Chapter 8: Despair
>>Aelin
The days blurred together after I lost my child.
Each one stretched endlessly, a hollow existence where I floated between despair and numbness. My body ached with emptiness, and the silence in my room felt louder than it ever had before. I tried to tell myself it was for Draegon, that I had made the ultimate sacrifice to bring him home.
But even that thought soon started to feel like a lie.
I couldn't bring myself to leave my bed most mornings. The small flicker of hope that had carried me forward, that little life growing inside me, was gone. The joy I had felt, the dreams I had woven for our future, were all shattered. I told myself to keep moving, to endure it. But how could I when I felt so utterly hollow?
The maids brought food and left without a word, their faces devoid of sympathy.
I sat on the window sill most days, staring at the sky, trying to imagine where Draegon was. Was he even alive? Was he safe? My hands rested on my stomach, where my child had once been, and I felt nothing but a deep, gnawing ache.
Days turned into weeks, and the numbness began to feel unbearable. I told myself that I needed to cry, to release the sorrow threatening to drown me, but the tears wouldn't come. I felt trapped, locked in a prison of silence and grief.
Until one day, I couldn't hold it in anymore.
It started with a whisper of a sob, then grew into a scream that ripped through my chest.
"Asha..." That was the name I wanted to give her. I slid my hand on my flat stomach. I had a strong feeling it was a girl.