The Reticent Midwife

[Faith Augustin]

88th Zi'da 716

"I can not believe you told him that you wanted to order cake," Faith said to him, pulling herself close to him as they walked together. "I told you they didn't serve cake. Tea. Just tea." She shook her head and looked up at him with a grin. "That was bad." Of course, what had been worse was that Padraig had made such a show of being disappointed and had apologised to her so very profusely that the poor young waiter had gone and bought some from the local bakery and brought them out on a plate for the two of them. "If you're sick tonight, it will serve you right you know," Faith shook her head at him in mock disapproval, "you don't even like cake that much." Neither of them had been able to finish said delicacies and so Padraig had a small box under his arm which contained, of course, cakes. "Mattieus will be pleased. He has a very sweet tooth."

It was a beautiful evening, cold and crisp with snow on the ground. Faith was well wrapped up, though she did not need to, but she liked to keep snug and it looked funny if she didn't. The crunch underfoot just added to the moment and, as she had once in a park, Faith stopped walking and stepped around so that she was facing him. Wrapping her arms around the back of his neck she lingered in a slow and languid kiss. "I had a lovely evening. Thank you for loving me so very well that I feel like a treasure." They both knew how far a cry that was from how she had felt and thought about herself before. She looked up at him with an earnest gaze, "All the words. Always." She grinned at him then, her eyes filled with desire. "Lets hurry home? I have an idea of what to do with that cake."

It seemed to Faith, should she ever consider such, that fate transpired to make sure that she and Padraig had about as far from a normal relationship as it was possible to have. Arm in arm and with a quick step in the crunching snow towards their room at the Order of the Adunih they made their way. As they did, Faith paid little heed to the people around them, in truth, but they really didn't need to because there weren't many at all. But as they walked, she heard a sound and turned to glance to the side. It was a cry, muffled no doubt, but a sound of pain and Faith turned with a frown. "Did you hear that?" It would have been hard for him not to, in the cold night air the sound carried after all. Faith, of course, did more than just turn in the direction of the sound, she moved there.

And there, as fate and fortune would have it for all concerned, there was Zvezdana Venora, initiate in the Thunder Priestesses and sister to Alistair Venora, cousin to Tristan. The heavily pregnant woman was bent over double, clutching at her stomach and Faith forgot, immediately, any concerns or such and she stepped forward, taking Zvezdana's arm. "What's the matter, tell me what you're feeling and where? Come on..." Faith looked at Padraig, then and she spoke in a tone which she used in work and only there. "Help me, please? We need to get her sitting down. Over there?" There were no benches nearby, but there was a raised grass bank and that would have to do. "Come on then, tell me what's happening and we'll help you, alright?"

So much, Faith considered, for her plans for the cake.

[Padraig]

If Faith was scolding him about his actions at the tea house, Padraig didn't appear regretful in the least. He tried, but failed miserably. "All revolutions must start somewhere. A tea house is as good a place as any," he argued as he wrapped an arm round her shoulder, and they headed back to the Order.

"Besides, before you know it they'll be serving cakes to their customers. And thanks to me, they have me to thank for a new source of revenue." It was cold. The fact that the skies were clear that night with snow on the ground made it even colder.

He wore his coat, his hat and his gloves out of necessity, but knew she wore hers for show. And to avoid the inevitable questions and glances that might arise from curious passersby. It was strange to him, her ability, courtesy Famula, to keep herself warm even in the coldest of conditions. But it had come to seem normal, even if her relationship with the dead had not.

"You are a treasure," Padraig reminded her. "Why would I not treat you that way. I'm no fool." But then she mentioned the cake again, and something she had in mind. And he quirked a curious brow, grinning a little as his imagination went astray. "Don't have to tell me twice," he said, and sped his pace just a little.

