A/N 01-10-21 - Happy New Year all! Here's the first chapter of the year... and finally the moment we've been expecting. Enjoy!
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The following morning, everyone was given some sort of assignment for the day. Some of the Blades remained on guard duty while others helped in cleaning and rearranging the Great Hall to make room for foods and spirits for the start of their celebration that afternoon. While Guilbert and Reynald helped with mundane chores such as sweeping up or gathering clean snow to fill their water reservoirs, Tala continued to help with meal prepping in the kitchen. She was able to help chop vegetables and spices for a little while, but she did so sitting down most of the time. The pain continued to come and go for her, making it difficult to stay moving for very long. It had even impacted sleep at one point during the night, thus adding to some minor exhaustion that morning. But she decided that if no matter what she did she was going to be uncomfortable, then she might as well finish helping everyone. And as she walked across the Great Hall to take a break by the fireplace, she looked up at the painting hanging above the mantle and smiled. For the first time in a long time, she didn't feel sad looking at his face anymore. And she was hoping that he was watching over her today, just as he promised he would.
Late that afternoon, the tables were cleaned and placed against the walls, with the first tables remaining where they were to hold the spirits and meals. The Blades then gathered into the Great Hall and filled their cups and plates, and watched as Jauffre stood before them all with his own chalice of wine in his hand.
"Today is one of great celebration." He announced. "Forty-seven years ago today, I first met Martin. I had been assigned by Emperor Uriel to hide him and his true identity from the world. I had chosen to place him with an old friend of mine, where I could check on his progress and ensure that he remained safe. As I reflect on the past, I feel a sense of pride as I realize what kind of person Martin became. He was humble, kind, wise, and thoughtful. He was a good friend... and he would have made a good Emperor. His sacrifice may have saved all of Tamriel, but it came at a cost. While he shall be missed, today we celebrate his life and legacy. Here's to a great man." He then looked to Tala- whom sat to the left of the room- and added, "And I hope that his son or daughter will grow up to be just as great as he."
As the Blades raised their cups and saluted to their Grandmaster's statement, Tala smiled warmly and raised her cup of tea along with them.
It was then that Baurus stood up from his seat and cleared his throat. "I remember the first time I really sat down with Martin and learned his life's story." He began. "I remember how easy he was to talk to... although he was pretty laid back with everyone, really. He never once considered himself superior to us, and he never took advantage of our hospitality. He treated us as equals. After spending more time around him, I told him that I felt a kinship towards him that I could not explain... that we were brothers, bound by duty and destiny. He just told me that his heart was lighter thanks to my words. He said, 'You've given me kinship, and that is worth more than a thousand swords.' And honestly I felt the same. I felt privileged to guard him... and I felt honored to fight by his side during the Battle of Bruma and the siege of the Imperial City. As Grandmaster Jauffre said... he was a great man. I'm glad we're celebrating his life and legacy today."
Again, everyone raised their cups to concur with Baurus's statement. And soon, one by one, each Blade stood up to tell their experience in getting to know Martin. With each one, there were laughs and bittersweet smiles, but all where heartwarming to hear.
Several hours with several cups of wine and mead later, and the Blades eventually finished their meals and took to the center of Hall to do a little singing and dancing, either in a foolish dance with each other, or in actual dance between couples. Belisarius and Caroline would simply shuffle back and forth, Roliand and Eyja kept tripping up their turns to lead with nervous laughter, but Reynald and Jena could actually dance perfectly. Seeing them smile and laugh made Tala grin and inwardly gush at how cute they were. And, of course, Guilbert took her hand and led her into the center of the room to offer her a slow dance, just so she could be in on the fun.
"I'm glad everyone agreed to do this." Tala softly said. "It was nice to hear everyone's stories and see smiles. And it's been good to remember him in a pleasant way."
Guilbert nodded. "And it's nice to see you smiling and laughing with everyone, rather than feel sad anytime his name comes up."
Tala's eyes fell to the floor, but her soft smile held. "Well I'm still sad that he's gone, but at least I don't feel so overly emotional about it the way I did before."
