, You." he apologized. " Edmund, I forgive you. I just can not believe our marriage had fallen so far." she responded. " I can not believe I allowed it to." he admitted. They fell silent and just lounged together. Rosette fell asleep on his shoulder. He gently laid her down, drew her close again and he too fell asleep.
The sun fell below the horizon and the moon shone bright above. The ladies had not seen or heard from the King and Queen. Rosalina smiled at Bethany and the pair dismissed them all. The pair sat a while talking about the day's events and what this could mean. They were both excited. It became very late and still no word from the King and Queen.
" They are probably asleep, maybe we should retire as well." Rosalina suggested. " Goodnight, Rose" the princess hugged her cousin. " Goodnight, Bett," Rosalina responded. They parted ways and headed for their chambers.
A week later the entire royal household was preparing to move to a castle in the country. The court was surprised and confused about the move. The Queen's secret was kept close to the family. Rosalina's healers had become a fixture in the Queen's apartments. The court assumed that they were there for Rosalina because of the poisoning. The Queen no longer was drinking wine. Instead she drank a variety of teas. Rosalina made sure she walked in the gardens daily, flowers surrounded the Queen's chambers. And everyone stayed happy. Rumors were abound throughout the palace. No one was really sure what was happening. The King was increasingly attentive with the Queen. Princess Bethany seemed to have moved into the palace permanently. The cook even commented that Lady Rosalina had ordered changes to the Queen's meals. She was not to be served certain foods and new herbs had arrived to be cooked into her foods. Also more teas were being served in the Queen's chambers. Consumption of wine within the Queen's household had declined. Some asserted that the Queen must be ill and they are just hiding the fact. Someone suggested that the Queen was pregnant but they were laughed off because everyone knew that the Queen was barren. The Doctor had confirmed it. That was the reason the King had pursued a new marriage.
The palace began to empty in the early morning light. The Queen, the Princess and Lady Rosalina; along with their households, were the first to leave. Lady Rosalina insisted they travel slowly to protect the Queen's health. The King left with the privy council not long after. It wasn't long before they were all traveling together. They frequently stopped so that the Queen and her ladies could stretch their legs and so that Rosette could drink some tea. Night began to fall and they made a scheduled stop at a noble home for the night. The family held a feast to honor the royal family.
Before the feast could start it was disrupted. Lionel, Owen and Josephina Ivrea burst into the hall. Rosalina was close to the door talking with the daughter of the host. Lionel grabbed her and drug her to the middle of the floor. "This Witch has cast a spell over the entire court. She has clouded the King's mind and taken power from the crown for herself. She has been sent by Satan to destroy this country and take over the world. We have come here to bring the justice of God down upon her evil head." He announced as Josephina held a dagger to her throat. Rosalina looked into the woman's eyes. " I asked the King once before to spare all of your lives. You know no amount of begging on my part will save you this time." She said, " once you are dead the spell you cast will fade and they will all see what you truly are. The King will commend us and welcome us back with open arms.
And that lying bitch at his side will be put to death and that bastard daughter will die in squalor." Josephina sneered. " You can kill me but nothing will change. You lost the battle but you have also sealed your fate with the executioner." Rosalina responded. " Enough, Josephina, finish this now!" Lionel commanded. Edmund and Edric jumped over the table. Edric ran a sword through Owen Ivrea, he then held it to Lionel's throat. " Josephina, stop this now. She has cast no spells, she is no witch. She has brought light to my life . This will stop, I will not put stress on my wife. I will not allow her to miscarry because you can not see that I love her and will always love her." announced the King. The room gasped at the King's speech. " M.M.Miscarry? How? She is barren." Josephina questioned. " Apparently not. Now drop the dagger." he commanded. Josephina turned to Rosalina and pressed the blade harder. " This is a trick, this is a story you concocted." she glared at the redhead " Even I can not make miracles happen." Rosalina responded.
Edmund grabbed Josephina from behind and forced her to release the dagger. Lionel released Rosalina. The Guards were able to take the two into custody. Owen used his last bit of strength to stab a dagger into Edric's leg. Then bled out in the middle of the floor. Rosalina returned to the Queen and escorted her from the room with Bethany. When they were safely in the Queen's chambers the Queen returned to Rosalina, " Are you alright?" she asked. " I am fine." Rosalina answered. Rosette examined the young woman's neck.
Luckily there were no cuts in the skin. "Good." Rosette said and hugged the young woman. "Please, do not worry about me. We need to focus on you. Are you alright?" Rosalina questioned the Queen. " Have no worries, I will be fine and so will the baby." Rosette responded with a smile. The Queen's ladies finally entered the room. " Your Majesty, why did you not tell us you were pregnant?" questioned one of them. " We did not want to get anyone's hopes up. The Kings wanted to keep my stress down so we agreed just family and the doctor, for the time being." the Queen explained. " Now that we know, can we celebrate?" asked another. " Small celebration." Rosette smiled. " No wine though. After tonight tea would be a better choice." Rosalina added. " Rosalina is right for me but you all can drink what you want." Rosette announced. The ladies smiled and they called for food and wine. After dealing with the disruptive group the King went to see Rosalina, and to make sure all was well.
When he arrived musicians were playing and everyone was dancing and laughing. " MAY I ASK WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON?" he yelled. The music stopped and the dancing ceased. They all bowed. " We are sorry, Your Majesty. We were just celebrating her majesty's miracle." Bethany answered. " Do you really believe a party is the most appropriate at this time?" he questioned. " I believe it is the most appropriate. After the feast and your announcement it felt right to be able to share this news with my closest companions." the Queen responded. " Are you drinking wine at your party?" he asked.
" Of course not, Rosalina insisted I drink tea." she answered. " Your Majesty, I am sorry but I agree that with the events of the feast some joy is in order." Rosalina came from behind the Queen with a fresh cup of tea for the Queen. The queen took the cup. " As long as it does not last all night," he smiled. " How are you, Rosalina?" he asked. " I am fine, I was a little shaken but my main concern was the Queen." Rosalina answered. The King motioned for the music to begin again and he danced with the Queen, then with his daughter, then with Rosalina before they all retired.
The next morning they set out to finish their journey to the winter court. On one of their stops Rosalina received a letter from her father. Her marriage had been postponed because Jutland had declared war on Thuringia and Tore was called back to the army. This news made Rosalina and the Queen very happy. " No marriage until the war is over unless my father ends the contract and finds another." Rosalina commented "Let us hope that if he does look for another he will find him in Mercia." the Queen said. " I agree." Rosalina responded. Just as the sun dipped below the horizon they reached the castle. A small evening meal was prepared for everyone. The King and Queen played cards in the Queen's sitting room along with Bethany and Rosalina. Everyone turned in early that night.