I was alone.

I lowered my gaze and saw Zev and Jolakaia with me, and I smiled.

Not alone.

I smelled the remains of the breakfast Jolakaia had prepared, heard the sound of two-wheel vehicles in the road, watched the glint of sun on Zev’s metal tools, and my smile widened.

No, I was definitely not alone. And this world wasn’t quite so alien anymore, either.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Suvi

Inever would have expected myself to be able to sleep in the nail-biting nervousness of waiting for Skalla to return with my friends, but I did. By mid-morning, some of the adrenaline had ebbed out of my system, and I was struck down with exhaustion I hadn’t experienced since I’d been recovering from my infection in the temple. I said a quick word to Zev, whom I’d been sitting with most of the morning after Jolakaia had left for the day, and mounted the stairs. My body felt heavier than before, and by the time I reached the top I was sweating profusely. I forced myself to drink a little water before collapsing onto the bed.

When I woke up, the sun was setting, turning the Bohnebregg buildings and roads the colour of warm rust, which was then made greenish by the stained glass. For a long moment, I couldn’t orient myself without Skalla in the bed beside me. I frowned at the empty stretch of mattress, my brain feeling foggy, before I remembered where he’d gone.

I sat up quickly in the bed and instantly regretted it. My head swam, nausea rose, and I had to fight very, very hard not to puke my guts out. This bed has taken enough abuse, I told myself, cold and sweating and gritting my teeth, I can at least spare it that much.

Ugh. This was my own fault. I now remembered I hadn’t eaten any breakfast, and I’d obviously slept through lunch. I’d barely had anything to drink, either. Strangely, even though I was probably a bit dehydrated, I had to pee badly. I eased myself out of the bed, going slowly, like I was ninety years old, then hobbled over to the bathroom to do my business and wash up.

Then I drank some water, slowly. The water didn’t sit well, and once again I thought I was pretty close to barfing. I eyed the floor and thought with resignation that it would be easier to clean than the bed if needed.

Luckily, I didn’t puke, though I had an instinct that I’d feel better if I just did it and got it over with. I set down my cup and sank to the floor, rubbing my temples.

Maybe I’m in Skalla withdrawal, I joked bitterly to myself.

Whatever it was, it was piss-poor fucking timing. What would my friends think if they came back to find me in the throes of some alien stomach bug? Hey, girls, so glad you made it! It’s totally safe here and you, too, can come down with Bohnebregg flu if you stay here long enough!

I grimaced, then noticed how dark it had gotten outside. Jolakaia would probably be home from the temple by now, barring any medical emergencies that had shown up for her to deal with. Maybe she’d have something to settle my stomach. Keeping her image fixed in my mind, I hauled myself up and made my granny-like way down the stairs.

She and Zev were both outside together. A tray of what looked like cooked fish was between them on the table. Oh, God, it definitely smelled like fish. The scent, one I normally didn’t have a problem with, nearly toppled me. I groaned and bent over on the last step of the staircase.

Jolakaia hurried over, laying a hand on my back.

“I think I’m sick,” I belched out.

“I am sorry, Suvi, but I do not understand you.”

Paska. I’d slipped back into Finnish. Stumbling over Bohnebregg words, I managed to relay the message. Jolakaia and Zev helped me over to a bench at the table where I promptly folded over at the waist and put my head between my knees. Jolakaia poked and prodded at a few places – my arm, the side of my neck – then stood back.

“You are not as hot as you were when you were ill. No fever. Though your heartrate is faster than usual.”

“No fever. Good,” I muttered. It took everything I had not to clap my hand over my mouth and nose at the stink of that fish. It was only my deeply ingrained need not to offend that kept me still, panting through my mouth.

“Which human conditions cause these symptoms?”

“Bacteria,” I replied. It took me a minute to remember that word. I couldn’t recall if I’d ever learned the Bohnebregg word for virus. That’s what it felt like. That or a migraine, maybe. The lack of fever had to be a good sign, at least.

“Hmm. Nothing in the food or water has changed,” Jolakaia said thoughtfully as I stared down at my feet. “I do not believe you’ve been exposed to any new plants or herbs at the temple, either. It could be some kind of delayed onset of a reaction to something...”

“Maybe,” I grunted. It didn’t feel like I was having an allergic reaction to anything. And this wasn’t how I felt when I got my period, either.

My period.

My head got even lighter. I pushed it further down between my knees.

I’d been here more than two and a half months and I’d never had a period.

That’s alright, I told myself quickly. My cycle had always been a bit irregular, which is why I hadn’t really noticed that it hadn’t come yet.

It didn’t necessarily mean anything.

Or maybe it fucking did. Because no period on its own was one thing.

No period while the scent of fish was like a punch to the gut was another.

“Jolakaia,” I said shakily, “Could I be...”

Fucking hell, I didn’t know the Bohnebregg word for pregnant! Trying to urge some other related word out of my brain felt like I was pounding the inside of my head with a meat tenderizer.

“Could I have... Small person... Child...”

Thank God Jolakaia was clever enough to catch on without me needing to mumble through more broken Bohnebregg.

“Pregnancy? Of course it is possible. You...” A careful pause. “You do know how pregnancy occurs, do you not? I’ve examined your physiology and I assume it is similar for your kind as it is for Bohnebregg females.”

“Yes,” I confirmed.

Yeah, I knew how women got pregnant. I just didn’t exactly clue into the fact that I could actually become pregnant with a fucking alien, that’s all. We were completely different species! From entirely different worlds! He was immortal, for fuck’s sake!

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was an idiot for not acknowledging this possibility before. How many studies had I read, experiments had I run, that showed cross-breeding different species of plants was possible, often in very surprising circumstances? Even Skalla’s own parents had been from different worlds, and they’d obviously produced him!

Where there was a will, there was a way, and the biological forces of reproduction apparently had more than enough will to make up for my lack. Not that I never wanted children, or anything... I just wasn’t expecting it be happening right fucking now with an alien male for the father.

Dread hardened in my guts. I placed my hand over my lower abdomen, knowing deep inside that I wasn’t sick, that this wasn’t a virus or an allergy.

This was a little baby Skallagrim fucking up my insides.

Despite the shock and nausea, I found myself grinning down at the ground at that image. It wasn’t some terrible, phantom thing happening to me. It was something Skalla and I had created together. I couldn’t yet picture what a baby like ours might look like, but I could picture Skalla’s face when I told him the news upon his return.

I knew Skalla. And I knew he’d be happy.

I took a deep breath, raised my head a little, and showed Zev and Jolakaia my smile.