New chapter! Trying to update much more quickly than my last fics. Hopefully no one in my family notices all my tabs open about child birth, the things I do for fics haha.
Back in Velaris, Rhys and Feyre had handpicked Clara, an extremely skilled and valued midwife, and prepared a room in the House of Wind for when Feyre went into labour so they wouldn't be disturbed.
Everything had been planned expertly by the midwife and now Rhys wasn't even sure if the woman had survived the initial attack. And he was out in the wilderness with his mate who was going into early labour, without magic, while being chased by a deadly monster. To say he was panicking would be an understatement.
"You're absolutely sure?" Rhys asked with a croak.
Upon seeing Rhys's wide eyes and hearing the clear panic in his voice, Feyre took a deep breath and attempted to seem a little calmer than she at least felt. "Positive. Clara did go through a few things with me and what to expect." She said with a light smile.
A breath whooshed out of Rhys's broad chest as he stared at her incredulously. "Feyre darling, I know your timing is normally impeccable but for once in your life could you not be early for an event?" He pulled her closer and pressed a light kiss on the top of her head, stroking her hair gently. "What do you need?"
"Well first of all, some shelter." Feyre said with an uplifted brow, indicating the rocky hillside they were perched on.
"Of course! Hold on, I'm going to pick you up, okay?" Rhys asked softly, waiting for her to nod before reaching an arm behind the back of her knee.
He ever so gently lifted her, cradling her to his chest as he picked his way up the steep slope.
Mor and Amren exchanged uneasy glances behind their high lord and lady's backs. Nesta caught the look and turned to Cassian expectantly.
Cassian looked grim as he considered how much he could tell Nesta before she grew hysterical over her sister's predicament. "Nesta, how much do you know about fae pregnancies?" Cassian asked, his eyes fixed on Rhys's back, a concerned look on his face over the fear he knew his brother would be feeling.
"Not much, just that it's difficult for them-us, to even become pregnant." She said with a shrug.
"Oh it's not just becoming pregnant that's difficult." Cassian said in a quiet voice. "It's just as difficult carrying the child and giving birth. The whole process is… risky."
"How risky?" Nesta asked with slitted eyes.
"Risky enough that a midwife has to be present at every birth. In the Night Court it's free for females to have access to one, Rhys pays the midwives himself so even the poorest can afford one."
"So the baby has no chance at all?" Nesta asked, horrified.
"Of course they have a chance. Just if there's any… complications it won't be good. For the baby, or Feyre."
"A complication like going into early labour?" Nesta asked too quietly.
"Yes." Was all Cassian could manage. His own worry for his high lady suffocating him.
"I always said you caught on to things far too quickly." Amren called out to them.
Nesta managed to pull Cassian close enough to speak lowly to Amren so Feyre couldn't hear them. "Isn't there anything you can do?"
Amren nodded to Mor. "Ask her, she's the only one of us who's been present at a birth before."
Mor pressed her mouth into a firm line uneasily. "That was a long time ago, and I wasn't even allowed in the room, I just heard what was going on."
"Well you're all we've got for the moment, so you'll have to at least seem a bit more confident for Feyre's sake if not Rhys'." Amren said coolly.
Up ahead they could hear Rhys whispering to Feyre, encouragement and soothing sounds that reached them easily, but they quickly found other places to look when they heard him speak of how much he loved her, and how lucky he was to have her for a mate.
They plodded on slowly up the mountain, the heavy laboured breathing of Feyre the only sound, which was far better than the alternative of the sounds of the beast hunting them from behind. They had hopefully moved far enough away from the forest to not hear the creature anymore.
After a few more minutes Rhys finally stopped at the top of a small clearing declaring he'd reached the cave. The rest of their friends scrambled up after him, following him into the narrow cave entrance.
Rhys had to turn sideways to fit both himself and Feyre through the gap, but once inside, the space widened until they found themselves in a large cavernous area.
"This will do nicely." Rhys nodded to himself. "I mean the fully equipped room at the House of Wind would of course, be preferable." He grumbled.
"Rhys." Feyre admonished him. "Remember what we talked about when we were talking about me going into labour?"
Rhys smiled down at her, still nestled in his arms. "You're the only one allowed to complain. I remember." He said with a wink.
