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Arundelle laughed as she and Artham sprinted for the cover of a pavilion set up for the ceremony. It was harder to run than she remembered; the baby must be getting heavier.

Two minutes after they reached the shelter and stood, wet and laughing, beneath the pavilion’s welcoming roof, ten or fifteen Hollish children skidded to a stop inside. They were muddy and flung water over everyone when they shook themselves like dogs.

“Janner,” Artham called, spotting their nephew over by Kal. Janner glanced up, confusion twinkling in his eyes, then headed over.

Bending over, Artham looked Janner in the eye. “I take it your siblings have told you the good news.” His strong, rich voice was low.

Janner nodded, then said, “Yes, sir.”

“Keep it a secret from your mother, alright?” Artham asked. When Janner nodded again, he straightened and winked. “Good lad.”

Arundelle smiled at Janner and turned to gaze out across the Hollows. What beautiful country. The rain was abating somewhat, and a rainbow was appearing over the distant peaks of the Killridge Mountains. Something wasn’t quite right, she could feel it. Bile rose in her throat.

The baby! her mind screamed. Something’s wrong with the baby!

With a start of pain, Arundelle felt her knees give way as she fell to the pavilion floor. Blackness hedged the edges of her vision. Danger, danger, danger, her heart thumped. A tear leaked out of one of her eyes as she let out a soft moan and curled herself together, arms wrapped around her stomach. Then her strength gave out, and she knew no more.

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*reads over post* Um… okay… I guess we’re going to go with that little bit of possibly unrealistic drama. As I know pretty much nothing about pregnancy and pregnancy problems, I have no idea if having something go wrong with the baby would make someone pass out. Maybe it was just her head hitting the floor. After all, when I was in my mom’s womb, apparently I would headbutt her or something and make her knees buckle. 😛 So… someone can take it from there!

@crazywriter @kylie-wingfeather @mischievous-thwapling @wingiby-iggiby (are you still with us or still busy? 🙂 )