The exact second that Haromonia felt the arms reach around her into an embrace, she knew it was Lottie. Her eyes had been closed so she saw nothing. But at the same time she realized that her dearest of friends was at her side, there for her like her family should have been, the Theban Queen burst into the tears she'd been fighting to hold in for the past few months. But as each day passed and she grew closer and closer to the day the child would come the more afraid she became of everything that was to come.
Respectfully, the few attendants that remained left the chamber.
She leaned easily into Philotes, looking for a kind of comfort only her friend could give. Everything was so wrong. So, because she knew that Philotes wasn't going to abandon her, Harmonia let herself just cry. It came in heavy, deep sobs with a flood of tears streaming down her cheeks. Were there words to explain just how miserable she was? How scared?
When she finally regained enough control to speak, she managed to choke out an explanation. “It's all wrong. It's all so wrong.” Balance shifted her body around, moving so that she was able to put her head on Lottie's shoulder, something that was quite difficult to do with the roundness of her belly. “I don't want to be here. I don't want this.” Sobs came in intermittently, forcing her to break between bits of her explanation.
“I am so alone, Lottie. None of my family has been here. My husband doesn't want me, I don't want him. We hardly see each other. When he does come to me at night, he's drunk... like he can't bare to look at me sober. And as much as I don't want this baby, I hope it's a boy because then at least that part of this nightmare can be over.” Again her sobs came in heavy bursts. “I want to go home, but if I do... if I leave this... nothing could bring me back, and then I'll have shamed my husband and my family.”
Harmonia brought her head up to look her dear friend in the eyes and tried to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “And to top it all off... Lottie.... I'm terrified.”