When she looked back up at him, Guilbert opened his mouth to say something, but then quickly wrapped his arm around her and moved her a little to the side to avoid accidentally bumping into Ferrum, whom had been messing around with Cyrus and pretending to dance with each other in an attempt to tease Roliand over his bad dancing skills with Eyja. Trouble was, they were too drunk and almost stumbled into Tala.
"Whoops, sorry!" Ferrum slurred as Cyrus started laughing.
Tala simply chuckled. "It's okay. Careful on the liquor, guys. Jauffre doesn't need to find you passed out and too hung over to work tomorrow morning."
"That hasn't happened before, so... uh... why be care-fill now?"
As she rolled her eyes and resumed her simple slow dance with Guilbert, her pain suddenly hit again. And unlike it's usual waves of discomfort, this one completely contracted throughout the lower half of her body, causing her to let out a pained yelp and grip Guilbert's hand a little too tightly for comfort. As she took heavy breaths and held her stomach with her free hand, everyone stopped what they were doing to focus on her.
"Tala, what's wrong?" Guilbert quickly and nervously asked.
"The pain is getting worse." She whimpered.
"What pain?" Jauffre immediately blurted as he arose from his seat.
As she tried to breathe through the pain that was now lasting more than a few seconds, she tightly replied, "I've been doing pre-labor pains... since yesterday. It wasn't anything of concern..." She stopped to take another deep breath. "But it's getting more intense."
"What do you need from me?" Guilbert asked as calmest as he could, despite the obvious panic written on his face.
As the pain subsided, Tala finally took a deep breath in and stood up a little straighter. "I just need to sit."
"Maybe we should grab Isa." Eyja nervously suggested.
"No, it's not time yet." Tala quickly retorted. "It's just preliminary stages. And besides, my water hasn't broken yet. It'll be time when that happ-" Before she could even finish, she suddenly felt warm liquid rush down her legs and watched as half the room quickly recoil when they noticed water forming at her feet. "Oh damn the gods." She sharply whispered to herself.
It was then that the Grandmaster quickly looked to Jena and said, "Go to Bruma. Now!"
As Jena quickly rushed out of Cloud Ruler Temple to fetch the midwife, the rest of the Blades quickly went to their posts in preparation to protect the fortress... and more specifically, their Lady.
She looked up at Guilbert nervously said, "No, no, no. It's not time!"
"It's looking like it is, Tala." He calmly replied.
Instantly she shook her head and began to hyperventilate. "No, no, no. I don't want the baby born today. I didn't want this!"
Guilbert remained quiet as he adjusted how he was holding her and helped her sit in a chair so she could get off her feet. Eyja and Baurus decided to gather around her as she was trying to calm herself down.
"You don't think it would be meaningful for the baby to be born today?" Eyja asked curiously. "I think that would be pretty special."
As she opened her mouth to express her disagreement, she felt a sensation of discomfort that took her mind off her fears and she focused more on the increasing pain. "I didn't r-really want for the baby to share a birth date with Martin. It was a thought back when I was still dealing with t-the nightmares. I didn't want my child born on the same day as its father... or as far as their concerned, the same day as the previous Emperor. I didn't want it to be a painful reminder of the fact that h-he isn't here."
"But the nightmares are gone now, you said it yourself." Baurus replied. "Is that idea still painful to you now?"
Tala tried to contemplate his words for a moment, but now that she was feeling a constant pressure in between the painful waves of contractions, she wasn't able to give him an honest answer. "I don't know what to think right now. I'm just suddenly starting to feel a lot of pain and discomfort and it's unsettling... and I'm scared. I couldn't have just one wish for things to go exactly like I wanted?"
Eyja suddenly got quiet and became passive like she used to when they first met. Clearly the young Nord didn't have anything to say that might be comforting. Baurus also wavered his head from side to side and shuffled nervously as he felt helpless in the moment. So then it became someone else's turn to comfort her.
"Clearly there's some sort of divine reasoning for this." Guilbert said. "Just like there was a reason for why the baby is here. Maybe this won't be so terrible. And besides, we were all having a great time celebrating Martin's life as a joyous occasion. It's almost symbolic that the baby picked today to decide it's ready."
