just another consequence of sleeping on cold stone or of being beaten and starved and for

w. Not

llen stomach, feeling the f

ents were sharper, more urgent, as if the

sing in my chest. "Please, not y

nto a ball on the dungeon floor. I bit down on my lip to keep from screaming I

hands trembling as I pushed myself up

flickering in my chest despite everything. Maybe

lank, their hands resting on their weapons. They just

"Please, I need help. The baby is coming. I need..

~

ody convulsing with pain, my screams echoing off the stone walls no midwife came no

d. "Breathe through the

bed. It hurts

nsumed every fiber of my being. I felt my body stretching, opening, changing in ways I c

y the pain, the pressure, the desper

n ragged gasps and then I saw a woman I didn't recognize standing in

augh

s. "Give her to me," I whispered. "Please let me hold her." The

ing toward the door, the baby in her arms. My da

was too weak, too broken, bleeding and torn and barely conscious. "Please, don'

~

The pain of labor had faded replace

ts ached to feed her. My heart ache

ispered, her voice broke

he doorway, his face unreadable, a small vial in his hand. The liqui

e said stepping

exhausted to feel

e word echoed in my mind, col

eside me, his expression carefully blank. "When you wake,

sper. "No, you can't " He grabbe

throat, cold and bitter tasting of ash and oblivion. I gagged tried t

murmured. "

he edges of my vision darke

othing to do with sleep but even a

anything that would

emory was already fading slippi

e mark but my fingers found nothing just smoo

name was already losing meaning

aching from another night on a hard cot. My hands were ro

e am