It started with a late period, which Kim had assumed, indicated stress. After all, the involvement of Danny in any woman's life would be enough to induce more than a few grey hairs. So, she suspected nothing. That was, until a few weeks later when Kim still had not had her period, and more biological mechanisms began to go amiss.
First, Kim noticed a tenderness in her breasts which didn't bother her too much. That was, until her bras decided that they did not want to clasp anymore, which almost drove Kim out of her mind. Still, she did not suspect anything, deciding that her underwear had likely shrunk in the wash. Then, came the sickness.
Kim had begun to wake with a nauseousness that propelled her out of bed during the early hours of the morning, and kept her kneeling in front of the toilet until the early afternoon. It forced her to skip breakfast, but Kim figured that it was a good thing because she would likely throw it back up anyway. At first, she had thought that it was a particularly awful stomach bug. However, days became weeks and eventually Kim was forced to consider that something was amiss.
She hid everything from Danny, of course. Kim wanted to determine exactly what was wrong with her before she told anyone. Which left her with the slight predicament that she had nothing or no one to inform her as to what could be wrong, save for books that she stole from the library and skimmed through in the privacy of her own room.
Eventually, Kim stumbled upon a possible explanation that made her blood run cold. As she stared at the descriptions and images she felt her breathing quicken, a dizziness washing over her that made it difficult to stay sitting upright. The back pain, the bloating, the increase in breast size, the sickness....it all added up.
Unsure of what to do, Kim stumbled to her feet and glanced desperately around her room. There was nothing she could do, no one she could go to. She didn't have a test and if she asked anyone they would surely tell Danny. After all, he was one of the princes and Kim had been less than discreet about her newly established relationship with him.
Kim felt tears prick at her eyes and she swallowed heavily. She was a damned fool. Her mother had warned her of incidents like this, had warned her not to do anything stupid outside of marriage and yet Kim had gone along and ignored her. What had she been thinking?
Now, she would be an outcast. Now, Danny wouldn't want her. He would look at her with shame and would send her away. He would try to cover everything up so he could live a normal life, and Kim and the infant would be exiled- no. Kim would spare him the knowledge, and herself the humiliation. She would go now, and Danny would never know.
Forcing herself to keep quiet, Kim collected a few of her possessions and stuffed them into a small bag. She dressed in a plain but comfortable dress and wrapped a cloak around her shoulders. Forgetting about the book discarded on her bed, Kim crept down to the kitchens and stuffed as much nonperishable food as she could within her bag before disappearing into the night.
She hoped she would have enough time to flee the realm before anyone noted her absence.
