The next three days passed in a haze of pain, exhaustion, and constant monitoring. Healers came and went, examining me, checking the baby, consulting in hushed voices that weren't quite soft enough to hide their concern.
The early manifestation of the curse was unprecedented. Children born with shadow magic didn't usually show signs until at least infancy, sometimes not until they were several years old. For it to activate while still in the womb was unheard of.
"The baby's heartbeat is strong," Isla reported on the second day. She'd been pardoned after providing extensive testimony against Daemon's network, and her expertise in magical maladies made her invaluable now. "But I'm detecting shadow magic fluctuations that shouldn't be present in a fetus this young."
"What does that mean?" Kael demanded from his position beside my bed. He hadn't left except when physically forced to by King Aldric or Captain Thorne, and even then only for an hour at most.