But then they'd never quite make it as far as their room. He heard it too. He couldn't have missed it and he paused, waiting to see if whatever it was, happened again. "Sounds like a cry of pain, or alarm." And it appeared that's exactly what it was. When they found the source, Padraig recognized the source immediately.

He hadn't seen the woman since that first trial in the temple, when things hadn't gone so well between them all. But clearly she was in distress, and it wasn't in either of them to ignore it.

Faith might know better than him what was happening, though given how round the Venora woman had grown, it wasn't too hard to guess. Unsettling, that was. But nonetheless when Faith asked for his help, he put the box of cake aside and offered his arm shoulder for Zvezdana to lift and support herself on. "Over here, lean on me if you need to," he said, but otherwise let Faith take the lead.

[Zvezdana Venora]

A group of novitiates had decided to go down to the Earth Quarter on a shopping excursion. Although Zvezdana knew that she should have stayed close to the Cathedral, the idea of window shopping was too tantalizing to her. Formerly a woman of luxury and money, it was hard to accept her poverty. Where she used to love shopping, she had to now assess her finances to accommodate other priorities. The baby was coming, and the only items she had had been provided to her from Faith. The basket had come with a note suggesting a peace offering. At first, Zvezdana had been skeptical. She had been incredibly rude at their first 'reunion'. Yet, she couldn't deny that the items were very welcome. The baby would need them down the road. It was thoughtful and kind, much like how she wanted to remember Faith. Of the two encounters that had had previously, one had been wonderful. Faith had been good at her job, and her conversation had been decent to an up-and-coming queen. Could Zvezdana accept that Faith had just been an innocent bystander? Maybe Elyna was really the only one to blame for Veljorn's death.

She and Cassander. The boy king would always be to blame.

They had made it down the stairs and had been whisked over the air on the lift without a problem. The baby was awfully quiet this morning. Last night, it had been a flurry of kicks and her sleep had been restless. Maybe he was preparing to join the land of the living. Hopefully she had another day or two to prepare for him. The other novitiates around her chatted amongst themselves. Zvezdana simply watched them, tuning in to each conversation as little as possible. She had few friends in the Thunder Priestesses yet. They looked at her funny, reminding themselves that she was a widow and about to be alone in the world with a whiney baby.

With the shops sprawled before them, the group split into two's and three's, leaving Zvezdana to mill on the outside of the buildings. She had not yet been paid, so purchasing items was certainly out of the question. Zi'da was a time of giving, and the shops were full of men and women looking for gifts to share with their significant other. Initially, she wondered what it would have been like if she and Veljorn had spent the season together. With a baby on the way, would he have been interested in becoming a father? The thoughts blended to ones of her brother. Was he off doting on a girl? Maybe he had finally found a hopeful wife. There were so many things she did not know about those that she had left behind in Rynmere, and it plagued her daily.

Sudden pain came up from her belly. This pain was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was sharp, out of no where, and extremely alarming. Her abdomen contracted sharply, making her stumble and double over. A shriek slipped past her lips as struggled to remain somewhat upright. Innocents looked at her, alarmed. Some realized she was pregnant, sticking around to see if another contraction would consume her. Others fled into nearby stores or for the next streets over. From across the street, two faces she would have rather seen under a different set of circumstances approached her. Not only that, they reached for her.

"Aaiiii!" Zvezdana screamed, gripping Faith's forearm tightly. She did not protest as they guided her to the grassy bank. Most of the other observers had fled, leaving her condition to the volunteers. She began to breath deeply and rapidly, pursing her lips together like one of the older Priestesses had suggested to her. In. Out. In. Out.

"I need to get back to the Cathedral. I think the baby is coming."

[Faith Augustin]

"You should ask for a small commission." Faith replied with a smile and a wicked glint in her eyes which told him that she was teasing. They quickened their pace, but her explanation of just what her plans had been for the cake were lost and instead there was Zvezdana and the grip that the woman had on her forearm told Faith a lot. She was in pain, and a lot of it. The about-to-be mother was concerned that her baby was coming and Faith had to concur. But before they went traipsing up to the Cathedral? "Alright, well lets just sit for a moment, alright. We're going to take stock of just how..." just how far apart the contractions were, Faith was saying and then another one hit.

