Chapter One : The Birth

Beneath the mountain, one would only find stone and sorrow. The once ancient mountain defiled and tarnished, carved out piece by piece, until a mockery of a court was housed beneath the surface. Rooms carved out, just as skin would later be.

Beneath the mountain.

It was a phrase whispered in grief. A phrase whispered in agony and fear. A phrase that defined the life of those trapped in sorrow, deep beneath the magic of The Middle that should have protected their kind.

Beneath the mountain.

It was a place that defiled the rules of their kin. A place that stripped even the highborn lords of their power and might. A place where lesser fae and lords were equally worthless.

Beneath the mountain.

It was also a place where, despite all the odds, new life begins.

"It will be okay, Luciana. Just a few more pushes."

The soothing voice of her lover was interrupted by her sudden scream. The sound echoing off the stone walls that had become her cell for the past two years. Luciana's wide blue eyes turned to her lover, his deep brown reflecting the fear that she was certain was in her own gaze. She could feel his magic, the feather light tendrils that he kept trying to push into her. The strength of his healing magic doing nothing for the pain that she was in. Luciana let out another agonizing scream as she threw her head back against the pillow.

"Luci, please. Stay with me."

She openly wept at the sound of his voice. The soothing words that he had been trying to use giving way to the desperation that they both felt.

Desperation for her to live. Desperation for this birth not to happen, not now. They both knew that as soon as the babe took a breath, it would be the last for one of them. Whether it was mother, father, or the babe, one of them was not making it out of the room. The stones that surrounded them for the past two years, would be their grave.

"Thesan, I can't… She'll kill us."

A low growl rippled through Thesan's throat. His dark eyes seemingly going black in the shadows of the mountain.

"She can't. I am a high lord. There are rules."

Luciana let out a strangled laugh, quickly accompanied by a pained grimace as another contraction took over her body.

"We both know that our rules meaning nothing, down here. We mean nothing, down here." She let out a weak laugh, less malicious and more despaired, as her wide blue eyes opened to look at her lover. "We wouldn't even be here, if it was not for her rules."

Thesan released a sigh, as the hand not trapped in her vice grip reached up to smooth her damp hair away from her forehead. His fingers traced back down the side of her face in a slow and tender motion, until it rested against her cheek. He could feel the flush of her skin, and tried to push a bit more healing magic into her to cool her down. The golden tendrils did not make it past his fingertips. The normally endless well inside of him feeling like the single tear drop that rolled off his lash.

"She has nothing to do with this… with us. She could force her hand all she wanted, but this," he held her tighter as his eyes screamed with intensity. "This is ours, my sweet little bird."

The tidal wave of tears that Luciana was already releasing seemed to increase ten fold. "And yet she takes it from us, just like everything else." Her breathy exclamation was met with another scream.

"Don't tell me you started without me?"

The sultry voice was full of sarcasm as it called out from the doorway. Luciana and Thesan took one last longing look at each other, causing the figure to tsk as heeled shoes signaled her approach to the birthing bed.

"And here I thought you understood the rules by now, my sweet little bird."

The mocking tone, the use of his endearment, and the situation that she had put them in caused Thesan's eyes to snap towards the source.

Amarantha stood at the end of the bed, hand reaching out to the thin sheet that covered what was left of Luciana's modesty, and pulled. Any sound of protest from Thesan was interrupted by yet another harsh scream from Luciana. Amarantha's lips pulled into a predatory grin at the sound. Her eyes flickered down to the spot between Luciana's legs, where Thesan knew the babe would soon make an appearance.

"Such a shame that the healers could not make it. What with the Summer court needing them after yesterday's session," Amarantha stated in a tone that was dripping with falsified pity. She ran a nail down the inside of Luciana's thigh. The blackened point coming to rest far to close to the most intimate parts of her. "Is Thesan going to catch the babe? Or shall I?"

Thesan was quick to push Amarantha out of the way, regardless of the consequence he knew would come later. He was a healer, and even without his magic he would make sure that his babe arrived safely into the world. Safely, at least in the physical sense. Amarantha was right. Thesan could already see the dark hair that shone with the golden streaks of dawn; the babe would arrive shortly.

Replacing Amarantha's claw with his own gentle touch, he softly squeezed the thigh of his lover. "One more push, Luci. You are almost finished."

Had Thesan known that he prophesized the red headed devil's next move, he would have never spoken. As he was focused to catch the sun-kissed babe, the witch crept behind the soon to be mother.

