Not words, exactly. More like the shape of words pressed against the inside of my skull. Let go. Step into the dance. You are exactly where you need to be.
I pressed a palm to my lower belly. The silk was taut there. When had that happened? I was lean. Athletic. I’d done a full ab workout the morning of the party. But now there was a firm, round swell beneath my hand, as undeniable as a moon rising.
But my hand—the one not pressed to my belly—was smudged with dried ink. Indigo. The same color as the constellations on my gown. Masquerade Hypnosis -Before I knew it- I-m Preg...
I looked down. The gown’s embroidery had changed. Where before there had been a single star over my womb, now there were two. And they were pulsing faintly, in time with a flutter I felt deep inside.
Both?
The whisper came again, closer this time, warm breath against my ear even though no one stood behind me.
Before I knew it, I was standing in front of a cheval mirror in a gown I didn’t remember picking out. Not words, exactly
You agreed to this. In the trance, you said yes. You said, “I want to know what it feels like to carry life.” You signed the velvet book with a quill made of your own hair.