"Well, I feel like I'm about to burst at least. So I'd bet money that the tea has worked." Lina said as she got Midas to latch on, and then she relaxed as he suckled. Since hovering near death her supply had dipped dangerously low, especially as they were down to one wet nurse who was itching to leave. Sylphiel had brewed her a tea to increase her supply, but they had been worried that she had dried up too much for her to build it back up again. But it appeared that hope was not lost!
She looked over to Gourry, who was cradling Aurelia as he watched her with a worried expression on his face. She smiled at him reassuringly as she said, "I'm ready for Rails."
"It just seems like so much, to have you nurse both of them after everything that happened." Gourry said as he glanced at Leia, who was sitting on the couch and echoed his nervous state.
"It will be fine." Lina said, "And it's not like we have a whole lot of options! There are three infants and two women who can nurse them."
"I just wish your hair wasn't so white." Leia said as Gourry handed Aurelia over to his wife.
"There are a few streaks of chestnut. It will come back. It always does." Lina said as she got Aurelia latched on and leaned back on the pillows and tried to fight off the sense of feeling boxed in, "So I guess I'll be stuck here for a while."
"I brought some books." Leia said as she held up one up. "The new history of Dils came out. I could read some."
It wasn't as though there was a lot else for any of them to do. The manor had suffered massive damage in the attack and the classroom and several other rooms and hallways were closed for repairs. And with all of the racket the stonemasons and other repair crews were making it wasn't as if anyone could focus on their studies, so they had started the winter break early. Several of the students who lived close by had even gone home, but plenty were still hanging around. So there were no classes to teach or lessons to plan.
"Sure." Lina said as someone knocked on the door.
"I'll get it." Gourry said as he reached the door in a few strides and hoped that it was Han, announcing that he had found a wet nurse or two. Given what had happened to Karina there wasn't a lot of competition for the job, especially as a wet nurse would have to bring her own children to live at Maninstit with her. So Han had packed up for a few days and left with Nerys and Owen as they set off on their own journey to the Elmekian Empire, hoping to find some wet nurses along the way.
Please be Han, Gourry thought to himself as he grabbed the handle and opened the door. But it was Jeeves, looking unaccustomedly solemn as he said, "Sir Gourry, Karina's husband is here to collect their child. He's in the upstairs parlor."
Gourry exhaled as he felt a pit form in his stomach. Lina's near brush with death was still fresh on his memory. He could vividly remember the fear he'd felt at the thought of having to raise the twins without Lina, of having to walk alone through the world again without her, but those were realities that Karina's husband was now facing. Because Karina had died protecting their children. Pain and guilt flooded him as he found his voice. "Thank you. I'll be right there."
Gourry turned to Lina and Leia. Leia fingered the book nervously as Lina gazed at the twins as she bit her lip, "That poor man." Leia stated after a moment.
"I'll be back." Gourry said as he walked up and ran a hand through Lina's hair.
"Damn, I hate that I can't offer my condolences in person." Lina said.
"I'll be sure to tell him." Gourry said as he leaned down to give her a kiss on the lips, and then a second longer one when he thought of all that he nearly lost. Yet as he took a moment to caress each of the twins he battled with the guilt once more. Karina would never receive kisses from her husband again. He had commanded troops a few times as a mercenary and lost people on the battlefield and had carried that with him. But this was worse, and as he left he felt sick to his stomach.
As he approached the parlor he could hear a man yelling, and as he drew closer he could distinguish what he was saying, "…do you know how expensive it is to hire a nanny? How am I going to care for her on my own? I've got to work twelve hours a day and I can't exactly take her with me!"
Gourry walked in and saw a young man yelling at Luna while Zelgadis and Amelia stood beside her as Karina's daughter sat on the couch, her eyes wide and her face frozen. "Henry," Luna said firmly, "Your wife died in the service of the kingdom, and as such you will receive a pension…"
Gourry felt compelled to offer him as much money as he needed. Lina was set for life financially so it wasn't as if they needed it. But Amelia put a hand on his arm, which held him steady as Henry yelled, "What, a mere ten coins a month?"
"Let us discuss this in my office." Luna said.
"Adele!" Henry barked, and the girl's eyes widened and then she jumped up and followed him, trailing behind as he walked with Luna out the door before Gourry had a chance to say anything. Instantly Gourry cursed his frozen tongue, even as he realized he never had a good moment to say anything. Still, he should have forced the moment to come!
