Chapter One Part Two:
Her arms thrown about Yuunen's capable shoulders, Arysia held onto him with all her might as he raced through the village with her atop his back following after Adja. She feared the worst as she listened to his frantic voice rasping out the demand for his urgency in seeking her out.
"It is as Shenshen expected." Adja breathed. "Shasa's birthing has begun early."
Arysia smiled, briefly, before the reality of his words sank into her thoughts. "Wait, I do not understand." she said. "Why would an early birthing be such a cause for alarm?"
"It's not the kitling coming early that's the problem. For some reason, Shasa seems to be in a great deal of pain...and there is much birth-blood."
Yuunen could feel her skin grow cold from Adja's admission. She tightened her grip around him, mimicking the actions of her throat which trapped any speech from leaving her person. Knowing her as he did, Yuunen provided the voice she could not produce.
"Where is Leetah?" he asked. "If she is in pain, surely she can-"
"If only she would allow it." Adja interrupted, as he slowed to a stop before Shasa's dim hut. "Shasa was adamant about not having her present." He continued. "She will only tolerate Shenshen and Arysia."
"But, why?"
"There isn't time for that, now!" Arysia exclaimed, finding her voice. "Yuunen, just take me to her." Wordlessly, the elfin lad obeyed and carried her over the threshold of the abode and into Shasa's bedchamber. There, they found her ailing form breathing raggedly on her sleeping pallet. Each breath she took was clearly an endeavor that cost her much. Sweat beaded upon her brow and cascaded down her visage in streams of agony. Her lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she struggled to fight off the urge to succumb to the inviting darkness of unconsciousness.
Shenshen loomed beside her, attending her dutifully. One could hear her soft voice as she attempted to coax the pain from her charge's body with gentle words and lulling songs. Her efforts, it appeared, were in vain, for Shasa's pains seemed to worsen with each passing moment. Unshed tears filled Shenshen's eyes as she looked up to receive Yuunen and Arysia.
"Thank the High Ones!" she exclaimed, surprising herself at the capacity in which she managed to maintain the structure of her own voice.
At her exclaim Shasa's grass-green eyes flew open, recognizing the newcomers even against the obscurity of her darkened home. "A-...Arysia." she whispered, harshly.
In an instant, Arysia had scrambled down from Yuunen's mountainous form and was at Shasa's side. "Sister," she cooed as she touched her friend's forehead, forcing a mass of stray locks back behind her tapered ear. "What is wrong?"
Shasa smiled. "Nothing at all is wrong..." she managed, before a wave of pain overtook her. She nearly doubled over from its intensity as it exploded inside her, yet refused to allow herself to fall to its ferocity.
"We must send for Leetah." Arysia said, flatly. "Yuunen go get-"
"No!" Shasa interjected. "Yuunen, please take Shenshen and wait outside for a moment."
"Shasa, please you must listen to Arysia." Shenshen pleaded. "We have to get Leetah for your sake and the kitling's."
Shasa smiled a painful, beautiful smile. "Shenshen, please afford me this one moment with my soul's sister."
"Shasa, no, we-"
"After I've spoken to her, then...you may send for your sister." she said, as she was she suddenly claimed by another wave of labor pains. "Please," she gasped. "...there is something that I must say to Arysia, alone."
Wide-eyed, Shenshen could only stare at the sickly form of her patient. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She only knew that everything she knew about midwifery told her that this was wrong. Her place was not outside, not away from the young mother-to-be, not where she could be of no help. Her place was here at Shasa's side, here where she could be of aid and comfort, here where she was asked to remove herself from. She couldn't leave her. She wouldn't leave her. And yet, looking into the pain-filled eyes of the expecting mother, she knew that the choice to remain was not hers.
Rigidly, she turned and started to leave. She stumbled once but soon felt a warm hand lay gently across the small of her back, steadying her. She was immediately grateful for Yuunen's presence for she knew that if not for his unspoken strength, she would not have been able to maintain the resolve to leave the room and its weary occupant to whatever fate would receive her.
"Arysia." Shasa whispered, as soon as the two cleared the room. "I know that I haven't much time, so please just listen. This child that I bear will be a wondrous child, indeed. He will be strong and brave and will be a gift to all who know him. His heart will seek only what is right and will shine as a glorious light for all to see. But, there will come a time when his path will be greater than even he will know its end to. When this time comes, he will need to rely on the guidance his mother imparted to him all his days. He will fall upon the strength that she endowed him with all the many seasons she watched him grow and blossom. From her strengths, he will overcome his weaknesses and be all the more endearing because of it. Yet," she choked. "For him to fulfill this prophecy, his mother must mirror the very same traits that will take root in him."
"But, you are all those things." Arysia cried, as a lonely tear slipped passed the boundary of her eye. "If your concern is that you question your ability to raise the young one in the vision of that that you have seen, then you mustn't fear of it. I know you will be a wonderful mother."
Shasa smiled. The pain that had welled inside her had now become a numbing silence. She was in a space beyond its reach. Gracefully, she drew back the bed-coverings that overlaid her swollen belly where her unborn child stirred beneath. "Come." she whispered, as she gently ushered Arysia's head down against the roundness of her unseen womb. "Listen. Can you hear? My son sings for you. Can you hear his sweet voice, sister?"
"I cannot." she admitted. "I can only feel the beating of his heart and yours.
Once again, something tugged at the corners of Shasa's lips. "It is beautiful. It is strong and steady and will guide him well. It will lead him to do so many things and to make true his dreams. And as he grows when you listen to that soft melody that stirs beneath his breast…you will hear the echo of my own soul's song in his."
"Echo? But, why would I listen through him when I-…" she started, but fell silent as the revelation of her words took meaning.
Suddenly, she leapt up from Shasa's protruding middle and looked fearfully into her visage. The maiden's eyes were closed and her chin rested against the expanse of her chest, as though it were too heavy to be any longer supported by her neck. Trembling violently, Arysia summoned all the strength that remained in her to quench the urge to faint. It would do her beloved friend no good to fall victim to her fear. The look of death was something that Arysia had seen only once before…but then…
Quickly Arysia scrambled over to Shasa's stilled body and grasped her shoulders.
"Shasa?" she called, shaking the listless maiden vigorously. "Shasa?" she called once more, when she received no response. Tears spilled from her eyes as Shasa remained unresponsive. "Oh, High Ones, please don't do this, please!" she cried. "Sister, don't leave us! I'll get Leetah. She'll help you. Just hold on."
Praying for the best, yet fearing the worst, Arysia turned and started to call to the others who remained outside when she felt a pair of cool hands fall upon her shoulders.
She turned to see Shasa's smiling face and soft green eyes while at the same time she felt the maiden pulling her toward her. She saw her friend's eyes flutter shut once more as she gently touched her forehead to hers and in that instant, the world around her became a world shrouded in another.
Take good care of him, dear sister. …I know you will.
