Watching her, Brys knew by the shy glances she shot his way she was acutely aware that they were alone in her chamber. Looping her thumbs through her girdle, she then toyed with her bracelet.
“I must once again offer—” Her words came out in a whisper, before she coughed and started again. “I must once again offer thanks from the deepest part of my heart.”
Brys took the two paces needed to bring him in front of her and stopped her fidgeting by taking hold of her hands. “How many times do I have to tell you I don’t want your thanks? And instead of standing there wondering what to do next, how about giving me a welcome home kiss?”
“If you desire it, then I will.” Reaching up, she placed a fleeting kiss on his cheek.
“Haesal,” he groaned, before taking her face in his hands. But before he could kiss her, she stepped back. Then he understood her small frown, for there was dried blood on his knuckles, not to mention grazes on his palms, and fingertips.
“Look at your hands.” Then she looked down at his bare blood-streaked feet, crying, “What happened to them and where is your footwear?” After that scolding she pushed him back onto the chair.
He protested with a small laugh, “I’m really quite all right.”
“You are not. Stay here.” With that order she ran out of the chamber, calling to the servants as she went down the stairs. Feeling incredibly tired, Brys closed his eyes.
When Haesal returned with Rhoda, toting a copper bowl, Brys fought to keep his eyes open. A woman carrying a platter of food and a flagon of wine bustled in after them. Once the servants left, Haesal knelt beside him, placing his feet in the warm and fragrant water. Brys sighed.
“First we bathe your poor hands so that you can eat, then I will do your feet.” Her voice was soft with mock sternness.
“Please get up.” Brys urged her up with a gentle tug on her arm.
She removed his fingers gently but firmly. “It is the least I can do after all you have done for me and Gerald.”
As she washed his hands and then smoothed salve on each cut and graze, Brys asked sleepily, “What’s in that stuff?”
“Juice of leek and lemon and powdered betony.” She patted his knuckles. “Now you can eat.”
During her tender ministrations, his eyes had begun to close again, but when she put a platter on his lap, he started on the cold mutton and bread, while she bent over her self-imposed task of cleaning the cuts on his feet. Although she was very gentle, they were extremely sore, and as he flinched she said contritely, “I am sorry.”
“You have the hands of an angel.” More than anything in the world Brys wanted those hands on his body, to have them learning his shape as he longed to discover hers. Placing the empty plate at the side of the chair, his fingers shook as he caressed her silky crown before releasing her braid. When he removed the gold band circling her forehead, her tresses cascaded in glorious waves over her shoulders. Brys lifted a swath to breathe in her scent.
As she dried his feet, and smoothed salve over them, her fingers shook as much as his. After ripping a square of thin cloth into strips, she bound each foot, then sat back on her heels with a small sigh. Gazing up at him, she whispered, “Do they feel better?”
“Much better, thank you.” Running a hand over his nape, he couldn’t hold back a yawn. She relaxed back onto her bent legs and looked up at him. When he said, “It’s been one hell of a day,” she agreed with a small nod. “It must have been difficult to have all your illusions shattered. I’m sorry it had to end this way.”
“I think I have always known that underneath the considerate face he showed me something more sinister was hidden.” Her expression thoughtful, she played with a tendril of hair. “Once I reached womanhood, I should have gone to his home, but Father insisted we wait. It suited me, and as time went on I asked Father many times to let me stay at home and he always agreed.”
Brys stroked her hair. “Now you have me to look after you, and you can be certain I’ll never betray you.”
“I believe you.” Her eyes told him that was the truth. “What did Erwin do to you and Gerald? I find it hard to believe such cruelty.”
Brys rolled his aching shoulders. “Well, we rode along the shoreline and I knew something other than looking at crops was on his mind. I tried to persuade your brother to say behind, but he was intent on coming along.”
“My brother has much to learn.”
Brys agreed. “The poor lad had a big shock. The ruthless looking riders Erwin took along were strangers to me, and when they stopped on a cliff top and closed about Gerald and me I knew this was the moment of truth. It had to happen. Erwin was determined to get rid of me for thwarting his plans.”
When she shuddered, Brys took hold of one of her hands. “He produced his dagger, and threatened me. He’d obviously heard about the talisman’s powers. I attacked him, which was useless for there were too many of them. Of course they overpowered me.” Brys recalled his feeling of helplessness. He’d seen madness in Erwin’s eyes.
