It was a dull, squeezing pain that awoke Val that morning. She wasn't even sure what time it was, but there was a choking darkness as her eyes snapped open. Her breath was jagged as it forced its way through her parted lips, and she barely managed to push the blankets from her before her body finally relaxed.

"Alright, alright, little one- calm down," Val whispered, judging the warm sensation pooling at the pit of her belly to be the usual urge to go to the privvy and slowly bringing her legs over the side of the bed. She couldn't straighten properly as she sat there, and a dewy sweat covered her brow as she pushed both palms into the mattress to stand herself up.

The second her feet touched the floor, they were hit by a large, thick rush of fluid that came from between Val's legs.

Oh hells.

"Varian," she squeaked, glancing behind her at the still snoring High King.

"Varian," she repeated, raising her voice a little. But still, he couldn't hear her.

"Varian! For fuck sake, wake up!"

That did the trick, and a frazzled Varian sat bolt upright.

"What? Val, whazz happenin'?!" he asked groggily, and Val simply kept staring at the puddle covering the floor.

"My waters have just broken- that's what's bloody well happening," she explained coolly.

"Woman, I swear, if this is a joke…" Varian started, but one look at Val's terrified face told him it wasn't.

Suddenly, he was very, veryawake. With a loud curse, he all but jumped from the bed and came around to where Val was stood.

"Careful, it's everywhere," she warned, but Varian ignored her. He instead took her hand and put his other arm across her back so that he could guide her away from the mess and over to her chair.

"Have you had any pains?" Varian asked, using the same straight-to-the-point tone that he would with a soldier.

"Aye- it's what woke me just now. I have no idea whether that was the first though," Val admitted, feeling completely out of her comfort zone already.

"Then let's both pray that you're only in the early stages," Varian muttered, and with a few strong strides, he threw their chamber door open.

"Jon!" he barked, alerting the half asleep Captain of the Guard.

"Go down to the Cathedral dormitories, and inform Sister Gertrude that the Queen's waters have just broken," Varian instructed, and the curly haired man swiftly obeyed the High King's nerve ridden order.

"Varro, fetch Nan and Cathy. Light knows we're going to need them today."

"Do you want me to get Mrs. Glenmore as well, Your Majesty?" Varro questioned, and Varian turned back to his wife.

"Did you want your Grandmother, Sweetheart?"

"No! Not yet, she'd only stress me the hells out," Val replied, using her elbows to lift her belly in a vain attempt to alleviate some of the discomfort.

"You heard the woman, leave it for now. But stand ready…just in case," Varian relayed, and it didn't take a scholar to realise what 'just in case' meant. This was the day that they'd all been anticipating, and absolutely dreading in equal measure.

But Varian couldn't dwell on the 'what ifs' of today. He had a wife to take care of.

"Right then, let's get you out of those wet clothes, eh?" he suggested, kneeling in front of her and helping her peel her nightdress from her clammy skin.

"You're shaking more than I am," Val pointed out with a weak chuckle.

"Don't be absurd. I'm fine, honestly," Varian lied, bundling the silk in both hands and dumping it into the hamper on his way to get her dresscoat.

"We'll get the bath running now, so we're not sitting here for waiting an age for it," he continued, and Val managed another croaked laugh.

"Have this all planned out, do you?" she teased, and now it was Varian's turn to smirk.

"No…but I know you have," he rebutted, causing Val's cheeks to turn a dusty pink.

"Oh, you nosy cunt," she grumbled, knowing full well that he must've found the sketchy birth plan that she and Gertrude had written up the last time the sister had been to the Keep.

"I'm sure that's not the worst thing you're going to call me today," Varian said, and as much as she wanted to argue with him, Val couldn't bring herself to do it. She had heard horror stories about the monsters that Glenmore women turned into during childbirth, and if things hurt this much now, she was sure that she'd go through the same transformation later on.

"They're still moving…that's a good sign," she said, trying to distract herself.

