06-03-2023, 08:31 PM
Content Warning
This post contains content that may be unsettling to some readers, including:- mild birth scene / child loss
Don't need to post in this but wanted to get context out. Might be a little rough since I've been a bit busy and I'm rushing this before work @Hieronymous @Gunnhildr @Katja
Something wasn't right. It didn't matter how she pushed, the pain was unfathomable. Ira was not a new mother, she knew what to expect. The contractions, the push, the pain, but what she felt now differed from past litters. The first three had come, more or less, with ease. Two boys and a girl, all seemingly healthy and big. She should be thrilled that more were on the way, but as hours passed without success, she began to worry.
@Quicksilver wasn't here. Usually she snapped if so much as a nose entered her den in these grueling hours, but there was only so much she could do alone. So much she could do in the case of an anomaly... Ira wasn't sure how long it had been now, all she knew was she was exhausted and wanted to be done with this. However, if she gave in now, then whatever children were left would surely die.
Another hour passed, with more blood than she liked to see, but eventually two more would come. They were twins...near identical in size and marking aside from the shade. Unfortunately, no matter how she tended to them, they refused to budge. No air met their lungs, and the world was silent of their cries. The roan woman didn't know what to think. For as stony as the High Queen could be, she was a mother above all. Everything she did was for her children... and now she had properly failed two.
Ira had little time to grieve before the familiar pain of another made its way through her body. This time the gods would favor her with a swift birth, and despite the struggles to get her to show signs of life, the last would take her first breath. She should be happy, even beyond the loss she may have had no way of preventing, but as she moved the last living to her belly, Ira's heart sank. The girl was stubborn and refused to suckle... Maybe it was too early to say, but the thought of another like @Rea pained her. Another who would bear the burden of their father's curse. Another who would never live a normal life.
For now, she pushed the thoughts away and rolled to her side with a huff. She needed to rest, and then once Hiero had seen the results of their pairing, deal with the two bodies she had tucked off to the side. Vanderfell's youngest royals had arrived.
@Quicksilver wasn't here. Usually she snapped if so much as a nose entered her den in these grueling hours, but there was only so much she could do alone. So much she could do in the case of an anomaly... Ira wasn't sure how long it had been now, all she knew was she was exhausted and wanted to be done with this. However, if she gave in now, then whatever children were left would surely die.
Another hour passed, with more blood than she liked to see, but eventually two more would come. They were twins...near identical in size and marking aside from the shade. Unfortunately, no matter how she tended to them, they refused to budge. No air met their lungs, and the world was silent of their cries. The roan woman didn't know what to think. For as stony as the High Queen could be, she was a mother above all. Everything she did was for her children... and now she had properly failed two.
Ira had little time to grieve before the familiar pain of another made its way through her body. This time the gods would favor her with a swift birth, and despite the struggles to get her to show signs of life, the last would take her first breath. She should be happy, even beyond the loss she may have had no way of preventing, but as she moved the last living to her belly, Ira's heart sank. The girl was stubborn and refused to suckle... Maybe it was too early to say, but the thought of another like @Rea pained her. Another who would bear the burden of their father's curse. Another who would never live a normal life.
For now, she pushed the thoughts away and rolled to her side with a huff. She needed to rest, and then once Hiero had seen the results of their pairing, deal with the two bodies she had tucked off to the side. Vanderfell's youngest royals had arrived.
the staff team luvs u