The bitter herb coated my tongue as I swallowed, each tiny fragment scraping down my throat like shards of glass. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. What had I done?
"No!" I screamed into the empty wilderness, my voice echoing across the snowy expanse. "No, no, no!"
I jammed my fingers down my throat, desperately trying to make myself vomit. Nothing happened. I tried again, gagging and retching, but the herb had already dissolved. It was too late.
"Rhys," I sobbed, collapsing onto my knees in the snow. "My baby... I'm so sorry."
The cold seemed insignificant now compared to the ice forming around my heart. I had killed my child. The miracle I had longed for. The baby that had brought me to Kaelen. Gone, by my own hand.
I don't know how long I knelt there, my tears freezing on my cheeks, when something... changed.
