Love in the Night

Aedan was having a lovely dream, one of peace and calm and tranquillity, a dream of wiling away the days happily with his beautiful wife and child. Yet it wasn't so much a dream, it was almost like a memory, even if it hadn't happened yet.

That was right. He had a child now, a daughter.

Even in the land of dreams it seemed almost a fanciful idea, yet there she was, beautiful and strong and happy. He had never slept so well, certainly not since he'd imbibed of darkspawn blood for his joining at the least.

But then, Aedan woke suddenly, the dream shattered into glassy fragments. A sharp cry cut through his dreams like a silverite sword through paper. His head was up and off of the pillow before he even registered what the sound was: The crying of his daughter.

The Prince-Consort rubbed at the fatigue in his face and looked around. Already his wife Anora was out of the sheets and on her way to the cot a short distance away from the bed.

"Here." Aedan murmured as he dragged himself from the warm, inviting confines of their bed. "Let me."

"I've got her." Anora murmured as she moved in the dark. She had her back to him, but Aedan could just tell how tired the Queen was from her drooping posture.

"You've been up enough already." Aedan padded his way around the bed with a yawn. He was too tired to even think of the number of times they'd already been disturbed. "Get back to bed, Anora."

Anora didn't respond, she merely leant over the cot and gently pulled their daughter into her arms. Anora began hushing softly as she rocked side to side.

"Anora." Aedan repeated.

"Can you feed her?" Anora asked pointedly.

Aedan blinked. "Probably not."

"Exactly." Anora shook her head as she manoeuvred her nightgown to uncover a breast. "Get back to bed dear."

Aedan sighed slightly as he sat at the foot of the bed. He idly watched his wife for a few moments, her back to him as she attended to their daughter. Anora was murmuring so very gently to soothe the Princess as she cried and moaned. It was a sight Aedan never thought he'd see. Not that he'd ever doubted that Anora would be anything less than a devoted, doting mother, but he'd nearly written off their chances altogether. Maybe it was for his sacrifices during the Blight, or for Anora's tireless work for the kingdom, but the Maker had somehow seen fit to answer their prayers.

Aedan offered a silent one now in thanks.

What's more, Anora's efforts seemed to be working. Eleanor had quickly calmed and soon the sound of crying had disappeared entirely. Anora sighed quietly into the silence, fatigue and relief drifting into the noise.

"Are you alright?" Aedan asked gently.

"I'm fine." Anora murmured as she turned to face her husband, not taking her eyes off of Eleanor. A soft smile had settled on the Queen's lips and didn't look like moving anytime soon. "Now this one's quiet, at last."

"We've got a lot more of these nights to look forward to, haven't we?" Aedan rubbed at his fatigue crusted eyes.

"It's alright for you. You don't have to feed her."

Aedan almost rolled his eyes at his wife. Anora had been offered a nursemaid many a time prior to Eleanor's birth and since, but she had steadfastly refused the mere notion each and every time. Aedan supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. Anora had very much been looking forward to being a mother after all. She'd probably have seen it as a betrayal of sorts to let someone else nurse her own daughter.

"Does it hurt?" Aedan nodded at Eleanor as she fed.

Anora shook her head. "No. It's just … weird. Not what I expected, though honestly it's somewhat relaxing."

"Just make sure you don't nod off before she's done." Aedan smirked a little.

A not so fierce glare form the Queen. "I know …" She yawned, her mouth opening into a large cavern. "I know that, Aedan." Anora's eyes were hooded and low.

Aedan let out a quiet chuckle as he shuffled over from the foot of the bed over towards the side closest to Anora.

"Here." Aedan patted the edge of the bed before him.

"Hmm?" Anora blinked, too tired to formulate a proper response.

"Come, sit." Aedan padded the bed once more, trying not to imagine that he was summoning his wife like one would a mabari.

Perhaps it was more from fatigue than acceptance, but Anora didn't argue. She duly made to sit down on the bed, her back to Aedan as she cradled Eleanor to her chest. Aedan scooted closer to his wife, hooking a leg around her body and wrapping his arms around her. One of his arms sneaked under Anora's to help support Eleanor, the other grasped Anora's shoulder gently in support.

Anora hummed gently in her throat. "You're warm."

"Thank you." Aedan smiled as he gazed down at his beautiful daughter over Anora's shoulder.

"Look at her, Aedan." Anora whispered as she smiled down at their Princess.

"I see her."

"She's so beautiful." Anora's voice almost shook she was so in love.

"She really is." Aedan pressed a kiss to Anora's cheek.

"She's so perfect." Anora shook her head slightly, as though not believing her daughter was there in her arms.

"Our perfect little princess." Aedan smiled.

Anora let out a sigh, so much more contented than tired this time. "I love her, Aedan, so, so much." The declaration came out of Anora as though it was the last thing she'd ever say.

"I know you do. I love her too." The Prince-Consort kissed the Queen's cheek once more. "I love you."

"I love you too." Anora finally broke her gaze away from Eleanor to turn and press a soft kiss to Aedan's lips. Then she turned back to look in awe at their precious daughter once more. It was as though she couldn't stand not to be gazing at their daughter for more than a few seconds. Aedan could hardly blame her. "You gave me our little girl, after all."

Aedan chuckled softly. "Well, I think you did most of the work there."