Tala simply stared at him as she took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. "I was just hoping for something different. I was already nervous when Isa said I could go longer and I had a sinking feeling that this might happen when I surpassed the end of Morning Star. I was just hoping I could hold out another day or two before it was time."
He then gently patted the back of her hand for a second before ultimately taking hold of it and giving her a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry if this is making you more distraught, but don't worry about it too much right now. Just focus on doing what you need to do to be comfortable. Here, let me help you get to your room incase you want to lie down." He then helped her to her feet and stood tight to her side as he lead her towards the stairs.
But when they made it to the door, Tala quickly had a thought and turned around. "Baurus! We need to hide the painting before Isa gets here! She doesn't need to see it and think-"
"On it!" He quickly replied and turned towards the fireplace.
Once Guilbert got Tala to her room, Eyja followed shortly behind with Tala's cup of tea that she left downstairs. The two of them remained in the chambers to help Tala when she felt the need to move about, or simply hold her hand when her contractions started getting more intense. An hour went by and the pain continued to increase in frequency and duration in her lower back, causing Tala to cease any desire to move and remain curled up on the bed and whimpering with tears down her face. As she remained there, Guilbert made a point of crawling onto the bed next to her and protectively holding her while she breathed heavily through the pain. And while Tala would periodically feel Eyja's hand rubbing her shoulder for a brief moment or two, she always felt Guilbert's hand gently rubbing her lower back as he held her close to his chest. As much as the pain was getting unbearable, being comforted by him made it feel less excruciating.
The pain made time crawl by, so it almost alarmed everyone when Isa finally entered the chambers with Jena hot on her heels. "I was wondering when it would finally be time." She said as she approached the bed.
"It took its sweet time, I guess." Tala tightly responded through her pain.
"How far apart are the contractions?" Isa asked.
While Eyja shrugged, Guilbert responded. "It seems like it comes in waves around every five to ten minutes."
As if on cue, another contraction hit, causing Tala to grip his hand tighter and let out a suppressed but pained cry. Isa quickly instructed her to breathe through the pain and when the young Breton was able to take a deep breath again, she helped Tala lie on her back and put her hands on her belly to feel the baby. As she palpated, her soft smile slowly turned to a slightly twisted frown.
"What's wrong?" Guilbert quickly asked.
"This baby is just not in any proper position." Isa replied.
"Oh no, you mean it's breached?!" Tala panicked.
"What's that?" Eyja asked.
"It means the feet are first, not the head." Isa replied. "And thank Mara, no. It's facing head first, but it also feels like the baby's head is tucked into its shoulder. So that means it's a little stuck. And I don't think it's positioned properly either. They're supposed to face towards the mother's back, but I think it's facing towards the front. That tends to make the labor pains more intense. Tala, we're going to need you to stand up so we can shift your posture. If you're kneeling or standing we can at least get the shoulder out of the way. After that, we can worry about seeing if I can reposition it to take the edge off the labor pains." As Tala nodded and started working on standing up, Isa turned to Guilbert and added, "I'll have you step out of the room and these young girls can stay here and help me support her."
"Please let me stay with her." He quickly responded as he sat up to help Tala.
"I understand your need to protect her, but you will do better waiting outside." Isa simply commented.
As Tala started getting ready to stand, she froze and started grunting in pain. As she put one hand on her low back, her other hand remained behind her, still intertwined with Guilbert's. He simply held on and argued. "No. I do not want to leave her side. Please reconsider."
Isa held an empathetic stare, but her response was to ask Eyja and Jena to help Tala stand. And while Guilbert tried to come around the bed to help support her, Isa intercepted him. She grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the door. "It is best for the men to stand guard and leave this for the women to attend to. But should I need your assistance, I will ask for you to come in. In the meantime, please stay out."
