The Toll (59 page)

“
Ketik...” Quaz’s voice was
low and forceful, a lull to it that had the hairs on my nape
prickling.

“
No!” Ketik boomed. “We do
this
my
way!”
Head whipping around, he pointed to Brevin, who was softly crying
from his corner. “Ye’ll stay put or I’ll beat the piss outta ye,
an’ ye too.” His gaze whipped back to Quaz.

Quaz’s expression tightened and a low
growl built in his throat.

“
An’ ye,” the mighty Ketik
swung his gaze back to me, “ye’ll push out that feckin’ squallin’
brat, cut the bleedin’ cord, suck up yer innards, an’ fix me dumb
arsed siblin’!”

“
And you, you insensitive
bastard, can go screw yourself! Now,
you,
get out of this room!” Finger
stabbing at him, eyes flashing, vision changing as it darkened,
rage flowing through me, I screamed the last words, sending him
flying back, slamming into the wall, then straight out into the
hall.

Brevin’s jaw dropped in amazement, but
Quaz just grinned, rushing to the door to poke his head
out.

There was a hard groan and a pained
moan, letting me know the arsehole still breathed.

Quaz’s hairless brows arched and he
grinned wider. “Be thinkin’ I like ye, lady nugget.”

“
Talk and you’re next!” I
barked.

Miming zipping his lips, smiling
wider, he just chuckled.

Tis Time

“
Ah! It’s too much! It’s
too much! It hurts! Someone help me!”

“
Ye willna let me come near
ye. Canna help if ye dinna let me have a peek.”

“
No one’s peeking!
At anything!”
I shouted
irrationally, slamming the blanket down as his fingertips grazed
the edge. “And what do you know about birthing babies?! Have you
even done this sort of thing before?” My voice shattered on a wail,
hands fisting the sheet.

The rattling of the walls had gotten
so bad we were all choking on the dust, a sheen of red covering the
room. Brevin had long ago passed out from exhaustion, sound asleep
and snoring on the floor. Quaz had been humane enough to bring him
food and water earlier, and Ketik had yet to come back. While I was
thankful for the angry, purple-eyed Ornthren’s absence, I had a
really bad feeling about it.

Bearing down with the next pulse of
pressure/pain, I felt something give, a sort of sliding sensation.
Crying out at the mounting sting at my opening, I tossed up my thin
covering, all sense of propriety or bashful anythings aside, gaping
as the head of my child crowned.

“
Oh, bloody... hell. I
lied,” Quaz mumbled, flushing a dark shade of green, mouth flapping
open and shut as he flopped back on his ass.

The urge to push came again and I
gripped my knees, panting through it, rewarded with a better
glimpse of a perfectly rounded infant head.

“
Ah! It hurts,” I growled,
gasping at the burning sting, but I wanted this over with, and I
wanted it done now.

“
Hafta... lotta...
ye...”

“
I know!” Eyes flashing, I
reached forward, ignoring Quaz as he stumbled towards the edge of
the bed.

“
Ye canna catch it
yourself,” he blurted, wide-eyed, when he realized that was exactly
what I was about to do.

And who else did he think
was going to get the job done?
“Really?
Watch me.” Another pain hit and I bore down hard, reaching forward
to catch the already wailing babe.

The newborn flew the rest of the way
out in a rush of birthing fluid and babe, much larger than I would
have imagined, but so small still.

A stout wail rent the air, blood
curdling in its intensity but so sweet to my ears.

“
Oh... Oh...” Was all I
could choke out as I pulled the squalling babe to my breast and
cried, bursting out into heavy, heaving sobs, tears streaming down
my face as I had a good look at him.

Quaz still looked poleaxed, his blood
red troll eyes huge, face suddenly unreadable.

Tucking the screaming infant, wrinkly
faced, more than a little pissed, and covered in blood, into my
chest, I took a deep breath, settling back against the bed as I
held him close. His pudgy fists flailed wildly in the air, legs
sliding over my arms, slippery with birth, letting the world know
of his arrival as he howled his displeasure.

