Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) (9 page)

Liora glanced around the room as if just remembering she and the draclet weren’t alone. Maleena wiped at the tears on her face and smiled at the new rider. “Mckale will take you two out to the caldera where you can meet the other dragons and riders. I will be with you in a moment.”

A
s Mckale led Liora and her draclet down the long, sloping hall that led to the caldera, Maleena walked down into the depression where the rest of the eggs lay. Only seven were left. Two of the eggs had died before hatching and three of those that had hatched had died at Trilene. Still, nine living dragons from Nydara’s first clutch weren’t bad. And seven more possibilities remained, although odds were a few would be lost before they hatched. At least Paki would lay her clutch soon, adding to the future.

With a sigh, she knelt to pick up the pieces of shell. Now she knew why Emallya had always chosen to stay behind and do this. It gave her a moment to collect herself after the overflow of hatching emotions.

Though large, the pieces of shell weren’t heavy. Maleena carefully stacked their irregular shapes together then stood. She froze when warmth trickled down the insides of her legs accompanied by a heavy ache that began in her back and built as it spread across her front. She dropped the pieces of shell and put both hands to her swollen belly, feeling it harden under her palms.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Everyone said that with the first baby, it took a long time to get going and most women had contractions for several hours before anything like this started.

Taking slow, deep breaths, she sank to her knees, trying to calm the sudden rush of joy and terror that gripped her as she waited for the contraction to pass.

“Maleena?”
came Nydara’s anxious sending.
“Mckale and Serena come. Marda has already marshaled the kitchen. What do you need boiled water for? Marda does know that suddenly making everyone cook won’t make your baby come faster, doesn’t she?”

Maleena chuckled in spite of everything. Nydara’s sudden, random chatter had distracted her from the worst discomfort from the contraction. As it passed, she took a deep breath and climbed to her feet. She wasn’t just going to sit there in a puddle of birthing waters and wait for Mckale. Her wet shift and dress clung to her legs as she passed through the doors into the hall.

Even if things were progressing a bit faster than she had thought they would, she should still have several minutes between contractions. Plenty of time to get most of the way to her sleeping quarters off Nydara’s and Tellnox’s lair.

“Maleena!” Mckale’s voice echoed through the Hatching Chamber behind her. As she turned to call out, another contraction gripped her. Gasping, she leaned against the wall for support, her arms going around her stomach as she bent over and took deep breaths. A light sheen of sweat broke out on her brow.

“Maleena?” Mckale strode into the hall. “Why didn’t you wait in the chamber for me?” His voice was gentle as he put his arms around her.

“Thought…I would have time…to get back to our chambers,” she said between breaths, leaning into his solid warmth.

Maleena straightened as the pain eased. “Where is Serena? Nydara said she was coming too.”

“I told her I would get you; she’s heading to our chambers.” Mckale kept an arm around her as they started down the hall again.

Thankful for his presence and support, Maleena leaned on him as she walked, every fear and worry she’d had about this moment tumbling through her mind. Needing distraction, she looked up at Mckale. “Nydara told me Marda has the whole kitchen going again.”

He chuckled. “Yes, Marda has every stove going and all of the cooks making things. I don’t know what they’re cooking, but they don’t dare oppose her even though the evening meal is already past. I guess Marda feels she needs to do something until she’s needed and if that something is cooking, then she’s going to do it.”

They reached the first set of stairs to the lairs and sleeping chambers before another contraction came. This one was stronger than the last, the pain building to surprising levels, as her stomach became rock hard. Maleena’s legs trembled as she groaned. Mckale helped her sit on the steps. He sat next to her, his arms supporting her as he talked about Liora’s meeting with the rest of the dragons and the new draclet named Pachua. Nydara kept up a constant stream of chatter in her head in an attempt to distract her from the pain.

Underneath Mckale’s stoic demeanor, Maleena sensed concern and a deep, buried fear that something would go wrong and he would lose her. As the pain subsided she chuckled to herself. He was terrified something would happen to her, and she hadn’t even considered such a possibility. Her only fear was for her unborn child. If something went wrong, he would choose her over the baby, and she would chose the baby over herself. Maleena sensed Nydara ready to support such a decision if it had to be made.

“Mother to mother, I understand. We will always be together, no matter what.”
Nydara reaffirmed Maleena’s thoughts.

“Are you ready?” Mckale asked, his voice soft in her ear.

Maleena nodded and sighed. “Help me up.” Mckale gently pulled her to her feet. She tried to pull the wet material of her dress away from her legs, but gave up when it proved unsuccessful, and began climbing the stairs. It was harder than she’d expected. The additional effort brought on another strong contraction.

Before she could protest, Mckale swept her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way. Maleena barely noticed him climbing the stairs; the contraction had her full attention as she breathed through it.

When it eased she tried to push against him. “I can walk now.”

He shook his head and didn’t release his hold. “There is still another flight of steps and this is quicker. I’ll feel better once you’re with Serena.”