"It is," Varian agreed, ducking into the washroom.

"How's your head? Does it hurt at all? Anything with your vision?" he reeled off, obviously well versed in the symptomatic signs of Toxemia by this point.

"All fine. It's my back that's killing me," Val assured him.

"I'm sorry to say that's rather the norm, from what I've heard," Varian clarified, coming back and taking the stool from her vanity. Val didn't even resist as he lifted her feet onto it and took one knee beside her.

"Don't be scared, love. I'm right here," Varian said softly, and Val tried to muster a smile, really she did.

"It's hard not to be scared. No matter how this goes, I have absolutely zeroidea of what's about to happen," she confessed, and Varian's strong fingers squeezed hers.

"It'll all come naturally as the day progresses, Sweetheart, and you'll have the sister here to guide you every step of the way," Varian said in an act of reassurance, but from the look on her face, it hadn't worked as well as he'd expected.

"You'll be here as well though, right?" Val asked, and Varian gave her a warm smile.

"I will be exactly where you need me to be. And if that means not leaving your side, then that suits me just fine," Varian told her, and a relief rushed onto Val's flushed face.

"I don't think I could do this without you," she admitted, making her husband chuckle in disagreement.

"You say that as if I'm going to prove any sort of help," Varian quipped.

"Oh, there's plenty you can help with; tea making, back rubbing…all the things you've been doing for the past seven moths, come to think of it," Val joked, but Varian could see something rather sinister brewing behind her grin.

"I'm just going to grab my watch so that we can start timing things, love, I'll be just a second," he told her, and Val reluctantly let go of his hand so that he could quickly cross to his bedside.

"Do you think we should get someone to tell Anduin about what's going on?" Val asked, shifting her hips as a dull ache started creeping along them again.

"I'm going to sound rather callous, but I'm of the view that we should just let the lad sleep and get on with his day as usual as possible," Varian replied, opening his pocket watch and wiping the glass face with a thumb.

"Aye, because that's a realistic plan, isn't it?" Val snapped, and Varian noticed her hands beginning to tremble.

"Please tell me that you remembered to put new wards up," she grunted, with heavy pants acting as a signal to the High King as he came back to join her.

"It wouldn't matter even if I didn't. If you need to make noise, Sweetheart, you damn well do it."

She didn't shout or swear, as he'd half expected her to. But Varian watched as her face contorted as if she were sucking the world's most bitter lemon, and her fingers dug deep enough into the velvet of her chair to make her knuckles turn white.

"Breathe, Val- breathe your way through," Varian chanted, using what little knowledge he'd retained from the onemidwifery journal that he'd skimmed during her pregnancy with Elliot.

"Don't start about the fucking breathing already, Varian, or I willend up decking you," Val grunted, moaning through gritted teeth as the contraction took proper hold. An angry redness crept up her neck, and her backside lifted from the seat as she tried moving her body to weaken the pain.

Completely heeding her warning and knowing damn well that she'd make good on it, Varian stayed silent. However, that didn't stop him from aiding her as she turned over in the chair and knelt with her forehead against the backrest.

She would be sure to thank him later for the force he put behind the butt of his hand as it rubbed at the small of her back. There was no way of telling whether it was actually doing anything, but it felt nice, which was enough for her. Finally, the clenching began to ebb, and a sigh left her burning lungs as everything calmed down once again.

"Ninety seconds. But I have no idea how long it's been since the last, so that's less than useful," Varian muttered, closing his watch and taking Val's hands. She slowly clambered from the chair, and instead sat on the cool stone floor, with her top half leaning against her husband's chest.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll get a chance to find out soon enough," she mumbled, feeling positively drained already.

"Well, let's hope the damn midwife gets here quickly then," Varian said, getting to his feet. He offered to lift her, but it was fervently refused, so he pulled her up and put her arm around his instead.

"I don't exactly enjoy the prospect of explaining to our child that they have brain damage because I didn't catch them in time."

