Chapter Three
Spring 497
By the time the first blossoms appeared on the trees, I was pregnant. I was wary of telling Arthur for I had already lost one child over the winter. I went little more than a month without bleeding then had a harder time of it when it did come. But there were signs any priestess would recognize, and I knew.
I had been using certain herbs to encourage conception, the antithesis of those I had used to prevent it when I was with Aggrivane. It appeared they were working, but I was still frightened this one would not last, so I kept my happy little secret and spent time every night praying to Brigid, the divine midwife and healer, that the child within me would grow strong and live to open his or her eyes to the world.
Finally, I could wait no longer. My breasts ha
