“Merewin!” Dalla flew breathlessly through the door. Her soaked dress stuck to her legs. Bits of hair bristled out of her braid and the linen head-dress hung back by its ties. But the joy on the girl’s face caught Merewin’s immediate attention.
“Merewin, we found it! It took most of the day, and Papa grumbled a lot.” She waved her one hand as if brushing it away. “But we found it, there among the pebbles in the deepest channel.”
Merewin smiled, her face reflecting Dalla’s happiness, even though she wasn’t sure what Dalla was talking about.
Hauk stepped into the doorway, a half grin on his face as he crossed his arms over his soaked tunic.
Merewin swallowed down the immediate visceral reaction to him and turned back to Dalla who flitted this way and that.
“What did you find?”
“Your stone, the jade, your mother’s stone!” Dalla held out her palm. Nestled within was the jade.
Merewin sucked in breath as tears welled up in her eyes. She blinked and picked the icy stone from Dalla’s hand. “Thank you,” she whispered as Dalla continued to jump around in celebration. Merewin looked toward Hauk. His eyes connected with her gaze. “Thank you.” She cupped her hand around the precious rock.
He nodded and walked forward.
“This chain is stronger than the leather cord you wore.” Hauk’s warm fingers brushed Merewin’s palm as he took the jade and slipped the chain through the bit of silver fastened onto the stone.
Merewin held her breath as Hauk moved hair aside to fasten the stone back in place. His fingers teased at her nape, a sensitive spot he’d discovered the night before. Merewin felt a rush of pleasure. His lips came near her ear.
“There. Now I know you can understand every word I say,” he whispered, his breath kissing the ridge of her ear, once more reminding Merewin of their first encounter at the tree.
“Isn’t it wonderful, Merewin!” Dalla cried as she grabbed Merewin’s hand, pulling her away from lustful thoughts. Hauk stepped back, and Merewin could breathe once more. She smiled at Dalla and touched the stone.
“Aye, ye must have worked very hard to find it.”
“Papa did most.”
Hauk snorted as he strode toward his room.
Merewin saw the soaked fabric sticking along his frame. She frowned. If he caught an illness, she wouldn’t be able to heal him. He was immune to her powers. Drakkina had said it was because he was her soul mate. That sounded like a pretty ridiculous reason for him to be immune to her magick.
“Dalla, ye should change into dry clothes,” Merewin said, and followed Hauk.
Dalla skipped down the short corridor leading to her rooms.
The new oak door stood half open. Should she knock? Call to him? Or just enter? Merewin hesitated at the door.
“Shall I send for warm water for a bath?” she called through the crack. She heard footfalls, and the door swung outward.
“Aye, a warm bath,” he said, his glance light. He stood without his tunic, only wet trews sucked at the hard lines of his thighs, molding against his body. “And a warm woman.” He drew her towards him. His lips met hers for a kiss, a slow thoroughly sensual kiss that melted along her tongue and down her throat. Merewin shivered, half from the kiss, but more from his icy skin.
“Steaming water,” Vivien called from behind them. Hauk released Merewin and stepped to take the heavy bucket.
“Thank you, Vivien.”
“Diarf will bring another bucket.”
“Aye, thank you,” Hauk repeated, without taking his eyes off of Merewin.
A pain in Merewin’s chest reminded her to breathe. His gaze captured her, and she couldn’t look away.
“Vivien, there is fresh trout near the door, for the evening meal.”
“A treat,” Vivien said, but Merewin barely followed her words.
Merewin’s world had narrowed down to Hauk’s two blue eyes.
“I will have Dalla help me prepare the meal.” Vivien backed away. Diarf hurried past Merewin, and Hauk took the bucket in his other hand.
With one last smoldering look, Hauk turned toward the tub. He dumped both buckets in. “Come Merewin, help me with my bath.” His voice flowed down her like warm wine.
Merewin swung the door shut and watched as Hauk untied the lacings of his trews. She tried not to stare, but it was nearly impossible as he slid the clinging material from his body. Merewin knew for a certainty that the look he had given her had not been a ruse, for he was fully aroused and ready.
