“It’s a boy,” Vhalla said definitively. “I’ve never had an appetite like this.” She rubbed a palm on her stomach, and Elecia withheld comment on why she thought that fact to be true. “Clearly it must be a boy to demand so much food of me.”

  “Not all women are like you and have trouble eating. You carry a girl, I can feel it.” Aldrik kissed her temple.

 “You can feel it?” Vhalla laughed, smiling brightly at her husband. “I carry him in me, I know what I feel.”

 Elecia smirked. Both of them looked back to her expectantly. She turned for the door and began shrugging her cloak back on.

 “I’m hungry. Maybe I’ll tell you what they are over lunch,” Elecia announced. The information was far too satisfying to give it all up at once.

 There was a long silence. Elecia looked over from the ties on her cloak to see them frozen in place. Aldrik’s hand was still on Vhalla’s back, the other wrapped around hers as he helped her up. The Empress blinked at Elecia, total shock in her eyes.

 “Elecia,” Aldrik finally forced on both of their behalves. “They?”

 Elecia shook her head with a laugh. He was truly going to be in for trouble. She began to wonder what kind of father Aldrik would be. She thought she had a far better idea already of the mother before her, but Aldrik was an amusing mystery yet. Far removed from the man he once was, Elecia had faith that he would surprise them all.

 “Good luck, both of you. You’ll need it for both of them.” Elecia glanced back to Vhalla’s swollen stomach.

 She did not say it aloud, but she already looked forward to meeting the children of fire and wind.