Soft, fuzzy orange brows furrowed over
large, bright blue eyes, a small dusting of orange fuzz covering
his perfectly shaped head, and his little nose, small but wide,
crinkled as his face pinched tight. Snuffling softly, his fat
little fingers found my hair, gripping and tugging it tight as he
rooted around into the open air.

Cradling him gently, I laughed softly
at his exuberance, cleaned off his face as best as I could with the
cloths Quaz had tossed next to me, and put him to my breast.
Turning him slightly, I jumped when his little nostrils flared and
he grunted, immediately latching onto a nipple, suckling
hard.

Soft little grunting noises, like a
little piglet happy to feed, filtered through the room. Smiling
down on him with motherly pride, I place a quick, chaste kiss on
his head. Once he was settled, I glanced up at Quaz, meeting his
stunned, red gaze. They never left my son’s as he suckled
hungrily.

“
What are ye gonna tell
him?” he blurted, blinking slowly.

“
Nothing.” My voice
hardened, hands tightening on my babe. Body still contracting,
though not as hard, I was more interested in finishing this. “I’m
not done yet.”

“
Not done...
yet?”

I was beginning to feel grateful I’d
gone this alone, and for all of Adamina’s, I mean Zeme’s,
informative talks about babies and child birth.

What did he know of
birthing?

Sighing heavily, I motioned that he
should come forward. “Come. There’s more. I need your help. Don’t
pass out.” The rush of everything waning, I was starting to feel
drained—bone tired.

“
More! There’s more? More
can fit in there?!” His eyes kept going from my woman’s place to
me, then the babe, grimacing as he tried to force his face not
to.

“
Not another babe.” The
idiocy wasn’t needed, and my tone implied it quite
heavily.

“
Och, phew, dinna be
scarin’ me like tha’, woman! Yer shite already looks stretched ta-”
At my non-plussed look, he quieted and mumbled, “Isna he big, eh? I
says to meself, how can another fit, erm, in there?” He pointed to
the gaping maw my child had unearthed from, yanking his fingers
back just as fast, like he thought it might suddenly sprout teeth
and bite him. “Uhm, was all.”

Lips pursed, a small snort pushing
free at how disturbingly ridiculous this all was, I wasn’t going to
dignify that with an answer. “Just... just come here.”

Approaching slowly, he fetched the
bowl of hot water and clean cloths he’d laid out, swallowing hard
as he assisted with the afterbirth.

“
Is that all?” he asked
when all was done. His hopeful tone had me laughing as I swaddled
my new babe in a clean, dry cloth, accepting his offer to change
the bed.

We’d tied off his cord with a small
length of twine Quaz had boiled, using a small, clean knife to cut
it.

“
Lost a lot of blood,” he
mumbled as he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Not gonna die, or
nothin’, is ye?”

“
I don’t plan on it,” I
murmured absently, staring down into my son’s sleeping
face.

Bundling up all the bloodied rags and
sheets, Quaz balled them up, a look about him as if he’d love
nothing more than to flee, but wasn’t sure I was out of the woods
yet.

“
You can leave, if you
want,” I offered, never taking my eyes off the little cloth wrapped
bundle. Crooning softly, I ran my fingers softly over a cherub
cheek, grinning when he mewled, face pinching for a moment before
smoothing out, then went right back to sleep. I’d never seen
anything more, “Beautiful.” Sniffling softly, I cupped his little
bald head, kissing it tenderly. “Hello, little one,” I whispered
hoarsely, “welcome to the world.”

Lineage

I’d just drifted off, the
baby snuffling softly in his sleep from the small crate Quaz had
helped prepare. Stuffed with soft furs and my cloak, my little one
was warm and comfortable, cocooned in his little bed. I was sore
and dead on my feet, pale but freshly washed, and I was
happy.
Mine,
I
thought, thinking of my little one, relief washing over me, as it
was just the two of us.
Privacy at
last.

Quaz had scooped up Brevin, settling
him in a small, empty room they liked to use for storage, right
next to the one I occupied, making a small pallet out of extras to
place him on.

