Childbirth Recollections

Chapter 6: Memories

A/N: Hello. Sorry for the delays but I haven't had much time to write, plus, I've had writer's block. Thank you to everyone who sent in reviews, they are really helpful. Please, send me what you think, if the story's getting boring, if it doesn't make sense, etc. Thanks, Danicakate

A/N: Many, many thanks to Abyssgirl. The idea of using Garvey was hers. C'mon, people, I need more ideas. I've planned the main plot, I just need fillers! Please?

Kel knew that she was dreaming. But she didn't care. She heard faint voices above her, up … up … up …

But she didn't take much notice of them. She guessed that they were from the real world, and if she returned there, her friends would be waiting for her, but so would an enormous amount of pain. She could live with pain, but she didn't enjoy it, and tried to avoid it whenever possible. So, instead of moving upwards, towards the people she loved, she turned, and drifted down, deeper and deeper, into the inky depths of her very being.

Neal knew that something had taken place. He knew Kel almost as well as he knew himself, and he sensed that she had gone deeper into wherever it was that she was. Not even Alanna knew where Kel's consciousness was slipping to, but she had said something about a black hole, and drifting, the Black God's Gates, and having to stop her. None of it made any sense to Neal, but then again, he hadn't been there for the Sweating Sickness. She had told him about it once, but briefly, and Neal gotten the impression that she didn't like talking about it.

But Kel's soul wasn't quite here, and something had to be done. There was a severe chance of there being a death. Neal had been hoping that his former knight mistress would call on her patron, the Goddess, but his hopes had been quashed. There was no vervain anywhere to be found, and without it, the Goddess could not transfer her power to the Lioness. While they were trying everything humanly possible, Neal didn't like Kel's chances.

Kel's consciousness was passing the time. She had quickly given up on playing games, and was now sorting through her memory. She had never been able to think this clearly before. Ooh, here was a memory that looked interesting. Quickly, and without hesitation, Kel's soul slipped into the memory like a familiar tunic.

Garvey of Runnerspring, one of her year-mates, had her pressed up against a wall.

'…don't like it. She could get us all killed. What do you think? You know her better than I do …'

What was he talking about? Kel got the impression it was something important…

'…hate bothering you about this, but surely something is being done? You know Lord Raoul, and surely he knows? I mean, he is friends with her…'

… Garvey had started being really nice to her a while after she had gotten back from Scanra. At first she had been wary of him, aware that Joren of Stone Mountain had tried acting as her friend during her last year as a page. It turned out that he was scheming to force Kel to repeat all our years as a page by being really late to her Big Examinations. Garvey could be trying something similar… but no. Garvey proved himself to be a true friend, saving Kel several times, and generally being a good man, following the code of chivalry to the letter. He was a close friend, and if anything happened to him, Kel would be devastated…

'…surely she'd old enough to look after herself. She was raised so that she could survive in situations similar to the one she's in. It's all my Lady can think about. She's reckless in battle and liable to get herself and anyone assigned to her killed. And I'm in her squad…'

…a distant memory was stirred. Was he talking about…?

'…please, talk to her. Or even better, get Lord Raoul to get her sent home. The Lioness is famed, yes, but she'll end up getting all of us killed!'

That was right. The Lioness's only daughter had been missing, and the Lioness herself had seemed distant. Once, when Kel and the Lioness were practicing sword-fighting, she had felt that someone was watching them. That was stupid. Of course people were watching them. Not many people were stupid enough to challenge the Lioness in a dual. There were many spectators.

'Age and Treachery!' roared Lord Raoul, jolting her from the thoughts.

Without realising it, she had slipped from one memory to another. She was fighting the Lioness, there were many spectators, and she did get the feeling that someone was watching them. Someone unearthly… Perhaps the Lioness's patron, the Goddess was watching? No, surely not. Kel was vaguely aware of talking going on between herself and the Lioness. Then, Kel thought she saw the outline of a woman, no, a girl maybe a few years younger than herself. As her attention was focused elsewhere, the Lioness landed the ending stroke. The dual was over, the figure gone. Was it Kel's imagination, or had the girl had red hair? And there was something familiar about that girl…

Another face swam before her eyes. It was that of a young lady she had met occasionally. Her name was Alianne of Pirates Swoop. She'd since got married, but Kel wasn't about to waste valuable time searching through her memories for Aly's new name. That was it! The red-headed girl she'd seen was Aly! That was interesting…

Cleon's marriage to Risa had been a miserable experience for both of them. Cleon's life was comparable to a living hell. Whenever he so much as looked at another lady, let alone touched them, Risa flew into a jealous rage. She made no show of it in public, but as soon as they got home, she erupted like a volcano. And to top it all, she was insanely jealous of Kel, one of Cleon's best friends. She'd even had the nerve to tell Cleon that there had to be a chaperone whenever he and Kel were alone together.

It was ironic, really. Before now, Cleon had never dared to think about his feelings for Kel. Now, because of Risa's suspicions, the idea of running off with another woman was growing on him. As one of his best friends and the lady Risa was most worried about, Kel seemed the perfect person. But of course, he wouldn't wish to risk dishonour. So his happy fantasies stayed just that. Fantasies.