"Shut up, you big idiot," Val half-heartedly scolded, and with slow, careful steps, Varian managed to get her to the washroom in time to hear their chamber door open.

"Nan?" he called, glad to hear the maid's confirming reply of 'Yes, Your Majesty'. she appeared at the door with her blonde counterpart, and despite the early hour, they seemed ready for duty.

"Ser Varro told us that Her Majesty's labour's started?" Nan questioned, and Varian nodded while he guided his wife to the edge of the bath.

"It has. Do me a favour, and turn down the bed ready for when the midwife gets here. Cathy, take those towels through and get the fire going," Varian instructed, and once again, they followed his command without question, and to the letter.

Val groaned in contentment the second that her feet touched the pleasantly warm water, and with Varian's calloused palms holding her steady, she lowered herself in until she was fully submerged.

"How's that feel?" Varian asked, kissing both of her shoulders and bringing her hair back.

"Heavenly," Val admitted, and a sluggish hand waved itself over the arch of her bump, which was just breaking the surface. "It's taking the weight off."

"Good- you stay in there as long as you need to, love," Varian said, rolling up the legs of his trousers and hanging his feet either side of her.

"Do you think you could stomach some tea and toast? You're going to need your energy," he asked, kneading the nape of her neck with his thumbs.

"Probably? I don't thinkthat I'll be sick, so we may as well try," Val said, closing her eyes and biting her lip.

"It feels like there's an orc shoving its hand in me and squeezing every organ it can find," she grumbled, and while he knew it was a risky move considering her mood, Varian couldn't help but chuckle.

"Don't mince your words, will you, Sweetheart?" he said, glancing at his open watch, which sat next to him…just in case.

"Well, it does," Val barked, and she leant forward with her hands on her thighs.

"Another one? Already?" Varian asked worriedly, but thankfully, Val shook her head.

"No…yes…maybe? I can't fucking tell," she said, blowing out the air that she'd sucked in through her teeth. "Knowing me, it's probably just a big bloomin' fart."

"I'm scared to laugh at that, in case you slap me for it," Varian admitted, and to her credit, even Val cracked up at that one.

"I can safely promise you that I won't be resorting to physical violence today, love," Val swore, but Varian seemed rightfully skeptical.

"I'll remind you of that when you've got your hands around my throat later on, shall I?"

"...Alright, I'll trynot to resort to physical violence," Val amended.

"I thought as much," Varian said.

"Oh, and if I scream 'this is all your fault'…I'm completely lying," Val added, standing up to see if it made anything better.

"Well, I would've come to that conclusion anyway, seeing as we were boththere when this baby was conceived," Varian pointed out. However, he noticed the face she was pulling and lost all desire to tease her further.

"If the baby wasn't pressing down hard enough to make me not want to move, I would most definitely slap you," Val warned, well aware that she'd contradicted herself at least four times in the past five minutes, but not really caring.

"Not so far down that you want to push though?" Varian cautiously asked, readying himself to holler for Nan's assistance.

"No, no, not yet, anyway. It just feels really weird," Val said, pushing against the rim of the tub. "It feels like I just need to go to the privvy, but nothing's coming."

She glanced at the door with her lips tightly pursed.

"Where the fuck is she?" she muttered, and Varian's brows drew in.

"Jon left not five minutes ago, love, give the poor man a chance," he chided, but it only made things worse.

"'Poor man'? Poor man?He's not the one with a fucking melon trying to shove its way out of his arsehole!" Val screeched, and before Varian could even open his mouth to respond, she doubled over with a loud, angry groan.

"Time it!" she barked, but he was already there with his watch in his hand.

"Ah, fuck, it's getting worse…fuck me with a stick…" Val muttered, bending low enough for the tip of her nose to touch the water she was surrounded by. Varian slid into the tub with a splash, and he completely ignored the sagging weight of his trousers as he waded around his wife until he was at her side.

