Disclaimer – I do not own BMT world, it belongs to Trudi Canavan.

Birth

The sun was growing stronger and perhaps the wind was a little less fierce these days. After several weeks of bitterly cold weather, swirling snowstorms and endless days filled with ice, a hint of spring-to-come had reached the tops of the Steelbelt Ranges. The land was still snow-covered and icicles still hung from the eaves, but the sky was bluer, with fewer clouds and the sun was striking sparkles from the ice-covered trees more frequently. Real spring was still weeks away, but Sonea could feel its approach and her spirits were lifted.

She was sitting by the window, so that the sunlight could fall directly upon her, sewing a small garment for the baby. A basket at her feet contained the other clothing she had made during the past few weeks. She laughed a little as she glanced down at it; sewing had never been a skill she had either been good at or enjoyed, but needs must, as her aunt would have said. The child would need clothing, and there was no one else to provide it. She had tried magic, constructing a spell to turn a piece of material into a baby's sleeping shirt, but the results had not pleased her. It had taken a lot of magic both to make the shirt and also shield herself during the process, and she had decided that it just wasn't worth the effort. Rather, to her surprise, she'd lately found sitting in the sun, stitching quietly very soothing and satisfying.

Takan had taken the news of the baby very well. His face had broken into a wide smile as he congratulated them both although Sonea got the strong impression that there was a sense of relief underpinning his reaction. Later, while Akkarin was outside he had taken the opportunity of speaking with her, telling her just how pleased he was that Akkarin would have another person to love and cherish. "It will make him think very carefully about risking his life in the future," he said with a grin.

Since then, both Takan and Akkarin had treated her at times as if she were made of some finely spun, and extremely fragile glass. If she hadn't complained loudly, they would have had her sit enthroned by the fire all day, while they did everything for her. As it was, it was difficult to persuade Takan to teach her to cook and he was forever warning her about sharp knives, hot flame and heavy pots until she wanted to scream. It was hard to convince the two men in her life that pregnancy was a natural condition, although over time she seemed to have some sort of success in that area.

As the weeks passed, her body grew larger and more awkward, her back ached if she was too active, so sitting by the fire became more of a necessity as the day wore on. Luckily she had not had any reoccurrence of the sharp throbbing pain, so she was able to forget about it for days at a time. However, there were times when she sat, her hands protectively curving around her swollen stomach, and tried to use her knowledge of Healing to see if the child was growing as it should. She could sense the alien magic, stronger now, and she got a faint impression of the child's physical body, but beyond that, she was blind. Nor had Akkarin done any better, when he tried to find the child within.

"Perhaps we should just let things be," he said after one such attempt. "It's a long time since I studied Healing and we may do more harm than good by trying to discover how the child is."

Sonea agreed quickly. At the back of her mind was the fear of what Mikido's strike had done. She didn't want Akkarin to worry. It will be all right, she reassured herself. Nothing much happened, it was only a lucky blow and did no damage.

Her major regret was the loss of lovemaking. Soon after he found out about the baby, Akkarin told her that they must not do anything to affect the child, and to her great disappointment, anything meant exactly that. So nights became a time for simply lying in his arms exchanging kisses and the occasional caress, but little else. She wondered how he could stand it because her own body constantly cried out for his. She longed for him to possess her, to release the flood of passion he created in her body, to find herself once more riding endless waves of pleasure and the more she was denied it, the more she wanted it. Sometimes it was difficult for her to conceal her longing. Yet, outwardly Akkarin remained his calm and at times distant self. She couldn't help but admire his self-control, even when it was used against her. All those days and nights alone in the wastelands, yet she'd had no idea that he'd had strong feelings for her. And now, in the closeness of their bed, he was still able to remain aloof from the needs of the flesh.

She placed the last stitch in the hem and cut the thread. She held up the garment and examined it closely. Her stitching, at the beginning so uneven and awkward, was now neat and precise. It really was true that practice led to better skills! She sorted the clothes into piles. Her aim had been to make six of everything so that there would always be clean garments available and she was almost finished, only another sleeping garment to make and perhaps an extra blanket for the cradle.

The cradle had been a surprise, made for her by Takan. It was a sturdy thing, made of carved wood and set on rockers. She noticed that he had also carved a design into the headboard. On closer inspection, she could see it was a 'V' set in a circlet of woven flowers and leaves. "'V' for family Verrin," Akkarin had said when he saw it, then noticing her surprised expression, went on, "Akkarin of family Delvon, House Velan is gone and our child will be the first of a new family."

She had mulled this over for some time. Although she had never really approved of the Houses because of the way they regarded dwells, being a noble and a member of an important House was her child's birthright. Was it right to deny the baby its heritage? She hadn't entirely given up hope that one day, they all might return to Imardin and had even dreamed of their child being welcomed by Akkarin's family. However, she remembered the implacable look in Akkarin's eyes when he insisted that his old self was gone and decided not to pursue the matter, at least for the moment. Perhaps in a year or two…..

She struggled to her feet and arched her back a little to relieve the ache. Her body was greatly swollen now, so the birth could not be too far away. She mentally counted up the weeks, perhaps in the next few days or at least by the end of the week, she felt, although she remembered her aunt once saying that first babies didn't have much sense of time and often were much later in arriving than anticipated.

