Rifiuto: Non Miriena
A/N: Written: 2019 - Licia
"I'm going to pop soon, I swear it."
Hans watched his wife from where he stood leaning against the side of the hut; normally, they would go to the lake, but with Elsa's due date inching closer and closer, Elsa was told that if she did not stay down and rest, it would be her head on a platter. The Snow Queen had grumbled, but done as the healer instructed; Bruni kept her company, often curling up on her round belly and napping, or settling into her hair. Elsa was also instructed not to use her magic, for no one knew how it would affect the baby, and no one wanted to take any chances, especially when she was so close to birth.
It was discovered a week earlier that she had lost her mucus plug and her cervix was thin and open- not uncommon for a woman in the last stages of pregnancy. The healer had told her that birth could happen anytime now, and that she needn't worry if it did, that the baby was perfectly fine. Now though, she sat among the blankets of the bed, stroking the distended skin of her belly absentmindedly. The famed Snow Queen of Arendelle was now nearly unrecognizable to him; no longer flat planes and sharp tips as she had been when he'd first seen her at her coronation, nor when he'd first arrived at the camp, she was now all soft curves and gentle roundness. Her belly was certainly bigger than it should be for thirty-six weeks, or so he thought, and Vanja had told them last week her worries that Elsa was much closer to birth than first thought, but no one said a thing to Elsa, for she refused to listen, and especially at this point, it was best not piss off the pregnant woman.
Her long white hair had gotten even longer and thicker, and hung down her back in two thick twins braids that Hans had done that morning for her. Her face had gone from that famous heart-shape to circular, and her bust was certainly bigger, to match her belly. Stretchmarks danced across her belly and down her thighs, looking like vines and wrapping lightly around her hips. Her belly had definitely dropped, and she looked exhausted.
She groaned softly, looking up at his soft chuckle. "What is so funny?" He shook his head with another soft chuckle, moving to join her amongst the blankets of their bed. "Oh, so you just enjoy laughing at your very pregnant wife, is that it?" A soft sigh escaped him and he reached up, gently brushing her bangs our of her eyes.
"For your information, I think you look beautiful." He kissed her, his hand sliding down to caress her belly. She wrinkled her nose.
"You're only saying that because you're my husband, and you are the one that put me in this position in the first place." She groused, shoving him lightly. He snorted softly, resting his forehead to hers.
"I'm saying it because it's true, Elsa Dahl. You have never looked more beautiful to me than you do now, exceedingly round with our child." He lifted her chin. "Pregnancy looks beautiful on you, my wife, and I'm honored to be the father of the little one growing inside you." He pecked her gently. "Beside, it's takes two to create a child, and while I may not remember when, I do remember quite clearly you're being there when this little one was conceived."
She muttered something that sounded suspiciously along the lines of 'men and their appetites' but didn't dispute him on the conception comment, and he chuckled. She reached down, laying a hand over his, her eyes closing as he gently nuzzled her neck. Several minutes passed as she enjoyed his kisses, until her grip on his hand tightened and she winced. Hans pulled away, gaze going to her belly as she let out a gasp. She dug her nails once more into his hand, and he glanced at her face before turning his gaze back to where their hands rested. Her teeth came out to worry her lip, struggling to keep the cry down, but the it didn't work, and Hans started as he felt her belly harden. His green eyes returned to his wife's face, and she opened her own, meeting his with a choked sob. "Hans..." She swallowed. "Ch... Christian..."
Her belly tightened again, and she bit her lip. Without a word, he removed his hand from her belly and took her face in his hands. "Charlotte, look at me. Look at me!" Blue eyes opened to meet his. "When were you going to tell me that you're in labor?" She shook her head. "How long have you been in labor?" He grabbed her face, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Elisabeth, answer me."
She swallowed thickly against the pain. "Since yesterday morning." She grabbed his shirt, tangling her hands in the material as another contraction grabbed her around the waist. "Christian," Her voice was filled with tears. "Why has my labor started now? I have four weeks left."
His heart plummeted into the center of the earth.
By the time he was able to gather his thoughts and fetch Vanja and Yelena, Elsa had gone through several contractions. They returned to find the young Snow Queen sitting sidesaddle, hands caressing the bottom of her belly. She reached for her husband, choking on a sob. "Hans, it hurts. Make it stop..."
He hurried to her, kneeling beside her. "I know it hurts, Elsa Dahl, I know."
She shook her head, tears escaping her eyes as she looked up at him. "You can't know, you're not experiencing it." She made a good point, he was willing to admit. Gently, he reached up, caressing the apple of her cheek.
"I know, love. I wish I was. I wish I could take the pain for you." She burst into tears, throwing her arms around him as the pain got worse. When finally she allowed Vanja to check her, the healer was surprised. "What is it? Vanja, what's wrong?"