When Guilbert opened his mouth to protest, she simply closed the door in his face. He was half tempted to storm in there again, but opted against it. He then wandered into the Grandmaster's Quarters and sat in an empty chair while the Grandmaster himself remained leaning against his doorway to keep watch. Though Jauffre really didn't have to stand guard. Between him at the door, Jena in the room, Baurus barring the top of the stairway, and the other Blades standing at every sector of the fortress... if there was any possibility that someone was here to ambush them, they wouldn't get very far.
Now it was just an anxious waiting game.
Hours went by. The sun had set and the night sky blacked the windows, causing people to light more sconces in order to see. And as the snowy winds howled across the mountains, so did Tala. Guilbert eventually moved to the hallway in front of the door with his eyes focused there and his arms tightly crossed against his chest. Anytime her travails echoed throughout the fortress, he shut his eyes and dug his fingertips into his arms. Whenever he heard her cry about she couldn't keep going followed by muffled sounds of encouragement from the women in the room, it only increased his desire to pace up and down the hallway.
However, when he heard Eyja frantically yell, "By Talos, is there supposed to be that much blood?!", Guilbert came flying towards the door with the intent to rush in there.
"Wait!" Jauffre interjected as he rapidly grabbed Guilbert's arm to stop him. "Isa said she'd summon you if she needed you. Otherwise, let them be."
Guilbert clenched his teeth and growled, but he didn't shake the Grandmaster off of him. "I. Don't. Like. This. I don't like waiting out here and not being able to try and help alleviate her pain. I don't like hearing her in there and I'm helplessly standing outside this door!"
As Jauffre opened his mouth to say something, they both heard a muffled voice of concern from Jena and then a reassuring response from Isa; both of them quickly focused on the door and strained to understand what they were saying, but another pained cry from Tala had suddenly drowned out any other voices in the room. Jauffre then let go of Guilbert's arm and let the blond resume his usual stance of rigidly crossing his arms and intensely staring at the closed door.
"If you're having trouble staying focused, most people pray to Mara or Arkay during times like these." Jauffre said.
Guilbert glanced at him from the corner of his eye, but didn't release his grip on himself. "I'm sure everyone downstairs is doing that. But Mara and Arkay aren't the ones I'm asking to keep Tala safe."
Jauffre raised a curious eyebrow at the young Breton. "So Tala told you about the shard?"
Guilbert nodded. "And she told me Martin is watching her and keeping her safe. I just hope she's right. I hope he's looking out for her and the baby. I don't want anything to happen to them."
When Tala's cries of pain turned to actual crying in between and there was more rounds of encouragement from the women in the room with her, Jauffre watched as Guilbert started running his hands through his hair and down his neck as he slowly started pacing around in small anxious circles. After several minutes of doing this, he eventually leaned on the door and began grinding his teeth. In a way, the older Breton was impressed. He could tell that Guilbert genuinely cared for her... for both of them. And it was comforting to know that when this was over, Tala and her child were in more than capable and caring hands.
After what felt like eternity, her screams and cries eventually quieted. Everyone in the hallway quickly went still and held their breaths, straining to listen to what was going on. All they could hear was Eyja's voice asking a question, followed by silence. When no sound came from the room, Guilbert ever so carefully cracked the door open so he could hear what was going on. All he heard was Tala breathing heavily and Eyja telling her to drink a healing potion. But no sounds from the baby. And with every second of silence that lingered, the more it made his heart sink.
Another long agonizing moment of stillness passed before he could have sworn he heard a tiny cough. Then the sounding cries of new life finally rang throughout Cloud Ruler Temple.
As Jauffre and Baurus let out their air in relieved sighs, Guilbert let his out in a breathy laugh. A relieved smile formed on his lips as he suppressed his own urge to cry and pushed himself away from the door to cover his face with his hands and let out yet another relieved sigh. As he wiped his hands away from his face, Guilbert looked out the small window beside him to see if the snow had quieted and he suddenly held his breath again. The sun was just starting to peak above the mountainside. It was the morning of the sixteenth. Tala got her wish after all.
"Thank you, Martin." He softly whispered.
Eventually the door opened as Jena slipped out of the room, ran down the hall, and rapidly descended the stairway, all while repeatedly announcing the news everyone wanted to know.
