Chapter 98 I don't own Merlin. I've decided to end it here, and make a second entry separately for when Cassie returns to Camelot. Like a volume two so it's not sooo big. Like this is massive! Nearly 100 chapters! But it will start from chapter 101. So, keep an eye out for a new story in the coming weeks. Maybe next month! Also, To LydiaCrazzy, thank you so much for your interest and your glowing review! I answered in your PM!
"Congratulations, King Gundemar. The people will love you." Cassie said with a deep curtsey and a wide smile as soon as the Coronation was over.
"Thank you, Princess." he said, his crinkling at the corners as he enjoyed the festivities.
"I abdicated, I no longer hold the title of royalty." Cassie told him matter-of-factly.
"You are still royalty." he replied in the same tone.
"Perhaps, but I have absolutely no stake on the throne, and neither do my children." Cassie told him as they looked out at the city's festivities. "I'll stay until Addie has her children. But I can't stay longer." she added in a much quieter voice.
"I understand." he said, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles. "Have you visited him? With the dream magic Gildas taught you."
"King Gundemar, I don't think this is appropriate." Cassie said with an embarrassed smile and a deep blush.
"We're friends. I already have my eye on another woman." he said with a chuckle, taking a sip of the wine from his goblet.
"Do you?" Cassie asked in amusement.
"Well, many women. I plan on courting them." he said with a chuckle, eating some grapes and watching the young children dance jovially in time with the music.
"At the same time?" Cassie asked, looking at him with a cocked eyebrow.
"Clearly not. I'll see who I like best." he said with a shrug, playfully pushing her away and laughing.
"Royal marriage is very different from noble marriage. Believe me." Cassie said with a roll of her eyes, shaking her head at his antics.
"I don't have a father to arrange it anymore."
"Then be happy. You deserve it." Cassie told him, smiling at her and curtseying before walking away. "I thought you already had your eye on the Baroness?"
"You never answered my question." he noted, stopping her from walking away any further. "Have you visited him?"
"Sorry, not answering. And you didn't answer mine."
"That's answer enough." he said, bowing to her and chuckling as she walked away. "And yes, among others."
"That was certainly an exciting ceremony." Addie commented, smiling as Gildas played with some of the kids and Cassie appeared beside her.
"He's great with kids." Cassie noted, smiling sweetly.
"You should see him with his own. Those two boys adore him." Addie said, tearing up. "I miss them so much."
"Oh, Addie, cry as much as you want, it'll pass in a few seconds." Cassie said, hugging her close for the fifteenth time that week.
"Are you teasing me?" she asked, sniffling and wiping her tears away.
"Yes, I am. You're about ready to go into labour any moment. Your mood swings are quite common.
"I am not having mood swings!"
"Gildas, your wife needs you again." Cassie thought, smiling as he happily said goodbye to the village kids and walked up to his wife with a wide smile.
"I'm dead on my feet. They have too much energy. You should go play with them, Princess."
"No, I cannot."
"Of course you can." he said, winking at her. "It's not like you have to be all prim and proper."
"Maybe not, but I have to honour my mother's teachings. She always taught me to guard propriety and remain the dutiful Princess of the House of Flavia." Cassie said, looking at the kids running around and smiling. "Gewyrcan lif."
"Beautiful." Addie said, crying once more as hundreds of butterflies appeared all around the children and made them giggle and look around in awe.
"Come, you need to rest. Too much excitement." Cassie said, winking at Gildas and walking with her to their chambers. "I do hope you won't get up and walk around, you're due any day now."
"Yes, Casiopea." Adenora said with an annoyed sigh, rolling her eyes and laying down on the bed.
"I'll check in on you later." Cassie told them with a sweet smile. "Get some rest."
"Goodbye, mother." Adenora told her, rolling her eyes and closing her eyes, sleep claiming her quickly.
"Cassie, she's in labour." Gildas said, waking her up and turning back to his groaning wife.
"I have done this before, Gildas. As have you." she panted, sweat gleaming on her brow as she stood up and walked around.