“Erwin badly wanted the talisman. He was intent on ruling all the west of the country, and thought it’s powers would help him. I always had the feeling I wouldn’t die—for then everything would have been in vain. Gerald was distraught. The poor lad only wanted me out of the way. He never intended to get me killed.”
“The foolish boy will be punished.”
Brys knew Haesal’s vehement outburst was brought on by fear for her brother’s life. “I think he’s been punished enough, don’t you? He merely wanted me out of your lives. He’s only a boy at heart, and I forgave him easily.”
She pressed her lips to his hand. “He does not deserve such forgiveness. If I had known…”
“He has inexperience on his side, and bears no malice, whereas Erwin’s motives were born of evil. I don’t think Gerald will forget this afternoon in a hurry. Then he suffered more disillusionment when told he was to share my fate, for Erwin had convinced him they would rule together. Before Erwin left us to die, he confessed he’d sent Cedric to kill Gerald to grasp total power over all your lands. When Garth killed your father and captured you it gave Erwin the perfect opportunity to gain the power he sought.”
Haesal drew in a ragged breath. “And that is why he made no attempt to try and find us. You were right all along. I was as foolish as my brother for doubting you.”
“Not foolish, dear girl. Just too trusting. When we were trussed up, I pleaded for Gerald’s life, and assured Erwin you’d have nothing to do with him if harm came to your brother. In answer to that, he said he was going to tell you I’d killed Gerald, then run off in shame.”
She shook her head. “He did not know us at all. How could I believe such a thing of you? He told me you and your horse went over a cliff.”
“The man was a liar. His henchmen tossed us through a gap in the rocks into a cave. Gerald was knocked unconscious, which was a blessing, for when that rock was replaced it was the most terrifying part of the whole ordeal.” Brys couldn’t contain a shudder. “It was black as night, and when Gerald regained consciousness he was panic stricken.” The poor boy had nearly choked with his fear.
“But how did you get out?”
“We undid the wrist ties with our teeth, but even if we were able to climb up the sides we wouldn’t have been able to shift the rock. I found a section of the cave that was wetter than the rest and guessed the sea came in there at high tide. A daunting thought, and one that spurred me on. I prayed to the strange power that brought me to you, and I really believe something or someone came to my aid.”
“The sorcerer,” she whispered.
Whatever aided them, he was certain some higher power was watching over them. “We worked away at a tiny slit until it was large enough for Gerald to wiggle through, and then he worked on the outside with a bigger rock and we finished the job. The water was up to my chest by then, and the climb to the top was difficult. That’s how I got the worst of these wounds.” He glanced down to his feet. “When Gerald offered me anything I desire, I told him the only thing I want is the love of his sister. I love you more than life itself, you know that, don’t you?” Brys lifted her chin with a finger.
Her eyes seemed to glow with feeling, as she said softly, “Have you not told me so, many times? How could I doubt you?”
“More than anything else in the world I want to stay with you tonight, but it’s been a terrible day, and I know you’re tired, so I’ll go now and let you prepare for bed.” Although he said the words, Brys knew in his heart if she gave him a hint of encouragement, he’d stay.
“As you say, it has been a terrible day.” Kneeling, she moved the bowl to the side of the chair, and gripped his hands. Then she reached up to kiss his bearded jaw. “I thought you lost to me, and my brother too. I think my heart was split through the middle, for the pain was so awful. One day I fear you will be gone from me forever.” Despair edged her words.
“Don’t speak of such things.” Brys pressed two of his fingers on her mouth. She was only voicing his own worst fear.
“I will not again. But I must tell you this. I cannot now see how I will live without you, for you have come to mean everything to me.”
Brys sighed deeply. “Since the first moment I set eyes on you I’ve longed to hear you say those words. I can’t bear the thought that one day I’ll be ripped back to my world and you’ll be left behind.” His voice broke with the anguish such thoughts provoked.
Pulling her forward until she was between his knees, he wrapped his arms about her until her face was pressed to his body. “You don’t know how often I’ve thought about us being like this, alone together. There’s not a day gone by when I haven’t thought you the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.”
She tipped her head to look into his face. “Time really has little meaning. I think for us our souls will always find each other. I have a feeling that a power far greater than either of us is working for us.”
