12. Visions Part 2
Vision- 3rd Piece
Shimon had trouble sleeping that night. The sound of the smaller kingdom was very different from where he had come from. Even in the Royal wing, he could hear loud arguments from the other side of the palace.
The palace was also small enough to sense the power balance here. Shimon could sense many powerful people sleeping in the palace and the small city surrounding the palace walls. A dark presence was really unsettling Shimon though and wasn't helping his trouble sleeping.
Sighed, Shimon climbed out of bed and left his room so that he could speak to Yami. He knew it was late, but the darkness he could sense was really unsettling to him. Could Yami sense it? Even he couldn't sense it earlier in the day when he had arrived.
Shimon knocked on the door to Yami's chambers which was two rooms down the hall. He looked up a moment later when the door opened to reveal a very sleepy Yami rubbing his eye tiredly. "I'm sorry to wake you up," Shimon said, noticing that Yami slept in a short nightgown that still slightly shown his baby bump.
"It's alright," Yami yawned. "What's wrong?"
"I can't sleep. I sense something dark here," Shimon admitted, tilting his head slightly when he noticed the darkness starting to fade.
"Oh… I'm sorry. I can't control it when I sleep," Yami responded with a dark blush. "Did you want to come in?"
"The darkness is coming from you?" Shimon asked with a raised eyebrow. "And no thanks."
"It's a side effect of the underworld. I don't know how long it'll last," Yami explained.
"A side effect?" Shimon enquired with a frown, not knowing what that meant. Atemu hadn't mentioned any side effects from being in the underworld since they had returned.
Yami nodded slightly. "When I'm asleep, they come back to torment me. They don't like when people escape so make sure they feel like they never escaped at all," Yami informed the elderly man. "Atemu may not experience the same since it's been noted the demons cannot influence someone who has loving support around them."
"Oh…" Shimon really didn't know what to say.
"I can take you to the healer if you want something to help you sleep," Yami suggested with another yawn.
"No thank you," Shimon responded with a slight smile. "Goodnight, Yami."
"Goodnight, Shimon," Yami responded, shutting the door before he returned to his own bed.
Shimon smiled slightly and returned to his own bed. Maybe he could sleep a bit better now that he knew the darkness wasn't going to harm him. Sure, he felt bad about Yami having to fight those demons at night, but at least he didn't have to worry about the darkness coming after him.
End 3rd Vision / Start 4th Piece
Months passed and there were still no signs of the pregnancy ending early. Shimon still had trouble sleeping at night with the darkness that invaded the palace at night. But nothing bad had happened. Shimon regularly sent letters back to Atemu to report on the progress of the pregnancy and occasionally received a letter back.
Yami is now 31 weeks pregnant and is quite large. He still refused to go anywhere because he had a kingdom to run. The meetings weren't as long as they used to be and he didn't help the village as much as he did earlier in the pregnancy, but he still gave a lot of his time to his people. Despite Shimon recommending that he pull back a little since he was worried the young King was overexerting himself.
"Are you alright, Yami?" Shimon asked with a frown when he noticed the King clutch his stomach and suppress a wince. "Is the baby alright?"
"She's fine. I'm fine," Yami responded, trying to focus on the meeting in front of him. The meeting was about a potential war that was brewing with another neighbouring kingdom. The negotiations here may be the key to stopping the war.
"Are you sure? You look like crap," Shimon returned, frown deepening. "What's wrong?"
"It's fine. Just an upset stomach," Yami whispered to him, the representative from the other kingdom stopping with a frown. "I'm sorry, Sir. Please continue."
"Can I? Or are you going to keep talking?" the representative asked sharply.
"Give us a moment," Shimon responded, drawing all attention onto him. "Do you need a break? Perhaps see a healer?"
"I'll be fine. There's nothing that the healer can do anyway. I went earlier this morning. She said to come back to her after the meeting is over," Yami replied.
"What's wrong?" the representative asked with a confused frown.
"I'm pregnant," Yami started. "And have been having pains in my stomach for a few hours."
"Why didn't you say anything? This meeting can wait!" Shimon cut in, seeing the representative nod.
"There's no need for that. The healer gave me some herbs that may stop the contractions. If it doesn't, there's nothing she can do. Besides, since this is my first child, labour can take hours to days. There's no rush," Yami answered. "And I would prefer get this all sorted before birth. You never know what'll happen to me during birth."
"He has a point. As bad as it is, birth can kill the mother quickly. Is there someone on standby to rule encase something does happen?" the representative asked.
"Amanda will take over if something happens to me," Yami answered. "Now, let's get back to business. We don't know how much time we have, so we can't waste time on menial conversation."
The group reluctantly went back to the discussion at hand, stopping every now and then to ask the King if he was alright, needed a break, or needed to see the healer. It was annoying Yami to no end but felt like they actually cared about his wellness.
He too was worried about the baby, but there nothing that could be done. The healer couldn't do anything either. That's the problem with living in this time. Early birth was common and so was the death of the child or the mother. Or both.
End 4th Vision / Start 5th Piece
Four days. Yami had been in labour for four days and he still hadn't given birth. He was happy to finish the meetings to keep his people safe from war. They had come to an agreement that involved an exchange of services. But all he wanted now was to give birth and end the pain that had been getting extremely intense over the past few days.
"Are you alright?" Shimon asked as he found Yami climbing out of bed so he could pace with his hands pressed into his back. The two had set up Yami's chambers with items nearby that the healer may need to help with the deliver.
"Stupid question," Yami hissed. "Where did the healer go?"
"She has other patients," Shimon responded with a smile from his seat on a leather chaise that was under the window.