"Just think about what we'll get once this is all over, love. Our baby will be here, and you'll be a mother to two beautiful children."

Val would be in the throes of another powerful, agonising contraction when the sister finally arrived. She was knelt on the floor with the ottoman being the only thing keeping her upright as she leant against it. Varian was on the other side, keeping her hand in a firm, focusing grip, and whispering encouragement in any form that he could manage.

"I'm so sorry that I'm late, Your Majesty!" Gertrude said, taking her cape off and plodding over to the perspiring, panting Queen.

"How far apart are the pains?" Gertrude asked Varian, who tore his gaze away from his wife with great difficulty.

"About five minutes. They started completely an hour and a half ago." Gertrude nodded, and patiently waited until Val had slumped back onto the velvet to rub her back.

"Now, Val, I know you're tired, but I need you on the bed so that I can see what's going on," she said softly, and as she'd expected, Val shook her head.

"I can't…" she croaked, putting her head in one hand.

"I'll carry her. You do what you have to," Varian told the nun. The High King then made good on his word, and scooped Val up as if she weighed nothing. He gently placed her in the centre of the stripped mattress, and kissed her damp forehead before sitting by her side.

"Any bleeding so far? Headaches? Anything to suggest a problem?" Gertrude asked, hitching up the plain shift that Nan had dressed Val in earlier.

"None at all. If anything, it's going better than we could've dreamt," Varian said, watching as she carried out what would probably be one of the few final examinations that would be carried out before the baby actually arrived.

"Oh, Val, you clever girl- you're already at seven fingers!" Gertrude informed them, but Varian looked more perplexed than happy at the news.

"What does that mean?" he asked dumbly.

"The simplest way to explain it would be; when the Queen gets to ten fingers, she can start pushing. So in theory, she's not long to go," Gertrude said, taking her glove off.

"How long?" Val asked, staring at the canopy above her with heavy eyelids.

"If I had to venture a guess…about an hour or so?"

"Fuck no," Val blurted, trying to sit up. "I can't do this shit for another hour- cut me open and be done with it, for Light sake."

"Hush, Val. You don't mean that," Varian scolded, but he regretted saying it the second that he did it. Val grabbed the front of his shirt, and with a strength that impressed absolutely everyone in the room, she pulled him down until they were practically nose-to-nose.

"Don't you fucking tell me what I mean and don't mean, Varian Wrynn, or I'll rip your bollocks off and stuff them so far up your arse they'll be coming out of your mouth!"

Varian should've felt wounded by her words. Any other man would've. But in truth, he was simply trying his damnedest not to burst into laughter. He knew that if he let out even a sputter, she'd abandon her promise not to beat him, so with an iron will, he managed to keep it contained.

"Now, now, Val. There'll be no need for that. I brought a present with me," Gertrude said, lifting the second trunk that she'd brought in. She opened two gold clasps at the top, and the thing swung open to reveal what looked a small tank.

"What in the name of all that is sacred is that?" Varian asked, and Gertrude beamed at him.

"Gas and air. It's a new invention, made by the midwives of Tinkertown. All you have to do is turn this knob, and then a calming, painkilling gas is shot through the tube to the mask, which the mother uses to inhale it."

"Give it here," Val growled, reaching out like she was a child asking for a treat.

"Now hold on, Your Majesty. Let's get you comfortable first, then we'll try it out."

Val was quite affronted by the refusal, and glared at the elderly woman all the while it took Varian to lift her once again.

"Now then, where am I going, love?" he asked, and Val pointed to the ottoman.

"There. It felt best," she wheezed, putting a hand on her belly again. "Hurry."

Varian didn't need any more warning than that, and with two strong strides, he put her down and scraped her hair back from her face as she positioned herself. Nan helpfully handed him another hair tie, and with sloppy, fumbling fingers, he secured her tresses into a high ponytail mimicking his own.

"Here you are Lady Dorvelle, put this in some water for the Queen, please," Gertrude said, fishing in her usual bag and passing over a small vial filled with a silvery liquid.