“I will love you forever, through all time, and I do believe that’s true. We’ll find each other again. I know my soul will find yours. But for now I don’t want to spend a minute out of your sight, is that selfish of me?”
“If it is, then I am just as selfish, for I too cannot face a minute away from you.” Sensual promise filled each word.
With a muffled groan, Brys kissed her with all the passion in him. When he lifted his head to gaze at her, he questioned, “Dare I believe you mean what I hope you mean?
With a small nod of acquiescence, she made all his dreams come true. “I wish you to stay with me this night and every other night of our lives. If we are only to be blessed with a few moments in time, then so be it. But as long as we are together, I can face whatever fate decides for us. Any doubts I may have had, the last few days taught me that wherever you are is where I wish to be.”
“How I love you.” The love he felt for her was terrifying in its gravity. Reaching to pull her onto his lap, Brys took her lips in a slow sweet kiss. The tremors racing through her frame told him that her desire matched his. He wanted to own her heart, her soul, her senses, until there wasn’t a part of her he didn’t possess.
Clinging to him, she returned his kisses, and within seconds their wild kisses added fuel to a fire threatening to overwhelm him.
When Brys pulled back, his breathing was as heavy as hers. He drew her even closer, his forehead on hers, and in a moment of constraint Haesal put a small space between them. A tiny part of her deep inside demanded she resist, but it stood no chance against the great forces that leapt in response to his wondrous seduction.
“Still shy of me? Don’t fight me, and I’ll show you paradise.” With trembling fingers he caressed the curve of her cheek.
“No.” Haesal surprised herself with her firmness, and could tell she also surprised him. His gaze wandered over her face and lingered on her mouth. “All I want at this moment is to feel your touch on my skin. No one else could please me as you do. You make me feel as if I am entering a gateway to a place where I have never been.”
“So you are, my love, another dimension where nobody else exists but you and me.” He lifted her then, and carried her to her pallet, where he lowered her gently before coming to her side.
Reaching for him at once, Haesal ran her questing hands over his shoulders, under his shirt, where she traced the bones beneath his skin and the hard muscles of his back. Winding her fingers in the thick dark hair curling at his nape, she pulled his face down to hers.
“Tell me you’re mine,” he demanded against her lips. “Say it.”
“I am your woman.” Pleasure traveled through her. Her skin grew heated wherever he touched and she lifted to meet his mouth as it crushed on hers, silencing her small cries of pleasure. Tilting her face, his kiss became a seductive sweetness that was coaxing as well as possessive. As his hands travelled over her his touch contained gentleness and constraint yet felt as if it was burning her.
Brys closed her eyes with kisses, and she lay trembling in his embrace. When her palm came to rest where his heart beat heavily, it was as if the rhythmic thump of it joined with hers to bond her life force to his.
Inflamed with longing, Brys burned with his need for full possession of her. He’d never felt this way in any woman’s arms except his dream lover’s. As he caressed her intimately, he felt the shock of response run through her entire body.
When his questing fingers caressed her silken thigh, he murmured, “Your skin feels like silk, so smooth, so cool, and so beautiful. Let me look at you.” Brys searched her eyes for consent and when she gave it with a small movement of the head, he found to his pleasant surprise his exploration revealed she wore no underthings.
With infinite care he undressed her, his self-imposed constraint forcing sweat to break out on his forehead. Adoring each part of her body as he uncovered it, he murmured praise for each beautiful inch of her and wiped away the last traces of her shyness with his softly delivered words of love.
Helplessly melting under his touch, Haesal tried, but failed, to control her breathing, but his touch made her cry out. The tiny growl of satisfaction that came from his mouth told her the response of her body pleased him. Her lids yielded and she closed her eyes, stopped thinking, gave way to feelings she never thought to know. A strange heaviness threatened to overcome her, inviting her to move closer to him, to hold him in her arms and to yield to his mouth.
When her tunic and under dress were tossed aside, he breathed a sigh as he touched her naked, heated skin, her breasts, her stomach, the curve of her hip. His mouth played over the blemish on her right shoulder. And he let out a gasp, whispering, “I knew it would be there.”
Too drowsy with desire to question his strange remark, Haesal wanted to cover herself, yet also wanted to brazenly let him look at her for as long as he wished. As he dragged a thumb across a nipple, the breath caught in her throat. Tremors shook her whole body, while a pool of heat formed at the centre of her womanhood.