"Yes, but Cassie said-"
"Cassie should stay asleep. Besides you know the courtiers will only ridicule her more, poor thing."
"She wants to be here, Addie. Besides, she's here already." he said, nodding at the door that opened and closed without anyone in sight.
"You're supposed to be in bed." she chastised, appearing out of nothing and smirking at her.
"And you're supposed to be sleeping."
"Not a chance in hell, Addie. I'm seeing those kids born. You can't stop me." she said, going behind the screen and changing out of her fine dress.
"Gildas can do it, Cassie. There's no need for you to-"
"Addie, I like doing this. Please, let me."
"I'm only thinking about your reputation here, Cassie."
"They already think I'm common; I'm leaving as soon as I can. I don't really care what they think." Cassie said softly, gently pushing her onto the bed. "Try and get as comfortable as you can. Gildas, prop her up from behind."
"I can help you."
"If anything, it'll be me helping you." Cassie said with a soft sigh, as she got up and sat behind Addie. "I'll prop her up and you'll deliver."
"I thought-"
"Oh, will you just do it!" Addie screamed at him, her eyes glowing golden as she lit the fireplace.
"I'll take care of that." Cassie said, dousing it with water and casting a silencing charm just in case. "How long?"
"Too long." Gildas answered, looking at his wife and kissing her hand gently. "I can cast the spell."
"No! No thank you, that's just crazy." Addie said, shaking her head.
"There's a spell?"
"It induces a quicker labour."
"Yes, and it's bloody painful, there's no way I'm going through that again." Addie said, squeezing Cassie's hand as she felt was a wave of contractions.
"It doesn't force contractions, does it?" Cassie asked, looking slightly sick.
"No, but it induces them, makes them come quicker. And she was in labour for thirty hours with our twins." he said, looking at her compassionately."Our other twins."
"Oof, rough." Cassie said, wincing.
"I'd rather wait another thirty hours than feel that again." Addie said, breathing heavily.
"What does it feel like?" Cassie asked, looking curiously at them.
"Like hell!" Addie said, glaring at Gildas to make her stop asking questions.
"Cassie, no more questions." he told her, adding mentally. "She'll kill us if you do."
"Okay, I can try to ease the pain. I've never actually tried it before but I kind of want to see if it works. I don't really have any idea, and I can see if there's any henbane or datura but I don't know how much of it would hurt the babies. I mean I can maybe dilute it just enough to-"
"Cassie!" both of her companions shouted at her, shutting her up with an exasperated look.
"Sorry. Maybe I could just talk you to sleep." Cassie said, biting her lower lip and considering how she could help.
"Or maybe you can just be quiet and let her break your fingers when it comes time to push." Gildas said, smirking at her in understanding.
"I could hurt you, you know." Cassie said, glaring at him intensely.
"I could stop you. I'm smarter." he told her, winking at his wife jokingly.
"Well older. Age before beauty." Cassie pointed out, smirking at him.
"Hell, I'm better looking than you." he said, chuckling as Addie slapped him with her magic. "What it's true!"
"Shut up and tell me how much longer!" she cried, breathing between her teeth.
"Nowhere near time." he said, covering her up again and going to the bowl of water to wash the sweat off her brow.
"Ugh, I hate you so much. Leave until Cassie calls you." she spat at him, glaring at his retreating back.
"You know he loves you."
"Too much, sometimes. Especially on boats." she muttered, closing her eyes and groaning in pain.
"Oh, please. You told me just this morning how happy you were." Cassie said.
"Well, I wasn't in pain this morning." she said, snapping, letting her head fall back on her friend's chest.
"You know, this is the first time I've had to stay all the labour. I don't know what to do." she said, chuckling awkwardly as the sun began to rise in the sky.
"You're doing fine, sweetie." Addie said, closing her eyes and breathing through another contraction.
"Let me check your dilation." Cassie said, gently pulling her hand out of her grasp and getting off the bed. "Gildas, Addie needs you."
"So?" she asked, looking worriedly at her.
"Not yet, sorry." Cassie said, washing her hands. "I'll go get some more water and see if I can't get some caldo from the kitchen."
"Some what?"