Maleena laid her head against his chest, feeling ridiculous being carried around. She felt like one of those daft women in those silly books in Haraban that Taela had told her about. Still, she couldn’t deny it was getting harder to walk.

The next contraction hit as he walked through the door of their chambers. This one was accompanied by a ton of pressure. “Oh Fates,” she gasped, unsure what was happening.

A rush of warmth flushed through her as Serena laid a hand on her. “Put her on the bed, Mckale, it’s time.”

“Already?” Panic edged Mckale’s voice as he laid her on the bed.

Maleena glanced at the leather hide, tanned to be nearly waterproof, and the thick wool pad on top that covered the sheets. As she panted against the pressure and the pain, her eyes went to Serena seeking reassurance.

Serena smiled at her. “I wondered if you might be in early labor when I checked you at dinner but didn’t want to say anything with the Hatching needing to be done. I figured even if you were, you had hours left. Apparently your little one doesn’t want to wait now that it’s decided to come.” She pointed at Mckale. “You, help her out of those wet things and into a clean shift while I check the tea I have steeping.”

“Tea?” Mckale asked, his hands gentle as he helped Maleena remove the wet shift.

Serena nodded. “To ease the pain.”

Maleena slipped on the dry shift, already feeling better. “It hasn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would.”

Mckale smiled at her, his silver eyes full of worry, love, and a tightening at the corners that suggested strain. “That is because I have already pulled as much from you as Tellnox will allow.”

Serena frowned at him. “This isn’t life threatening, Mckale. It’s only childbirth. There is no reason to put strain on yourself for this.”

He barely glanced at her. “Which is why she feels any of it. Tellnox is blocking me from taking more than the edge off.”

Serena tapped a finger against her lips as she studied him. “How does the pain feel?”

Mckale shrugged. “How it feels anytime I take pain from her, a general all over feeling. When she was in the Kormai, it was akin to being kicked down a hill by a horse.”

“What a shame,” Serena said with a sigh, and turned back to the tray on the table.

A furrow appeared between his eyes. “Why is that?”

Serena smiled and poured a cup of tea. “Because if you truly felt what a woman feels when giving birth, I would have Tellnox stop blocking you. It would do men good to actually feel such a thing.”

Maleena laughed softly and reached for the cup as Serena handed it to her. She’d only taken a small drink when another heavy contraction gripped. Mckale held her hand as the pain and pressure washed over her. The muscles in her body began to tremble on their own accord, and her stomach rolled. She clamped a hand to her mouth and looked frantically around.

Serena understood what she needed almost as soon as she needed it and produced a ceramic basin just in time. Maleena felt Mckale’s warm hand rubbing her back as she suffered through her stomach emptying itself in the middle of a contraction.

When her stomach was empty and the pain past, Serena looked sternly at Mckale. “You, out—and fetch me Marda. Tell her it’s time.”

Mckale looked back and forth between them. “I will stay.”

“Oh no, you won’t.” Serena stood and ushered him toward the door. “This is no place for a man.”

“My mother died giving birth.” Mckale gazed at Maleena, and she could sense his reluctance to leave.

“Really, McKale?” Serena rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to let anything go wrong. Now get out of here.”

Still, Mckale hesitated in the doorway. “But Gideon is going to be here, and he’s a man.”

“He would be yes, except he is attending a birth in the city right now. Besides, he’s a healer. Are you a healer? No, I didn’t think so. Go now and tell Marda to attend Maleena. Then find the other riders and be patient.”

Mckale frowned and left the room, his reluctance coming off him in waves.

Another contraction took Maleena’s attention. “Serena?” When her friend appeared in front of her, Maleena focused on her and tried to squash the panic rising inside. “I think the baby is coming.”

Serena smiled gently. “I know. Calm down, your body was designed to do this. Everything will be fine. While we wait for Marda and for your baby to make its long-awaited arrival, let me fix the pillows so you can be more comfortable.”

Serena fluffed and propped the pillows to give her more support. Two more contractions came in quick succession. Maleena panted through them, feeling the clean shift and the wool pad beneath her grow wet.

Marda came through the door, her heavy bulk a comforting sight. She beamed at Maleena. “Well, it’s about time. I was beginning to wonder if you planned on ever giving birth to this babe.”

Taela came through on her heels along with Jocelynn, Belynn, Nira, and Sumara. Taela shot Serena a hard look. “Don’t even think about trying to throw us out.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Serena said with a chuckle.

As the last of her labor progressed, Maleena breathed through the contractions while Taela held her hand. Nydara’s head in the doorway between the sleeping chamber and the lair, Marda’s comforting presence, Taela’s determined thoughts, Serena’s no-nonsense attitude, and the gathering of the other female members of her Dragon Rider family gave her the confidence to enter the last of it without fear.

In a rush of pain and more emotions than she could make sense of, she pushed the new life from her body into the waiting hands of her friend. Maleena sobbed with happiness as the first cry of the infant filled the chamber.