The older woman met Hans' gaze as he held his wife close. "Nothing's wrong. She is fully effaced and almost partially dilated. Her cervix has been thinning for weeks, Hans. Oftentimes, with a first pregnancy, it takes weeks for a woman's cervix to efface, and and she will become effaced before she dilates."
"That means the baby will be born soon, right?"
Vanja bit her lip. "Not necessarily. Just because a woman's cervix has effaced and she is dilated, it does not mean she will go into immediate labor right away. She's in labor, yes, but this is the early stage. These things take time. A woman can be fully effaced and dilated but she will not birth for hours because the baby is not ready. Just because her body is ready does not always mean the baby is ready to come, especially with first pregnancies. This is your first, it will take time. If she is to bear another child further down the line, it will be faster, but not with her first. Just because her body is ready, does not mean the baby is. This is a process, we must be patient and be there for her."
Elsa bit her lip, whimpering through the contraction. Hans returned his attention to her, and Vanja stood, slipping out of the hut and following Yelena, even as Honeymaren and Kristoff slipped into the hut, to help Hans keep Elsa's mind on something besides the pain.
Yelena grabbed her arm. "The baby needs to come now."
Vanja sighed, tugging the chief away. As the weeks had stretched on, as Elsa's pregnancy had progressed, Yelena's behavior had gotten stranger- though she'd been able to hide it, but now...
She could see the darkness in the woman's eyes, and realized that the river had fully taken over. She could sense the shift on the wind in the last few weeks, feel the voice of the river calling, demanding; because she was the healer, her connection with nature was stronger than most in the tribe, and she could sense it, the change that had started with the conception of Elsa's baby, and grown with each progressing day. The other spirits had left Elsa alone for the last couple of weeks, though Elsa couldn't figure out why and was upset by it, Vanja had a sneaking suspicion it was because of her pregnancy. They were giving her her space to get adjusted to her impending motherhood.
But not every change was good.
Oh, why had Yelena ever made that deal with the river? Why? All she was going to succeed in doing was killing her niece and unborn child. She would accomplish nothing else, because the river, despite its promises, did not give, it only took. "This takes time, Yelena." She spoke slowly, hoping to break through the river and reach her friend. "Babies take their time. When the baby is ready to come out, it will come. Not before. We cannot force it, not without dire consequences for both Elsa and her child."
She moved to leave, but Yelena- or was it the river? Vanja couldn't be sure anymore- grabbed her arm, pulling a small vial from the bag at her hip. It shimmered in blood red the light. "Once she takes this, we will need to get her to the river as soon as possible." Vanja's gaze lit to the vial. She knew all the potions she created for all ailments, but that one she didn't recognize. None of the potions she made ever came out blood red in color.
"What is that-"
A small, rueful smile tugged at Yelena's lips, pulling it back when Vanja reached for it. "One of your potions to help with labor. With an added benefit to... induce labor faster."
Vanja narrowed her eyes; the rare potion she used to speed up a laboring woman's mother was usually the color of a red apple in fall, not the color of blood. "What benefit?"
"Pharaoh Root."
The healer paled. Unique only to the forest, Pharaoh Root was perhaps one of the deadliest plants ever found; half a cup chopped could kill a small army, and just one leaf crushed and steeped in tea could cause major internal- "That will kill her! It will force her to bleed internally!" Because it was mixed into an induction potion, it would not only speed up her labor but- "It will not simply hasten her labor, Yelena, it will bleed her, and in bleeding her, it will kill her and her baby! You will lose your niece and her child! That is Iduna's child and her grandchild, would you really subject them both to a fate worse than death!" Yelena stilled briefly before recovering. Vanja saw something flash within her gaze at the mention of her sister.
"Even if she doesn't take it immediately, we need to take her to the river's inlet. She must be in the river when she gives birth; it's the only way the prophecy can be fulfilled. She will not survive birthing on land, it was prophecized long ago."
Vanja crossed her arms, to keep her from strangling the chief, anger filling her; anger at the river for interfering in the tribe's way of life, anger at Yelena for making such a deal, anger at everyone but the young couple at the heart of this; they deserved so much more than they had been given. "You would sacrifice your own niece to protect the tribe on the river's supposed promise." She shook her head, and then leaned close. "We will take her to the river, but more because I believe it would be best to get her away from the tribe, and the inlet is closer than the small portion of the river she normally goes to."
Yelena lifted her head, pride in her black eyes. "Good. I will make sure she drinks this and then we will take her." But before she could enter the hut, Vanja reached out and grabbed Yelena's arm. Her dark eyes were steeled as her grip tightened.
"Iduna would be ashamed, were she to ever find out what you had done to her daughter and grandchild."
