The oldest child from a poor family of farmers who worked the land for one of the great Houses, she grew up in the fields, working alongside her parents and her numerous brothers and sisters. The family barely managed to scrape by and Ela spent her time working the farm and watching the younger children. There was no time for schooling or anything but work.
The woman groaned as she pushed again. "This child ain't never gonna be born, is it?" she asked the midwife. Kirri Chabere looked up at the woman who was helping deliver her first child and said "It's too big. This babe will kill me, won't it?"
"No," snapped the midwife, "but this might remind you the next time you think that you can catch a man by having his child. Now hush. Save your breath for the next push. Two or three more ought to do."
Kirri Chabere nodded and gathered in a breath. "Light, I hope this is over soon," she muttered as she felt another pain begin. "I ain't never goin' back to the Keep in Fal Dara to work. And no more chasin' around them men what come there ta fight the trollocs, no matter how pretty they act or talk. Nor what nice clothes they got to wear." Her voice trailed off at a glare and a "Hush!" from the midwife. She continued the thoughts in her mind, "But he was right pretty and all with that coat with the gold embroidery on it. And he spoke fine and treated me good. Then he went to the Blight that day and never…" she cried out as the pain overwhelmed her and she gave a last hard push.
"A girl!" the midwife said. Just before Kirri slipped off into a faint, she managed to respond "Not a girl, that won't be no help to me in finding a husband!"
***
"Ela, git in here and mind the little 'uns," Kirri shouted out the door at her oldest daughter, holding her bulging stomach. Elanora rolled her eyes as she finished chasing the chickens out of the garden again and latched the gate as the last hen scurried out , squawking from the well-aimed foot with which Elanora booted it. "Yes, ma, I'll see to 'em" Elanora shouted back.
She scooped the third youngest out of a muddy patch close to the well as she walked across the yard. "Yer a mess, Nonnie. We'll get ya cleaned up here in a minute." She smiled down at the four-year-old as she entered the house. The baby and the toddler younger than Nonnie were on a blanket on the floor of the main room, each moving in opposite directions. She helped the older one stand, making him grab on to her pants leg to steady himself and picked up the baby. She sighed. He was wet – again. She might as well just do them all at once, she decided as she headed for the washtub to fill it for their baths.
The door swung open and Elanora's stepfather appeared. "Girl, what ya doing in here?" he growled. "I told ya at breakfast that ya needed to weed the garden. Now if ya can't follow simple directions, yer gonna find another place to live."
"But Da… " Elanora began, trying to explain that she'd been in the garden when her mother called her back to the house.
"I ain't yer da," he shot a quick look at Kirri before turning back to Elanora. "And my boys get more done than ya do even if they're younger nor you! After all, Bili is only ten with Daneel near seven and you're rising fourteen soon. Ya gotta do more ta pull yer weight round here, girl." He turned once more toward Kirri then looked back at Elanora. "If'n I didn't think ya'd turn out like yer ma, I'd send ya ta work at the Keep in Fal Moran. But ya'd prolly just end up back here with another mouth ta feed. And I ain't havin' none of that. Do ya hear me, girl?" he barked.
Elanora nodded as she watched the glare that flew between her mother and the man her mother had married. "Ya won't never catch me havin' ta marry no one," she assured herself silently. "I ain't never gonna get caught in that trap fer no man or no babe."
