With Vangelis and Athanasia now gone for almost half a month, Evras had begun to settle into the routine of Zanon being indefinitely busy as he stepped into the role of his eldest brother's position in his absence. She did not question, and merely ensured she was around to welcome him home each time he returned from visiting a separate province, or whenever he had a late night handling all of the advisor's queries or paperwork that came in. Instead, Evras found herself ensuring she was always on hand in assisting the Queen's daily duties, as well as stepping in each evening to check in on her son and how his daily training was, with each passing day.

Having almost been a month and a half ever since their explosive argument in the Kotas residence foyer, Queen Yanni's attitude to her seemed to be defrosting somewhat, as she had now laxed the duties to allow Evras to oversee the management of the household.

And to a certain extent, the Thanasi-born lady was glad. In a way, it meant that the matriarch was now willing to at least trust Evras, and with Dion aging to be almost an adult now, she now had less duties as a mother, and more duties as the princess she had never really learned to be. The moment she had married Zanon, she had already been pregnant with Dion, and the years that followed was busy with ensuring that her son got the care he needed. Evras had never agreed to fobbing off the care of her offspring to nursemaids, and as such took an active role in his upbringing in a way nobles rarely did.

Now that Dion was of an age where he no longer needed her care however, Evras found herself engaging in other activities. She had upped her visits to the temples (although after the fires, she now had to ensure she had four guards with her anytime she went out, a habit Evras found hard to get used to), and went almost daily whenever she could. But what frustrated Evras the most, was her inability to step up now that she wanted to. Ever since a month ago, she had found herself constantly needed to sleep, and while she had chalked that up to stress and the increasing amounts of time Zanon had kept her up at night now that they had returned to sharing a bed, as the month's halfway point waved at her, she had her own suspicions.

Not that she wanted to read too much into it.

Many have thought it odd that after almost twelve years of marriage, Evras and Zanon only, and still only had one son. But it wasn't for lack of trying. For the first few years, the husband and wife had agreed on Evras regularly taking the tea provided by the midwife to prevent herself from having more children, if only to ensure Dion could get the attention he needed. But the years after proved to be disappointments to both, miscarriages in between Zanon being away for war campaigns, and each time found Evras curled up by herself in bed, wondering if something was wrong with herself, and if she could ever have another child. Perhaps it was another facet to why she clung on to Dion with such hope, especially after her husband had decided to do away from her. She... had yet to take any sort of tea from midwives ever since she started sharing a bed with Zanon yet.

But hope was a dangerous thing.

As her maid's helped her out from the bath she had been taking after the evening meal, Evras carefully dried herself with the sheet they handed her, and surreptiously placed a hand on her belly. She had yet to have bled, and if she counted properly... it had almost been two months. But would she be a fool to hope? Evras has had points in her life where stress simply caused a delay, and she didn't want to put false hope. And at the same time... would Zanon even welcome the thought of another child? They were working on their communication and marriage yet.