Sunspire Mountains Green eyes, giving me signs.

Reiko had left with one of their guards, leaving Ibis as the sole leader in charge, and that was a burden she was not currently equipped to bear. She had wanted to bring Akavir to the forefront of their last conversation, and maybe begin to plan a festival around their wedding. All of that slipped from her mind when the Empresses sister became known to her. Now, all Ibis could think about was how uncertain she felt and how awkward, to be in this leading role while someone she did not know acted on their own terms.

She too needed a break, and so Ibis sought relief among the mountain paths. It was a dangerous choice for someone as heavily pregnant as she was. Ibis' sides had swollen. She was hungry all the time, with her mood fluctuating from one thing to the next. She got to the top of a rise and immediately felt like she had to pee, again, which would be the eighth time since the morning. She was huffing and puffing by the time she came to a halt, sinking to her haunches and feeling her disproportionate belly settle uncomfortably against the grass.

Distantly she heard someone call out—it sounded like an expletive—but Ibis was distracted by the pounding of her heart within her ears, and then the kicking of one of her unborn children against her ribs, prompting a scowl as she got back to her sore paws.