“What is it?” His voice was low and hoarse. “Don’t change your mind now.”
Knowing she was in harmony with this man, as the seasons were in harmony with all that lived and breathed, she shook her head. The knowledge was there, deep in her heart, from almost the first moment he appeared in her life. Lowering her gaze, she peered at the talisman, and touched it reverently.
“I know not what brought you to me, but I thank whoever had a hand in such sorcery.” She pressed her lips to his throat and tasted salt on his hot flesh. Cradling her breasts with his hands, he bent to kiss each tip, suckled gently until she arched her back and let out a small cry. The tug of his lips pulled something unknown from the pit of her stomach. Pulling at his hair, she twined her fingers in the silken strands.
Breathing rapidly, he brought his head up to gaze at her from eyes as dark and mysterious as the night. “You’re so beautiful. But your fragility makes me almost afraid to touch you.”
“Please, do not stop touching me. I beg of you. I will not break at your touch. I wish to touch you, as you are caressing me.” Surprised at her brazenness, her face heated.
He moved enough to free his arms, and pulled off his shirt. Then the talisman joined the garment on the floor. “Your wish is my command.” He removed the rest of his clothing. When he came back to take her in his arms again, he said, “This is the way nature intended it to be.”
Small groans erupted from his throat as she moved her fingers back and forth over his nipples, and thinking he did not like it, she pulled her hand back. But he pressed her hand on his flesh. “No. Don’t be afraid. I adore your touch.”
A sheen of perspiration made his skin shine. How she ached to return the pleasure he gave her, even while she shivered with expectation at the unknown.
“I love your touch, as I adore you. Tell me what you feel.” His lips brushed softly against hers, while his hands swept the length of her body to finally cup her breasts, where the teasing play of his fingers against her flesh brought a moan from her throat. “Tell me, don’t be shy.”
“I want to learn your shape, to know every bend and curve of your body. It is strange, but you seem to know my body well. You touch me as if you know exactly where to make me tremble with a need so strong I cannot control it. Although I have never been like this with any man I have no fear. I want you to carry on filling me with this joy. It is like a potion that burns me inside, but pleasantly, makes my head whirl and dance, makes my bones feel as if they are melting.”
Capturing her hands, he kissed the fingertips, drew them into his mouth and then smiled when she gave a little gasp. “My own love, you have no idea what you do to me with your words—with your touch. I’ve never felt like this before.”
“That is good.” A smile curved her mouth. “I do not wish to know about all the women who have lain with you.”
“There haven’t been that many, and not one of them pleased me as you do, and that’s the truth. No other experience came near to what I’m feeling right now. With you in my arms, soft, yielding, open, and warm.”
Wrapping his arms about her, he slid his hands down her back. “Stop talking so much.” Gentleness filled his voice. “This is all I care about. Kissing satiny skin—skin as soft as a rose petal.”
Haesal arched her body to meet his, wishing to know no other time or place but this moment, where there was nothing else but the beating of their hearts and the sweet ache of desire.
“Touch me.” At his whispered urging she caressed his back, the sleek curve of his shoulders and his firm buttocks, and became too lost in the wonderment of him to be daunted. The wonderful weight and warmth of him drew a deep sigh of pleasure as he pressed her into the furs; then, the sigh became a moan when her sensitive breasts pushed against the hair covering his chest.
“You have no idea what your touch does to me, have you?” The heat of desire lit his eyes. “Tonight is for us. No thoughts of tomorrow.” For a moment laughter danced in his dark eyes as she pressed little kisses over his face. But the laughter became a moan of desire as her fingernails raked the smoothness of his back.
Freed of all thought but the sensuality of his touch, Haesal became immersed in him. The sense of being as one with this man filled her. They were soul bonded. All shyness disappeared like blossoms on the wind as he taught her to respond; to return the pleasure she received.
This pleasure rose above the first sharp pain of his possession. Although forced to clench her teeth, nothing could stop her opening to him. But soon she was lost in the sweet joy of welcoming him, of flying higher and higher as her body abandoned itself to the pleasure storming it. Haesal sensed that he used great restraint so his passion wouldn’t harm her, as she soared to a world of ecstasy.
Trembling in the aftermath of a delight she never dreamed of knowing, tears of gratitude, disbelief, and joy dampened her cheeks. For a brief moment her heart seemed to stop beating, her brain working.
