Goodnight, My Love by Daphne Apollo
For every hero, there is a heroine. For every heroine, there is a mother. Alanna's reflects as she gives birth to the greatest shero of them all.
For Lady Polekat, who requested a
fic about Alanna's mother
~*~*~*~
It hurt.
It hurt so much.
Amid her sharp cries and helpless whimpers, she drifted in and out of consciousness, remembering…
~*~
Bang-rattle, bang-rattle.
"Sibyl," said her mother. "Sibyl."
"Yes, Mother."
"Ever since you came back from the convent, you've been so quiet. It's not right for a girl your age."
"Yes, Mother."
"Well, I hope you'll show some spirit once we reach Court."
"Yes, Mother."
Bang-rattle, bang-rattle.
The carriage trundled on.
~*~
"My lady, you have a beautiful baby boy…"
~*~
The banquet hall was illuminated by hundreds of candles. People laughed and chatted all around her while she picked at her meal.
A nervous, gawky squire spilled wine on her dress.
"Oh, I'm sorry!"
He looked as jumpy as she felt, so she smiled and murmured forgiveness.
"Alan!" snapped someone, and Alan hurried away.
~*~
"Sibyl, Sibyl, he's beautiful. Sibyl, talk to me…"
Then, like a sigh, "Alan…"
~*~
Silence.
Then there was a terrific clang, and Alan stumbled from the Chamber, clothes stained and torn, half-hysterical. His knight-master put a cloak round his shoulders and Alan clutched it to him, knuckles white with terror.
"My lord," she heard him mutter.
His knight-master hushed him gently and led him through the Chapel. As he passed through the great doors, Alan glanced back over his shoulder. She smiled at him, a tentative smile, her face still drawn with the worry of the last few hours. Alan grinned back, sudden and did more to relieve her than anything else that day.
~*~
"Just a little more, my lady, I can see the head…"
Soothing murmurs from Alan.
"Ah!"
~*~
"I pledge myself before the Goddess to love you, to protect you…"
She heard little of the ceremony. Looking down at their intertwined hands, she squeezed Alan's and felt their answering pressure, warm and firm.
If there was one moment, she thought, one moment I could keep forever…
~*~
"It's a girl, my lady!"
She reached out to touch the child, but the healer jerked her out of the way, swathing the baby in cloth, before placing it carefully in her arms.
"Oh – oh…"
The baby blinked sleepily up at her and she caught a glimpse of deep purple eyes – Alan's eyes.
"She's so lovely," she whispered to her husband.
"They're both wonderful," he told her, leaning forward so she could see the slumbering boy in his grasp.
"I love you," she said softly.
"I love you, too."
He kissed her cheek.
"They get their beauty from you."
She smiled up at him.
"Quiet, now, she needs her rest," scolded the healer.
"I'm a terrible person," murmured Alan in her ear.
"I love you anyway."
"I know."
He laughed and got up from the bed.
"Goodnight, my love."
"Goodnight."
Sibyl gave her child to the healer and lay back among her pillows.
Rest, she thought contentedly, as she drifted off to sleep.