Title: A Woman Among Men
Author: sabor ice
Summary: Where did Vanora come from? How do she and the knights meet? How did she meet Bors and fall in love with him? This is their untold tale.
Disclaimer: I don't anything, etc, except for any orginal characters and this story.
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To All the Reviewers: Thank you; your feedback is much appreciated.
Fifteen
Dagonet caught Vanora before she fell backward, in shock of her water breaking. The others made way for him to carry her back inside her hut. He lay her down on the bed; she cried out as her first contractions began. The knights were all at the door, watching in amazement. They were in as much shock as Vanora had been. The nursemaid made her way through the door.
"Wait outside, all of you!" she told them.
She placed a hand on Dagonet, who still stood by Vanora's bedside.
"She'll be all right, Dagonet. I'll take care of her," the raven-haired woman called Mary said. "There's nothing more you can do; just wait outside, please."
Dagonet looked from Vanora to the woman and nodded. He reluctantly joined the others outside as the nursemaid shut the door and returned to assisting Vanora in her pregnancy.
Outside, Dagonet and the others were anxiously awaiting any news on Vanora. They fidgeted and paced back and forth. It was as if they, themselves, were each a father awaiting the birth of their own children.
"She'll be all right, won't she?" Galahad asked.
"I don't know, I've never had a baby before!" Lancelot replied.
"You having a baby, Lancelot? I'd pay to see that," Tristan mused quietly.
"A fine time to be making jokes, Tristan!" Lancelot cried.
"That's enough from all of you," Arthur chimed in. "Vanora'll will make it; she's strong."
"Well, so was Bors, and I don't see him standing here with us now," Dagonet whispered.
A brief silence fell between the men. Dagonet hadn't been the only one who had thought about Bors in the midst of all this. It was his child Vanora was carrying, and he wasn't even here to greet his son or daughter as he or she came into the world.
Some time later, Vanora was finally fully dialated and began pushing.
"Come on, Vanora, push!" the nursemaid said.
"No, I can't!" Vanora cried. "I can't, not without Bors!"
"You have to deliver now!" the nursemaid replied.
Vanora bellowed out a long, angry cry as she pushed again and again.
"Here it comes! Here it comes, Vanora! Push!"
She pushed one last time and her body released the baby into the nursemaid's hands.
"It's a boy!"
Vanora smiled exhaustingly as she felt more contractions. She placed a hand over her belly and felt more movement within her. Realizing that Vanora did carry one, but two babies, the nursemaid called in another woman to tend to the first child as she again helped Vanora.
The knights listened as the cry of one baby was heard. Somehow they felt relieved, but again they were worried when Vanora began to scream again. Two or so minutes later, a second cry was heard. The knights gathered around the door as the raven-haired nursemaid exiting the hut and shut the door behind her.
"Well? How are they?" Dagonet quickly asked.
"The twins are fine," she replied with a faint smile.
For the first time in his life, Lancelot was choked up.
"Twins," he repeated. "And, Vanora? How is she?"
The nursemaid frowned slightly and blew out a sigh.
"She is very weak right now. The bleeding has stopped, but it seems like she hasn't the will to live," the woman answered. "It's like she's giving up hope."
"Can we see her?" Gawain wondered.
The woman nodded and allowed the knights to enter. They quietly crossed the room and stood around the bed. Vanora looked so peaceful, they didn't wish to wake her quite yet.
"The babies?" Dagonet asked the two other women.
The raven-haired woman carried the two children over to the knight, placing one in each of his strong arms.
"A boy and a girl," she noted to him. "She hasn't named them yet."
The others watched with wide eyes as Dagonet knelt beside Vanora, the babies nestled against his chest.
"Vanora," he whispered.
Her eyes fluttered open as her gaze was upon he and the twins. Her face was pale and her eyes zestless. Even in her weakened state, though, she looked like a radiant beauty.
"Look at your babies," Dagonet said.
She reached out her arms; he lay the sleeping infants beside her. Vanora kissed both on the head and rested her head back on her pillow.
"Augustus and Jana," she spoke softly. "Twice blessed and twice cursed."
Dagonet lowered his gaze for a moment and raised it again to meet her light brown orbs. He took her hand in his, kissed it, and caressed it softly against his rugged face. Her finger traced the scar that extended from his eye to his mid-cheek.
"You'll be all right, Vanora," he promised.
Before he could say anything else, she asked, "When will you burn a pyre for Bors?"
"When you are better," he answered.
"Tomarrow," she said.
"But, Vanora--"
"Tomarrow, Dagonet. Our children will see what their father sacrificed for his family."
End, 'Fifteen,'
Please R&R! Thanks!
(Sorry this is a short chapter. The next one is the final chapter.)