Gourry looked at Zel and Amelia and said, "Grief does terrible things to people, doesn't it?"
Amelia shook her head, "Penelope was telling me that the reason Karina accepted the job was because Henry has a bad gambling problem and it was a stepping stone to getting away and starting fresh. Luna and I have been trying to find ways to ensure the money goes to Adele and isn't squandered away by him."
Gourry somehow felt even worse with the knowledge that Adele's responsible parent had died, and with it, the person who would have been the most invested in her wellbeing. "What's going to happen to her?"
Zelgadis patted him on the back, "Come on. Let's get lunch."
They walked down the stairs in a heavy silence and into the dining room. Sylphiel and Rick looked up as they sat down around the table and started loading their plates as they said their hellos. But then Amelia looked at her sandwich morosely as she said, "That poor child! At least when my mother died I had my daddy still. I can barely stand to think of it!"
"It may sound terribly callous of me but I keep thinking that if it had to be either Karina or you then I'm glad it wasn't you." Zelgadis said as he wrapped an arm around Amelia. "Gourry, is it true that Luna offered you and Lina and safe cottage away from all this?"
"What!?" Amelia, Sylphiel and Rick exclaimed.
Gourry squirmed in his seat, but answered, "She offered. Lina still thinks there's some catch."
"Are you going to take it?" Amelia asked.
Gourry shrugged, "It's not really a decision to rush, is it?"
"What's there to rush?" Zelgadis asked, "I've been thinking that Amelia and I would be better off moving to Saillune."
"What!?" Amelia exclaimed.
"Your skull was cracked a few weeks after delivering our daughter, who you were protecting! We're all lucky to be alive. And I know you'd like to be closer to your father and baby brother. Once you and Justina are strong enough to travel, it may be time to head over there."
Amelia looked at him incredulously as she grabbed his hand and brought it to her lips for a kiss, "That's very sweet of you, and it means so much to me that you would want to move closer to my family. And while I would love to be closer to them, I don't think we'd be safer in Saillune."
"How can you even argue that though?" Zelgadis asked.
Amelia smiled wryly, "In Saillune, enemies pretend to be your friend for political gain before they stab you in the back. Sometimes literally. Being in Saillune didn't protect my mother from an assassin. And he'd pretended to be one of our own guards and slipped in right under our nose! Here you know who your enemies are. You have that certainty. And while I love my daddy and want to live closer to him, I can't stand living there, having to wear the mask all the time, being constantly unable to trust anyone. Here I can be myself and I can trust the people. To be honest, I'd rather Justina be raised here than at home. She'll grow to be a better person."
An awkward silence filled the air as Zelgadis looked back at his plate. "I didn't think about it that way."
"Let's take some time to think about it." Amelia said. "It's not as though I can travel for a few more weeks anyway."
"To be honest, I was thinking that Syl and I should move as well." Rick said, "And Saillune was one place I was thinking of. This just seems like a dangerous place to raise a child."
Everyone turned their eyes to look at Sylphiel expectantly as set her sandwich down and wiped her mouth with a napkin before she said, "I'd always thought that Sairaag was the perfect place to raise a family, until one day it wasn't."
Rick went pale as Gourry felt a shiver go through him. Sylphiel waited a moment before she continued, "It's so easy to get complacent at a safe place, and for a safe place to become a dangerous one. And when Copy Rezo first came to Sairaag, I was alone in standing up to him and fighting him. And I hated it. When I found Mr. Zelgadis it was such a relief to have someone confirm that he was an evil man and to have someone on my side. And, as terrible as it was in that classroom when Deep Sea Dolphin attacked, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as those days when I was fighting Copy Rezo alone. Here I was surrounded by powerful people who could help the whole time, and it made all the difference. I honestly feel safer here, surrounded by skilled fighters who share my mission, than I ever did in Lyzeille or Saillune after Sairaag was destroyed."
Sylphiel then took a sip of tea before she returned to her sandwich as Rick ran a hand through his hair and said, "I'd not thought of it that way."
"See? It's not a decision to rush really." Gourry said, "I mean, we're a lightning rod for Mazoku here, but Lina has always been a Mazoku magnet, and we have levels of protection here we've never had anywhere else. So we have to really think about whether or not it's worth giving those up before we make any decisions."
