I was woken this morning by a knocking on the door. I said come before I'd realized it wasn't likely to be Cordelia, and had to hastily pull the bedclothes about me. Who ever he was he took it in his stride and put the breakfast tray on the trunk at the end of the bed , before leaving and closing the doors behind him. Up until recently I would never has considered not sleeping in a night gown but I'm finding I get too hot - is this another effect of being pregnant?.
I'd seen enough of my room over the last few days and had decided to make greater use of the hall - I had a better chance of keeping an eye on things from there. The fact that I'd been asleep when Cordelia and the new arrival walked in I shall gloss over. Cordelia asked if I was ok and had everything I needed and then introduced Isla, another Amberite who'd spent the last several months at the Courts of Chaos. Apart from some company and some decent wine I said yes everything was ok. I then asked about the raid. Apparently it had been a disaster; Allagahn had been knocked unconscious, Alfred had gone primal, they'd lost two decent swords, and the book of Selheim..
They were now waiting for Alfred to return to normal form, but since he was in a much slower time stream than we were it would be two or so days before that happened. She was going to draw some trumps so she could organize a few things, Allagahn was doing something with one of the guns the soldiers had brought with them, she suggested it might be useful if I learnt about the technology of them and how to use one, and Charity was organizing some more troop reinforcements. She seemed concerned that everything was ok with the pregnancy - as far as I knew I said it was. She asked if Charity had examined me. I said not then asked why. She said Charity had medical training and I should really be checked over by a doctor. I assured her I was ok.
I ate dinner on my own again as it seems the others are too busy. I did see Cordelia briefly just before dinner. She said she was going outside to draw a trump of the courtyard and would see me later. I doubted it then. Her later and my later are two different things.
The young lad who'd brought my breakfast yesterday did so again today. He waited a few seconds after I'd said "come" before entering. I even managed to find out his name "corporal Lentish" although he was rather reluctant to stay and talk. Cordelia's questions yesterday had reminded me that had I been at home I would likely to have had the court physician with possibly a midwife fussing about me . The latter might have been able to explain why I flushed , my heart rate increased, and I had a particular physical response when the corporal was about.
After breakfast I bathed and dressed, then went in search of Cordelia. It was strange her room hadn't been slept in and her pack, armour, and more importantly sword were missing. I concentrated on the Logrus and made contact with my mother. She hadn't seen Cordelia since yesterday morning although somebody had been using a lot of trump power on and off through yesterday evening and there had been a trump gate activation in the early hours of the morning. It looked like she was off organizing whatever she thought needed organizing.
The rest of the day passed quietly. Allagahn and Charity were in and out infrequently, involved or distracted by whatever preparations they were making to either rescue Alfred or return to the Keep of the Four Winds. Isla also came and went, although she was more talkative than the others. All of them, including Fred joined me for dinner, then drifted off again and I chose to turn in for an early night.
Cordelia wasn't in her room again this morning. I didn't then know what she was up to but it all revealed itself late this afternoon but I'll come to that later. When corporal Lentish arrived with my breakfast it was all I could do to control myself. I have never had desires like this and am beginning to doubt that they are related to my pregnancy. Did the ritual change me that much or is this just some delayed after effect? I wanted to talk to her about what is happening to me. It's not really the sort of thing I want to discuss with my mother.
When I got to the hall Fred and Charity were there, although she looked tired and disheveled. Fred told me later that he had found her unconscious on the hall floor in the early hours of the morning and had been unable to wake her. After breakfast they both disappeared . It was about an hour later I noticed the power surge. When I went outside Fred's shaman were opening a gate to somewhere. Since Charity was standing next to him I assumed it had something to do with her and went back inside.
I must have fallen asleep for the next thing I knew it was about mid afternoon. What actually woke me was a strange canine like creature gently shaking me, saying that it was not a good idea for me to sleep like that in my condition, not only that but she wanted to examine me. I said she wasn't going to do any such thing, and who was she, and what was she doing here.