He then turned to Mor a desperate plea on his face. "Where should I…?"
Mor sighed, tying her long hair back with a piece of string she had looped around her wrist. "Find even ground along one of the walls somewhere. It will help Feyre if she can sit upright and lean her back against something."
Rhys nodded, glad to be given some instructions as he carried Feyre over to the side of the room. He put her back on her feet momentarily while he unbuttoned his jacket, which had somehow managed to remain mostly untouched by the forest, and placed it on the floor for her.
Mor turned to Amren. "Can you start placing some enchantments around the cave, anything to keep us hidden from that thing for at least a little while?"
"I can do it, but I'm not sure how long it'll last." She said, turning on her heel back to the cave entrance.
Next, Mor turned to Nesta. "We need water. And a fire to boil it."
"I can get started on a fire." Cassian said gruffly, pulling away from Nesta to hobble over to a nearby wood pile.
"How am I supposed to collect water?" Nesta only asked.
Sighing, Rhys flicked his hand and a pot landed with a thump in front of Nesta. Nesta stared at it wide eyed, "Exactly how much magic do you have left?" She eyed him questioningly.
"Not enough." Was all he said, turning back to Feyre to brush damp hair from her face as she tried to get comfortable on the ground.
Nesta eyed the cave mouth uncertainly. "I think I heard a stream nearby, I'll see what I can find."
With everyone having been given a job, Mor went over to Feyre, a tight smile on her face. "How are you feeling Feyre, any pain yet?"
Feyre only grimaced. "I just feel uncomfortable, like I've got cramps."
Mor nodded. "That's normal. We only need to start preparing when it gets painful."
"And when the contractions are shorter." Feyre added.
Mor smiled at her. "Exactly. Until then there's not much you can do but remain as relaxed as possible and keep up the breathing exercises Clara taught you."
Feyre managed a warm smile back while Mor got up to check on Cassian's fire. She felt Rhys grip her hand tightly. She turned her smile on him, expecting one back in return but he only stared at her worriedly.
Reaching up to cup his cheek and draw his face closer she whispered to him, "I'm okay. The baby's okay, I can feel them moving right now." She placed their interlocked hands on her swollen stomach so he could feel for himself. "Clara already walked me through the whole process just in case."
"I know, but I can't help it… I feel so helpless." Rhys looked at her sadly.
"You can't fight all my battles." Feyre said kissing him lightly on the lips.
At that Rhys laughed. "You've never needed me to fight your battles for you Feyre. Only alongside you."
"So help me fight this one too. Together?" She asked.
"Together." He answered, kissing her more deeply.
Their kiss was abruptly broken by Feyre as she hissed sharply in pain. Rhys immediately called for Mor, but Feyre tried to wave her off. "I'm fine. It's already receding. This is only the beginning." She said trying to sound optimistic, but failing on the last sentence.
Mor went back to helping Cassian stoke a gently burning flame while Feyre rested her head on the back of the cool wall. Rhys placed his hand back on her abdomen and brushed his thumb along it in wide arcs, an eyebrow lifted in question for her. Feyre sighed and nodded, closing her eyes as Rhys did his best to take her attention away from her contractions.
Some time in between one contraction and the next, Nesta arrived carrying a full pot of spring water.
"Fill all the canteens we have with that and then bring the rest over here so we can boil it." Mor told her.
"What's the boiled water for?" Nesta asked curiously.
"We're going to boil some cloth for Feyre, it can help with the pain and we're going to need something clean and sterile to wrap the baby in eventually…" Mor said staring around at them helplessly.
Immediately Rhys began to take his shirt off to tear into strips. When he handed them to Mor she clucked reluctantly. "We're going to need more."
"Here." Said Cassian, already shrugging out of his own jacket to hand over.
Mor nodded in satisfaction and placed the pot of water over the now steady flames.
"Now what?" Cassian asked.
"Nesta and I will have to go find some food for us I suppose." Mor said, glancing at Cassian's ruined leg which he had done his best to clean up and bandage with a section of his own pant leg.
"How long do you think we're going to be here for?" Cassian asked surprised.
"We can't move Feyre in her condition, so we stay until the baby's here."
