The waves of pain crashed on me, over and over again. My skin tingled and burned. Sweat ran down my face in rivulets, stinging my eyes and plastering my tangled hair to it and my neck. My body trembled and my head throbbed. "Please…make the pain go away…"I rasped out loud. Shadowy figures moved around me, bustling around. "It will soon be over my dear. Just a little more time." An elderly woman said, pushing back my damp bangs with her cold hand. Another wave of pain crashed down on me and I clenched my legs together as the pain hit its climax in my abdomen. Searing, fiery pain that felt like my organs were trying to pull themselves out of me. I threw my head back and cried out. The women around me made shushing sounds and patted me and wiped my brow, trying to comfort me. Why me? What was going on? Suddenly I felt hands grab my legs and pry them open, only making the pain worse. "What are you doing? That hurts; I don't want to open them. Stop it!" I wailed, struggling to yank my legs away. Surprisingly the women were strong enough to tie my legs down to the posts on the bed frame of the canopy. More pain surged through my abdomen, even worse than before. The women saw me shudder in pain and began to whisper to each other. "What's..what's happening? Why are you whis.."I stammered. No one paid heed to me, they only began to run around doing things in the room. But the pain continued to flow through me. I feebly clutched the hard, round thing that was my massive stomach. I could feel what was causing the pain move around inside me. God help me, I told myself as my body let the pain start to roll downwards through me, making a cramping feeling in my abdomen. I gasped and grabbed the sheets in my fists, trying to hold back my tears and screams. The elderly women were suddenly between my legs, looking down at my exposed self. I was in too much agony to even protest, all my mind could seem to focus on was to try to literally push the pain out of me. I tried to hold back, but the worse it got till my concentration shattered from fatigue. My consciousness nearly dimmed down to nothing as my body forced itself to push towards my lower abdomen. I could feel something coming, from me. Something was happening to me. My muscles inside me made rolling motions like waves, contracting the thing from my stomach. Then it came. I arched my back and screamed in terror and agony. My private area was ripped open and I felt something warm, and wet gush out. But my body continued to shove out the thing through my womanly area. In my blurred, dark vision I saw the women bending down there, touching and prying at whatever it was. As I felt it come out more minute by minute the more I didn't want the women touching it, being near it, or me. I screamed in rage and pain, pushing on purpose to extract what was coming from my body. With one last wail, and hard push, I felt it slip from me and the pain immediately ebbed away. The old woman who had pushed my hair back stood up from between my legs, holding something strange in her hands. Suddenly, I heard a noise. A noise like the sound of a kitten crying. Why would there be a kitten crying in here? Then I realized it was coming from the form in the women's arms, which was now squirming. She approached the candlelight near my bed stand and I saw it was a little baby. A bloody, crying infant. And I gasped. It was mine. That's what had come from me, I had just given birth to it. I then remembered carrying it around for many months inside me, growing it, feeling it move. My baby. My arms fluttered upwards, and shaking I spread them towards the babe. The old woman looked down at me reaching for the child and she frowned, not trying to hand it to me. Why? It was mine? But she just shook her head slowly, tuned her back to me, and walked out of the room. "Nooo. Come back with my baby!" I shouted, painfully sitting up. I was so sore; my abdomen was still on fire as well as my lady area. I looked down at it to see my legs untied but still open…and blood. Bright, ruby red blood everywhere. Soaking the sheets, my gown, my body, and the floor. But I quickly pushed that to the back of my mind and yanked my legs over the side of the bed, holding back the cry of pain. The rest of the women gasped and tried to hold me down on the bed. I hit one of them in the face with the back of my hand. "You will do as I say and leave me be. You have to obey my orders. Give me back my child!" I roared at them. "My lady, we cannot, our orders were to take the babe after birth to the father. We had no choice." One told me in a rush. The father. The ruler of this castle who had taken me from my home, burned my village down, killed my family and people, and forced me to lay with him at the age of 16. And only to bear him an heir. No, he would not take my baby. I would die before I let that happen. I shoved the women off me and limped from the room. My feet numbed on the frigid stone as I headed towards the mewling of my baby. I soon found myself in the throne room, luckily coming through a smaller door in a dark corner, which hid me from plain view. On the throne sat my captor, holding my babe in his massive hands. The naked babe kicked its little legs and arms, still crying. The midwife stood a little ways from him, watching timidly. "Ah, what a fine child this is. I choose well for a wife to produce my heirs. She produced a beautiful child…but yet, it's a girl. I wanted a boy. We have to get rid of this one and I will lay with my queen again until she births me a boy." The king huffed; staring my helpless, tiny daughter down. My daughter, whom I was very protective of already. It was a bad idea to take a child from a mother who just gave birth, instincts will take over, and they had. I was seeing red, and I would kill anyone who stood in my way. I stumbled to a pillar and quietly lifted a decorative sword from its hooks, somehow having sudden monster strength; even with blood trailing down my legs and onto the stone. The king shoved my baby in the midwives arms and swept out of the throne room, looking for me. The old woman looked at the babe and laid it in a basinet the servants had placed at the bottom of the stairs of the throne. And she just left; left my baby to cry, freeze, and starve. I'd kill her if I saw her again. I quickly limped over to the basinet and scooped up my daughter with one arm. She was so little and warm. She had the most beautiful face and smooth olive skin, and downy hair that looked white. Once she felt me hold her she instinctually realized it was me and stopped crying, snuggling into my breasts. They would hear her not crying anymore, I had to leave. I left the throne room and snuck into the halls, hoping to God there were no guards near.