the Leathermines

Back to Chapter 13

 

It wasn’t that she felt better and could walk.  It was as if she didn’t walk something was going to happen.

Laun had woken at her usual too-early time having to roll out of bed and waddle to the privy.  She hadn’t really stopped since then.  Morning meeting was short as Laun was standing in place rocking back and forth, hearing that nothing really was pressing so she called out for anything that had to be dealt with right then.  Nothing did, so she grabbed her milk and started out of the Great Hall.

She did not walk fast.  People could find her for any problem or discussion they wanted.  She shared fresh berries with some of the people in the field as they pointed out a different way to plant for the next season to make it easier to catch rain water to irrigate.  She made it as far as the barrier across the main road, having help to climb as far up as she could to look over the logs and such.  She then headed back, out pacing a harvest wain for a few minutes.

It was mid afternoon.  Laun turned from the main gates into the keep and followed the wall around and back into the woods to continue walking.  Several of the horses were hobbled outside the temporary stables that had been put up in the old apple orchard.  Laun paused long enough to hold her hand out to several of the horses, their warm snorts making her giggle before she went on.

Hunter was sitting on a stump that had been dragged into the shade of one of the old trees.  He was polishing a piece of tack and looked up.  He took a moment before smiling.

“Haven’t seen you for a few days.  Thought I would come by and see how you were doing.”  Laun held out her hand and rocked back and forth as she stood a pace away from the ex-soldier.

He put the tack down and stood.  He stepped forward and took her hand, bowing slightly to kiss it.  He looked like he wanted to say something and then closed his mouth again.  He started to walk with Laun as she pulled him with her.

“You haven’t been sleeping well and I didn’t want to disturb you,” finally came out as they walked back towards the keep’s gate.  He held her hand and it felt right to her.

“Thank you, love.  Though it seems many people are staying away right now.”  There was a touch of sadness in her voice.

Hunter stopped and Laun pulled on his arm as she continued.  She turned and stopped at arm’s length, seeing a sadness on Hunter’s face for a moment.  He stepped to her and held her gently, his hand on the back of her head, supporting her against his chest.  She felt him start to talk with a deep breath in.

“You don’t want to hear this, but you are in a delicate condition.  I was hoping to help you by… giving you some time and space for yourself.”  He kissed the top of her head and he felt her sigh into his chest.

“It is a hard time for me.  I can’t do much and few people have been to see me recently.  I have been having to teach some of the troupe how to read to keep busy.”

Hunter nodded.  “Several of us were wrestling and one kept telling about a story he had read.  As if it were the most amazing thing in the world.”

Laun pushed away and looked up.  “To someone who can’t read, being shown a reason to read is amazing.”  Laun pulled away and started to walk a little again.  Hunter let her lead and they started to follow the cleared area around the keep and castle of Salam-Dir.

Hunter was quiet for a while as they went down a side path for a while.  “I had not thought of that.  I was forced to read when I was small and never really thought of it as something for...pleasure.”

Laun stopped in a puddle of shade and turned to the large man.  She put her hand on his chest and said, “I was a slave until last year.  If it wasn’t for my Lady Hellon insisting on teaching me against the laws, I would not be able to read.”

He stepped close and kissed her forehead.  “And now you can’t seem to stop reading.”

Laun started walking again, a flash of something uncomfortable across her face as she started.  “Only thing I seem to be good for at this point.”

Hunter was quiet as the woman in front of him led the way through several side paths and back to the wall around the keep and castle.  “Laun...”

She kept walking and waited until her impatience took her over.  “Yes?  You can say anything you wish.  I may not like it, but please, speak your mind.”

He tightened his grip on her hand for a second and she stopped walking.  “Laun, I need to go and talk to the King.  I need to know if I really am the master of Nestwood or if it stays in the hands of a Rosemond noble.”

Laun nodded.  “If you must, you must.  Hanging onto a word that never came is not a good place to be.  I blame myself to distracting you from-”

Hunter went to one knee and reached for her other hand.  “You are not a distraction, my Princess.  You are a leader and will be a mother soon.  I stayed because I wanted to.”

Laun felt a tear at the corner of her eye and a need to start walking again.  She leaned over and kissed his forehead and said, “Thank you.  Things that seemed so clear a while ago are getting cloudy and...  I am glad that you are here because you want to be.”

They walked on to complete the circuit of the keep, heading back towards the temporary stables.  Hunter started to look around as he was walking and swore under his breath.

“One of the mules slipped the tether.  She’s been doing that.  Damned bright for a mule.  I need to find her.”

Laun put her hand on his shoulder and nodded.  “I understand.  Thank you for being here for the horses and mules.  It was crazy when there were so many people here.”

