Elyna found that she was beaming at Malcolm as he agreed, their son was perfect. Her small hand twisted in his to hold him tighter, reluctant for him to leave her side. The healer she remembered from the labour. As much as she tried to absorb the information it was hard to make sense of the words. The pain was returning in sharp stabs and she looked at the ceiling, holding back the sound of agony that built in her throat. The miracle woman advanced with a potion. Elyna steadied the drink and did her best, taking small sips. Pain made her nauseous, stomach cramping. She wanted to writhed yet knew, somehow, that it would only make things worse. Sweat coated her skin, as though she was burning up, yet she had never felt so cold.
"Thank you," she told the woman. "For all that you have done."
Perhaps it was the herbs, but she felt distant from her own skin as she stared at Malcolm. "She was supposed to fetch you... She did it again didn't she, she lied to me," tears built in her eyes and she sniffed, lifting a hand to wipe her nose with her sleeve. "You are here now, you can protect him..." He had made his offer and she shook her head, denying him the permission to steal her pain. One of them needed to be whole.
Malcolm held his breath, he hated seeing Elyna in such pain, and that she wouldn't allow him to share it when he had the ability to take it from her only made him love her more. She was so strong and brave, and a small part of him wondered what he had done in life to deserve her. As requested, a herb was ground up and mixed together with water for the pain, and after thanking the doctor, Malcolm got to his feet and returned Luke to his crib.
He went to the fresh bowl of warm water and rung out a cloth, folding it up before touching it to Elyna’s skin and washing the sweat from her arms and temple. He sat down on the bed beside her, took her hand and went over her fingers. I'm never home when it matters, he thought to himself, he should never had agreed to go on mission so close to Elyna’s due date, not after he had let her down by being in Ne’haer the year before.
It was getting very late, and Malcolm hadn't been able to inform anyone that he would not be in to debrief his superior the following day regarding the mission. If and when the doctor came back, he would ask for some paper and ink, and send two letters, one to Benjamin and the other to the lord that oversaw their unit. Malcolm wasn't going to keep making the same mistakes, this time he was going to be here for Elyna as long as she needed him.
The warden bent to kiss her before returning to the chair, his hand still holding hers, as it would until she drifted off again, if she was able to find peace in sleep. “Try and rest,” he told her, “you'll feel much better in the morning. I will stay awake to watch over you and Luke,” he promised, nothing would happen, she was safe to sleep.
Her hand in Malcolms’ felt warm and pleasantly tingly. The fingers flexed in his grip. She felt more human with the sweat wiped from her arms and face. But only by a slight degree, the young woman couldn’t remember feeling so distant from the world with Elsie’s birth. Had it been so much simpler? It had been faster, only a few breaks in comparison to the trials she’d so far spent in the infirmary. When would they let her go home? She realised that her thoughts were wandering but found that she didn’t have the energy to resist.
More than anything, the presence of the Mortalborn made her feel safe. No longer alone and unable to defend herself, she no longer needed to. That wasn’t to say that Elyna always wanted to be looked after. She worried for Malcolm and the secrets he kept. She worried that he’d do something horribly heroic and she would lose him for certain. Earlier in the season she’d thought that he was dead and she’d wanted to follow him into the mountain pit. How could she even think of doing such a thing to Elsie though? As she dozed, she could hear the scratch of a quill on paper and rolled onto her side, hands folded beneath the pillow as she watched his back.
He looked as though he’d been travelling and as the drugs numbed the worst of her pain, she smiled. She would feel better in the morning? Elyna didn’t need the mark of Pre to tell her, that that was a lie.
Elyna sank further into the mattress, the blanket pulled up to her chin. Her eyes were heavy and hard to keep open. He promised to stay though and she reached out to touch his hand with her own as he returned to his seat. He smelt of the open road and the permission to rest was enough to drop her into slumber. This time a more contented dream that she didn't fight. Confident of the wolf at her bedside.
The request for more time away from work filled him with guilt, but there were times in life when family must come before duty, and this was one of those times. Malcolm wrote a letter to his better, requesting the time in a way that made clear that if it wasn't granted, he would take it without challenge, or leave. The smells and sounds of the infirmary put him on edge, but it only took one look at Elyna to ease his tension. In rest she looked so peaceful, and he was thankful that she was free from pain, if only for a while.
Malcolm had held the woman’s hand until he was sure she was asleep. It was only then he folded her arm against her side gently and tucked the cold limb beneath the covers in an attempt to warm her up. His thoughts went to Elsie, and without making too much sound, he walked about the end of the bed and studied the newborn resting in the cot to the right of Elyna. Luke was small, but the doctor had assured him the boy was healthy, and that was all that mattered. As the years went by Malcolm knew Luke would grow big and strong, perhaps even taller than his mother if Elyna’s family was any indication.
Careful, the mortalborn bowed to scoop up his son and hold him close, seemingly mesmerised by the small bundle of joy. All life was precious, but there was something Malcolm found extra special about his own. Before Elsie the man had been quite certain that he would never know this feeling again, and twice Elyna had blessed and honoured him with two fine children.
On his way back to the chair, and with Luke still in his arms, Malcolm stopped, having noticed the doctor out in the hall. He stepped just beyond the door and smiled at her. “You must let me say thank you,” he told Rei. “Once Elyna is better, you will join us for dinner and let us say thank you.” He departed with another warm smile then, ready to begin his watch.
