A/N: Alright… Here is the deal, my lovelies! Next comes some graphic content (not too much, not too big of a fan of yucky stuff myself, but realistic) and I decided that instead of putting markers showing the beginning and the end of the intense piece as people usually do (I hate to mark my text, I am too much of a neatfreak ;D) I will just chop it. So all the questionable stuff will go into the next one, and you can skip it if you want, and then go straight to Chapter 27 where mushy and fluffy stuff resides :) It will mess up the word count but who cares :D
In the middle of the second day the storm comes. The wind picks up in a matter of seconds, and soon it is tearing at the roof of your waggon. You are dozing, when the waggon stops with a jerk, and the King looks in. "Zundush, a tempest seems to be approaching. We have seen some lightning at the North, it is advancing fast." He sounds worried.
You look outside. The black clouds are covering the sky, and you can hear low rumbles of thunder somewhere at the horizon. You feel tingle of the sparks that thunderstorm brings to the air, and you can smell the rain. You are still too far from Mirkwood, on the open lands, and there are no caves to find shelter.
The storms in these lands tend to be short but violent. The King sends a few guards to scout for some asylum, and in a half an hour they come back with news of an abandoned farm near by. By then you already have to climb out of your waggon, the wind so sharp that you are not certain it will not topple your transport. The King wraps his cloak around you, encircles you in his arms, and somehow you reach the two desolate buildings.
It is a small house, empty and cold, and a large barn. You find a bed inside the house, and the guard settle in the barn. Two of them stand outside the door, while the rest carry your furs and covers inside. One of them starts the fire in the stove, soot and dirt filling the house. You open the windows, and soon the wood burns merrily and the air in the house clears and warms up.
You dash around the small house, strange restlessness overcoming you, you move scarce furniture and arrange the bedding. The King returns after assigning the succession of patrol and brings more wood found at the back of the house. He closes the door behind him and look at you in amusement. You are trying to line up the pillows on your temporary bed.
He chuckles. "You are aware we are leaving this place tomorrow morning, my Queen? No need to beautify it." You make another frantic round touching everything in the house. "I just cannot seem to stop..." And then you freeze in the middle of the room.
"What is it?" He sounds worried. You can guess that your face is horrified. "I am nesting…" "Pardon?" You look into his baffled eyes and start shaking. "I am nesting. Women start doing it. Cleaning up and organizing. Before parturition." He pales. "There are still two months..."
At that moment a contraction convulses your body, and you fall ahead, pressing your hands into the wall. He rushes to you and supports your weight. You clench your teeth. That is too much pain even if it is labour. It should not start so violently.
"Kurdu?" His voice is panicked. You breathe through the pain, and it steps away. "I do not know what is happening..." "You are midwife! Who should know if not you?" You give him an angry stare. "It is not supposed to be happening! It can, but should not… There were no signs..." The second contraction runs through your body, and you groan… They are too close…
You are moaning, all your weight hanging in his arms. You press your forehead into his chest, taking deep breaths. It still does not mean anything, it could be false labour, you have observed hundreds of them.
At that moment you feel hot liquid running down your leg. You snarl long and intricate swearing in Khuzdul through your teeth. Your waters broke.