"What's in there?" Varian questioned. He wasn't exactly thrilled about potion use at the best of times, so when they were to be used on his wife and child, he wanted to know exactlywhat was being shoved down their throats.

"A calming agent, Your Majesty. Mostly peacebloom," Gertrude explained, laying out various instruments on the breakfast table. Nan didn't even try and administer it herself; instead, she swiftly gave it to Varian, who put it to Val's lips and held it there until she'd all but finished.

"Is everything supposed to be this quick? I was in labour for nearly a daywith Elliot," Val moaned, scrubbing at her face with both palms.

"It's technically your second child, Your Majesty- at least, the second you've gone into labour with. Everything tends to speed up this time around," Gertrude said, taking a towel from the pile that Cathy had placed earlier.

"Now, is that the position in which you want to deliver, do you think?"

Val nodded.

"If it's alright…I don't want to be a pain in the arse…" she said, reaching for the goblet again and thanking Varian when he helped her.

"You are being anything but, Val. We're working around youtoday, so you tell us what you want to do," Gertrude said, and Varian grunted in agreement, but he caught the midwife's eye regardless.

"Is this a safe position?" he questioned, and the nun nodded as she too knelt on the floor.

"It's actually better- gravity proves quite the boon in this situation," Gertrude informed him, and she lifted Val's knees one by one so she could put a towel underneath her.

With an impressive flexibility for someone her age, she then ducked underneath Val's belly, and placed the pinard just above the creases of her groin.

"Oh thank the Light, it's not breech," Gertrude said, and even Varian breathed a sigh of relief.

"Isn't that what Anduin was?" Val asked, clearly too weak for her own recollections.

"Aye, it was, love," Varian said gently, with his hand still rubbing at her back.

"Heartbeat's good, Val. All seems to be going like clockwork."

No sooner had Gertrude praised her, than Val hunched over with a pained, whiny bellow. The sister got to work bringing the tank over to the sobbing queen, and with a flick, Varian heard the hissing rush of the gas as it burst through the tube. Gertrude's bony hands gently placed the mask over Val's nose and mouth.

"Deep, slow breaths, Val. We don't want you being sick," Gertrude murmured.

"Bit late for that," Varian grumbled, glancing over at the waste basket as if to prove his point further.

Val's eyes screwed themselves shut, and her cries were muffled by the thick leather of the mask, but Varian could still see how much pain she was going through, from the stiffness of her fingers as they clutched at the fabric beneath them.

"You're doing bloody fantastic, Sweetheart," he soothed, and Gertrude made a soft noise of agreement.

"She is. But we have to get her strength back up soon, so she's ready for the grand finale."

Said 'grand finale' came about forty five minutes later, and by that point, Val was a quivering, sweating mess. She could feel another contraction starting almost immediately after the last had finished, and it gave her no time to even catch her breath before she was screaming through tightly gritted teeth.

"Something's wrong," she whimpered, and Varian's brows drew in. He was still knelt on the other side of the ottoman, and his hands were turning white from his wife's grip on them.

"Talk to me, what's happening, Val?" he asked with a terrified urgency that only panicked her more.

"I don't…ah fuck, it's coming- the baby's coming, like right now, I can feel it," Val babbled, and Varian watched with worry as Gertrude assumed the position between Val's legs.

"Do you feel as if you need to go to the privvy, Val?" she asked, confusing the both of them with the randomness of the question.

"Yes- but what does that-" Val never got to finish. Her cheeks flushed a brilliant red, and her body slowly leant forward with a vibrating growl.

"I thought as much. Your body is telling you to push, Val. And if I were you, I'd heed it. So take a breath, grit your teeth, and bear down," Gertrude said, and Varian couldn't help but swallow hard out of sheer nervousness.

"This is it?" he asked, knowing full well that it was a stupid question. To his pleasure, it was Val that answered him with a shaky smile.

