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Wolfric tossed some coins on the table and glowered at Callum.
‘There’s me to worry about, too,’ said Callum with that quiet menace of his.
***
Horrible wailing echoed down the stairs leading to his rooms. Wolfric burst in to find Elva on the bed on her hands and knees and the midwife, Aileen, stoking the fire.
‘I cannot bear it,’ howled Elva, clutching her belly when she saw him enter. ‘My God, Wolfric, are you injured?’ she howled.
The midwife looked at him in horror. ‘What are you thinking coming to a birthing room in that state?’
‘Birthing room. Is she…?’
‘Aye, in labour since first light and fearful loud, she is too, fit to wake the dead. I’ve never seen such a fuss.’ Her eyes scoured his dirty clothes and bloodied hands.
‘I was in a fight, woman. No one died,’ he snarled.
Aileen came closer and lowered her voice. ‘Well, she might, thanks to you. Birthing a bairn is a chancy thing, and she has little fortitude.’
‘The bairn is not mine.’
‘If you say so,’ she shrugged. ‘But the lass will not have an easy time of it. There are barely any hips on her. No way through for the baby.’
‘Oh, the pain is unbearable,’ wailed Elva. ‘I cannot go on.’
‘You must, lass. Just a little more now, and all will be well,’ crooned Aileen, busying herself by the fire while casting Wolfric dirty looks.
‘Wolfric, if I die this day, will you swear to care for my bairn?’ panted Elva.
‘I have already sworn that,’ he said. ‘And no one is dying today.’
‘Oh, heaven will be closed to me. I cannot enter with a lie in my heart. God will not let me in.’
‘What lie, lass?’
‘Arghhhh,’ screamed Elva, making Wolfric wince.
‘I cannot be here,’ he exclaimed.
‘Why?’ snorted the midwife.
‘I am a man.’
‘So act like one, you fool, and fetch me those rags,’ she snapped. ‘This bairn is coming now, whether you like it or not.’
A good while later, and after much screaming on Elva’s part, a squirming wet bundle appeared in the midwife’s arms. ‘A boy,’ she exclaimed. ‘You have a fine bairn, dear lass.’
Wolfric put the back of his hand to his mouth. He had seen plenty of blood and broken bones in his time, but this was too much. He fled from the room just as the midwife said, ‘Now we just have to deliver the afterbirth, lass.’
It was some time before Wolfric could summon the courage to go back inside. The birth of Elva’s son was too intimate. It was a woman’s realm, and he should not have been there. All he could think of was getting back to Blackreach, as much drawn as repulsed by the thought.
When he entered after knocking and coughing, it was to see Elva sitting up in bed, cradling the bairn in her arms. She gave him a beaming smile and beckoned him forward.
‘See how beautiful he is, Wolfric. Come closer.’
The red bundle in her arms belched and squirmed, hands making little fists, giving off a sweet, milky scent.
‘Aye, he is a bonnie one. Well done, lass.’
