( A Queen's Flight )

( A Queen's Labor )

For several months now, Alice's life had been hanging in an inbetween state. That was what pregnancy was; something in transition that was-but-wasn't. She was a mother but wasn't. A constant crescendo of not-yet.

( Until now. )

Alice sat cross-legged on the floor, shuffling cards together and dealing out another hand of Patience. Alice wasn't very good at Patience; she got bored and cheated. One could turn that into whatever metaphor one liked ( Read more... )

There was really no way around it; her next step had to involve the only person in all of England who was indebted to her, how little she might wish to see him personally. She had considered him a friend, before he had abandoned her. The least he could offer her was money. Or so she hoped ( Read more... )

( Several facts had suggested themselves to Alice ... )