-1Chapter Three: Before the Dawn

The night was, as predicted, difficult. Nuada's body seized around the unfamiliar substance-- food-- and long-dormant systems churned in protest. His skin burned anew, and he wretched violently. Whenever he finished emptying his stomach, Nuala obliged to fill it again with more bread and bits of fruit. This cycle repeated itself six times before the prince could keep his lunch long enough to process it. He drank nearly a bucket of rainwater, which kept Red busy with hiking up and down the stairs to collect more.

Just before dawn, Nuada fell silent, and was very, very still. Nuala leaned heavily on the side of the bed, the blood draining from her face and her heart beating slowly. She swayed, then fainted; Abe caught her and lifted her to the bed, where she lay beside her brother, similar in countenance though he looked dead while she looked merely deathly ill.

Their minds met in the void of unconsciousness. Nuada did not hold on to her presence, nor reach for a stronger hold on life. Nuala, however, held on with all her soul.

Brother, I cannot hold you for long. Please do not let go.

A quiet sigh from the other side of the link, and a feeling of listlessness.

Do not die. The world will be lesser for it.

She felt him stir, then fall still again.

I wish to bear children soon. I cannot conceive except by an elven male. There is no one in this world I know, love, and trust more than you.

There was a long, awkward silence between them, and more than ever she hated not knowing his thoughts. Then, a glimmer; the glimmer grew into a steady heartbeat, weak but tenacious. The heartbeat came with a rush of cool air into their lungs, and a dull awareness that, in the physical world, there were nurses and doctors hovering about them frantically.

An uncertain thought brushed her mind, asking for access. Even though his mind was closed to her, she let him into hers. It was a singular experience, having someone read her thoughts when she could not see in return; strange, but not frightening. Then another gentle thought, a thank-you, and he was silent again.

But he held on for her.

"It was a result of the shock," Abraham told Red, having unashamedly read the doctors' minds during the process. "They didn't revive them. They are not sure how it is that they are both stable again."

"Sounds like something your girl did," he deduced, fishing a cigar out of his pocket.

"Are you really going to smoke in a hospital?" he asked, though he knew the answer.

"Sure am."

"You are incorrigible." Abe planted himself in the chair beside the bed just in time to stand again as Nuala awoke.

She blinked back tears, but did not explain them. Instead, she smiled at Abe and sat up slowly, testing her balance so not to fall from the bed. They embraced.

When they separated, Abe stared at her in open shock. "You… asked him?"

She nodded quietly.

There was a long Awkward-Turtle moment. "Why?" But he already knew.

She held his hand gently and allowed their conversation to happen unspoken. The devil you know? I know and trust him more than any other elven lord, and he is my brother. I love him.

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Red waved his 'normal' hand in the air, much like a child but for the cigar wedged between his first two fingers. "Asked him what? Asked him what I think she asked him?"

Abe nodded slowly.

He took a long puff, held the smoke for a moment, then blew it out his nose. "Whoa. Is that even legal? Won't the kids be all deformed or something?"

"No," Nuala explained. "Elves are so scarce, though we are the ruling species. Of the twelve noble houses present at the Beginning of All Things, there are three that remain. Because we are free of genetic deformities in our bloodline for many millions of years, there is no chance of the deformities common when human family mates. It is quite common in elven society for an elven woman to seek a male family member, other than her father, if it is her time to have a child and she is not married. Without such a custom, it would be impossible for our species to survive so long."

Him? Abe repeated, irked by the idea that their worst enemy-- one that tried to kill me, it should be noted-- would be her choice.

"His blood is royal, and there are none who can say he is not… was not beautiful and strong."

"Actually, I could say he wasn't beautiful," Red interrupted, but was ignored.

"You and I will raise our child, keep it far from his madness." I am ready now. It will be decades before I am ready again.

Abe flinched. What she thought was true; if she did not succeed in procreating soon, it would be another eighty years before they could try again. They wasted so much time trying to beget a child themselves, it was only time ticking away on her biological clock. One might say, for an immortal, a biological astrological calendar.

It would be more appropriate, she agreed.

Another long moment. When?

As soon as he is strong enough.

Did he answer you?

He is yet alive, so that is not a 'no.'

Abe squeezed her hand, then released it. "That is that, then." Then he leaned forward slightly and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

She smiled, then turned her eyes down. "I do wish we could--"

"I know," he agreed, smiling sadly with her. "But this is what fate decrees." After a moment, he changed the subject. "The sooner we get him away from here, the better. As soon as he is strong enough, where is best to take him?"

Nuala thought for a long moment, considering. "There is a school of faerie healers in Edinburgh. We could go to Scotland. Elizabeth and the children could join us there; the underground city is extensive, much larger than the Goblin Market here. Anything and anyone he needs, we could find there."

"Then to Edinburgh we will go," Abe agreed. "I will speak to Johann about the best way to travel. As soon as you believe he will survive the trip, we will leave."