A soft knock sounded through the room.
"Your Majesty?"
Seraphina opened her eyes slowly. For a moment, she did not remember where she was. Then the unfamiliar ceiling came into focus above her, along with the faint smell of dried herbs burning somewhere nearby.
"The healer asked me to wake you," Mirelle said gently from beside the bed.
Morning light slipped through the narrow curtains, pale and cold against the stone walls. Seraphina pushed herself upright slowly, pressing a hand against her temple.
"I slept longer than I intended."
"You barely slept at all," Mirelle replied.
Seraphina gave a faint smile at that. "You noticed."
"You sighed through most of the night."
"That sounds embarrassing."
"Don't say that"
The queen looked away.
Mirelle stepped closer with a folded gown in her hands.
"The healer has already prepared the room."
Seraphina nodded once. "Of course she has."
Mirelle hesitated slightly before speaking again.
"You do not have to force yourself to be strong every second."
Seraphina let out a small breath through her nose.
"Yes, I do."
Mirelle frowned. "No."
The queen stood from the bed slowly.
"When you are queen long enough," she said, "you begin to understand something."
"What?"
"Nobody asks how you feel. They ask whether you have succeeded."
Mirelle watched her carefully as Seraphina adjusted the sleeves of her gown.
"And if you fail?" Mirelle asked.
Seraphina gave a humorless smile.
"They wait politely while you drown."
Silence settled between them again.
A second knock came at the door.
"The healer is ready," a servant announced from outside.
Seraphina closed her eyes briefly before speaking.
"Tell her I'm coming."
The examination room was warm despite the morning chill outside. Small candles burned along the shelves beside bundles of dried plants hanging upside down from wooden beams.
The healer stood beside a long table arranging folded cloths.
"You look tired, Your Majesty," she said gently.
"I am."
"Sit."
Seraphina obeyed without complaint. By now, the routine felt painfully familiar.
The healer washed her hands slowly in a bowl of steaming water while Mirelle remained near the wall.
"How have the herbs been?" the healer asked.
"The same as always."
"Any pain?"
"No."
"Dizziness?"
"Sometimes."
The healer nodded as though that answer pleased her.
"And your sleep?"
Seraphina almost laughed.
"What sleep?"
Mirelle glanced toward her with concern, but the healer merely hummed softly to herself.
"You may lie back now."
Seraphina leaned against the cushions while the healer continued her examination with calm, practiced movements.
The room remained quiet except for the crackle of candle flames.
After several long moments, the healer stepped away.
Seraphina did not immediately ask the question.
She already knew the answer.
The healer dried her hands carefully before turning back toward her.
"Your cycle is nearing."
There it was again.
The same answer.
The same disappointment dressed in gentleness.
Seraphina stared at the ceiling for a long moment before speaking.
"So nothing."
"Not this time," the healer replied softly.
Mirelle lowered her eyes.
The queen sat up slowly.
"I see."
"The body is still trying," the healer continued. "These things require patience."
Seraphina looked at her then.
"How many years does patience require?"
The healer blinked once, clearly not expecting the question.
"Every woman is different."
"That is not an answer."
"Your Majesty—"
"I have taken the herbs. I have followed every instruction. I have prayed until prayer became routine instead of faith."
Her voice remained calm, but tiredness bled through every word now.
"So tell me honestly… how much longer?"
The healer's expression softened carefully.
"Hope should never be abandoned."
Seraphina laughed under her breath.
"That was not what I asked."
Mirelle stepped closer gently. "Seraphina…"
The queen rubbed at her forehead.
"I am sorry," she murmured.
"I know this is not your fault."
The healer reached for a small wrapped bundle sitting on the table.
"Take these tonight," she said. "Morning and evening."
Seraphina stared at the herbs in silence before accepting them.
Different wrapping.
Same smell.
Same answer.
The healer moved toward a shelf and poured dark liquid into a small glass bottle.
"And this as well."
Seraphina looked at it.
"What is it?"
"A strengthening tonic."
"You gave me one last month."
"This mixture is stronger."
Seraphina took the bottle slowly.
Mirelle finally spoke again, carefully this time.
"Will it help?"
The healer smiled politely.
"We continue trying."
Something about the answer sat strangely in the room.
Not wrong.
Just empty.
Seraphina noticed it too.
The healer sounded rehearsed.
Like someone repeating lines learned long ago.
The queen lowered her eyes toward the bottle in her hands.
"And if trying is not enough?"
The healer did not answer immediately.
"Then we try again."
The ride back to the castle did not begin immediately.
The horses were still being prepared outside while servants moved crates near the lower courtyard.
Mirelle walked beside Seraphina as they descended the stone steps from the healer's quarters.
The morning air felt cooler now.
Seraphina held the bundle of herbs against her chest.
"You are quiet," Mirelle said softly.
"I am thinking."
"That rarely leads anywhere pleasant."
A faint smile touched Seraphina's lips.
"No. It does not."
They continued walking.
Below them, the carriage waited near the road.
That was when Seraphina stopped.
Near the far wall stood a girl.
Young. Thin. Quiet.
Perhaps sixteen.
Her dark hair was tied back simply, and her plain clothes marked her as no noble servant of the castle.
Yet she stood completely still, watching.
Not the carriage or the guards.
Seraphina.
The queen frowned.
"Do you know her?" she asked.
Mirelle followed her gaze.
The girl looked away immediately.
"No," Mirelle answered slowly. "I have never seen her before."
Seraphina continued staring.
The girl shifted nervously beneath the attention, fingers tightening around the edge of her sleeve.
"She has been watching us."
"Perhaps she recognizes you."
"No," Seraphina murmured. "It feels different."
The girl glanced up again briefly.
Their eyes met for only a second.
Something flickered across the girl's face.
Fear?
No.
Hesitation.
Like she wanted to speak but could not decide whether she should.
Then footsteps echoed from somewhere behind the wall, and the girl quickly turned away.
By the time Seraphina moved slightly forward
she was gone.
Mirelle blinked.
"She disappeared quickly."
Seraphina kept staring toward the empty corner.
For some reason, unease curled slowly in her stomach.
It felt like recognition without memory.
The healer stepped outside behind them then, wiping her hands with a cloth.
"Your carriage is ready."
Seraphina looked toward her.
"That girl," she asked casually, "does she work here?"
The healer frowned.
"What girl?"
"The one standing near the wall."
"There's no one there, Your Majesty."
Seraphina glanced back again.
Empty.
Only stone walls and moving shadows.
Mirelle spoke carefully. "We both saw her."
The healer looked confused for only a moment before smiling politely.
"Perhaps someone from the lower village."
Perhaps.
"Your herbs," the healer reminded gently. "Do not forget."
Seraphina nodded slowly.
As she stepped toward the carriage, her fingers tightened around the small bottle hidden beneath her cloak.
Morning and evening.
Morning and evening.
Morning and evening.
Always the same.
Before entering the carriage, she looked back one last time.
Nothing.
No girl.
No movement.
Only the healer's quarters standing beneath the pale morning sky.
Mirelle touched her arm lightly.
"Seraphina?"
The queen looked at the bottle again.
Then at the herbs in her hands.
Then toward the distant road leading back to the castle.
Her voice came out lower than before.
"What if this never changes?"
Mirelle's expression softened immediately.
"It will."
But Seraphina noticed something painful then.
Mirelle answered too quickly.
Like even she no longer fully believed it.