None of the women had an easy time with their pregnancy. All developed morning sickness in the early stages and were miserable. Arken managed to find things for them to eat that they could keep down, and the doctors gave them anti-nausea medication to help with it when it was at its worst.

The women had their scans, and it soon became obvious the emperor was going to have six potential heirs to choose from. Karis came to the wing and spoke with the courtesans. “I will make this clear now. Birth order means nothing. Any of our sons could be the heir. I will not make my decision until they are in their teens. I want to see their personalities before I make up my mind. Consider carefully what you wish to train them in. Music and poetry will not serve them well. Ask Arken and he will get you what you need.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty,” the women said in unison.

“Though my visits will be random, I will be checking up on you during your pregnancy. I will also make periodic visits during our sons’ lives, so they know who I am. I never met my father until I was twelve and that played a large part in the resentment I felt towards him. They will leave you when they turn twelve, and I want them to be familiar with who will be taking over their care at that time,” Karis continued.

“That makes perfect sense.” Zarina nodded. “Get them used to seeing you periodically when they’re young, and when they’re old enough to leave us, they won’t feel as resentful.”

“Make sure you teach our sons that at twelve they will be leaving you.” Karis was firm on this point. “I knew I was leaving, and it was still hard. It would be even harder for them if they did not know.”

“That makes even more sense.” Marin regarded him thoughtfully. “We want them to get used to the idea that we won’t be a part of their lives forever.”

“I will start calling for you again once our sons have been weaned, but do not stop breastfeeding them early just to speed up that day.” Karis looked at them all warningly. “I do not want to risk them not having what they need to grow up strong.”

The women nodded. Arken spoke up then. “I have had specialists assigned to the wing to teach you ladies how to care for infants, as I am certain none of you have had much practice with that. They will not do it for you, but they will teach you the proper methods.”

“Thank you, Lord Arken.” Sayana was relieved. “I know something about caring for infants, but what little I know I learned as a child and I’m sure I have forgotten most of it. Not to mention most of what I know is probably wrong.”

“Well, we’ll make sure you know the right way of doing it so your sons will have the best care possible from all of you.” Arken smiled.

“Are we going to be required to change diapers and bathe our infants ourselves?” Angharad seemed appalled at the idea.

“Yes, Angharad.” Arken fixed the other woman with a stern glare. “You cannot rely on servants to do it for you. You have to do it yourself.”

“Yes, Lord Arken.” Angharad sighed. It looked like she wasn’t impressed with the idea.

“I am certain you ladies will do very well.” Karis smiled. “If you need anything, tell Arken so he can get it for you.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty,” the women said. Karis left the wing.

The months passed and the women grew larger. It was very awkward to walk around. The Founding Day feasts happened, and the women were given water instead of wine. The court was buzzing with the gossip over the fact that it was the courtesans and not the empress who were pregnant. Vasco and Lynet both spent the meal glaring at the courtesans.

“Lord Vasco looked very unhappy this evening.” Marin was the first to speak when the women were back in the wing. “I almost lost my appetite under his gaze.”

“I only kept eating because Lord Arken looked at me with that knowing look of his,” Ji-Hye admitted. “I felt very uncomfortable with Lord Vasco glowering at us.”

“He hasn’t been able to do anything against us because of all the watchers on him.” Angharad was quick to point out his current state.

“That doesn’t mean he won’t be able to do something.” Sayana was still wary of the man. “We shouldn’t let our guard down.”

“We’re almost at the end of our pregnancy.” Marin looked at the others. “He could try something once our sons are born.”

“That’s what has me worried.” Zarina rubbed her hands on her arms. “Lynet could try something too. She’s cruel enough.”

“She hasn’t done anything yet.” Renate wasn’t as sure of herself as she wanted to sound.

“That doesn’t mean she won’t,” Marin pointed out. “And don’t forget she spent the night glaring at us too.”

“Do not worry about Vasco and Lynet.” Arken joined the women. “They are both being watched closely.”

“That’s good to know.” Zarina’s features were suffused with relief.

“You ladies did very well. I am very proud of how you handled yourselves even under the unpleasant scrutiny. The court is certainly buzzing about how well you did.” Arken smiled at them all. “Tremere is there listening to the gossip. I came back to check on all of you.”

“I think I just want to go to bed.” Marin yawned. “That exhausted me.”

“I’m the same.” Zarina drooped.

“Then go to bed. Being pregnant is hard enough on your bodies.” Arken patted Zarina on the shoulder. “Having to deal with a hostile environment on top of that is draining on anyone.” The women went to bed.

It was fall and Angharad was the first to go into labor. She was rushed to the med lab before breakfast and the other women waited with some nervousness to hear how she was recovering.

