Beyond the Boundary Stones (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 3) by Angela Holder

this will be a good opportunity to instruct him further. In addition, I anticipate that if we’re able to help you conceive, you’ll require the Mother’s power throughout your pregnancy to keep you and the child healthy. If anything should happen to me before the child is born there wouldn’t be time to send to Tevenar for another wizard, but Josiah could continue your treatments if he knows what’s needed.”
    The Matriarch turned her disconcerting gaze on Josiah. He held his breath. He almost hoped she’d refuse Elkan’s request so he wouldn’t have to stay in her presence.
    But she gave a curt nod. “A wise precaution. Come along, boy.” She rose from her ornate chair, swept down the steps from the dais, and proceeded toward the door. Josiah grabbed Sar’s mane for courage and followed.
    The room beyond the door was smaller than the audience chamber, but even more ornate. Rich velvet drapes swathed the walls, and lush embroidery decorated the upholstered furniture. The Matriarch dismissed all but two guards, who took up stations by the door. She turned to a waiting servant. “Send for Lady Yerenna to join us.” As the woman bustled away, the Matriarch sank onto a long couch. “My wise woman,” she told Elkan. “She’ll be able to answer any questions you have about my condition.”
    “Excellent.” Elkan seated himself in a chair facing the Matriarch. Tobi sprawled at his feet. Josiah pulled another close beside him and plopped into it. He was worn out from the hours of healing in the Beggars’ Quarter. Hopefully this initial examination wouldn’t take much energy. Sar stationed himself beside Josiah’s chair, quiet and watchful.
    Elkan assumed his usual warm, relaxed attitude. He leaned toward the Matriarch and fixed her with a gaze that managed to convey both focused attention and earnest concern. Josiah did his best to copy it, but he knew he had a long way to go before he mastered the full effect. “Gevan told me a little of your history, but I’d like to hear it directly from you. He said your first child was a son?”
    Josiah thought he saw a shadow darken the Matriarch’s face, but she answered readily. “That’s right. I married Shorren when I was nineteen, soon after my mother died and I became Matriarch. Tenorran was born the next year. The pregnancy was easy, the birth long but uncomplicated. He thrived from the beginning.” Her hands curled into fists, and she looked to the side. “I was a naive child. I thought everything would come to me with equal ease.”
    “But it didn’t.” Elkan’s voice was soft and accepting.
    “No. I was pregnant again by the time he was six months old. I miscarried at two months. Everyone assured me it meant nothing. They quit saying that after the next two. The third was old enough to tell she was a girl. I’d already felt her moving.” She closed her eyes, her painted face frozen into a blank mask, then opened them and resumed in the same emotionless voice. “I lost twelve in all. One lived a day, but she was too early and struggled for every breath. Another made it to term, but was pale and sickly and died when she was six days old.”
    Elkan didn’t say anything, but reached for the Matriarch’s hands. She ignored him. After a moment he pulled his hands back.
    She shrugged and went on. “I consulted many wise women and physicians. Some of them told me losses like this could be caused by the father, and another man might be able to give me a living child. So I divorced Shorren and chose a new husband. Another stillbirth, so I divorced him as well. Four more times the same, until I could bear it no longer. I swore I would never wed again.”
    She shook her head. “Then I learned of my cousin Malka’s conversion to Purifier ways. The only way to prevent her from inheriting the Matriarchy after me and delivering Ramunna to the Purifiers was to bear a daughter of my own. I fought the idea for more than a year. Then I met Renarre.”
    Was that a