They had married at the small chapel in yard of Castle Genoa, under the sweltering sun of Verdane. That kingdom's muggy air combined with the heat had caused Aideen's dress to stick to her skin in an unseemly fashion- although Midayle's formal tunic and hose had fared little better. Yet more than that the knight remembered the colorful ribbons that had been braided into her lady's long hair, which had fluttered with the barest breeze and made her curls shine all the more golden.
That day a priest from the order of Blaggi had pronounced Midayle as husband and Aideen as wife. There had been no variation in her wedding vows to her lady, for it was the joining of a Holy Crusader's House and formality forbade such things– no matter that the Jungby knight was a woman. She wasn't bothered by the mis-gendered title since she could now call Lady Aideen her wife, but she knew the common folk did not hold onto such petty hang-ups when two alike wed.
While it had been a dream come true for Midayle, there had been problems. Muted snickers and half-heard insinuations that a female husband was incapable of keeping Lady Aideen satisfied. And then Aideen had confessed that she wanted a child to call her own, a true heir to Ullir's blood.
Not eagerly, but for the sake of lady Aideen's happiness, she had pondered long and hard on how to solve such a problem.
The answer appeared after Sigurd's army had come to occupy half of Agustria, she'd learned of a mercenary who was said to do anything for the right price. So Midayle had approached him with a Childing Contract- asking as Lady Aideen's husband that he might father a child with her wife. The man had considered the terms: that there would be no transfer of property outside of the stipulated compensation, no continued to visit lady Aideen's bed after conception, nor regular contact with the child as the father. He'd agreed, there'd be no complications.
After the contract had been signed by the prospective father, Midayle had come to recognize an herbal tea which Lady Aideen drank each night leading up to the arranged session. The tea had been meant to promote chances of a successful conception, yet as a drink it was bitter and left an unpleasant aftertaste. It had made Midayle glad that it hadn't been required to be taken with every meal, otherwise her lady's might've at risked losing all sense of taste.
On the first night of the contracted sessions, when Midayle had lingered in the room the mercenary had daringly purposed that she should stay and also participate. Although it wasn't orthodox, she'd been glad not having left him alone with her wife. She had elected to stay, but only to observe and act as guard, to ensure Aideen was not subjected to anything unpleasant. She'd watched the man take her wife to bed for the purpose of making heirs- every session. Thankfully he'd never remained to try and sleep beside her wife, but had always wandered off when the deed had been done.
Now Midayle was on her knees in front of her wife. Her calloused palms gripped those lily-white thighs gently, but her grip was firm enough to keep Aideen in place as her hips bucked against the attentions of Midayle's open mouth. Finally, she reached her peak and then her lady's body went boneless. She drew back laying butterfly kisses that made Lady Aideen giggle, high and breathy, just like those days long past when they had been girls practicing in the archery yard. A hot burst of want was sent straight to Midayle's loins at that sweet sound.
The Archknight rose– though not to stand. Instead Midayle remained bent to whisper Ulir's prayers of love and devotion over her wife's womb, which still flat but would ripen with the passage of time. Inside her own mind she sent prayers of thanks to the gods, that they had given the heir Aideen craved and spared the knight further torment.
It'd been that very morning in which Aideen had shown signs of being with child. After consulting the other healers in the army it had been confirmed and a missive had been sent that the contracted visits were ended. It had been a great relief for the Jungby knight, for the entire time it had gone on Midayle had hated herself for being torn when Lady Aideen's happiness was within their grasp. Yet even to that day she couldn't deny every moment she'd watched the man touch her lady she'd wanted nothing more than to throw him bodily out. Although her mind knew she should be grateful that he'd taken the contract and gotten her wife with the child she wanted, her heart begrudged him still.
She continued in prayer until Aideen's delicate hands tugged her up to stand, to look full in her flawless face. Midayle brought up a hand and brushed her knuckles lightly against her wife's cheek, the skin not its usual pale loveliness but rosy from pleasure. The contracted man had never made her lady look so undone with satisfaction. She'd been there, she remembered. And it would just be the two of them who raised the child after to was born, teach small hands how to draw and fire a bow.
With that lovely thought in mind Midayle leaned in, pressed her mouth against Aideen's. She swept her tongue between those petal-soft lips, gathering the phantom taste of bitter tea.
No matter how her doubts hung heavy, or what was asked of her, Midayle would serve her lady...in whatever capacity Aideen needed. For Midyale needed her lady and wife– like she needed water, like she needed air. She would do anything to make Aideen happy.
A/N:
Happy FE4 twentieth anniversary! Have a somewhat character study of Midayle's codependency.
The crux of this particular fic is that Midayle is a cis!woman and married Aideen, with a possible way on how Lester and Rana came to exist. I'm basing this whole Childing Contract idea on a tweaked version of medieval Frankish Friedelehe. I figure it could be Jugdral legal for Aideen and Midayle to draw up some up to get some heirs without threatening their marriage status or without having to legitimize "bastards" (since surrogates weren't really a thing in Medieval periods). I left Lester's biological father semi-vague on purpose, despite the hints whoever you want to picture him as should work.