It turns out that Cordelia brought her here. She is a skilled midwife, her name is Jexz and she is a Wolfen. Whilst I know all this now my reactions at the time were somewhat different. I must admit she didn't seem to be phased by my demonic shapeshift or me storming in the direction of Cordelia's room with her in hot pursuit. The trouble was she wasn't in her room. I grabbed Jexz and told her to take me to whichever room Cordelia had given her. We set off back down the stairs and had reached the ground floor when we ran into Cordelia. I had calmed a little by this point and was back in human form. Still, I managed a verbal tirade which surprised even me and said some things I don't think I should have. Cordelia just stood there. I went to hit her but she just grabbed my wrist, so I tried with the other hand. She just grabbed that as well. In frustration I tried to kick her but she just pulled me into a position where she could control me by hugging me. All my frustrations just came to the fore and all came out in a mass of tears.
The two of them steered me back to my room. By the time she'd sat me on my bed I was feeling rather wretched. Cordelia sat me down and hugged me whilst Jexz clamped a strange bracelet around my right wrist. She flipped open a metallic case, like the one I'd seen Cordelia with, and tapped it with her fingers. I felt a sharp pain and then the sensation of several things crawling into the vein in my arm. Cordelia just hugged me and told me not to worry. The bracelet was the housing for a set of nano-bots that were now working their way around my body. Their function was to take readings and pass the information to the display that Jexz was monitoring. Once they'd done their job they'd return to the housing.. She told Jexz to turn the screen round so I could see. There in the top half of the open suitcase was a sort of glowing screen with a picture of a body, slowly being filled in as nano-bots, what ever they actually are, moved through my body.
After a few minutes, Jexz looked up. "You're blood pressure is too high, but other than that you 're pretty much ok. There are a few vitamin and mineral deficiencies but nothing too serious and we can correct that with a few changes to your diet. I'm now altering the nano-bots programming to examine your womb and the baby in more detail - you may experience a little discomfort". I turned to Cordelia "Sorry but you should have talked to me first. I'm not against having a doctor here but I'd have preferred the court physician from Phehemony.".
Her response was not what I expected "Jexz isn't a physician she.s a midwife. She specializes in pregnancy and child birth, although in the world where she comes from she's also considered a pediatric doctor - that's one who specializes in children. As to getting you the court physician from Phehemony I can't. I don't know where it is. I've never been there so couldn't create a trump of it and hence couldn't go there. Jexz's world I've spent some time on and knew I could find the right candidate without too much difficulty. Of course you could always have gone to Phehemony and got the physician. All you needed to do was draw the appropriate trump of where you wanted to go, and one of here so you could return, and then trumped both ways. Simple really."
I looked at her. "You know I can't. I don't know the first thing about these Trumps as you call them."
"So Jexz can stay then or shall I take her home?"
Despite wanting to say "yes, take her home" I knew that in reality that would be stupid and may put my life at risk. There is a limit to what a shape shifter can do, and if I'm honest I'm not that good. So Cordelia went and Jexz stayed and we got to discussing recent events. It seems my suspicions were correct , the sensations that I've been feeling are not normal. She said she'd leave one of the nano-bots in my system to monitor my hormone levels for a couple of days to see if she could work out what was going on.
She then gave me an injection of some drugs which must have contained something to make me sleep, since the next thing I remember it was dark and the bracelet was back in its box. Jexz was also no longer in my room. I went down to the hall but she wasn't there. I eventually found her in the Officers Mess talking over dietary requirements with the head cook. I returned to the hall and found people gathering for dinner.
It was a pleasant enough affair but it was noticeable that Cordelia and Isla do not appear to get on. The main topic of conversation was retrieving the Phoenix which it looks like they will attempt tomorrow after retrieving Alfred, as sufficient time should have elapsed. Not feeling tired due to my enforced sleep I was planning on staying up with the others but Jexz arrived and insisted that I retire to my room. She said at least there I would rest even if I did not sleep. If this is how I'm going to be forced to spend the rest of my pregnancy then I shall become more stressed than ever.
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| Hero of the Hour - Sorcha | The Keep of the Thirteenth Hour |