And then, without another word she let go, turning and hurrying to find Honeymaren and the others and alert them to what was happening. They needed to get Elsa to the river, if only to keep her away from the tribe and Yelena, because they did not know who among the tribe they could trust.
Yelena slipped into the hut, giving the couple a small smile. Hans sat behind his wife, stroking her back, whispering softly to her, giving her as much support as he could. Elsa sat back against him, hands on her belly, face flashing with pain. Her labor was progressing- though she was fully effaced and near partially dilated, that didn't mean she was anywhere near active labor; she still had a long way to go. This was not uncommon in a first-time mother, but it wasn't fast enough for the river. "I hear your time has arrived." The pair looked up, and Elsa nodded, grunting softly as her eyes closed. She knelt beside her niece and held up the vial.
"What is that?"
Elsa looked up at her husband's voice, hearing the suspicion, to see her aunt kneel beside her, holding a cup. Yelena smiled softly at her, reaching out to caress her cheek. "A potion, to," She stopped, studying her niece. The poor young woman was already so exhausted, especially if she'd been in labor since this yesterday morning and not realized it. Was she really prepared to make her ordeal ten times worse?
"To?" Hans prompted. He saw something flash across Yelena's face, and was about to ask, when Elsa reached down, resting a hand along the bottom of her belly.
She let out a cry. "Oh... it hurts... it hurts so much..."
Yelena forced a tiny smile. "It's... to help her labor progress and control the pain of the contractions."
Hans narrowed his eyes. Something didn't sit right with him. There was something massively off about Yelena; she didn't sound confident in what she was saying, especially given that she was the chief and was normally confident in everything she did. As a woman who'd birthed two children herself, no matter the years that went by, she should be confident in what she told her niece. Elsa bit her lip, grabbing her husband's hand and squeezing. "I'll... try anything..."
He turned to his wife, and she nodded. He helped her to sit up, and she reached out for the vial the chief held.
Iduna would be ashamed, were she to ever find out what you had done to her daughter and grandchild.
Vanja's words came back full force. The healer, who had been born after the mist fell, who had never met Yelena's little sister, who only knew the stories of the missing Northuldra princess, who had known nothing for thirty-four years but the mist that separated them from the outside world, could unravel Yelena's weakness without ever having met said weakness. Like Elsa's weakness was her love for her sister- changeling or no- so too was Yelena's weakness her love for her own sister, Elsa's mother.
She had promised herself after Iduna disappeared to do everything to pay the debt that had cost her her sister, and when Elsa had freed the forest and chosen to stay, Yelena had added another layer- she would do all she could, within her power, to protect Iduna's daughter, no matter the cost. And now, would she really break that promise? Would she really induce slow, painful internal bleeding while the girl was at her most vulnerable, in the midst of childbirth? Was she really prepared to sacrifice the last tie to her sister she had?
The answer, she realized, was a very resounding, No.
Just as Elsa's fingers brushed the side of the vial, Yelena snapped out of her musings and pulled the vial back, out of Elsa's reach. Confusion flashed in the Snow Queen's eyes, but her husband saw something flash within the chief's as their gazes locked, something he hadn't seen in months. She was still in there. The Yelena who had accepted him into the tribe, who had accepted Elsa, who had married them, who had loved Iduna and mourned her flight, who carried the burden of losing her little sister when the mist fell, shone through, even for the briefest of moments, catching Hans' gaze. His green eyes darted from the vial in her hand to her face and back, as he realized what she had almost done, what she had stopped herself from doing, and what had actually been in the vial she had almost given his wife.
Laced.
She'd laced it, with some sort of poison.
And just as the realization struck, he watched as Yelena put the vial to her own lips and swallowed. His heart plummeted in understanding at what the chief had just done, what she'd just sacrificed.
Yelena had taken the poison meant for Elsa and her baby; she'd sacrificed herself for her niece.
"Mother!" Honeymaren's voice broke the silence, and Hans was horrified to see blood trickling from the corners of Yelena's mouth. But before he could say anything, Elsa's scream cut him off. Honeymaren rushed to her mother's side, catching the older woman as her knees gave out. "What did you do?"
"It was meant for Elsa." She turned to Hans. "She laced it... I don't know what it was, but it... on the river's orders... it was meant for Elsa and... and she... she..."
Honeymaren turned back to her mother. "No-"
Yelena smiled softly. "My debt... to Iduna..."
Elsa grabbed Hans' hands, digging her nails in. She sat up, reaching down towards the bottom of her belly. After a moment, she removed her hand, bringing it back up with a cry. The others turned; Hans paled as he stared at his wife's shaking fingers. She turned to him, the fear in her voice mirroring the fear in his heart. "H... Hans... something's not right... I'm bleeding..."
And with those words, all Hell broke loose.