"Well, that's all good. Breathe with me, out through your mouth. Good." Faith took off her coat, unwrapping her scarf. She very calmly and carefully handed them to Padraig. "She needs something to rest her head on, we need privacy here." How he did that, she really didn't mind, but Faith pulled off her jumper, too, handing it to him so that she was wearing just a light blouse over her skirt. "I'd say you're right, Zvezdana." Faith smiled and her expression and demeanour was entirely calm. "That baby is coming. We don't have time to get you up to the Cathedral. I'm a doctor, I've worked with a lot of pregnant women and I'm going to help you, alright?"

Faith smiled a reassuring smile and knelt down next to Zvezdana. She didn't look at Padraig, simply expecting him to do what she'd asked, somehow. Her coat could be draped around, there were low bushes and so on. He would work it out, she was sure. "Alright, then, Zvezdana. I'm going to need to have a look, see what situation we're in here, alright? You're doing fine, just breathe through the contraction, alright?"

In the middle of the city, hidden by coats and with her head on a folded up jumper was far from ideal as a place to give birth, but nature did what it did. "Keep something to one side, we'll need to keep this little one warm." Faith glanced at Padraig, her professional demeanour firmly in place. "Kneel by her head, hold her hand, keep yourself up that end." This was undoubtedly not something which Zvezdana would appreciate an audience for. Faith turned her attention to the noble woman and considered that really, the Immortals had a strange sense of humour. She needed to see what was happening, and so she moved into position in order to be able to do so. For all that this was spinning her out in ways which she most certainly would not be explaining to Zvezdana Venora any time soon, Faith was an experienced medic and her technique was gentle and efficient.

"That's good. All good. Now then, this baby is ready to be born, but is just in a bit of a funny position, so I'm going to ask you not to push, just yet. Alright? That's it, no pushing, just breathing, in... out, good." As Zvezdana was hit by another contraction and so wasn't paying attention, Faith turned to Padraig. "Go get help. The Order is closest. Tell them I'm turning the baby and it's coming now. They'll know what to bring. Hurry." She sounded perfectly calm but there was no doubting that she meant the words.

"Alright, Zvezdana. I'm going to just adjust the position your baby's in, which will involve some manipulation. It's not going to be comfortable, I'm afraid. So, I need you to relax as much as you can, because the more you relax, the less it hurts you." Faith gave a prayer to Famula that this child be brought into the world safe and well, that Vri not see it, or it's mother, for many an arc. If either of the Immortals were listening and felt like really helping, a medic who had done more than read about this wouldn't go amiss, either, come to think of it. But they were here, and that was that.

[Padraig]

So, Faith was right, and Zvezdana confirmed it with a shriek that went right through him. For any number of reasons, some of them more personal than others. Couldn't she wait until they'd returned to the cathedral, where there'd be others to help with the birth. Most importantly, without him? It probably wasn't very politic, or helpful to ask, and so for once Padraig reined in his more blunt impulses and opted to do as he was told.

In through the nose, breath out through the mouth, and that's exactly what Padraig did to stop himself panicking. Once they'd gotten the woman down on the grassy knoll and Faith handed him her coat and scarf, he rolled up the latter to act as a pillow of sorts, and looked for a way to drape the coat, to create an illusion of privacy. Move along, nothing to see here, his expression implied to at least one passerby, and maybe more, as they seemed more interested in looking than helping.

"Are you sure? Now?" he asked when Faith confirmed that the baby was coming. Hopeful really, that she'd think better of it. He could use his own scarf, his coat if needed to wrap a new child in. But kneel by her head? He paused, frowned, willed the whole thing away but opted to get in position. Better the head than at the other end. So he supported Zvezdana's head and shoulders and let Faith do what she needed to do.