"Naturally. What else is new?" Anora's lips quirked a little. She sighed, this time a little aggrieved. "And I still have much to do tomorrow. Well, it'll be later today now." She glanced up towards the window, still dark beyond, but surely not that far off the sunrise of a new day. "I think I'm meeting with Arl Eamon in a few hours."

Aedan furrowed his brow slightly. "You shouldn't be working so soon after giving birth, Anora."

"The kingdom doesn't stop just because we've had a child, Aedan." Anora reminded him needlessly. She even straightened her near perfect posture a little for emphasis. It was frankly amazing she was still able to do that as tired as she was.

"You should take some more rest, Anora." Aedan pressed. "Let me see to Eamon and whatever else you have on, I'll cancel them if need be."

"I'm a Queen." Anora stated as an argument. "I have work to do."

"You're a new mother." Aedan countered.

A silly smile took hold of Anora's face. "I am a mother, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are." Aedan smiled. "And do you know what new mother's do?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me." Anora murmured without heat, she was still gazing at Eleanor with the purest devotion.

"New mother's focus on looking after their daughters, and themselves." Aedan stressed. "They don't try and do everything all at once."

"Well, most mothers aren't queens, now are they?" Anora huffed.

"The kingdom can take of itself for a few weeks." Aedan persisted.

Anora sighed. "I can't just drop everything, Aedan."

"You gave birth yesterday." Aedan almost wanted to laugh at his wife's insistence to work. "You need to take care of yourself. Besides, you don't have to do everything on your own, Anora. I can handle anything critical for a while. You did make me your Regent, remember? I'll have the court handle the rest."

"Aedan …" Anora began, turning her head towards him slightly but not meeting his eyes.

"Anora, I need you to look after yourself, for me and for Eleanor." Aedan looked at his darling wife imploringly.

The Queen sighed. She turned her head back to Eleanor. The Princess had finished her meal by this point and had turned to slumbering while her parents were quietly arguing.

"Alright." Anora relented. "I suppose I can take a few days to recuperate."

"You'll take a few weeks, a month or two even." Aedan corrected her sternly. At his wife's fatigue plagued glare he pressed on. "Anora, this is important, I'm not letting you work yourself to death."

Anora shook her head slightly, an almost incredulous look on her face that was strangely adorable in her exhaustion. "Who are you to tell me what to do, Prince-Consort?" The title was thrown at him with all the venom a mabari pup could muster.

Aedan smirked. "I'm your husband, Queen Anora. What's more, I'm the father of your child." He leaned in to press a soft kiss to her scowling lips. He kept his eyes closed and his forehead pressed against hers tenderly for a moment as they parted. "And I love you far, far too much to let anything happen to you."

The Queen mumbled something in her throat. "You do?" She asked, eyes drooping.

"More than you'll ever know." Aedan whispered as he pressed another kiss to her cheek.

Anora trilled lightly, a strange, almost alien sound coming from her. A sly smile weakly tugging at her lips as her head lolled. "Alright." She finally relented. "Maybe just for … a few days … a week, perhaps?"

Not wanting to spoil this little victory by probing for a commitment to a longer maternity leave, Aedan nodded with a smile. He could always get her to agree to a longer period of rest later. He could also tell his beloved wife was struggling just to stay awake at this point. If he tried to negotiate much longer she probably wouldn't even remember any of it come day break.

"Come on." Aedan murmured softly. "Let's put Eleanor to bed, then get back in ourselves."

Another wordless murmur from the Queen, but Anora didn't resist as Aedan helped her to stand, his arm still helping her support their Princess. The Queen and Prince-Consort wandered back over towards the cot and gently eased Eleanor down. The Princess was already fast asleep and barely even stirred as her parents tucked her in.

Their quest completed, Aedan made to turn back to his own bed, but stopped in his tracks when his wife didn't follow.

"Anora?" Aedan asked quietly as the Queen hung over the cot, gazing down at their daughter still.

"She's so beautiful." Anora repeated, shaking her head again as though she still didn't believe any of this was real. "How did we get so lucky?"

Aedan smiled as he wandered back over towards Anora, placing comforting hands on her shoulders. "Come back to bed, she'll be right here."

Anora complained through a slight rumbling in her throat. Aedan fully believed that his wife intended to stand vigil over their daughter all night if she could.

"You need your rest, love." Aedan soothed. "You can't stand here all night."

"I don't want to leave her." Anora moaned softly.

"You're not." Aedan would have been tempted to laugh if it wasn't for that chime of heartbreak that rang through Anora's voice. "Look, we'll be right here, less than a couple of feet away."

Eventually, reluctantly, Anora let go of the bars on the crib and allowed herself to be led over towards the bed. Aedan made another prayer of thanks to the Maker as he tucked them both back into the bedsheets, they'd already cooled off it had been so long since they'd last laid down in them. Anora kept her gaze resolutely fixed on the crib.

Aedan wrapped an arm around his maternally devoted wife lovingly. "See? She's alright." He whispered soothingly.

Anora only responded by murmuring softly, too tired to formulate words. Her eyes were doing a valiant job of trying to stay wide open and awake, but Aedan could see that she was fighting a losing battle.

"Sleep, my love." Aedan smiled. "You'll see her in the morning."

It didn't take long for the Queen and Prince-Consort to nod off once more, following their Princess into a deep and peaceful slumber.