"Well, and I guess considering how much damage Greater Beast, Dolphin and Dynast took, I feel it's safe to say that it will take them some time to recover, so we can plan and rebuild." Zelgadis conceded. "Though I wouldn't want to be in Dils or Lyzeille right now."
"Yeah, Lina's been a lot calmer and less worried about an attack." Gourry said.
"How's Dame Lina?" Sylphiel asked, "Did the tea work?"
"It did! And she's already going stir crazy with nothing to do by sit in bed all day and nurse them." Gourry said. "So if any of you could stop by and distract her it will help."
Amelia smiled more genuinely than Gourry had seen her since her daughter was born, and he wondered if she had started to settle down emotionally as she said chipperly, "I'll stop by right after lunch!"
"Come on Midas," Lina muttered under her breath as she paced back and forth as she nursed him. Aurelia had been contented and Moe had taken her to the nursery, but as soon as she left, Midas had announced he was hungry. All told since getting her supply back up she had been nursing one or both of them continuously for four days, and she was getting sick of it! She desperately wanted him to unlatch so she could put him in his crib and enjoy having her body to herself, if only for five minutes.
As if sensing her desperation, Midas pulled away and rested his cheek against her breast. Lina closed her eyes in relief, even as she did feel a strange pull in two directions. He was so sweet, nuzzled against her, and part of her felt as though she could stare at him all night. It wasn't as though he was going to be this small forever.
But the other part of her was exhausted and desperately wanted a moment to herself. And with another hungry baby to nurse, this reprieve would likely be short lived. Lina took a moment to stroke Midas's cheek, and then she tiptoed over to the crib. Slowly she navigated the perilous job of setting him in it without waking him, and she silently congratulated herself when she completed the job. She turned to go back to her bed, only to tense as she heard Aurelia crying down the hallway.
No, no, no, no, no!
The door flew open with a bang and Naga walked in, holding Aurelia, who was purple with anger as she grabbed Naga's top and rooted for a nipple. "Oh ho ho! Sorry little one. These are just for show!"
Lina cringed as Midas started to cry. "Now look what you've done! I just put him down! I was nursing him for two hours!"
"Well it's not like you would have gotten any rest anyway. This little one is hungry!" Naga said as she held Aurelia in front of her.
"Bitch." Lina said, but between all of the babies crying she was fairly sure Naga couldn't hear her. Her skin itched, but she walked over and took Aurelia from Naga and tried not to feel as though she had been reduced to a pair of boobs as she got her to latch on. Fortunately Naga made herself useful and grabbed Midas, who stopped crying. Lina still felt resentment boiled through her veins as Aurelia chomped down hard. Lina winced, and then glared at Naga as she said, "Did Moe make you his assistant or something? Since when do you spend so much time in a nursery?"
Naga's eyes widened a bit and she flushed a little, but Lina was too irritated to think much about it as she replied, "Didn't you invite me here to keep them safe?"
The reminder that Lina was very lucky to have this problem rose within her, displacing a lot of her resentment as she stared at Aurelia and thought about how close she had come to losing them. It didn't help to abate her misery, but it did remind her that there was something worse than nursing two babies around the clock. "About that. Gourry and I were talking. Would you like to be their godmother?"
The way Naga smiled almost made Lina regret it. But then, if it hadn't had been for Naga and Moe, Riksfalto and Greater Beast likely would have kidnapped their babies. And if a lifetime of Naga never letting her forget it was what she was in for, then it was worth it to still have them.
"Well it's about time that you asked!" Naga replied.
Lina smiled, and for a moment, everything felt right. Until Aurelia grabbed a fistful of her browning hair and pulled hard, jerking Lina back into her misery once more.
Amelia sat beside Sylphiel as they considered the final applicant that Han had been able to round up, and they both hoped she would work out. Hiring and retaining good help was always a royal headache, but throw in the very real danger that came with living in Maninstit, it was now a lot harder. Han had only been able to find four women for three positions, and one had been diseased and disqualified. Of course, two wet nurses was better than one who was itching to go and had only stayed reluctantly these past two weeks. But the last time Amelia had seen Lina, it was obvious that she desperately needed the break that would come with having a full staff.