But a funny position? What did that mean? He was a little afraid to ask. But when Faith told him to go for help, he was quick to rise and head out towards the cathedral, with the promise that he'd return as soon as possible. It turned out to be somewhat trickier than he'd expected. There were healers there and Padraig expected to find one quickly. But the only one he found, was one involved with another patient that she couldn't leave with anyone less skilled.

But at the least, she shouted out a list of things for him to take back with him, and one of the helpers aided in identifying them and dropping them in a sack. And for good measure, a warm blanket that they could wrap the child in when it was born. Hopefully by the time he he headed back, he'd have everything Faith needed, if not the actual help she'd asked for.

[Zvezdana Venora]

"No! N-n-not here! It's not safe!" Zvezdana panted, fighting another strong contraction. Wasn't labor supposed to take breaks? Having a baby on the side of the street was not ideal. Horrid thoughts of losing the baby, or her own life, crept into her mind as she sat there, trembling from pain and fear. The indecency of the whole situation was also disheartening. Her nethers would be wide open to for the world to see. Even if her heart was black as sin, she didn't need to show the world her innards from the bottom up. She found her head in Padraig's lap when she leaned back. The woman looked up at the bearded man with the long, grungy hair. He looked just as uneasy about the situation as she felt. Her face paled. Here she was, somewhat hidden from the world behind clothing with with her head in the lap of a strange man and a woman she did not trust an ounce between her legs.

The baby wasn't in the right position? What in the Seven's name did that mean? "Funny?" It was the only word she could manage to get out. She clawed at the grass, trying to find another means of expressing her hand. Her warm lap was substituted for a piece of clothing. Zvezdana kind of wished that Padraig was taking. She would have enjoyed having his hand to squeeze the life out of right now. The woman whimpered, reduced to nothing but a pathetic, mewling mess. With her finger dug as deep into the ground as they would go, she fought another contraction.

She had carried this life for so long now that she felt that she had to ask that it make it out of this situation alive. Syroa wasn't going to be helpful. Actually, she would probably be making the situation worse. Zvezdana closed her eyes tightly. The Seven were as damned as Syroa was in her mind. A muffled groan tried to split her lips as her body tensed again. Relaxation was going to be quite difficult for her. Focus. Zvezdana, panting, stared down at Faith, her knees bent to provide a little tent with her robes. Soon, those too would be stained with birthing fluid. The thought creeped Zvezdana out.

"Ilaren," Zvezdana whispered between breaths. It was strange to offer up a prayer to an immortal she barely knew. As a new disciple, she felt it was a bit of a stretch. Sadly, Zvezdana needed all the help she could get. "Please. Please let my baby live. I will be a good mother. I will be a good Priestess. Just let my baby live."

[Faith Augustin]

"I mean her, not you" Faith whispered to Padraig when she saw him practising his breathing along with her. But when Zvezdana said it wasn't safe, Faith sounded utterly and completely calm. "Nonsense, women have had babies in all sorts of places. This little one's coming into the world now and you're here. So here's where it's happening. Get yourself comfortable, we won't be long." Please let the same be true for her, she thought and then put all thoughts of her own pregnancy out of her mind. It wouldn't be helpful to any of them.

She sounded calm and she acted with the calm precision of a well trained doctor. Faith knew that her own panic had no place here, none at all and so she just ignored it, put it aside and got on with the job. The job was to bring this life into the world and, with her own prayers to Famula and Vri, the devoted young woman got on with it.

There was some manipulation necessary and Faith knew it wouldn't be pleasant. "It's going to be uncomfortable. My hands are warm, I'll work as quickly and with as little pain as possible. But know that once I'm done, you're baby will be in your arms. You concentrate on that." Whilst she did that, Faith would concentrate on making sure that she wasn't a liar. She turned her attention to getting this baby out safely. It required some careful work and there was no doubt that Zvezdana would be in discomfort. "Getting there, now, there we are. There we are!" It was maybe ten bits since Faith had started the work she needed to do here for the baby to come out, but sweat was standing on her brow.

