Finally a chance to update! I wish I had time to respond to everyone who was kind enough to review but with a family and full time job – things get hectic.
Thanks to Ziggy 3, Caelhir, EmeraldRomance, littlemsstrawberry, Black Diamond07 and Miggs for your support and reviews. (special note – I do tend to probably hurt him more often than I should but I do so love to torture that elf and the whole hurt /comfort /angst thing is one of my favorites)
Same disclaimers as before!
Warning: Graphic child birth in this chapter.
A Cage of a Different Kind Chapter 22
Legolas had received a little help from the trees but he was an hour into his search and he had still not located her. Two things were clear though. She had been running blindly and she had more stamina than he would have thought possible for a woman in her condition. He, on the other hand, was feeling the pain in his leg more and more intensely and the blood loss he had incurred was making him weak. If he didn't find her soon, he would have to stop to rest.
After another hour, he was almost spent and there was still no sign of her. He sighed heavily trying to fight the panic that threatened to overcome him as he leaned unsteadily against a nearby Oak. "If anything has happened to her I shall be fatherless!" He ground out quietly between clenched teeth. Suddenly the trees started getting restless. He leaned his forehead against the oak and shut his eyes in concentration. "There!" He thought excitedly. He could finally sense her and she was close. Relief washed over him until he felt whispers of the pain she was experiencing. "By the Valar, no!" He thought as he quickened his pace.
Eowyn had awoken to sharp pains across her abdomen. As she shifted for comfort, she wondered if she had pulled a muscle during her flight. "How stupid could I be?" She chided herself, embarrassed by what she had done. She had let Thranduil get to her. She remembered his comments and caught her breath and pushed back the tears that threatened to surface once again. "I must talk to Legolas; I could not abide causing his death." But why she had thought that running off was the answer she would never understand. Now she was unsure where she was in a forest that had recently had orcs running through it.
"Legolas!" She thought in sudden panic. He had been injured and she had run off. She was not even sure how bad the wound had been. "Thranduil was right! I have been thoughtless!" She needed to get back but how? With a new determination she struggled to her feet when suddenly another pain ripped across her belly. She caught herself on the tree and panted through it, her hands wrapped around herself. As it subsided, it occurred to her that this could be labor. "NO!" She was near the end of her ninth month but elves carried for a full year. There had been no indication that the baby was ready to be born." She had helped in many birthing but being a first time mother herself did nothing to relieve her fears. She started slowly back the way she had come but it wasn't long before the same pain stopped her once again. She stood gasping as the wave rolled over her. Just then, she heard something moving in the brush. She reached reflexively for a weapon and realized she had run off with nothing.
"Damn Thranduil!" She thought angrily almost saying it aloud. He would get a piece of her mind when she got back.
She looked about for a place to hide as more noise erupted from ahead of her. As she tried to make her way behind a tree, the pain again took her breath away and she couldn't help the moan that escaped her lips as she clutched her swollen middle.
"Eowyn!" Legolas exclaimed as he found his wife doubled over in pain. He rushed to her and took her into his arms.
"Legolas!" She sobbed in relief as she clung to him, pain gripping her once again. All of a sudden she looked down and gasped. There was a small trickle of liquid trailing down her leg and forming a puddle at her feet. "My water has broken!"
Legolas paled. He was not entirely sure what was happening but he knew it was probably not good. He had been one of the last elflings born in his realm due to the growing darkness and he had hardly seen a pregnant elf and never a birth.
Eowyn's legs buckled as another contraction tore through her body and he barely caught her. His leg screamed in agony as he eased her to the ground, sitting beside her and helping her to lean against him.
"The baby is coming." She gasped.
"The baby is coming now?" He said feebly. "It can't, we have to get back to the settlement. Elrond is not even here yet." Legolas started to ramble as his panic and denial overwhelmed him.
"Can you walk Eowyn?" He asked as another moan of pain escaped his wife's lips and her hands clutched at her large belly.
When the contraction finally passed, she breathed "No, I will not make it far in this condition. You will have to help me deliver our baby here."
"Me! Alone! That is not possible!" He said as his eyes widened in shock. "I don't know anything about this!" He looked around in fear and bewilderment.
Eowyn looked up at him and was surprised by his shaken countenance. She had never seen him so rattled and it began to frighten her.
"I will carry you." He said as her tried to pick her up. His injured leg collapsed under him and he fell to the ground with a yelp of pain. Luckily he had not gotten her very far off the ground.
"Legolas are you alright!" She asked as she grabbed his hand in concern.
"I will not be carrying you back." he said sadly.
"We can do this love. We have too!" She said as she looked him in the eye and smiled, trying to send reassurance and confidence to him. Her bravery once again overwhelmed him and his heart swelled with feeling. It only reaffirmed why he loved her so much.
He had to be strong for her now so he smiled that quirky smile she loved so much and kissed her lovingly. "What choice do we have?"
Her labor was progressing quickly and her gown was soon discarded and her shift lifted so they could tell what was going on with her body. It also provided something for her to lie upon. They had decided to keep Legolas' cloak for the baby. He could see each contraction tighten her belly and he marveled at her strength. She had quietly maintained her concentration for the last hour and he had continued to encourage her but now she could not hold back the cry of pain as the most intense contraction yet hit her.
"I need to push now." She gasped as she held her straining belly with her hands, leaning back against Legolas and arching her back against the excruciating pain. He smoothed her hair back from her face and kissed her neck, continuing to rub circles across the skin covering their child. "Check to see if I am ready." she said as she panted briefly anticipating the next contraction.
"How will I know that?" He asked in confusion.
"You'll know! Just look!" She almost screamed as she curled into the next pain.