"Never thought we'd get here, did ya?" she rebutted, shifting herself to wake her body up and inhaling slowly as the next pain crept up on her.

"Right- push, Val. I need a big one," Gertrude instructed, and Val did exactly as she was told. Her nails left behind angry red crescents on Varian's skin, but he didn't care- he was far more concerned with making sure that his wife knew that she had the strength to carry out what was probably the biggest task a woman could ever have.

"Come on, Sweetheart- keep going, you're doing absolutely brilliantly," he praised, hunching down so that he could see her dripping face.

"Alright, Val. Take another breath, dear," Gertrude said, straightening up and holding a hand out. "Towel please, Lady Ridgewell. Poor thing's bleeding a little."

"Bleeding?! She's bleeding? Why?" Varian barked, feeling a sharp, cold slither of dread shoot up his spine.

"It's perfectly normal, Your Majesty. It's just a small part of the womb's lining being pushed away by the contractions," Gertrude explained, dabbing at Val's thighs and lowering herself again.

"Do I push again?" Val tiredly asked, and the nun nodded.

"Yes, as soon as the next pain starts, you push again."

Val let go of Varian's hands, and instead threw her own onto his shoulders.

"That's it, hold onto me, love- take my strength, it's all yours," Varian said, putting his palms on Val's cheeks.

"I'm so fucking tired…" she choked, and while Varian sympathised, he couldn't let her lose what was left of her momentum.

"It'll be over soon. Just keep going," Varian assured her, and both their grips relented as the contraction petered away.

"Val…baby's head is showing. You're almost there," Gertrude told her, and Val seemed surprised to hear it.

"Is it really? It's really there?" she stammered, and the kindly midwife reached up, took one of the younger woman's hands, and guided it until Val's fingers brushed the child's scalp.

"Bloody hell…there's hair. There's actual hair- Oh Varian, feel," Val chirped, and the King didn't need telling twice as he too reached between her legs.

"After all that worry, all that fear…and we're mere seconds away from meeting them. It's too good to be true," he mused. He leant over and kissed her forehead with a wry grin.

"You're damn amazing, woman."

"Don't praise me too highly- I've still go to get them out yet," Val warned, and from the way she was wriggling, Varian knew that it wasn't going to be long before the next contraction.

It hit like a tidal wave, and it were as if Varian's ears had popped- he could still hear Val's pained grunts, and her angry groans, but they were muffled, and her features were moving slower.

"Come on Sweetheart, one more-"

"Go on, girl, give it some welly!-"

"I can't!"

"Yes you can!"

As Val gave one more exhausted, throaty cry, she felt everything that had been bogging her down for the past two hours….simply disappear. The pain, the aching, the exhaustion- it all just melted away.

She only had to wonder why for all of a microsecond. From behind her, a wet, startled wailing travelled through the air and into her ears, dripping into them like the sweetest honey ever made.

"You remarkable woman…you absolutely fantasticwoman," choked Varian as he hastily brushed her damp hair from her glistening face.

"Are they alright?" Val croaked, asking the same question that had been burning at the back of her mind for the past seven months.

"Yes, love. More than alright- they're bloody perfect," assured Varian. Val couldn't wait anymore- she had to see for herself. So by using the last remaining slither of strength left in her, she raised a shaking, paled hand, and let Varian aid in turning her around. It took careful, slow movements to get her there, but eventually they managed it, and the only noise she could make was a choked, relived sob.

To realise that she hadn't been imagining the sound of her baby's crying was a feeling that Val would never be able to put into words. But to seethem in front of her, alive, well, and real…that was a complete different happiness.

The babe looked tiny compared to the towel that Gertrude had lain them on. But that didn't stop them using their complete lung capacity as they protested every rub and pat that the kindly sister gave them in order to clean them up.

"Don't keep us in suspense, sister…what is it?" Varian asked, using what was left of his own voice to compensate for how Val's had died in her throat, out of sheer awe for the child lying in between her legs.

