Dream of Me/Believe in Me

long time without moving.
    A long time, indeed, for she remembered it had been after midnight when Hawk carried her up the stairs, and now the room was filled with angled sunlight streaming through the windows. Off to the west, she could just make out the riotous colors of sunset. She had slept almost a full day. She was throwing back the covers to rise from the bed when memory flooded back.
    Daria … the cell … the terrible hours of darkness … the beautiful vision of her son … and then the final struggle with the madwoman whose life she had found herself driven to save.
    “Oh, my,” she murmured, for there seemed nothing else to say. She was hurrying to dress, anxious to learn what had happened while she slept, when Raven appeared.
    “Thank heavens!” Krysta exclaimed. “I've been wondering where you were and Thorgold as well. Daria didn't try to harm you too, did she?”
    Raven gave herself a good shake and glared at the mention of the madwoman. “And how could you think she did not when neither of us was there to see to your safety? That horrible priest, Father Elbert, lured us into the woods and trapped us within a circle of iron. Villainous foe! Try though we did, we could not free ourselves.”
    “Does Hawk know about him? I should have told him last night but I was so tired. Father Elbert knew I was with Daria but he said nothing, did he?”
    “Nary a word, and yes, indeed, your lord knows all. That fine fellow, Lord Dragon, found and freed us, bless his soul, and let no one be surprised when special favors come his way. He told the Hawk what happened but Dreadful Daria was already proclaiming for all the world to hear that it was Father Elbert who had led her down treason's path. She claims he is working for the Danes, pledged to destroy the alliance in return for wealth and honors from them.”
    Krysta went very still. She looked at Raven closely. “Do you think that is true?”
    The older woman shrugged. “The priest claims not. He said it was all her idea right back to the beginning. According to him, she stole Hawk's seal and forged the letter rejecting the Lord Wolf's offer of marriage to the Lady Cymbra. Thus she set all in motion, so says Father Elbert. But she disputes him, claiming he was the one behind it all even unto the plan to kill you, and shebut a pawn duped into believing, she obeyed the will of God.”
    “So they denounce each other and there is no way to know who is telling the truth.”
    “Thus it seems,” Raven agreed. “Not that it matters. They are both sent away, Father Elbert back to his monastery to be judged by the good priests there and Lady Daria to close confinement in a convent.”
    Krysta's shoulders sagged with relief. Glad though she was to be free of them, she was gladder still that Hawk had not soiled his hands with blood. There had already been so much of that in his life. Now was the time for him to enjoy the fruits of peace.
    Beginning with the greatest fruit of all, their son …
    She sought to kill you and our child …
    The words rang clear in Krysta's mind. Last night she had been too exhausted and terrified to heed them but now they returned with stark clarity. He knew. Somehow, Hawk knew she was with child and he had said nothing to her. That devil!
    “I must dress,” Krysta said firmly, “and find my dear husband. There are one or ten things I need to say to him.”
    Raven chuckled but a moment later she was gone, just before Aelfgyth bustled into the room.
    “I knew it!” the maid exclaimed. “I go off for just a few minutes and you're out of bed, trying to do everything by yourself.” Without giving Krysta a chance to reply, she hurried over, took the gown from her hands, and dropped it over her head. “You've been through a terrible time,” Aelfgyth informed her. “I can't even bear to imagine what it was like but I'm dead sure that it was hideous.” She turned Krysta around briskly and began doing up her laces. “You can't expect to go through something like that without it taking a great toll on you, which is why”—sheurged her bemused mistress toward a stool, sat her down, and went to work on her hair—“why you cannot expect to be doing for yourself like this. If the Lord Hawk found out you were up and about, trying to manage on your own, I know what he'd say. That dear man has already been through so much, you don't want to worry him any further, do you?”
    “Well, no, of course not but—”
    “My mother always