Mila of the Polar: Part One (special preview)

We received the news early in the morning that Obresh has been liberated. It was a tremendous weight off our shoulders. Obresh was the biggest port in the Empire, having it under Sanguis’ control had put a huge wall in front of our efforts.

“It feels like a miracle,” Dhaval said to me.

I scoffed as I went over the letters we had received from Himank. “It isn’t a miracle, it’s exactly what Sanguis deserves. Ugh, your brother is still on about giving me a physical.”

“He’s worried about you. He cares about you.” Dhaval looked me over with a close eye. Ever since what happened months ago, he’s barely let me out of his sight. Sanguis had me kidnapped and tortured, and after that I couldn’t carry mine and Dhaval’s child. I had never reached such depths of anguish in my life. I know now it is what sanguis wanted, which is why my vengeance has become bloody in my mind. Since then Dhaval has stayed here with me, moving his base of operations from the Rakshasa Kingdom to here in the Polar. For the first time in centuries, the Polar was the center of power in the Empire.

Dhaval glanced to the letter again. “Himank said the girl who helped start the liberation. She was merely a halfling. It sounds like a miracle to me.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. He always has to make everything sound so romantic, when in reality, rarely few things were. Although, I suppose, it’s part of what I adored about him, even if it went against my very sense of reality. “It’s only a miracle because you underestimate the girl. Were she an orc or an onikuma, it would be fate or some other fairy tale foolishness. The girl is a hero, but what she did was no miracle. It was her own effort and will.”

Dhaval smiled at me and under the table I felt his foot stroke up my leg. “Perhaps we should invite her to the Polar, it sounds like she might fit in here.”

I smirked, joining his game of footsie under the table. “Perhaps, it would be nice to get her perspective on things.”

Dhaval stared dreamily at me over his cup of coffee. “Does Himank’s letter have anything else for you?”

I scoffed. “No. He’s just overly concerned with my health. I think he just wants to use me as test subject for the effects of blood magic.”

Dhaval’s brow furrowed. “He’s concerned because Sanguis tried to hurt you, or worse. He put such extreme strain on your body that the-” He grimaced, looking extremely pained as he tried to say.

“Miscarriage, love. I had a miscarriage.” I sighed and shook my head. “You can say it, it’s fine.”

“I know but-” He heaved out a heavy sigh. “It’s your health he’s concerned with. He wants to make sure you’re okay. He wants to make sure that if you ever do get pregnant again, our baby-”

A deep, invisible wound inside me ached. I turned away from his eyes and stared at the pattern of the lace tablecloth. I rubbed it between my fingers, reliving the cold, empty space that had been my room when I first found out.

“Our baby was too strong, this world was not ready for them,” I murmured.

Dhaval’s ears flattened to the top of his head. “He wants to make sure you’re healthy and safe. We don’t know what Sanguis could have done to you. He’s also feeling guilty.”

I furrowed my brow and glared at him. “Guilty? For what?”

Dhaval looked down at the letter Himank had sent him. “Soo-jin is expecting.”

That invisible wound throbbed a faint pain, but really, I couldn’t be happier for Soo-jin and Himank. He deserved this joy. “And why does he feel guilty for that? Is he worried he’s going to pass on his idiocy to the baby?”

Dhaval smirked. “He didn’t want you to feel-”

“Feel what? I can look past my own issues to be happy for him. He’ll pass on some wonderful traits to the baby, hopefully Soo-jin’s will block the bad ones.”

Dhaval leaned across the table and kissed me. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” I huffed. “Stop worrying! I am pleased as can be to be an auntie. I will send the baby their first daggers.” I then placed my hand upon his face. “We will be blessed when we are meant to be blessed. Our child is coming, we just have to be patient for them.”

The soft, sad look in his eyes was enough to melt me into a soft puddle. “I know. Thank you, my love.”