"Erm, I'm not sure what it's called. Soup but without the meat and vegetables." she said as she washed her hands and went behind the screen to change into her fine dress.
"Broth."
"If you say so." Cassie said, leaving them alone and walking towards the kitchens.
"Mi Rei-, Princesa, como la puedo ayudar?"
"Podría mandar un caldo a la habitación de mis huéspedes? Nada fuerte que está en trabajo de parto." Cassie asked sweetly, smiling and accepting a plate of breakfast for herself.
"Si, Princesa." the woman said, curtseying and clearing a place for her to eat while she turned around and went to the back to get a hen and prepare the meal.
"Princesa, necesita algo más?" a woman asked as she finished and went to stand up.
"No, gracias. Solo que me lo manden con dos platos." she said, smiling and gently squeezing the woman's shoulder. "Que tenga un buen día."
"Gracias, Princesa. Le deseo lo mismo." she said, standing there, stunned.
"How're you doing?" Cassie asked with a sweet smile, walking in and closing the door quickly.
"Wipe that smile off your face, Cassie." Adenora snapped, the veins in her forehead practically bulging.
"So, the same." she said, sitting down beside her and placing her hand above her womb.
"You're teetering on dangerous grounds, Cassie." Gildas warned her, showing his swollen finger.
"Guess it wasn't my hand she broke." Cassie said, taking it in hers with a soft sigh and closing her eyes. "Ġehǣlan."
"Thanks." he said, holding his wrist and flexing his fingers.
"No problem." Cassie said with a friendly smile, standing up and walking towards the screen, stopping only when they heard a knock at the door. "I'll open it."
"Princess, I've come to wish your guests congratulations. I hear your friend has given birth."
"It's very kind of you, my Lord, but she still hasn't."
"My wife and I would like to gift this as a congratulations. We hope it is to their liking." he said, presenting her with a lovely blanket for the baby.
"It's lovely, my Lord. I'm sure they'll love it." she said sweetly, curtseying to him and waiting for him to leave.
"Who was it?"
"Lord Elías. You should expect many gifts like this. The nobel vying to win my favour so they can be in good standing with the new King." Cassie said, smiling at them and thinking of how they would transport all the gifts. "Want me to make another trunk?" she asked with a wide smile.
"I think we can manage." Gildas said, wincing as his wife squeezed his hand hard.
"I'll change and check." Cassie said, rolling her eyes and disappearing in front of their eyes.
"I respect you enough to not look. Besides, Addie would kill me."
"Yes, and Addie's right here." she added, elbowing him in the gut and glaring at Cassie.
"Hey, he's your husband, no reason to take this out on me." Cassie mumbled, checking her dilation and smiling. "Besides, you might want to save that energy. At least for another half hour, you're close. But don't push until we say so."
"Finally!" Addie gasped. "At least it wasn't a day and a half of this torture!"
"I'll come back in a bit. Let you get the brunt of the abuse." Cassie said jokingly, grinning at him.
"She's a real pain." Gildas said, locking the door as she walked out and kissing his wife gently. "Where do you want me?"
"I don't know." Addie said, closing her eyes and gripping his strong arm as he hugged her tightly. "Where do you want to be?"
"Watching over you." he said, smiling softly.
"Then deliver them. I'll break Cassie's hand as payback."
"Payback for what?" he asked, chuckling as she smiled and said. "Keeping me away from my kids for so long."
"If she hadn't asked us, we wouldn't be this close to welcoming two more." he told her soothingly kissing her temple..
"Or had so many wonderful nights together." she added, groaning and biting her lip hard to keep from screaming again.
"I can't remember the last time we had such freedom." he agreed, chuckling and taking a deep breath. "I wouldn't trade that freedom for playing with my sons any day."
"I hope we have a girl."
"I hope we don't have two! Imagine me having to scare off boys for hundreds of years!" he joked, smiling as she chuckled and groaned through another contraction.
"They'd ignore you." she said with heavy breaths. "For the most part."
"Cassie. They're closer together. Few minutes at most."
"Coming." she replied, walking back calmly as the courtiers greeted her.
