by Tom Larcombe
“We knew when you changed. We hoped that you would return to us and now you have. It means a great deal to us to have a new Dragon Wizard among our ranks.”
Merlin was taken aback. He hadn't yet considered what the reaction of the other dragons would be and even if he had, he thought he wouldn't have guessed at this one.
“Thank you,” he said, momentarily at a loss for any other words.
“We've been working on keeping your mate from her own first shift. I understand you were worried about what might occur to your child if she shifted before giving birth. We share your worry and can prevent Nimue from shifting for some time still. At least if we remain here. There have been rumors about finding new homes for us in some of the wild places still in the world,” Ferox said.
“I'll make sure that you stay here long enough to finish your efforts, however I need to do so. And you have my thanks yet again,” Merlin replied.
“It is our pleasure. To add three new Dragon Wizards in such a short span after so long without adding to our ranks? We would do far more than we have to ensure such a thing.”
“My thanks to all of you, but I must be off. I haven't seen my mate... I mean my wife, in far too long.”
“Go to her. As far as we can tell she is near her time.”
The dragons parted to allow Merlin through. He shifted back to his human form and walked back to the cottage as quickly as he could. When he arrived, Nimue was nowhere to be found. He made enough noise searching that Gwyddon came out of the guest room.
A single look told Gwyddon what Merlin was after.
“She's in the infirmary. Her water broke earlier this evening. Brenda is with her,” he said.
Merlin was out the door in a flash. This time he ran instead of walking. He arrived at the infirmary and found the door locked. Not wanting to waste any time, he forced his awareness into the lock, adjusted the tumblers, and walked in.
There was no-one visible on duty.
Probably doing rounds, Merlin thought.
Merlin sent his awareness out again. This time seeking Nimue. When he found her he rushed towards the room she was in. Brenda intercepted him in the hallway.
“No Merlin. She's sleeping and desperately needs her rest,” Brenda said.
Merlin was about to reply when Nimue's voice came through the door.
“I'm not sleeping. The dragons woke me. When I heard them, I knew Merlin was back. Send him in,” she said.
Merlin walked past Brenda and entered the room. His eyes widened in alarm when he saw Nimue. Despite the added weight from pregnancy, she was still far too thin.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yes, tired most of the time and only slowly building my appetite back up, but otherwise healthy according to the doctor.”
Merlin collapsed into a chair beside the bed and took Nimue's hand.
“I was so worried about you,” he said. “But you're incredible. Keeping yourself and our daughter safe from Ave for all that time.”
“You were worried about me? Once I knew what you were doing, I worried constantly,” she replied.
“I had the easy part. I could do something, go on the offensive. Yours was harder.”
Nimue started to reply but stopped. She thought for a moment then spoke.
“I had help, but let's not argue about that. I don't think we'll ever agree.”
Merlin nodded.
“When is she due?” he asked.
“The doctor told me that she might be born any time now. He's also a wizard and his specialty is Foresight. He's very limited in time frame, forty-eight hours at best, but he says the delivery will be perfectly smooth. From what we can tell, she's a couple of weeks early but with everything that happened? That's not surprising at all. The surprise is that she's still alive and still waiting. I get the feeling it won't be long now. I think she was just waiting for you to arrive.”
Merlin squeezed her hand.
“Brenda was right though. You look like you need your rest. Sleep, if you can. I'll be right here when you wake.”
Nimue leaned up and gestured Merlin close to her. She kissed him, then laid back in her bed. It wasn't long before her breathing deepened. When Merlin whispered her name, there was no answer and he was sure she was asleep.
He spent the night watching her. When the nurses tried to remove him, he simply looked at them and stayed silent. They wisely left the room and informed the doctor of his presence.
Nimue woke around noon.
“Merlin, could you get the doctor? I think our daughter is on her way and impatient to be born.”
Merlin hurried from the room and tracked down the doctor. When he explained the situation the doctor accompanied him back to the room.
“That's an impressive woman you have for a wife,” the doctor said, “and if half of what she's told me of your daughter is true, she'll be more impressive still. This should be a very simple delivery, I've Seen that.”
“Nimue was asking for you so I think it's time. I'd prefer to be there also.”
“Wash up then. You look the worse for wear.”
Merlin thought about explaining why, decided that it would take too long, and simply followed the doctor's instructions. Five minutes later he was in the room with the doctor and Nimue, holding her hand.
Less than an hour later, he was staring at his newborn daughter as the doctor handed the infant to him. The same feeling of unconditional love seized him again and all he could do was stare at the tiny child. In the distance he could hear the dragons making a racket again. It seemed even louder this time than when he had landed. After a struggle he managed to not add to the racket himself.
“If you like, I can give you a shot to dry up your milk,” the doctor told Nimue. “We've plenty of substitute breast milk you can use to bottle feed her.”
“Definitely not!” Nimue said. “Merlin, hand me our daughter. She needs her milk.”
Merlin carefully handed the infant to Nimue. The doctor was about to say something when Merlin interrupted him.