Gertrude's harsh breath revealed how she too was trying to keep her emotions in check, and she looked up at the High King with a warm, beaming smile.

"It's a little girl, Your Majesty," she declared. Deciding she'd put the mite through enough cleaning, she gently wrapped her up in the same towel, and handed her to her exhausted mother.

"Varian," Val whispered, as if he'd have any clue what she meant with the weakened call.

"I know, Sweetheart…I know," Varian replied, surprising even himself with his perception. He didn't hesitate in coming around so he was sitting at his wife's side, and his large fingers trembled as they pulled some of the thick cotton from their daughter's face.

"Hello, little one," Val cooed, stroking her daughter's cheek. "I'm your mama."

She then pointed to Varian, who was clearly too enamoured to even think about introducing himself to the babe. "And this…this is your Papa. Who's as happy to see you as I am."

"That's the understatement of the millennia," Varian croaked.

"She has your eyes," Val mused, and it took Varian wiping his own to see what she meant in all it's glory.

"Well I'll be damned…" he said, staring down at the same royal blue that the Wrynn family had boasted all the way back to Barathen's time.

"They look better on her, though," Varian concluded, and finally, he mustered up the courage to do as he'd done with Anduin all those years ago, and let his pinky finger hover over the small hand that batted at the air.

He didn't realise that he was holding his breath until his daughter's minuscule digits curled around it, and he let it out in a rush of warm air. To him, the gesture, while the norm to others, was considered to be a show of acceptance from the child; it showed they trusted him already, which was all he'd ever want in this life.

"She's probably thinking, 'oh, so these are the two worrywarts that I've been listening to for months'," Val joked, and while Varian forced a laugh from his throat, he couldn't help but feel a touch offended.

"We had every right to worry," he said, with a touch too much defensiveness to his voice.

"Aye we did…and now she's here. I can't quite believe it," Val said, leaning into Varian as he curled his arm across her back.

"Congratulations, Your Majesties," Gertrude said, glancing over at Nan and Cathy, who were waiting diligently with a sponge and basin, ready to wash both mother and child properly.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that this baby has been long-awaited. "

"She has, sister. Too damn long," Varian affirmed, stretching his aching legs out and getting himself comfortable.

"Have you a cradle we can get for her? I'm going to need to check her over in a minute," Gertrude asked, and that was when Val's already clammy face turned a sickly white. "No, we haven't…in fact, we've nothingfor her," she said panickedly, but Varian managed to soothe her with slow shushes and a couple of well placed kisses.

"Peace, Sweetheart. We can use Anduin's for the time being, and sort all of that later on," Varian said, but Val wasn't convinced.

"There's moths and damp in that old nursery, Varian," she whimpered, but it was Gertrude herself that attempted to placate the Queen this time around.

"I've seen worse in some homes, Your Majesty. Those are nothing a bit of soap and elbow grease can't fix," Gertrude told her with a soft pat to her bent knee.

"...You're sure it won't make her sick?" Val asked meekly, and Gertrude nodded.

"Neither I, nor His Majesty, would suggest it unless we were certain that it'd be safe."

With hesitation still swimming in her eyes, she gave Varian a nod. In turn, he instructed Nan to tell Jon and Varro of what they needed.

It was a rather ill-timed command, however, for not two seconds after the chamber door had closed, Val stiffened, as if she'd been shocked. "Something's coming away," she said, squeezing her thighs together instinctively.

"Oh good, that sounds like the afterbirth. I'm glad- ten more minutes and I would've had to have give you something to shimmy it along," Gertrude chirped, pulling another kidney-shaped dish from behind her and refreshing the gloves she'd been wearing for the past hour.

"Maybe His Majesty can take baby while we deal with it?"

"You honestly don't have to ask me twice, Sister," Varian said proudly, and with a rather rusty version of the cradle he'd make for Anduin when he was a babe, he took his daughter in both arms.