He smiled and looked around before heading into the underbrush.  Laun thought about sitting on the stump in the shade, but shook her head at herself.  She still felt the need to keep moving.  She started to walk into the temporary stables, looking at the mix of fabric and haybales and wood plank that had been used to make the stall areas.  Anything that was available to keep the horses separated while there were so many.

It was still being used, but Laun looked at some of the materials and considered having the stable reconstructed to reclaim some of the stuff.  She slowly went through, making a mental list of the things that could be taken out when she heard something coming from one of the back stalls.

She could see through the rough planks before she came to the stall.  People were making love in the straw, their bodies moving against each other, the wet sounds and sighs mixing in the afternoon heat.  Laun had not had the chance to watch others for a while.  It always fascinated her when she saw how things were done, and guessing how it would feel if it was being done to her.

Laun carefully stepped closer and sat on one of the bales near the wood that separated her from the couple.  She looked and recognized them both.  Twin waves of hate and love went through her and she had to lean back, putting her hand over her mouth as she heard Fount whispering to Ali.

“...you are beautiful and I don’t want to stop...”

There were a series of gasps and Laun could hear Ali trying to be quiet as Fount was on top of her.  Laun listened and could feel something in her want to join them, but she felt her huge belly with her hands and knew why he was with Ali.  Fount had not even tried to talk to her for close to a week unless she approached him first.  Had not been near her since Edgar had left on the long patrol.  Hunter...  All three of them had been staying away.  Not just them.

Laun felt more tears coming to her eyes as she had a jolt go through her.  She heard Fount telling Ali that he loved her.  Laun made herself stand and move away.  It was not her right to disturb them.  Every step away from them made her resent her body, the twins.  She wanted him to be with others, but hearing him say that he loved someone else had made to stop her heart right then.  Her pregnancy had pushed him away, her time away had forced him away, the beautiful women around her had drawn him away.

She had made it out of the orchard stable and was walking slowly towards the gate.  She suddenly felt tired and hurt on the inside and the outside.  She needed to sit down or lay down or-

She was on her knees as her back and belly cramped.  It was not the same back injury cramp she had been nursing for so long.  It was not the belly pulling her back out.  It was intense and she felt as though she needed to pee and poo and-

There was water.  She was in a puddle in the middle of the cleared area that had been dry until right then.  It was coming from her.  She went to all fours as the cramping stopped and tried to catch her breath.  It must be her time.  It was early.  Was it?

The cramping came back, more intense and more water flowing down her legs and through her already muddy tunic.  She could hardly breathe, but she tried to force air into her lungs as the world around her started to grey out.

She could breathe again.  She felt the close cropped grasses under her hands, the smell of the water that came from her sharp and metallic.  She had to call for help.  She could not go through this alone.

She had caught her breath and was about to call out when another contraction started to tighten her belly.  The call came out, but it was more of a cry of pain than anything intelligible.  She heard a responding call from one of the horses, and then the nervous sounds of the other beasts on the hobble line.

She could breathe again and tried to breathe deeply, forcing air into her and keeping the pain away.  Her head hurt from the pressure and her back felt like it was going to break with the next contraction.  Laun focused and took a deep breath and called out, “Help!”

It turned into a hiss through her teeth as she clenched not just her belly and back but most of her body with the next contraction.  She heard rushing blood through her ears.  She saw a narrowing tunnel of the ground beneath her.  Her breath was coming in pants and she could feel that she was going to pass out soon.

“Ayaa!!!  Laun!”  Arms were around her, holding her as the contraction lessened.  She gripped onto a tunic as she was sat upright, but she had to concentrate on her breathing to keep herself aware and awake.  She thought it was Hunter, but she could not see anything past herself.

“...again-” was all Laun could say before the tightening and pain and rushing in her head overwhelmed her.  She closed her eyes and felt her bowels let loose and more of the acrid smelling fluid came out.  She couldn’t control anything her body did.  She felt herself slip down into the grey of unconsciousness as the pressure the contraction put on her kept her from breathing.

The pain and pressure stopped.  She could breathe again.  She was being lifted into his arms and he talked to her, but she heard mostly just jumbles of words and only saw glimpses of things as he carried her.

The wet and crap covered form of Laun in Hunter’s arms caused an alarm to be sounded in the keep.  She had a contraction while in his arms, her back arching and making him stop so he could keep from dropping her.  More hands and arms and support was there helping him to bring her into the Great Hall.

A table was cleared and she was placed on it.  She was cleaned and held as another contraction went through her, yet more of the fluid coming out and onto the wood of the table.  Hands were in hers, holding her and giving her something to pull against as her body was trying to push.

