"Oh, everyone sizes everyone up on both sides," Morgana said, scoffing. "It doesn't matter, dear. You'll set back to normal as soon as this is all fixed."

Marcello sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. "Is there anything I should be ready to do?" she asked, more quiet now. "For Niabheara? If she doesn't get a child, or worse, if she loses one?"

"That'll be mostly up to her," she said. "One never knows how this takes people. She might swear off sex for a while, she might try to withdraw, she might find herself all sorts of projects and bury herself under them." She gave a small, wry smile. "I tend to do all three. I go out to the wilds. Travel. Go back to the 'Dale for a time."

Marcello frowned. "If she...should I go with her? Or should I let her be by herself?" she asked.

"Just let her go," she advised. "She'll wander her way back to Cnoch-na-Niall if that's the way it takes her. Or knowing her, she won't want to leave it. She's like me in that she only likes to wander if she has a touchstone, somewhere to go back to. And that will likely be you."

Marcello nodded and looked down at her hands for a moment. "I wasn't thinking of that part of it," she admitted. "The baby-losing part. I...it's hard not to think of it as a choice, as yes, we want one, or no, we don't."

She put a hand on Marcello's shoulder. "I've lost more bairns than you have fingers. We break but we mend."

Marcello counted his fingers. "That's a lot of heartbreak," she said. "I don't know if I could do that. I mean, me. Let alone Niabheara."

Morgana looked crushed. "Ah, sweetness, I shouldn't've said it. It's not something you need to worry about. It's just something to bear in mind when it happens."

Marcello didn't look cheered. "Our women lose babies, too," she said. "But...you can try again a few months later. You can't...what happens if we go for years? I...I don't want to be so old that I don't get to see my children grow up."