“Doctor? Is that normal?” Merlin said, pointing at the child's finger and toe nails.
The doctor leaned in and examined them, gently handling the infant's hands and feet.
“Not in my experience. The colors themselves are not normal but the texture of the nails is even more extraordinary. Normally a newborn's nails are soft and malleable, but hers feel almost like scales and are very rigid.”
Merlin examined the red fingernails again. The tiny spots of orange on them lightened the overall color. The toenails were emerald green with spots of lighter green highlighting them.
After a few minutes the doctor insisted on taking the child to be weighed and measured. Merlin went along at Nimue's request. Since he was unwilling to be separated from his daughter and nearly as unwilling to be separated from Nimue, the process went quickly. When they returned to the room, the doctor examined Nimue and told her that she should spend at least two more days in the hospital and that he'd prefer her to stay for a week. Then he left the room.
“My love, I think I know what color you'll be as a dragon,” Merlin said.
Nimue arched an eyebrow at him.
“Her fingernails match the colors of my scales exactly. So...”
“We'll see soon enough, won't we?” she said.
“Yes, you probably would have had your first shift already but the dragons have some means to prevent that and they've been doing so for you. They worried about our daughter.”
“We can't just keep calling her our daughter. She needs a name. We never did get a chance to decide on one earlier. I've been thinking about it though,” Nimue said.
A look of trepidation fixed itself on Merlin's face.
“As have I and unless you despise my idea, I've decided on a name for her,” Merlin said.
Nimue's reply was sharp.
“You have? Well, what did you decide on?”
“I want to name her Gudrun. The sound of it is in memory
of Gunter. Its meaning is appropriate as well, it means secret lore,” Merlin said.
“Oh...”
She remained silent for several moments before continuing. She looked into the child's eyes and Merlin could feel them communicating.
“Yes, Gudrun would be a wonderful name for her,” Nimue said.
* * *
Chapter 23
As the doctor recommended, Nimue spent the next week in the infirmary. Merlin spent as much time as he could with her but it wasn't as much as he wanted. It seemed that everyone wanted something. Nigel and John wanted to debrief him on his mission, the dragons wanted to speak with him about Ave, Anselm and Ernst wanted to talk with him and find out what happened to Gunter, Brenda and Gwyddon wanted to pass along a message from Praesagium, and Merlin himself just wanted to spend time with his wife and daughter.
In the end, he put off everyone else except for John and Nigel.
As soon as Merlin set foot in the office, John apologized.
“I'm sorry I couldn't help you Merlin, my actions were constrained. It won't happen again though, the individual responsible for deciding to restrict my actions has been transferred out of the chain of command. The Geas was removed as well.”
“I understand John, you had no say in the matter.”
Nigel, on the other hand, was beaming.
“I have to thank you,” he said. “I've been informed that I'll be receiving a promotion for sending you on that mission. When they asked why it wasn't done earlier, I told them about John's Geas and that got the ball rolling in that court as well.”
“Congratulations Nigel,” Merlin said. “Now, if it's acceptable I'd like to give you a brief verbal report on what happened. I'll get you a more in-depth written one later on. For now, I want to spend time with Nimue and Gudrun. Nimue still isn't fully recovered from either her ordeal or giving birth, so...”
“Certainly, but please don't talk about it to anyone until after we've seen the full report and discussed it with you,” John said.
“I can do that, but with one exception. Several people have asked me how Gunter died and I've already told some of them a brief version of it. I'll need to tell Anselm and Ernst at the very least, they've been after me about it.”
“Well, let's hear the abbreviated story of your trip. Then we'll see about that request,” John said. “But I don't think that it will be a problem.”
Merlin sat and related his story to them as briefly as he could while still including everything of importance. When he finished Nigel was shaking his head.
“That's crazy. There are going to be numerous requests for clarification on some points of your story. It's going to drag out forever.”
“No there won't, and no it won't,” John said. “On the basis of what you've told us, I'm sure this one is going to be classified and buried. But yes, feel free to tell those who ask how Gunter died. That part, at least, is mostly straightforward.”
“May I go now?” Merlin asked.
“Yes,” Nigel said. “And we'll start the clock ticking on your actual leave now. Take your two weeks plus an extra two. As long as you're staying nearby to answer any questions, you have a month off. Reacquaint yourself with your wife and get to know your child.”
Merlin left and returned to the infirmary. Every time he entered the room with Gudrun, he was struck by the same feeling of unconditional love. Out of curiosity he asked several nurses and the doctor if they noticed anything when they entered the room. When he received a negative answer from them, he asked Nimue as well. She noticed the same thing that he did although she was used to it by now, having experienced it during her pregnancy while she was under attack.
That afternoon, while Nimue napped, Merlin returned to the cottage. He was unsurprised to find Anguis sunning himself under the lightning tree. The smaller dragon was excited to see Merlin.
“They didn't have any tanks in the scrap yard but... They do have some large portions of trucks in there. Or at least they did, they're a bit smaller now,” Anguis said.
