Chapter 1
Screams. In the small plain tent with nothing but a makeshift bed and a bucket of water, a woman's cry of pain almost beyond mortal comprehension shot out into the night. Outside the tent those screams cut deep into the heart of a man pacing anxiously. Although he was the most feared man in the continent, at this moment he felt completely powerless. Such is the nature of childbirth, a mysterious most sacred event no man is allowed to witness.
A plainly dressed young woman steps out of the tent, who the man recognises as a nurse. He stops his pacing and grabs her shoulders, almost shaking the nurse. "Is she going to be alright?" he asks hoarsely. The startled lady begins to reply, but is cut short when the screams crescendoed, followed by the loud cries of a young baby.
Unable to wait any longer, the man lets go of the nurse and heads towards the tent. Upon entering, an all too familiar scene greets him. Blood covered bodies, faces twisted in pain and agony. Only this time, it was his wife in pain, and his child covered in blood. Only one other woman was present in the room, the elderly confinement lady whose skill alone laid the lives of his child and wife. The beating of his heart thunders as he awaits for some sign from the confinment lady that everything was alright. After a while the confinement lady, holding his child, turns slowly to face him. her sad expression said it all, and the man felt his heart plummeting to the ground. "Shes lost too much blood. She doesn't have much time." And with that, the old woman stepped away from the dying mother to make way for the most powerless and helpless man in the world.
He somehow finds the strength to walk across the tent to his wife's side, and clasp both of his hands around hers. The dying woman turns slowly to face him. "is that you...?" Her voice is barely a whisper. "Yes," the man whispers back, fighting back tears that would surely drown and choke him, "its me". "Take care of him for me... promise me you'll raise him up on the values we've both fought so hard for." The man, now unable to speak, simply nods his head. The lady on the bed turns slowly to the direction of her new born baby and smiles. "Call him...Clyde." And with that, her last ounce of breath leaves her and her body becomes motionless. The screams and cries of father and son echo into the dark night.