"Hello there, gorgeous," he cooed, gently bouncing her as she started to fuss. "I never got to do this with your brother, Anduin. There were too many people around us, and they weren't really that keen on me being there at all, save for his mother."

He moved to the window, where the moon was peeking through the thick clouds rolling along the sky.

"We've waited a bloody long time for you, Missy…and now you're here, and I actually feel a little bit at peace with the world," he said, mustering up a small, subdued smile.

"I haven't felt like that for a very, very long time."

He was already smitten with the girl resting in his arms- anyone in the room could see that. There was a warm glint to his eye, and the cold bitterness that usually etched itself onto his stony face had been all but erased.

"You're the first girl in my family for three generations, you know. My mother -your grandmother- would be exceptionally pleased to know that the cycle of boys has finally been broken," Varian mused, smoothing the girl's hair after the towel had mussed it.

"I'll have to take you to meet her one day. And your grandfathers….and your uncle…" he reeled off, suddenly realising just how many people weren't here to meet his daughter that by all rights, should've been first in line.

"They would've absolutely loved her," chimed Val, who was almost done with her rather grisly business.

"Aye, they would've. She'd end up even more spoilt than I already expect her to be," Varian agreed, and Val started laughing under her breath.

"Shall we place bets on who'll be the worst for it?" she suggested, but Varian seemed less than enthused.

"No- because you're going to say that it'll be me, and I don't want to waste my coin on such a ridiculous notion," Varian rebutted, and a quick glance back showed Val that he was fighting a smirk- which told her all it needed to.

"There you are, Your Majesty, all present and accounted for- Lady Dorvelle, dispose of that for me, if you please," Gertrude said, passing Nan a covered bowl. After a quick examination, the kindly nun gave Val a bright smile.

"The good news is that you don't need stitching. So I'll give you a little boost right now, and then you can simply take it easy for a few weeks."

"Please tell me that I don't have to sit in that bloody bed for all that time," Val grimaced, happily taking the elder woman's hand and holding it at the wrist.

"Oh, Light no. But I would recommend sticking to short walks, or outings where you can sit down- nothing too strenuous, is what I'm trying to say," Gertrude clarified, closing her eyes. Despite her age, her prayer flowed as if she were as young as Val herself, and the familiar tendrils that mean the Light was reaching out snaked along the sister's arm, and disappeared into Val's.

She felt instantly rejuvenated, but there was still a dull ache in her hips as she shakily stood up.

"Do you hear that, love? No keeping me prisoner for the next fortnight," Val teasingly told Varian, who gave her a mocking sneer right back.

"I can still make sure that you don't overdo it," he reminded her, holding out an arm so that she could nestle herself underneath it. She stroked their daughter's cheek with a fingertip, and gave Varian the biggest, happiest smile that he'd seen on her face since they'd returned to Stormwind all those years ago.

"She looks like you," Val said, and to no-one's surprise, Varian shook his head.

"No- she's gorgeous, just like her mother," he replied, planting a tender kiss on his wife's forehead.

"Thank you," he added, thoroughly confusing Val as she took their child from him.

"For what?"

"For her. For being here…for everything really," Varian reeled off.

"You don't need to thank me, Varian," Val assured him, rubbing the sole of their baby's foot with a thumb.

"Oh trust me, I do," Varian refuted, but any further arguments were stemmed by a gentle clearing of Gertrude's throat.

"Apologies, Your Majesty. But I need to carry out final checks on baby," she told them, and Val happily handed her over. The two Wrynns watched as their daughter was lain out onto a square of muslin and cooed over once again.

"Now comes the hard bit," Val mused, and while he wasn't exactly thrilled by her mild pessimism, Varian couldn't disagree.

"You say that as if we haven't done it before," he pointed out, and to his relief, a whisper of a laugh was her response.

"Girls are much, muchmore hard work than boys, Varian."

"It doesn't matter if she's hard work or not. She's ours, and that's enough for me to happily accept the challenge."