Caria Manor.
Rennala leaned back on a rooftop bench, gently stroking her visibly swollen belly.
Loretta stood beside her, holding a diagnostic report the physician had just delivered.
"Triplets..." Rennala repeated the word, disbelief in her voice. "Aren't the Numen famous for having trouble conceiving? What does that make me?"
Loretta held back a smile. "Your Majesty, perhaps this is... the moon's blessing?"
"The moon's blessing? Then it's being far too generous."
"Loretta, do you think... any of them will be girls?"
"The physician said that, judging by their movements, at least one is a girl," Loretta replied.
Rennala's eyes lit up.
"A girl... good."
She said softly, "I hope she... can draw the moon's attention away from me."
She had had enough.
"I want to use the 'ra' in my sister's name and mine in their names."
Rennala said, "It's our family's legacy, and also... a response to the moon."
She paused, her voice growing softer.
"If there's a girl among them... I want to call her Ranni."
Loretta froze slightly. "Ranni?"
"Yes." Rennala looked at her knight, a complicated expression flickering in her eyes.
"In an ancient language-an ancient language of India-'Rani' means... a ruler's wife."
She said no more.
The queen hoped this child could become an Empyrean, become a lord's consort.
That she could take over that "blessing of the moon," draw away those annoying gazes, and let Rennala catch her breath.
"Ranni..." Loretta repeated the name. "It's a good name."
"If the other two are boys, let's call them Radahn and Rykard."
Rennala said, "If they're girls too... we'll think of something else."
She leaned back against the bench and closed her eyes.
Her hand rested gently on her belly as she felt the rhythms of the three little lives inside.
"Hurry up and be