Promising to look after him, he’d bid
us good morning, or for him, as the sun was out, goodnight, and
lumbered off.

The cave rattling wasn’t what startled
me out of my short lived, dead sleep, it was the angry, gut
twisting, bellowing roar.

There was a series of thumps and
thuds, cursing and snarling, Ketik’s voice followed by Quaz’s,
shouting and bellows, and then heavy foot falls, alerting me that
someone was headed right for us, had me popping up.

“
Missus!” Brevin came
scrambling in, rushing for the bed, diving underneath the blankets
to cower. “He’s come, missus! Ketik set the beast free!”

“
Free? Who?
Beast...?”

“
NO!” Quaz snarled, sailing
into the room and right into the wall, a mighty roar following as
his body made a crater sized hole in the cave wall of our room, his
body falling with a heavy thump, where he then lay,
unmoving.

Gasping, I tried to get up, tucking my
babe farther towards the wall, gritting my teeth as I slowly
shuffled my way over to the downed Ornthren.

Quaz wasn’t moving, and I couldn’t
make out any kind of breathing pattern from my spot, normal or
erratic, his odd angle making it near impossible.

About to let go of the bed and stumble
towards him, Quaz’s eyes flit open and he blinked up at me. “Ye
alright, Nugget?”

“
Shouldn’t I be asking you
the same?”

Quaz’s eyes found the baby, who’d
woken up from all the commotion, crying softly. “Save tha’ bairn,”
he muttered, struggling to his feet.

Just about to reach him, a snarl
ripped through the air.

“
MIIINNNNEE!” Huge body
filling the doorway, I gasped as I got my first look at him. “No
touch! Mine!” Black, dead eyes scanned the room, the body that once
screamed virile and strong was wraith thin, so emaciated I couldn’t
help the softy cry that escaped me.

“
Gersthart,” my lips
trembled at the sight of the male in front of me, my bonded, a
shell of his former self. “What’s been done to you?” All razor
sharp edges, from his high cheek bones to his knobby looking knees,
the only thing he had left on his wide frame was lean muscle and
sheer size. It looked odd, unnatural, his skin an unhealthy
yellowed grey. Trolls were built thick, and he was anything but,
giving him a ghoulish, deathly appearance. His eyes were sunken in,
cheeks hollowed, hands like thin, reaper’s claws. “Is this the
price you payed to be rid of me?” The pain and hurt in my voice was
undeniable.

Sniffing the air, head cocked to the
side, a harsh sound rumbled out of him. “Mine.”

“
No,” my head shook, “not
anymore. You don’t want me anymore. You made me go away. You
deserted me.”

“
Dinna think agitatin’ his
arse right now is the best-” Quaz didn’t get a chance to finish,
garbling out a shout as he sailed, much the way he’d entered, right
over Troll’s head as he lifted him, roaring, tossing him back out
of the room.

Brevin moved under the sheet, catching
Troll’s attention, and the unstable Ornthren roared
again.

“
Don’t hurt him!” I cried,
stumbling to reach the small boy as Troll ripped the sheet off.
“Gersthart, no!”

“
MINE!”

A high pitched scream ripped from
Brevin’s throat as I threw myself over him.

There was a second roar, challenging
the beast that’s become my bonded, but it was Ketik who
shoulder-rammed Troll into the wall, forcing him into the crater
Quaz had made.

“
Run!” Pushing Brevin
towards the door, he didn’t look back as his little legs pumped.
“Hide if you can’t find Quaz!”
Wait, what
am I saying?
“Run anyways!”

“
Ye run too,” Ketik snapped
over his shoulder, nodding towards my baby. “Take yer get an’ be
gone. I opened the cave for ye. Made a mistake,” his eyes flashed
black, “I’ll not be apologizin’, but best ye save yer arses
now.”

Nodding, I went to retrieve my son,
breathing heavily with the effort. The two were still battling and
I knew I didn’t have much time, if we escaped at all.

Ketik cried out in pain only moments
later, thumping as he slumped to the floor.