As Brys kissed away her tears, he sensed her bewilderment. He watched her as she fell asleep, her golden head pillowed on his chest, her body completely relaxed, trusting against his. Sometime later, as she came awake slowly, he murmured, “I didn’t hurt you did I? I’m sorry if I did.”
She shook her head. “I was unable to stop the tears. It was beautiful. My emotions are all mixed up. I am so happy, and so…oh I do not really know. It feels as if I have been filled with so much happiness that it will pop out of my ears.” She giggled and he ran a hand up her silken thigh, laughing too. “I did not know.”
“Didn’t know what?” His voice was muffled against the tempting valley between her breasts.
“I never thought it would be so…so pleasing.”
“Did you know nothing of what went on between a man and a woman?” Brys kissed her nose.
“I knew about coupling. Have I not seen the animals mating? But I had no idea a woman gained pleasure from the act.”
Brys caressed her warm cheek. “You thought it was something merely for men to enjoy? Believe me, in my time there are plenty of men who still think that’s the case. But when real love is involved, it’s a blending of the hearts and souls as well as the bodies. And I would never have received pleasure myself if I’d thought for one moment that you didn’t enjoy it just as much. You did gain pleasure, didn’t you?” He peered more closely at her face.
He could just see her eyes in the small amount of flickering light thrown by the candle stubs. They were sparkling brightly. She gave a long shaky sigh. “Oh yes.”
“Wonderful.” She nibbled her bottom lip as if something bothered her. “What?”
“Do you suppose my father and mother gained such pleasure from their coupling?”
He buried his face in her sweet smelling hair. “I would think so. And where I come from it is called making love. That sounds far more satisfactory for what we did, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, you are right.” Her sweet breath caressed his throat. “And could it be that my father was even wiser than I believed. Perhaps he knew Erwin could never bring me so much pleasure. Could he have guessed that one day a man would come along who would be my soulmate and my true love?”
Rolling over onto his elbows so he could study her, he said just as earnestly, “I hope so love. Whatever his reasons, let us thank God he made you wait. I love you so.”
“And I love you, Brys.” With bright eyes, she gazed up at him. “Is that the right thing to say? That I love you with every part of my being?”
“That’s exactly right.” She was so sweet, he ached with his love for her.
“What happens next?” She traced his mouth with her fingertip as she gave him a sensuous smile. “I want to do everything just as it would be done if I was a woman of your time.”
Brys didn’t need to think about that. “The most important thing to do is get married just as soon as a ceremony can be arranged.”
“Married?” Her eyebrows rose. “Ah, you mean the joining ceremony before the priest. That can be done as soon as he can be found. I will send men to look for him where he dwells by the sea. It takes from dawn till the sun is high to reach his cave.”
Brys didn’t want to wait for even a half a day. “I thought your own man of God lived here. The one who taught you to read and write.”
“The wise man who gave me lessons died soon after my mother passed over. The one who came after the Romans left now prefers to live alone with his prayers. He only comes to bless the crops at harvest time and to baptize babies—and to perform the joining ceremonies. I have had a splendid thought.” She tapped his chest. “Rhoda and Godwin asked permission to be joined, and also the men who brought women on the journey with them. So, we will all share the ceremony.”
“Excellent idea. But now there’s something more urgent we must do. Enough talking.” He slid his lips down the line of her throat, and her fingers tightened on his shoulders.
Within seconds their wild kisses and caresses overwhelmed them in a mutual surge of longing, until they were consumed again in a blaze of passion that left them clinging to each other in speechless, exhausted wonder.
* * *
Brys opened his eyes to stare about the dim chamber as dawn crept in, sending a soft gray light filtering over the disheveled bed where they lay. When a soft tap came on the door he realized what had pulled him from a deep slumber. Head resting on his shoulder, Haesal lay with one leg hooked trustingly over his, her fingers curled into his chest hair.
They’d spent the night wrapped in each other’s arms and he hated the thought of disturbing her, but the tapping continued. “Yes, what is it?” he grumbled, reluctantly disentangling himself and rising from the pallet. Stretching and yawning, he went to the door.
“It is Rhoda, Master.”
Sighing, he finger combed his hair, then pulled on his breeches. Opening the door a crack he laughed at the girl’s cheeky smile and knowing glint in her eye. “I suppose everyone knows I spent the night in your mistress’s chamber, eh?” Rhoda’s grin lit up her plain face. “Well, you can tell them all we’ll be standing before the priest as soon as he’s been summoned. And you and Godwin can have your ceremony at the same time. How does that sound?”