Luciana's eyes were squeezed tight, an aching howl slipping past her lips, before the pressure that felt like it had been consuming her for the better part of the day lessened. The wails echoing off the walls ceased being from her agonized screams, and were replaced by the high pitched sound of the babe. Her blue eyes opened wide as she looked down at the babe, still red and wailing, in her lovers arms.

"A daughter."

Thesan whispered as he looked down at the mess of a babe writhing in his arms. His eyes, full of joy flashed up to look at Luciana. Joy quickly turning to horror, as he watched the red headed witch slash her sharp black nails against her throat.

Smile still gracing her lips, Luciana fell back to the bed with a harsh thump.

"Shame the healers couldn't make it. Child birth is such a dangerous thing." The words were muffled in Thesan's ears. A distant ringing, as he looked upon the woman that he had come to love lying still in their bed. He did not move. He did not even blink, until he sensed the red witch trying to pull the now quite babe from his arms with a distasteful scoff.

"She couldn't have even given us a high fae. It's a dirty half breed."

The sneering comment brought Thesan's eyes back down to the babe in his arms. Coated in blood, he noticed the white downy feathers that clung to her wet body.

"A Peregryn. What a waste."

With a final glance at the still stoic high lord, the Queen of the Mountain left to deliver the news to her court. The subtle implication of what happened to Luciana, all alone with no healers, to be used as further evidence that even the high lords were not safe from her wrath. This did not matter to Thesan, though.

As Thesan cradled the babe closer to himself, he looked up in time to have his heart beating through his chest. From the still form of his lover, her stomach continued to rise and swell. The movements frantic. He watched, in grotesque wonder, as he recognized the all too familiar motion of small feet pushing against her swollen belly. A movement that he had not only seen, but felt, these past few months.

"Thesan, I came as soon as I heard."

The panting voice of the dark lord forced his eyes away. Without a moment of hesitation, Thesan was standing on his feet, head inclined towards his lover's stomach, as he forced out the words he needed to say; the first since her death.

"There is another babe. Cut her open."

Rhysand's eyes followed Thesan's to the still body of his lover. Only, there was no movement to be seen. Rhysand looked back to Thesan, worry and sorry etched into the lines on his face as his dark brows lowered in remorse.

"I'm sorry, my friend." Rhysand began, in an attempt to placate the delusional high lord.

"I know what I have seen!" Thesan snapped. His golden-brown eyes blazing with the rage of the rising sun as he opened his mind to the fae, knowing that he was always trying to listen to those around him. For the briefest moment, Rhysand's purple eyes glassed over, as he took in the scene that had occurred only seconds before, then he was striding over to the cooling body of the woman on the bed.

"I'm sorry," Rhysand's muttered apology was lost to Thesan, as the sound of flesh tearing echoed off the walls of the room. Thesan grimaced, as he pulled the babe in his arms further into his chest. The sound of the blade was followed by silence, but only for the briefest moment. Then, the high-pitched wailing of a babe filled the space, once again. This time, not from the infant wrapped in her father's arms, but the one being pulled from the body of her mother by the Lord of the Night.

"Thesan, I am so sorry." Rhysand stated as he approached the Dawn Lord with the other babe; a daughter. Thesan looked from the babe, now quiet, in his arms to the writhing and screaming girl before him. Both with his brown hair streaked with the golden rays of dawn and sun-kissed skin, even if they might never see the sun. His breath caught, as he noted another pair of wet-slicked downy-white set of feathers stuck to the other babe's back.

"Seraphim."

The word was muttered in such a quiet reverence, that the Lord of Night barely picked up on the utterance. Had Thesan been in a clearer state of mind, it would have never been spoken. As it was, his lover laid in their bed with her throat and stomach tore apart, and he was left to rot in her tomb with the children that they had created. His golden-brown eyes flashed to that of the Night Lord, before reaching forward and pulling the other babe into his open arm. With both girls cradled to his chest his reverence turned to anger as his gazed fixed on the scene before him.

"Get out of our rooms," Thesan snapped before the Lord. With no hesitation, the dark lord retreated from the brutal scene. Thesan quickly used the heel of his boot to push the door close, before sliding against it to the floor. From this position, he could not see his lover, only the blood that was beginning to leak onto the stone floor beneath their bed.

The same stone that would be her tomb, would be the room that his daughter's would be forced to grow up in. In that moment of realization, Thesan wept.