It was near midnight, and Arken hadn’t chased them off to bed. He returned from the med lab. “Angharad is fine. She and Rhys came out all right. She is sleeping now, and she and Rhys should be back in the wing tomorrow. There was some unpleasantness with Lynet, but the emperor took care of it. No, Angharad and Rhys were not hurt. Lynet was dragged off in restraints, and the emperor is once again confining her to her quarters under guard.”

“I’m glad to hear Angharad and Rhys weren’t hurt.” Marin sighed with relief.

“Now, it is very late, and you ladies need your sleep. I am surprised you managed to stay up. Go to bed.” Arken waved them off. The women headed to bed.

Angharad returned to the wing the next day. In her arms was her newborn son. All Sayana could see of him was a few tufts of pale blonde hair and a round face as he was wrapped securely in blankets. “How are you feeling?” Marin watched as she came into the wing.

“Exhausted, but I think I’m okay.” Angharad smiled tiredly at the other woman. “I don’t hurt as much as I thought I would. The regenerator worked wonders on the little damage that was done when Rhys came. He has a large head, the doctors said, and I tore a little bit. Other than that, they said it was an easy birth.”

“We heard there was some unpleasantness with Lynet.” Zarina gave her an inquisitive look. “And that the emperor did something to put her in her place.”

“Yes, he did. Let me sit down. I still tire easily.” Angharad sat down, cradling her son. “They’d just finished cleaning the both of us up and we were waiting for the specialist to come in to show me how to breastfeed Rhys when Lynet came sailing in. She smiled at me and told me how wonderful it was that I’d given birth to a son for her to raise. I asked her what she meant, and she said the emperor had told her that she was going to raise our sons, not us.”

“He promised us we’d be able to raise our sons.” Ji-Hye grew anxious. “He’s been reassuring us of that fact the entirety of our pregnancies.”

“I know that, and that’s what I told her.” Angharad shifted her position slightly. “She told me he’d told her that just that morning so he must have changed his mind. She tried to take Rhys from the doctor. She wouldn’t give him to her, saying until she heard it from the emperor himself, she was giving Rhys to no one but me. She stopped smiling and threw an absolute fit about how she was the empress and should be given whatever she wanted.”

“Sounds like Lynet.” Marin snorted.

Angharad nodded. “Lynet tried to snatch Rhys out of the doctor’s arms. She handed Rhys off to another doctor and told her to take Rhys into a different room. I didn’t want Rhys out of my sight, but I wanted him around Lynet even less. Lynet started screaming that the doctors were kidnapping her son. That was when the emperor came in.”

“What did he do?” Renate stared at her wide-eyed.

“He hit her.” Angharad grinned savagely. “Knocked her to the ground. She stopped screaming at that point. He asked her what she thought she was doing. She told him she was there to claim her son, because obviously we couldn’t raise the boys in the courtesan wing. He reminded her that he’d been raised in the courtesan wing and that there was no problem with the boys being raised for the first twelve years by their mothers. He’d given us permission to raise them, and he saw no reason to change that.”

“What happened next?” Sayana was just as invested in the story as the other women.

“She got to her feet and got right up close to him and demanded he give Rhys and the others to her when they were born, or she’d see them all dead.” Angharad told the story with great delight. It was obvious she relished every bit of Lynet’s suffering. “He knocked her to the ground again and then called for the Imperial guards. He told them that Lynet had just threatened the princes. They slapped restraints on her and dragged her off. He told them to confine her to her rooms. She didn’t get out and only her servants were allowed in. They were also to question the servants closely and make sure they weren’t carrying messages to anyone. If they were found to be carrying messages, they were to be brought to him immediately.”

“She couldn’t have taken that well.” Zarina watched Angharad with rapt attention.

“She didn’t.” Angharad shook her head. “She was screaming that he couldn’t do that to her and that she was the empress and should be allowed to get whatever she wanted as the guards dragged her off. It was spectacular to see. Once she was gone, they brought Rhys back out to me, and the emperor got his first look at his son.”

“Lynet is insane.” Sayana couldn’t think of any other logical reason for the woman to act the way she did. “That must be it. That’s the only explanation for her erratic behavior and the fact that she continues to repeat the actions she knows will get her into trouble with the emperor.”

“I agree with you there.” Marin was obviously disturbed.

“So do I.” As was Zarina.

“As long as she’s kept away from Rhys, I’ll be happy to let her have her moments of insanity.” Angharad kissed her son’s forehead.

“I agree with you, Angharad. As long as she stays away from my son, she can rant like a madwoman all she wants.” Ji-Hye put her hand protectively over her stomach.