Smiling at Zvezdana, Faith nodded her head. "Time to push, Zvezdana. This babe is keen to meet its mother. When you feel the next pain, you give me a big push, alright?" Where, oh where was Padraig, Faith thought, wildly. "There we go. Push. Well done." Zvezdana did what she needed to do and it was less than ten bits after she'd turned him around before the baby was there. Faith spoke encouragement and then, as she helped the baby into the world, Faith gasped in amazement, delight and all sorts of emotions. "Oh, look at that. You've got a son. Look at him, here he is." Faith smiled at Zvezdana and quickly wrapped the baby up, taking care of cutting the cord and delivering the afterbirth. She'd never known a birth be so fast and she put the baby into Zvezdana's hands, all wrapped up in Faith's cardigan. "He's beautiful. Well done. I'm going to get you cleaned up, alright. Oh look. The cavalry."

Looking up, Faith saw Padraig as he ran back. She smiled at him and he would know, without a doubt, just what that experience had done for her. However, right now she was working and she raised an eyebrow. "You didn't bring help? But you brought things. Good. Help Zvezdana clean the baby properly, get him all wrapped up. We're nearly done here, Zvezdana. Looking at Padraig she nodded her head and got about the business she needed to at the end where she was working, leaving the new mother in Padraig's capable hands. Or, she figured, semi-capable.

At least, she reasoned, it was better than nothing and she was in earshot.

[Padraig]

Faith may not have meant him, when she referenced breathing exercises. But there was no question Padraig believed he needed them, especially after being told there were no healers available to return with him back to the scene. He wasn't familiar with panic attacks, but he might just have had one anyway.

But when he got back with the supplies, clearly it was too late to haul the laboring woman up and carry her back to the Order. Or at least Faith seemed to imply that it was. Luckily though he wasn't there for all the screaming and the finagling around with things that hadn't gone quite right. It would have done him in completely, all things considered.

"No one available," he told Faith as he handed her the supplies. "What can I do?" Which was code for, can I just stand back and direct traffic? But it wasn't what she wanted, he steeled himself and knelt back down by Zvezdana to help with the baby. It was tiny, wrinkled and covered with stuff, but it was also a marvel, he realized. He'd never seen a child brand new to the world. Only a litter of puppies being born in a neighbor's shed when he was just a boy.

He'd brought towels, water and other things, and made sure that the baby was clean, wrapped up and deposited safely in his mother's arms. "He's a handsome boy, and a strong one too," he told her, making sure to cradle her head in his lap while Faith worked at the other end.

[Zvezdana Venora]

[quote="Zvezdana Venora"]

The whole situation was demolishing her nerves. Tears stung at her eyes out of fear, concern, immense anxiety, and growing pain. Her jaw muscles clenched tightly as she closed her eyes to try and prevent the tears from falling. It only made them fall faster. Desperately she gasped in and out, trying to remember what the healers in the Cathedral told her. Everything was foggy. She could barely focus. Faith's words went in one ear and ran out the other. She was tense and uncomfortable. When Faith reached in her, it only got worse.

"AAAAAGH!" Her scream ripped through the air as she pressed her abdomen, contracting tightly in a reflexive nature against the intruding hand. She had to will herself to relax while Faith worked, desperation evident by the way she clawed at the earth like a wild beast. Another wave of pain consumed her and she once again bit down. Hard. She happened to catch her lip, ripping into the soft flesh until it began to bleed. The red, thick liquid seemed to crawl past her teeth, earnestly dripping into the back of her throat.

