A quick update? What even is this? Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, especially the speedy reviewers on the last chapter! God I love you guys :D You give me the biggest smile :D
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Dedicated to Sapphy Blue, Reckless-Reason-and-Kitty and Cat Dracula. Thanks for the reviews, awesome people! :D

Chapter Fourteen

The granite doorstep is cold and hard, but I sit there anyway, staring out through the long grass opposite our cottage and out over the sea beyond. I've been unceremoniously turfed out of the cottage for the time being, as apparently I was in the way- at least according to the plump midwife who arrived an hour or so ago and who took an immediate shine to Conor, who was standing there with fluffy towels and a bowl of warm water, and also to Rodger who was going through breathing techniques with Mum as though she hadn't already had two children. To be fair, I was standing there helplessly, like a rabbit in headlights, beginning to freak out at the prospect of a small person being pushed out of my mother, but still. She didn't have to insist that I leave, even if it was because there 'wasn't enough space'. Great. Even two males can deal with pregnancy and birth better than me. I squint up my eyes, staring out over the blood red horizon, watching as the faint sliver of sun visible slowly slides down over the horizon.

"It'll be a fine day tomorrow."

I look up quickly.

"'Red sky at night, shepherds delight', don't they say?"

Granny Carne sits down on the doorstep beside me, her gaze also fixed on the rapidly dying sun.

"I thought it was 'shepherds take fright'?" I say, not looking at her. I know it'll do me no good; I would bet all I own that she already knows every confused thought running through my head, every insecurity, every desire, every fear.

She chuckles. "Is it now?"

I shrug. "Maybe it's just one or the other. If the next day's fine, the former applies. If the next day's stormy, then the latter."

She chuckles again. "Very shrewd. So your suggesting those who say that don't really have a clue?"

I nod silently, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

"Very possible. But believe me when I say it will be fine tomorrow."

"I do."

"Not in the cottage with your mother?"

I shrug. "The midwife threw me out. I don't think aiding in childbirth is one of my skills." Along with anything to do with healing of any sort.

"You have other skills." She smiles slightly. "The sea's been calling you strongly lately."

My gaze flickers down to the ground. There are some withered red berries from the rowan tree lying on the ground near my feet.

"Ant idea why that might be?"

I stay silent, focusing on the berries.

"Conor means well, Sapphire. But you're in too deep now. You'll make yourself ill with longing, my girl, if you carry on like this."

I blink quickly, feeling salty water burning behind my eyes.

"And not just for Ingo, either."

The salt water escapes and trickles down my cheek.

"You're half and half. You love this world, but you love that world too. There are people you love in this world…and people you love in that world too."

"What do I do?" when I finally speak my voice is croaky. "How do I choose?"

"Hm. That's the hard part, isn't it?" she says in a kind voice. "For now, I'd say balance the two. Who knows? There may be a way to heal the rift between Norvys and Moryow."

I look up suddenly, wiping my cheeks hastily. "What do you mean? What way?"

She smiles, and for a moment I see a hint of that young, willowy women I saw years before. "You're going to have to find that out for yourself."

"But Granny Car-"

"Let's see how things are going." She gets to her feet, and I know that the conversation is over. She pushes open the cottage door just as the midwife is walking down the stairs.

"Ah! I was just on my way to get you." She says, nodding to me. "It's a girl. She's six pounds and fourteen ounces. They're waiting for you upstair-"

She doesn't get a chance to finish before I've dashed past her and into the bedroom. "Mum!"

"Shh!"

I skid to a halt at the sight of Mum cradling a small bundle wrapped in a blanket. She smiles up at me.

"Is…is she…"

"She's fine." Mum's smile widens. "She's just sleeping."

I walk over and peer down. I see a tiny, slightly squashed looking pink face, with Mum's nose and Rogers mouth and dark hair curling around her little face.

"Here." Mum raises the bundle. "Everyone else has a had a hold. I think it's big sister Sapphy's turn."

I look up and finally register Roger, who's sitting on the other side of the bed with a massive grin on his face, and Conor, who is sitting by the window staring at the baby with something close to reverence. I feel a stab of jealously. I'mConor's sister, not this intruder, this new sibling scraping her way in. I glance behind me and see Granny Carne standing in the doorway with raised eyebrows. She nods at me, gesturing for me to take the baby, and, reluctantly, I do so. She feels awkward in my arms, heavier than I expected. She shifts slightly, screwing up her face, and for a moment I'm scared she's going to start crying. But no. Her fist reaches out and her tiny starfish hand curls around my finger. She clutches it tightly for a moment before sleepily opening her eyes and blinking up at me. She has Roger's eyes, bright blue, the colour of the ocean I was looking at only minutes ago. She lets out a tiny yawn.

I stare down at my sister's little face and a sudden wave of love crashes over me like the waves which crash over the Bawns at high tide. All jealousy, all resentment, all bad feeling is immediately washes away, for the moment at least, is replaced by the fierce, overwhelming desire to love, to protect, to make sure that that this tiny child in my arms is always happy, no matter the cost to myself.

"Hello." I whisper, blinking fiercely lest the salt water of earlier try to make a reappearance. "I'm Sapphire. Your big sister. And I'm going to love you no matter what, okay?"

She blinks up at me, almost as if she understands, although of course she's much too young.

"What's she called?" I ask Mum, looking up at her, still cradling my sister gently in my arms.

"Well…we were wondering if you had any suggestions. None of the names we'd come up with seemed to fit." Mum say innocently, and immediately I detect a ploy, a plot to make sure I feel included, to make sure that I don't feel cast out. It niggles a little bit but I mentally brush it off. I know that the jealousy and resentment may rear their heads again sooner or later, but for now I'm going to focus on the positive. I look back down at the baby, and names stream through my head.

Morvah? Morvyn? Morveren?! Too Mer. My mer blood translates for me; sea grave, child of the sea, child of the mer…

Much too Mer. I'd be condemning her to swim off down a stream from the word go.

Elvira? No way. Again, too Mer, and no way I like Elvira enough to name my baby sister after her.

Another gemstone name? Aquamarine? Nah. Marina? Again, born of the sea…I need to steer away from the sea theme. My Mer blood protests noisily at this decision, but I ignore it. I know now that my Mer blood does not purely stem through my father's side, and I need to do something to ground my sister to earth.

Earth…something that will give her roots here…something that will protect her…something that no evil can pass…

"Rowan." I say, staring down at my sister. "I like Rowan."

I glance up and see the smile on Granny Carne's face, and this time I return it.

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