“Yes, but if she manages to get the council to back her and they find some way to attack us or our sons, we will have a problem.” Renate wrapped her arms around her stomach with a frightened expression on her face.

“The emperor will not let that happen, Renate.” Arken came out and heard her comment. “He is seeing to it that Lynet does not have any contact with anyone. Now, we have set up a cradle in your rooms for Rhys, if you want to put him down and let him sleep, Angharad. Here is an earpiece for you so you can hear him if he starts crying.”

“Thank you, Lord Arken.” Angharad hooked the earpiece over her ear and took Rhys into her room.

Marin gave birth to her son Fallon next. Zarina had her son Meinard. Renate had her son Jair. Ji-Hye had her son Hanzo. All had their infants without difficulties. Sayana waited impatiently for her son to make his appearance.

One morning she woke up feeling decidedly odd. As her servants helped her dress, she felt a sudden flood of liquid. “Faviola, go tell Lord Arken my water broke.” Sayana leaned forward and clutched her stomach as what she thought must be a contraction hit.

“Right away, my lady.” Faviola ran out of the room.

Ardatha held her hand as the contraction passed. Arken came into her room a moment later. “We need to get you to the med lab, Sayana.”

“Yes, Lord Arken.” He escorted her out of the wing. Two of the guards at the door broke off and followed them to the med lab. It wasn’t far from the wing, a fact that Sayana was grateful for.

“This is the last one?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, Sayana is our last mother.” Arken handed her over to the woman.

“All right.” The doctor took her to a bed. “Let’s get her prepped and ready.”

Sayana was helped out of her dress and into a smock. She was told to lie down on the bed. Sayana did as she was told. Machines were hooked up to her and the doctors began monitoring the progress of the birthing process.

Sayana waited for several hours as the contractions got worse. The doctors gave her something to block the pain, but she still felt the pressure from the contractions. Finally, she felt an overwhelming urge to push and said so.

“Good, that’s what we’ve been waiting for,” one of the doctors told her. She checked to see how far Sayana was dilated. “You’re ten centimeters dilated. It’s safe for you to push. On your next contraction, push.” Sayana did as she was told. “Push hard. Okay, breathe. Push again. Breathe.” The instructions came fast and furious to push and breathe.

After about ten minutes, she felt something give and a moment later a baby’s cry could be heard in the room. “Your son is here, Lady Sayana.” The doctor smiled reassuringly. “We’re going to clean him up and run some tests on him. Nothing to be worried about. Then we’ll give him to you.”

It took about twenty minutes for them to do everything they needed to do to the baby. While that was going on, the machines were taken away and Sayana herself was cleaned up and propped up. Then they brought him to her. She gazed down into the tiny face of her son and felt a swelling of emotion. “My Ethian,” she murmured.

“Has the emperor approved of the name?” the doctor asked.

“I have.” Karis entered the room. “I tell you that every time you ask. The women are allowed to choose the names.”

“We have to ask every time because what if they choose a name you don’t approve of?” The doctor had a point, though Sayana knew Karis had approved the names long before the babies had been born.

“I would have told them before they ever gave birth if I disapproved of their name choice.” Karis gave the doctors an exasperated grimace.

“Oh, you mean they discussed it with you before they gave birth?” The doctor seemed startled by that.

“Yes, they did.” Karis glanced over at the new mother and infant. “Sayana and Ethian are healthy?”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.” The doctor checked the readouts on the screen. “They both came out of this healthy and Lady Sayana will be able to go back to the courtesan wing tomorrow.”

“That is good to hear.” Karis came over and stared down into the face of his youngest son. “He has your hair.”

“Yes, he does. We’ll have to wait and see what else he inherited from each of us as he gets older.” Sayana smiled at him with a gentle expression on her face.

“Yes, we will.” Karis’ voice was soft. He put a hand on his son’s head. “You have a very good mother, Ethian. I am certain you will do very well.”

“I hope I can live up to your expectations, Your Imperial Majesty.” Sayana was nervous. The last baby she’d taken care of was the brother that her son had been named for, and she’d been a child herself when he’d come along. She wasn’t sure she knew what to do with an infant.

“I will leave you two to rest.” Karis left the room.

“He needs to eat now,” the doctor told her. “I’ve called for one of our specialists to come in and help you with this first feeding.”

“Thank you.” Sayana’s breasts ached, as she’d been warned they would, and she knew that meant that she was producing milk for her son.

The specialist came in and helped Sayana get a good latch with Ethian. Ethian began to nurse. “He’s a hungry little boy.” The specialist seemed pleased. “That’s a good sign. Did you see how we did that? Do you think you can do that on the other side?”

“I believe so.” Sayana frowned. It didn’t look that hard.