"I want this to be over already," Yami whined, leaning against his bed frame.
"I know. But it takes time," Shimon chuckled.
"Four days is long enough," Yami growled, clutching his stomach as yet another very powerful contraction hit him.
"Time to get back into bed," Shimon said as he rushed over to help the King, the King's legs almost buckling from pain.
"I don't want to be in bed," Yami protested.
"It's either the bed or the floor," Shimon pointed out, seeing Yami pout as he was helped into bed.
"Is everything alright in here?" the healer asked as she re-entered the room with a smile.
"No. Get her out!" Yami snapped, clutching Shimon's hand tightly.
"Let's see how you're doing," the healer muttered, washing her hands before she positioned herself between Yami's legs so that she could check how the King was doing. "You're ready now, Yami."
"Really?" Yami asked hopefully, sighing in relief when the healer nodded.
"Alright, with the next contraction, I want you to push," the healer instructed, having already explained the process of pushing earlier in the day.
"About fucking time," Yami groaned, pushing with the next contraction that hit him a few seconds later. Shimon hissed as Yami squeezed his hand tightly while he pushed. "You knew it was coming," Yami hissed to him when the healer told him to stop pushing. "It's the only reason why you're in this room."
"I know. You just focus on pushing the little one out," Shimon responded with a slight smile, patting Yami's hand gently.
Yami rolled his eyes and pushed again with the next contraction.
He was pushing for a good 50 minutes before a loud cry finally erupted in the room. "Thank fuck," Yami groaned as he collapsed back against the bed, covered in sweat. "Is she alright?"
"Is she a boy or girl?" Shimon asked.
"A little girl. And she seems alright at the moment. I'll fully check her over later," the healer responded, clamping and cutting the umbilical cord before she wiped the child's mouth and nose.
"I want to hold her," Yami said, holding out his arms. A bright smile formed on his face when the little girl was handed to him.
"What are you going to name her?" Shimon asked as he released Yami's hand, the young King stroking his newborn daughter's cheek.
"Yugina," Yami answered softly. "I did want Heba. But Atemu vetoed that since he wants to name his son that."
"But Heba's a girl's name," Shimon protested.
"I know," Yami chuckled. "He doesn't mean the name version though. He means the term for 'Game'."
"Oh…" Shimon muttered, frowning when Yami winced again and clutched his stomach. "Are you alright?"
"It's probably just the afterbirth," the healer said as she moved herself between Yami's legs again.
"After what?" Shimon asked.
"Afterbirth," Yami repeated with a hiss, grasping Shimon's hand tightly again as the strong pains returned. "The part that feeds the baby while they're still in the womb."
"Not so hard!" Shimon protested. "Is it meant to hurt this much?"
"I don't think it's the afterbirth," the healer admitted.
"W-What?" Yami asked with a worried frown.
"I think there's another baby. I can feel his head," the healer answered.
"Oh god," Yami groaned. "What will I do with two kids?"
"It's not the time to be thinking about that. You have to start pushing again," the healer instructed.
"I can't," Yami protested.
"You can and you have to," Shimon said, squeezing Yami's hand slightly. He couldn't help but flinch when Yami squeezed his hand extremely tightly and pushed with the next painful contraction, the boy trying not to harm the child in his other arm.
"It hurts," Yami whimpered as he stopped pushing.
"He's bigger than the girl," the healer muttered, grabbing a knife from her kit.
"What are you going to do with that?" Shimon squeaked.
"There's two options here. The child's head tears the King, or I make a cut to help the child's head be born," the healer responded.
"C-Cut?" Yami asked. "H-Hurry."
The healer nodded and went back to doing the task at hand. She nibbled her lip slightly as Yami suppressed a whimper. "Alright. Start pushing again."
Yami nodded tiredly and did as he was instructed.
"Yami?" Shimon asked with a frown when he felt the boy's hand go limp, quickly scooping the child from his arms when he found his grip loosening. "What just happened?!"
"It got too much for him. Put the girl down and come take the boy. You'll have to tend to the child while I tend to the king," the healer said sternly, clamping the cord on the limp child between the King's legs.
Shimon nodded and placed Yugina in a crib beside the bed, walking over to take the child from the healer. He wrapped a blanket around the child and used the corner to clean the child's mouth and nose. "Come on, Little Heba," Shimon muttered, rubbing the child's chest.
A loud cry escaped the child a few moments later, making a sigh of relief escape both the advisor and the healer. "His skin should start to darken in a few weeks," the healer said.
"What?" Shimon asked, looking at the woman while he gently rocked the Prince.
"All babies are born pale. I believe his skin will darken. How much? I don't know. It'll be somewhere between the King's and Pharaoh Atemu's skin tone," the healer said as she started to stitch the cut she had made. "I have a funny feeling that his daughter's skin will remain pale."
Shimon frowned and looked down at the child, looking up at Yami a moment later. 'Forgive me, Yami,' Shimon thought before he started walking for the door with the child in his arms.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" the healer shouted after him, but she couldn't chase him because Yami needed her.
"Home. Tell the King that the child died," Shimon ordered before he left the room. He could hear the healer cursing up a storm as she tried to decide what was more urgent. Save the King? Or save the child from being kidnapped? In the end, she was obligated to save the King's life.
'What am I doing? This is wrong,' Shimon thought with a frown, looking down at the child. 'But this may be the only way for Atemu to secure the throne for once and for all. Especially considering Teana's trouble. No, this is for the best. Besides, Yami is too young to raise a child. Let alone two children on his own.'
End 5th Vision