For the space of several heartbeats, Hauk stared at her as if deciding whether to forgo his bath. He sighed deeply and stepped into the water.
“I would not smell of trout when I give you your next lesson.”
With his naked lower half covered by water, Merewin was once again able to move. She silently chided herself for her nervousness, and walked over to the tub. She dropped an oval loaf of goat’s soap into the water, splashing Hauk’s face. “Mayhaps I have some lessons to teach ye.”
Hauk wiped a hand down his dripping face and glanced up. “And what would this freshly consummated woman teach a man of sexual prowess?” A teasing light to his eyes softened the arrogant expression. He began to lather the soap across his chest and down over a taut stomach.
Despite the playfulness, the thought of Hauk’s prior sexual escapades tightened Merewin’s stomach and she frowned, feeling her ire rise. “Mayhaps if my body is nothing new to ye and there is nothing fresh I can teach ye, then ye would be bored of me.” She stood tall. “I shall leave ye then to yer bath.”
As she turned, Hauk’s wet grasp closed around her wrist. “Merewin.”
She didn’t turn back. She knew his comment was only a playful taunt. But her feelings were still fresh, fragile. And then she became irritated with herself for being foolish. Either way, he was at fault.
The water sloshed as he sat forward and pulled her arm to force the turn. She watched the hard packed floor.
“Merewin, your form is the loveliest I’ve ever seen, the softest I’ve ever run my hands along.” Merewin’s gaze rose slowly, drawn by the sincerity. “You are round in all the best places and your skin smells of fresh flowers and mysterious spice.” She met warm, serious eyes. “And your passion is like fire.”
Merewin felt a flush rush up, but didn’t look away.
His voice lowered. “You branded me with that fire all through last night.” He pulled her closer until her thighs rested against the wet edge of the tub. “Aye,” he nodded slowly, “I did learn last eve from you. And as soon as I rid myself of trout,” he grinned and dropped her wrist to pick of the soap, “I plan to learn even more about you.” He smiled wickedly. “I will seek out any new spots that make you howl. Aye, I can learn a lot from you.” He dipped under water.
Merewin opened her mouth to retort, but had no idea what to say to that. The man changed from infuriating to sincere to teasing in the space of several breaths. He surfaced, rubbing the soap all through his hair, then along each long leg and then deeper.
She opened her mouth again, then frowned. “I should help Vivien with the meal.”
“Nay,” Hauk said as he rinsed. “Then you will smell of trout.”
He stood and grabbed the linen nearby. The sound of horse hooves outside saved Merewin from having to snap a clever retort. Hauk moved swiftly within the linen and grabbed a fresh tunic and trews.
“We have a visitor.” Merewin moved to the door.
“Nay, stay here until I know who comes,” Hauk ordered, and grabbed his war axe near the bed.
Merewin followed as he strode out of the room.
Gamal slammed the front door open, causing Dalla to jump and the dog to bark. Gamal’s wild look surveyed the room. They fastened on Merewin, and she knew.
The tight knot of panic pulled at her stomach and she rubbed a hand across her midriff.
“Bera,” Merewin whispered on an exhale.
“It is time,” Gamal said. “Come.”
�
��Is there no midwife here?” Merewin asked, as desperation trapped her next breath.
Hauk’s hand closed on her own cold fingers. His grasp was warm, solid. She clung to it.
“Bera wants you,” Gamal said. “She worries about the babe.”
Merewin shook her head. “Ye know I canna heal wee bairns, Gamal. If there is a problem, I can do naught to save yer child.”
“But you could save my Bera.” Gamal nodded, his eyes intense. So intense that Merewin felt certain that the man wouldn’t leave without her.
Hauk squeezed Merewin’s hand.
“I will get my stones.” Merewin turned.
They rode through the cold night, the moon slanting shadows from the bare limbs of the sacred tress. Lines of darkness and moonlight sliced against them. Merewin rode with Hauk, cradled against the warmth of his chest.
It was almost surreal, the chill on her face, the splashes of moonlight and the warmth at her back. Yet she felt numb. Perhaps this was just a nightmare. Perhaps she didn’t really ride toward her greatest fear.
