A/N: Merry Christmas, everybody! First off, I want to ask you a few favours. Two of my close friends post stories here on mobbyrules and Zazzi. Their stuff is wonderful and hilarious and I would love it if some of you would go over and have a look at it. Second, I'd love it if some of you would have a look at www. livejournal. com/users/ rowenaevans – just take out the spaces. This is my livejournal, where I keep some of my ficlets, and where news of updates and new fics goes up first.

Alanna passed a hand over her forehead, exhausted. Next to her, Gary frowned and laid a hand on her arm. "Is something wrong?" he whispered, concerned. She shook her head; truly, there wasn't. She was only tired, and she had been feeling absolutely awful all day, and now she had to eat all this horrible rich food and dance. She sighed and smiled tiredly at him, and he relaxed, comforted.

She was beginning to have her suspicions, actually. She didn't get ill, she had never been ill in her life, she considered people who got ill to be generally self-pitying fools who didn't get out in the fresh air enough. It wasn't like her to suddenly start feeling so tired, when there was no reason to do so. And she had thrown up that morning, and now just looking at the foods she had loved a month or so ago made her want to be sick again…

All right, more than suspicions. She was terrified. There was something inside her, growing, like some horrible little clawing thing burrowing away. She was definitely not ready for this.

She winced as her stomach rolled, and took a sip of her wine, smiling at the acrobats who were providing the entertainment. She would have to go to see a healer tomorrow, get herself checked. And then… if it turned out that she was pregnant… she would have to tell Gary.

Above her head came the sound of giggling, and she glanced up to see some of the courtiers' children peering over the edge of the gallery. She smiled at the fresh faces, and bit her lip surreptitiously. Maybe it wouldn't be so very bad to have a child- but that didn't make pregnancy any less frightening. She shuddered, and took another sip of her wine. Across the table Cythera caught her eye and smiled, and Alanna imagined she could see the same tired quality in Cyth's smile as in her own. How long had it been- six weeks since the marriage? Married at the same time, it would make sense…

Perhaps it was just her own desire to have some company. Of course, it would be wonderful if Cyth was pregnant as well, but that was rather a lot to project on to one smile. She glanced over at Sandry and Jon, who were both grinning and laughing. Well, Sandry appeared to be happy enough, at least. And Jonathon was looking ecstatic, joking around with Raoul and laughing his head off, one arm curled protectively around his wife.

Gods, this was going to be tiring. She was about to decide that she had a headache and had to retire when Briar, who was leaning against the wall behind the acrobats and carrying on a murmured conversation with Tris, caught her eye and winked at her. She rolled her eyes, but couldn't resist smiling back. She hadn't spoken to Briar in days- he didn't seem to be around much these days. Actually, she didn't know where he'd been. He'd been joining Gary and her for the early morning practices out in the courtyard, but then he would disappear and she wouldn't see him for the rest of the day. She made a mental note to catch up with him; she liked Briar, and besides, her curiosity was piqued now. Next to Briar stood Tris, and Daja was sitting over by Sandry. She noticed that Sandry and Daja, who would normally have been chattering to the people around then, were being unusually quiet. Every now and then they would smile simultaneously, and- yes, Briar and Tris were doing the same. Alanna was quite good at picking up the signs of a mind-to-mind conversation these days, and they weren't exactly being subtle about it. She was itching to know what was so exciting that they were all getting so worked up about it, but she could hardly drag Sandry off in the middle of the festival. She tried to concentrate on the acrobats, who were currently leaping on ribbons from the gallery, but it was difficult.

By the time the ball was over, Alanna was more exhausted than ever. She had had to dance for at least an hour, although admittedly she had spent most of the time being gracefully propped up by Gary, who had picked up on is wife's fatigue by this point and was treating her gently. Part of her wanted nothing more in the world than to collapse into her bed and go to sleep in her husband's arms, but she was still stubborn enough to be hopelessly curious about her friends' secret. Murmuring something to Gary, she slipped away as the guests started to drain out of the hall and waylaid the quartet.

Sandry glanced over at her and smiled, holding out a hand for the redhead to take. Alanna slipped her hand into Sandry's proffered one and sidled into the quartet, who appeared to have shed Jon and Raoul. Behind them, Cythera came lightly running, slipping in next to Alanna. "What's going on?" she demanded. "Why have you all been looking so secretive?"

"We're going to see the healer," Tris said firmly.

Cythera blinked. "Now? But it's the middle of the night-"

"Now." Tris's tone brooked no argument, and Cythera frowned.

"Why? Is somebody hurt?"

Briar grinned wickedly at her. "Oh, no. Everybody's fine. More than fine, in fact. Sandry-"

"Briar!" snapped Sandry, who was looking flustered. "We don't know for sure yet-"

"Yes we do," Daja interrupted, "I told you, Sandry, we can feel his heart beating."

Alanna stared, her mind racing. "Whose heart? You're- Sandry, you're pregnant? Does Jon know?"

Sandry flushed. "We don't know yet," she defended herself, "-not for sure, anyway," she added defensively, as Daja rolled her eyes and started scolding her again. "That's why we're going to see the healer…"

"Oh, Goddess," Alanna said faintly. Cythera was looking white. Briar, glancing between the two of them, suddenly cackled with glee.

"What is it?" Tris asked, frowning. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," Briar said airily, sticking his hands in his pockets and winking at Alanna and Cyth. "The healer'll tell you." And with that, he sauntered off ahead of them, leaving Alanna to scowl menacingly at his back.