The metallic taste stirred something in her that she hadn't felt before. Her belly clenched in a different form of pain that drew her mind away from the birth. She had suddenly developed this strange hunger. The smell seemed to attack her nostrils and the taste of her own blood assaulted her mind. Blood and tissue surrounded the midwife and the parturient woman. Food surrounded them. Nausea swelled within her. She wanted to vomit, but she also wanted to eat. Why was she feeling this way? Was it a side effect of giving birth?

She was given specific instruction to push on the next contraction. Zvezdana waited a bit or two, but when the contraction started, she clenched her teeth. Blood covered the enamel of her pearly whites, making her seem like the monster that was deep within her. The contraction was the worst pain she had ever felt, but the feeling after it was even better. Something was leaving her, and the pain was subsiding. She was numb and exhaustion caused her to fall back on the grass. It had to be over. Faith was hurrying to shove a tiny, wailing bundle into her hands. It smell like blood, her stomach flipping and her face paling. Why did she want to eat so badly?

Zvezdana stared at the ugly boy in her arms. Did all babies look like this when they came into the world? His eyes were scrunched tight and he was covered in goo. He waved his hands and kicked his feet, his little open mouth sharing with the world his arrival. She probably looked as bad as he did. The bottom and back of her robes were covered in blood and birthing juices. Her hair was matted to her head and neck from the profuse amounts of sweat that her body had developed. She found herself leaning back onto a comfortable lap. When had Padraig gotten here? Well, his lap was worth thousands of nel right now.

The nausea was overpowering. When Padraig took her son to clean him up, she was relieved. She didn't want to hold him in that condition. Something was wrong, and she felt that he was unsafe in her possession. When he offered him back, Zvez shook her head, attempting to roll on her side.

"No. Please. It's not safe. Keep me away from him." The behavior could probably be associated with the mindset of a fearful, new mother. For those that knew of her secret, they might have seen through this lie. Zvez clutched her fists close to her chest, refusing to accept the baby.

[Faith Augustin]

If Padraig was speaking in code for can I get out of here, then Faith either didn't notice or chose to ignore him. He knew her too well, of course, to think that she didn't notice but never mind. "No one available? Marvellous. Did you ask twice?" She shook her head slightly and gave him a grin. Then, she got on with what she needed to get on with. "We managed just fine without any help, Zvezdana was a real trooper, and we're all done." They were going to have to get Zvezdana back, though and Faith sighed inwardly. It was a long way and for all that the birth had been speedy, Zvezdana needed to be resting, her body had undergone a trauma.

Faith glanced up though, from where she was in the process of cleaning up the new mother as much as she could and making her comfortable with the supplies given, which included a cooling, healing salve and, thankfully, a pair of drawstring trousers. Faith was just considering how to negotiate getting those on Zvezdana in this particular circumstance when the noble born woman spoke. It's not safe. Keep me away from him? Faith had heard new mothers reject their children when she had first started working at the Order, but none of them had spoken like that, they'd all said keep it, him or her away from me. Zvezdana sounded fearful for the child, as though she thought there was a danger to him.

"It's alright, you don't need to worry. We've got him safe, you too." Faith spoke in her usual quiet tone. Looking at Zvezdana, though, she frowned. "You've bitten your lip. I'm sorry, I'm sure that hurt a lot. Shall I have a look?" Faith got on with the cleaning process, applying salve and just working to make Zvezdana feel better and she glanced up at her with a smile. "How strange. When I was drying you in Venora, I don't think either of us thought to be here such a short time afterwards, relatively speaking. And you with a beautiful son. What's his name, do you know?" She asked the question, both because she was genuinely interested and because she wanted to gauge Zvezdana's state of mind regarding the child.

Either way, once she was done making sure Zvezdana was clean, which she did with the kind of calm efficiency she'd had when she'd served her in Venora, there was only one thing for it. "We have to get you both back." She glanced at Padraig in the hope that he might have a solution. All she could consider was that he'd carry Zvezdana, her carry the baby, or he went and got some of the Lightening Knights to help them.