Persephone’s reaction is not what Evren expects. As Evren seeks her gaze, she senses Persephone mentally pulling away, her thoughts elsewhere. There’s a strange moment in which unspoken words sit in the air between them, and Evren feels her heart jump into her mouth. She wonders if something is wrong - something that Persephone has not told her about - and then Persephone meets her eyes, and Evren senses that she is about to learn something that will change their lives.
Her ears prick to take in Persephone’s words, but it’s a few moments before she really processes them. Then her auburn eyes widen, and she jerks her head back to regard Persephone in a new light. Her friend motions toward her stomach, which has begun to swell ever-so-slightly, and Evren stares at it with her lips parted and breath frozen in her throat. A maelstrom of thoughts and emotions rush through her. She is elated for Persephone - for the herd - but something else, something darker, twists within her. Her mind spirals with thoughts of who the father could be: was it someone Evren knew? Was it Tarek? Did Persephone have a secret lover? Had Warsaw or one of his foul cronies got their hooves on her? Emotion - fear, rage, elation, jealousy - swell within Evren until she can feel tears welling in her eyes.
Finally, she smiles, and lets out a single laugh that’s little more than an exhale of breath. “Really?” she says in a small voice, and then her vision blurs, and she is crying. “Oh my God, Sephy,” Evren cries out, and then, without even being aware she has moved, she is pressing her face into her friend’s neck, shaking and sobbing. When she pulls away, her face streaked with tears, she offers her friend another weak, fleeting smile. “You’ll be such an amazing mother, I just know it,” she chokes out, then tilts her head to ask The Question.
“Who… who…?”
10; mutt; bay tobiano; 15.3hh |