“It sounds very good, sire.” Her face took on a rosy hue as she dropped him a coy curtsy.
“What do you want with your mistress at such an early hour? I want her to sleep a while longer, for she had a worrying time yesterday.”
Not to mention a very exhausting night. But Rhoda probably worked that out for herself. He glanced to Haesal. One of her hands rested where he’d lain, and her glorious hair was spread around her head. As she stirred, she muttered his name, reaching out as if to enfold him in her arms. “Go now and don’t disturb us until we decide to rise.” Brys tried to be firm, but Rhoda pulled at her tunic in agitation. He sighed. “What is it? What’s bothering you?”
“It is Nadin. She is about to give birth. And she is in such pain we fear for her life. Only the mistress can help. The baby is not coming out.” The last was delivered in a hurried whisper.
Brys scratched at his head. Damn! Haesal would never forgive him if one of her women died because she’d failed to attend to her. “All right, I’ll send her down as soon as she’s dressed.”
“Does she not need me to help her?” Rhoda’s eyes went wide as she looked to the pallet, then to him.
“I’ll wake her. She’ll come straight away.” Brys turned her with a soft nudge in the middle of the back. “Go. Tell the women she’ll be right down.”
As Brys knelt beside Haesal and touched his fingertips to her lips she opened her eyes and gave him a serene smile. Stretching to circle his neck, she offered him her parted lips. But he made the kiss brief, grunted his dissatisfaction, and pushed himself away.
“What, you tire of me already?” Haesal rested on her elbows and shook her hair back. As he stood, she saw his huge sigh. What a fine looking man he was, and now she knew every part of that strong body. Surely she must be dreaming. Such contentment could not be hers.
He disordered his hair with his fingers. “I’ll never tire of you. Not as long as I have breath in my body.” He bent to rest on one knee. “I’ve never known such generosity. I’d enjoy nothing better than to climb back in bed with you and love you all day long.” He grinned. “But Rhoda came to tell you that one of your women, Nadin, is about to give birth and is in trouble.”
“Trouble?” Haesal scrambled for her clothes. “Where is Rhoda? I need her help.” Her hands fumbled with her shift.
“I sent her away. I’ll help you.” He picked up her dress and tunic. “I’ll admit it’s more fun undressing you, but duty comes before pleasure.” The hole in his chin grew deeper as he grinned boyishly.
He tried to pull the dress over her head and Haesal slapped at his hand. “Give me that. Poor Nadin will be in great pain while you play around like a boy.”
“You make me feel young and alive. I adore everything about you.”
She slipped from his arms to sit on the pallet and pull on her footwear. After she stood up, he took her in his arms to give her a small kiss. Quickly she braided her hair and wound a cord around its end. As she went to the door, he followed her, asking, “Do you wish me to come with you to help?”
Haesal smiled. “Men have no place in these things. This is a time for women alone.”
“Well, that puts me firmly in my place,” he muttered as she left.
Hastily going down the stairs, Haesal called, “Rhoda!” and then, after summoning Zoe, Emily and two other house servants, she went to her pharmacea and took down the bottle of liquid made from crushed unripe poppy seeds—the best potion to ease the pain of the birthing.
She hurried to the small room behind the stables that Nadin shared with her man. Nadin’s gray face and strained breathing frightened her as Haesal took a limp hand and felt for the heartbeat beneath the wrist. “It is barely there. How long has she been pushing?”
The mother of Nadin stood at the end of the pallet, her face as blank as that of a fool. The other three women who stood about looked as fearful as Haesal felt.
“Since last sunset.” Although she had borne many living children, and lots more that had been born dead, Nadin’s mother still did not know how to aid her daughter through her birthing. Haesal chewed on her lower lip. The potion would do little to help Nadin now, but she spooned a little into the deathly white mouth and then felt about on the huge mound of her stomach.
“The babe is not in the right position. It is likely already dead.” Feeling helpless, Haesal gestured for the others to help her to get Nadin into a sitting position. “You must push.” She shook Nadin ruthlessly, until her eyes opened into small slits, and she gave a little whimpering cry. Haesal warned her sternly, “If you do not push the child out, you will certainly both die.”