"You took your sweet time getting here."
"The courtiers demanded my attention. Cassie said, her magic locking the door as she sat behind Addie and held her hand.
"Is it time to push?" she asked, looking between her legs where Gildas was.
"Not yet, a few more minutes, darling." he said, covering her up and washing his hands once more.
"UGH!" she groaned, her eyes going to the back of her head.
"You're okay, sweetie." Cassie said softly, wiping her sweaty brow and softly whispering to her as she whimpered in pain.
"You can push when I tell you to, darling." Gildas said, nodding at the two women and watching as the baby's head crowned. "Okay, now."
"Ow." Cassie muttered to herself, holding her breath as she felt her finger break.
"A few more pushes, love." Gildas said, clearing the baby's airway and seeing another contraction coming. "Okay, push." he said calmly, freeing the baby's arms. "Just one more push. Now."
"You're very calm." Cassie noted as she heard the baby cry, smiling sweetly and wiping her friend's brow clean of the sheen of sweat.
"I've done this quite a few times, Cassie."
"I thought you only had children with Addie." Cassie asked as her friend fainted from exhaustion against her.
"Not my own. But I have been alive for over 300 years. I do believe one or two people have been born in that time." he said jokingly, handing her the baby and smiling as she cooed at it and held it close to her mother's bosom. "Wake her up, there's still my other one."
"Yes, sir." Cassie said mockingly, using her magic to rouse Addie as she stared tearfully at the baby.
"Are you ready?" Gildas asked, watching as the second one started crowning.
"No." she said, looking at Cassie and nodding for her to take the baby and keep it warm.
"Sorry, love, you're going to have to push now." Gildas said, nodding at her and sparing a glance as Cassie lit the fire and held the child close to keep her warm.
"Are they okay?" Addie asked weakly, her eyes searching the room for Cassie.
"You have a beautiful and healthy baby girl right here." she said, smiling and walking up to the bed.
"And a strong son." Gildas added, sitting beside Addie and helping her sit up against him.
"They're gorgeous." she said happily, taking them in her arms and crying.
"I'm very happy for you, Addie. Gildas. I'll leave the happy family alone."
"Cassie, wait." she said, stopping her from leaving with a gentle gaze. "You are family. I wanted to- Meet Cassie."
"You picked a great name, Addie. Us Cassies are pretty and strong." she said with a wide smile, tears falling down her face in happiness.
"She probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't for you, Cass." Gildas said with a wide smile, nodding at her quickly before looking back down at his children.
"I'll leave you two alone with them. Get some rest, you deserve it." she said, smiling at them with twinkling eyes and leaving them looking down happily at their arms.
"Princess, are they-"
"Beautiful, healthy boy and girl. And long, painful labour. Let's let them rest."
"You must be tired too. Have you had any sleep?"
"I've gone much longer without sleep, King Gundemar. I am perfectly fine."
"Does this mean you'll be leaving soon?"
"No, I don't think so. Those children need time before we travel so far." Cassie said with a soft smile.
"You know, for once I'm happy the distance is so great." Gundemar told her, chuckling lightly as she stopped in front of her door and turned to face him.
"I will miss you. You're a good man."
"I try my best, Princess." he said, smiling at her. "Sleep tight. I do not want to see you before lunch tomorrow. You have not slept a wink. Consider that an order from your sovereign."
"You should know by now, my sovereign is King Arthur."
"He's Prince, isn't he?"
"H-he's Crown Prince, but I don't like Uther at all. He's not my King."
"You could be executed for that."
"His laws don't frighten me. I know how to hide well enough to escape his notice."
"You couldn't escape anyone's notice." he said.
"You couldn't stop flattering me if you tried, could you?" Cassie asked him with a teasing smile.
"Stop flattering beautiful women? Absolutely not! Even if it'll get me nowhere." he told her, winking at her and bowing low. "Good night, beautiful woman."
"It's afternoon, bothersome man." Cassie replied jokingly, curtseying and winking at him teasingly.
"I think we'll take you up on the offer to make another one of those trunks." Addie said as she held her wailing child and wrapped him in one of the blankets that had been given to them.
