Aery didn't hear anything, obviously, but she didn't care. She was panicking. She pushed the door open and stumbled in, still crying her eyes out. She forced it together, took deep breaths, until finally she faced Rowan as calmly as she could. "Hypothetical situation. A woman finds herself carrying a child. She cannot afford to let the world know that she has a child, because all her authority, not to mention value on the marriage market, would go out the window. She also cannot emotionally bear the reminder of what caused the child's presence in her body. What should she do?" She doubled over, gasping, wheezing and coughing, tears streaming down her cheeks again.
"I-I thought I'd gotten i-it to be manageable, o-only... N-now... I can't do this, Rowan... I... I can't. N-not when th-there's another... Another life at st-take."