“Good, you deserve some relaxation and decent food,” Merlin replied. “I know it was kind of sparse pickings for you while we were on the continent.”
“That's okay, I found a few things here and there and now I can just gorge and relax in the sunlight from the tree. Is Nimue doing well? How about your daughter?”
“Nimue was in rough shape but she's getting better. Gudrun is a joy. I can't wait for you to meet her. But remember, no roughhousing with her until she's older.”
“I promise,” Anguis said.
He laid back down in the sunlight and Merlin continued into the cottage. Brenda caught him as soon as he walked in.
“It's about time. Praesagium sent some information that you'll want to have,” she said.
“I'm not sure I want anything to do with him,” Merlin replied. “Finding out that I'm changing into a dragon while I'm in the middle of a war and being fired on by tanks is rather irritating. He could easily have warned me sooner.”
Brenda's jaw snapped shut with a click. After a moment she opened her mouth again.
“Be that as it may, this is in regards to Nimue and your daughter.”
“What about Nimue and Gudrun?”
“Is that what you've named her?”
“What is the information you have?” Merlin snapped.
“Oh, yes. He knows Nimue is close to her first change. He's been in contact with some of the dragons down here. He wanted to tell you that finding a wet nurse to feed Gudrun during that first week after Nimue changes will be fine. Your daughter shouldn't have any problems with that. He also said that Nimue shouldn't delay her first change for too much longer, it might cause problems.”
Merlin sighed.
“Now he gives straight answers and useful information. I suppose you should thank him for me.”
Brenda's voice had an unspoken question to it when she continued.
“He also said to tell you that Ollie was an inspired choice, whatever that means.”
Merlin smirked.
“See, that's how I feel most of the time he tells me something but leaves part of it out. Now you get to experience it.”
Brenda harrumphed and left the room.
Merlin unpacked the gear he'd left in the living room several days earlier. When he got to the locator crystal, he focused on it for a moment. The glow in the crystal flickered several times and then the crystal went dormant.
Good, he thought, let it stay that way.
He changed his clothes, discarding the tattered clothing he'd been wearing when he returned, and ever since. Even after cleaning it with his magic, a condition the doctor had insisted on if he were to stay with Nimue, it wasn't worth repairing.
Once everything was put away, he went outside and lounged with Anguis for a few minutes.
“I'll be spending most of my time at the infirmary until Nimue and Gudrun are ready to come home. Are you okay with that?” he asked.
“I can get a hold of you in an instant if I need to, so that's fine,” came the reply.
“Thank you Anguis, for everything.”
“You're welcome.”
* * *
Merlin found that not needing sleep left him with far more time than he knew what to do with. He spent most of his time in the infirmary but whenever Nimue went to sleep, he left to take care of other things.
Over the course of the week he got quite a bit done. He spent a few hours in the pub with Anselm and Ernst, answering their questions about Gunter and hoisting several beers in his memory.
He located a woman who had recently given birth and who had milk to spare. She was more than willing to breastfeed an extra child for a week or so, especially after Merlin offered her payment. Cash was scarce for many people and a mother with a new child could use the extra support.
He spent several hours with the dragons, reassuring them that Ave was gone for good. He even brought the locator crystal and showed them that it was dormant.
&nb
sp; Finally Merlin discovered how to sleep by choice when it wasn't necessary and he wasn't exhausted. He discovered that sleep just for the pleasure of it was something he enjoyed. His dreams were more vivid than ever before and sleeping for two to four hours a night still left him plenty of extra time every day.
With Nimue in the hospital, he started taking care of the tree again. There were many more of the smaller magical creatures in the area now and he found some of them to be as intelligent, or more so, than humans. He spent hours speaking with them, learning things he'd never known before. He had an idea that Nimue had been talking to them right along since their ideas and practices regarding the conservation of magical power meshed closely with what Nimue had taught him.
Nimue stayed in the hospital for the full week before she was finally given the go ahead to resume her normal activities.
“He kept telling me that I needed more rest. I feel like I've slept more in the past week than I did in the year preceding it,” she said as Merlin walked her back to the cottage.
“There's a bright side to that. You'll be well rested when you make your first shift to a dragon. Maybe that will make it easier on you.”
“Praesagium said that I shouldn't delay the first shift for too long. Did he say how long?”
“No, he didn't specify. But at least he gave us useful information that we didn't have to puzzle out this time.”
“You arranged for a wet nurse for Gudrun?” Nimue asked.
“Yes, I did. I just have to tell her when she'll be needed and she's ready.”
“I think next week. I'll get another week of partial rest but some physical activity also. I'm still suffering a little weakness from being mostly immobile for so long. Being active will help with that.”
“You know how funny that would sound to a different mother? From what I've heard, most mothers of newborns would not consider a week tending their child to be restful at all. Gudrun is exceptional.”
Nimue rocked the infant in her arms.
“For a precocious child, she's been very calming. I think it was her influence that caused the doctor to keep me longer than he originally intended. I can tell she's still worried about me.”