Chapter 46 Fourty Five

• "Hngh...!" Avelyn groaned, clutching her belly as a sudden sharp pain made her knees buckle. She caught herself on the edge of a dusty old chair, breathing through the ache. "Just great," she muttered under her breath. "Like I don't already have enough going on."
• It had been two months since she'd left the palace, and she'd somehow stumbled on this worn-down cabin hidden in the forest outside Draeven's kingdom. The place was a mess when she found it. Dust and dirt caked every surface. Whoever used it before must have been passing through and never looked back. She'd spent days scrubbing, sweeping, and patching things up with whatever scraps she could find. After all, she didn't have a lot of options. It was this place or the woods.
• And now here she was, actually feeling a bit attached to this rickety little cabin. She had added small comforts such as a couple of wildflowers on the windowsill and herbs hanging above the fireplace. Still, every day was a struggle. She'd pushed herself to fix up the walls yesterday, and now her body was letting her know she'd overdone it.