"And how long does that normally take?" Cassian asked, almost wincing like he didn't want to hear the answer.
"If we're lucky, only a few hours." Mor reassured him.
"And if we're not lucky?"
"Feyre should be strong enough to endure at least two days of labour." She didn't need to add that anything longer than that probably wouldn't end happily.
"Let's go get some food then." Nesta interrupted, eager to do something to offset her nerves.
Mor made to follow her when she was intercepted by Rhys, his strong hand gripping her shoulder. She could hear the strain in his voice when he looked at her and said, "I need you here. In case anything changes."
Mor looked past him to Feyre's limp body, slumped against the wall. "Rhys she'll likely be in the early stages for at least a few more hours. I'd rather leave now than run out of food later and have to go out again when she's further along."
A silent conversation passed between the two cousins before Amren interrupted them.
"I've done my best with the enchantments, I can go with Nesta to find food." She offered.
"Thank you Amren. Get plenty of fruit and nuts for Feyre, she'll need to keep her strength up." Mor said to her, both her and Rhys clearly relieved.
Seeing in the near dark had caused Nesta and Amren to return with far less food than Mor had hoped for, but it would at least last them a full day. She set aside some of it for rationing, leaving Feyre her own larger pile. She did the same with the water, knowing Feyre would need it more than the rest of them.
Nesta had spent the past hour stretched out next to her sister, quietly talking with Feyre in an effort to distract her. Rhys had given Nesta a grateful smile as he excused himself to gather some food for himself and Feyre.
Cassian and Amren had begun setting up a separate area for the rest of them to sleep, a comfortable distance away from Feyre's low groans and Rhys's growing territorial glare as his defenseless mate struggled through her rising contractions.
Eventually, it grew late enough that Amren and Cassian tried getting some sleep. Nesta made her way over to Cassian's large form, tucking herself into his arms as if they could shield her from hearing her sister's occasional groans.
Mor placed warm, wet, rags across Feyre which she accepted gratefully. Then Mor hesitated, clearly uncomfortable.
Feyre opened one eye at her, "What is it?"
"I thought I should… check on you and see how you're looking." Mor said weakly.
"Isn't that what you've been doing for the past hour?" Feyre asked confused. Then she saw Mor's eyes flick down towards the bottom of her dress and understanding dawned. "Oh."
Rhys looked between them uneasily. "What are you doing?" He asked Mor.
"I need to uhh see how dilated Feyre is." Mor said quietly.
Rhys's face dropped as he realised, an uneasy glance shot towards his sleeping friends.
"It needs to be done, and honestly I don't see you volunteering for this." Mor grumbled, reaching for the hem of Feyre's dress.
"I know, just wait a second." Rhys said quickly.
Mor looked up to argue that he was being a big baby about this when she saw Rhys unfurl his huge wings, stretching them so they encircled himself, Feyre, and Mor within a circle of thin membrane. Effectively giving them as much privacy as he could.
Feyre smiled up at him thankfully as Mor lifted the dress over her knees. Rhys was glad he was only being permitted to sit up by Feyre's head and provide support that way. Many males he knew weren't even allowed to be in the room with their wives, let alone mates, when they gave birth. His father had fought and clawed to be just in the sitting room outside the bedroom where his own mother had given birth to him.
After a few seconds, Mor popped back up brightly. "Still in the early stages. You should be able to at least get some sleep in before tomorrow Feyre."
Mor had set up her own sleeping place with a rock with moss on it for a pillow, closer to Feyre than the others had dared, so she would be nearby if needed. Rhys had tried to ask Mor to stay up with him, just a little while longer, but one look at her exhausted face had him insisting that she turn in for the night.
Feyre had dozed on and off for a few hours, as the stress and physical activity of the day finally drained away her power to stay awake. Every now and then a particularly strong wave of pain crashed over her, forcing her awake even as exhaustion tried to drag her back under.
When this happened, Rhys would smooth back her hair and allow her to lean on his shoulder. He told her stories to help her relax. About his and Mor's childhood. Wild tales about the trouble he got into with Cassian and Azriel. And finally, their own memories together. Some of the happiest he could remember, anything to keep her breathing steady and drifting back to sleep.
Whether he would get any sleep himself that night didn't matter.