She made some tea and sat gratefully down by the fire to sip it. Takan was outside dealing with the horses and Akkarin had gone to see if the trails were passable yet. Although they had tried to stock up with essentials before the worst of the weather, they were beginning to run low on one or two things and Takan was keen to try to reach the market.

She was still sitting by the fire when she heard Akkarin outside talking to Takan. After a few minutes, he came in, shaking snow and ice from his cloak and stamping his feet to dislodge anything caught up in his boots. He took the mug of tea she poured for him and sat opposite to warm his hands. His face was pink from the cold and he looked as if the walk through the snow had invigorated him. For a moment she envied him his lean body, and, glancing down at her own bulk, she pulled a face. She couldn't wait for the child to be born and her body once more to be her own.

"Is the trail open?" she asked hopefully, but he shook his head, "It's passable for about half an hour's hiking, but after that it's too dangerous. No, we're still stuck and by the look of things, we will be for several weeks yet."

"We'll just have to ration ourselves," she said cheerfully, "I was beginning to tire of that soup Takan is so fond of anyway!"

They spent the afternoon in the grandly named Library, in reality, the smaller room with the cupboard. There, Akkarin had created a fireplace, bought a sturdy table and two chairs from the village, all carried by horseback, and set out his books on some shelves. He had also bought pens, ink and parchment in the market, so the room was fully equipped to enable Sonea to continue her studies under Akkarin's watchful eye. She wasn't sure how Akkarin had managed to save the twenty or so books from his library in the Residence and typically he'd never explained, but she was glad that he had. She enjoyed studying the ancient texts and lessons with Akkarin were never dull.

As the light began to fade, lessons finished for the day. Akkarin replaced the book they had been studying on the shelves while Sonea tidied up her notes and put them into her box which she stored in the cupboard.

"You are a good student Sonea," he said warmly, "You grasp things quickly, I am very pleased with you."

She felt herself grow pink with embarrassment. It wasn't often that she received such praise; certainly few of her teachers in the Guild had bothered to draw attention to her work in a positive way. She looked up at him, certain that he was teasing her, but it was obvious that he was sincere in his approval.

She reached up to replace her box, but as she did so, she felt a sharp pain in her belly. She gasped in surprise and dropped the box back on the table with a bump. She bent over, trying to relieve the sharpness of the cramp-like pain. She felt Akkarin put his arm around her and heard his voice, but she couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. After a moment, the pain stopped and she straightened carefully.

"Are you all right?" Akkarin asked anxiously.

"I think so," she said. "But I think I would like to lie down for a moment."

Akkarin picked her up and carried her upstairs, placing her carefully on the bed. She rested against the pillows and looked at him, "I think the child is coming, not immediately, but soon….."

For a moment, a look of panic crossed his features, but it was so fleeting, she thought afterwards she must have imagined it, because he attended to her with his usual calm efficiency. She was covered with a warm blanket, its ends tucked in around her, and her pillows were plumped up and carefully placed to support her upper body. He left her briefly, but soon returned with a fresh mug of tea. He sat down on a stool beside the bed and took hold of her hand. She squeezed it gratefully.

"I remember my aunt saying the pains came in waves and I think that was the first one."

As she spoke, another thrust of pain caught her and she bit her lips to stop herself from crying out. She was aware of Healing trickling into her and the pain dulled a little. She smiled gratefully at Akkarin, but he frowned back at her.

"I'm not sure how much Healing to give you," he muttered, "I vaguely remember that Healers kept a very tight restriction on how much they gave women in childbirth. I didn't pay much attention at the time, as you can imagine – I was more interested in Healing for Warriors!"

After that, the evening became a time of pain, interspersed with periods when things were back to normal. During her pain-free periods, Sonea's sense of humour returned. She could see that neither of her companions had exaggerated when they said they knew very little about childbirth! Takan's people kept their women segregated during labour and no men had ever witnessed what when on, or so he said. As for Akkarin, the middle child of his family, he had hastily said that he had already been a novice and away at the Guild when his younger sister was born. She herself had only the vaguest notions of what went on, so the three of them were rather in the dark. Sonea just hoped that childbirth being a natural function, her body would know what to do and everything would turn out well.

After several hours of it, however, Sonea became more and more weary and longed with all her heart for it to be over. She lost interest in what was going on around her, but was vaguely aware of cool cloths placed on her forehead, of strong arms supporting her through the worst of the pain, helped with a very little Healing, and of someone constantly replenishing water, and bringing mugs of tea.

Towards the end, she took refuge in a semi-unconscious state, pushing the increasing pain away elsewhere, while she floated somewhere dark, warm and oh so comforting. She was suddenly ripped back to the present by a tremendous burst of pain, then it was all over, and she could hear Akkarin saying something and Takan joining in. Then a short time later bundle was pressed into her arms and she found herself looking down at a perfectly formed child.

"We have a son," Akkarin's voice held the faintest of tremors, "A healthy son."

She looked at her son's face. It was red, but he wasn't crying. His eyes were shut, his lashes a tiny dark crescent on each cheek, and he was breathing steadily. She felt the tears spill over and run down her cheeks. He is all right! There's no damage. Mikido did not harm our son!