"Cool!" Cassie said, brightening up and looking around at all their belongings. "Can it be a bag? It's much easier than having to spell them to shrink and extend them at the same time. Took me years to manage that one."
"Of course! We can use this one! Lady Emmelina gifted it yesterday." Addie said, looking around the cluttered room and handing her a wide leather bag.
"Great, I'll get it to you later. Can I hold her?" Cassie said, slinging the bag over her shoulder and going over to the crib.
"I appreciate the help. Gildas and I practically went mad with my other boys."
"As if I would miss spending time with the most beautiful girl in the world!" Cassie said, playing with the baby girl and making funny faces.
"I think in a couple months we could go. Once they're old enough for such a long journey." Addie said, sitting down next to Cassie and smiling at her babies.
"If it's for me, please don't rush. I would hate it if anything were to happen to them because you thought I-"
"It's for us, Cassie. We haven't seen our boys in too long, Gildas's father is getting weaker. We miss them all." Addie said softly, smiling at her friend.
"I didn't think about them when I asked you here. I'm sorry. It was selfish of me."
"Gildas and I needed our time alone. If it weren't for you…" she said with a smile, lifting her baby to her face and looking at her friend. "These beautiful babies wouldn't exist."
"Well, they are beautiful. Are babies able to be taken dreamwalking?"
"No, Gildas and I won't risk it. I just hope we can get there in time for Gildas's father to meet them."
"I'm sure you will, especially with the portals. No boats."
"Well, one boat."
"I remember seeing a point on the map that was close enough for us to open a portal to cross the sea. I'll go through first, and then let you know it's safe, but…"
"We'll cross that strait when we get to it, Cass. You've done enough." she said softly, looking up as Gundemar and Gildas walked in the room.
"Sorry for the mess, we're-"
"No worries. You should have seen my chambers when I was in Narbonne… Mother yelled at me every day even though we have servants. I didn't understand it."
"I can hazard a guess." Cassie commented as he walked to her and looked into her arms.
"Beautiful girl and boy, you have my congratulations." he said sincerely, letting the baby girl grab his finger. "Strong grip."
"Thank you, King Gundemar." she said with a wide smile, watching as he looked adoringly at the baby. "Would you like to hold her?"
"It would be my pleasure." he said, taking the girl in his strong arms and gently bouncing her. "I can't imagine how proud you two must be if I'm proud of these two angels."
"Thank you, Gundemar." Gildas said, smiling proudly at his daughter. "Part of me is glad it's only one girl."
"Next twins will be two girls, then they'll be even." Addie said, glaring at him.
"Excuse me, I have a council meeting to get to." Gundemar said, chuckling in amusement. "Make her sleep, she looks tired." he added, nodding to Cassie and kissing Adenora on the cheek.
"I'm not tired."
"Maybe not, but you do have bags under your eyes. Take a nap while we put the twins to sleep." Gildas said, taking the baby from Gundemar and nodding as he chuckled and left the room.
"I'm not a child!"
"Compared to me, you are. Get some sleep or else I'll make you."
"Fine." Cassie said, rolling her eyes and going to the door. "But I'm not sleeping on your bed."
"It's not like it's contagious." Gildas called after her, laughing happily as she slammed the door in her wake.
"Now look at what you did." Addie chided, soothing her children as they wailed from the sudden noise.
"Oh, hush." he said, his eyes glowing softly as he let his magic calm their cries and watched them look around curiously for the source of the warmth with odd gurgling sounds.
"I forgot about that." Addie said softly, smiling at her husband with doting eyes.
"I noticed. Get some rest, too. You deserve it. I'll keep watch over them."
"You'll keep watch over them?" Addie repeated, chuckling slightly. "We aren't in danger."
"No, but watching them sleep is amazing. And I'm not tired. You are."
"Thanks, darling. Wake me up if anything happens."
"Or if they're hungry." he said, winking at her as she placed her baby in the crib and went to the bed.
"Or if they're hungry." she repeated with a sleepy smile, turning onto her side and closing her eyes.