"Marlena?" Sylphiel said as the woman with auburn hair nodded as she nursed an infant. They would have preferred someone who had a child who was closer to weaning age. And Marlena did have a five-year-old with her as well. For those reasons she wouldn't have been their first choice. But right now she was their only choice.
A strange sense of familiarity rose as Amelia observed Marlena. On the one hand she was sure they hadn't met. But she strongly resembled someone, though for the life of her Amelia couldn't figure out who. "Did you nurse both of your children?" Sylphiel asked.
"Yes," Marlena said, "Successfully."
"I'll get straight to the matter. And I won't lie." Amelia cut in, "This is a dangerous position. What are your reasons for wanting it?"
"My husband lives in the town nearby and it will keep me close to him." Marlena explained, "And the money is good. Plus I have some experience on the battlefield. It's not as though I am defenseless."
That piqued Amelia's interest. "What kind of experience?"
"I can handle Black Magic. Blast Ash is the strongest spell I can manage." Marlena explained.
Amelia exchanged a look with Sylphiel, who nodded. Of course, hiring Marlena would mean having a fourth infant who needed to be fed, but it would at least give them time to find a new one if need be. "Wonderful. We need all of the fighters we can get." Amelia said.
"I'm going to screen you for diseases, and so long as you're clean, you're hired." Sylphiel added as she stood up.
Lina stared out the window as she nursed both babies and felt the wanderlust rush through her, more powerful than she'd felt in years. She twitched as she tried to reclaim some space from the babies, but they continued to press against her as they drank greedily. Her bones started to itch (she didn't even know bones could itch!) as she thought of the freedom she used to enjoy, of days spent caring for no one but herself and when her body belonged to her alone.
Midas put his fist on her chest and pressed, and Lina jerked away but found no relief as the itching sensation in her bones grew worse! It felt intolerable to sit there and continue nursing, but there also seemed to be no escaping it! Her spacious room felt so small and confining. She felt starved for space like one staved for air!
The door opened, and Gourry walked in, his blue eyes brimming so merrily that Lina wanted to smack that dopey grin off his face. But then he said, "Good news! Your father returned with some wet nurses! I'll take them down to the nursery for you."
He leaned down to kiss her on the forehead, but Lina managed to bring a hand up and push him away as she screamed, "Don't touch me!"
A look of hurt crossed his face as she unlatched Midas and handed him over as tears spilled from her eyes as she said, "And it's about time! What took him so long anyway!? Two weeks I've been doing this! I feel like my skeleton is going to burst through my skin and run away!"
Gourry took Midas, and Lina quickly handed him Aurelia and then she wrapped her arms around herself as though she was trying to keep her skeleton inside as she kept crying, "I feel like I'm losing my mind, Gourry! I'm losing it!"
"Hey, it's been a hard two weeks." Gourry said, "But back up is here now. Go take care of yourself for as long as you need, we'll take care of these two."
And for once, the sense that Lina needed to be with one of them was gone. After the beating the Mazoku race received she was fairly sure they wouldn't try to attack again any time soon. The prospect of a long stretch of time without either infant, the first she'd have since they were born, stretched appealingly before her as she managed to muster up a smile. "Thank you. I'll treat you to dinner. Later."
"Get some rest, my love." He said.
"Right." Lina said as she stood up and continued to keep her arms wrapped tightly around her as the itching feeling stubbornly persisted. Perhaps a bath would help? She took a moment to glance back at Gourry as he headed towards the door while cradling both of their babies and felt the sweet taste of freedom grow on her tongue. "Hey. Despite all the craziness, I still love you. All of you."
And then she ran to the bathroom before there could be a change of plan.
AN: Sylphiel is a much stronger character in the novels, and I hate how the fact that she had gone against her whole city to oppose Copy Rezo and saw through him got completely taken out of the anime where she just got caught in the ride to be with Gourry. At the same time, the friendship that develops between Lina and Sylphiel in the anime doesn't ever really materialize in the novels, so compromises. I also sort of ship Sylphiel and Zel in the novels, not sure how much that bled through, lol.
And ya'll! Did you see the official art from the 17th novel that was posted in all it's Gourrina glory last week!? Ya'll! It makes me so happy that new cannon Lina/Gourry scenes are being brought into the world!