Cleon and Risa were married for two and a half years, and had only one child, a sick little boy. Risa had wanted to call him Claudius Cleonius Mafrit of Kennan, Claudius after the hero in the book she was reading at the moment; Cleonius after her 'darling husband' so he wouldn't be tempted to run off with another woman; and Mafrit because it sounded nice. Cleon had absolutely refused. They called him Alexander, after Cleon's grandfather, though as far as he could see, Alexander would be no defending man. After that, even though Risa wanted more children, she never fell pregnant. Cleon was beginning to think that she was barren, a curse from the gods. He wanted a healthy son, to be his heir, so that Cleon would be able to escape somewhere eternally peaceful. Cleon was seriously contemplating killing himself to get away from his hated wife, his sick son and his feelings for Kel. Then one day, Risa took seriously ill. Cleon was called from the front line, but by then it was too late. By the time Cleon got home, Risa had been dead three days, and Alexander was half dead with hunger. The child was only a year old. He reused to eat anything that anyone had given him, and would only eat from the hand of his mother or father. Once the child was nursed back to health, Cleon sent Alex to his mothers, so he would be cared for. Then he started looking for a cause.

When the local magistrate heard of Risa's death, he assumed it was murder. A fully-fledged murder investigation was now underway. And they had several suspects.

Keladry of Mindelan and a squad of the King's Own, including Sergent Domitan, had been on the road they day that Risa fell sick. They were less than an hour's ride away from Kennan when they had to pitch camp because of the coming night. When she was setting up her tent, Kel had disgruntled a snake. They dealt with their differences in their own ways, ie. the snake bit Kel, and Kel swore at the snake. Then Kel went to find some help. Or at least, she meant to. It seemed that the snake wasn't an ordinary grass snake. It was a King Brown. Through the flashing lights and swirling colours, she was dimly aware of trying to speak, yell, scream, swear, anything that would make a noise. But her throat was tight, it seemed swollen shut. She couldn't make a sound. She couldn't breathe. Her eyes were swelling shut… Fighting to the last – she didn't want people to think her weak – Kel succumbed to the darkness. And because she fought so hard, a part of her stayed conscious as things went on around her:

'Lady? Lady, your tent's not up. Lady, where are you?' Tobe passed within feet of her in the dark, and almost tripped over her, but didn't realise that it was her. Still calling out to her, he wandered off.

'Lady Kel! Supper's ready!' One of the Own was calling out to her. She tried to answer, but it was as if a part of her soul was detached. Her body lay on the ground, only breathing tiny, shallow gasps of air with each breath, slowly turning purple, unconscious and dying. The poison of the snake was working fast. She would be dead within the hour if not found. Strangely, she was not disturbed by this realisation. A calm acceptance had seeped over her. She was going to die. There was nothing she could do. It was up to Tobe, the soldiers and the gods.

'Kel, where in Mithros' name are you? What I wouldn't give for her animals to be here.' When Kel had left Corus with the squad, her animals had stayed behind. The sparrows had young ones to teach and look after, and Jump was staying with Lalasa until Kel got back. She was just delivering a message to Cleon from the King's spymaster, Sir Myles. She should return within a week.

'Harold, come here.' Someone was calling to the only mage that Kel had brought with her. Maybe now they would get some results. 'You know that spell you were telling me about today?'

'The Right of Mithros, sir?'

'Is that the one that finds-?'

'Yessir. It is. But only if the person is still breathing, and within a hundred-metre radius.'

'That's alright then. Of course she's still breathing, and milady Kel wouldn't have wandered far…'

A warm feeling washed over Kel and kept going. That wasn't right. Harold had told Kel about the Right of Mithros as well. It was cast, and the returned to the caster to tell them whether or not there were any humans in the area. It could be changed to see if a particular person was in the area. Kel was prepared to bet good money that this spell was finely tuned to detect her. Then why had it washed over her? It should have returned to Harold. That meant…

Below her, Kel's body had taken its last breath as Harold's spell had passed her. This was why the spell hadn't detected her.

'Any luck, Harold?'

'Well, sir, there isn't any response, but there was something odd…' Harold trailed off.

'What is it, Harold? Anything might help us find her. I doubt she's in any trouble, but we do need to find her.'

'There was a sort of – well, it's hard to explain, sir, sort of a – I don't know, it was almost a, well, a flutter, sir.'

'What does that mean?'

'I don't know, sir. I've never had it happen before, and neither has anyone I know.'

'Where was it coming from, Harold? This might be important.'

Below her, the body of Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan was blue. Kel's consciousness was fading, being pulled back into the body. Her heartbeat was slowing, fading, dying. The Black God would take her soul before anyone found her body.

'It came from over by the lady's tent.'

The sound of running footsteps pounded towards her. They were looking on the wrong side of her tent. With an act of pure will, she lifted one foot, and let it drop. The noise was pathetic, but it was enough. They would find her body tonight, and then she would have a proper burial, her body untouched by scavengers. The Black God was coming. She felt the pressure in her ears. Then –

'Did you hear that?'

'LADY!' Tobe had found her. Harold and Dom came tearing around the tent, only half put-up. Light leapt from Harold and into Kel's chest. Her heart started beating again, but she couldn't breathe. Dom and Harold carried her into Dom's tent; and Harold started using as many different magics as he could think of, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't bring down the swelling in her throat. Kel's heart was beating, she was semi-conscious, but she couldn't breathe. How long could she last? Even if they could get her breathing again, how much brain damage would she have?

Kyprioth was having a hard time tracking down all the tricksters. It was as if they sensed he was looking for them, and were hiding from him. It may already be too late. Once a trick was started, it was almost impossible to get the trickster to lay off. If a trick was already stared, it could and would be fatal for both Kel and the baby. Kyprioth hadn't been entirely truthful with George. But the only thing that he could see was that if any trickster got involved, the world would be changed drastically. A lot rode on one of them surviving. Nobody could tell which one it was. And it was 99.9 certain that one of the two in danger would not survive.