Doctor doctor, give me the news

Aliana's brief spark of hope that she could still save Dalila from an unwanted pregnancy with Chimera was a dying flame clinging to oxygen with all its might. The hesitance in Dalila's face made her think that perhaps the mottled fae was seriously considering her offer. Ali knew exactly which combination of plants would do the trick, and would make it easy on her newfound friend—and potential lover—so she wouldn't have to suffer in either case. But when Dalila refused the offer to terminate the pregnancy and looked away, Ali felt her heart finish breaking in her chest. The pieces plummeted into her stomach and she stared into space while the hopeful look on her face slowly contorted into guilty horror. She was only half paying attention when Dalila started to speak, but when she realized it was a personal story from the woman's past, Aliana listened much more intently.

Dalila regaled Aliana with the details of her birth and her childhood. She was the product of rape, her siblings had been killed to hide the evidence, and then her mother was killed by her rapist when she tried to prevent more children from being murdered. It was an awful story, one that made Ali question her own conception. Her parents had both abandoned her before she could even speak. Had she been the product of rape as well? Had they been too ashamed of her and her siblings that they were forced to give them up? So many questions about how she had been brought into this world that would forever go unanswered... She sympathized with Dalila, but she didn't agree with her. This was not the same situation. But the look in Dalila's eyes told her that this conversation was done. There would be no changing her mind. Dalila would carry and birth Chimera's children.

"I understand..." mumbled Ali beneath her breath, unable to look Dalila in the eye out of shame and guilt. It was a lie. She didn't understand. But it was Dalila's choice. The clouded fae just hoped she was making the right call for the right reasons. Dalila surprised her by turning the question on her. Aliana looked up with a start when Dal asked why she hadn't used the herbs to abort her own pregnancy. Aliana's ears folded flat to her head and her stomach flipped. No matter how much she didn't want the puppies growing inside her, the mere thought of doing something to harm them... to kill them... "I... I can't," she said, her voice broken and quivering. "I can't harm them just because they exist, Dalila. They did nothing wrong and to take their lives... it would be so cruel." What if her parents had terminated her before she was born? Well, she wouldn't be in this mess now, she supposed. No, she would also have to carry and birth Chimera's children, all because she couldn't harm another living thing. It disgusted her to consider. She already hated herself—what would she think of herself if she let herself do such a terrible thing?

So that was that then. She had failed and now Dalila would have to pay the price. "I'm sorry you have to suffer like this with me," Ali apologized, though her words were barely above a low murmur. "I'm so sorry..." Dalila had told her this wasn't her fault, but Aliana just couldn't believe her. Of course it was her fault. Dalila had trusted her to fix her mistake, to prevent this from happening, and she didn't do that. All Ali wanted to do right now was go crawl into her room and die. She felt gross, she felt useless. She wanted all of this to just be one big nightmare that she'd wake up from at any moment.

But life was no fairy tale, and there would be no happy endings to this story.

"Aliana"