Visions of the infant boy she’d tried to heal years ago came unbidden, stinging her eyes. She’d been so sure of herself then, so cocky. She’d smiled reassuringly and held the child while his parents hugged one another. He’d been so tiny, she’d been able to hold him while balancing the rocks along his small frame. Then she’d channeled her energy into him and felt the cracks in his back, the twisting of his neck and spine, the bleeding beneath his still soft skull. Merewin had laid him down on the bed and positioned several other rocks around him. She’d mended injuries like this before, worse even, on men in town. “Doona worry so. I can heal him,” she’d boasted.
Merewin wiped at a tear as it leaked. The stones hadn’t warmed on the babe. Instead her powers had hit a wall surrounding him, a wall of apathy. The child wasn’t old enough to know that living was good. He wasn’t old enough to forget the love and sweet embrace of the Earth Mother. All he knew of this world was cold and pain, and he didn’t try to fight to stay in it. Her powers were useless to him.
Merewin drank in the chill. It snaked around her tongue, cooling the inside of her cheeks. Numb. She was numb and had no idea what she would do if something in the birth went wrong.
Yet Bera was healthy. The bairn was on time. Perhaps all would go well. Merewin glanced at the trees as they swayed, bending their arms down as if to snag her, stop her. She took another deep breath to quell the foreboding that throbbed in her chest.
Bera and Gamal’s home stood bright against the darkness. The glow of firelight beaconed out under the door and around every window slit tightly covered against the cold. The trees leaned over the dwelling, as if to listen in on this moment.
The chill tingled as she watched Gamal jump off his mount. She took it all in as if she watched a painting come to life, sat apart from it, her own breath in cadence with her heart.
“You’ll pass out if you keep breathing that fast.” Hauk’s words brushed warmly against her ear. “Slow, breathe slow and steady.”
His arms wrapped around like a heavy cloak. Warmth and the fresh smell of pine soap and man surrounded her. Merewin concentrated on Hauk’s strength and slowed her breathing.
Bera’s guttural moan leaked out into the night. The entire dwelling pulsed with swollen anticipation.
“Come,” Gamal demanded and ran toward the door.
The warmth and strength of Hauk’s arms became like iron, a cage. Merewin pushed against them and Hauk released her to dismount. Before she could move, Hauk plucked her from the war horse’s back, setting her next to the statue-like beast. Merewin watched the horse’s ear twitch with the agony of Bera’s sounds.
Gamal thrust the door open. “Merewin, Bera needs you. Now!”
Hauk dropped the leather pouch into Merewin’s numb hands. The heaviness of the stones grounded her and she took a full breath, then a step toward the dwelling. Bera needed her, sweet talkative Bera. Merewin took another step. Hauk stood somewhere behind. She felt his presence, like a silent mountain in the darkness. He didn’t push or urge her on, just kept at her back, a stony rampart.
Stagnant heat prickled against Merewin’s face as she pushed into the dwelling. The sweltering room swirled with body odors and smoke. She choked.
“Gamal, air the room. There’s too much heat and smoke in here.”
Without hesitation the man leapt into motion. Give the worried something to do, Navlin’s sage advice.
Hauk went to his sister. Bera lay on the central platform made up as their bed. Furs surrounded her, matted with sweat. The woman’s look flashed wildly up at Hauk.
“I will die.” Pain flicked across her face and she swallowed hard.
Another lesson from Navlin. Give the ill hope. Realistic hope, Merewin added silently as she stepped over rags and thrown linens tossed carelessly on the floor around the platform.
“Do ye wish to die, Bera?” Merewin asked, voice calm, positive.
“Nay!” Gamal yelled, and she saw Hauk catch Gamal’s arm out of the corner of her sight.
“Nay!” Bera groaned low, wailing the denial out on the crest of pain.
Merewin nodded and smiled. “Then ye will not die, Bera. I will not let it.” Merewin touched Bera’s chin so Hauk’s sister had to stare back into her eyes, so she could see the conviction there. Merewin nodded. “Ye will live.” She wiped her cool hand across Bera’s slick brow, nudging back the tangled mats. Bera mimicked her nod and took a deeper breath. The panic ebbed back into her stare.
