Just a little something to give my muses a break from my long series. Hope you all like it!
Proofread by Nance, any remaining errors are all my own.
Alice placed her hand on the distended abdomen of the queen and felt the muscle bunch underneath it as another contraction assaulted the frail body of Ygraine. She swore to herself, while keeping the smile of hopeful promises firmly on her face. Something wasn't right.
There was more than enough experience crammed into Alice's brain about midwifery to know that it could all go horribly wrong in a single instant. She had examined the queen herself, not weeks before Ygraine had finally conceived. The queen's hips were too narrow. Her birthing channel was angled wrong and the inner workings of her body had never felt right. Ygraine should never have been able to get pregnant.
Yet, here they were in the Queen's Chambers, surrounded by nobility who were prepared to welcome the birth of Uther's first child. It should have been kept a private, family affair due to the queen's health. But instead, it had become a spectacle of unheard of proportions. Even with her sweat-drenched hair, plastered to her skull, Ygraine still kept her chin up and accepted each contraction with the grace befitting one of her station.
That didn't stop Alice's feeling that something was amiss.
She had spoken to her betrothed about it, and come away from the conversation with a sense of dread. Gaius was much older than her by at least fifteen years, and had proper training as a physician. He was heavily indebted to King Uther for his training in faraway Greece for his skills, and would hear no words spoken against his liege. Alice could tell that he knew more about the queen's unexpected pregnancy than he would admit and it made her worry grow.
"Here, My Lady. Drink this. It will help envigor you for the contractions to come." Alice helped the queen sit up and assisted in pouring a tonic created by Gaius and enriched with the midwife's strengthening magic, down the Ygraine's throat. She doubted if it would work, but what choice did she have. False hope was still hope.
Deep in the recesses of her mind, Alice knew of only one spell that would give life where none should have formed. It was sacred knowledge passed down through the ages, only to be known and never used. The midwife also knew of only one person who had the power to cast such a spell.
Among those in attendance for the birth was the High Priestess of Triple Goddess. Nimueh had been old from the time when Alice had first been learning her trade. Although, the magic of the Goddess kept her appearance eternally youthful.
Alice's eyes had not missed the moment when the king had pulled the priestess to the side for a quiet conversation. Oh, how she would have loved to have been closer to them and hear what they were saying. Each glance Nimueh stole toward the frail queen caused the midwife's spine to tingle, as if the Cailleach herself stood in the room, chilling it to all who knew her name. Nimueh knew what she had done was against the Laws of Balance, yet somehow the king had convinced her to do it anyway.
Turning her attention back to the queen, Alice tried to comfort her through another wave of the painful birth. If the queen survived...if the child survived...it would be hailed as a miracle. Yet, if either of them succumbed to the icy hands of the waiting death, what came afterward - if the king's constant threats were anything to go by - could tear the kingdom apart.