He laid her back gently and moved tentatively between her legs, wondering what he should be looking for. Up to now he had been hoping things would just magically happen but reality was now starring him in the face and he was completely lost. The feelings of incompetence and helplessness were something totally foreign to him and he found himself unable to move.
She glanced up at his face and would have laughed if she had not felt like she was being split in two.
"The contractions are almost constant. Have I opened?" She managed to croak out.
"Opened?" Legolas said questioningly. He looked wonderingly at a sight so frightening to him that he suddenly felt lightheaded but he shook himself angrily and responded with an answer that was lame even to his ears. "I think so."
"You think?" She yelled, panting and groaning in pain.
"Go ahead and push!" He responded, acting with sheer instinct and she did with all her might. He moved behind her again and she lay back against him almost crying in pain. "Aah!" She screamed as she bore down again, her hands on her belly like she could actually push the child out that way.
"You are doing wonderfully Eowyn. Keep it up!" Legolas encouraged her.
"Easy for you to say." She responded through gritted teeth. "I have never felt such pain." She breathed as her back arched and she cried out again.
She had been so strong but he could tell she was losing herself to the pain and he had to do something to help her. "But what?" He took a deep calming breath and clasped her hands in his, placing them back on her straining belly. He then started to sing softly in her ear, concentrating on the child within her. Her breath came in short gasps but soon started to calm. As the next contraction hit, Legolas sent strength and reassurance through their muted bond.
Eowyn was starting to think that she was not going to be able to do this. The pain was almost never ending and she had no idea if she was making any progress. Suddenly she felt strength start to flow into her and she grasped at it like it was a lifeline. Legolas started as she accidentally sent some of her pain back through their bond. "How could she have endured this for so long?" He thought as she panted and pushed. He tried to help her guide their baby through the birth canal and they worked together for a while longer until they could sense that the baby was in place. They faced the next few contractions together and thought they were the strongest yet, she somehow remained focused. Eowyn pushed with everything she had. Sweat broke out on Legolas' forehead as he tried to continue to send strength flowing into his straining mate, worry and concern threatening to break his concentration.
"I think the head is crowning!" She gasped and cried out with the next push.
Legolas quickly moved around between her legs where he saw the most wondrous sight, a small head was starting to emerge. "Here he comes meleth! Another push!"
Eowyn bared down again and the head fully emerged. Legolas knelt in amazement, almost too overwhelmed to move. "Help the baby Legolas. You need to turn it slightly to help get the shoulders out." She gasped as she pushed again.
His hands shook slightly as he took the small head in his hands and as more of the body emerged; he angled them to help ease them out. On the next push, the baby slipped into its father's arms. "A boy! We have a son Eowyn!" Legolas breathed in wonder as he laid him on the tunic he had removed earlier. His heart was near bursting with pride and he did not think he had ever loved anyone more he did his wife and new son. "I love you." He whispered.
"Is he breathing? I don't hear anything!" Eowyn said worriedly, straining to see the baby.
It was then Legolas realized the baby had not stirred and he started to panic. "He's not moving!" He cried.
"Clear his nose and mouth!" Eowyn instructed. "Rub him to stimulate him as well."
Legolas quickly did as he was told and soon the small baby emitted a very large cry. "Thank the Valar!" he breathed in relief as he wiped him off a bit and cut the umbilical cord that still tied him to his mother. He then took him reverently into his arms and showed him to his mother. "He is perfect meleth." He said in wonder as he laid him in her arms. They gazed at their perfect miracle and Eowyn ran her finger along the silvery fuzz that crowned his head and his delicately pointed ears not even noticing that he was still messy from the birth.
"He looks just like you." Eowyn said before she moaned slightly as a smaller contraction went through her again. "There is one more thing that needs to be done; the after birth has to come out."
"The what?" Legolas asked.
"The mass that fed the baby while he was growing. You must push on my stomach while I try to expel it."
He moved beside her and pushed down on her smaller softer belly as she pushed again. She gasped in slight pain and Legolas stopped for a moment thinking he had hurt her. "No, that is right love, keep going." She said as she pushed again and soon the after birth emerged and they both breathed in relief.
"I am sorry but this is quite a mess and I don't think I am going to be much help." She said as she relaxed back in exhaustion.
He laughed lightly. "You have done all the work up to now. It is my turn."
"Nay, if you had not helped me near the end, I don't know if I could have done it."
He kissed her again as he removed the ruined gown from underneath her. He cleaned up as much as he could and took the bloody dress and buried it as far away as possible, not wanting to risk attracting any wild animals or orcs. He then took his cloak and covered her with it, finally drawing his small family into his arms and holding them close. Eowyn and the child were soon asleep and he kept watch over them trying to think of what they should do next. Eowyn was in no condition to walk any distance and he could not yet carry them. "Perhaps his father had sent out a search party? That would be at least one good thing he could do." He thought as anger started to overcome him again.
He shuddered to think what might have happened if he had not found her in time or if wolves or Orcs had found her first. He could have easily lost all that he held dear all because his father could not accept a human. He still was not entirely sure what exactly Thranduil had said but he knew it must have upset Eowyn terribly and he wanted to scream in frustration and anger. "All is well, calm down Legolas, you have others to think about and you need to keep a level head." The little voice in his head reminded him and he smiled as he stared at his new son sleeping peacefully in his mother's arms. Just then he heard some noises that resembled riders. "Are they friend or foe?" He thought as he shifted Eowyn and the baby.
She stirred awake as he slid out from behind her and he heard her sleepy voice ask "Is something wrong?"
"No meleth, I just hear riders approaching and I want to be sure they are friends." He said as he limped away from her and took out his knives.
TBC