“I’ll stay here and see if you need any help,” the specialist reassured her. “We won’t leave you to do this on your own quite yet.”

Sayana fed him on one side and then switched him to the other. She had a little trouble, so the specialist walked her through getting a firm latch again and once Ethian was firmly latched, he began nursing again. “This is harder than I thought.” Sayana felt a little overwhelmed at the thought of having to do this consistently.

“It just takes some practice, and you’ll get that. This little one is going to want to be fed every few hours for the first few months.” The specialist paused. “At least he should want to be fed every few hours. If he doesn’t, you’ll want to wake him to feed him every four hours to make sure he’s getting enough to eat.”

“I understand.” Sayana glanced down at Ethian. Every four hours? Was she going to have enough milk for him?

“Now, I’ll be back in a few hours.” The specialist patted her hand. “Unless these fine ladies call me sooner, to be sure you’ve got the latching on part down.”

“Thank you.” Sayana smiled at the woman. She patted Sayana’s hand again and left.

“Once he finishes eating, you can put him in that bassinet next to you. Then I’d suggest napping. You need rest,” the doctor told her.

Sayana nodded. The birth had worn her out and she welcomed the ability to nap. She especially appreciated it because Ethian was most likely going to wake up several times in the night and getting up with him meant her sleep pattern would be interrupted.

“When will he start sleeping through the night?” Sayana asked the doctor.

“Not for at least six months, maybe longer.” The doctor checked her readouts. “He may not start sleeping through the night until he’s two or three. It depends on the baby. They tend to start having better luck sleeping through the night when they start eating solid foods regularly, but we don’t recommend that until they’re closer to a year old. It’ll depend partially on when they start teething. That will make breastfeeding a bit difficult, so you’ll want to switch to bottles at that point. We’ll help you with that.”

“I can imagine a teething baby would make breastfeeding very uncomfortable.” Sayana winced.

“Just to let you know, not all women switch to bottles. Some women breastfeed right up until their children are eighteen months to two years old. We don’t recommend that, but if you want to breastfeed until they’re a year old, we won’t stop you.” The doctor ran a scanner over Ethian. “We just find that most women here at court find the bottles easier once the babies start teething.”

“I appreciate the options.” Sayana couldn’t remember her mother breastfeeding Adjira, Eon, or Ethian. They’d all been fed with bottles the whole time.

The next day, the doctors sent for the Imperial guards to escort her back to join the other courtesans. The guards arrived and Sayana made her way back to the wing.

“You’re back.” Marin greeted her from where she was nursing Fallon.

“I am.” Sayana took her usual seat. “How are you feeling?”

“Decidedly odd, given I never thought I’d be doing this.” Marin laughed. “How are you feeling?”

“Still a little shaky, but I’m fine.” Sayana adjusted her grip on the baby. “Ethian was an easy birth, or so I was told. I certainly didn’t think he was that easy, but I’m not a doctor so I don’t know from easy or difficult births.”

“I know the feeling.” Marin laughed again. “They told me Fallon was an easy birth, and I told them I thought they were crazy. He didn’t feel like an easy birth. Then they told me a few of the ways things could have gone wrong, and I agreed then that Fallon was a relatively easy birth.”

“If there are many ways things could go wrong, and none of them happened when I gave birth, then I’ll accept it was an easy birth.” Ethian began to fuss, and she unfastened her dress to feed him. “I swear, they eat so much.”

“I was told they’ll do little but eat and sleep their first few months or so. Then they’ll start looking around, waving their arms and legs, and babbling. All of this is in preparation for learning to crawl and then walk and talk.” Marin seemed quite unperturbed by all of this.

“Where are the others?” Sayana looked around the empty sitting room.

“Probably napping with their sons.” Marin yawned. “I plan on napping with Fallon. Getting up in the middle of the night with him does take its toll on me. I’m tired all the time now.”

“Welcome back, Sayana.” Arken handed her a small device. “Here is your earpiece. I suggest napping with Ethian once he is done eating. You are not going to get much sleep with his needing to be fed at night.”

Sayana juggled the baby and the earpiece a moment before getting it hooked over her ear and resumed the proper hold on her son. “I think I will take that nap with him when he goes down after eating. Do we have plenty of diapers, Lord Arken? Ethian seems to go through an awful lot of them.”

“All of the princes do.” Arken smiled. “I have laid in a huge stock of them, and there are more coming in regularly. We will have plenty of what you need to tend to your son.”

“That’s good to hear.” Sayana fed and burped Ethian and then carried him into her room. She put him in the cradle near her bed. She took the earpiece out and set it on the bedside table and laid down. She closed her eyes and was asleep between one breath and the next.