[Kenly]

Rocking gently back and forth, she softly sang to Lukas in elven, her native language. She wasn't sure if she could ever forgive herself for what she'd done, if this didn't work. If it didn't work, she'd just murdered her lover- and her child's father.

Glancing at the ornate clock reflected in the mirror behind the tub, she sighed again. It had been almost six hours. How long was this supposed to take?

As she settled back down, despite the fact that her bottom had gone numb hours ago, she thought she had heard a sound coming from near the tub. Could that be her imagination? After all, the only other sounds in the room were the incessant ticking of the clock and the intermittent random sounds of her sleeping son.