“And my babe?”
The panic that had left Bera, like a serpent pushed from its hole, dove under Merewin’s skin. Merewin continued to stroke Bera’s hair aside, calming the woman.
“Ye will, live Bera. I will do everything for yer bairn that I can. Let us work together now to bring him to yer midengard.”
Merewin felt the pain cross through Bera as the woman squeezed her eyes tight. The turmoil twisted inside but Merewin kept a serene expression. If the bairn died, would Bera not want to live? If so, she could lose them both. Merewin took a deep breath and stomped the panic deep into her stomach.
“Breathe deeply, Bera. It helps to move ye through the pain.” Bera nodded as she whooshed in a breath. “Gamal, keep her hand and remind her to take long deep breaths, in and out.” Gamal hurried to his wife’s side.
Merewin looked to Hauk, still silent but waiting for her orders. “Too many furs,” Merewin said, and the two of them peeled the skins away from Bera’s straining body. Merewin draped her form with linens, bending beneath to check Bera’s progress.
Bera began to pant low, the sound of progress, Merewin thought.
“Do ye feel a need to push, Bera?”
“Aye!”
Merewin looked to both men. “Help her move her body to the edge of the bed. I want her secure on the edge with her legs down. The bairn will come easier that way.” Merewin’s gaze ran up the wall to the ceiling where supports continued across in equally spaced rafters. She pointed to one over Bera. “And throw a rope over that.”
Gamal moved Bera to the edge while Merewin re-draped her figure. Hauk grabbed a braided rope from a pile circled near the hearth.
“Gamal.” Merewin caught the wild gaze of Bera’s husband as the rope dropped like a heavy snake from the beam above. Merewin grabbed the two ends and tied them together. “I need clean cloths, a sharp, clean knife and warm, clean water.”
He stared for a moment, blinking, then nodded and turned.
Merewin glanced at Hauk. His eyes were on her own, stare strong, face calm. The effect grounded her. There was respect there, respect and support.
Merewin nodded. She could do this.
“Shouldn’t Gamal and ye leave?” Merewin asked. Only women attended births. Men weren’t usually strong enough to handle the pain and smells.
“I stay!” Gamal growled, as he held a knife blade in the fire.
“I would stay, also,” Hauk added quietly. “If Bera allows.”
�
��The whole bloody port can watch if you can just get…” Bera stopped to pant, her words coming out on a shrill note. “…this babe out of me now!”
“Bera, I will look to see if yer bairn is coming.” Merewin waited for the panting woman to nod before ducking under the draping.
A little head crowned between Bera’s parted legs. Relief washed through Merewin. The bairn was turned the right way. She came back up and smiled at Bera, pushing back her own sweat-sticky hair.
Gamal came to the platform, sloshing water over his boots in his haste.
Merewin smiled at both of them. “I see the bairn’s head. It’s coming out the right way.” She nodded to emphasize how good that was. “Time to push, Bera.”
“Aye,” Bera breathed through clenched teeth. “’Tis time.”
“Take the rope,” Merewin instructed. “Pull down on it as the pain grips. It will help.”
Gamal lifted his wife while they wrapped the thick rope around Bera’s upper arms and palms.
Merewin counted out loud while Bera pulled her body upward on the rope and pushed. A deep groan ripped from her and Merewin watched Gamal’s face turn a sickly shade of white. “Gamal, sit down.”
Each series of counts seemed to last forever as Merewin concentrated on the little skull edging out of the woman. Finally the head came free. The heavy umbilical cord lay around the child’s neck. Merewin pulled gently on the rope like cord and kept her voice even. “The head is out, Bera.” The cord was required for life, she knew, but in some cases, it also brought death. It seemed the cord was not tight around the little throat.
Now the shoulders. Merewin watched Bera’s body tear on a scream. With one more count the wee bairn slid free of its mother.
“A boy.” Gamal’s voice echoed marvel and joy. “I have a son.”
Magick (The Dragonfly Chronicles Book 2) Page 22