New Life, New Hope

20 April, 1360. Westerhaven Palace, Islia.

Camilla gently placed a cool, damp cloth over Elizabeth's forehead, taking care not to wake the sleeping young woman. Seated on the other side of Elizabeth's bed, Meg was carefully stitching a swaddle, while Katerine rocked the cradle at the foot of the bed, staring in awe at the newborn girl inside it.

The four friends had spent the past few days in the large bedchamber that Elizabeth usually shared with her husband, waiting for the arrival of the baby. As a wife within a noble family, Elizabeth had been provided with maids and midwives to attend her in the last stretch of her pregnancy but she had begged for the company of her closest friends as well.

Camilla, Meg and Katerine had been more than happy to oblige. The four of them had ensconced themselves together in nervous anticipation.