Laun felt her whole body start to sweat at the effort.  Everything was wet and slippery as she rested against someone behind her on the table.  She looked up and Hunter was there, her hands in his as he supported her with his legs around her body.  She tried to say something and another contraction started.

People were trying to help.  People were trying to get her to talk.  People were poking and prodding her.  Laun cried out as the peak of the contraction made something in her feel like it was ripping in her belly, making some people move away and some people come closer.  This happened more and more until she could see Pillar and Kell between her legs.

Things blended together for Laun.  There was breathing and pain and not breathing and almost passing out that seemed to happen over and over until she was just too tired to continue.  But, the next contraction would start and she would push through her exhaustion.

Those around her tried to comfort and support as much as they could.  The alert gong at the top walkway was sounded, bringing more people to the keep and Great Hall.  Fount and Ali came running at the sound.  

He had heard the pained call of Laun but had wanted to finish with Ali.  He had been needing a release for a while.  The argument that he, Hunter, and Edgar had a few days before had made it clear that the others wanted time with Laun, even with her body bloated and unattractive, but there was a territorial dispute that was underlying the whole argument.  Edgar had gone away from the argument before it came to blows and had continued out to do a long patrol, leaving Fount and Hunter.  Fount could not look at Laun without being repulsed, but did not like that she had so many others around her all the time.  He had just kept away from her.  

Ali had seemed to be willing that afternoon and he was more than able.  The time they had spent together when Laun was gone had been good and he knew that the baby in her was his.  It had to be since he knew she had only been with him.  He didn’t know who’s baby Laun carried.  He hated her for that, but he still loved what they had been like together before.  Ali was his lover, his conquest, and he wanted to finish with her before going to see what the noise he had heard had been.

They both found out when they reached the Great Hall.  One of the tables was surrounded by people, the strangled cries of someone in the middle of the group barely recognizable as human.  Fount stopped in his tracks when he knew that the call he had heard earlier had been Laun.  It was her on the table and she was in labor.

The guilt that went through him pushed him forward through the crowd.  Hunter was there, being her birthing chair with his hands in hers and his body supporting her.  Jealousy caught in Fount’s belly as he saw his older brother where Fount should have been.

Another cry came from Laun, her sweat glistened face scrunching together in pain.  She moved, her shoulders trying to meet her knees as she pulled on Hunter’s hands.  Fount tried to push his feelings to the side and went to her, putting his hands around Laun’s and his brothers.

Laun relaxed and fell back into Hunter.  She panted and looked at Fount.  It took a moment for her to focus and be able to breathe.  When she spoke, it went to Fount’s core and made him burst into tears as she said, “Thank you for coming to me after Ali...”

Laun did not see the look Hunter gave his little brother.  Fount colored and looked away from both of them.  He did not have long to be embarrassed as Laun cried out and moved and pulled and looked like she was in the most pain Fount had ever seen.

“She is crowning.  If we can get her to the edge of the table in the next lull-”  Kell pushed several people away from the end of the table.

Laun did not have a choice when she was moved.  Hands were on her and moved her, a change in who was behind her as it happened.  Fount took Laun’s hands and was behind her, his bigger brother rubbing his hands together trying to get the feeling back in some of his fingers.

Laun felt that the next push was important even before the healers were talking at her.  She had her feet up on the chests of two of the protectors, Kell and Pillar crowding between her legs.  Hands were on her stomach and she found that she had to push.

Big and slippery and painful and full were the feelings she had beyond the pain of the contractions through her body.  It was as if her guts were all coming out of her through her cunt.  The pain lessened and she fell back after the contraction, feeling that something had changed.

“Girl!!!”  A cheer went up as the baby was cleaned and checked by the healers.  A cloth with the newborn was put on Laun’s chest and she saw her daughter for the first time.  The hair was black, the skin bright pink.  She wiggled in the cloth and then a mewling sound came from her, causing more cheers from those around her.

Laun found more tears running down her face.  They were not all hers.  She looked up and saw that Fount’s face was streaming with tears, some running down his chin and to her face.  His arms went around her, their hands still entwined and he kissed her on the side of the face.

Kell was beside them, a hand on Laun’s shoulder.  “We have time before the placenta comes.  Do you want to cut the cord yourself or have someone else do it?”

Laun blinked.  “Cord?  You mean there is more to do?”  There was laughter through the populace.  She was shown the umbilical cord stretching down from the baby   to where the baby had just come from.

With a shaking hand, Laun cut the cord after it was tied off, a small burst of blood catching her in the face.  She felt something move in her after it had been cut, but it was not as painful as the contractions had been.

She looked into the scrunched up face on the tiny person on her chest.  A finger tip was larger than her tiny ear.  “So, you are the first, Sable.  Your sibling will never hear the last of that, I am sure.”

Water was handed to Laun, cloths wiped across any skin available.  It seemed meaningless refreshment as she now knew what it was going to take to have the other child.  But it felt good to drink, and was good to be touched.

Another small contraction started.  Laun called out and the baby was taken from her chest.  Disa was crying and holding the baby as Laun found that it was suddenly hard to breathe again.  It was not quite the same, but she felt she had to push and she felt something moving inside and then through her.

There was a wet slap as the afterbirth fell to the floor.  Someone caught it and put it in a bowl to be buried later.  She took a breath and started to lean back into Fount.  It was as if a fire had been lit inside her and Laun cried out, her back arching as a full contraction caught her unawares.

It was a series of contractions that left her on the edge of the grayness, on the edge of awareness.  She found she was swearing to get through the pain.  Then the slidy feeling again and she fell back into Fount’s chest, exhausted as she felt an emptiness in her body.

There was quiet.  It was too quiet.  People turned away from her, Laun saw them kiss their fingertips.

“What is it?  What is wrong?”

Pillar was there.  In his hand was the second baby.  Small.  Not fully formed.  Dead.

Laun started to cry.  She couldn’t catch her breath.  She felt a wave of nausea but could not throw up.  The grayness that had been coming to her at every contraction took her over and she fell into a pit of despair.  She put her hands over her face and could hear people and felt her body’s pain but it didn’t matter.  She surrendered to the grey and the dark and let herself just float in nothingness.

The voices were loud and went through her head as if the whole Fourth Company was marching in her skull.  She opened her eyes and felt the contraction and felt her body being helped to push.  She could not breathe and did not want to breathe.  She had failed some how, failing to protect the baby that had come out, showing the household, the world, how unfit she was by it’s very form.

The grey was lessening and she felt more than one body behind her.  There were squirming things on her.  She was able to focus and she saw two bundles being held on her chest, strong arms clasped in a warriors grip helping to keep the babies there.

“-she’s awake-”

Laun had a hand on her cheek and she was looking into Lucaris’ eyes.  “You had three babies!  The third one lived and is a girl.”  

Laun felt herself smile, but was very tired.  Her hands were hanging loose.  She brought them up and felt the two blankets.  The cord was still hanging from the last baby, tied off and ready to be cut.

“Fount...you cut...”  Laun tried to say more, but the hot tears running down her face were followed by a roughness in her throat.  She could hardly swallow let alone talk.

One of the arms moved and a blade was handed to him.  The other arm cradled the babies and herself as the cord was cut from the last child.  Laun pushed the blanket away and saw a wisp of brown hair and lazily blinking dark eyes.  Laun cried and sobbed, something in the motion setting the second baby off with a stuttering cry.

“We need to get you into an actual bed.  We have stitched you up and you are not going to feel like walking for a few days,” Kell’s stern tone cut through the light talk and laughter around the table.

Laun nodded and relaxed.  She felt the squishy mass that used to be her belly and tried to move her legs.  Her back did not like how she was trying to move and the rip that had been sewn up between her womanhood and her ass made it’s self known.  Laun put a hand on Kell and said, “Give me some of the brown stuff, if it won’t come through the milk.”

Kell nodded and went away from the table for a moment.  Laun looked up and saw the side of Fount’s face.  She turned and saw that Hunter was supporting both of them, the men’s arms and legs tangled around her.  “Thank you...”

Fount kissed Laun on the forehead.  “I should have been there-”

Laun had reached up, trying to touch him on the cheek.  Her hand went faster than she wanted and she landed the back of her hand with a resounding slap on the side of his face.  It quieted those around them.  It was not what she wanted, but Laun said, “You are here now.  You were there for the births.  That is what is important.”

“Yes, Lady.”  Laun found that she was being kissed on the mouth at a slightly awkward angle.

Fount pulled back when Kell put her hand on his shoulder.  Laun was helped to drink some cider and she knew it had some of the knock-out drug in it.  She thanked the healer as the tankard was taken away.

Laun turned her head to Hunter and said, “Thank you, too.”

He opened his mouth and then looked at his brother.  He blinked back some tears unsuccessfully and said, “I am happy I was there for you.”

He pulled Fount in close as his arms were around Laun and his brother.  His face went to the top of her head and she could feel him press his lips into her hair.

The wave of not feeling the pain went through her.  Laun looked between the men holding her and she said, “I’ll be awake in about an hour.  I love both of you.  Please get along while I’m asleep.”

Laun smiled at the shocked looks on their faces before she closed her eyes and let the peace of the drugged sleep take her.

 

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